World's Smallest Book Store

Now this is the kind of roadside attraction I would stop for.





About 100 miles northeast of Toronto, The World’s Smallest Bookstore sits on a quiet stretch of County Road 503. world's smallest bookstore The bookstore itself is about 10ft by 10ft, and its shelves are full of mainstream literary titles and classic authors. The kicker is that the books are only three dollars apiece, paid on the honor system. (There is a larger selection of books (and prices) in another building on the property). Lest drivers miss the little speck of store, the bookstore’s road is several times bigger than the store itself.


There are handbills for visitors to take titled “Why I Love Books” that list the following reasons:
1) Books are silent.
2) Books do not require hydro.
3) Books do not interrupt.
4) Books open easily — no switches or remotes.
5) Books can be shut up easily anytime.
6) Books cannot be offended.
7) Books do not talk back.
8) Books do not demand T.L.C. — but get it anyway.
9) Books do not require food or water.
10) Books will not feel neglected.
11) Books will not send you on a guilt trip if you lose interest or ignore them.
12) Books never require medical attention
13) Books do not have commercials.
14) A book does not go into a snit if you look at another book.
15) A book won’t mind if you are reading more than book at a time.


How can you not love a place like this?  


(From Book Riot)

Keep Warm

Snow, snow and more snow! Areas to the north, east and south of sheltered Beamsville have been bombed with snow over the last two days. We in Lincoln are situated in a warmer and less snowy micro-climate so we have received some steady, but light snow all day. Our new Beamsville digs has a working electric fireplace which has attracted much attention these past few days. My office is next to it which makes me feel warm and cozy today. However, Lincoln PL keeps our community warm yet entertained and educated in this weather with our wide-range of e-resources and ebooks. Keep warm and busy with your library's virtual offerings!

Libraries lend a hand to development

JOSH O’KANE The Globe and Mail Published Monday, Nov. 03 2014, 4:34 PM EST Last updated Monday, Nov. 03 2014, 4:34 PM EST In a city often focused on history, it is a glistening monument to the future: Halifax’s new central library, set to open on Spring Garden Road by the end of the year, is no ode to the paper books of libraries past. It’s designed to be a gathering place, a learning space and an innovation centre. What will happen inside the building, though, may have less of an impact on the city than what happens around it. The Halifax Regional Municipality is consciously using the $57.6-million library to attract development along Spring Garden’s bustling retail corridor. The Halifax Regional Municipality is using its new $57.6-million central library, set to open by year end, to attract development along the Spring Garden Road retail corridor. The costs of the branch are covered, in part, by the sale of three adjacent parking lots to private developers, who in turn are building new mid-rise, mixed-use projects in the area, bringing much-needed density to the city’s core. The library is crucial infrastructure needed to bring Halifax into the 21st century, says Wadih Fares, who, on top of developing two of those parking lots, just announced a $100,000 donation to the branch. Mr. Fares sees it as a stimulus for downtown growth, likening it to the first spark in a fireplace: “It will ignite the whole fire.” Consumers are moving to e-books in droves, but the death of the conventional library may be greatly exaggerated. The dissemination of information no longer requires a printing press, but it remains a core component of democracy. Cities across Canada are building new libraries with a focus on broader learning and community building – and they’re being financed in ways that complement and encourage nearby development. Those branches are paying their cities back in spades, bringing in greater density and community engagement. In Halifax, Mr. Fares’s donation will help pay for a community space within the library, which was built by Danish architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen with local partner Fowler, Bauld & Mitchell. Mr. Fares, who emigrated from Lebanon to Halifax in the 1980s, wants people to live and play downtown in the city that has supported his life and career. “The more community places you have, the more modern, 21st-century buildings that go up, it attracts people to that area,” he says. Paula Saulnier, interim chief executive officer of Halifax Public Libraries, says “any city that invests in their libraries makes a commitment to learning, to culture and democracy.” That, in turn, brings people: “We’re going to see this as a catalyst to encourage people to live and work in the downtown.” Two of the nearby parking lots have been sold, bringing in nearly $14-million to cover municipal costs of the project, with up to $10-million expected from the third, says Peter Stickings, the HRM’s manager of corporate real estate. New libraries are increasingly being seen as community focal points. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson called a new central branch an “important community asset” when campaigning for re-election in October. A planned branch on Vancouver’s East Hastings Street, meanwhile, is part of a joint project with YWCA Metro Vancouver that will include affordable housing for low-income single mothers and their children. In Calgary, a $245-million new central library has been announced for the city’s East Village, which is undergoing a multi-decade, 49-acre brownfield redevelopment project to transform it from neglected neighbourhood to family-friendly community. By the time the East Village is fully developed, more than 11,000 people are expected to call it home. The curved, glass downtown library, perched on top of a light-rail transit line, is set to open in 2018. “We consider the library an educational anchor to the development” of the East Village, says Susan Veres, vice-president of marketing for the Calgary Municipal Land Corp. (CMLC), which was created by the city in 2007 to redevelop the neighbourhood. When the East Village site was chosen for the new library, the CMLC committed $70-million to the project from its community revitalization levy, a pot of money the corporation sets aside for infrastructure improvements. Rather than add a development levy to existing property taxes, CMLC struck a 20-year tax-incremental financing deal with the city to funnel income from new development into specific projects to improve the community, adding amenities to encourage further development. So far the fund has invested $345-million into public improvements in the East Village, Ms. Veres says. Though much of the land is already scooped up by developers, “I think [the new library will] affect people choosing to live here,” she says. “The neighbourhood had a bad personality, and now that personality is changing favourably.” “I’m really proud that the library is the linchpin for all that,” says Bill Ptacek, CEO of the Calgary Public Library. The Calgary system is aiming to double its membership in the near future as it makes its library cards free and beefs up its programs. The strategy includes, as reading goes electronic, getting rid of some of those pesky physical books. “We’re trying to take up less space in our community library to make more space for people.” Calgary isn’t the only city where a whole new downtown community is popping up. The former railway lands along Toronto’s waterfront have turned into a sprawling community of condo towers that, until this year, was without a library. When planning the community, the city decided to apply a per-unit levy to developers building in the area to fund public services like a school, community centre and library. The levies are charged to developers as soon as they apply for building permits. The original indexed library levy, set in 1994, was set at $277 per unit, but rose to $400 by 2008. This funded half – $4.6-million – of the cost of the new Fort York branch, which opened in May. This wasn’t the only bonus the branch scored from private development. The developer Context, whose Library District condos are adjacent to the library, donated $500,000 for the branch’s public art installation, a collaboration between visual artist Charles Pachter based on Margaret Atwood’s poetry collection The Journals of Susanna Moodie. “I think it’s been a really successful way, from the city’s perspective, to deliver a complete neighbourhood,” says Toronto planner Lynda Macdonald, who oversees that community. “We think the new library is fabulous and the community loves it.” Anne Bailey, Toronto’s acting city librarian, says the new branch is an important step for the growing community. “Through the glass and openness of the facility, it declares to the neighbourhood that it’s here, it’s open and it’s available for everyone.”

