My favorite local video store recently closed its doors after 25 long years of excellent service, unable to compete with the raging success of Netflix. According to some predictions, Blockbuster is doomed to fall likewise, and sometime soon.

Meanwhile DVDs continue to fly off the shelves at the Nashua Public Library. (You can't beat our prices, after all.) From July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009 customers borrowed over 182,000 DVDs, on average 530 a day. Last fiscal year the figure was about 160,000 (470/day) -- a lot to begin with, and an increase in turn over the previous year.

As retail goes under, public service skyrockets, especially during a recession. This isn't to imply that a poor economy hurts rental stores while helping libraries. It actually helps both, since when times are hard, people stay home for entertainment either way. As Peter Hobbins points out in the Telegraph article, it was Netflix which drove him out of business, not the recession. Netflix not only offers innovative customer service (mail delivery being the most obvious), but a wide selection of titles, including indie dramas, foreign films, and obscure hard-to-find videos.

So does the Nashua Public Library. We have over 8500 DVDs in our collection: 2900 feature films, 750 family films, 770 foreign films, 800 comedies, 310 musicals, 400 children's, 1160 TV series, and 1480 non-fiction. Between 40-50% of this entire collection is checked out at any given time. We aim to please (and are evidently successful), and always open to suggestions for new titles. Be sure to visit the library this summer for accessible video entertainment.

Categories: Films

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Joseph R. Dionne, director of the Nashua Public Library since 2002, is retiring on June 30, 2009.

Joe started his library career thirty seven years ago as a reference librarian at the Nashua Public Library. During his initial seven years at NPL, Joe also worked in the Art and Music Department and served as Assistant Director. Subsequently, Joe served as the director of both the Lawrence and Haverhill, MA libraries.

As Nashua's library director, Joe has worked to improve library services, more than doubling circulation to a projected 800,000 items this year! He also oversaw the creation of a separate department and room for teenagers, the implementation of online database services that library customers can use from home, and the launching of free computer training. That was while he wasn't busy revitalizing the long dormant Friends of the Library group, replacing the Bookmobile with an outreach service van for the homebound, fashioning a new front entryway, and introducing self-checkout systems.

Joe leaves at the beginning of summer, a perfect time of year for long visits with family and friends on Cape Cod, where he will be making his home.

Please join me in wishing Joe all the best in this new phase of life, when he'll have the opportunity to stop and smell, or perhaps even grow, the roses.

Categories: People

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I just discovered that the library has a copy of the DVD of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog". Isn't that awesome?

If you don't know it's awesome, then you definitely need to borrow it and find out just how awesome it is.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a science fiction musical written by Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly) and starring Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser, How I Met Your Mother), Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle), and Felicia Day.

It was created during the Hollywood writer's strike and released for free on the Internet as a serial. The writer's strike was about the writers not being paid for content being aired on the web. And this production was an experiment, to show that free content can still make money. With sales after the release of a soundtrack CD, merchandise, and this DVD, I would say it's been quite a success.

I attended a Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog party at a recent science fiction convention I went to. The hosts decorated the place quite well in theme and played this DVD multiple times in a row, as people wandered in and out to watch it. And to, you may have guessed it, sing along.

There's some violence and innuendo, so I wouldn't say it's for little kids. But teenagers and older geeks should like it quite well.

If you'd like to find out more before borrowing it, you can read more at Wikipedia, but beware spoilers! Or check out the official Dr. Horrible website.

And if you didn't follow either of the links to the catalog above, here it is again: check it out. Hey, you can even use the new self-checkout in MAM!

Categories: Music, Art & Media

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I get a lot of magazines each month, so many that I usually skim the articles in all of them. Once in a while something catches my attention and I read the article completely. This month it was an article that was published in Women's Day dealing with water safety and children. It brought back the memory of an incident with our family pool and started me thinking about swimming pool season.

