Library

April is Parkinson Awareness Month. Jane Denmark (pictured) will have an information table set up in the lobby of the library all month. She will man this booth each Monday from 10 a.m. until noon. She has brochures and other information about Parkinson's, plus she will be happy to answer any questions the public may have about the disease. She also leads the North Baldwin Parkinson's Support Group which meets the fourth Tuesday of the month at 10 a.m. at the North Baldwin Infirmary Wellness Center at 2115 Hand Avenue. For further information, please call 937-4246.

You may have noticed more of a selection of books, audio books and DVDs on the shelves at the Bay Minette Public Library. This is due in large part to a recently awarded Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant. The LSTA grant in the amount of $7,000 was awarded to the library for Collection Development by the Alabama Public Library Service. It is the only federal program exclusively for libraries and is administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

The grant, which was written and submitted by Library Director Joanna Bailey, was used to purchase library materials – fiction, non-fiction, large print and children’s books, audio books, DVDs, eBooks and downloadable audio. Thanks to this funding the library was able to join the state’s Camellia Net consortium to provide patrons with eBooks and downloadable audio.

The downloadables and eBooks from Camellia Net have helped us expand our ability to serve an ever increasing patron demand for more materials through an electronic based format, Bailey said. Evolving technologically will both increase the library’s impact in the immediate lives of our patrons and advance the library as an ongoing and relevant part of the community’s life as we move into the future, helping us maintain its relevance in an ever changing and complex world.

This grant project covers a diverse group of patrons, from the person who escapes the doldrums of a daily commute listening to an audio book, to the elderly patron who relies on audio books to read to them as their eyesight becomes increasingly problematic, to the young adult who thought of the library as dull and for and of another time, who can now download an eBook to an eReader or an audio book to an MP3 player, and to the homeschooling parent who checks many of our children’s books on a particular subject to better educate their child, and to the person who comes in on a weekly basis to peruse our New Book section to find an author they may not have ever read, Bailey continued. The library has something for everyone who walks through our doors, whether it is an elderly patron looking for a new large print book or someone needing a DVD to help make their weekend brighter.

“I am very proud for our library once again to be awarded this marvelous grant,” Bailey said. “It helps us tremendously, and our patrons reap the benefits.”

The Bay Minette Public Library has expanded its services with audiobooks, eBooks, and music now available for download! Library card holders can check out and download digital media anytime, anywhere by visiting this website and clicking on the Camellia Net  link on the upper right hand corner of the page. Users may browse the library's website, check out with a valid library card (from any library in the county that is participating in the Camellia Net consortium), and download to PC, Mac, Nook, iPod, iPad, Sony Reader, and many other mobile devices. Users will need to install free software -- OverDrive Media Console for audiobooks and music and Adobe Digital Editions for eBooks. Titles can be enjoyed immediately or transferred to a variety of devices. Some audio titles can also be burned to CD to listen on-the-go. Titles will automatically expire after the two week lending period or you can change the default to a seven day lending period if you prefer. There are no late fees!

Quick Guide to Using Camellia Net

Click on the Camellia Net link on the right hand corner of this webpage.
 

The type of device you are using determines your next step.  The most common e-readers we are seeing are Kindles, Nooks, iPads and iPods/phones, Android phones, and various tablets.  E-books can also be read on your desktop or laptop.  

When you pull up a book on CamelliaNet, you will see a box like this:

Format:

Kindle Book  

Adobe EPUB eBook

Kindles can only use Kindle books. 

On an Apple product (iPad, iPod/phone), Android,  computer, or other tablet, you will need to install apps.  The app to read Kindle books is the Kindle app.  The Overdrive Console app will allow you to read Adobe EPUB.  Both apps are free.  
 

Kindle books are managed through your Kindle account on Amazon.  After check out, your book will be available for download through Amazon. 

Nook users have an extra step.  You will need to download Adobe Digital Editions (also free) to your personal computer and create an Adobe ID.  You will then need to authorize your device with your Adobe ID.  Dock your Nook to your computer.  Your library book will download to your computer. Open Adobe Digital Editions and go to the library view.  Drag the title to the “NOOK” icon.   Undock the NOOK from your computer.   In the Library, open My Documents.  The title should be available to be read for the period of time specified by the library.

Other users can download EPUB books directly from the Overdrive Console, without going through a computer.
 

You will be asked to choose your library, then enter your card #.  This is the long number on the back of your library card.  Your pin is the last four digits of that #.

POSTPONED

Col. Glenn Frazier, author of Hell's Guest, will hold a book signing in the near future here at the library. He will speak of his experiences in World War II and sign copies of his book. He has held book signings and has spoken at events around the country. He recently spoke at a veteran's event in Washington, D.C.

Col. Frazier was also featured in Ken Burns' documentary The War.

"'I grew up in South Alabama in the 1930's. Looking at the world through the cotton and corn fields of Lowndes County, I could never have imagined that in just a few short years the entire world would be engulfed in war and that I would be caught in the middle of it. Where I lived, events in Europe and Asia, as menacing as they were, seemed light years away. I would soon discover that they were not so far away after all...'

So begins the powerful memoir by an Alabama boy who ran away to join the army at the age of 16 and six months later found himself in the doomed struggle to save Bataan from the Japanese advance. He was captured, marched north in the infamous Bataan Death march and spent the next three years struggling for his life in Japanese POW camps. Glenn Frazier is an American above all else, who catches us all up in his story and teaches the one lesson we all need to learn and relearn: our liberty is our most precious possession and worth the price we must pay to preserve it."

  The books are currently on display at the library and are on sale during business hours for $20 each. For more information, please call Joanna Bailey @ 580-1648.

 Pictured from left, Children's Librarian Victoria Barnett, Library Volunteer Kelly Stuart, Cataloger/Technical Coordinator Kimberly Watson, Front Desk Supervisor Toni Crook and Library Director Joanna Bailey.

 Baldwin County Master Gardeners delievered a collection of gardening books to each of the 13 Baldwin County libraries this week including BMPL. Though many may not consider this a time to think about gardening, Master Gardeners know cool weather is the time in the garden for planting trees, shrubs and prepping the warm weather lawn and garden. December is also the giving season and what better time to contribute to the libraries.

 Baldwin County Master Gardeners is an organization of trained and certified volunteers who assist the Alabama Cooperative Extension System on a mission of educational outreach in residentail horticulture. BCMG has approximately 180 members who each have received 50 hours of classroom insturstion specific to horticulture in Southwest Alabama, receive at least 10 hours of continuing education each year and volunteer a minimum of 25 hours annually assisting in outreach education. One of their biggest responsibilities is answering the Master Gardener Helpline (877-252-GROW) which operates Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

 For more information on the Master Gardeners and how to become a member, please visit their website at www.baldwincountymastergardeners.com.