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Sean Robinson and Kay Gregg of the Allen County Public of Fort Wayne, Indiana, are starting a series of YouTube “Conversations with” with important people in the Library field.

They are currently editing a set of 3 YouTube videos interviewing Jeff Krull, the Director of the Allen County Public Library. Jeff is a private and humble man and when I looked to get a bio on him from the internet, it was very hard to find a list of his accomplishments though they are many.

I found out that he has been the Library Director since 1986, he is on the board of the Indiana State Library and that the board of the ACPL honored him by naming the new ACPL gallery, the Jeffrey R. Krull Art Gallery.

But I really couldn’t find a lot about him, although I believe that is largely due to his quiet and unassuming way of accomplishing things. Some people put their accomplishments every and anywhere and there is no way you could miss every little thing they have done. But Jeff is not like that and this is a great chance to learn a little more about this interesting and influential man.

In this first video, Jeff talks about his young life, growing up in a small town. In a short clip from the “Conversation” series. Allen County Public Library Director, Jeff Krull talks about his early experiences with reading and books. The full interview will also be aired on our Public Television station.

There will be another one coming, continuing his life story and vision. Enjoy!

~Susan Mellott

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All you librarians out there, look at the cool Web 2.0 learning program the Allen County Public Library is doing for its staff!

The ACPL in Fort Wayne, Indiana has been running an amazing Web 2.0 program called “Geek Out, Don’t Freak Out” since March 29, 2006 for the staff.

Here is the information and the very first classes that were run at the ACPL last year:

Geek Out, Don’t Freak Out!
Last Wednesday of each month
8:00-9:00 am

What’s this all about? The Digital Collaborative has been talking about ways to help interested staff feel more comfortable with new technology, and we’d like to try a new idea. It’s part training session, part question and answer period, and part test drive: we plan to give a short presentation on the topic of the month and then allow time for questions, discussion, and experimentation. The goal is for you to see if technology will help make your job easier, and let you off the hook if it doesn’t. No registration is necessary; just show up if you can make it and join the (geeky) fun!

Episode 1: The Joy of Firefox
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
8:00-9:00 am
Genealogy Reading Room
Main Library, 3rd Floor

You have this new browser icon on your desktop — so what? Why use it instead of what you already know? We’ll talk about some of the features in Firefox that you might find beneficial, and give you a chance to see what the big deal is.

Episode 2: What’s So Simple About RSS (really simple syndication)?
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
8:00-9:00 am
location TBA

RSS is a way to keep track of updates to a website without having to go and check the site. This isn’t such a big problem with just a couple of favorites, but if you’re regularly reading a dozen blogs, and you want to keep track of headlines, and you want to see when new stuff is added to the Librarian’s Internet Index, RSS can make your life easier.

Episode 3: Blog Boot Camp
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
8:00-9:00 am
location TBA

ACPL has a blog. ACPL has bloggers.
Get practical information on how and why to blog for the library.

And the sessions have been ongoing since then! Here is a link to the latest set of classes (taken from the ACPL IT Blog - Innovation Through Technology). And here is the schedule. Doesn’t the ACPL sound like a fun and innovative place to work?!

Episode 13: More Tasty Del.icio.us
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
8:00-9:00 am
Main Library, Meeting Room B

Access your bookmarks from any computer, tag them, and share them with the world. Good for home (bookmark that page you want to get back to when you have more time), and good for work (share your favorite sites with other staff).

Upcoming sessions will be on the last Wednesday of each month. Here’s what’s on the schedule:

Rerun! Episode 5: My Friend Flickr
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
8:00-9:00 am

Digital photography makes it so easy to document your life, and Flickr makes it just as easy to organize and share your images with the world. We show you what Flickr is, how it works, and how you can use it at home and at the library.

Episode 14: YouTubeTorial
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
8:00-9:00 am

Find cool stuff on YouTube. Put cool stuff on YouTube. It’s even easier than you think!

Episode 15: Let’s Play
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
8:00-9:00 am

Why should our patrons (or your kids) have all the fun? Come check out the world of gaming at the library, and try your hand at Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, and Wii Bowling, among others.

