Chelsea Public Library

Wow! What a summer!

2011-10-05T11:54:00.002-05:00

It is so easy to forget about all the places we use to report what it is going on at the library. This has been the busiest summer ever! We closed the library the first of May to relocate to our new building. The library staff, city maintenance and a handful of volunteers moved the library in exactly 4 weeks. AMAZING! We hit the ground running as soon as we opened the doors because, guess what? Summer Reading! We didn't have time to recover from the move until we were diving head first into 6 weeks of summer reading. We operated the first several weeks without telephones. While it was quiet it was hard to do business. Our wifi took a while to get installed, but we finally are totally up and running. I don't believe we slowed down until....yesterday? No we haven't slowed down at all. With our new location we have new patrons and returning patrons. There is always someone in the library and it is amazing. If you have not visited please do. We would love to show off our new surrounding.

I mentioned the Summer Reading program. This was the first year we offered a Teen program. We had our k-5 programs on Wednesdays and our 6-12 program on Thursdays. Both programs were a huge success. We gave away 3 goodie bags to the k-5 group that included a $20 gift card to Books a million. One teen won a Pocketbook IQ for their grand prize. We can't forget the adult readers. We had more participate than ever. 3 won a goodie bag of travel themed items and one won an Avon gift basket (thanks Geneva).

Hopefully it won't be as long before I update. We are looking at a teen program on October 28 I am going to be excited to report on. Also waiting on a grant that will bring in alot of new materials, I can't wait to report on that!

Until next time,
Happy Reading!

Spring is here!

2011-03-23T09:09:00.000-05:00

I am looking out my office window with paper all over my desk and stacks of books to be processed and all I can think of is its Spring! Everything is greening and budding and blooming and calling me outside. Then I look around my office and realize that summer is next. With summer comes the Summer Reading Program. Then I realize I need to quit looking out the window and start looking at my summer reading stuff.
This years theme for the kids it One World Many Stories. I have all of the giveaways ready and half of the programs planned. I know what I want to do its just a matter of juggling dollars and planning.

This year we are having our first ever Young Adult program. This one is all planned out and I am just waiting on the financing. I have applied for a grant from a trust that only funds young adult programming. I hope to hear from them soon. If we don't get the grant I have other funds that I can tap but it would be tight.
The theme for the YA program is You Are Here.

I will post on the programming a little later. This year we will start a little later. Registration for the K-6 group will be on June 8 and the first program will be June 15. All programs will be on Wednesdays at 2:00pm. Registration for the 13 and up group will be on June 9. All of these programs will be on Thursdays at 2:00pm.

This summer is going to be so busy! We will be adjusting to a new building, by the way all programming will be help at the city hall. We do not have programming space in our new building, 2 summer reading programs, actually 3 because the Tot Spot will be going strong, and summer family movies on Tuesday afternoons.

Adults we will still have our reading incentive for you, too. It will run the same amount of time as the Summer reading program and you will be invited to attend one of the Teen programs if you are interested.

While I am fighting Spring Fever I will still be hard at work on our programs. I hope everyone is looking forward to this summer. I know that I am.

Happy Reading
Dana

Library Update 02/02/2011

2011-02-02T09:56:00.000-06:00

It's been awhile since I posted. It has been so busy! I know those of you that have been coming by has noticed the work on the new building. They should be ready to paint on Thursday. We are ordering furniture and shelving today. It's hard to believe that after 10 years we will be in our own building. We are looking to be closing sometime in March for our big move. I know that will be an inconvenience but it will only be temporary.

Keep watching the renovations and I will try to be more consistent and more informative in future blogs.

Happy Reading!
Dana

Library Update

2010-11-29T14:57:00.000-06:00

They have been working on the renovation of the Crane House for about 2 weeks. When you come into the drive you will see that they have started framing for the additions. Every day that we see progress just reinforces that we will be in our own building in a matter of weeks!

