Yearly Archives: 2016

Super Mortimer to the Rescue! With Candy!

This entry was posted in DPL Blog Kids on September 23, 2016 by admin

Super Mortimer Certified Hello! Mortimer here again! Maybe you didn’t recognize me because I am in costume! I am SUPER MORTIMER, to the rescue! Why? Well, because Halloween is next month and I have to get ready!

Ok, so Halloween is when you dress up in a disguise and go trick-or-treating to get candy! Yay! I thought about dressing up like a moose again this year, because moose are my favorite animal, but then I know you wouldn’t recognize me at all and I might miss you. So I will be Super Mortimer instead!

I want to walk in Dover’s Halloween Parade with the Dover Public Library’s little Tornadoes Reading Club on October 26 at 6:00 if my mom says it is ok! If we walk in the parade, we will get our very own bag of candy! Will you be there? YOU could dress up like a moose! How cool would that be?

If you didn’t do the Little Tornadoes Reading Club, (why not???) you could still come watch me walk in the parade! I will give you extra candy if you yell something awesome like, “long live the moose!” Yes, that will be our secret candy code! When I hear you yell that, I will rush over with extra candy and next year you’ll walk in the parade with me! Yay!

-Mortimer the Moose

Volunteer of the Month: Taylor

This entry was posted in Adult Services DPL Blog Teens on September 9, 2016 by admin

Taylor shelving at the book sale Throw the confetti! Strike up the band! Our Volunteer of the Month for September is Taylor!

How long have you been volunteering at the library?

Almost a year

Why did you want to become a volunteer at the library?

I wanted to become a volunteer at the library to learn how the library works and to see what it takes to be an employee at the library.

Who are some of your favorite authors?

James Patterson
John Green
Gail Carriger
Richelle Mead
C.C. Hunter
Cassandra Clare

What do you enjoy most about being a volunteer?

Learning how the library works

Thanks for everything that you do, Taylor! We appreciate all your hard work and dedication to helping the library.

Would you like to volunteer? Contact Wendy Contini for more information on how to help your library.

Nights at the Round Table: Rex Ray

This entry was posted in Adult Services on September 6, 2016 by admin

Thursday, February 23 at 6:30 PM

Author Rex Ray will discuss his book: Every Day is Mother’s Day

Studies show that children show higher levels of emotional and moral well-being if they hear stories about relatives who came before them. Psychologists have analyzed dinner time conversations and other measures of how well families work and found that family stories are a critical part of a child’s emerging identity. This memoir by Dover native Rex Ray gives examples of dinner time stories that have shaped his life and can shape the thoughts of children and adults today.

National Park Service Centennial Program

This entry was posted in Adult Services on August 23, 2016 by admin

In August of 1916 the National Park Service (NPS) was created to care for America’s treasures. Today, the NPS cares for over 400 National Park Service Sites that preserve America’s treasures. Join a park ranger for a celebration of the Centennial and a look at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. For more information or to register for this free community event, please call the Dover Public Library at 330-343-6123. NPS Centennial

End of Summer Reading — Beginning of Little Tornadoes Reading Club

This entry was posted in DPL Blog Kids on August 16, 2016 by admin

Mortimer Moose here again! Did you miss me? I have some very bad news today – I did not win any summer reading prizes. Bummer. Good news – I read a lot of great books and got a FREE book to keep! Yay for free books! Did you get a free book? Can I read yours? Please? I think I will win lots of prizes next year, since moose are usually very lucky.

I am excited about the fall Footnotes that will come out in the fall, I believe. There are lots of new programs to get me by until the next summer reading. I wonder when fall reading starts. And winter reading and spring reading? WHAT?! There is only SUMMER reading?! I’m going to go into prize withdraw! Medic! Medic!

