Tag Archives: April Fools

Delicious New Service at the Library!

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Like anyone living with a budget, the Davenport Library strives to get the most value out of every dollar we spend. With that goal in mind, we sought to find dual purposes for our existing equipment and materials and we feel we have succeeded admirably! After careful research and the hard work of various committees, we have found a supplemental purpose for our book sorters. We are pleased to announce that we are able to offer a new and unexpected service, one that is sure to delight your entire family – Dewey’s Delicious Doughnuts!®

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Each book sorter at the Davenport Library has been retro-fitted with the Dynamic Multi-Tasking Do-It-All-izer™, a space-age gizmo that makes everything easier (if stickier) Our new enhanced sorters (now known as Book Checker-inners/Doughnut Makers Aggregator) represents a paradigm shift in library services; we are proud to be a leader in this new era of providing you the customer with the finest in information and fried dough!

donut 2Every day the Aggregators at each building will pull double duty, checking in library materials as they are returned and baking a variety of glazed doughnuts for your eating pleasure! (Cake doughnuts will be introduced later this year) Watch the progress of your made-to-order doughnut via monitor at Fairmount and Eastern, or through the windows at Main! Choose from a variety of glazes and icings (sprinkles are an additional cost)

Please remember – no food in the library!

New Format Now Available at the Davenport Library!

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Determined to provide only the best for our patrons, we search far and wide for products and services that will make your life easier, smarter, better. In light of these goals, the Davenport Public Library is pleased to announce the addition of a new format now available for check-out! Introducing – DogAways™!

DogAways™ is a fun and unique program that allows you to check out a dog. Go for a walk! Snuggle on the sofa while you watch a DVD! Chase a ball together! DogAways™ dogs will improve your health, increase your finances and help with the laundry. Dogs come in a variety of sizes – small (dachshunds, toy poodles), medium (Jack Russell  terriers, beagles) and large (labradors, Great Danes) – and can be reserved just like a book! Each dog is trained to be smarter than you. Health certificates and medical records are on file and available for viewing.

Each dog comes with its own Care Pack containing dog care tips, leash, brush, tennis ball or frisbee, 3-day supply of food, treats and multiple poop bags. Dogs are trained to bite you if you mistreat them; these dogs are picky about care so you may wish to have your doctor’s or emergency care provider’s phone number handy (but don’t expect any sympathy from us if you do get bitten). DogAways™ check out for three days with one renewal. Overdue fees for the late return of a dog is $30 a day, plus the dog will bite you so don’t be late!

The library is not responsible for any damages or personal injuries.

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Haha! Of course we’re not going to be lending out dogs from the library! April Fool! However, it’s not completely crazy – Yale Law Library lends out Monty, a “certified library therapy” dog to aid in stress reduction during finals week  (Monty can be checked out for 30 minute sessions) Therapy dogs have been used at other universities including Tufts, Oberlin College and UC Santa Barbara and the role of pets as stress-reducing has long been acknowledged. After all, anyone can use a warm, furry, non-judgemental friend!

 

New Study has Serious Implications for Readers

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According to a report released Monday by the University of New South Wales, science has  now proven that bookmarks only have a 3% success rate in keeping ones place in their book.

“Every person that reads or loves someone who reads should pay attention to this study and it’s implications” stated head researcher Dr. James P. Unked. “The loss of an anchor, a way to mark your place in the world can be devastating and lead to aimlessly flipping through pages, missing key passages and wasted time rereading the same paragraph.”

Technological advancements in the form of eReaders and audio books have done little to alleviate this problem. “In fact,” reports Dr Unked, “they dramatically complicate the issue by adding the inevitable layer of computer illiteracy.”

There is no simple solution to this potentially disastrous situation. Experts have several suggestions including writing down the page number you stopped reading at, asking your spouse or significant other to remember your last page number, or gluing the bookmark to the page. However, the best solution is to simply read the book in one sitting; be sure to stock up on snack items and clear your schedule before tackling large volumes such as War and Peace.

The complete report is available here.

Announcing : New Shelving Arrangement at the Library!

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You talked and we listened! Due to popular demand, we will be rearranging all of the books at both the Main and the Fairmount Branch Libraries to make it easier for you, the customer, to find exactly the book you’re looking for! Starting today, all of our books will be arranged by color! Looking for that great book about something-or-other, that you read last year or maybe a few years ago? Can’t remember the title or the author or the subject, but it’s burned into your brain that the book had a blue cover? Fear no more! Simply go to the “Blue Sector” of the library (2nd floor at Main, near the windows at Fairmount) and scan the shades of blue (darkest navy to lightest sky blue) for that longed for tome!

If you need a book by a particular author, or on a specific subject but do not know what color the book is, you will need to guess. Looking for a book on training your dog? Try brown or black. Something on planning your finances? Hmmm, maybe green? The latest mystery from Evanovich? No idea. You’re on your own there.

Be sure to stop by any Customer Service or Reference/Information desk and ask for a copy of the Official Davenport Public Library RGB Color Wheel Chart And Library Hours brochure which will show you how the colors are arranged in each library.  Just another example of the fine customer service you’ve grown to expect from your library!

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OK, in case you’ve haven’t caught on yet, and before any of our librarians keel over with a heart attack – APRIL FOOL’S! I can assure you that the Davenport Library will not be abandoning the Dewey Decimal System anytime soon and you will still be able to find books with that handy dandy “call number”. Makes you appreciate that seemingly random system a bit more now doesn’t it?

Actually, arranging books by color isn’t completely far fetched. In 2004, Adobe Books in San Francisco let artist Chris Cobb rearrange their entire inventory of books in color order (seen here at right) The project was called “There is Nothing Wrong in this Whole Wide World” and was based on the simple idea that, even though there is so much wrong in the world, we should still create things that are beautiful and amazing. Originally set to be in place for one week, it was so popular that it ran from November 12, 2004 to January 20, 2005 and was often described as “magical” and “dreamlike”. (Please note, Adobe Books has about 20,000 books; the Main library alone has more than 200,000 books so stop thinking about suggesting we try this!) I haven’t been able to find any information on how store employees found specific titles for customers though – the librarian in me shudders at the thought.

You’ll find more information about Chris Cobb and his installation here, as well as fun trivia such as, blue books sold the best, brown books tended to be stolen the most and there are very few yellow books published, or listen to his interview with NPR.

And, I’ve got to admit, it’s awful pretty, isn’t it?