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FEBRUARY 8, 2010
Where or where did my Colombo Yogurt go?
 Change, change is good, right? Not in my opinion. The last three weeks or so I've been looking for my favorite yogurt in Stop & Shop. Now, I'm a pain in the neck when it comes to shopping, and the dairy guy, Jim, cringes when he sees me coming. He knows I'm going to ask him for some product or other and this will mean he has to drop what he's doing and go take a look in the back to see if he has any stock or whatever it is I'm looking for. The "back" is like is a bit like a black hole to me as I've never seen it but it seems to have most things I'm seeking. Well, Jim hasn't been around the past few weeks, this having to do with cut hours and impending strikes at S&S. No one else truly has a clue but this week I had no choice but to ask the freezer guy if they (S&S) would be getting any of my favorite yogurt, Colomob, 32 oz, low fat Vanilla. Freezer guy comes and takes a good look. No, he doesn't see any and hey, there's no space for it either. A woman whom I've never seen but who is wearing a name tag tries to come to my rescue but then bursts my bubble when she tells me she heard Colombo will no longer be produced. Explains why I can't find it but boy, am I ticked. It's my favorite yogurt. She kindly offers me a 32 oz. S&S brand, non-fat yogurt, Vanilla, free of charge to try. Nice of her and of course I took her up on the offer. Not bad, but not my Colombo. I decided to check out the story online. You can never just take grocery employees word for it that a product has been discontinued. In this case, lady with the badge was right. In a story in the Eagle Tribune, I read that the parent company, General Mills, has decided to drop the brand. quoted from the Eagle Tribune: "It is a big part of my life," he said. "It is all of it really." "The worst thing (General Mills) can do is drop the brand," he said. "It is the oldest yogurt brand in the United States." And I for one, agree. How do parents just discontinue kids. Easy, I guess, if you're a major company trying to market to the younger crowd. General Mills is pushing Yoplait, a much more flashy yogurt with more, well, all I can think of, is dazzle and is more expensive to boot. To be fair...also quoted from The Eagle Tribune "Howard Cannon, a spokesman for Stop & Shop, said General Mills had said it tracks all the numbers of sales of all its products and saw a reduction in sales of the Colombo brand and "General Mills opted to shut the product line down." Still, Colombo has been in business since 1929 and like Frances Found, an 88 year old woman who enjoys Colombo Vanilla Yogurt each day, I'm going to miss my yogurt. A few stores are still carrying it, but for how long, who knows? Yep, maybe I should just get over it and find a new brand but I'm going to go out kicking! Read the Colombo Yogurt Story at http://www.colomboyogurt.com/OurStory.aspx 200 recipes from 55 countries that feature the versatile cultured dairy product Yogurt, yoghurt, youghourt : an international cookbook / Linda K. Fuller.
----------------------------------------------------------------- FEBRUARY 5, 2010
Read all about it...
.jpg) The 2011 Nutmeg Nominees have been announced! I’ve been waiting FOREVER to be able to talk freely about the latest crop of teen nominees. I was lucky enough to be on last years Teen Committee, so I’ve had the inside scoop for a while, but I’ve had to keep my mouth shut! The Teen Committee consisted of fourteen librarians and two teen readers. Throughout last year (about Oct. 08-Sept. 09) we were in charge of reading somewhere around 100 books of all genres in order to come up with a list of 10 nominees. We’d get a list of about 20 books or so, and then the committee would meet up to discuss which ones we should consider for the final ten and which ones we should dump. The meetings were always interesting, filled with debate on why we should (or shouldn’t) keep certain titles for consideration. At the final meeting, after reading ALL those books, we had to make the official list, keeping in mind that the books had to be less than 5 years old AND all out in paperback by Feb. 1st 2010. Here’s what we came up with:
FYI – Here are the Intermediate Nutmeg Nominees for grades 3-4: Elephant Run, by Roland Smith Eleven, by Patricia Reilly Giff First Light, by Rebecca Stead Iron Thunder, by Avi The Lemonade War, by Jacqueline Davies Night of the Howling Dogs, by Graham Salisbury No Talking, by Andrew Clements One-Handed Catch, by M.J. Auch Swindle, by Gordon Korman The Thing About Georgie, by Lisa Graff We own them all so stop by for a good read today!
