The Move January 13, 2007

HOW ONE SMALL CASH POOR LIBRARY PREPARED FOR THE MOVE DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON, MOVED IN ONE WEEKEND WITHOUT SPENDING ANY LIBRARY MONEY, OPENED ON TIME THE FOLLOWING MONDAY AND LIVED TO TELL THE STORY

We sure didn’t have much money, and we couldn’t afford our own building. But when we heard that the former church, built in 1997, was for sale, we thought of the potential that was there. Our present location left a lot to be desired. It was a historic building, to be sure, built in 1902, with an intact opera house in the second floor. However, our library occupied too small a space for the population we serve, the heating and air conditioning needed to be upgraded, and it was not accessible. We had worked with a library building consultant and an architect to draw up a building plan for renovation of the building, which would include enlargement of the library. But we never could come up with enough money to do the work.

So, the former church sure looked like the answer. Our former location was actually a community center, and the village officials bought the church with the idea that it would be the new community center, including the library. And we have enough money set aside that we can afford to do what we need to do in the new location.

Once the plan was approved, we had serious work to do. To move a library, you need to plan and organize. You need people, time, boxes, tape, markers, scissors, muscles, and cameras to record the progress. Our board president and our director began about nine weeks ahead of the move, planning and organizing. Others pitched in as they were able. We were assisted for several days by a relative from Kentucky. Three heads are better than two, especially when two are sisters. We weeded out one fourth of the collection and set those books aside for a sale. We went through every object in the library, and almost every paper in every file cabinet, threw out magazines and catalogs, put older books in storage, putting unwanted items for that upcoming garage sale.

Each shelf, file cabinet, piece of furniture and unboxed item was labeled with color coded sticky labels as to where it was to go in the new location. Boxes were appropriately labeled as to room number, number of shelf or spinner and starting and ending authors or titles in the box.

The night before the move, we closed the library two hours early. The board members, directors and others spend five hours packing up the remaining collection and other items.

The volunteer fire department volunteered, or was volunteered, to move us the half mile to the new location. The husband of one board member was able to secure a furniture van. Boxes came from everywhere – the local grocery store, a moving business, and several board members who were present or former business owners. Local businesses provided food, which was served by the Girl Scouts.

Moving day, January 13, 2007, was damp, with a forecast of an ice storm. Thankfully, it was nothing worse than light rain. The movers started by 9 a.m. and had everything out to the new location by 11:30. We had as many community members helping us reshelve as we had space for them to work. By 4:30, everything was shelved and ready for a Monday opening.

Much remains to be done, and we will be moving again, once our permanent location in the building is ready for us. But then, we will only have to move down the hall.

This move brought out the best in some of the residents of Homer. Not everyone who helped us uses the library on a regular basis, but they recognize the value of the library to the community as a whole.

Our Upcoming Move

Weather permitting, the Homer Library will close January 12 at 5 p.m. to pack up. The move will take place Saturday, January 13. We plan to reopen Monday, January 15 at the normal time of 2 p.m. To make this happen, we are asking those who are familiar with the Dewey Decimal System and are good at alphabetizing to help us reshelve materials on Saturday evening.

Because some confusion will result, we are suspending fines for one week, from Saturday, January 13 to Saturday January 20. That will be a good time to return those overdue books and other materials, no matter when you checked them out. Fines will again begin to accrue on January 22.

More news here!

Have you seen the winning bookmarks that the school children made? All the entries are on display in the hallway outside the library or inside on the table. The winning bookmarks are available in the library to anyone who wants them. Help yourself to one or more.

Have you been in the library lately? If you have, you’ve seen that we are hard at work preparing for the move. Everything on, under or beside the sale table is still only one nickel each. That includes videos and music CDs. Help yourself to a bargain.

Is there an Illinois Veteran in your family? The State of Illinois is sponsoring an Illinois Veterans’ Project, to honor veterans and save the history of their service in the military. Participation forms can be picked up at the library.

The newest DVDs are Superman Returns and Ice Age: The Meltdown. Our new books are Ricochet by Sandra Brown, Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris, The Bancroft Strategy by Robert Ludlum, Wildfire by Nelson DeMille, Coach Tex Winter: Triangle Basketball by Ann Parr, Whispers of Winter by Tracie Peterson, Glad Tidings by Debbie Macomber, Ready for Love by Debbie Macomber, and A Woman’s Place by Lynn Austin.

Also new are two employees, Brenda Stineman and Marnie Hess. Marnie has extensive library experience and will be here on a regular basis, and Brenda will fill in as needed. Holly Humphrey has moved on to other activities. If you see her, please wish her well and thank her for her service here.

