Sue Mayshock is the AV Specialist for James V Brown Library and is responsible for everything Overdrive from ordering titles to training us all on how to use the service. Here's a little bit about Sue:

 

"I am a Williamsport native who graduated from Bloomsburg University when it was still a state college with a degree in Elementary Ed. I married and left the area to follow my husband to Loring AFB where a lifelong love for Maine began. We have lived in NH, CT, western PA, NC, VA, NY, and Turbotville, PA.  We have 2 daughters and 4 grandchildren--our 5th is due in mid-August.

I began my library career at the Chesterfield County Library System, in Matoaca, VA, where I worked as a Library Associate. We were a small branch with a staff of approximately 8 people. I handled reference questions, the newspaper and magazine subscriptions, and helped with children's programming. From there, we moved north to Saranac Lake, NY, where I worked at the North Country Community College Library. I was in charge of circulation, periodicals, and interlibrary loan. I have been the AV Specialist at James V Brown since 1990 when we moved back to PA. I started when VHS was a fairly new format and we still had 16mm films that circulated and there was no internet-in fact, circulation was still done using cards and a Gaylord machine. I have always considered myself privileged to have a job where I was able to keep up with technological advances. We have moved from rotating VHS collections to DVD  collections to downloadable books in my time here. I hope that one day we will be able to deliver streaming video, audio, and music to our patrons.

I am an avid ebook reader and advocate. My daughters have gotten me hooked on Words and Scrabble with Friends. I love to spend time with the grandkids-Morgan, Dominic, Sawyer, and Owen. We also have adopted 2 shelter dogs, Nicky and Champ, who make sure we get our share of exercise. And of course, I love to sit on the rocks by the ocean in Maine!"

-- Sue Mayshock

Summer Reading is winding down. We all know what that means -- gathering those statistics and reporting them. Reporting statistics is a little different this year. The report can be found at pa.countingopinions.com. This is the same interface used for the annual report. Login using the same username and password as for the annual report. Find complete instructions here. Contact Susan Pannebaker (spannebake@pa.gov) or June if you have questions.

Geeking at the Athens ArtsFest

 

From Columbia County to Union County to Snyder County, Bradford County and beyond, my travels this past month have been delightful except when it rains buckets -- which it tends to do on 180 between Muncy and McEwensville at exactly the time I'm traveling through!

I had the opportunity to visit the Columbia Traveling Library and see the unique library on wheels. Check out this youtube video of Lydia talking about the Traveling Library and their new ILS, Atrium. 

And from Priestley Forsyth, I learned about a program they call Kindergarten Kickstart. How cool is it that the library brings in kids about to start kindergarten and teaches them things like how to form a line, say the Pledge of Allegiance, recognize and write their names? Check out Priestley Forsyth on Facebook for photos of kindergarten Kickstart. 

The libraries in Bradford County and the James V Brown Library are in the midst of a Geek the Library Campaign. It's great to see those customized "Geek" posters and banners throughout Bradford County and the customized Geek shirts at JVB. What a great way to give recognition to the people in our communities!

Several of you have expressed an interest in giving input on a handbook for new directors and system administrators. We're getting ready to start that project. If you would like to become part of a committee, let me know. We have an outline and are just beginning to work on content. 

"Geek" poster by Becky Kier Grace, Spalding Memorial Library. Cinnamon was adopted !

Here's where I've been:

Ulysses Library, Green Free Library in Canton, Monroeton Public Library, Columbia County Traveling library, Union County Library System, Snyder County Libraries, Inc., Towanda Public Library, Blossburg Memorial Library. 

We've also completed one technology training in Lewisburg.

--June

 

We're taking a look at the services the district provides to member libraries and the costs associated with them. In that vein, we looked at our OCLC membership and interviewed the staff that uses OCLC most often. WorldCat is used by Linda Aston for ILL. Linda finds WorldCat is useful in addition to AccessPA for pinpointing locations of items even within Pennsylvania. The possibility exists that items could be requested from anywhere in the world using WorldCat but Linda requests from the continental United States to keep postage down. Look for more info on OCLC in the next issue.