More Online Resources

Several months ago, I posted about a few online resources that I thought might be helpful for those who are responsible for planned educational experiences. As this whole area continues to be one that publishers are embracing and in which church members are interested, I thought I'd give you a few more. We're also in conversation with an ecumenical group of resource directors around the country to post reviews on the IRC website related to online resources. We hope that will be something you can use.

Whole People of God Online - Coming out of the United Church of Canada, this was a very popular lectionary based curriculum that merged with The Inviting Word to become Seasons of the Spirit in 2005. Some of the best of the original material is still available for download online and seeks to integrate worship and education through the coordinated use of the lectionary.

Infusion Bible Studies - Available at Cokesbury for a year long subscription or purchase by individual unit, these can be found by book of the Bible or theme. Each one week study is $8.00.

Ann

Summer Reading

Weekly we add new books to our "For Sale" bookshelves, located next to the Circulation desk. These gently used books have been donated by local ministers and laypersons. Stop by and check out our current selection of commentaries, sermons, and Bible dictionaries. Paperbacks are fifty cents and hardbacks are one dollar.

Rachel

What does the Public Want?

Paula, Rachel and I - the regular bloggers here - are all public service librarians. We're on the front lines of interacting with those of you who come into the Library or who call on the phone for help. However, all of us at Morton Library are working to make sure that our patrons are well served.

You might be interested to know that our entire full-time staff was recently given the assignment of visiting another library - preferably one we hadn't been to before - to see library services with fresh eyes. We spent a three hour retreat together last week sharing insights from those visits and thinking of ways we might improve the experience that you have when you interact with our facility, collections, catalog and staff.

We have some ideas for making our public service better, and we hope you'll see the fruits of our discussion emerge over the coming year. But we'd like to hear directly from you as well. What could we do better? How can we improve our service to you?

Ann

Ruckus in the Ref Room

We apologize for the disturbance caused by the maintenance work going on in the Reference Room. They are working on the electrical wiring, which necessarily causes some noise and disorder. It's a little distracting if you are trying to study in there.

We are sorry for the "ruckus" and hope to get the work finished as soon as possible.

Paula

Carrel Loan books

This summer our Circulation staff is working diligently on several projects. One project in particular is the Carrel Loan collection in the stacks. Carrel Loan books are to be enjoyed inside the Library (including photocopying, if needed) and are identified with an asterisk above the call number on the spine of the book. In addition to the asterisk you will find a large bright yellow sticker on the front cover of these specific books. The sticker reads: CARREL LOAN For Library Use Only!

Rachel

Update on our Conversion Project

I've mentioned before about our project to convert many of our cassettes in the IRC into compact disc format. We are only able to convert those cassettes that were recorded on campus, that were given to us by the National Council of Churches or for which we have been able to secure permission for a format change. This is going to leave us with a large number of cassettes that cannot be reformatted, but we're hoping this project will enable our patrons to have audio material in a more usable format now that cassette players are getting harder to find!

We have a student worker this summer who has worked with us for nearly three years on this project and is making remarkable progress. He's started on the cassettes whose call number begin with K and we're hoping to make it into the M's before he leaves for college in the fall. We're delighted with the progress he's making, but want to remind you that in addition to the conversion itself, it means we are constantly rearranging the drawers that hold cassettes and CDs. If you can't find a cassette or a compact disc where you think it should be, please let us know!

Ann

Your library card has expired !

Did you know that library cards expire June 30 each year? In order to continue using your library card, all you need to do is stop by the Circulation desk so we may update your information.

We update annually to ensure we maintain your current contact information, fines are paid, and overdue/lost books are returned. Fines MUST be paid before updating your account. We accept cash or checks only.

Please be sure we have your current email address. The Library uses this information solely for the courtesy reminder notices of upcoming due dates. We do not share or sell any of your contact information.

Rachel