For those of you that enjoy audiobooks we now have the downloadable audios back on the Shelby County Library website. Go to http://www.shelbycounty-al.org/. There is a huge banner right in the middle of the page. Click on that and follow the direction. You will need your library card and your PIN (hint: try your month and day of birth, 4 digits). You will also have to download the overdrive software to your desktop. You can check out books for 2 weeks. Also available are e-books and music. Try it!

You no longer need a password to access the AVL as long as you are in the state of Alabama. They have added a geolocater to the site to verify that you are in the state. If you are in college out of state or are going to be gone and think that you will need access you will need a password. Come by and we can give you one.

Need help with money for college? There is a link on the same website that will help in your search for scholorships. Take a look and see if it will help.

That's all for now,
Have a great week,
Dana

Summer Wrap up

2010-09-07T15:27:00.000-05:00

Where has the time gone? The Summer Reading Program is over and now school has begun. Although our numbers for the programs were down we still had a tremendous registration. The programs were very good and everyone that came enjoyed themselves.

The Free Family Movies were very successful. We will definitely do this again. There was never a movie that didn't have someone there. The biggest movie was Diary of a Wimpy Kid. We celebrated the end of summer with popcorn and juice during the movie. I wonder what we can do next year? We will blend some classics with new releases next summer.

Next year look for a Teen summer reading program. I have an idea that I saw from another library and we may give it a try next summer. If anyone wants to help let me know.

Looking forward to seeing construction start on the Crane House so we can move the library into our own building. Lets hope it starts soon, this is the perfect weather for it.

Hopefully it won't be as long before I do another blog post. Have a great day!
Dana

IT BEGINS!!!!

2010-06-01T11:04:00.000-05:00

This Wednesday is the first program of the Summer. Join us at 2 on June 2 for "Splish Splash....fun dances through the decades" with Deborah Mauldin.

Thursday June 3 at 10:00am Disneys The Princess and the Frog.

2010-05-21T16:21:00.001-05:00

It is hard to believe the Summer reading program is upon us. Registration will begin next week with our kick-off at Westover park on Saturday May 29 from 10:00 am to 12:00pm. Check out our website at www. cityofchelsea.com/library and click on the newsletter for more information.

The end of the BIG READ

2010-04-08T14:27:00.001-05:00

The end of the Big Read is upon us. The last program will be Friday April 16 at 10:00am. This is a Senior Adult program Whitewashing with Larry Moore a traveling suitcase show. Travel back to the time of Tom Sawyer through the Medicine Show, a blend of comedy and magic. All the reviews for his program have been positive. I hope you encourage any of the seniors that you know to attend this program.

Tuesday April 20 at 6:30 we will officially close the program. The Mayor will read the last page of the book at the city council meeting.

We are gearing up for Make a Splash @ your library. The program will kick off on May 29th at the Westover City Park. Registration will be from 10:00am and go until 1:00pm. Bring a white t-shirt for an easy craft and enjoy pizza and play.

The program list for the Summer reading Program:
June 2 Splish splash
June 9 Professor Aragorn
June 16 Crafting with Ms. Sandy
June 23 Native American program
June 30 The North Shelby Baptist Puppet Program
July 7 Finale: Starshine Faces storytelling, prizes, shaved ice and face painting.

Make waves @ your library is for 6th grade and up. Registration is limited to 6. We will have a different program each week and we will read a book and have a book discussion time. See me for more info on this program.

Water your mind: Read! is a reading challenge for adults. Read 5 books in different categories and submit your list in a drawing for prizes.

More information will be coming soon!

March 2010

2010-03-18T14:41:00.001-05:00

I can't believe I waited this long to make another post We have been very busy and its easy to put things off.
One of the first new things for the library is the self-checkout system. We added this in December and have already had over 3000 items checked out on it.

Of course the Alabama Reads: the Big Read is going on reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. We had our kick-off in February with the City Council being presented with hardcover editions of the books and the Mayor read the first page of the book. Two boyscouts each won a copy of the book and we had a fence signing!

