Best Books of 2014

What were some of the best books of 2014? The New York Times Book Review has released its picks of the 100 Notable Books of the year. If those titles are too “literaryish” for you, please consider the 2014 Goodreads Choice Awards chosen by the readers of goodreads.com. Several of my favorites including the Martian by Andy Weir and Landline by Rainbow Rowell are included.

Either way you go, we have many of the titles at the LME Library. You use the new library catalog to search for both print and ebook editions or you can limit to just the ebook or print edition. So what are you waiting for? Ring in the new year with your new favorite book!

Addition on 12/10/14:  earlyword.com has added several of the best (and worst) to their New Best Books Lists post

Fiber Arts Show Nov 17-Dec 13

Don't miss our Fiber Arts Show at the LME Library from November 17-December 13

Google Searching—Want to learn how to search Google better?

With more and more of the world's content online, it is critical that users understand how to effectively use web search to find quality sources appropriate to their task. 

Here’re some Google resources to make you searching easier:

Google Advance search at http://www.google.com/advanced_search. Makes searching easier by providing hints such as using proximity operators or phrase searching. (Limiting by page type--.edu/.gov is also helpful!)

Google Search lessons at http://www.google.com/insidesearch/searcheducation/lessons.html This series of lessons is specifically designed to help you guide students to use search meaningfully in their schoolwork and beyond and are broken down based on level of expertise in search: Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced.

Google A Day Challenges at http://www.google.com/insidesearch/searcheducation/lessons.html#challenges A Google A Day challenges help students put their search skills to the test, and to get users engaged and excited about using technology to discover the world around them.

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read, September 21-27

It may surprise some to find out there are hundreds of reported attempts to ban books every year in the United States. It may be even more astounding for them to hear that since 1990, the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) has received reports of more than 18,000 attempts to remove materials in schools and libraries for content deemed by some as inappropriate, controversial, or even dangerous.

Banned Books Week, Sept. 21 – 27, 2014, reminds Americans about the importance of preventing censorship and ensuring everyone’s freedom to read any book they choose. According to ALA’s OIF, for every banned book reported, there are many more that are not.

“Our most basic freedom in a democratic society is our first amendment right of the freedom to read,” said ALA President Courtney Young. “Banned Books Week is an opportunity for all of us – community residents, librarians, authors and educators – to stand together protecting this fundamental right for everyone and for future generations. We can never take this precious right for granted.”

By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted with removal or restrictions in libraries and schools. While books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available. This happens only thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, students, and community members who stand up and speak out for the freedom to read.

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, American Library Association, American Society of Journalists and Authors, Association of American Publishers; Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Freedom to Read Foundation, National Association of College Stores, National Coalition Against Censorship, National Council of Teachers of English, PEN American Center, People For the American Way and Project Censored. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.

For more information on Banned Books Week, book challenges and censorship, please visit the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom’s Banned Books website or bannedbooksweek.org.

YEAR IN REVIEW, 2013-2014

The Lillie M. Evans Library District just wrapped up our fiscal year of July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014.  From completing our carpeting project to hosting the Lincoln Exhibit, it was a very busy year for us.  Here are some of the highlights:

