WPPL News

Save Time By Using Library Self-Check Machines
We know it can be frustrating to wait in line at our Circulation Desks when all you want to do is check out a CD, DVD, software item or video game. So we've now enabled our self-check machines to handle these items, allowing you to check them out without a wait.

Using the self-check machines is EASY!
- Touch the screen to begin
- Scan your Library card (just like the UPC bar codes at the grocery store)
- Pass the library materials over the pad one item at a time
- After you’ve checked out all of your materials, touch the word “Done” on the screen and take your print-out
- Using the tool provided, remove the security cases and drop the cases into the labeled openings in the counter

You must see a staff member:
- there is a message on your account
- you owe $10 or more in fines
- you want to renew items
- you want a full list of all items you have checked out
- you are a new patron with the “new patron” limit

Celebrate Imagination at Bash for Books 2008!
     One of Winter Park’s most highly anticipated parties, Bash for Books, will again transform the Winter Park Public Library from 7-10 p.m. Sat., April 26.
     Bash for Books – Celebrating Imagination, is an exclusive opportunity to party in the Library and sip wine in the stacks. The 2008 event will be bigger and better than ever with larger-than-life sets featuring characters and scenes from beloved children’s books and spectacular canapés and hors d’oeuvres from Hard Rock Catering.
     This year’s live auction will crackle with excitement as bidders do their best to win incredible items such as the opportunity to “Be a Fighter Pilot for a Day,” the right to name the Library’s Children’s Room for a full year, the unique chance to be included as a character in mystery author Bob Morris’ next novel, and a private plane trip to a weekend stay at a blissful North Carolina resort.
     A generous partnership with Diageo, the world’s largest distributor of wine and spirits, has added some amazing items to this year’s silent auction. Attendees will have the chance to take home a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue King George V Edition, Scotch whisky so rare that it is available only upon allocation and comes with its own certificate of authenticity. A fun selection of rums, vodkas and other liquors will be up for grabs as well. Wine lovers will have the chance to bid on a an array of fine wines that will include a rare 3-liter bottles of 1995 Chateau Lafite Rothschild, 2004 Sterling Vineyards Reserve and 1999 Haut Brion, as well as many other selections.
     Other auction items include exciting getaways, relaxing spa treatments, spectacular jewelry and wonderful dining packages. Fine art from some of the areas best artists such as Duncan McClellan and Matthew Cornell will be auctioned in the Library’s Community Room as well.
     Guests will be able to purchase an assortment of wines by the glass served by Tim’s Wine Market. A martini bar featuring Ketel One vodka martinis will also be available.
     All profits from the Bash support the materials and programs of the Winter Park Public Library. Tickets are limited to 350 and can be purchased for $75 each at the Library, by clicking here or by calling 407-623-3486.

Pulitzer Winning Author to Speak at Winter Park Public Library
     The Winter Park Public Library will host a talk, reading and signing by Lucinda Franks, the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for reporting, at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 19 in the Library Community Room.
     Franks will discuss her searing memoir, My Father’s Secret War, which is the result of employing a lifetime of journalistic expertise to decode her father’s past and discover who the man who raised her really was.
     My Father’s Secret War begins with Franks taking on caregiving responsibilities for her father, who was becoming unable to care for himself. Her journey is launched by the discovery a hidden cache of war memorabilia that included foreign currency from around Europe, false identification cards, photo negatives of blurry military targets, and most disturbingly, a Nazi SS officer’s cap with a swastika and skull-and-crossbones insignia. Her father refused to discuss any of those things.
     With a dogged determination one might expect from a journalist of her caliber, Franks conducts an investigation that takes her from the National Archives and Records Administration, to the Washington Navy Yard, to the Library Congress, and back again. She runs up a thousand-dollar phone bill tracking down leads.
     And what she discovers is a shock: that her complicated, silent, distant father who she had cut out of her life because she felt rejected by him had been a spy for the U.S. military. Ultimately Franks concludes that her father had been a true hero who believed that he was sworn to secrecy about all he had seen and done. He worked undercover as an SS officer, a fisherman, and a dockworker. He trained resistance fighters in the arts of defense, interrogation, and even assassination. He fought in the major battles of the Pacific Theater; he took part in secret military operations with names like Operation Moonshine, Overcast, and Paperclip. He witnessed atrocities, such as Japanese soldiers using live prisoners for bayonet practice, and was ordered to commit as many horrors as he had seen. His memories from that time had ruined him.
     As Franks learns the truth of her father’s past, her long-buried admiration and respect for her father reemerges. My Father’s Secret War is her tribute to her father, to all that he lost and to her rediscovery of him.
     Franks was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. She has written for the New York Times and contributed to The New Yorker, the New York Times Book Review, The Atlantic Monthly, The Nation, People, and New York, among other publications. Franks is the author of Waiting Out a War and Wild Apples. She is married to New York County District Attorney Robert Morgenthau and has two children. She lives in New York City.
     Free registration for this program is requested; register by calling 407-623-3279 or by clicking here.

