Blog Archives
Winter Reading Challenge 2022-2023
If you are new to the reading challenges –
The beanstack homepage will show you the available reading programs at the library. You may choose from the Children’s program, the Teen program, or the Adult program.
The Account Creator is the person whose log in information will be used to access all accounts registered. Multiple readers can be added to the same account, even if they are registered for different programs.
*Example* A parent may sign up for the Adult program as the Account Creator and add children as Readers, or vice versa. Both the Account Creator and Reader will use the same sign-in information.
Following the prompts, register both the Account Creator and Readers, if any. A green band at the bottom of the screen will alert you that you are successfully registered.
Now you’re ready start exploring beanstack!
Logging Books/Minutes:
At the top of each Reader’s account, there is a green “Add to the Log” button.
- Click on the button when you are ready to log reading or activities. A window will open to allow you to log.
- If an account has more than one Reader, the first question will ask which account you wish to log under. Choose the appropriate Reader’s account. Then choose whether you are logging reading or an activity.
- Write the title and author of the book and decide if you want to write a review.
- Click the green “Log” button and watch for the green band at the bottom of the screen for successful logging. If you are unsure whether it logged successfully, close the window and click on “The Log” button at the top of the screen, under your name.
You will be notified by email when you earn a prize, what the prize is, and how to redeem that prize.
If you have any questions, please contact the library and we will be happy to assist you!
Hoopla Bonus Borrows Back for November
Bonus Borrows are back! Access these audiobook, eBook, comics, and video titles from hoopla Instant without using their borrows, and at no cost to libraries.
There are 409 free titles this month
137 Audiobooks
131 Ebooks
63 Movies
46 Comics
32 Television
Of these, 79 are Children’s titles
28 Audiobooks
22 Ebooks
17 Movies
9 Comics
3 Television
Hoopla has broken down the Bonus Borrows collection into categories such as Classics, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Merry & Bright.
Excercise Challenge Begins in November
UT Extension is partnering with Williamson County Parks & Recreation and Williamson County Public Library for another seasonal Walking Challenge!
For motivation, here are the top three most common Halloween candies in Tennessee, with the calories in each, and how many walking steps the average person will need to burn those calories.
Coming in at #1 is Tootsie Pops, which are 60 calories per pop, which takes an average of 1,500 steps to burn. The #2 most popular candy is Skittles. The mini bags that come in Halloween candy are also 60 calories and will also take 1,500 steps to burn. The #3 most popular candy is Salt Water Taffy, which is only 28 calories per piece and will take an extra 700 steps to burn, but that’s for only one piece!
You can sign up for walking or running a half marathon or full marathon in both November and December after indulging in these holiday goodies, or make your own customized goal and plan for each month! We’ll send out a survey at the end, and if you met your goal, you could win a monthly pass from Williamson County Parks & Recreation to jump start your excercise routine in the new year.
When it’s too chilly to walk outside, make sure you check out some of the Indoor Recreation Facilities in Williamson County available through Williamson County Parks and Recreation, and make sure you take a look at some of the Williamson County Public Library digital collections, with music and audiobooks to keep you motivated and entertained while you excercise.
Sign up for the challenge here and keep an eye out for more motivation and resources to keep you moving this season!
How Far Would You Go for Pie?
It’s the time of year to be grateful for good food. What better way, than use the UT Extension Excercise Challenge to save up for that extra slice of pie we know we love.
Here are some of your favorite pies, and how many walking steps an average person needs to account for the calories. A slice of pumpkin pie is about 300 calories, which is 7,500 steps. A slice of apple is 400 calories or 10,000 steps. And pecan pie is a whopping 500 calories which needs 10,000 extra steps, so make sure you get walking this holiday season.
You can sign up for walking or running a half marathon or full marathon in both November and December to account for some sweet treats, or make your own customized goal and plan for each month! We’ll send out a survey at the end, and if you met your goal, you could win a monthly pass from Williamson County Parks & Recreation to jump start your excercise routine in the new year.
When it’s too chilly to walk outside, make sure you check out some of the Indoor Recreation Facilities in Williamson County available through Williamson County Parks and Recreation, and make sure you take a look at some of the Williamson County Public Library digital collections, with music and audiobooks to keep you motivated and entertained while you excercise.
Sign up for the challenge here and keep an eye out for more motivation and resources to keep you moving this season!
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
One in eight U.S. women and one in one thousand U.S. men will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of their lifetime. It is the second most common cancer found in women behind skin cancer.
Breast cancers, like all cancers, cannot be one hundred percent prevented, but as with all cancers, early detection is key to the best recovery. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the United States Preventative Services Task Services (USPSTF) recommend that women, at average risk, 50 to 74 years old, to get a mammogram every 2 years and that women younger than 50 should discuss screening with their doctors. Recent developments in genetic testing can assess you risk of developing breast cancer.