• Our Friends of the Library group once again had a very successful book sale.  As a result, they purchased additional Ellison die cutters, an Ellison cart, a rug for the class visits, and an audio system for the meeting room. They also continued their sponsorship of an additional entertainer for the SRP, help with the Teen SRP grand prize, SRP refreshments at the pool party, and a gift card for the Holiday Homecoming raffle.
• We completed our final carpeting phase in August.  Once all the upgrades were complete, we shifted the adult fiction and non-fiction collections. All the non-fiction, fiction, large print, playaways, biographies, and young adult fiction were also moved.  The Turner picture was reframed as per our interior designer’s recommendation, and we had our open house on September 11^th. Both Senator Darrin LaHood and Representative David Leitch attended. 
• Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War exhibit was a very successful collaboration with the Princeville Heritage Museum.  It was on display from April 7, 2014 through May 9, 2014.  We had a total of 1,278 visitors and 23 class visits. We were very fortunate to secure grant funding for this exhibit.  It was organized by the National Constitution Center and the American Library Association Public Programs Office and was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  In addition, we were able to secure funding for 2 of our programs through grants from the Illinois Humanities Council.  The Museum hosted the opening reception and our programs included:  Illinois in the Civil War presented by Tom Emery, Black Jack Logan: Civil War General, Senator, King-Maker with Brian “Fox” Ellis, the Anti-Slavery Movement in Black & White presented by Jeanne Schultz Angel, and by far our most successful program, Mrs. Lincoln’s Tea & Salon with historical impersonator, Debra Ann Miller. Thank you to the Princeville Heritage Museum & especially, Julie Delbridge for all the time and effort provided and to everyone who attended and supported this exhibit and programming.
• This year the extreme weather conditions impacted on our statistics.  We had to close the library on January 6^th due to weather, and we cancelled several programs due to the closure of Princeville CUSD for weather related reasons. Additionally, storms and continued inclement weather definitely had an impact on patron visits.  Our overall circulation was up a little over 1% from last year, but our attendance was down 5% overall. Our total materials circulation for FY14 was 48,485 which averaged 4,040 items/month.
• We added a Fabric Crafts and Fiber Arts show in November/December. This was a non-juried show but was fun and looked great in the library.  We had 50 pieces on display. It was up during Holiday Homecoming and the Princeville Woman’s Club Home Tour.  Unfortunately the weather was not good for the home tour, but we still saw 28 people that evening.
• This was our second year that we hosted the redesigned Art Show during Heritage Days.  This year we made some additional changes by expanding the drop off and pick up times, adjusting the hours during Heritage Days, and provided more time for set up and judging.  The opening reception was on Friday, June 20^th and we had over 80 people attend.  In addition to the Heritage Days hours, the Art Show continued to be on display during our regular library hours through July 5^th.   We had 21 artists participate this year and 61 pieces of art exhibited. Thank you to everyone who joined us in celebrating art and artists in our community!
• We are working on our long range planning.  It’s hard to believe we just completed our last 3 year plan.  Thank you to everyone who attended our focus group or filled out our library survey.  We’ve completed the FY15 plan and are finishing up with FY16 & FY17.  We are also updating our Technology Plan and working with a consultant to identify building needs.
• Reaching Across Illinois Libraries System (RAILS) completed their long range planning process in 2013-2014.  In fall 2013, they received a grant from the Illinois State Library to start an eBook consortium using Baker & Taylor’s 360 Axis. This collection, eRead Illinois, only includes ebooks but RAILS has structured it to be sustainable after the grant funding ends.  Even though we have joined eRead IL, we continue to participate in the Alliance Digital Media Library (ADML) which is supported by Overdrive and provides ebooks and audio books.

Pew Internet & American Life Project

The Pew Internet & American Life Project is an initiative of the Pew Research Center, a nonprofit “fact tank” that provides information on the issues, attitudes, and trends shaping America and the world. The Pew Internet Project explores the impact of the internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools, health care and civic/political life.  

They've done surveys on Americans reading habits, how Americans value libraries and on the rise of ereading devices.  Their latest post is on 7 surprises about libraries in our surveys

Their is even a Library User Quiz so you can see how your own library habits stack up against the rest of your community—and the U.S. as a whole. Want to checkout the research they've done so far?  Go to http://libraries.pewinternet.org/about/research-timeline/ 

Final week--Lincoln Exhibit closes May 9th

This is the final week for the Lincoln exhibit at the Princeville Heritage Musuem. Be sure to stop by before the exhibit closes! In addition to the national traveling exhibit, there are also displays about local history designed by the Museum. Regular exhibit hours through May 9th are: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays & Saturdays 10am-2pm; Tuesdays from 2pm-8pm; and Thursdays from 2pm-6pm. The exhibit is closed on Sundays. The final opportunity to visit the exhibit will be at the Community Coffee on Wednesday, May 15th from 8-10:30am.  After that, the exhibit will be dismantled and shipped off to the next location.

The Princeville Heritage Museum in conjunction with the Lillie M. Evans Library has been hosting the exhibit, Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War since April 7, 2014. Organized thematically, the exhibition explores how Lincoln used the Constitution to confront three intertwined crises of the war—the secession of Southern states, slavery, and wartime civil liberties. Visitors will leave the exhibition with a more complete understanding of Abraham Lincoln as president and the Civil War as the nation’s gravest constitutional crisis.

Lincoln: the Constitution and the Civil War is a traveling exhibition for libraries and was organized by the National Constitution Center and the American Library Association Public Programs Office. The traveling exhibition has been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Lincoln: the Constitution and the Civil War is based on an exhibition of the same name developed by the National Constitution Center. A short video walkthrough (10:25 min.) with Dr. Steve Frank, Chief Interpretive Officer at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, is available online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hNVUPM5SOg

The Museum is located 325 N Ostrom Avenue in Princeville, IL—a half mile from the LME Library in the Ostrom subdivision. The 30,000 sq ft handicap-accessible facility features agriculture antiques, area artifacts, genealogy research, and more. The Akron Townhouse School, a one-room school, is located on the Museum grounds. For more information and for booking group or class visits, please call the Museum (309) 385-1916.

Library Survey--April 1-30, 2014

We are conducting a survey for our long range plan during the month of April. Surveys are available online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/lmelibrary

or a paper copy can be requested at the library.

Long Range Planning—setting our next goals

The last time we did a long range plan was three years ago when I first joined LME Library.  We’ve been using the information we gathered and the goals we set to map our library services through FY14.  Now we are looking for input from the community as we evaluate new possibilities and develop a plan for FY15-FY17.

