Happy New Year!

Happy New Year
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

5 things you may not know about me

me
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

1. I am half Azorean Portuguese on my father's side. My grandparents immigrated from the Azores in the early 1900's and my grandfather's name was Augusto Rodriques Teles and they shortened the Rodriques to Rogers.

2. I'm told that I'm somehow related to Woodrow Wilson on my Mother's Mother's side - but I've never researched it...

3. I am a Mac user at home - I have a PowerBook G4

4. I don't like MySpace... not for what you would think are the traditional reasons people who don't like it because of security, etc., I just simply don't like the layout of the pages, the set up, and the whole look of it... So many pages look so crummy - I'll just stick with my personal web site: www.curtisrogers.info thank you very much :-)

5. When I was 5 years old my twin brother was killed in a lawnmower accident. Just kidding. I have a very morbid sense of humor in case you didn't know that about me.

Thanks to Michael Stephens for tagging me!

THE ADVENTURES OF Super Librarian

Here is another interesting marketing video by the McCracken County Public Library.

Your Life Work: The Librarian

This is an interesting historical film about what it WAS to become a librarian and what WAS involved in the job. Certainly, much of the philosophy is the same, but the job itself is very different. It is only 10 minutes long.

Serving Somali-speaking patrons

Serving Somali-speaking patrons
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

Today I received an interesting DVD that is a "Welcome to your Library" in Somali. There was no documentation other than the production of it was funded through IMLS and an LSTA grant. So I watched it and did a little research and found it listed in WorldCat. It is a nicely created DVD that more people need to know about! OCLC: 62325301. The Press release is in Somali and can be found at www.mpls.lib.mn.us/releases.asp?item=kusoodhawoow

Employee Health

Employee Health
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

Yesterday was our quarterly staff development session and luncheon! We all had a wonderful time :-) Our speaker came to us from the Prevention Partners program from the state's Employee Insurance Program. She gave a wonderful presentation on living a healthy lifestyle and showed us all the wonderful online resources available to state employees. This kind of staff development is important for everyone. I highly recommend that libraries have presentations similar to this for their staff members from possibly a local health department or physician. A healthy staff is a happy and more productive staff! For more information, visit www.eip.sc.gov/prevention/index.aspx

FSCS Data Tool

library resarch center
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

One of the most important sessions at the annual FSCS public library data conference was the introduction of the Library Research Center's FSCS Data Tool. It is a wonderful AND FREE online tool that takes the FSCS data and provides users with the ability to chart, graph, create statistical reports at the national, state, regional, and local level. Check it out at http://lrc.lis.uiuc.edu/web/dataTool.html.

Nikki Finney on Libraries and Librarians

Nikki Finney really does a great job of talking about what librarians and libraries mean to her! Learn more about Nikki at http://www.uky.edu/AS/English/faculty/nnf.html

Libraries are Important!

Check out this little youtube video I did. It is the excerpt of the Horry County public Library Headquarter dedication. Great speaker: Liz Gilland, County Council Chairperson. It's nice to have such great supporters who get it!

Photo Contest

Eiffel Tower
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

I recently won an award for this photo in the Columbia, SC, Free Times photo contest 2006 (http://www.free-times.com/archive/coverstory_06/cover_112906/112906_photo.pdf). It was the runner up in the places category! Hooray! :-)

SCLA Annual Conference

iPod
Originally uploaded by crr29061.

Last week was the very successful SCLA Annual Conference in Hilton Head. There were some great speakers, concurrent sessions, and this year we had 16 poster sessions. Rivkah Sass, librarian of the year, talked to us about the importance of keeping up with new trends in the field, good customer service, and giving patrons what they want. This image was one of her powerpoint slides and it shows a trend in that iPod owners want to hear their music even in the bathroom! It is very important that people in the library profession keep up with trends, not only in librarianship, but also in general. One of the things Rivkah mentioned is that she goes to at least one non-librarian conference a year. I think this is a great idea and something I'm going to try to do myself!