----------------------------------------------------------------- FEBRUARY 3, 2010
Libraries are dead. Long live libraries!
Here in Libraryland we hear a lot of silly things: Libraries are dying or dead. All libraries have are books, and no one wants books. No one will read any more. Soon everything will be electronic. Any one can be a librarian.Such ridiculous statements are used to cut funding, keep librarians from being thought of as having professional status and those of us in Libraryland viewed as annoying as we argue these points. In reality? Library use is increasing. Libraries offer a lot more than books, but even books are still in demand and technology will continue, but that doesn’t mean everything else will go away. (We have perfectly good stoves and microwaves, but I bet most of you still have grills!) OCLC, the Online Computer Library Center dedicated to furthering access to the world’s information, has just released an interesting study titled: Libraries: How They Stack Up. Drawn from this report, consider this… U.S. libraries circulate 1,947,600,000 items a year. To see this report or learn other interesting fact, come visit us at the library!
----------------------------------------------------------------- FEBRUARY 2, 2010
Say it ain't so!
----------------------------------------------------------------- FEBRUARY 1, 2010
Love Stories
Seeing Valentine’s Day is almost here I decided to do a library display on our favorite love stories of all time. The chosen titles could be in any format and would include selections by staff and any of our patrons who care to contribute. Some of the choices so far are no brainers...Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (both book & dvd) Love Story by Erich Segal (both book & dvd) sad to report that Mr. Segal passed away last week but others may be new to you... A Green Darkness by Anya Seton (one of my favorites) Katherine, also by Anya Seton (a choice of another staff member) Some movies that made the grade Out of Africa The Way we Were Only You The public has been a bit slow to add their heart’s delight to the display. So I’m asking YOU, our faithful readers to let me know what we should put out there. What’s your favorite love story? We’d really like to know!
----------------------------------------------------------------- JANUARY 27, 2010
The Strength of Glass
I’ve just finished reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This memoir made quite a splash when it first came out a few years ago now and Ms. Walls second book, a novel has just been released. When The Glass Castle first came out and people were talking, I had no interest. A tale of growing up in poverty, it looked sad and heart wrenching. Despite its popularity, I avoided it. With her new book, the title surfaced again, and this time, I felt I should/ought read it… I really, really liked it. Was it sad? Yes. Difficult at times to get through. Yes. But at the same time, Ms. Walls takes you on a journey that I suspect was very much like her own. She was loved and she got through. I’ve a lot of respect for an author that can take a deplorable situation, one in which she and you, as reader, can feel such outrage it is palpable and at the same time be in love with the root cause of that situation. A contradiction that is very human. This memoir has made me think a great deal about family and living situations. Made me think about choice and values. I have formed many questions and few answers. But I would recommend this book, despite its difficult subject matter. Although I am late on the Jeannette Walls fan club bandwagon, I’m glad I finally boarded. Come check out Jeannette Walls’ books @ the library and tell us what you think!
----------------------------------------------------------------- JANUARY 24, 2010
Roll over or under? The Great Toilet Paper Debate!
It's hard to believe that some of life's simplest choices can generate such discourse in households. The Choice - Whether the toilet paper should roll over or under from the dispenser. This is a question that begs "Get a Life" and yet from what I'm reading and hearing the loading of the toilet paper roll is the stuff of irritation in many otherwise happy marriages, offices and public restrooms. Cottonelle® has decided to try to solve the debate once and for all with their Roll Poll. I saw the poll advertised on TV last week and it gave me a laugh. Though initially I thought "Who Cares?", I found myself visiting the site the very next day to offer my most humble opinion. I'm not telling my husband about the poll as he'll vote the opposite and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my side wins. The videos are hilarious and the comments may make you chuckle or raise your blood pressure, depending on your personal view of this subject. Someone had a great solution in the ad I saw, an invention that allows the roll to be flipped to your preference with just a twist of the wrist. Now if everything was just that easy! Want to vote. Just visit http://www.cottonellerollpoll.com/ Feel free to share your comments here as well....and if you think you have a better contraption to dispense a roll these books might help/ You'll find them in the nonfiction stacks under 346.730486
Patent, copyright & trademark by Stephen Elias
Patent it yourself by David Pressman
----------------------------------------------------------------- JANUARY 22, 2010
Blast from the past...