Tax Forms & Resources at the Library
     The Library is now featuring a display of tax forms and instructions from the IRS.
     Located in our Lyman side lobby, the display features many popular tax forms, including the 1040, 1040A and 1040EZ.
     Our reference librarians can also download any IRS form from the Internet and print it for you at 10 cents per page. Although our staff cannot give tax help or advice, they can direct you to resources in the collection and other community resources.

Large Print Books Available
Did you know that the Library has a great selection of large print books for people with sight impairments or just for those who prefer larger type? We order almost all fiction best sellers and most nonfiction best sellers in large print format and have a good-sized collection of older large print titles.
The newest large print books, as well as all of those that have been added to the collection within the last three years or so, are stored on special shelves on the Library’s first floor. Older titles are located on the second floor. Please ask a staff member to help you locate large print titles.

Library Receives Marketing/PR Grant
     We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded a $4,000 public relations and marketing grant from the Winter Park Community Foundation fund of the Community Foundation of Central Florida. The grant will help us keep our community informed about our materials, services and programs.
     The grant will fund a comprehensive communications plan to direct our public relations and marketing over the next few years. Massey Communications, Inc. will develop the plan for us.
     We look forward to increasing community awareness about all that the Library has to offer and sincerely thank the Community Foundation for their support.

New Limit on Video Games
In order to better share our video game collection with all patrons, there is now a limit on the number of games that can be checked out on a Library card at a given time. Only three video games can be checked out at a time per Library card.
This limit does not affect computer software. The Library has games for most popular video game consoles, including the Wii, GameCube, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, Xbox and Playstation 2 and 3.

Library Spellbinders Win United Arts Award
     The WPPL’s Spellbinders storytellers were named Volunteer Organization of the Year at the United Arts of Central Florida’s Arts+ Awards.
     The Library’s Spellbinders of Central Florida receive extensive training in the art of storytelling and then volunteer as storytellers in local classrooms. Last school year, our Spellbinders delivered storytelling sessions to 11,322 children, teachers and parents.
     When Spellbinders go into a classroom, they support the educational curriculum by telling stories and coaching children in telling stories of their own. Research shows that storytelling improves children’s listening skills, attention span and imagination – all vital to literacy.
     To provide training and coordination of the Spellbinders program, the Library partners with Project Imagination (insert link), a local organization that offers storytelling performances and workshops.
     To learn more about Spellbinders, which is a national organization, or how to become a Spellbinder of Central Florida, contact Library Institute Coordinator Ruth Edwards at redwards@wppl.org or 407-623-3309.

New Ways to Keep You Informed
For those interested in receiving WPPL programming bulletins sent directly to your Inbox, we’ve launched two new e-newsletters. Learning @ Your Library is a monthly listing of all programs for adults. WPPL for Kids, Tween & Teens is a monthly list of all programs presented by our Youth Services Department. Both are sent around the first of each month. You will only receive them if you specifically request them; you do not have to receive both.

To subscribe, send an e-mail to mgcoffee@wppl.org with the subject “Subscribe.” In the body of the message, type “subscribe kids” or “subscribe adults” or “subscribe kids and adults”.

     If you are new to the Library's e-mail lists, you are best served by using the box on the Library's homepage that says "Sign-up for our e-newsletters." You will be able to join any or all of the Library's e-newsletters using that tool.

     Caution! Should you ever use the “Unsubscribe” option contained in any of our e-newsletters, you will immediately be dropped from ALL mailing lists.

How to Manage Your Account
We understand that many of you are very concerned about receiving spam and other unwanted e-mail. The Library uses a very secure service to manage your e-mail information and subscription preferences. This service makes sure that no one can subscribe or unsubscribe you to anything without your permission. The “downside” to all of this security is that there are several steps involved for YOU to be able to change your preferences. Here are the steps:

1) Go to the Library’s Web site and enter your e-mail address in the box that says “Sign up for our e-newsletters."

2) If you are not already signed up through our secure e-mail system, you will be asked to fill out the basic enrollment form and will be permitted to choose which of our e-mail newsletters you would like to subscribe to.

    If you ARE already in the system, you will see a screen informing you that you are already a member of the mailing list and to hit the “Submit” button if you would like to change your preferences (meaning subscribe or unsubscribe to particularly e-newsletters). Shortly after you click “Submit” you will receive an e-mail from MaryGail Coffee, the Library’s Community Relations Coordinator containing a link to take you directly to your account. Note: You must click on the link is that e-mail, follow the instructions and click “Submit” to finalize any change.

We apologize for what appears to be a complicated process, but the security of your personal information is our first priority.

Something Special for Fiction Readers!

