Earlier this month, Darien Library hosted the Connecticut Library Consortium's (CLC's) 5th Annual TRENDSPOTTING symposium:

eBooks: Collections at the Crossroads

Below, Eli Neiburger, the Keynote Speaker, delivers his presentation at the event. Eli is the Associate Director of IT & Production at Ann Arbor District Library. He is the author of "Gamers...in the LIBRARY?!" He was recently named one of Library Journal's 2011 Movers and Shakers.*

*Every year since 2002, Library Journal has identified outstanding professionals from around the world who are considered the emerging leaders in the library world and whom the editors believe will shape the future of libraries by innovating with technology, advocating for community-based research and programming, and improving the quality of life of the people they serve.

The documentary, Darien Library: The Great Good Place, was recently awarded Best in Show in the 2010 Connecticut Library Association (CLA) Publicity Awards Contest! Click below for a preview. Click here to learn more and to view the full-length feature.

An Apology from Darien Library

Alan Kirk Gray – Assistant Director for Operations

A Message From Darien Library from Darien Library on Vimeo.

We know that many of our users are having difficulty in managing their accounts while we finish updating our SOPAC software. The conversion process has been going on since December, and we share your impatience with how long this has taken, and we are sorry that in some cases we cannot provide the services you have been accustomed to finding at the Library. In the meanwhile, our staff members are working hard to assist with difficulties, so please let them know if you would like assistance.

We believe we are getting close to resolving the remaining problems, and for more information, please look here.

At the same time, we have heard from a number of you that you are unhappy with our decision to move away from circulating music CDs. We have taken this decision because we believe it reflects the reality of the music market, where the trend is towards digital music access, not ownership of physical CD albums. We do apologize for how long it has taken for us to determine how we will address this new reality.

For more information about our plans for music, please look here.

Details aside, the most important thing is for me to tell you how sorry I am that we are not providing the service you deserve. I would be happy to speak to you when you’re in the Library if you ask for me at the Welcome Desk. Or you can email me at agray@darienlibrary.org

Again, if you click here you will give me a chance to apologize to you digitally, if not directly.
 

Monday at Seven is now meeting at a new location. As of December 27, 2010, the group will meet at the United Methodist Church in Westport. The meeting time will continue to be on Monday mornings at 7:00 a.m.

Monday at Seven is a networking group of professionals in transition.

Darien Library introduced Monday at Seven to the community more than 18 months ago, and is pleased to have hosted this important program; providing a resource and meeting center for job-seekers and networkers. 

Though the meeting site has changed, Darien Library staff will continue to provide assistance in job search, resume review, use of our Bloomberg terminal, and use of our technology resources to Monday at Seven participants.

United Methodist Church is located at 49 Weston Road in Westport. (It is just north of Exit 42 on the Merritt Parkway.) For more information, call James Ulrich at (203) 493-1236. For directions, call the church at (203) 227-4707 or visit westportumc.org.

Photo courtesy of flickr user YayAdrian

At the beginning of December, we launched a new service designed to keep you up-to-date on library events, services and news.  Text a Librarian Outbound Messages will allow you to receive text message updates from Darien Library.  Members may select to receive general Library news, news from the Teen Lounge, and/or news from the Children’s Library.

DLNews: Updates about Library events, services, materials and news.
DLTeen: Information about events, materials, and news from the Teen Lounge.
DLKids: Information from the Children’s Library about events, services, and materials of interest to parents and kids.

Text will be sent from each list weekly, highlighting a particular event, service, or Library news item that will be of interest to subscribers. 

A Pew Research Center report found that 85% of Americans now own mobile phones, a percentage that increases to 96% among 18-29 year olds, and a Nielsen survey found that American adults text twice as much as they talk on their mobile phones. We are eager to be able to connect with patrons on-the-go, and to be able to reach out with news alerts, reminders about upcoming events, and for suggestions for materials or services.  

These services supplement our existing Text-a-Librarian text message reference service:  By texting AskDL to 66746, our patrons are put in touch with a librarian who can answer questions by text message.

