Jun 4

Written by: Joe Longo
Wednesday, June 04, 2008 

I usually don’t like to promote negative news but I’ve got to tell you the truth about the month of June.

June tends to be a quiet month at our library. Sure school is winding down, community groups often stop meeting , people travel and we want to spend more time outside. But I can’t accept these excuses because July and August are much busier at the library.

Last year people borrowed fewer books and audio visual materials in June and December than any of the other ten months - about 16% less.

The good news is that in June you probably have a greater selection of books, DVDs and compact disks than other times of the year. Every week new additions are featured on our shelves.

When you click on “Search Catalogue” on our website www.nflibrary.ca , you will discover recommended titles of new materials, award-winners and book lists for all ages and interests.

I hope this is tempting you to borrow more often in June. Remember free library cards are issued to all residents. Do your part to make June equal to the other months.

Now even worse news! There is less use of our “Online Research Tools” during June and August compared to all other months - about 43% less.

There is an impressive amount of important up-to-date digital information available under “Online Research Tools” on our website.

We subscribe to more than thirty authoritative databases with full-text which are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Just enter your Niagara Falls Public Library card number to access these databases. You can’t access these subscription databases by using Google.

Search newspapers, magazines, images, reference books, maps and encyclopedias. There is information on health, automotive repairs and careers. Use it for book reviews and finding books to read. There are databases for children of all ages. Many databases have French language options and multilingual capability.

Many authors celebrate June 23 which is Typewriter Day when it received its patent in 1868. June is Audio Book Month and the library has many audio books for you to borrow. I will say nothing at all about the second week of June - reportedly National Bathroom Reading Week.

The next Philosophers' Cafe at the Victoria Avenue Library is scheduled for June 2/08 at 7pm. The theme is "What is privacy?".

Considerations for discussion include: Is a "Big Brother style society occurring? If one is a law-biding citizen, what does one have to worry about? How often are your private conversations over heard? When do you have the need or want for complete privacy? What is the difference between privacy and secrecy? The facilitator will be jim agar.