Throughout April and May, the Lillie M. Evans Library District invites you to participate in the long-range planning process for your library.  Some of you may attend a focus group and others may complete a library survey.  Community input is essential in the planning process, and we appreciate the support of both our users and non-users.  

Superior library service doesn’t just happen.  To achieve excellence, you need a plan.  The Board of Trustees is committed to developing a long-range plan with a series of objectives that support the vision that our community has presented.  In early summer, the Board will share this long-range plan with you as we continue to seek new and better ways to serve our community.

eRead Illinois=more ebooks at LME Library

The LME Library is participating in the eRead Illinois Program, designed to increase access to e-books across Illinois. The LME Library card holders already have one ebook service, ADML (limit 2 @ a time), but now have access to more ebooks through eRead Illinois (limit 3 @ a time).   This increases ebooks checkouts for LME Library patrons to a total of 5 ebooks at a time!  Patrons at libraries participating in eRead Illinois can access the cloud-based delivery across a number of devices including iPad, iPhone, Android, Windows, NOOK^® and Sony Reader^TM devices, and many more.

What are the differences in the services?  ADML provides both ebook and audio book downloads from the vendor, OverDrive. Materials are purchased for both children and adults. eRead Illinois only has ebooks and from the vendor, Baker & Taylor. Materials are purchased for both children and adults but the focus is on popular material with multiple copies purchased when items are in demand.  Both services are shared consortia collections which provide larger selections of materials yet reduce the costs to the libraries.

Illinois Heartland System and Reaching Across Illinois Library System have partnered with the Illinois State Library and Baker & Taylor to provide this access. Initial funding for eRead Illinois was provided by a grant from Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White through the Illinois State Library. “RAILS selected Baker & Taylor’s Axis 360 platform for the eRead Illinois grant because of the breadth and depth of available titles, the flexibility of options to meet the diverse needs of our libraries across Illinois and the ADA compliance of the Baker & Taylor Blio ereader. Equal access for all users in RAILS member libraries is very important to us,” said Dee Brennan, Executive Director of Reaching Across Illinois Library System.

eRead Illinois is available through the LME Library website at lmelibrary.org or directly at lme.axis360.baker-taylor.com and requires a LME Library card number and PIN.  Contact the library at 309-385-4540 if you have questions about your library card number/PIN or have any other questions about this service.

New Ellison cutters at the LME Library

Thanks to the Friends of the Lillie M. Evans Library, the Library now has an Ellison cart and additional Ellison cutter dies. Ellison cutters allow the user to cut perfect shapes with the use of a cutter machine and cutter dies. The system is simple to use and makes it easy to produce displays, posters, and other graphics. 

The cart was bought to house the Ellison cutters that the Friends purchased in 2012. At that time, they purchased a cutter machine and 4 inch letters. Now they have added the cart to easily move the cutter throughout the library and house the cutter dies. In addition, they purchased 10 geometric shapes dies and 8 seasonal dies. 

If anyone would like to use the Ellison machine or dies in the library, just ask at the front desk. We also have a Cricut machine that is an electronic cutting device. The Cricut machine provides inspiration and creativity when designing projects for card making, scrapbooking, school projects, and more. Both systems can only be used in the library. The LME Library’s regular hours are Mondays & Wednesdays from 9am-8pm; Tuesdays, Thursdays, & Fridays from 9am-5pm and Saturdays from 9am-1pm. 

The mission of the Friends is to support the needs of the Library in a variety of ways. In addition to purchasing the Ellison system & cart, the Friends assist with the Summer Reading Program, purchased the child size sofa & chair in the juvenile area, purchased seating in the YA section, and last year, provided the benches in front of the Library’s Walnut Street entrance. Friends meetings are usually quarterly. The Friends host the library book sale in the month of August. To join the Friends of the LME Library, please contact the library at lill@lmelibrary.org or call us at 385-4540.

National Lincoln Exhibit Comes to Princeville in April 2014

The Princeville Heritage Museum in conjunction with the Lillie M. Evans Library will be hosting the exhibit, Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War from April 7, 2014 through May 9, 2014.  Organized thematically, the exhibition explores how Lincoln used the Constitution to confront three intertwined crises of the war—the secession of Southern states, slavery, and wartime civil liberties. Visitors will leave the exhibition with a more complete understanding of Abraham Lincoln as president and the Civil War as the nation’s gravest constitutional crisis.