We had the opportunity to show the movie on two seperate days and then Mark Twain visited us on March 11. We had a great turn out and each person that came left with a bookbag and a copy of the book.

We have one more program scheduled for the senior adults on April 16 at 10:00am: White Washin' with Larry Moore. This should be fun program.

Our BYOC group (bring your own crochet) meets every Monday at 10:00am until 11:00am. We sometimes work on a new stitch or we will work one day a month doing a community service project. We will be crocheting hats for the Jimmy Hale mission, we will work on preemie hats and granny squares for blankets for babies or assisted living homes. If you would like to participate in our community projects but can't make the class feel free to bring your projects buy. We will be glad to add them to ours.

Summer Reading is coming soon. We will have a lot going on this summer so everyone be on the lookout for more information coming soon!

August Post

2009-08-15T12:01:00.000-05:00

I think that we have recovered from the Summer Reading program by now. Our Stats were through the roof the last two months. We have slowed down some but not that much.
The newsletter went out yesterday. It should be up on the website next week. If you would like to be added to the email list let me know.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde is our next book for the Book Club. We will meet on September 10 at 11:00am at Ekklesia Coffee House. Come join us.

Melinda Mills will be coming to do a program for Senior Adults on Friday September 4 at 10:00am. Invite your friends and come enjoy an hour of Fold and Old Tyme Gospel music.

I attempted to do an afternoon movie after the summer program was over. It was a last minute thing and we had a very small group each week. Next summer I will plan it out sooner and hopefully this can become a summer tradition.

Beginning September 5 each time you come into the library you can register to win one of two Auburnopoly or Bamaopoly games. One entry per family per visit. We will draw November 16 for the winners.

Summer Reading Program and Stats

2009-07-13T14:37:00.000-05:00

It seems like the Summer Reading Program just began and its already over. We had wonderful participation this year. 172 children registered, 10 were from Westover. We had an average attendance of 90 and the week with the highest attendance was for the North Shelby Baptist puppet program, we had 150+ that day. It was standing room only.

114 came to finale. Ashley Clinton, AC Magic) was our program. He did an awesome job. Check out his pictures on the picture feed. John Theabolt from Alabama Snow was here with his shaved ice. We gave away door prizes donated by Playing in the Dirt, Zone 1, Truly Blessed Airbrush, Dawn Wilson and some we purchased. Thanks to all that participated.

We received our stats for the month of June. We set an all time high of 6053 items circulated. We have circulated 36,807 so far...that is a 26% increase over last year. The county as a whole set a record circulation of over 167,000.

Most of you know that we are out of space. Just so you are aware, the City of Chelsea is exploring a couple of options so we can increase our space. Be on the lookout for some kind of news soon. We will not be building for a while so we are looking at alternatives that will give us some breathing room until we can build.

Great year so far and a great summer.

2009-07-09T10:52:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted. Time really flies! We just had the last summer reading program. It was a blast. Ashley Clinton of AC Magic was wonderful. This is just a quick note. I will come back later with stats.

Tumble Bus

2009-06-18T23:19:00.000-05:00

Wednesday June 17th our Tot Spot had a visit from the Tumble Bus. I don't know if anyone has seen these buses driving down the road but they were wonderful.

They do a 30 minute fitness program for 18months to 5 years old. Coach Dan and Miss Kitty take fitness to the kids. Coach Dan is a retired coach from the Sylacauga School system and Miss Kitty owned and taught gymnastics. They had the idea to wheels to there passion: teaching kids fitness.

Our preschoolers had a fantastic time jumping, riding a zip line, monkey bars, jumping and swinging. Thank you so much Coach Dan and Miss Kitty.

Coupon Class at the Library

2009-06-18T23:14:00.000-05:00

On July 28th at 6:00pm we will offer a class to help us maximize our use of coupons. I will be putting more information out as I get it. Columbiana Public Library offered this class last week and had over 31 in attendance.