I’ve always loved reading. When I was a kid I’d go to the library and check out a HUGE stack of books then spend the day curled up somewhere devouring one after another. I loved Roald Dahl, the Narnia books, Lois Lowry, and Judy Blume. I went through a ‘horror’ phase and read books like Wait Till Helen Comes and The Dollhouse Murders over and over. Then, around 5th grade I got really into fantasy and read everything I could get my hands on. So, why am telling you all this? Well, for one the big awards in Children’s Lit were announced last week and the big-daddy Newbury Award was given to Rebecca Stead for her book When You Reach Me: I loved this book and it SO reminded me of my childhood favorites. Not only that, but in the book the main character, Miranda, is never without her favorite book A Wrinkle in Time, another one of my old faves. By coincidence, When You Reach Me was also our bookclub book for this month, and next our club decided to read A Wrinkle in Time.
I remember loving A Wrinkle in Time as a kid, so it will be an interesting experience re-reading it as an adult. Although I don’t remember much of the plot, I do remember a part where they visit a planet where all the kids come out of their houses and bounce a ball in exact rhythm with each other. Creepy. This image has stuck with me and I always think of it when I am driving through a new neighborhood or housing development where all the houses look the same and there are no full grown trees. I guess I’m kinda of rambling this week, but When You Reach Me made me very nostalgic. What about you? What were your favorites as a kid? What do you remember from them? Have you re-read them as an adult? Let me know!
----------------------------------------------------------------- JANUARY 20, 2010
Squirrel Appreciation Day
Tomorrow, Jan 21st, is Squirrel Appreciation Day. I know that some people don’t like squirrels, but I am not one. I find them quite charming. Okay, so their brain is the size of a walnut and they do come from the rodent family, but there are many things that make the squirrel great. They are one of the few wild animals that have adapted to humans and coexist with us reasonably well. Of course, they have had much time to practice. The gray squirrel has been traced back over 50 million years. Although known for raiding bird feeders, squirrels can actually be very congenial. Although an adult squirrel normally lives alone, in severe cold it will share its nest with other squirrels. If it’s a storm, the squirrels may not leave the nest for days, but once the temperature rises, the guests will be on their way. Really, our little furry friends get a bad rap. If their nest gets infested with fleas, they move! Their erratic path while crossing the street is believed to really be an attempt to confuse the car. Clearly, this doesn’t work, but still… Squirrel bites occur when people try to feed them by hand holding the food between their fingers. As a squirrel’s eyes are located at the sides of their head, they can’t see what their eating that well. I’m glad there is Squirrel Appreciation Day and if you feel the same, come by the library and check out some squirrel books! 
----------------------------------------------------------------- JANUARY 17, 2010
You've got to wonder...
Early Christmas morning while most people were waiting for Santa, I opened my freezer and all I could think was the Clement Moore line "When, what to my wondering eyes should appear"! Take a look at this picture.
Yep, that's my freezer, and by golly what's in it? Believe it or not, at first I thought those coiled black things were snakes. Don't laugh. I did find a dead snake peeking out from under the freezer one day. Then sanity kicked in and I saw them for what they were, not menacing hissing snakes but plain old electrical cords. Ok, you've got to wonder...what were they doing in my freezer. There was really only one way they could have got there so up from the cellar I go to find my husband and hear the story. Seems he was conducting an experiment (he could have told me). He needed to replace the cord on his chain saw and was trying to see which of the three cords in my freezer could best withstand low tempatures, remain pliable and uncoil easily in the cold. Alright...it was 7 degrees outside so why would you use my freezer. I never really got a good answer but decided he must have not wanted to brave the actual cold outside to plant his cords. You gotta love him. Oh, and no, none of the cords passed the test. He ended up buying a new cord for his chain saw. Chainsaw Operator's Manual: Part 1: Chainsaw Safety, Maintenance and Cross-Cutting Techniques Forestworkds
----------------------------------------------------------------- JANUARY 12, 2010
Libraries: the information side of social services
There are many who tend to view libraries, particularly public libraries more as entertainment venues than intellectual institutions. At best, they may be seen as community centers. As a result, library budgets get lumped under “recreation,” and patron’s immediately gravitate to the DVDs. But libraries are in fact a lot more. I know of no public library, anywhere, that does not offer various kinds of job services and health services. The public library is still called upon when one gets a troublesome diagnosis or when one needs to update a resume. Students of all ages from kindergarten through college still come to the public library for materials. Business people and start up entrepreneurs almost always start at the Public library. We help people with life’s good events, such as their long planned for trip to Europe. We help people with life’s sad events, such as the legal cases. Larger urban libraries daily provide shelter for homeless. In fact, the San Francisco Main Library has hired a social worker specifically to assist homeless patrons. Almost every library at some point has collected food for fines, coats for shelters or served in some other way as a central point for such services. Our small library is no different. Like all public libraries, we are a social service agency. Come visit us @ the library and see the many things we offer.