When we got our family pool, the kids were 5 and 8 years old. It was one of those round, above ground pools. It was deep enough so that my daughter, at eight, could touch bottom and her nose would be out of the water. At five, if my son's feet were on the bottom, his head was under water. He hadn't yet learned to swim, so we got him what we called "magic muscles", those inflatable upper arm bands. All 4 of us were standing on the swimming pool deck that first day. My son suddenly jumped into the pool, minus those "magic muscles", and sank like a stone. While my husband and I stood there staring, wondering what had just happened, my daughter jumped in, grabbed her brother, and lifted him up so that his head was above water. She had been paying attention.

Swimming pools come with all kinds of issues. Safety issues are certainly the most important and I spent many afternoons doing my lifeguard thing. I also spent way too many mornings doing swimming pool maintenance. All of those lovely trees in your yard add up to leaves and pine needles all over the bottom of your pool. Vacuuming a pool is tedious work. I got so tired of vacuuming the pool that I introduced my kids to the whirlpool (run round and round in the pool and the junk all settles on the bottom in the middle). Then there is the solar cover. A pool tends to lose a lot of heat at night around here. The solar cover is designed to give you warm water all summer. It also gives you algae issues. If the water temperature and the chemicals are not perfectly regulated, the result is lovely green water, or worst case, nasty brown stuff all over the inside of the pool. I speak from experience!

My pool has been gone a long time now , long enough so that the lawn has finally lost that flying saucer landing shape where the pool used to be. There are many new products out there to make swimming pool season easier to bear. Nothing, however, will replace what for me was the most fun of the whole season. We never managed to winterize and close our pool before the end of October. The high point of pool season was watching my husband wade through ice-cold, gross brown water to the far side of the pool to put the cover over the hole where the filter goes.

If you have a pool or are contemplating a pool, here are some books to help with your swimming pool season!

The ultimate guide to above-ground pools by Terry Tamminen
Pools and spas: Sunset books
What color is your swimming pool by Alan Sanderfoot
The ultimate pool maintenance manual by Terry Tamminen
Learn to swim by Rob & Kathy McKay
Teaching swimming fundamentals : YMCA
Water babies by Francoise Barbira Freedman

Categories: Library Materials , Websites
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The library is busier than ever these days, and we're seeing many people come in to use the Reference Department computers and books for job hunting.

In addition to an increasing collection of career books, we also have a useful database for those in the the job market: LearningExpress Library.

LearningExpress Library database is a great place to look for practice tests and study guides for a variety of exams. It's much more than that, though.

An entire section of the LearningExpress Library database is devoted to workplace and job search skills. For the job search, it includes courses such as:

• Creating great resumes and cover letters
• Job search and networking skills
• Determining what you want from your career

There are also some courses geared toward business writing, and a section entitled "Succeeding on the Job" with information on managing your career and improving professional skills such as time management.

LearningExpress Library also includes study guides and practice tests for job-oriented exams for real estate, law enforcement, teaching, firefighting, military, cosmetology, and more.

You can find the LearningExpress Library on the library's database page. If you want to use this from your home computer, click on the listing for LearningExpress Library, then type in the last 5 digits of your library card barcode (found on the back of the card). You can also use the database within the library. If you have any questions, please give us a call (603-589-4611) or stop by the reference desk for assistance.

Categories: Databases , Learning Express Library

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In a recent issue of Library Journal I read about Jill Bourne who is the Deputy City Librarian at the San Francisco Public Library. She made news as a Mover and Shaker in the Library world because, through her initiatives, all SFPL branches now recycle and will begin composting this year. Composting? At the library? I wasn’t sure what this would look like at a library. I imagined possibly that the leaves or grass clippings around the library were thrown onto a compost pile somewhere in the corner of their property. I was wrong – their food scraps and other biodegradable materials are picked up by the city!