The program will be in the Council Chambers at City Hall. We will begin at 6:00 pm and try to end around 7. You will be able to hang around afterward if you have more questions.

Summer Reading Up Til Now

2009-06-18T23:02:00.000-05:00

I noticed it has been a while since I posted. Needless to say I am busy!!! We have had 3 great programs for summer reading.

Amanda from the dairy mobile classroom introduced us to Lucille, a 2 year old Jersey cow and talked to us about milk and nutrition.

Ms. Sandy Johnson talked to us about art and showed us some of her artwork and explained the different mediums she used. We also created art on our t-shirts. It was a wonderful time.

This past Wednesday the puppet ministry from North Shelby Baptist Church performed for us. They always do a great job. Mayor Niven served hotdogs to all that came. We had 150+ at this program. It was standing room only!

Next Wednesday the 24th Wild West Entertainment will be here. I hope everyone can be here for this.

Summer Reading Kick Off

2009-05-31T06:54:00.000-05:00

Now that I am back from vacation it is time to get down to business with the Summer Reading Program. The kick-off is today, Sunday May 31, at 2:00. Please come by and register. If you have already registered come by and visit. We will have pizza and you can get your journal and personlize it.

The first program will be Wednesday June 3 at 10:00am. This is the Mobile Dairy classroom. I hope to see everyone there.

Thank you Kiwanis

2009-05-15T13:48:00.000-05:00

The Chelsea Kiwanis Club just made a very generous donation of $900 for our Summer Reading Program. I can't thank them enough for their support. This is the 3rd year in a row that they have sponsored our Summer Reading. If you are out and about and see a Kiwanis booth (like this weekend at the golf tournament) please make sure you support them. This is where they get their donation money.

Remember Summer Reading Kick-off Sunday May 31st at Westover Park from 2-4. See you there!

Kasey Carter

2009-05-06T13:01:00.000-05:00

We had a great visit today with Kasey Carter. The weather kept several of our toddlers away but the ones that were there really enjoyed her story. For those of you who missed here you can visit her website at www.faithfulcrushers.com .
Kasey also has a book for adults who have experienced the loss of a child. Forever Altered Yet Unbroken is the title. The website for this is www.lossofchild.net
Thank you Kasey for taking the time to visit us.

Summer Reading Program is right around the corner. Registration will begin the week of May 25 and our Kick-off will be May 31 from 2-4pm at Westover Park. Please plan to Be Creative @ your library with us this summer. For more information go to www.cityofchelsea.com/library.html.

Children's author comes to Chelsea Tot Spot

2009-04-27T13:08:00.001-05:00

Next Wedneday May 6 Kasey Carter will be at the Chelsea Library Tot Spot. Kasey is a local author who lives off of Hwy 280. She will be reading her book Loving Others from the Faithful Crushers Series. Kasey has published one other book Forever altered yet unbroken which offers a message of hope and encouragement by having relentless faith in God and a dependence on Him despite the tragic loss of a child.
Please come out and spend time with Kasey after the program.

2009-04-27T12:56:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I have posted here and I apologize. We have been so busy getting ready for summer reading that I forgot. We finally have all 4 of our computers up and running. It has taken awhile and I appreciate everyone's patience.
The current newsletter is now availabl at www.cityofchelsea.com/library.html . If you would like to have a copy sent to your email box sent me an e-mail and I will add you to the list.

Remember the book for this month is 3 Weddings and Giggle by Liz Curtis Higgs. Our meeting will be on Thursday May 14 at 11:00am at Ekklesia Coffee House. The book for June is A salty piece of land by Jimmy Buffet. This meeting will be June 11 at 11:00am at Ekklesia Coffee House.

Summer Reading 2009

2009-04-10T10:56:00.000-05:00

I think we have almost everything in place for the Summer Reading Program. The theme this year is becreative@yourlibrary. Our first program will be on June 3 at 10:00am. This is the only day that the program will be at 10. The Mobile Dairy classroom will be here. June 10th is TBA. June 17th the North Shelby Baptist Puppet Team, June 24th Wild West Entertainment, July 1 McWane Center and the finale July 8, Ashley Clinton a local magician and Alabama Snow (shaved ice). On July 8 we will be giving out door prizes. All programs except the first will be at 2:00pm.

