Happy Halloween!

Another week has passed at the Mini B.  It's gone quick!  I can't believe October is over.  I regret we didn't have time to make a real Halloween plan.  Still, several people stopped by this Thursday to color pumpkins.

Next Tuesday is election day.  Don't forget to vote!  And while you're in the neighborhood, stop by the Chapel.  The Friends are planning to do a special book sale.  Then come visit us in the Library!  We'll be keeping an eye out.

Actually, having windows is nice at the B.  We can see weather, and this week, leaves wafting down.  It's like being in a Harry Potter post card.  Joanne spotted a blue heron, now we are all keeping an eye out.

We are still getting new visitors daily and we are very excited to see people again!  New materials are arriving daily also. And we have some new programs lined up for next month. So, come see what's cooking at the Mini B. in November.

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Settling In

We have now completed our second week in the Mini B.  Many of our old friends have returned and it has been nice to see everyone again.  For staff, we have worked out a few more kinks.

When you pass by the Mini B now you will see a large plastic bin located next to our book drops.  I really want to tell you that it’s Librarian Dracula’s coffin visiting for Halloween, but… really it is our c-car holding box.  C-car is the means by which we send out and receive inter-library loans.  It is a service run by the state of Connecticut and the state dictates the parameters of the means in which they will leave and pick up materials.  With the Mini B. we needed a box.

On the building front, it is my understanding that bids are in and  the Town is working with the State to get all the necessary approvals.

We look forward to seeing you at the Mini B!

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A week gone by

We are ending our first week in the Mini B. with great success!  We saw familiar faces during story time Tuesday morning when Ms. Megan made a special return.  Book group Tuesday evening had a lively discussion and everyone seemed to like our new space.  The Columbia Stitches also seemed to like their cozy corner, when they visited Wednesday afternoon.   But most exciting, while we have only been open a week in October we have had 585 circulation transactions thus far this month!

We are starting to develop our new habits and routines.  So far we’ve managed to (eventually) locate  everything we so neatly tucked away ‘in a safe place.’

We look forward to seeing all our friends as we settle in for Fall!

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Ready, set....

We are now as ready as we can be.  Materials are on shelves and needed items are squirreled away in every possible corner.  We will open at 10:00 am Tuesday morning. 

Here is the sneak preview!

For those of you who know the Meeting Place, this view is from the top of the stairs, looking West.

This view is from the front entrance way.  Notice the black book cart parked in the second row?  This is the same black book cart peeking out behind the book case in the picture above.

Our public work space and programming area!

Our children's section.  Note the dragon and Clifford have found a new home.

I must admit it’s been a long, tiring few weeks.  But the Mini B has a certain charm and I suspect nostalgia for those who remember it when…

I would like to thank the wonderful staff of SBL who have worked tirelessly, came up with creative solutions, and showed great patience.  Ironically, it was the elements that I thought were going to be simple and were not worried about that have given us the most problems:  the phone system and a public computer.  It took three weeks and I am now on a first name basis with two different Frontier techs, but the phone number has finally been transferred across the street!  I believe the phones and internet is now consistently functional.  Unfortunately, we are not as lucky with the computer.

The good news is we do have a working public access computer, with internet!  The bad news is that we do not have a working printer.  It's been a long, long road and a tale of 4 different printers.  (None of them worked.)   As I write this, our tech support have spirited away our spare CPU and a brand new printer to their workshop, like techno-elves  They believe the problem is virus related.  They are going to rebuild and return it as soon as possible! 

When we open Tues there are things in the Mini B. that will be different: most notable are a smaller collection, no public rest rooms, and no color printer access.  However, the list of things which remain the same is much longer: we still have all material formats from audio to large print and board books to young adult; we will continue to offer story time, books groups and other programs; we will still hunt the state to order materials through Interlibrary loan; we still offer free wifi and  offer copier, fax and soon regular printing services!

We hope to see you back next week as we travel from our moving phase into our life at the Mini B. and renovation.

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Moving Week

It’s been another full week. As you read this, almost everything is out of the old Library building and either in the Meeting Place or in storage.  All that was to move to the Meeting Place is there…somewhere…. 

Some day we'll be surprised that....

these shelves were ever empty.

Soon this will be the Children's Area and Work Space.

This will be where librarians make magic happen.

For most of the week it’s looked a little chaotic, but we are on schedule and making good progress with our moving and set up.  While we are deep in the unpacking process, at each turn, thus far, we are being pleasantly surprised at how well the space is working.

If you’ve tried to contact us, you know our phones have (still) been a little off.  We apparently had a couple of days where nothing rang anywhere.  Frontier is (still) working on it.  We are closer!  All lines now ring in the right location.  Messages can be left at 860.228.0350.  But we still have some complications.  The fax and second line is still in progress.  

More to come!

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