----------------------------------------------------------------- JANUARY 8, 2010
Children's Author Jason Deeble to visit the Saxton B!
On Saturday, Jan. 23rd at 10:30 we will be hosting children's author/illustrator Jason Deeble. This special visit is part of the KiddieCAT - the Connecticut Authors Trail...for kids! Some of you may remember the Saxton B. participating in the CAT trail this summer when we hosted two adult authors, Jessica Speart and Anne Kelleher. Well, now it’s the kids turn! Each Saturday, from January 9th to March 27th, local libraries will take turns hosting The trail starts tomorrow at the Janet Carlson Calvert Library in
We’re excited to have Jason Deeble here – he wrote and illustrated the book Sir Ryan’s Quest, about a young boy who uses his imagination to have adventures around his house. Jason will read his book and lead an art activity for the kids! Check out his website: http://www.jasondeeble.com/ All the events that are part of the KiddieCAT are free! Stop by or give us a call to register to see Jason Deeble! To see all the stops on the trail visit the KiddieCAT website: http://sites.google.com/site/kiddiecatlibraries/
----------------------------------------------------------------- DECEMBER 27, 2009
Happy Review Year
----------------------------------------------------------------- DECEMBER 21, 2009
The Monday before Christmas...
Ok, I hate to say it but there’s a lot less merry in my “ho, ho, ho” this year. I’m not quite at bah humbug but I think I’m right on the cusp. Friday night was to be my last hurrah to get all the last minute shopping done when what to my twinkling shopping list should appear, my husband with his own list of items that have nothing to do with any holiday. Ugh, why now, when I all I want for Christmas is to finish the shopping for food and gifts. First stop Lowe’s to buy the cabinets for our porch that just have to get put in this week. Of course, the first Lowe’s only had the base and top cabinets he wanted. The only matching utility cabinet they had to the set had a slight ding on the bottom. I tried to convince my husband who is usually more frugal than I that if we bargained enough, we’d probably get it the cabinet at a good price and who would notice the ding anyway. Not on your life! So off to the second Lowe’s where thank heavens they had the UT commonly know as a utility cabinet. Wrestle, wrestle it onto the truck. No Santa’s helpers in sight. Finally I could get on with the real shopping. So what that it was almost 8:00 and I was already exhausted and in need of a snack. Did I mention that my daughters were coming Saturday morning to bake. “Let’s not make cookies this year”, they said. “We’ll just make breads for everyone”. I’m thinking mini pumpkin and cranberry loaves. Oh no, how about zucchini, banana, eggnog and my personal favorite and the one I had to get the ingredients for, sweet potato flax bread. Did you know not every grocery store carries flax seed? Well, I found this out the hard way, by visiting two popular grocery stores that only had two cashiers open but at least had festive Christmas music playing to keep me happy while waiting in line with 5 lbs. of sweet potatoes. Miracle of miracle, my stop at Odd Job Lot netted not only a few stocking stuffers, but also the flax. By this time I was totally wiped and decided to change plans and go out Sunday to finish up. Ha, forgot it was supposed to snow. Saturday dawned and after bringing in wood to get us through the impending storm, and cooking and mashing the aforementioned sweet potatoes, my daughters arrived to make the breads. We got a good clean start on all as my older daughter delegated and my younger daughter and I just did what she said. We got two ovens going and soon the breads were finished. Not so bad I’m thinking but then…”You know, we really ought to make a few cookies. Daddy loves chocolate chips; Justin can’t live without thumb prints.” By this time I realize there’s no getting out of it so let’s get rolling but only if we can make oatmeal raisin, MY favorite. Did I mention I had no chocolate chips or green jelly for the thumb prints and you really can’t make all red thumb prints so back to the store I go. I’m more clever then you might think as I’m able to