Photo by Flickr user MC Quinn

The Library will be opened till 10:30 p.m. from Sunday, January 15th to Thursday, January 19th to allow students more time to study for their midterms. The opening and closing schedule will change to:

9 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.

Please note that during this time, the Library may have a higher than normal volume of patrons. 

at Darien Library, CT

An extraordinary opportunity for an extraordinary new children’s librarian.

We welcome your interest in the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Fellowship. 

Harold W. McGraw, Jr. was an active supporter of Darien Library with a personal commitment to education and a belief in the important role a child's library experiences play at the beginning of life-long literacy. The McGraw family has funded the formation of a Children's Librarian Fellowship at Darien Library to honor his memory, through a two-year full-salaried position for a recent Master in Library Science graduate who:

• demonstrates exemplary scholarship
• possesses a passion for working with children and for the development of literacy
• shows significant leadership promise
• has strong personal qualities
• demonstrates a penchant for technology 

Selection Process

The Fellowship will be open to LIS graduates from an accredited Library School in the United States or Canada who will have received their diploma between December 1, 2011, and July 1, 2012.

Applications will be due March 30, 2012. After initial screening, interviews for finalists will be held at a mutually convenient time and place, and the finalist will be invited to visit Darien Library for a meeting with the Fellowship Committee prior to appointment.  

Term

The successful applicant will be employed at Darien Library for two years, commencing approxiately July 1, 2012, with a final employment date of June 30, 2014.

Compensation

The Fellow will be paid initially at the Connecticut Library Association MLS minimum salary for entry-level positions (for 2012: $50,700) with full benefits, paid membership in CLA and ALA, funding for attendance at the American Library Association Annual Meeting and other meetings as appropriate.

Position Parameters
The Fellow will work as a member of the Children's Services team, providing reference and reader's advisory services in addition to creating and conducting programs for children and families. The Fellow will be given specific, defined, high-stakes projects and responsibilities that will be determined by the successful candidate's skills and interests. The Fellowship will provide experience, growth and challenges in the following areas

• Children's materials collection development
• Program development, implementation and evaluation
• Marketing to defined areas of the community
• Continuing education, professional development and support
• Access to the latest technology

Harold W. McGraw, Jr. (1918-2010) Chairman Emeritus and Former CEO, The McGraw-Hill Companies and Honorary Trustee of Darien Library, was a steadfast and generous supporter, esteemed leader, thoughtful mentor and beloved friend. His support of the engagement, education and entertainment of children was unwavering; it reflected his commitment to the important role of public libraries from the beginning to the end of the life of each person in the community. This Fellowship, created in honor of his memory, will provide a transformational experience for a highly-qualified recent Library School graduate to learn from, and contribute to, the leading role the Children’s Library at Darien Library is playing in developing new services to children and their families.

Application Process  

All applications should include the following:

• A cover letter of no more than one page
• Resume of no more than two pages
• Two essays
  • In up to 100 words, tell us "One thing I know for sure."
  • In up to 500 words, tell us "Why I will make a difference at Darien Library."
• A video of no more than two minutes in which you tell us which is your favorite children’s book and convince us to read it.
• No more than five references, attesting to your love of children, passion for literacy, and penchant for technology. (May be sent separately.)
• Graduate school transcript
• Undergraduate transcript 
•  Application Checklist (pdf)

Applications are due by 5 p.m. on March 30, 2012 and should be delivered to:

Late applications will not be opened and will not be considered. Faxes cannot be accepted. 

Applications will be reviewed immediately, all respondents will be advised of our decision by April 10, and first round phone interviews will be held in April. Final interviews will be completed in May 2012. The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Fellow will be selected and notified by June 1, 2012, with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2012.

Queries can be addressed to fellowship@darienlibrary.org

Join us today, November 15th for our Opening Day Celebration

EBM Operators will be on hand to perform live demonstrations and print books from 10am-6pm

Enter your name into a raffle to win FREE BOOKS!

The EBM takes three to four minutes to print paperback books with a color cover, and they are just the same as commercial paperbacks. The number of books that can be printed out is more than 4 million, most of them older books out of copyright, provided from Google book scans, or self-published editions. Some publishers – HarperCollins is a good example – have made some of their backlist available for printing on demand by the EBM, too. To discover what books are offered by On Demand Books, you can search their catalog. 

http://www.darienlibrary.org/espresso

The Espresso Book Machine is now set up near the Library Cafe.