Along with diagnostic screenings, monthly self-exams are key. Become familiar with your breasts and consult with your physician if you notice any unfamiliar changes. Although you may be uneasy during this time about medical visits, time really is your best friend in this treatment – contact your doctor’s office for advice.
There are things you can do to help lower your risk of developing breast cancer.
- Maintain a healthy weight and exercise regularly.
- Avoid or limit alcohol.
- If you are taking hormone replacement therapy or birth control pills, ask your doctor about the risks.
- Studies show that breastfeeding for more than a year may also reduce your risk. .
If you need help with diagnostic services, the CDC provides low-income, uninsured, and under-served women access to timely breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services; check the information here for help in the state of Tennessee.
At Williamson County Public Library, we have many books that may help with the subject of breast cancer, whether as a patient, spouse, or friend. There is a display of books on the second floor, next to the elevator door.
We also have a selection of ebooks available on TN R.E.A.D.S (Libby):
Straight Talk about Breast Cancer by Suzanne W. Braddock and Jane M. Kercher
Confronting Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer by Sue Friedman and Rebecca Sutphen
Breast Cancer Journey by Ruth O’Regan and Sheryl G. A. Gabram
Bald Is Better with Earrings by Andrea Hutton
Bald is Better with Earrings by Andrea Hutton as an audiobook
hoopla:
Breast Cancer by Michelle Denton
Breast Cancer Clear & Simple by various authors (American Cancer Society)
National Library Week: April 2 – 10
This week, Williamson County Public Library encourages all community members to visit our website to explore and access virtual services and programs. WCPL offers a wide array of online resources that are available from the comfort of home, including Overdrive, the Overdrive app- Libby, and Hoopla.
April 4-10, 2021 is National Library Week, a time to highlight the essential role libraries, librarians, and library workers play in transforming lives and strengthening communities. The theme for this year’s National Library Week is “Welcome to your library,” which promotes the idea that libraries extend far beyond the four walls of a building and that everyone is welcome to use their services. Whether people visit virtually or in person, libraries are accessible and inclusive places that foster a sense of belonging and community through learning, discovery and exploration.
During these challenging times, libraries of all types have been going above and beyond to adapt to our changing world by expanding their resources and continuing to meet the needs of their patrons. Libraries across the country are making a difference in people’s lives by providing electronic learning resources like online homework help and wi-fi access for students and workers who may lack internet access at home. WCPL is supporting the community with virtual services such as book clubs, gardening programs, meditation programs, crafting tutorials, etc.
This National Library Week, the public can show their appreciation and support for libraries by visiting their library’s website, following them on social media and using the hashtag #NationalLibraryWeek.
First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association and libraries of all types across the country each April.
For more information, visit wcpltn.org.
Press Release courtesy of The American Library Association
Holiday Closing April 2-4, 2021🐇
While our building is closed for the holiday, our library website is always open. Check our our eLibrary Books page to explore Tennessee R.E.A.D.S. (with OverDrive and Libby), and Hoopla to access eBooks and eAudiobooks. Searching our online catalog will also provide results for OverDrive and Hoopla.
Also, we have 24/7 homework help on our website (wcpltn.org) –> Reader’s Corner –> Homework and Research. Scan through our lists of Databases, either by category – this page has Research Tools on the right hand side. Or look through the alphabetically listed Databases. All of the listed databases have a description of how it can be valuable.
Have a safe weekend!
Amazon’s E-Book Monopoly
After the success of his lending library in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin wrote:
these Libraries have improved the general Conversation of Americans, made the common Tradesmen and Farmers as intelligent as most Gentlemen from other Countries, and perhaps have contributed in some Degree to the Stand so generally made throughout the Colonies in Defence of their Priviledges.
By making the incredibly costly books available to a non-elite membership, society and culture flourished. Unlike the collections in academia (at that time all in classic Latin and Greek), the public collections were in English – a balanced collection allowed for the intellectual prosperity of the public.
Fast forward 290 years and we have e-publishing: E-publishing is publishing books in digital format only. This allows authors and the publishing companies advantages over traditional print publication. Primarily it is cost-effective, there is an ease of creation and distribution, there is a wider reach into the community, it is easier to store, and it is better for the environment. In libraries, digital books supplement the print collection, providing both options for patrons.
2020 saw a dramatic increase in the number of digital book loans in libraries and schools. According to an Overdrive press release, “Librarians and educators achieved record levels of digital book circulation in 2020. Readers worldwide borrowed 430 million e-books, audiobooks and digital magazines in the past 12 months, a 33% increase over 2019.” The rise of the pandemic and social justice awareness had this incredible influence on this growth.