I emailed Jill who told me:

The simple answer is that composting includes all sorts of things, from paper to rubber bands to food scraps to food containers, etc. Everything that was once alive may be composted. San Francisco has passed numerous local laws that require restaurants to use biodegradable containers and plastics, so that helps. SFPL is even launching corn-plastic library cards next month – not that we want people to compost them, but at least they won’t end up in a landfill someday.

She also sent me a link to The Department of The Environment. If you click on their “Office Composting” link you can see Office Composting in action. Wow! That was all very inspiring to me. (And sad because I feel like NH is a little behind in this department.)

And this reminded me of my failed attempt at indoor composting, also known as Vermicomposting, using red wriggler earthworms. I read about indoor composting in favorite magazine (The Vegetarian Times). Their October 2008 article, Composting 101 was a great introduction to composting for all types of living situations. I don’t have the luxury of a back yard or a place to put an outdoor compost bin. "Composting 101" told me about red wigglers which can stay in a bin indoors and eat all your organic material. Unfortunately my good intentions ended when an infestation of awful black tiny bugs made me shelve my vermicomposting endeavor - at least for now - but I’m up for trying it again.

If you are interested in composting and want to know more, we can help with these books:

Secrets to great soil : a grower's guide to composting, mulching, and creating healthy, fertile soil for your garden and lawn by Elizabeth Stell

Backyard composting: your complete guide to recycling yard clippings by Harmonious Technologies

Compost by Clare Foster

All about compost : recycling household and garden waste by Pauline Pears

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Hot off the presses...the winner of the 2009 Flume: NH Teen Reader's Choice Award was just revealed at the New Hampshire Library Association's annual spring conference. This year the teens again supported a NH author when they voted, Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult as their favorite read of the year.

For those of you not familiar with this award, let me share a little history. It was initiated in 2005 when a group of high school students requested they have their own state award similar to the Isinglass Award for middle school students. They wanted an award where they nominated the titles and voted on the winner, so that's what we gave them. The only role librarians have is promoting the award as well as narrowing the large amount of nominated titles to a final list of 13 to be voted on.

If you know a teen in grades 9-12 who loves to read then you'll want to make sure they've heard of this award. What better way to help them pick the next book to read than to see what their peers recommend?

Categories: Teen Services
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Have you ever wondered what happens to your online accounts once you pass away? It's a little morbid, I admit, but something we do need to think about. With social networking, online billing, email, and online shopping, we have multiple online accounts. When we pass, there's a good chance all of our user names and passwords will go with us to the grave.

I never thought about it until I heard a technology story on this topic on NPR's All Things Considered. Privacy policies are very important; they protect us. But, once we are gone and a loved one is legitimately trying to access our accounts, they are a roadblock. What happens if your significant other did not remind you of his or her password?

The NPR story featured a company called Legacy Locker. It allows the person or persons you designate to obtain your passwords. You create an account indicating not only your user names and passwords, but also the people whom you want to get the information. In the event of a death, a customer's verifier must report the death to Legacy Locker. Customers choose two such people who would be able to confirm your death and have access to the appropriate documentation. Once your death is confirmed, the service notifies the beneficiaries of the information. In effect, you have control over who gets to see your emails and financial accounts.

Legacy Locker has a limited free plan, but if you want to include more than 3 accounts or more than one beneficiary, you will have to pay for the service. If you think it's worth it, or if you're intrigued, take a look at the company's website.

Categories: Websites
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Looking for a job can often be a confusing, frustrating, or scary process but it does not have to be. Our library has just published a new brochure Job Search & Career Change Resources @ your library. Take a look at it online or come into our library to pick up a paper copy.

And this Thursday (May 14th at 6:30 PM) at our library, Susan Henry, a certified career development advisor, will present a seminar that includes:

• The latest trends in the on-line job search market
• How to create a resume that will be read and acted upon
• Why we still need cover letters
• Creating and honing your personal network
• The best on-line search engines
• .. and if time permits how to get the appointment for an interview

Feel free to bring your current resume and cover letter for review if you have one. The program is designed for people who have lost their jobs and those who want to be prepared just in case. The program is free but registration is required. Click here to register.

