Holiday Closures won't affect ebooks

Thank you, High Point Public Library (North Carolina)

The holiday closures are interesting this year.

Ruidoso Public Library is open today, Monday, December 23.  We are closed Tuesday and Wednesday, December 24 and 25.  Then were are open again Thursday-Saturday and next Monday and Tuesday.

While the building is shuttered, online access is 24/7.  In theory there's no need to wait to play on the library's e-branch Christmas morning.  Visit before the holidays to add a PIN to your card (or a family member's; s/he can change it later).  The past few years, ebook servers around the country have crashed as everyone opens and logs onto their new devices on the same day.  Hopefully, this year, that won't happen.

New Mexico Library 2 Go has videos, orientation tutorials, and device-specific answers, to help you begin enjoying mobility and e-reading.  NML2G is our branch of Overdrive, an ebook provider for libraries.

Book Review: The Princess of Mars/John Carter Series

Last Spring, I was motivated to look for the book which inspired Disney's movie, John Carter. Before Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote Tarzan of the Apes, he wrote a series about Mars.  Beginning with A Princess of Mars, and ending eleven books later with John Carter of Mars, Burroughs' tales have captured imaginations for a century.  Some of the pulp fiction art can be seen here.

QR code to read A Princess of Mars, care of Gutenberg.org

If this square image is new to you, it is called a QR code, for Quick Response.  It is a barcode your smartphone reads with a QR reading app (either already installed or free at an app store, such as these for Android or this for Apple).  The barcode tells your phone where to go online for more information, a clue, a discount or offer, etc.  You may have seen them on bananas, posters, or in magazines.

But I digress.  After reading A Princess of Mars, I saw the movie.  Then I read the second and third books in the series, which explained a lot of the technology and political machinations that added action to the movie, but also added confusion because it was not explained.  I am working on the fourth book now.  They are light entertainment, providing insight into machismo and cultural norms from the turn of the prior century.  Mostly, it reminds me how far my culture has progressed and which characteristics remain valuable and timeless.

P. S. Ruidoso Public Library is open today, New Year's Eve, regular hours, but closed Tuesday, January 1.  We will re-open Wednesday at 9am.

Ruidoso Convention Center, January 16, 8am to 4pm

P.P.S. The Village of Ruidoso is hosting a health fair for all comers.  You may schedule an appointment time for biometric screening, mammograms, Body Age Analysis, or just drop in to learn about the local health resources already available in the community.

Book review: Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Cover from her website

Several friends encouraged me to read this book (from Ruidoso's Book Store, Books Etc.--have you seen their new website?).  I am so glad I finally took their advice.

Written by Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, Let's Pretend This Never Happened is a laugh-til-you-cry-it's-so-funny-because-it's-true series of essays (blogs) on life.  At several chapters I had to put the book down to catch my breath and let my vision clear (of tears) so I could continue.

When I read biographies or memoirs, I find I learn about myself and people in general.  What we are thinking, why those thought chains run as they do, and these help me feel like I can make a little more sense of the world.  Not only do the author and I share a first name (who doesn't these days?), but her family stories help me feel happy about who I am and appreciate how I came to be so.

The creature on the cover is a taxidermy mouse, dressed a la Shakespeare.  It is the most tame story in the book, which explores her childhood with a father who worked in taxidermy, at home, through her years working in Human Resources and moving to the Texas Hill Country.  Whenever I mention this book to others, who have read it, they bring up the 5' metal chicken.

Correction: Tuesday's music begins at 3:30pm, not 4:30pm (Dec 18th).


P.S. Ruidoso Public Library closes Saturday at 2pm and remains closed Monday and Tuesday.  We will open Wednesday morning at 9am.

What's hiding on the homepage?

Ruidoso Public Library will observe the long weekend of the Thanksgiving Holiday, closing at 6pm Wednesday, November 21 and remaining closed through Sunday.  We will open 9am Monday, November 26.

Children's Library and Teen Scene

The bar of tabs on the homepage

Ruidoso Public Library offers many services, events, and resources for youth and children.  Clicking on the "Children's Library" tab offers something new every month.

Whether you are curious about the subject of this week's pre-school story time, which craft is scheduled, or finding yourself in pictures of story times past, this is the tab for you.  This is also the location to find the theme of this month's school field trips.  The slideshows of photos are available for you to save to your own computer or only those images that have meaning for you.  During the summer, this page hosts listings of all the events and instructions on how to register for the end of summer raffle.

[edited 1/10/13 to remove slideshows. Please look us up on photobucket.]