When John Grisham is out, Mary Higgins Clark is on hold and you've read Harry Potter three times already, use NoveList, the WPPL's newest online tool to help you find your next read. Search for an author, read-alike or even a plot, and this powerful database will immediately supply you with titles (a link on the lower left side of the screen will even zoom you to our catalog to check the book's availability).

     This database of over 143,000 fiction titles for readers of all ages lets you use your favorite author or book to link to other books you might enjoy. Grisham fans can find over 200 other legal thrillers they might like to read, and the Lord of the Rings fan in your home can locate hundreds of fantasies with young heroes!

Looking for a book for your next book group meeting?
     Click on the Book Discussion Guides link to find over 100 in-depth book discussion guides for popular book group titles. Each guide contains a brief author biography, a plot summary and discussion questions (with answers!). These guides are guaranteed to make your next book club meeting one of the best.
Don’t belong to a club? These guides are a great way for independent readers to deepen their individual enjoyment and experience of a good book.

Looking for a book to help your first-grader get ready for the first day of school (or any other plot you can imagine)?
     Use the “Describe A Plot” function and enter the words that describe the book you would like to read. NoveList will search using the plot you supply and generate a list of books for you to consider.

A full service WPPL card is required to use this service; available from home or the library. Click here to begin using NoveList or access NoveList from our Databases page.

Library Welcomes New Assistant Director

     We are proud to announce that the Library has hired Bill Johnson as an Assistant Director. Bill joined the staff October 1 and will be responsible for managing all public services, which includes Circulation, Reference and Youth Services.

     “I am excited by the opportunity to work at the #1 library in the state,” Bill says. “I’m glad to be a part of this team.”

     Bill comes to the WPPL with an impressive history of library leadership experience. Most recently he was the director of the New Orleans Public Library. He was in charge of the New Orleans library system when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005, and he stayed for a year after the storm before returning to Central Florida. Prior to his work in New Orleans, Bill served as director of the Osceola Library System after being promoted from assistant director.

     “I have known Bill since his days at the Osceola County’s library,” WPPL Director Bob Melanson said. “I have a high regard for his abilities and know we are lucky to have him.”

     As one of the Library's two assistant directors, Bill will not only supervise the departments that directly provide services to the public. Mystery lovers will be glad to know Bill is the library’s new mystery book selector and facilitator for the Whodunit Mystery Lovers’ Book Club.

     Originally from Schumaker, California, Bill has been in Florida on and off for the last 17 years. He holds an MA and an MLS (master of library science) from the University of South Florida and an MBA from Memphis State University.

E-newsletter and E-mailed Account Info Are HERE!
     This Fall 2007 issue is the last print newsletter the Library will mass mail to its database of 8,500+ addresses. Starting in October, the Library will switch to an electronic newsletter that will be sent directly to your e-mail account. Sign up using the form on our homepage so you won’t miss an issue! You can also request that a staff member at one of our Circulation Desks add you to the e-mail list.
     The e-newsletter is an important effort on our part to increase efficiency, be responsible with public and private money we receive, and increase communication with our patrons.
Benefits of an e-newsletter
     Based on the results of our recent patron survey, we know that most of you want us to communicate with you via e-mail. The e-newsletter will allow us to communicate with you more frequently about a broader range of things. It will allow you to quickly find the information you want most. The quarterly print newsletter only allows us to inform you of programs, materials or services we know about four months ahead of time.
Why switch now?
     The recent property tax cuts made in Tallahassee have forced us to go through the Library’s operations and find ways to become even more efficient. Annual printing and postage costs for the newsletter are around $17,000. An e-newsletter will cost a fraction of that.
Get E-mails about your Library account
     Seventy percent of those who responded to our patron survey said that they wanted us to communicate with them about their Library accounts via e-mail. Now that we are actively collecting patron e-mail addresses, we are making this service available. Patrons who wish to receive e-mail notification about their holds and overdues can let us know on the newsletter enrollment form or at any Circulation Desk.
Being responsible with e-mail addresses
     The Library will not loan or sell your e-mail address to any outside organization. We will only use your e-mail address responsibly to communicate with you about Library news, programs and services or about your Library account.
     We plan to send an e-newsletter about once a month. If, on occasion, there is particularly exciting or important information we feel we need to share with you immediately, we may send an additional message.
     Those who sign up for e-mail notification about their accounts will receive e-mails as often as necessary (whenever your held items are available or when you have an overdue item).
     You can unsubscribe to the e-newsletter by following the directions at the bottom of each issue.
What if You don’t have e-mail?
1) We’ll help you get e-mail. Our Reference Librarians are happy to direct you to a number of free services that will allow you to get a free e-mail account. The Library has plenty of computer terminals for residents to use for e-mail.
2) Pick-up a print copy when you are in the Library. Let us know that you would prefer to pick-up a copy and we will take your name off the mailing list.
3) Stay on our snail mail list. For some period of time, we will continue mailing a limited number of copies to people who cannot receive the information any other way.