Susan Henry is a resident of Atkinson, NH and a Certified Career Development Advisor who recently retired from a multi-faceted career. She holds a BS in Human Services & Psychology (Springfield College) and Master's Level Certification in Career Development (Plymouth State University). She has presented sessions around New England.

And the Nashua Public Library recently ordered a variety of new books about job hunting including internet job searching, resumes, cover letters, interviewing and more. You may wish to take a look at a few of these (you can place a request for those books that are on order and be notified as soon as they arrive at the library):

Career building : your total handbook for finding a job by Careerbuilder.com.

60 seconds & you're hired by Robin Ryan.

Amazing résumés: what employers want to see--and how to say it by Jim Bright and Joanne Earl.

How to say it on your resume: a top recruiting director's guide to writing the perfect resume for every job by Brad Karsh with Courtney Pike.

Finding a job by Facts on File.

Knock 'em dead / The Ultimate Job Search Guide by Martin John Yate.

Knock 'em dead résumés: smart advice to make your online and paper résumés more productive by Martin John Yate.

Knock 'em Dead Cover Letters: Great Letter Techniques and Samples for Every Step of Your Job Search by Martin John Yate.

Guide to internet job searching by Margaret F. Roehm Dike.

Job-hunting online: a guide to job listings, message boards, research sites, the UnderWeb, counseling, networking, self-assessment tools, niche sites by Mark Emery Bolles & Richard Nelson Bolles.

150 best recession-proof jobs by the editors at JIST and Laurence Shatkin.

300 best jobs without a four-year degree by Michael Farr and Laurence Shatkin.

Gallery of best résumés for people without a four-year degree / for People Without a Four-Year Degree by David F. Noble.

Resumes for the 50+ job hunter by the editors of McGraw-Hill.

Acing the interview: how to ask and answer the questions that will get you the job by Tony Beshara.

Categories: Business
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Happy Cinco de Mayo!

If you're looking for a book with Mexican flavor, I just finished reading Flora Segunda : being the magickal mishaps of a girl of spirit, her glass-gazing sidekick, two ominous butlers (one blue), a house with eleven thousand rooms, and a red dog by Ysabeau Wilce, which was on the Tiptree honor list last year. This year, the sequel, Flora's Dare is. You can find both of these in the teen room.

But what is the Tiptree?

The James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award is "an annual literary prize for science fiction or fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender". It's named after James Tiptree, Jr, which was one of Alice Sheldon's pen names. Unlike the Nebula and the Hugo, this award is decided by a panel of judges, though anyone may recommend a book or story for consideration.

This year the winners of the award are:

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. I borrowed this through interlibrary loan and read it over the weekend. It's very good, but ends on a horrible cliffhanger! The next book won't be published until September. This is a young adult book, but, again, don't let that stop you from reading it. Surely it says something about the quality of YA books that they keep winning non-YA specific awards.

Filter House by Nisi Shawl. This is a collection of short stories and I'm still in the process of reading it. A 'collection', by the way, differs from an 'anthology' in that it's a book of short stories by one author, instead of short stories by multiple authors.

You can find what the judges thought of these works and the honor's list for this year on The Tiptree Award website. The library has a number of the books and series on the list, if you'd like to read them.

I also highly recommend the three Tiptree Award anthologies. Past winning and shortlisted short stories are compiled along with excerpts from the novel winners and essays by big names such as Ursula K. Le Guin and Joanna Russ. The library has all of them.

The James Tiptree Award Anthology 1

The James Tiptree Award Anthology 2

The James Tiptree Award Anthology 3

And when you're done reading those, you can check out James Tiptree Jr. : The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon, by Julie Phillips

Happy reading!

Categories: Awards

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