The Chelsea Kiwanis provide the funding for the Summer Reading program.

Master the Art of Reading is the theme for the Adult Summer Reading program. To participate come by and pick up a pamphlet (After June 1). Read and list 5 books based on the categories listed and bring back to the library. This is your entry for the door prizes. We will be giving away 3 book bags with goodies in them.

For more information please call or come by the library.

Tot spot and a Fundraising opportunity

2009-03-18T13:35:00.000-05:00

The Chelsea Public Library has an opportunity to raise money by offering a discount coupon code for the Bama Jam music & arts festival in Enterprise, Al June 4th -6th. By calling us and getting the code and then ordering online you can save $40 off the ticket price of 179.50. Advanced tickets without the code are 159.50. The Chelsea Library will receive $10 for each code redeemed. The code is valid through April 15th. For more info on the festival go to :
www.bamajammusicfestival.com

Well there is nothing like a cold to encourage you to try new things. We were suppose to do the letter H today in the Tot Spot but I didn't think that I was going to be able to read to well. So I decided we were going to do an all music day. We had one book that had the cd with it called whopper cake that was read and then we did a couple of songs and pulled out the musical instruments. I had a blast. It was more tiring than reading but I did save my throat. Next week we will pick up on the letter H.

I received a new shipment of books and am working hard to get them on the shelves. Hope to see you soon.

2009-03-12T12:49:00.001-05:00

We just finished our monthly book club. Thank you Linda and Lynn for coming and being ready to participate. I say that because 2 of us actually did not read the book. If not for Linda we would have been just getting together for coffee. It actually just goes to show that you can have very good discussions even if not everyone has read the book. Thanks again to Ekelesia for allowing us to meet there. Our book for May is Queen of Broken Hearts by Cassandra King. We will meet on April 9 at 11:00 am at Ekelesia Coffee Shop in the Foothills. This is an open book club; we welcome new members.

The Tot Spot spent an exciting Wednesday learning about March. We took the phrase "Comes in like a lion and out like a lamb". We read The Lion and the Mouse, The Windflyers, all about kites, and several Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes about lions and lambs. We also did a new activity using bandanas or scarves. We pretended we were water, wind and the earth spinning. Next week will be on the letter H. Join us at 10:30am.

We are still in preparation for the Summer Reading Program. We will have an exciting summer. I hope everyone plans to attend. This year Westover public library may be joining with us because they are still not re-opened. The Summer Reading Program will run from June 3- July 8. I will be posting more the closer we get.

There will be a few new books arriving next week (hopefully) and some audios. If you haven't listened to a book yet give it a try.

Have a great day!

2009-02-28T14:33:00.000-06:00

We finally have all of our computers up and running. It has been a while and I appreciate everyone's patience.

2009-02-26T15:48:00.000-06:00

Here is a new site that is very interesting. If you are into newspapers, this site lets you click on a dot within a state and you get that days headlines.

http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/

2009-02-20T10:55:00.000-06:00

The Summer Reading program is beginning to shape up. We have the dates: Wednesdays June3-July 8. For the first program we will meet at 10:00 a.m. The Dairy Association is bringing out their milking station (with a cow). The rest of the programs will be at 2:00. Look for more info closer to the time to register.

The Book Club is reading Ireland:a Novel by Frank Delaney. The meeting is March 12 at 11:00 a.m. at Ekklesia Coffee House. Please plan to join us. If you haven't read the book that's ok.

Are you looking for a volunteer opportunity? You can always volunteer here, but if you want to get healthy while you volunteer the Humane Society is looking for people to come in and help walk dogs. You can set up a regular time or call about 30 minutes ahead and they will have a dog waiting for you.

Have a great weekend.

