February 2008

StoryTime

Chinese New Year Feb. 7
Valentine’s Day Feb. 14
Brush Your Teeth Feb. 21
Leap Day Feb. 28

Evening Storytime

will be Wednesday, February 20 at 6:30. Brush Your Teeth will be the theme.

HomeSchool Book Talk is scheduled for Tuesday, February 12 at 10:30. The topic is Rise and Shine centered around getting a healthy start for the day with good food and exercise.

Craft Night is set for Thursday March 13.

Ghosthunter, James Willis, will present a program on April 17 during National Library Week, in time to psyche everyone up for an early morning Lincoln Funeral train watch later in the month.

Tax help provided by VITA for low income persons will be available from 10:00 to 5:00 on Saturday February 9 at the Wornstaff Memorial Public Library. Call 211 for an appointment and/or more information. Walk-ins will be accepted. Be sure to bring all the needed paperwork. VITA has hours in Delaware at 200 South Washington Street every Wednesday (6:00pm-8:00pm) and Saturday (9:00am-12:00noon) through April.

Persons over sixty can take advantage of AARP sponsored assistance available at the Delaware Library and the Community Library in Sunbury.

Ohio Benefit Bank a public-private initiative supported by the state of Ohio offers free online self-service income tax assistance. Persons can also check eligibility for various benefits available from the state.

A new globe graces the reading area. Times and country boundaries have changed and all that spinning was pretty hard on the previous occupant. Please enjoy and handle with care.

Jon Scieszka and Loren Long are touring the country promoting the new Trucktown series designed to encourage little guys to read. Delaware County was one of three stops they made in Ohio and it included a visit to Buckeye Valley East. Our Miss Vicky spent the day helping Fundamentals Bookstore owner Tami Furlong host the visit. BVE did a great job of welcoming these big guys with trucks to climb on and banners and blowups of their drawings. Students’ comments indicate that Jon Scieszka is a real ambassador for young people’s literature - plus being an official one.

Ohio’s primary will be March 4 and the registration deadline is Monday Feb. 4. This is your chance to vote for the presidential candidate along with a large slate of local ones - and Buckeye Valley is back on the ballot. Make your voice a vote.

Ashley Council update : Cheryl Friend and Jerry Hayes were appointed to fill John Davis’ and Aaron Scheeler’s respective terms. Next meeting is Tuesday Feb. 5 at 7:00.

Thanks to the McNews whose generous donation to the children’s department helped purchase the new Discovery Kits.

Free magazines. We’re starting the new year fresh and discarding the old. Recipes can be yours. Articles can be leisurely read and passed on. There’s raw material for reports, for decoupage and collage projects. Use your imagination. Recycle. Tell us how to improve the selection. Our magazine renewal list should be sent in soon. We try to provide a useful and interesting variety for you.

The Palace Theater in Marion has a busy February. First is the local production of The Sound of Music, then Blast!, an explosion of music and theatre, and ending with the Irish music of The Chieftains. Savor the pleasure of a live performance.

Interlibrary loan for January . We’ve sent 41 of our books to other libraries and have made 24 requests (16 already received). Totals for 2007 were 252 books sent to other libraries and 145 items received for our patrons. Those items included video recordings and books on tape. Don’t hesitate to ask if we don’t have what you want.

The Year of the Rat begins on Feb. 7 Chinese New Year. Take a look at the eclectic display of books celebrating the event. As for those gloomy days still before us, maybe the games in the display case will inspire some family fun. Maybe February 2 will be a gloomy day and Buckeye Chuck will not be secluded in his pseudo-hobbit habitat playing solitaire but fearlessly proclaiming an early spring.

Library patrons increase every year partly because we don’t automatically delete cards at some point. That makes some sense in relation to local residents but obviously pads our list with long since moved persons. We’re trying to make our list more current and pertinent. Please help us by updating your phone and address if necessary.

Intrigue, a Harlequin paperback subscription series, will start in February, replacing the Harlequin Presents series, and adding to Love Inspired, Historical, and American Romance subscriptions.