Image courtesy of Pixabay
When lending books, the First Sale Doctrine of US Copyright law permits the purchaser of a legal copy of copyrighted work to use it as they choose, as long as they do not infringe on the copyright owner’s rights. In other words, the copy can be given away, sold, destroyed, or rented. When it comes to electronic books, subject to Digital Rights Management, the book is not purchased from the publisher.
Consumers (You and I) are buying the license to access the digital copy of the book. Because a library grants multiple people in it’s community access to an e-book, a library pays three to five times the cost a consumer would pay for each license. These library licenses have a limit – either time (two years) or number of check-outs, whichever comes first. Also, a library cannot lend its license to another library, as they can with paper copies of books via Inter-Library Loans (ILLs).
As librarians we believe in copyright and the idea that the ownership of a work belongs to the artist, the author, the creator, and they should be paid for their work; we must also work within the boundaries set by publishing companies. They contend that libraries reduce book sales, when in fact, library lending increases book sales. Patrons get a taste of a new (to them) author or genre and will purchase books. As stated in the Panorama Project report, “Libraries, bookstores, and online channels mutually reinforce each other, leading to engagement and sales.”
NOW – enter Amazon e-publishing. Amazon started as an online bookseller and when digital books broke wide open, they were in it to win it. They sold readers, (Kindle), tablets, e-books, real books, subscriptions, and then, well, pretty much EVERYTHING. They also started a company for publishing electronic books and audio books (Audible), about ten years ago, with an offshoot for self-publishing. After evolving into a publishing behemoth over the last decade, you ARE NOT able to “borrow” the e-books they publish at your library.
Why? Because this tech giant has made the business decision to not sell downloadable versions of their products to libraries. In an article in The Washington Post on March 10, 2021, Geoffrey A. Fowler writes,
That’s right, for a decade, the company that killed bookstores has been starving the reading institution that cares for kids, the needy and the curious.
Not surprisingly, Amazon’s charts of bestsellers beat out the New York Times bestsellers, yet Amazon bestsellers do not end up on the New York Times bestseller’s lists. With a captive audience reading on a Kindle complete with a subscription to Amazon Prime and a link to Alexa, the many tentacles of this giant monopoly can propel it’s consumers to keep feeding the beast.
Image courtesy of Pixabay
According to Fowler, when the American Library Association testified before Congress it called digital sales bans like Amazon’s “the worst obstacle for libraries” moving into the 21st century. New York and Rhode Island Lawmakers have proposed bills that would require Amazon (and everybody else) to sell e-books to libraries with reasonable terms. In Maryland, the House of Delegates unanimously approved its own library e-book bill, which now heads back to the state Senate. And while Amazon is in talks to define a new model for library lending with a nonprofit aptly named Digital Public Library of America, it would not help the majority of libraries in America which purchase and distribute e-books through Overdrive and Hoopla.
Amazon’s monopoly results in libraries, public libraries losing on the chance to provide access to these e-books to their patrons. Public libraries are here to serve citizens. Libraries are the great equalizers among American citizens. As Franklin understood, few individuals could afford a large enough collection to be well informed and your library fills the void. By excluding libraries from purchasing the digital rights to their e-books, Amazon impedes the mission of public libraries to provide the access essential in advancing the aspirations of the underserved.
D. Duff, Reference
Resources:
http://www.benjamin-franklin-history.org/lending-library/
https://kitaboo.com/advantages-digital-publishing-platform/
https://cals.org/blog/publishers-are-changing-e-book-access-for-libraries/
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/the-first-sale-doctrine.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/10/amazon-library-ebook-monopoly/ Amazon’s monopoly is squeezing your public library, too – The Washington Post
🍀Rolling in the Clover☘️
By Dori Duff
A three leaf clover is a shamrock, a four leaf clover is, well, a four leaf clover 🍀 and NOT a shamrock ☘️
Shamrock, Pixabay
The shamrock is an emblem of Ireland and a symbol for St. Patrick, who purportedly used a shamrock to explain the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity — in that three, in fact, can be one. The shamrock, not to be confused with the four, five, or six leaf clover, is commonly used on St. Patrick’s Day and is associated with Irish culture.
Four Leaf Clover, Pixabay
The three leaves of a shamrock, while may have been used to explain the Holy Trinity of Christianity, are said to represent faith, hope, and love, in that order. The fourth leaf on a clover represents luck, a fifth leaf can represent wealth, and a coveted six leaf clover can bring the owner longevity. The odds of finding a four leaf clover, on a first try, is one in ten thousand, and the odds of similarly finding a five leaf clover jumps to one in one million.
