New employee

The Del Norte Library has hired a new library assistant to work in the evenings. So starting Wednesday October 6, the library will be open from 8:30 am to 8:00 pm Monday through Thursday and 8:30 am to 5:00 pm on Friday.

Join me in Welcoming Lisa!

Lots of New Videos

We received 8 new DVDs and DVD sets today. They include The Presidents (the first 43 at least - 3 volumes), Blue Planet (5 volumes), Gettysburg, Life's Greatest Miracle, World's most Dangerous Drug, Addiction, Planet Earth (5 volumes) and 7 volumes of "Religions of the World."

We also got a Book on CD as well: The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner.

This doubles our offering on CD :) and greatly improves our DVD collection as well. What, you didn't know we had DVDs? Well, I am not surprised. They were hiding in the back stack for a long time. Now they are out on the side of the criculation desk. Come on in. Hopefully there is one you like.

This is important

Anna Quindlen has "The Last Word" in this week's Newsweek and she uses it to remind us that, "every time you vote you make your kids a promise. It's a promise that you will look past cheap slogans and lazy alliances to try to find a way to make America worthy of a new generation."

We need to decide who to vote for based on honest, detailed answers to well-thought-out and relevant questions. Using rumor, quotes out of context and gender or race to decide who will run our country will be a decision we all regret as soon as it is made.

If you want to read her whole article, it is here.

Late-start classes today

Today is the first day for several of our late-starting classes (others start tomorrow). If you have not signed up for as many classes as you want to take this semester, this is your last chance to get into the classes you want. They include Sociology, Psychology, English and a Dance class.

Happy Constitution Day

Hope you are having a great day with the freedoms first conceived by the Constitution over 220 years ago.

Today we had a booth manned by employees and volunteers to encourage students to register to vote and to educate them about the constitution.

We handed out about 50 voter registrations, and 40 constitutions in booklet form. We connected with a lot of students who had not managed to register yet and I feel confident in calling it a success. Thanks to all the brave men and women who posed the question, " are you registered to vote yet" to strangers as they passed by!

Patriotism

I am most struck when two events or ideas come to me at the same time. It is the intersection of the two things which I don't usually connect together that triggers a memory and interest response in my mind.
I have been putting some things together for our upcoming Constitution Day display when I read a government employee blog about September 11. I have heard several people today contemplate where they were 7 years ago when New York City was attacked and the whole of the United States stood in horrified silence. The necessity of a 220 year old document designed to establish a just government is even more evident to me now.
The atrocities our country experienced on that day should not have happened. But the reaction of the people and the government to such an event must always be legal and cause less pain, not more.
As Election Day approaches, I encourage you to vote your conscience and hope for a peaceful American future, whichever candidates you choose.

Travel Papers

Within the last few years, passports have become mandatory for anyone crossing an American border (at least legally). Now a new program using cards instead of booklets is being introduced which will reduce the cost of international identification. Passports are still necessary for air travel, but land and sea crossings can be done for nearly half the cost with a convenient card. Check out the details here. And start planning your Canadian vacation now.

Looks like a good weekend for a picnic

Del Norte County should be sunny and pleasant this weekend. Some nice places to picnic might be the beaches (Pebble, South, Kellogg, Endert, Pelican State, etc.) or the Parks (redwoods, Tolowa Dunes, Mill Creek, Jebediah Smith, etc.).

Scariest article I have read in a while

I thought it was only me and Crescent City, but apparently, the whole nation is experiencing heart-wrenching decisions on a weekly, if not daily, basis. The article was "Welcome to the Frozen Economy" by Shoshana Zuboff. It is in this week's Business Week. Crescent City is facing the same decisions.

Many people have come into the library looking for jobs, but even more have come in hoping to find housing. I point them them towards the resources we have: the job board and the local listings online. But I never really know how most stories turn out. They are usually looking for housing at prices that do not exist. Or for the job that pays what they need to survive on. I am n0t sure they always find it.

Prices cause even people with "good" jobs to make decisions they would not have considered several years ago. If this does not describe your life, then count your blessings and save your pennies.