The Teen Scene is looking for ways to connect with you, whether you are a teen, tween, or parent.  If you have ideas for links to share with Ruidoso, drop us a line (our emails are under the Contact Us tab).  Some months the Teen Scene may display a YouTube video about texting, bullying, or an upcoming book's trailer. In the summer, this page hosts a list of summer reading events for teens.  My favorite part is the summer list of free, timeless audiobooks through SYNC, each June through August.

More from the library's homepage

Special seasonal note: The library director, Corey Bard, welcomes you to donate canned items for Lincoln County's Food Bank.

Ruidoso Public Library's homepage is the place to start if you are wondering:

What is happening at the library?

The bar of tabs on the homepage

Near the top of the page, you will find a bar of tabs, similar to the tabbed, manila folders of filing cabinets and yesteryear.

The second tab, from the left, reads, "Calendar."  This tab will show you a calendar of events scheduled at the library.  Here you can find whose art is on display, when the program begins, and a short summary of what the event might include.

You can subscribe to updates about events and receive emails whenever an event is added or changed.

You can also scroll back in time to recall a past event or artist, too.

Another option for looking up current events at the library is the next tab, "Library News."  Clicking on the tab itself will open the library's blog, which you are reading here.  Moving the mouse over the tab without clicking will display a menu of options: Newsletter, blog, new titles, and What's Happening.

This is Sharon's forte.  Sharon Stewart builds the Newsletter each month, pulling together the times, places, and descriptions of events to give you fair warning for planning.  This is the same newsletter available to pick up, printed out, at the front desk, or you may already receive it from Sharon in an email.  If you would like to sign up with Sharon, her email is under the Contact Us tab.  Sharon used to build a spreadsheet of new titles each month, but our new online catalog does that with book covers, too!

Finally, Sharon creates the flyers announcing each individual event and saves them under the What's Happening menu option.  These are PDF files you are welcome to print yourself in case you know someone or someplace that might need a reminder or be interested in attending.

A Poem for Libraries

Ruidoso Public Library will observe Veterans' Day next Monday.  We look forward to seeing you Tuesday instead.

In support of National Libraries Day in the United Kingdom this spring, Julia Donaldson wrote the following poem.  Ms Donaldson was appointed this year’s Waterstones Children’s Laureate by Booktrust, a literary charity.

Everyone is welcome to walk through the door.
It really doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor.
There are books in boxes and books on shelves.
They’re free for  you  to borrow, so help yourselves.

Come and meet your heroes, old and new,
From William the Conqueror to Winnie the Pooh.
You can look into the Mirror or read The Times,
Or bring along a toddler to chant some rhymes.

The librarian’s a friend who loves to lend,
So see if there’s a book that she can recommend.
Read that book, and if you’re bitten
You can borrow all the other ones the author’s written.

Are you into battles or biography?
Are you keen on gerbils or geography?
Gardening or ghosts? Sharks or science fiction?
There’s something here for everyone, whatever your addiction.

There are students revising, deep in concentration,
And school kids doing projects, finding inspiration.
Over in the corner there’s a table with seating,
So come along and join in the Book Club meeting.

Yes, come to the library! Browse and borrow,
And help make sure it’ll still be here tomorrow.

Care 2 share your wreaths? Road safety info & Closed this weekend

Twig Whispy Wreath

Sharon would like to offer our walls to display your wreaths.

Wine Cork Wreath with directions

The theme is "A Mountain Country Christmas" (no offense intended) and open to any homemade wreath.

Gerber Daisy Wreath

Feel free to call Sharon for details.

Tie Wreath by GoodHousekeeping

With weather starting to oscillate between sunny and otherwise, here are several websites and phone numbers to check before you travel:

http://splash.nmroads.com/  5 different ways to learn about New Mexico road conditions

Road Advisory Hotline - 1-800-432-4269  (if you are already on the road, please pull over or have a passenger call)

Statewide Map at http://advanced.nmroads.com/  (if you have really fast internet access)

http://net.nmroads.com/ for a simpler map

Text only messages at http://net.nmroads.com/?Display=nomap  (if you have a dial-up connection)

The NM Dept of Transportation also offers an RSS feed.  When I tested it last week, my email filled with repeated messages, though they covered the whole state.  It felt redundant to me, given access to the maps and text messages above.

Finally, Ruidoso Public Library will be closed Friday and Saturday, November 18th & 19th while we begin the process of replacing the carpet throughout the building.  Please keep your fingers crossed that we don't have any injuries!

Holiday Closing

Enjoy time with family and warmth at home

Ruidoso Public Library will be closed December 23-25, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  We will be open Monday at 9am.

We will be open until 6pm on Wednesday, December 22.

Image by gustavorezende.