sneak in a bit more gift shopping while buying the chips and green jelly and while I’m gone the oatmeal cookies are almost all baked. Sunday, the snow came as promised. Luckily, my husband’s truck has four wheel drive so a little snow can’t keep us home. The grocery stores were empty and even though the shelves were depleted by crazed shoppers on Saturday who worried they wouldn’t get out Sunday, I got everything I could possibly buy ahead and 5% of to boot. Miracles do happen; I found enough beef, pork and veal to make the traditional Swedish meatballs. By Sunday night I’m quite tired, but the meatballs are made, most presents are wrapped and the yard is plowed. I sit down by my tree, put a Christmas movie in the DVD player, and…promptly fall asleep! Books on my TBR pile for next year: Unplug the Christmas machine: a complete guide to putting love and joy back into the season by Jo Robinson  The Battle for Christmas by Stephen Nissenbaum 
----------------------------------------------------------------- DECEMBER 18, 2009
Spotted: Flying Pigs
So, there is a lot I could blog about this week, the holidays are upon us, New Years are coming, best books of 2009...blah, blah, blah. BUT, we have a far more pressing matter at hand. Since posting about Pigbee last week, we have seen him popping up EVERYWHERE! Pigbee:
Gracing the covers of the hottest magazines: On websites: This is from a website Carol and I were looking at yesterday - for Kiki Magazine. We were just clicking around and low and behold... look who we found. Wearing glasses no less. AND - check out this puzzle Su found this week:
Obviously, we’ve started a huge trend here. Pigbee mania is sweeping the nation. Watch out. PolkaPig
AquaPig
WallStreetPig:
This one is just disturbing, I won't let Pigbee see it:
Anyways, its become a kind of running joke around here. Keep your eyes peeled and I’m guessing you’ll start seeing Pigbee too!
----------------------------------------------------------------- DECEMBER 16, 2009
Skulduggery Pleasant - A must read!
It’s rare these days that I find a book that I adore. One in which the characters become people I wish I could have lunch with and the plot grabs my attention refusing to let go. Rarer still is a mystery in which I am lead up to something and do not see it from 90 pages away. Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy is such a book. It’s the story of an ordinary, though sharp tongued, young woman who teams up with a skeleton detective to save world. I loved it! Intrigue, adventure, wonderful people (and skeletons), evil bad guys and a few things I didn’t see coming. Who could ask for more? This is the first of what is currently a four book series written at a middle school aged audience level. I’ve not (yet) read the others. And the internet sites tell me that a movie is in the works. I’m a bit nervous about this…too many great books have become not so great movies. Still, if you’ve not read it… come check it out! (And if you have read it - we'd love to hear your opinion!)
----------------------------------------------------------------- DECEMBER 14, 2009
O' Christmas Tree
As a child the very first Christmas Tree I remember is one my father got at a nursery where he worked part-time. Being the cute kid that I was the owner (Joe Ravizzo) let me come and pick my very own balled tree. I loved that tree and it was planted in the yard of my childhood home in New Britain. This is probably where my love of live Christmas trees started. Not so my mom! I think it was the next year (but hey, I was just a kid) when our pretty live tree was ready to come out of the stand and out the door, most of it (the needles) remained. That did it for my mom. Never a live tree would brighten our house again. From that year on we had a fake, or what is usually politely called an artificial tree. Big ones, small ones, green ones, silver, you name it, over the years we had it. Do you remember those white trees with the color wheels? The wheel would turn and a shining light would change the white tree to blue, to green, to red, etc. In my opinion they were all hideous! And I told my mother so. With hands on hips and all of my seven years I exclaimed “When I get my own house, I’m always going to have a real tree”. I