Oh, wait! I almost forgot about the Little Tornadoes Reading Club! That’s just as good as a fall reading program. Not only do we get to read sports books, everyone who finishes the drills will get football game tickets, a club t-shirt, and a membership card! There’s also some great events for club members like a Gridiron story time with the Dover Tornadoes! So awesome! I’ll let the other events be a surprise. *Moose Wink*

Come visit the Children’s Department and tell Miss Jen you want to sign up for the Little Tornadoes Reading Club! Then we’ll be in a club together! How fun will that be?

Your Pal,

Mortimer Moose

Volunteer of the Month: Carl

This entry was posted in Adult Services DPL Blog on August 5, 2016 by admin

volunteer Carl with box Congrats to our Volunteer of the Month for August: Carl!

How long have you been volunteering at the library?

3 Years

Why did you want to become a volunteer at the library?

A way to give back to the community

Who are some of your favorite authors?

Box, Baldacci, Patterson, Gavis, Deaver, Sanford, Castillo

What do you enjoy most about being a volunteer?

Just being around the library and talking with the staff

Thank you for all your help, Carl!

Would you like to volunteer? Contact Wendy Contini for more information on how to help your library.

5 Things I’ve Learned in 5 Years

This entry was posted in DPL Blog on July 15, 2016 by admin

One of my favorite posters for one of my favorite events: Snakes in the Library!

This July, I’m celebrating 5 wonderful years working at the Dover Public Library. I feel like it was only yesterday that I did my first official teen program (Silent Library) and had fifteen people show up (five were registered). I’ve learned a lot during my time here, much more than what I learned in Library School. Since I’m celebrating 5 years, here are my top 5 things I’ve learned while working here.

Microsoft Publisher is the Bomb

A few years back, Jim asked me to take over designing the library’s newsletter, Footnotes. I was excited for the challenge. I got to learn fabulous new tricks on Publisher like Master Pages and Color Schemes, tools I hadn’t needed in the past. Before I started at the library, I was all about Photoshop. Now I barely use it. Publisher is where it’s at for posters and other random library projects.

Minecraft May Be the Best Game Ever Invented
A screenshot preview of my Platform 9 3/4 for this summer’s Minecraft Lock-In

I see a lot of Minecraft in the Library. I was sceptical at first about this game that looks a lot like LEGOs and has no rules, no plot, and no guide. Then I tried it. Because there are no rules, no plot, no guide, you can make the game whatever you want it to be. It makes you think: What do I need to survive? It lets you get creative: What can I build now? It lets you fight a dragon. Beat that, LEGOs.

Teaching a Tech Class is Not as Hard as Teaching Mom to Play a Video Game

I was very nervous the first time I had to teach a tech class. I obsessed about getting everything exactly perfect. Since that first class (on eBooks, by the way), I’ve chilled out a bit. I finally figured out that if I have the patience to walk my mom through playing Skylanders, I have the patience to help people learn how to make a poster in Publisher. (Love you, Mom.)

When in Doubt: Google

I feel many a researcher cringing at this one. BUT: how do I start numbering pages at 1 in the middle of a Publisher document? Why is this error coming up on a patron’s Kindle? How can I unlock my iPad when it’s asking me for a passcode that I never even set up? Google knows! For tech support especially, Google is my best friend. That’s something they neglected to mention in school.

Awesome Teen Volunteers hanging out at the Haunted Library event last year.

Teens are Awesome

In Library School, one of my professors said that to work with teens you have to have a thick skin. This worried me because no one in my life would describe me as “thick-skinned.” But I’ve learned something in five years of actually working with teens: they’re not half as bad as you think they are. Yes, they like their food. Yes, they can be loud. Yes, they sometimes make incredibly awful jokes about Hitler. (Why Hitler? I… don’t know.) BUT they will also play with balloons and play dough, give you ideas for programs they want to do, and help you vacuum the Community Room. Throw in Phantom of the Opera themed Gingerbread Houses, Pac-Man themed volcanoes, and a new cosplay outfit every week, and you’ve got some idea of how awesome teens are.

So, that’s it, folks. The things only Dover Public Library could teach me. Thank you for a great five years. Here’s to many, many more!

-Liz Strauss

Teen Librarian