~Susan Mellott

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Stephen Abram, noted Library 2.0 speaker and Vice President of Innovation for SirsiDynix and Chief Strategist for the SirsiDynix Institute will be at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana to speak to the ACPL staff on the Top 10 Strategies for Library Success and a public speech on Library 2.0 in the Real World on September 19, 2007 at the ACPL Downtown Main Library Auditorium. Follow the link above for more information about Stephen Abram. Here is an overview of each session.

The Top 10 Strategies for Library Success

Session 1: 8 am – 9 am Auditorium Main Library (ACPL staff only)

“Now that we are well into the new Millennium, what are the top ten issues facing libraries and the library profession? What are the top strategies we need to employ to ensure our success in our communities and learning institutions? Will advertising driven search engines really win the hearts and minds of our customers? Are our collections right for today or will use of Google’s vault of digitized books grow wildly? Are we ready for the next round of technology and social change? Will our local and national cultures be overwhelmed by generic world services?”

A Tech Forecast: Library 2.0 in the Real World

Session 2: 11 am – noon (Open to general public and ACPL staff)

“RSS, YouTube, Blogs, Wikis, Facebook, MySpace, and more! There is a global conversation going on right now about what will the next generation of the web be like? It’s happening largely under the meme of Web 2.0. It’s the McLuhanesque hot web where true human interaction takes precedence over merely ‘cool’ information delivery and e-mail. It’s about putting information into the real context of our users’ lives, learning, research and play. Concurrently, a group of information professionals are having a conversation about the vision for what Library 2.0 will look like in this Web 2.0 ecosystem. Some are even going so far as to talk about Web 3.0! Web 2.0 is coming fast and it’s BIG! What are the skills and competencies that Librarian 2.0 will need? MySpace and Facebook are just the tip of the iceberg! Come and hear an overview of Web 2.0 and a draft vision for Library 2.0 and an opinion about what adaptations we’ll need to make to thrive in this future scenario.”

(Note: you can substitute “concept” for “meme” and “media-rich” for “McLuhanesque” if you are like me and don’t really understand those terms)

Here is the Public Service Announcement (on YouTube, of course!) about Stephen Abram’s upcoming visit by Sean Robinson, Head of Information Technology at the Allen County Public Library.

I am really looking forward to it and I will definitely be there!

~Susan Mellott

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In my post of August 8, I wrote about the very cool Library Genius 2.0 t-shirts that Kay Gregg and Sean Robinson of the Allen County Public Library created for the Learning 2.0 program for the library staff that the ACPL is going to kick off on Sept 19 when Stephen Abrams, VP of Innovation at SirsiDynix comes to speak on Library 2.0 at the ACPL. By the way, this talk will be open to the public. Here is a picture of Kay modeling the t-shirt.

Well, everyone really liked the t-shirts and the icons and had been asking them where they could get one for themselves or for their own library’s learning programs. So Sean and Kay set up a store under Printfection/library2_0 where you can buy these shirts and some other styles like long-sleeve t-shirts and baseball shirts and others and also tote bags and aprons and mouse pads. They come in a ton of colors and there is a good discount for bulk purchases. They are cheapest in white, a little more in light colors and a little more than that in dark colors. You can see all the wholesale pricing options by picking style and color and then clicking on the pricing tab.

Helene Blowers, Public Services Technology Director for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) and creator of the Learning 2.0 concept, wrote about these shirts on her blog, librarybytes.com. ACPL sent her a shirt in appreciation of her work on Learning 2.0. Here is a picture she took of the shirt and buttons.

Sean and Kay are working on creating buttons for this also and they will put them in their store on cafepress (along with some other things like messenger bags and coffee mugs) since Printfection does not have buttons as an option. They already have the bags and coffee mugs there, but need to upload the individual icons to create the buttons. If you are interested in the buttons, check back on the cafepress store because they are working on getting them created right now.

Cafepress has a lot of options of different types of items, but Printfection is less expensive and offers wholesale prices also. I’d go to Printfection unless there was a particular thing you wanted, like the messenger bag (which I really want!). Or the buttons, since that is the only place to get them. It does appear they have a way to offer the buttons in batches, like of 10, or 100.