may live to eat those words. This year I snuck around stores looking at artificial trees. I was thinking something small, four to five feet with LED lights, easy to put up, and maybe store without even having to collapse it ot take the decorations off; instant tree. Try as I might the only decent looking ones to me were those that were at least 8 feet and hundreds of dollars. I did the math. Even at an average of $20 dollars, my live trees haven’t cost that amount. And I’d probably have had to buy more than one over the years. Granted, though, the “fake” trees have come along way. Still , the more I looked at them the more I dreamed of a real, live tree. So Saturday afternoon found my husband and me out in the woods finding our perfect 39th Christmas tree. I decided I wanted a little tree. I say this each year. Last year we went to a place that all the trees, whether they were 4 ft, 6 ft or even 10 ft. were $35. I’m a woman who likes to get her money’s worth. Buy the 10 foot tree. It’s a bargain. Never mind that my ceiling’s only 8 feet high. We tried a new place this year. They had trees from $20 to $55. Yeah, right! Try and find one of those $20 ones. Never quite figured out their pricing rationale, but it must have had something to do with inches as they had prices in strange increments that ended in $.50, like $22.50 or $37.50. No tagging because the tagged trees were being taken by scrooges who couldn’t take the time to find their own nicely shaped tree. We found what we thought was the perfect tree way out in lot 11, high on a hill, that would have made a beautiful home sight. Getting there was quite a trek, up hill remember. Come to find out those trees were not for sale this year but the man assured us if we really wanted that one, we could have it. Guilt made me leave this beauty to grow a few more years. Down the hill we circled and finally found a 4 foot tree, small as trees go. A cup of hot chocolate, a shake of the tree and we were on our way. But believe me the work to decorate it is still the same. Every box of Christmas decorations still needs to come out of hiding, commonly called storage. I still had to dig through all the boxes to find the lights and balls, even if I was using fewer of them. The tree still needs to be watered each and every day, necessitating some interesting contortions on my part to get under the tree skirt and get the water in the stand. And the needles will still have to be vacuumed. Still, when my mother comes on Christmas Day my house will smell of pine, the lights will sparkle and I can show off this year’s tree and remind her that only real trees are truly Christmas trees! Oh, and those trees in the picture; just a few of the balled trees we've purchased, displayed and planted over the years... Here's a few suggestions to keep you merry over the holidays... The solstice evergreen : history, folklore, and origins of the Christmas tree by Sheryl Karas  Holiday lights brilliant displays to inspire your Christmas celebration / by David Seidman.  Better homes and gardens Christmas ornaments to make : 101 sparkling holiday trims [editor, Carol Field Dahlstrom]  The Christmas tree / Julie Salamon ; illustrated by Jill Weber. 
----------------------------------------------------------------- DECEMBER 11, 2009
It’s a pig…It’s a bee…
It’s Pigbee - the newest addition to our library! He began as a plain white piggy bank, but in the spirit of the Saxton B. (bee) we turned him into a hybrid:
Isn’t he cute? We made him so we could sit him on the front desk in hopes of collecting donations throughout the year. Well, he’s finally all decorated in his full bee regalia, but, we need a jingle. Something catchy to get folks to notice little Pigbee and drop their coins in. So, here’s where you come in. Su, Carol, and I sat around during the snowstorm the other day trying to come up with some sort of little rhyme to display with Pigbee, but we haven’t settled on anything yet. We wanted to post about Pigbee on the blog to see what sort of creative rhymes you can come up with. If can come up with a clever rhyme about donating money, or piggy banks, or bees, please post it here! Don’t let us down! Most importantly, don’t let Pigbee down. Awww…look at that face:
“I need a jingle.”