It is not too late to register your interests in non-fiction audio books. We have not ordered them yet. Pick up a survey form in the library, or go to our blog to get the url of the survey. It is two parts on the internet. Thanks to all who have participated so far. Our blog can be found at homerillinois.blogspot.com

News

What’s new in the Homer Library today? The winning bookmarks have been printed out and are in the library on display, and they are available for use in marking your place in the book you are reading. All bookmark contest entries are on display on the wall outside the library. Take a minute and enjoy the creativity of our young people.

If you come in the library, you will see that we have been very busy getting ready for the move. We may be moving late this month, or early next month, weather permitting. Meanwhile, we are making plans for the furnishing of the new library.

The book/video sale continues. Everything on and under the sale table is five cents, one nickel. What a bargain!

Chess, anyone??

The Homer Library will be sponsoring a Chess Club for young people beginning in January, and meeting once a week. It is BYOBoard. For information, call 896-2693. All skill levels are welcome.

Bookmark Contest and Bookmarks

Recently we held a bookmark contest for the children who are served by our RIF program. The entries have been judged and the winning bookmarks are being printed. When done, they will be available in the library. Meanwhile, the remaining entries are on display in the hallway outside the library. Homer has some very clever and artistic children, and it was hard to chose the winners. But, in a very real sense, they are all winners.

News for You

What’s news this week in the Homer Library? Seven new adult fiction books and four new DVDs are waiting to get checked out. They are Born in Death by J. D. Robb, A Carol for Christmas by Robin Lee Hatcher, Under the Northern Lights by Tracie Peterson, First Impressions by Nora Roberts, H.R.H. by Danielle Steel, Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier and The Widow by Carla Neggers.

The new DVDs include Cars from Disney, Firewall with Harrison Ford, The Lake House with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves, and Dreamworks’ Over the Hedge.

We are still seeking input on our survey. Before we spend $3,000 on non-fiction audio books, we want to know what subject areas you are interested in. You can either pickup a survey form in the library, or take the survey online by copy and pasting the urls from our October 20 and 28 posts into your browser. The online survey is in two separate parts.

Thank you to all who have already participated.

What's New?

First - what we don't know. We don't know yet when we're moving. There are things to be worked out, preparations to be made. We will be moving 12,360 books, 170 music CDs, 820 DVD and VHS tapes, and 27 magazine titles with at least three years of issues of each title. Plus desks, tables, chairs, machines, shelving, supplies etc. It will be a big undertaking, even in a small library.

The first Reading is Fundamental (RIF) distribution will take place soon. Three times each school year, we give each child in grades kindergarten through fourth a free book of her or his choosing. Any books leftover from that (and we always have more RIF books in inventory) will need to be moved, also.

Our new books this week are Family by Karen Kingsbury, Hundred-Dollar Baby by Robert B. Parker and Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. We also have four DVDs on the United States Constitution.

We still need your input on audio books. Please see our blog entries of October 17 and October 20 for the link to the online survey, which is in two parts. Or you may get a paper copy of the survey in the library. Your input will be greatly appreciated.

Help Wanted

The Homer Library (Homer,Illinois)is looking for someone who would like to work on an occasional basis in the library doing clerical work. It would mainly entail checking items in and out, reshelving materials, and helping patrons. Anyone interested can call 217-896-2121, or come to the library at 101 N.Main, Homer. We are in the village hall, second door on the right.

Survey Part Two

Copy and paste the following link into your browser to access the second part of the survey. Your input is very much appreciated!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=151302757752

Library News Today

HOMER LIBRARY NEWS

The End is here! Really! Literally. As Lemony would tell you, “The end of THE END can be found at the end of THE END.” Anyway, The End, Book the 13th by Lemony Snicket is in. Is it really THE END? Read the book and see what you think.

Other new books this week include Echo Park by Michael Connelly, Short Straw by Stuart Woods, The Collectors by David Baldacci, Finding Noel by Richard Paul Evans, When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin and The Innocent Man by John Grisham.

Our five cent book sale continues indefinitely. Come in and find some treasures.

You may have read in the newspaper that this library will be receiving a $3,000 grant for materials. We have specified that we will purchase non-fiction audio books. We want to know what you would like to hear. A survey is available online and in the library for you to register your interests. See the previous post for the link to the online survey. What you will see is part one. Please check back later for part two.

Attention Homer Illinois area residents...

We are conducting a survey to determine what local residents are interested in listening to. You see, we have been awarded a $3,000 grant to purchase audiobooks. Now, we want to know what you want to listen to. To give us your input, please copy and paste the url for the survey into your browser:

Copy and paste the following link to take survey.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=667032738082


This survey is designed for those who use the library in Homer, Illinois. Thank you.