2009-02-16T16:30:00.000-06:00

The Laugh Yoga class had a great turnout. There were 10-15 Senior Adults that showed up for the class. I could not make it because of a medical issue with my family so I can't give a whole lot of details. I plan to attend a Laugh Yoga workshop on April 1 at Harrison Regional Library. We may decide to make this a regular class for our Seniors.

This Wednesday at the Tot Spot we will be on the letter E. Come join us as we read, sing and learn. Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

Don't forget the bookclub book for March...Ireland: a novel by Frank Delaney. The meeting will be March 12.

2009-02-11T15:01:00.000-06:00

We had a really good turnout for the Tot Spot today. We talked about words that rhymed, Valentine's Day, and friends. We sang our songs and marched with sticks and made new friends. I hope all of you come back next week.

I know you have heard of the Connecting Families project for the military families. We have our Mac and if you know of anyone who needs to use this program please let them know that we are up and running. This is a program that allows families who have loved ones overseas to stay in contact with each other. There are some logistics that have to be worked out and each family will be different. If you have any questions just ask. I probably don't know the answer but can find it out.

Don't forget the Laugh Yoga class this Friday at 10:00 a.m. Please encourage any Senior Adult you know to attend.

Wednesday's Tot Spot

2009-02-10T15:32:00.000-06:00

This Wednesday in the Tot Spot we will be learning about Valentine's Day in the month of February. This is for 2,3 and 4 year old but we will welcome younger or older. Come out and sing, listen, dance and learn with us.
Remember: Wednesday 10:30a.m. at the Library

Laugh Yoga class

2009-02-06T14:31:00.000-06:00

We have all heard the phrase "laughter is the best medicine". On Friday February 13 at 10:00 we will have a laugh yoga class for the Senior Adults. I am not 100% sure what this will involve but I am looking forward to finding out. Becky at Harrison Regional Library will lead this group. There are several on staff there that are certified laugh yoga instructors (that's certified not certifiable :) ). If you know of a senior adult that would be interested, send them to library next Friday to get a good dose of laughter.

2009-02-04T14:03:00.000-06:00

Are you looking for the first novel in the mystery series you have just discovered? Start at www.stopyourekillingme.com. At this site you will be find over 2700 hundred authors and their books(over 30,000) listed in chronological order, both series(3100+) and non-series. This is an excellent site to visit and browse for new authors ( 0r old).

How about reading books online? Some of us prefer to have the actual book in hand and actually turning the paper pages. Those of us that are more computer oriented can find over 5000 free publications that you can read while sitting at your computer. www.questia.com/publicdomainindex is the place to start. Their database contains alot of the classics and rare books. There is also a subscription service available.

Check out these sites and if you come across other sites that might be of interest to our readers please pass them along. I will check them out and then post them for others.

2009-02-02T15:05:00.000-06:00

Have you ever thought about doing a reading challenge? For instance, challenge yourself to read 100+ books in a year, oh and review the book also. You can find this challenge at:
http://j-kaye-book-blog.blgspot.com
You will find several challenges on this blog so you can pick and choose how you want to challenge yourself to read.

Don't find one there? Then look at
http://novelchallenges.blogspot.com

The author of this blog has made it possible to locate all kinds of challenges in one place. I might have to try one myself soon.

2009-01-31T13:15:00.000-06:00

The Chelsea Public Library is a small library in a small but growing city in Chelsea, Alabama. We opened our doors February of 2000 in the upstairs boardroom of a bank on Hwy. 280. 4 years later we moved to our current location in the new City Hall, still small but bigger.

Our programming currently consist of: a toddler reading time-the Tot Spot- Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m., the summer reading program, and a book club that meets the 2nd Thursday of each month at 11:oo am. We have 4 computers available for public use, a black and white laser printer and a color laser printer and WI-FI.

When we opened our doors we were a branch of the Harrison Regional Library. 9 years later we orgnanized as a Municipal Library. This was a huge step for our library!

I am excited at what the future holds for the Chelsea Public Library.