Small Garden. Big Impact. Big Fun!

Small space gardening is great gardening. No matter the size of your yard, you can create your own back and front yard paradise. Come meet Eric Johnson, small space gardener in Minneapolis, writer for Northern Gardener and graphic designer, at the Northfield Public Library on April 15 at 7 P.M. His talk will include vegetable gardening, water gardening, perennial flower gardening, and container gardening. You will discover how to get explosive color, outdoor living space and use artful accents - all on the small size. You won't ever want to leave your own yard. For more information or to make disability arrangements please call the library at 645-6606.

Aquabrowser is here!!

We have a new catalog! Here are a few tips for searching:

1. Your catalog search defaults to searching just the Northfield Library. If you can't find the title, author or subject you are looking for after searching in the white search box, expand your search to "All Selco Libraries" by clicking on "Northfield" underneath "Select Selco Library" - drag or scroll (if you can't see the scroll bar - click the word "Hide" on the left side of the screen to close the "cloud" - the scroll bar will become more visible) up to the top and look for "All Locations". Your search will expand to all Selco libraries.

2. Your search includes not only results from our catalog but also from our electronic resources such as Ebsco (which includes journal articles). click on "article database results" at the top of the page.

3. You can refine your search by clicking on various things on the right hand side of your results page - ie. narrow by format, author, date, subject, etc.

If you would like to meet with one of our librarians for a one on one session on how to use our new catalog please call 645-6606. Ask for the reference desk.

Are you in a book group?

Are you in a book group? Do you have to come up with new titles to suggest to your group? Well, I'm in a book group too and just recently had to come up with a title for my group. You would think this would be easy for me. I work surrounded by books and booklists and a staff that reads A LOT!! But it isn't easy. So, I thought I'd tell you where I go to look for books for my book group. The ideas I present aren't in any particular order - one not better than the other. No doubt some are places you go to all the time. Hopefully there will be some new ideas.

1. The Northfield Library catalog - did you read an author you liked? Try another title by the same author. Did you like a certain type of book? - you can look at the subject headings and see if you can find something else like it.

2. Readers Advisory books on reference here at the library - goodness, what is Reader's Advisory? Well, it's what we say in the biz about helping people find good books to read. We have lots of these kinds of tools. Are you really into nonfiction? We have a book called "The Readers' Advisory guide to Nonfiction" (2007) - you can look up books in all kinds of categories including food and cooking, travel, science, true crime and history.

3. Websites - oh my goodness, as you know there are so many. Some of my favorites are National Public Radio - http://www.npr.org/ - they have a section on books (under Arts and Life); of course Amazon is great w/ the readers reviews as well as published reviews from library journals like Booklist and Library Journal and also the NY times.

Don't forget authors have their own sites if you are trying to figure out the sequence of titles in a series or just other books they've written. Just google the author's name.

I also love to go to http://www.webrary.org/ - this is a Reader's website done by the Morton Grove Public Library (Illinois) - check out the Fiction L booklists under Reader's Corner - some of the best book lists around.

4. Library databases - we subscribe to several good tools to help you find a good book - Novelist, Booknews, Dearreader.com - all are available free with your library card - just go to www.northfieldmn.info and click on "Electronic Resources".

The only problem with all of this is how will you ever decide which book to choose? :)

Oh well, happy looking and happy reading.

Shop the FOL Holiday Sale!!

I know this is an "upstairs" blog but I thought I would plug the Friends of the Library Holiday sale for this Saturday, Dec. 19, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m..... downstairs in the library meeting room. This is mainly a booksale but the Friends will also be selling a 2010 Library Calendar, T-shirts, book bags, and some miscellaneous things such as Carousel Music Boxes and an OFFICIAL 2010 Olympic Jacket. So, while you are downtown doing your last minute holiday shopping, stop by the library and get a few more things. All proceeds support the library and its programs. That's a good thing. Questons? Call the library at 645-6606.

Genealogy Databases at the library

Have you thought about doing a family genealogy but don't know where to start? The digital age has revolutionized searching for family records. And with online forums and chat rooms, family historians are able to connect with potential relatives like never before. The Northfield Public Library has two electronic resources to help you get started.

Ancestry.com is the "Queen Bee" of online genealogy searching. With Ancestry.com you can search death records, obituaries, census records, church records, immigration records, ship passenger lists, military records, newspapers and more. Ancestry is available only in the library but the library has a dedicated computer for genealogy research. Sign up is on a first come first served basis.

HeritageQuest is available in the library and at home (go to http://www.northfieldmn.info/ and click on "Electronic Resources" - you will need your library card). Although HeritageQuest and Ancestry are very different, HeritageQuest offers the U.S. Census as well as family and local histories and revolutionary war records.

Here are six tips for getting started on your family history:

*Talk to every living member of your family. Take good notes or record the conversations

*Write up a basic family tree to see what you know & where your gaps are

*Document your sources - you won't have to look twice for something

*Freely share your information on message boards

*Don't give up - the information out there is endless and your never know what you'll find

*Check out Ancestry.com and HeritageQuest at the Northfield Public Library

If you have questions, call us at 645-6606 or go to http://www.northfieldmn.info/ and click on "Ask a Librarian".

Are you looking for work?

If the answer is yes... come to the library! We have lots of books just for people looking for a job. In addition to books we have a laptop computer dedicated to people looking for work. If you are filing for unemployment or redoing your resume you have access to this computer for a 2 hour block.

Here are a few titles we've recently added:

Amazing Resumes: what employers want to see - Bright - 650.14 BR

Rebound: a proven plan for starting over after job loss - Finney - 650.14 FI

Job-Hunter's Survival Guide - Bolles - on order

Get the job you want even when no one is hiring - Myers - 650.14 MY

10 Strategies for reentering the workforce - Ghilani - 650.14 GH

Minnesota Grantmakers Online

The library now has a subscription to Minnesota Grantmakers Online. If you are a nonprofit grantseeker, a grantmaker or a donor, you will want to come and check out this new resource. With MGO you have instant access to the web's largest and most comprehensive online database of Minnesota foundations and corporate grantmakers. You have access to more than 100,000 grants of $2000 or more awarded by Minnesota's largest grantmakers. The database is accessible ONLY in the Northfield Library. See someone at the reference desk to log on. For more information call the library at 507-645-6606.