The Darien Library is welcoming a new technology, which will provide Library patrons with greater access to a wide variety of paperback books. On Nov. 15, the Library will officially launch the Espresso Book Machine, a database containing millions of books, linked to a state-of-the-art machine, that prints books in the time it takes to brew and sip a cup of coffee, right next to the Library Cafe. 

“With the EBM, you can print books that are in copyright and available from publishers,” said Bronwen Blaney, manager of custom publishing and retail services for On Demand Books, the company responsible for the machine, which offers about 7 million titles.

“This machine is ideal for a book that’s five or 10 years old, and is still in-print and relevant, but maybe isn’t in very high demand — so maybe a bookstore doesn’t stock it, or they carried it and it didn’t sell so they returned it. Basically, you have a title that somebody’s going to want somewhere,” Blaney said Tuesday morning.

It will be a game-changer at the library, according to Library Chief Administrative Officer Alan Kirk Gray. 

“I’m excited because when we first looked at this three years ago, what we understood was there was going to be an immediacy of the availability of a whole broad range of books that are unavailable in any other way to our patrons and we thought that was fantastic,” he said. “At the same time that we’re doing more electronic books, we’re also doing more physical books, because I think peoples’ tastes are individual and unique, especially in a community like this.”

But it’s good for more than printing books that would otherwise need to be ordered from a publisher. The EBM, which is sort of like an ATM for books, will also be a valuable tool for Library patrons who are interested in self-publishing. 

“If someone’s written a book, they can publish it so quickly here,” said Blaney. 

While the EBM is not an ideal tool for local authors who wish to print scores or hundreds of copies, Blaney said it’s a perfect fit for those who wish to print small orders, at a pretty affordable price.

“It’s usually in the ballpark of about $6, plus 2 cents a page, so a 100-page book would be about $8,” she said. 

Once the manuscript and cover art is uploaded, it will continue to exist in the EBM database, so local authors can print the books and sell them on their own, or direct others to order them from the EBM.

“I think it’s a leap forward. It really is,” said Library patron Peter Covello as he watched the machine print, bind and deliver a paperback novel. Covello and other onlookers were able to watch through the EBM’s clear casing as the book was printed and bound together, sliding through the machine’s assembly line in a matter of minutes.

EBM operators will be printing books at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day through the official launch on Nov. 15 so patrons can get a sneak peek at the new addition. For more information, go to www.darienlibrary.org/espresso.

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.

 Longtime Smith College professor Elliot Offner (pictured left) died on Friday at the age of 79. Mr. Offner, was a nationally known sculptor whose artwork is found in many private and public collections. His impressive work is locally known as well; the Great Blue Heron has resided in Darien for more than 20 years at Darien Library.

The Great Blue Heron sculpture was commissioned by Darien Library and was the first piece of public art in Darien. The dedication ceremony took place on May 31, 1987 and since then, the beloved sculpture has graced our courtyard. From its original perch in the courtyard at 35 Leroy Avenue, to its new home in the reflecting pool at the new Library, the heron has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors to Darien Library.

Two years ago, when we were preparing to move to the new Library, among one of the biggest concerns voiced by our members was whether or not the heron would be moved, too. That is the language of community pride, of shared memories, of continuity, of roots. We are proud that Mr. Offner's Great Blue Heron has become a symbol of Darien Library and as always, we embrace its beauty, its strength, and its grace. We mourn the passing of Elliot Offner. 

Smith College is home to our heron's twin, which resides on the campus in a small pond next to Victorian greenhouses. Smith's moving tribute to Mr. Offner includes a description of the Great Blue Heron: " ...with its exhilarating and unfolding of wings and elastic curve of neck --lithe and filled with potential." Click here to read the full tribute. 

The New York Times' obituary of Mr. Offner can be read by clicking here.

See our tips when you check in!

From the Darien post office to your grocery store of choice to, of course, the Darien Library, there's a lot of places you visit in a day.  What if you recorded - checked in - where you went daily on your mobile phone and what if you were given points for those visits?  Sounds like the making of an interesting game...

That's the exact premise behind the online game foursquare!

Play along with your fellow community members to see what places are of interest in the area.  When you check in other folks may have left tips for you at different locations - called venues.  The library staff has put together a nice list of things to check out while in the library at our venue on foursquare.

The more you check in, the more points you get.  Check in enough times and become mayor of that location!  If you become mayor of Darien Library please stop by the Welcome Desk and speak to Erica Leone to claim your very own Darien Library tote bag (a $25 dollar value)!

One bag per mayor please :)