Darien Library does not charge for text services, but standard message and data rates apply. 

library catalog noun. an enumeration of all the resources of a library; a register of all bibliographic items found in a library; a log or register of all the materials owned by a particular library.

Our library catalog, the register of all items in our library,  is undergoing a major (major!) change -- a system upgrade that will offer many service enhancements, including better account information, faster and more reliable performance, and advanced member and staff tools. The last time we undertook this major a change to our system was when we updated from the old card catalog system (shown below, left)  about 20 years ago. At that time, we replaced the card catalog with the Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC). The photos below (center and right), taken during our conversion to the OPAC, convey only a hint of the massive effort and energy that an event of this magnitude requires. During the last conversion, the enormity of this task was highly visible and unfortunately, very disruptive to life in the Library. This time, all of the migration of records will take place behind the scenes. Though not visible in the physical space of our building, the task is still huge and unfortunately, some disruptions cannot be avoided. Some of our regular services will experience interruptions and limitations and there will be periodic reductions in system availability during the transition.

As you know, the current system upgrade has already impacted the ability to place holds. Online holds cannot be accepted during this time; the hold option has been disabled. (Items currently on hold will not be affected.)

Also note, some new items may not be appearing in the OPAC, so it may look as if we don't have the item that you are searching for. (Of course, we have Eat Pray Love on DVD on order! In fact, the copies have already been delivered and they will be on our shelves on the release date on Tuesday, 11/23.) So, please check with us. Come in or call. Email us at askus@darienlibrary.org, IM us on AIM & Y!M at deweydarien, or text us. We will post notices on our catalog page alerting you about  books and DVDs that are on order and the dates that they are expected.

We will be going live with the new system on Wednesday, December 8.

From December 1 - December 7, there will be limited services, but we will remain open. Here's what you need to know.

Members:

• will need to have their library cards to check out items

• will still be unable to place holds

• will be unable to check account status or outstanding fines

• will be unable to access reference databases from home

Please note:

An off-line version of the Library catalog will be available for searching.

The Welcome Desk, Information Desk, and Help Desk will be fully staffed and operating.

Our public computers will still be available and our databases will be able to be accessed from within the Library.

We will continue to keep you updated during this time of change at Darien Library. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Darien Library is partnered with OverDrive to provide our members with downloadable audiobooks.  This short video shows you how to install the OverDrive Media Console (the software that manages your downloaded audiobooks,) check out and download an audiobook, and transfer an audiobook to your mp3 player.  Check out our collection of OverDrive audiobooks today!

"Great good places" are defined as third places; in contrast to home (first places) and work (second places), third places are the heart of the community -- a neutral place where people gather and interact. In his book, The Great Good Place, author Ray Oldenburg explores the essential roles served by the third place and its impact on the social vitality of the community.

Heart of the Community. Gather. Essential. Social vitality. These are all words that happen to describe Darien Library, don't you think? Manny Perez, documentary filmmaker must have thought so, too. After months and months of filming at Darien Library... and getting to know us... and our members... and all we strive to achieve, this documentary director/photographer/editor/producer aptly named his documentary film about us, "Darien Library: The Great Good Place."

During the months and months of filming, we also got to know Manny Perez -- a talented, tireless, devoted, and creative filmmaker and man of integrity. We are so proud to have had the opportunity to work with him. We are also proud to premiere the documentary to the public today and say "Greetings from The Great Good Place."

Darien Library: The Great Good Place from Darien Library on Vimeo.

We will be undergoing a major system upgrade to our catalog over the next several weeks. The new catalog system will offer many service enhancements, including better account information, faster and more reliable performance, and advanced member and staff tools.

The Library will remain open during regular hours, however, some of our regular services will experience interruptions and limitations and there will be periodic reductions in system availability during the transition.  We will keep you informed of changes in service.

In preparation for the catalog conversion, beginning Friday, November 12 at 6 p.m., the option to place holds on Library materials will need to be disabled. Holds cannot be accepted during this time. (Items currently on hold will not be affected.)

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.