Magazine Discard

Free.
Our magazines are being discarded for the year. Use for collages, crafts, or just catching up. Ask at the desk.

Recycle your Christmas cards

Do you still have your old Christmas cards? I am looking for just the fronts of your cards. If you would like to get rid of them please bring them into the library, and leave them for Susan.

January 2008

Storytime

Unbirthday Party Jan. 10

Warm & Cozy Foods Jan. 17

Let it Snow ! Jan. 24

Groundhogs & Shadows Jan. 31

Chinese New Year Feb. 7
(Year of the Rat)

Evening Storytime will be

Wednesday evening

January 23 at 6:30.

Let it Snow !

Will be the theme.

Coming events:

Homeschool Booktalk Feb. 12. 10:30 a.m.

The topic will be Rise and Shine.

Taxes: We have begun to receive tax forms which will be on the rack inside the front door. These forms are provided by the IRS and are free. Additional forms can be downloaded from the irs.gov website. We have a list of forms affected by the recent changes in the Alternative Minimum Tax. The library charges ten cents a page for downloaded forms and any other copies. 1099s and W2s for employers are available at the desk.

VITA assists persons with low income in filing their forms electronically. The Delaware County Bank will provide a savings account (if necessary) to enable electronic transfer of funds. This is the fastest way to get your refund and will ensure that all who are qualified will get earned income credit. VITA preparers will be at the Wornstaff Library on Saturday Feb. 9 from 10:00 to 5:00. This is a free service. Registration is helpful. Call 2-1-1. Please bring all your information with you.

A Delaware VITA site will be open Wednesdays and Saturdays. AARP help for seniors is available at the Delaware County District Library and The Sunbury Community Library.
Comments can be made on - and about - our web site. The December newsletter thanked Lauren Shirk for posting announcements of village meetings. We were reminded by a council member that the village news letter posts notices of all meetings and lists them in the regularly published newsletter. Liz writes the library newsletter. Susan set up the website, and maintains and posts items to it.

Statistics for the year won’t be available until next month but monthly comparisons indicate some general trends. One - all the surveys are correct - people read less than they did last year, ten years or twenty years ago. Our video/DVD circulation has decreased for the first time in years. Not even the demise of Ashley’s video store has changed that. People coming in and out of the library has remained pretty constant but a higher percentage is juvenile traffic - and Internet use has essentially doubled. I sense a relationship. Watch for more specific figure. Do your own analysis.

Magazines are discarded in January. Most of the previous year’s issues are not kept. The use is limited; we don’t have space; and specific articles are usually available online. These magazines are given away free. If you are interested in back issues of a particular magazine please ask.

Discovery Packs provide books and activities for preschoolers. Three new additions are Fire Engines, Getting Ready to Read and Fractions.

Thank yous are also appropriate at the end of the year. It’s possible to list all the staff and the library board members, and volunteers but more problematic in relation to patrons. It takes them all to make a library - especially people using the library. Just having the resources sitting on the shelf isn’t helpful. The whole purpose of the library is to be an active part of the community. Thanks for all the goodies and cards and donations and special thanks for all the daily interactions. We need you. We appreciate you.

Interlibrary loan is one anticipated statistic . It’s always been possible to get books from other libraries and we’ve tried to make people aware of that. Thanks should also go to all those libraries from whom we’ve borrowed books. Starting in July we have been able to return that favor by loaning to other libraries. And even though our patrons can’t request books from other libraries by themselves they seem more willing to ask. MORE isn’t always better but this may be one case where it is and we’re looking forward to even more MORE next year.

Happy New Year to all. The library has lots of aids for those New Year’s resolutions : dieting, not smoking, breaking bad habits, learning how to play the guitar, keeping up on the news and the political candidates, watching the 100 best movies. We’d also accept suggestions for our improvement.

Chinese New Year February 7. The Year of the Rat.

The Best of 2007 is a popular end of the year topic, well represented in collections of poetry, science writing, political writing and cartoons, an the list keeps growing. The library has the ones specifically listed. Individual selections are relatively short, and the authors vary as do their styles and opinions.