Yesterday I made the lovely drive to the Ohio river town of Pomeroy to visit the main branch of the Meigs County District Public Library (MCDPL).  MCDPL has four locations and the main branch is located right across the river (there is a great view from the newer section of the library).  Kristi, thank you so much for spending a lot of time talking library talk and giving me a tour of your library and introducing me to everyone.  You and your staff really made me feel at home.

The library building itself was originally a bank with an addition built after it was converted to a library.  It has been modified beautifully- everything is neat and easily accessible and has been cleverly adjusted from its prior use (the video room was a sun room!- I will let the reader’s guess how the former vault area is utilized ).  Chairs and tables are placed nicely throughout the library to provide reading nooks.  On the upper level you will find the circulation desk, the collection, the genealogy area and patron computers.  On the lower level is an impressive area with several meeting rooms, a state of the art computer lab, a kitchen and even a separate entrance to help the meeting room traffic flow.  Staff and a volunteer were busy getting ready for one of the big annual family craft nights- the decorating of Gingerbread Houses (thank you to Emily for providing pictures of this event and game night to include this blog).  100 houses were pre-assembled for decorating.  About eighty people attended and 50 houses were decorated (the bad weather forecast made attendance lower than normal).

The Racine branch held the first Game night last Friday, November 30 from 4-6.  It was a huge success!  31 kids took turns playing at two stations Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution.  The Friends of the Library provided pizza.  Judging from the pictures alone, the kids had a great time.  Game events are becoming a popular program at public libraries.  (If your library has hosted a gaming event, please post a comment on this blog and tell us about it!)

If you are in Pomeroy, stop by the library- you can’t miss it.  Just drive down 33 and look for the new beautiful sign with its electronic billboard!

I visited the Nelsonville branch of the Athens County Public Library (ACPL) on the Monday before Thanksgiving.  Although one of the library renovations gave this library a sleek modern look on the outside, the white wooden rockers on the main entrance portico make you feel like you are visiting a favorite and welcoming relative.  This feeling continued on as I was greeted by staff behind the beautiful circulation desk and welcomed by director Lauren Miller.  Lauren is a sweet and dynamic lady, working hard to make her library system a great place to be.  ACPL took on a new look and name in August of this year.  I love their new logo!  Isn’t it a great spin on the traditional library sign?

Their web site also received a new look.  It is very sleek (great job Owen!) and easy to use.  Each branch has their own tab.  Check it out at www.myacpl.org

If you don’t know, ACPL gave libraries in the US a grand leap into the world of open source software.  When researching for a new integrated library system, they decided to hire a programmer to update the open-source software Koha to make it compatible with Marc records.  This innovation has provided ACPL with a cutting edge catalog.  They just upgraded to a newer version of Koha and the search feature is very enhanced.  The results list are very “amazon-like”.

Well, I am digressing into technology, which is easy for me to do!  Back to my visit.  Lauren gave me the full tour!  The Nelsonville branch is well organized in all areas (both patron and staff).  There was a visiting school when I was there and branch manager Sandy McConnel and staff were busy with lively and bright second graders.  About a year ago, the moved their children’s department to the front of the building where kids can enjoy the bright light and check out all of the activity going on outside. 

Thank Lauren and staff for a great tour and fun visit!  Please stop by and visit them sometime!