----------------------------------------------------------------- DECEMBER 9, 2009
Google ( n. v. adj.) [Goo-gul]
Yesterday, the search engine Google informed me that it was E.C. Segar’s 115 birthday. Had not the image been Popeye I would never have known of Segar, the cartoonist who created the character in the 1920’s. But today’s blog is not about Popeye. It’s about Google. Like most people today, Google is my search engine of choice. I like its clean, white, uncluttered page with primary color letters. I have good luck with it. A part of me also likes the idea that this monster, started by grad students, unconventional in it’s business has become such a success. I think I have a retirement fund that owns stock in Google, and it is such a large scale curiosity, that when books come out or news shows come on about the company, I’m intrigued. Last week, I happened to be mesmerized by one such show. It was interesting to see “inside” the company’s headquarters, learn what they were planning next, how they created some of their “features.” But the more I listened and watched, the more disconcerting it became. In their world, where every day is casual Friday, at first, the notion of the company providing its workers with several gourmet chefs, where at lunch one could get high cuisine from around the world seemed amazing. Have laundry to do? No problem, bring it in. It’s a company perk! But as I was thinking, ‘how cool is that?’ The company spokes person was explaining their rational: they want their workers working… all the time, not worrying about mundane things of life. So, they provide all they can for their workers, keeping them working and happy to be at work. Hmmm. Suddenly for me the concept of ‘company store’ took on new meaning. Then the reporter starting asking about privacy…. Did you know that Google keeps a record of every search, everyone has ever done? The scope of that was mind blowing. As I was trying to conceive of how much disk space that would require, the reporter went on to inquire just how much could Google link a search with a person. Although the company was quick to assure they don’t care, don’t pay attention, and really it’s only about indexing data, the bottom line was: they can. At least for 18 months prior, they can very, very easily. So much so, that the reporter allegedly contacted an individual, tracking them down, at their house, by Google searches. Hmmm. The reporter’s concern naturally was that maybe Josephine Q Public was searching things she didn’t want linked to her (domestic violence, AIDS symptoms, etc.) or that Big Brother would be able to swoop in and use this information, arresting those who searched how to make a bomb, e-mails addresses of terrorists. A valid concern, certainly. As one who for a number of reasons has obscure and varied searches, some of them seemingly nonsensical (pomegranate squid, orc names, etc.) I kind of liked the idea that my obscure things were being saved and creating odd patterns for Google’s programmers. But what really concerned me from this story was the assumption and acceptance that people’s searches are valid in telling us something about the individual. They’re not. It’s not simply Librarian’s that engage in seeking out information out of curiosity, sparked by something they were asked, read or saw on television. I might search haggis recipes, but that doesn’t mean I’m inclined to make or eat it. I leave you pondering this: which is worse a world where your every keystroke can be saved and linked to you personally or a world where this information is believed to have meaning? As you ponder this idea, check out Feed by MT Anderson  It's one of our favorites!
----------------------------------------------------------------- DECEMBER 7, 2009
Short but Sweet or Sugar Plums Perhaps!
My burning question for all this week ...
----------------------------------------------------------------- DECEMBER 4, 2009
You learn something new everyday...
Last night we had a Mother-Daughter Book Club meeting. Each month a different mother-daughter 'set' hosts the club by bringing a snack, asking some discussion questions, and providing some sort of craft or activity. The book we read this month was Hanne’s Quest, by Olivier Dunrea. The book is about a small chicken (Hanne – pronounced Hannah) that has to go on three quests in order to lay golden eggs to save the farm she lives on. Conveniently enough, the mother and daughter who hosted last night own A LOT of chickens, so not only did they do a great job leading the meeting, but they were also able to answer all of our chicken questions! One thing we were all surprised to learn is that chickens are omnivores – they like meat! I am not a farm girl, so I guess I always assumed that they just ate grain and corn. The mom hosting said that she would never buy a chicken at the grocery store that was labeled ‘vegetarian fed’ because chickens are meant to be omnivores. The mom/daughter team also told us how vicious chickens can be, not to humans, but to each other. So, this morning I was telling Su all the new chicken info I learned last night, and she proceeds to tell me about a PBS documentary were a woman gave her favorite chicken mouth to mouth resuscitation after it was lost in a blizzard! I looked up the documentary online; it’s called The Natural History of the Chicken. Not only does it feature mouth-to-beak CPR, it also shows a woman who has a pet rooster that she drives around with, dresses in diapers, AND washes and blow-dries daily, after they swim laps in her pool! Lovely! Lots of wacky chicken stuff folks. Here are MY favorite stories about chickens:
Have a great weekend!
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319 Route 87 Columbia, CT 06237
Phone: 860 228 0350 Fax: 860 228 1569
SAXTON B. LITTLE FREE 
As 2009 winds down and 2010 is set to begin everybody and their brother seems to have their own list for best books of the year. I love these lists! I always find something I never heard of to add to my reading pile. Probably my favorite of these is one still being compiled by the participants of .jpg)
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Last week I polled our reader's for their favorite holiday music. A few of you took me up on this and some of that music will be part of our library's collection.
