I am so thankful that when I was growing up my small town had a library.  For me, it was a house of books that could take me to far-away places, make me laugh, make me cry, and even possibly make me sound smarter.  Many of the books that I brought home from the library as a child and young adult had a major impact on my thinking and my life and for that I am grateful.  They still do today. That part hasn’t changed although the libraries of today have changed in so many ways.

Today we can still get books from the library to read and learn from but now we can get them in the traditional paper or an electronic version.  We can check out movies and enjoy family night in the comfort of our own homes and save the dollars we would have to spend at the movie theater for other things.    We can check out music cds to match our moods or broaden our musical taste.  We and our children can learn to appreciate art through books, dvds, the sculptures throughout the building, the contest photographs on the walls and even watercolor classes. We can access the Internet at the library.  We can take classes to get our GED’s or even classes to learn how to babysit (something a particular family in my small town wished I had taken before leaving me with their precious baby for one night!).  Our children can enjoy bedtime stories and have their pictures taken with Santa.  Some of them even got to see an actual piece of the moon a few years ago. 

All the activities and services that our Haltom City Public Library offers is sometimes overwhelming to me--especially when I’m trying to decide which one to write about for the library blog.  But I’m not complaining.  Instead I am thankful for all that our library offers us and our families.  And I’m even more thankful for all the library staff that work so hard to makes these services and programs available for us.  They are, in alphabetic order:  Allison, Ann, BeckyD, BeckyE, Cyd, Dean, Dianne,  Gail, Grant, Jamie, Janet, Jesica, Laura, Lesly, Maria, Patricia, Rina, Robbie, Rosa, Rose, Wanda and Yog. 

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and happy reading from your Library Blog Mistress

Library and Community Honors Veterans

When you come to the Haltom City Public Library this month, you will see displays in the lobby celebrating Veteran’s Day as well as along the left wall in the main body of the library.  Please take your time to enjoy and honor these tributes to the men who fought for you and your country.  The displays will remain at the library without the month of November.  Veteran’s Day is officially this Friday, November 11^th.  However, some lucky seniors from the Sterling House of Richland Hills Assisted Living will be celebrating early at the Haltom City Public Library thanks to Allison Long and the Library’s Outreach Program.  The library’s Veteran’s Honor Program will be held at the Library’s Imagination Station Thursday, 10:30 – 11:30.  Sterling House will be making a special trek to the Library for this event that is open to the public as well.  Short stories honoring Veterans will be read aloud by Allison Long and there will be sing-alongs of patriotic songs such “God Bless America”.  As a special treat, a short animated film will be shown that tells the history of the Star-Spangled Banner.

A special thanks to Patsy & Cathy & Ann for a great display.  And thanks to Fran Burns for the flags  that are installed around the nautilus for Veteran's Day .

The Senior Center is hosting a Veteran’s Day program Friday, November 11th at 11am and would like to invite everyone to join them. They have secured former Congressman Pete Geren as the keynote speaker and will have the Mayor, several Council members, and Marcia Etie from Kay Granger’s office in attendance.    

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National Novel Writing Month

November is National Novel Writing Month.  I don’t know why or who decided November was to be the time for wanna-be’s and professional writers to devote every waking (and even sleeping) hour to writing a novel; an informal research (i.e., done by Google—not a librarian) indicates that in 1999 a group of 21 writers in the San Francisco area started NaNoWriMo with the goal of writing 50,000 words of a novel during the month of November. A crazy idea that now has approximately 200,000+ world-wide authors and authors-to-be, including your Library Blog Mistress, attempting to somehow squeeze out 50,000 words that hopefully will one day become the “All American Best Novel.”  We can all dream, can’t we?   Lol

In all seriousness and trust me, these writers are serious, few deceive themselves that their 50,000 words will prove to be publishable or even readable fiction by December 1st.  But there’s where the genius is within the madness.  If the writer is to accomplish 50,000 words in the span of one month, especially one that has a major holiday in it, there ain’t no time for editing  our work. That means the little loud-mouth internal critic that we all have can’t stop us by saying, “Wait, that word is misspelled!” or “Stop, that sentence is incomplete!” or “Whatever made you think YOU could write?”  

It’s the doubt, self-criticism and fear of failure that stops a lot of us from reaching our goals, I think.  At least for me, it is.  There’s a quote that I have taped to my computer screen.  PERFECT is the greatest enemy of GOOD.   (I don’t remember who said it so you will have check with your librarian to find out if you are interested.) Writing 50,000 words won’t produce a literary novel for most of us; it will, however, give most of us a chance to plant the seed for a possible novel.  After December 1^st, then the real work can begin. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.  And oh yes, lots of trips to the library to research the various ways a _______ can work.  (Hey, I’m not giving my plot line away!)

It’s not too late to start if you are a writer or have ever wanted to try your hand at it.  This is only Day 3 and you’re only approximately 3,000 words behind.  If you are interested, the website with the history and rules for the annual marathon writing race is: www.nanowrimo.org.

Happy writing and reading from your Library Blog Mistress!

A Continuation of Celebrating Books, Art, and Community…..

As a means of encouraging residents’ interest in the arts, the Art in the City Committee coordinated a mural design contest last spring and challenged students at Haltom High School to enter. The contest was co-sponsored by the Haltom City Library 50^th Anniversary Committee. Theme of the winning work was to be military in honor of those who had served in the United States Armed Forces.  Winners were announced before the end of school  last year. They are: 1^st Place – Erik Johnson; 2^nd Place Bethany Ivey.

