Text and Twitter to Connect with the Library

On the go all day long, connected with family and colleagues via iPhone, BlackBerry or other phone or mobile device?  Then you will want to take advantage of the new ways texting, tweeting and more can help you stay in touch with the Ridgefield Library as well.

Follow us on Twitter and get the latest news on weather cancellations, upcoming events and more, wherever you are. With the crazy weather we have been having, this is a great way to find out fast whether library service has been disrupted by ice, snow, wind, power outage or other force of nature!

Text a Librarian with your reference questions.  Need to find out whether we have a certain book or get the facts for a homework assignment? Just text “askrdg” followed by a space and then your question to 66746, and a librarian will answer promptly during our open hours. 

Why wait till you get home to find out you should have stopped at the Library? You can get on-the-go alerts about overdues, items coming due and requests ready to pick up - all via Library Elf text messages on most cellphone networks. 

Learn more about all these tools at www.ridgefieldlibrary.org.

Library Participates in Aldrich's Draw On! Art Project

Join us as the Library takes part in the Draw On! project organized by the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.

From March 27 through April 10 the Ridgefield Library will be participating in the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum’s innovative community-based program, Draw On!, Now in its fifth year, Draw On! is working with local libraries, schools, museums, senior centers, art guilds, businesses, etc. to encourage people to pick up a pencil and draw. This two-week celebration of drawing projects, special events and workshops is open to children, teens and adults. Logo for Draw On! designed by Peter H. Reynolds.

This year Draw On! has invited participants from all over New England, New York, and New Jersey. Each participating venue, including the Ridgefield Library, develops its own unique drawing program. The Ridgefield Library will be launching a project for all ages called “Spine Design” based the shape and design of book spines. Each participant will be given a spine-shaped (tall rectangular) piece of heavy paper, and a selection of markers or colored pencils.

Participants will be encouraged to use a wide range of line qualities to create an abstract arrangement of line weights and types, or a more illustrative drawing inspired by a favorite book title, using typography and drawing. After the “Spine Designs” have been completed, they will be set on bright colored poster board “shelves” and displayed at the Library.

Draw On! is sponsored in part by The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, AT&T, HSBC, Weston Woods Studios, and by Brand Flakes for Breakfast brought to you by The Greatest Agency in the Land. The Library’s drawing project is also made possible thanks to the Wadsworth Russell Lewis Fund.

For further information about Draw On! visit drawon.org. For more information about the Library drawing project, call 203-438-2282.

Great Courses Now Available in DVD as well as Audiobook

For many people, libraries serve as a center for lifelong learning. To fulfill that mission, the Ridgefield Library is proud to offer the popular Great Courses products from The Teaching Company and the Modern Scholars series distributed by Recorded Books. Both lines feature scholarly lecture courses as delivered by some of the country’s best college professors and are a great way to make good use of commuting time or to exercise your mind along with your body at the gym.

Housed all together in a special section in the Fiction Room, our collection now includes videotaped lectures on DVD as well as audio recordings on CD and cassette. Among these are “America and the New Global Economy” from Professor Timothy Taylor of Macalester College and “American Ideals: Founding a Republic of Virtue” as taught by Daniel Robinson of Oxford and Columbia Universities, donated by the League of Women Voters in memory of a long-term member. Special thanks also to the Friends of the Library for funding the ongoing acquisition of new “Modern Scholars” titles. For more information about this collection or the Library’s tribute gift program, visit our new website at www.ridgefieldlibrary.org or contact me as below. Happy learning!

Outside Book Return Use Encouraged

The addition of self-service computers has helped a great deal in speeding up check-out at the Ridgefield Library. Far fewer people now need to stand in line for routine transactions, allowing circulation staff to devote their attention to those who need special attention. The self-serve option has been especially helpful because the number of items borrowed has risen 5.8% since the first unit was installed in June 2008, to over 36,000 items per month.

Of course, everything (almost!) that goes out of the Library comes back eventually. We are now looking at making some changes to facilitate the returns process as well. Effective immediately, patrons are encouraged to return almost all items through the outside book return slot near the main entrance – including media such as DVDs. This slot empties into a special room at the back of the circulation area, allowing us to process items more efficiently, without getting in the way of other activities at the desk.

Certain materials will still need to be brought to the circulation desk, such as items you want to renew and for which you wish to pay fines. But for most things, just use the outside drop, which is open 24/7.