New Stuff and a Move

HOMER LIBRARY NEWS

We’re moving! You probably already know that. We’re having a moving sale. Everything on and under the sale table is five cents. Books, VHS tapes, cassettes. Eveything.

Meanwhile, we’ve got lots of new books for you to read. They include Fool Me Once by Fern Michaels, The Mission Song by John LeCarre, Motor Mouth by Janet Evanovich, Under Orders by Dick Francis (back to writing again after a hiatus of many years), 6 Rainier Drive by Debbie Macomber, Christmas Letters by Debbie Macomber, The Brethren by Beverly Lewis, Public Enemy by Will Staeger, Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg, The Owl and Moon Café by JoAnn Mapson, Dead Wrong by J. A. Jance, Night Light by Terri Blackstock, and A Slender Thread by Tracie Peterson.

Our new non-fiction is the Mayo Clinic Guide to Alzheimer’s disease by Ronald Petersen.

For the young adult readers we have The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman and Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes for junior readers.

Our newest DVD is Brother Bear 2.

More news about the move will be coming out soon, as well as a survey. The survey will help us determine how to spend the grant we were recently awarded. Watch for an announcement about the survey.

MOVING SALE

Due to our upcoming move, we are having a sale. Everyone on and under the sale table is five cents, one humble nickel. Books, videos, cassettes - whatever. It's on sale.

Bookmark Contest - changes made

There’s a change of plans in regard to the bookmark contest. We will be passing out entry blanks to children in grades kindergarten through fourth during the fall RIF distribution. That will take place sometime in October. Older children who want to enter will still have to pick up entry forms at the library.

Call 896-2121 for more information.

Business Expo in Homer and New Materials

Tomorrow is the Business Expo in Homer. Be sure to stop in at the Homer Grade School between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. It looks to be an exciting day.


The Homer Library will be there with a selection of items from our book and video sale. Also, we are sponsoring a bookmark contest for children ages 3 through 12. It will be broken down by ages so that the young ones are not competing against the oldest ones. Some of the prizes to be given out will be on display. So kids, get out your crayons, markers, whatever materials you prefer, to make a book mark.

Library Board members will judge the entries by age groups and award prizes. Winning bookmarks will be printed out and available in the library.

Our newest materials are Public Enemy by Will Staeger, Dead Wrong by J. A. Jance, The Owl and the Moon Café by Jo-Ann Mapson, The Mayo Clinic Guide to Alzheimer's Disease by Ronald Petersen, and DVD Brother Bear 2 from Disney.

New Stuff for you

There’s always something new in the Homer Community Library. We anticipate having a book order come in later this month, but in the meantime, here’s a small selection of new items for your reading and viewing pleasure.

Our newest adult fiction includes Vanish by Tess Gerritsen, An Unexpected Song by Iris Johansen, and Dead Run by P. J. Tracy.

All Parts Together is an historical novel of the Civil War. As it is part two of a series, you might want to want until the backordered part one arrives. The series is written for young adults and above.

Our new DVDs are Love’s Long Journey, based on the book of the same name by Janette Oke, Hoot, and RV with Robin Williams.

We are open from 2 to 7 p.m. each weekday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. We will be closed Monday, September 4, Labor Day. Our phone number is 217-896-2121.

Good Reading Ahead

After a week of vacation in New Hampshire, getting caught up afterwards, and having the computer out of commission for a week, I’m finally getting caught up again.

The big news here is the potential move into a much nicer, newer and more spacious facility. It’s not a done deal yet, but we’re hopeful.

Meanwhile, there are new books on the shelves. In the adult fiction department there are:

The Rapture by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
Copycat by Erica Spindler
Walking Lazarus by T. L. Hines
No Good Deeds by Laura Lippman
Telegraph Days by Larry McMurtry
Judge and Jury by James Patterson and Andrew Gross
There’s Something About Christmas by Debbie Macomber
Talk Talk by T. C. Boyle
Found by Karen Kingsbury
Gone by Lisa Gardner
Faithless by Karin Slaughter
The Island by Heather Graham

Two others are
Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots by Sharon Lovejoy, a book about gardening with children
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer, for the young adults

Our new DVDs are:
The Water is Wide, based on the book by Pat Conroy
The Shaggy Dog with Tim Allen

Please welcome Holly back

Holly has been on medical leave since mid-May. Please welcome her back when you come in.

Photos

Photos from the final session of the Summer Reading Program 2006 may be viewed at the library. They are located in the denim backed photo album.