Governor Proposes 18% Cut in Library Services

Governor Culver's FY 2009 budget includes an 18% cut in state funding for library services. Should this proposal stand, the following programs or agencies will see cuts: State Library, $135,000; Library Service Areas, $259,442; and Enrich Iowa $725,000.

Enrich Iowa, which directly funds Iowa's libraries, provided $16,921 to the Waterloo Public Library in FY2008. Should the governor's cuts stand, the WPL's Enrich Iowa allocation for FY2009 will be a mere $4,653: a reduction of $12,268!

Such a cut will have a significant impact on the services that the WPL will be able to provide to library patrons. If you would like to express your opinion on the validity of this proposed reduction in state aid to libraries, contact the governor via his online comments form.

Your state legislators must pass the final budget and could rescind this reduction. To express your opinion on the governor's proposed cuts, use the online at the Iowa Legislature's "Find your Legislator" site.

For details on how the cuts will affect Iowa's libraries across the board, visit Mike's Library Blog.

Thanks for your support of the Waterloo Public Library.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

New Windows Project Advances

We may have gotten a day off for Martin Luther King's birthday, but not our intrepid windows installers. They braved steady light snow and single-digit temperatures as the continued to install new windows. The good news is that they've made it around the corner; the bad news is that they are blocking off most of what's left of the parking lot.

We won't have to be patient much longer as the end is clearly in sight. We're already enjoying the new windows on the third floor and expect the second to also be less drafty and more energy-efficient upon completion.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Opinion Survery

The Waterloo Public Library is interested in learning your feelings about our operating hours. Please take a few moments to visit our Survey Monkey to voice your opinion.

Thanks

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Sanborn Maps Move to State Library

The Sanborn Maps product, a collection of maps dating back to the 19th Century, will no longer be available through the Waterloo Public Library. However, library patrons may continue to browse this amazing resource via the State Library of Iowa's Sanborn Maps subscription.

A State Library card, necessary to login to Sanborn Maps, can be acquired online in minutes for no charge.

The downside of getting Sanborn Maps through the State Library is having to get another card; the upside is that patrons may now use Sanborn Maps from home; the Waterloo Public Library subscription required users to be in the WPL building.

Another advantage to using the State Library's Sanborn Maps service is that cardholders will also have access to the State Library's collection of online resources. The titles range from newspapers, to EBSCOHost and from medical to legal. Several of the resources are open to any user, but many require a login using a State Library card.

Dropping the Waterloo Public Library Sanborn Maps subscription allows us to reallocate money to other products, our patrons will have access to a great product from home, and the State Library will have the opportunity to show off its wonderful services to Iowans.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Download 2007 Tax Forms!

It's that time of year again. The Iowa Department of Revenue and the Internal Revenue Service are sending out tons of our favorite forms. Usually, we'll have the paper versions you need. However, if we don't, simply follow the links from the Waterloo Public Library Reference blog directly to the appropriate agency's site.

From there, you may quickly download and inexpensively print the most current version of the form(s) you need.

Librarians won't give you tax advice, but we can help you to find the tax form that you're looking for.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Second Floor Window Work

The window crew is now working on the second floor. The walls surrounding the 000-500 non-fiction, as well as the periodicals, are now behind a plastic shelter. The 000-150 area has the shelter right up against it; items on those shelves may only be retrieved by staff members on request.

The job superintendent estimates that this area will be blocked off for at least two weeks. After the windows are replaced the walls must then be resurfaced and painted. Once this is done, the work will proceed along the south wall in a clockwise motion.

While the work is in progress, let's all be careful to not enter the work area or otherwise interfere with the job. We're going to have quite a mess for the next few weeks, but I'm looking forward to having new windows and walls.

As always, if you have questions or comments, contact me at dargan@gmail.com.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Cunningham Carolers visit the WPL

Carolers from the Dr. Walter Cunningham School for excellence entertained staff and patrons in the lobby of the Waterloo Public Library today. This makes two consecutive years that the students have visited the library. We hope to see them again next year!

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Free Downloadable Movies!

Card holding patrons of the Waterloo Public Library have access to full length downloadable movies via our subscription to MyLibraryDV. Users may choose from several collections: Movies, documentaries, food, health, how-to, kids, literature, and travel.

My guess is that the theatrical movie collections, which include classics, foreign films, Hollywood Favorites, independent films, and Sony Pictures Entertainment, will be the most popular. However, those of you who like travelogues and cooking shows will find that MyLibraryDV is the place to go for video entertainment.

Viewing the movies requires the installation of a viewer and movie management utility, each of which is easily downloaded from the MyLibraryDV site. You then use the viewer to choose your movie which you must then checkout using your Waterloo Public Library card.

Currently, the most practical way to view a MyLibraryDV title is from home using a broadband connection. However, sometime later this winter, look for the library to establish a viewing station somewhere on the second floor. Stay tuned for details.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Window Project Continues

Despite single digit temperatures, our window replacement crew continues to work their way around the third floor.

It looks like they may have to briefly close the public entrance either later today or early tomorrow. If that happens, we'll post signs directing patrons to the staff entrance in the courtyard.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Madeleine Albright visits WPL!

On Saturday, we had a surprise visitor at the library. Madeleine Albright, the first female Secretary of State, was here speaking in the meeting rooms to a group on behalf of Hillary Clinton's candidacy.

After commenting that we have a beautiful building, Secretary Albright took several minutes to sign autographs and have her picture taken with patrons and staff.