So that these works could be seen by the public, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department employees constructed two four by 16 foot pallets on the lawn at the library. The students from Haltom High completed the mural by applying the winning designs during the inaugural Art in the City Haltom City Art Festival, held Oct. 1 at the Library. Those who drive by can appreciate the students’ work, just in time for an observance of Veteran’s Day 2011.

A special thanks to Fran Burns who provided this information and photos of the murals in progress, and of course, to all the volunteers of the Art in the City Committee and the Haltom City Public Library's 50th Anniversary Committee for their vision, hard work, and dedication to Haltom City and the library.

New Tools for Finding Jobs

According to the Star-Telegram’s article on October 10, 2011, there are “better-than-expected employment numbers” with employers adding 103,000 jobs in September.  Good news. Yet the same article in the Star-Telegram states that “the number of Americans out of work for six months or longer crept up to 6.2 million.”  Not so good news.

  

The unemployment rate is staying at 9.1 percent which means, chances are, that you or a family member or a friend is unemployed and looking for a job.  This is true for me and a friend of mine.  We both have adult children currently unemployed and looking for work.  My friend and I were discussing yesterday about how frustrated her daughter, a recent UTA magna cum laude graduate, felt when she received feedback from a prospective employer that her resume needed minor tweaking.  I, being the Library Blog Mistress, suggested that she contact the Haltom City Public Library as at one time they had held classes on resume writing.  

That’s when I learned that the classes are no longer available as NTRLS (North Texas Regional Library System) suffered major budget reductions due to cuts from the State Library, their funding source (the State Library sustained  a 64% budget cut, largest of any state agency).  But there is good news according to Lesly Smith, our Library Director.  The Haltom City Public Library has just subscribed to a new database called ResumeMaker.  It can be found on the Library’s website, http://www.haltomcitytx.com/HC_Public_Library/PublicLibrary.html and is free to all Haltom City Public Library card holders.  I wish I’d known about this website before my son paid $150 to have his resume written!  Another new database, www.TWDL.org  which offers multiple job listing websites, will be available on the Library’s website as well. 

Looking for employment is a hard and often discouraging process with the job seekers to wonder: Where do I look for job opportunities?  Why haven’t I gotten that interview?  And how much longer can I go without any income coming in?  Thanks to the Haltom City Public Library, job seekers will now have new avenues and resources to help make their search a more successful venture.

Arts In Haltom City Are Well And Thriving

HEADLINE:  Sue Sylvester, cheerleading coach for the “Cheerios” on “Glee”, one of my favorite TV shows, is running for Congress in her home state of Ohio.  Her platform (or should I say agenda) is anti-arts in public schools.  “Arts are expensive,” she says, “and we can’t afford them anymore.”  Of course, if you have ever watched “Glee”, you know it’s a musical satire and the character of Sue Sylvester is portrayed as being more than slightly skewed. 

  

Still, as in most fiction and fantasies, there’s an ounce of truth in Coach Sylvester’s platform.  Many states and cities across the nation are struggling financially and public funds for the arts have been or are threatened to be drastically reduced, leaving the communities and libraries to fill the voids.  Thankfully, there is not a lack of arts in Haltom City, nor a lack of support for the arts here, not with two major artistic events being held at the Haltom City Public Library starting in the month of October, 2011. 

On Saturday, October 1^st, the City of Haltom City will hold its first ever Art in the City at the Haltom City Public Library!  The responses from local artists have been overwhelming, guaranteeing that all types of art media will be available for you to purchase and treasure.  (Early Christmas shopping mecca??)  The art event will be from 10:00 to 5:00 and admission is free.  Your library blog mistress plans to be there and hopes that you will be there too.

Starting on Saturday, October 15, 2011 and continuing through November, even perhaps early December, Watercolor Painting Classes will be available at the Haltom City Public Library.  Haltom City’s very own award-winning “Artist in Residence”, Bennie Johnson Woods, will be teaching the classes.  Cost is $90 and the class is limited to 20 participants.  Please look for the outstanding article on Bennie Johnson Wood in your latest Haltom City’s newsletter, Crossroads.

These may be difficult times for the arts but your community and your library are not only keeping up with the pace, they are setting it!  So how about letting them know what a good job they’re doing?   They’d love to hear from you.  E-mail me at:  libraryblogmistress@gmail.com and I’ll forward your comments and suggestions to them.

Happy Reading from your Library Blog Mistress

Blog Postings Moved to Fridays

Please come back on Friday.  Typically I have been writing the library blog on Wednesday evenings and posted it either Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.  I'm embarrassed to say this but since I've started exercise boot camp which meets on Monday and Wednesday evenings, I've found that I'm left with  little time and even less energy to write the blog after class on Wednesday nights.  This proves my theory that exercising is not that good for you.... or maybe that if I had started exercising years ago, I wouldn't be in such bad shape.  lol   Regardless, I'm sticking to the exercise class and my commitment to the library blog; just rearranging my schedule a bit.  Especially since the boot camp instructor states that every hour of exercise adds 3 years to one's life.... or was it every 15 minutes of exercise?  Hum.  Maybe I need to ask one of the librarians to research that for me.  I don't want to overdo a good thing if I can help it.

Thanks,

Library Blog Mistress