Lincoln: the Constitution and the Civil War is a traveling exhibition for libraries and was organized by the National Constitution Center and the American Library Association Public Programs Office. The traveling exhibition has been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Lincoln: the Constitution and the Civil War is based on an exhibition of the same name developed by the National Constitution Center.  A short video walkthrough (10:25 min.) with Dr. Steve Frank, Chief Interpretive Officer at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, is available online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hNVUPM5SOg (Preview)

Regular hours at the Princeville Heritage Museum during this exhibit will be Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays & Saturdays 10am-2pm; Tuesdays from 2pm-8pm; and Thursdays from 2pm-6pm.  The exhibit is closed on Sundays.  The Museum is located 325 N Ostrom Avenue in Princeville, IL—15 minutes north of Peoria. The 30,000 sq ft handicap-accessible facility features agriculture antiques, area artifacts, genealogy research, and more. The Akron Townhouse School, a one-room school, is located on the Museum grounds.  For more information and for booking class visits, please call the Museum (309) 385-1916. 

In addition to the regular exhibit hours, there will be programs at the Museum on Tuesdays starting April 8th and continuing through April 29th.  The first in this series is Illinois in the Civil War and it will be presented by Tom Emery on April 8th 6:30pm. On April 15th 6:30pm Brian Fox Ellis will present Black Jack Logan: Civil War General, Senator, King-Maker. On April 22nd 1pm, historical impersonator, Debra Ann Miller, takes us back to Mrs. Lincoln’s “blue room salon” in April 1865.  A special tea with Mrs. Lincoln is included—please call the Museum @ 385-1916 for reservations! The last program will be on April 29th 6:30pm.  Jeanne Schultz Angel will present the Anti-Slavery Movement in Black & White and explore the history behind the anti-slavery movement in Northern Illinois. Two of the programs, Black Jack Logan and the Anti-Slavery Movement in Black & White were provided through a grant from the IHC Road Scholars Speakers Bureau.  Visit the LME Library website at lmelibrary.org for more information on these programs. 

LME Library and 2014 Goals

Still working on setting your New Year’s resolutions? Here’re some suggestions from the Lillie M. Evans Library that can make 2014 great!

1. Resolve to get more fit. Our 6th season of LME Library’s Biggest Loser runs from January 8th-March 5th. This 8 week program can help you get a kick start on your fitness goals. Did you know the library has a great selection of workout DVDs and offers fitness programs throughout the week? Our yoga group meets on Mondays and Fridays at 9:15am. Zumba featuring Latin music and dance provides a great cardio workout on Tuesdays & Thursdays at 6:15pm. Workout Wednesdays is a great opportunity to preview some of the LME fitness videos and meets on Wednesdays at 5:30pm. Fitness hooping works your core, hips and thighs and meets on Saturdays at 1pm. No preregistration is required and participation is free. Come to the staff entrance on Walnut Street (near Harvey Stahl Plumbing) for sessions that take place after the library is closed. Don’t forget the cookbooks! The LME Library also has variety of cookbooks for those looking for healthy recipes. 
2. Resolve to declutter your home. Are you looking for a place to bring your used books, DVDs, or ink cartridges? Donate them to the LME Library! Items not added to the library collection go to the Friends of the Library for their booksale. Over the years, the Friends have supported the library by donated materials, equipment, furniture, and funds for children’s programs. The Friends are also collecting empty inkjet cartridges for recycling. Cartridges can be deposited in our collection bin at the library.
3. Resolve to stop paying overdue library fines. You can when your books are never overdue. Sign up for Shoutbomb text notifications or email alerts, and you will always know when your loan period is up. Then you can renew your books online, by text message, in person, or by phone. Don’t forget that you can return all items in the drop box outside the library even if the library is closed. You can also use our e-book service (http://alliance.lib.overdrive.com) and the e-book will expire when the loan period has ended. 
4. Resolve to learn more about technology. The LME Library is offering drop-in computer classes on Wednesdays from 3:30-5:30pm now through the end of January. Just got a new Kindle or iPad? Stop by and we’ll help you get started. Want to read an ebook on your device? We can help you borrow from the libraries e-books collection. We also have Word and Internet classes on Fridays from 11-noon until January 31st. If you don’t have a computer or Wi-Fi device, we have 9 public access computers for use. Our webpage at http://lmelibrary.org is available from any Internet device, and our databases include full-text newspaper articles from Peoria & around the US, e-books & audio books, kids interactive books, genealogical research sources, language learning programs, and fiction read-a-like lists. 
5. Resolve to read more. Reading is an active mental process and a fundamental skill builder. It improves your vocabulary, and reading gives you a glimpse into other cultures and places. Reading has many benefits–in addition to improving your focus and concentration, reading is entertaining and fun! With your LME Library card, you can borrow books from our library or one of the 180+ libraries in our region. We have audios, magazines, and DVDS as well as e-books. Even though we’re small, we’re mighty! Last year 47,803 items circulated from the LME Library and over 35,000 people visited. 

It’s a whole new year, and we want to make it easy to start and keep your resolutions. Stop in, call (385-4540) or visit the LME Library website at http://lmelibrary.org. You’ll be glad you did!