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, legend has it that the four leaf clover is lucky in that it would enable the carrier to “see fairies, recognize witches and evil spirits, and be protected from the evil eye. Even dreaming of clover was supposed to bring good luck.”
Due to a large variety of clover plants, there is some debate among botanists and lay-people about which plant of the genus Trifolium (“having three leaves”) is the ‘real’ clover plant. Most will agree that the White Clover is probably the original shamrock of Irish tradition. White Clover (Trifolium repens) was not always viewed as a challenging weed – in fact, until the mid-twentieth century, White Clover was included in lawn seed mixes as low maintenance, attractive ground cover. Recently, White Clover seems to be experiencing a resurgence as a more ecologically friendly lawn alternative.
And given that my yard is covered in White Clover, well, I seem to be in luck🍀
Irish folklore nonfiction titles in our catalog:
Irish Blessings: With Legends, Poems & Greetings
398.209 IRI
Irish Popular Superstitions by Sir William R. Wilde
398.2 WIL
Ancient Irish Tales by Tom Peete Cross and Clark Harris Slover
891.623 ANC
And in Hoopla:
Irish Stories and Folklore by Stephen Brennan
Resources on clover and statistics:
Minitab Blog
Old Farmer’s Almanac
Six Leaf Clover Find
Tenon Tours
🌻Raise Your Gardening Expectations
By Sharon Reily
We’re thrilled that the Master Gardeners Association Speakers Bureau is returning this spring with its wonderful virtual Garden Talk series. Their first program, “Building Raised Garden Beds,” will be presented online on Monday, February 22 from 1:00 to 2:00. I’ve learned so much over the years from their presentations, but I’m especially looking forward to this one. My own raised bed, put together ages ago from a kit, has fallen into serious disrepair. I’m hoping for some tips on the proper way to rejuvenate it…or more likely, replace it.
To complement the expert advice from our Master Gardeners, the Library has some print and digital resources to help you build and maintain your raised beds, or improve your gardening skills in general.
Books
All New Square Foot Gardening: More Projects, New Solutions, Grow Vegetables Anywhere
by Mel Bartholomew
635 BAR
All New Square Foot Gardening: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More in Less Space
by Mel Bartholomew
635 BAR
The All New Square Foot Gardening Cookbook: Taking the Harvest to the Table
by Mel Bartholomew
641.651 BAR
Field Guide to Urban Gardening: How to Grow Plants, No Matter Where You Live
by Kevin Espiritu
635.09173 ESP
The Garden Primer: The Completely Revised Gardener’s Bible
by Barbara Damrosch
635 DAM
Gardening Your Front Yard: Projects and Ideas for Big & Small Spaces
by Tara Nolan
635 NOL
Grow All You Can Eat in 3 Square Feet: Inventive Ideas for Growing Food in a Small Space edited by Kate Johnsen
635 GRO
How to Create Your Garden
by Adam Frost
712.6 FRO
Raised-Bed Gardening: How to Grow More in Less Space
by Simon Akeroyd
635.967 AKE
Raised-Bed Gardening for Beginners: Everything You Need to Know to Start and Sustain a Thriving Garden
by Tammy Wylie
631.581 WYL
Raised Bed Revolution: Build It, Fill It, Plant It…Garden Anywhere!
by Tara Nolan
635.962 NOL
Small-Space Vegetable Gardens: Growing Great Edibles in Containers, Raised Beds, and Small Plots
by Andrea Bellamy
635 BEL
Trellises, Planters & Raised Beds: 50 Easy, Unique, and Useful Projects You Can Make with Common Tools and Materials
by Editors of Cool Springs Press
681.7631 TRE
Gardening Magazines
Country Gardens (in the Magazines Department on the second floor at the Main branch and as a digital magazine from Flipster)
Fine Gardening (in the Magazines Department on the second floor at the Main branch and as a digital magazine from Flipster)
Online Resources
Bendrick, Sara. “How to Build a Raised Garden Bed: Use These Step-By-Step Instructions to Construct An Attractive Garden Box With An Attached Bench.” Mother Earth News, no. 293, Apr.-May 2019, p. 54+. Gale OneFile
From the National Gardening Association website:
“Growing Peas in Raised Beds” by the National Gardening Association Editors https://garden.org/learn/articles/view/466/
“Making a Raised-Bed Garden” by the National Gardening Association Editors https://garden.org/learn/articles/view/1308/
“Raised Beds and Spacing for Peppers and Friends” by the National Gardening Association Editors https://garden.org/learn/articles/view/524/
Don’t forget to sign up for our raised beds Garden Talk program on Monday, February 22. Register online or call the Reference Desk at 615-595-1243. We’ll email login instructions the day before the event. Happy gardening!
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