We have two books in our catalog by Madeleine Albright. To see if they're currently available, click here. For more information about Secretary Albright, check out the Biography Resource Center or click here.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

More Express Computers

The City of Waterloo MIS Department has recently allocated more computers to the library: Five new Vostro 200s and 3 Optiplex G240s. Over the next few weeks you'll see them added to our collection of workstations.

Public Access Computer #7, out-of-service for a couple of months, will soon return. We'll be adding an Express computer in the downstairs lobby area. And, we'll also be adding a flatbed-scanner equipped Express Computer in the Reference Department.

Other improvements on the horizon include upgraded Research Stations as well as enhanced computer services in the Teen Area. Providing enough equipment to sastify the computer needs of WPL patrons is one of my major goals. If you have questions or suggestions, please submit them to me at dargan@wplwloo.lib.ia.us.

Thanks.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Computer Classes at the WPL

The Learning Center has recently expanded the number of seats from 6 to 9, but as you can see, we're still short on space. Kim V., Literacy Services Administrator, is shown here presenting her Mail Merge class to a packed house; just in time for the Christmas letters!

The Black Hawk County Gaming Association recently granted Kim V application for money to fund a new Training Center in the south west corner (formerly housing the 700s) of the second floor. By this time next year she'll be packing a room of 15 instead only 9!

To see what classes we're offering, visit our the Patron Classes link on our website.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Newspaper Archive now Available!

The newest addition to the Waterloo Public Library's collection of online databases is Access Newspaper Archive. This product, visibile from any computer within the library's local area network, allows patrons to browse newspapers from as far back as 1759 to as current as 2006.

We'll soon be adding links to Access Newspaper Archive from our website, but until then, point your Public Access Computer's web browser at http://access.newspaperarchive.com/ and start searching!

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Learn About the Iowa Caucuses at WPL!

Monday night we'll be hosting UNI Professor Donna Hoffman to talk about the Iowa Caucuses. The caucuses are only a month away -- come learn about why they play such an important role in selecting our next president. In addition to giving a talk on the topic, Professor Hoffman will be available to answer your questions about the caucuses and the 2008 presidential elections. Voter registration forms will be available, so you can register to vote at the event.

Refreshments will be available. Come to the meeting rooms at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, December 3rd for "The Iowa Caucuses: Past, Present and Future."


c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Window Installation Proceeds

Workers are now replacing windows on the third floor of the Waterloo Public Library. Soon, they will be removing the windows above the stairwell. Once that process begins, it will be necessary to block access to the stairs as it would not be safe to work above our heads.

The job superintendent assures me that the stairs will be closed for only a day or two and that in an emergency (e.g., fire or tornado) it will be possible to tear down the plastic and go. Certainly, we mustn't use the elevators if the fire alarms sound!

Later in December I expect to see the window crew on the second floor. We'll have to put up with some inconvenience as the work progresses, but having new windows and wall coverings will make it all worthwhile!

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Friends' Book Sale!

The Waterloo Public Library Friends group is conducting their book sale today and tomorrow. After a "members only" event yesterday, the Book Sale continues today (November 30) and tomorrow (December 1) from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Variable Computer Time

Demand for computer time at the Waterloo Public Library continues to grow. As you may have noticed, competition for computers is especially great later in the afternoons and on weekends. We are aware of the shortage of computers and are working to add more. In the meantime, our reservation system vendor has helped us to create scripts which adapt session to time to time-of day.

The result is that patrons who log on early in the day may have their sessions extended for as long as 90 minutes. However, at 2:00 p.m. each day a script runs which shortens the time available to 60 minutes--the minimum required by library policy.

The maximum time is also limited to 60 minutes on weekends.

At some point in 2008 we're hoping to add a few more computers. Until then, please bear with us as we attempt to allocate computer time as fairly and efficiently as possible.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact dargan@wplwloo.lib.ia.us

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Good News/Bad News

The good news is that the the Waterloo Public Library's leaky, drafty windows are about to be replaced. The bad news is that the contractor will be using about half of the parking lot to store materials and equipment.

We expect the windows to start coming out the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The contractor will start on the third floor and gradually work his way to the ground. With good weather and no complications we expect the project to be complete by late winter.

For more information, and a progress update, stay tuned to the Waterloo Public Library Reference Blog!

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Adult programming at WPL

We've got a lot of exciting programs coming up at WPL!


On Monday, December 3rd at 7:00 p.m., UNI Professor Donna Hoffman will be discussing and answering questions about the Iowa caucuses. This talk will include a look at how Iowa's caucuses became so important, what role they play in electing presidents today, and what the future holds for the caucuses.



On Wednesday, December 12 at 7:00 p.m., author Todd Mishler (http://www.toddmishler.com/) will be giving a presentation about college football rivalries as he talks about his new book, Blood, Sweat, and Cheers: Great Football Rivalries of the Big Ten. After his presentation, he'll answer questions and be available for book signing.



We've got several other events planned, including easy ways to improve your health and the transition to digital cable. Check the blog for updates as we get them. We're also interested in getting your ideas about what programming you would like to see offered for adults at WPL. Email us at infowiz.wpl@gmail.com, call the Reference Desk at 291-4476 or chat with us on Meebo (see the box on the right) if you've got suggestions.





c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Change in Computer Time Limits

Currently, Waterloo Public Library Public Access Computers allow patrons at least an hour of usage each day. If no one is waiting to use a computer at the end of that hour, the system automatically extends the session to a total of 90 minutes.

Due to intense demand for computer time--especially in the late afternoon and evening--beginning Monday, November 5, sessions will no longer be automatically extended at the end of one hour. Staff members may, at their discretion, extend times manually upon request during times of low computer usage.

Please contact either me (dargan@gmail.com) or other staff with questions or concerns.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library