Also, other libraries, such as the Harris County Public Library are using the icons that Kay created for their own Learning 2.0 programs which is what Sean had hoped people would do. He wanted to be able to contribute to the Learning 2.0 program. You can read about this and their other ideas, initiatives and Learning 2.0 projects in the ACPL Innovation Through Technology blog. Many people in many libraries have worked on Learning 2.0 and Library 2.0 and have shared with each other to create great things.

Cooperation, collaboration and sharing. That’s what its all about!

~Susan Mellott

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Check out these Library Genius 2.0 T-shirts for the Allen County Public Library Learning 2.0 program, found on this post from the ACPL’s Innovation Through Technology Blog. Kay Gregg designed these shirts and all the icons associated with each Learning 2.0 course completed! They will be used to kick-off the ACPL Digital Collaborative’s Learning 2.0 presentation. Here is Kay modeling one of the new t-shirts:

Look at this post from ACPL’s IT blog on Library 2.0 Bling for a closeup of each icon. and here is a picture of the Learning Video 2.0 button.

For more information on the ACPL’s Learning 2.0, check out these posts from the ACPL Innovation Through Technology blog. And for what ACPL’s Digital Collaborative is creating for Learning 2.0, check out the ACPL DC Wiki’s “21 Things“. Click on the links to see what each person has created. This wiki is a working wiki for the Digital Collaborative and is constantly being updated.

I want to be a Library Genius 2.0!

~Susan Mellott

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Just for fun, I created an old-fashioned card catalog card for the book I had downloaded from baen.com/library using John Blyberg’s card catalog generator. You have to enter the data by hand (I copied the information from Amazon.com) but it makes a really fun graphic. With some programming, you can make a mashup that uses this. A mashup is a website or application that combines content from more than one source into an integrated experience.

Sean Robinson (my husband and head of IT Technology at the ACPL) created this book wall called Books we added to the catalog yesterday combining the new material checked in each day at the ACPL (Allen County Public Library) with data from Amazon. It shows pictures of the actual book covers for each book and if you click on a book cover, it will show you an old-fashioned card catalog for that book and information on it from Amazon (if the book is brand new, it doesn’t necessarily have review info yet).

Then you can click on “Look this up in our catalog” to see the ACPL card catalog information on that book like how many copies there are and if they are available and where they are located and do all sorts of neat things like add it to your list or put it on hold. You can also find more books by that author, more books with those topics or browse nearby call numbers (books that would be on the library shelf with this book).

Go check it out and play around with it. It is a great example of how you can combine Web 2.0 tools to create something new and exciting and useful.

For this and more innovative ways the Allen County Public Library uses Web 2.0, visit their Library 2.0 site: ACPLib2.0. ACPL Rules!

~Susan Mellott

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I have created my first YouTube video and it is of the community of Fort Wayne streaming into the Allen County Public Library for their fabulous Harry Potter Release party that was held 7/20/2007 from 9pm to post-midnight (at which time the lucky lottery winners could check out 1 of 200 copies of the final Harry Potter book).

It is a very sped up version of part of the people entering the ACPL when the doors opened at 9pm. The actual time it took just for the people who were waiting for the doors to open to get in was 10 minutes. I can’t imagine how many people that must have been.

Fortunately there were a lot of activities taking place on the Library Plaza (they started at 8pm) as well as inside. There was a band playing, games for the kids including the spiderweb maze, potions classes, costume shows and I believe there was even Potter Bingo.

ACPL, the community of Fort Wayne thanks you for all you do.

This is a pretty poor video, but it is my first one so I am sure I will get better. Anyway, enjoy!

People entering the ACPL at 9pm 7/20/2007 for the Harry Potter Release Party

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3nxu7Oaduw]
~Susie

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Last night, the Fort Wayne Allen County Public Library held probably the most outstanding event that I remember at the Library. They recreated Diagon Alley and had so many great things to do and see and have. There was a free wand shop, free candy, tattoos, harry potter glasses and more. You could make and adopt an owl, make a clock, make a card and mail it with a special Harry Potter postmark. There was a costume show and Potions class and a magical astronomy show. You could have your picture taken with Harry Potter and Professor Dumbledore at the headmaster’s table and in the Flying Car. There was a magic show, games, fortunetellers, and so much, much more.

