Need help, just ask

One of the good ideas from this morning’s sessions

Susan Broman of the County of Los Angeles Library shared this OverDrive Help form her library created using WuFoo which they then had the OverDrive people embed in their site.  The form requires the patron to put in some contact information and a statement of the problem.  There’s even a space for the customer to add a screen capture.  Cool!

Anne of Green Gables turns 100 this year

Happy birthday, Anne!  Newsweek journalist Ramin Setoodeh states that “‘Anne of Green Gables‘ turns 100 this year, but she’s the most modern girl in the bookstore.  Earlier this month, the blog Jezebel featured a post called Why Isn’t Anne Shirley Worthy of Huck Finn Status? Even Mark Twain praised “Green Gables,” and yet the books are rarely taught in college. Is it academia’s own inherent bias against children’s books and women authors? Or the fact that it’s not as sexy to read about a girl rascal, who, ultimately, is good in the same way as Tom Sawyer?

Just yesterday, the Collection Development Department was asked to include Anne of Green Gables in our classics order.  We will be sure to include Anne in one of our replacement orders.

Steal this idea

Lodi Public Library of Medina County Library District has this nice solution for identifying music genres to improve browsing.  Magnetic signs–simple yes, but aren’t all the best ideas.

Ambassador’s Update: Knuffle Kerfluffle

Fresh from the Children’s Bookshelf of Publishers Weekly is an update from Jon Scieszka, the National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature.  He received a distress call from author Mo Willems about difficulty in getting a picture of airport scanners for his upcoming Knuffle Bunny 3.  The Ambassador of Young People’s Literature (say that three times fast) helps save the day.