Budget Time

It's that most wonderful time of the year - budget preparation time! In the public library world, it seems that the CEOs and administration staff are more like alchemists. We mix and move money around so we can get to the municipality's increase target. Find a bit of money here because we have a new staff member at a lower level of the pay grid or there because the cost of a database has gone down. Or we can raise fines by $0.05 a day or initiate a new service that will generate income. We will have both a new council and a new board in 2015. All will be ready to do the right thing by keeping taxes down. It will be a challenge to meet everyone's expectations for quality library service at a low cost. How is your budget preparation going?

Customer Service

I teach a number courses in the SOLS Excel program. This term I am teaching a course in Library Management. A comment by one of my students took me by surprise. She indicated that she didn't think she would need to use her customer service skills in the public library setting until she started working in one. Perhaps this mindset is why there are some public libraries seem unwelcoming and cold. One of my staff visited New Brunswick this summer and went to a small library in the northern part of the province. She was very surprised that the staff did not even look up to acknowledge her presence. Why would a newcomer to a community want to come back if this is the welcome they get! Customer service is the cornerstone of public libraries. As a library manager and recruiter, one of the main qualities that I look for in a new staff member is experience in customer service. You can train an employee in library procedures and routines, but you cannot fully train for good customer service if there isn't any interest in providing it. Certainly additional training in customer service can elevate it, but the core must be there. What do you look for in new recruits?

30 Moments Any Librarian Knows Too Well

With the shorter work week and preparations for next week's Board meeting, I am late posting this week. I just circulated these to my staff. I hope that at least one of these scenarios will relate to you! 1. “I’m looking for this book, I forget the title, but there’s a dog on the cover…?” 2. When a patron wants you to find a book, based only on the vaguest detail. 3.when a patron starts panicking because they can't find a particular book ... 4. When a patron is shocked that you know a bestseller off the top of your head. 5. Conversely, the shame of forgetting the name of a book you KNOW you know. 6. When your maturity is tested by a patron’s name. 7. When you refuse to give up on a search, even if the patron asking is long gone. 8. When you find the perfect source just after a patron has left. 9. When a little surprise falls out of a book you’re shelving. 10. When you see a book returned like this and your soul dies a little. 11. When some prankster pushing the books back on a freshly read and edged shelf. 12. When a patron wants to know how long the wait is for the latest YA hit. 13. When your shift is suddenly a workout. 14. When a patron tries to convince you that she KNOWS she returned that book. 15. When that potty training book comes back in, ah, not so great condition. 16. When you get first dibs on a brand new release. 17. When all of your holds come in at once and it is actually impossible to read them all. 18. When adult patrons ask if there’s any way to keep it down in the children’s room. 19. When you’re genuinely concerned about your health. 20. When you realize you’ve basically become your family and friends’ personal librarian. 21. When someone comes in with a reference question that makes you question everyone’s sanity. 22. When you have to double as IT for the patrons whose windows “just closed for no reason.” 23. When the cart becomes an extension of your overflowing desk. 24. And when all of that overflows to your home. 25. When it’s time to move. 26. When a kid draws you a special picture because you’re her favorite librarian. 27. Patrons. watching. porn. 28. When randos try to explain how you’ll be out of a job when libraries disappear in the not-too-distant future. 29. When a patron comes back to tell you how much he loved your recommendation. 30. And when they start seeking you out specifically because they trust your taste.

Vote!

On October 27, Ontario municipalities will be having elections for local councils and school board representatives. Every four years, eligible Ontarians will have the opportunity to make their voice known on local issues that matter to them. Tonight and Thursday night, the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce will be hosted 'Meet the Candidates' nights. Tonight will be Ward candidates and Thursday will be mayoral and regional councillor candidates. I plan to be there to listen to the candidate platforms. For those of us who support public libraries, it is important to be seen at these events and, perhaps, to pose a question or two about library service. In Lincoln, our voice was finally heard, and we have a beautiful new facility in Beamsville. Now, if we could get some extra funding for staff for the increased usage! Where ever you are in Ontario, make your voice heard. Vote!