I videotaped the crowd when the doors opened at 9pm and I must have taped a steady stream of people going into the library for probably 10 minutes. I hope to have some YouTube videos up soon. I don’t know how many people were there, but I know there were thousands. There will probably be an official estimate soon.

Library staff (including several senior managers) became Harry Potter, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McDonagall, Professor Snape, Hagrid, Moaning Myrtle and Mad Eye Moody. They mingled and interacted with the crowd and signed autographs, posed for pictures and stayed in character beautifully.

Then at midnight, checkout opened and the lucky lottery winners checked out the final Harry Potter book. The smiles on the faces of kids and their parents and everyone who came down was priceless.

It was a wonderful, magical night. Here are my flickr pictures of the event. I hope to have some YouTube videos coming soon.

UPDATE - NEW! Here are flickr pictures of the party from the ACPL.

UPDATE - NEW! Here is a blog entry from blyberg.net about the Darien Public Library Party for the new Harry Potter release.

I hope Fort Wayne appreciates the wonderful asset the city has in the library and how much it does for the community. Go check out the ACPL web site to see some of the activities they offer. Or better yet, visit your local branch and see what is going on. You might be very surprised.

~Susie

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Check out what the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne Indiana is doing this evening for the release of the final Harry Potter book! There will be festivities from 9pm until midnight, at which time the new release can be checked out since it is officially released on 7/20. It is going to be amazing, and I plan to take pictures and hopefully some videos and I will be posting them here.

This is taken from the 7/16 article by the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel and the full article can be found here.

Downtown library
Potter party central this Friday will be at the new downtown library, 900 Library Plaza. They are gearing up for a gathering of 5,000 fans, many of whom will be dressed as characters in the books.

The fun begins with a pre-event concert and activities outside on the Library Plaza. Family-friendly music will be provided by the Kid Kazooey and the Ballroom Roustabouts.

“We wanted something silly and strange and weird, and I think he fits the bill,” said Deb Noggle, children’s librarian at the Tecumseh branch and lead organizer of the night’s events.

Other activities at the pre-party include quaffle-throwing practice (a ball thrown through a hoop to score a goal in wizarding’s game of Quidditch), crawling through a giant spider web, and trading new or shiny objects with gypsies.

At 9 p.m., the main library – which will close for regular business at 6 p.m. Friday – will reopen. Partygoers stepping through the doors will find themselves in the Harry Potter books’ Diagon Alley, the wizard shopping district in London.

There, visitors can try 18 activities, including:

?Making a Weasley family clock.

?Visiting Ollivander’s wand shop.

?Stocking up at Honeyduke’s Sweet Shoppe.

?Learning the future at Trelawney’s Divinations and Fortune Telling.

?Watching magician Jared Mason’s magic show.

?Daring to go through the Restricted (Book) Section maze.

?Getting a lightning bolt tattoo.

?Having the U.S. Postal Service stamp an owl card with a special “Harry Potter” mail cancellation.

Noggle said the 18 stations will be three times the number of activities offered at the library’s last big Potter Party, which was held at the Georgetown branch for the 2005 release of Book 6, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”

People also can enter a lottery to be among the lucky fans to check out one of the Allen County Public Library’s approximately 250 copies of the new Harry Potter book, Noggle said. The Bookmark bookstore also will be there selling the book at midnight.

Noggle said fans can get a jump on deciding what activities they want to try Friday night by donating an article of clothing to S.P.E.W. (Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare) barrels set out now through Friday at library branch locations. In the books, Harry’s friend and classmate Hermione Granger started S.P.E.W. to get better treatment and freedom for house elves.

Donated clothing will be given to local organizations that provide free clothing to needy people in Fort Wayne, Noggle said.

Each person who donates an item of clothing will receive an S.P.E.W. button and a library version of The Daily Prophet, the wizard newspaper, Noggle said. The newspaper will provide information about the 18 activities at Friday’ night’s party and where each activity will take place in the main library.

About 100 library staffers will be on hand to help everything go smoothly, Noggle said. Book characters, such as Professor Minerva McGonagall, Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody, Rubeus Hagrid and Professor Severus Snape, also will wander the building to mingle with fans.

The event is paid for by donations from the Friends of the Library organization and the Allen County Public Library Foundation, Noggle said.

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