Celebrating National Library Week (April 10-16, 2011): Presenting Our New Program Trailer

Continuing our anticipated celebration of National Library Week (April 10-16, 2011), we present our program trailer that forecasts a foreboding future if folks forget (what great alliteration!) how important libraries are to their everyday lives.  Although library services appear to be "free," they must be funded, and in the case of public libraries or academic libraries at public institutions, we taxpayers must pony up the cash.  That's not a popular theme these days, but it is important to remember what happens to governmental services when the money stops.  It is a mistake to take these things for granted.

National Library Week is April 10-16, 2011

National Library Week is April 10-16, 2011.  You should celebrate by reading, and then, to relax, read some more.  You could also read while you're waiting for the week to arrive.

The slogan for this year is "visit your library today and create your own story."  Quoting further from the official American Library Association (ALA) poster:

• Today’s libraries can help you discover a new and exciting world. Take advantage of the free access to books and computers, homework help, assistance with resumes and job searches, accurate financial information, adult education courses, support for new Americans, CDs, DVDs and much more. Don’t forget, your librarian is information smart and can help you find the right answer @ your library.

Visit the American Library Association (ALA) web site to read more about National Library Week.  April is School Library Month, too, so students, visit your school library, as well as your public library.

Author John Grisham is honorary chair.  Our Library has a couple of unofficial posters, featuring our feline roving reporter, Cauli Le Chat, and her "cub" reporter, Harley Quinn (along with the "Lady With the Red Hair").  Click on the images below to enlarge them.

Census & Demographic Information (and More) for Mooresville, Indiana

If you are researching census and demographic information, weather, population, education, and other information pertaining to Mooresville, Indiana, you should take a look at the following resources:

• City Data, Inc. web page for Mooresville, Indiana;
• Profiles of Indiana (Grey House Publishing, 2d ed., 2010) (MPL Call No. I REF 317.72 IND)

These resources contain a wide variety of statistical and textual information about Mooresville, Indiana, and includes some material on Morgan County, Indiana.

2011 Old Settlers Parade, Picnic & Fair is August 7-8-9

Each year we are asked when the Old Settlers Parade, Picnic & Fair will be held at Pioneer Park in Mooresville, Indiana. This year's dates are August 7, 8, 9, 2011. We post this information now so that interested persons searching the Internet will find it.

Search our past blogs (using the search bar located in the upper left-hand corner of the blog screen) for articles concerning Old Settlers. We have a few local history videos and book trailers pertaining to the subject. We reprise a couple below.

March 12 is Genealogy Day

Today (March 12) is Genealogy Day. If you have never explored the wonderful, engaging, and surprising maze that is your family history, there is no better day than this to begin your investigations.

Our library has prepared various program trailers pertaining to genealogical and local history research, which we offer for your enjoyment.

Our library's YouTube Channel has a local history & genealogy playlist that includes several historical videos and program trailers, if you would like to watch them.

On Saturday, October 22, 2011, from 9:00 A.M. to 3:30 P.M., the Indiana State Library will be hosting the Indiana Genealogy & Local History Fair. The event is open to the general public, and admission is free. Vendors interested in securing space may review the materials below.

Collection Deselection: Weeding, or a Great Name for a Rock-and-Roll Band?

Deselection is the opposite of acquisition in library collection development. To make room for new books, one must discard old, outdated, dilapidated, worn-out, and damaged materials. Since time immemorial, this process has been called weeding by librarians, but somehow deselection sounds less drastic. It is a term generated from the politically-correct culture, which engenders a belief that expressions must be softened so as not to offend someone. I can certainly understand the desire not to offend, but I must concur with Professor William Strunk when he advised his English students (including famous author E. B. White) at Cornell University nearly a century ago to carefully choose, and use, the right word to best express one's meaning.

Consequently, I prefer the term weeding to describe the process of thinning library collections. After three and one-half years at our library, during which time I had weeded approximately a half dozen books, I have decided to apply my collection development learning (from last semester's library course on this subject) to best advantage. Thus far, a bunch of books have been weeded. (But see * paragraph below.) They will be available later this year in book sales sponsored by the Friends of the Library (FOL). Meanwhile, they must be removed from the library's ILS (integrated library system)--what once was the card catalog--and then transferred to FOL for sales preparations.

Why was weeding necessary for the MPL Indiana Room Collection? We had absolutely no more shelf space, plain and simple. No room was available to shelve newly-secured items, and so tough choices must be made. What stays and what goes is always a difficult process, but fortunately we have detailed criteria from which to make rational deselection decisions.

If you stop by the Indiana Room, you will see the progress we're making, and there will now be plenty of expansion room for acquisitions. That's good news, because you can never have too many books.

William R. Buckley

MPL Indiana Room Historian & Reference Coordinator, Adult Services

* Paragraph: Should it say "a bunch of books have ..." or "a bunch of books has ..."? Since bunch is singular, traditional English usage calls for a singular verb, e.g., has. (The preposition of books is ignored when considering subject/verb number agreement.) However, modern English usage favors the interpretation of bunch as a collective noun, thereby requiring a plural verb, e.g., have. This is nicely analyzed in the University of Pennsylvania's Language Log (Jan. 13, 2007). This illustrates that grammarians truly have way too much free time on their hands.