Mapcrunch

I ran across this from one of my favorite spots to look for information Sites and Soundbytes by Tasha http://sites.wakingbraincells.com/. She has lots of great up-to-date information.

MapCrunch randomizes Google Maps, taking you on a tour of the world in a very random but equally easy and fascinating way. Click on the bright green Go! button and you will be whisked away visually to another place. You can use the buttons above the Go button to limit the images to specific continents or countries.

A handy little map appears telling you where you are within the country. It can be hidden too, but I enjoy seeing right where I have landed. Just as with any Google Street View, you can journey up the road, zoom in and out, and head off in new directions. Down in the bottom corner of the view is the city and country you are in. I seem to be seeing a lot of Ireland and Scandinavia so far.

Related articles:
MapCrunch lets you teleport to random and interesting Street View locations (downloadsquad.com)
MapCrunch: It’s Chatroulette Meets Google Street View (techcrunch.com)
Teleport Anywhere with Google Maps Street View (programmableweb.com)

May New Books

Trader of Secrets by Steve Martini 5/31
The crusading lawyer is on the trail of dangerous criminals who are trying to steal state-of-the-art weapons technology…with nothing less than the future of America at stake.

While in Paris to find a former NASA employee whose name has been found on papers left in his nemesis's apartment, Paul Madriani stumbles upon a plot to harness the destructive forces of nature using stolen technology that foreign powers will stop at nothing to get their hands on.

Sixkill by Robert B. Parker 5/3
On location in Boston, bad-boy actor Jumbo Nelson is accused of the rape and murder of a young woman. From the start the case seems fishy, so the Boston PD calls on Spenser to investigate. The situation doesn't look good for Jumbo, whose appetites for food, booze, and sex are as outsized as his name. He was the studio's biggest star, but he's become their biggest liability.

In the course of the investigation, Spenser encounters Jumbo's bodyguard: a young, former football-playing Native American named Zebulon Sixkill. Sixkill acts tough, but Spenser sees something more within the young man. Despite the odd circumstances, the two forge an unlikely alliance, with Spenser serving as mentor for Sixkill. As the case grows darker and secrets about both Jumbo and the dead girl come to light

Buried Prey by John Sanford 5/10

A house demolition provides an unpleasant surprise for Minneapolis-the bodies of two girls, wrapped in plastic. It looks like they've been there a long time. Lucas Davenport knows exactly how long. In 1985, Davenport was a young cop with a reputation for recklessness, and the girls' disappearance was a big deal.

His bosses ultimately declared the case closed, but he never agreed with that. Now that he has a chance to investigate it all over again, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: It wasn't just the bodies that were buried. It was the truth.

Poetry Month Storytime April 25-28

Poetry month is April and Children's Librarian Ingvild chose 2 great poems from Shel Silverstein and 2 other books that rhymed. The craft involved children drawing their own poems or things they heard during storytime. Additional pictures may be found at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary/

Wednesday, April 27

Tuesday, April 26
Library Director Bonnie Adams reads poems to the children. The children drew poems for all of us to see and talk about. Thanks to the children and their moms.

Bedtime Storytime Monday night 4/25

Kindle Library Lending and OverDrive – What it means for libraries and schools

Aurora Jacobsen SELCO Librarian Selco librarian added these comments:
After yesterday's big announcement that the Kindle was going to work with Overdrive, there were more questions than answers. Today, more details are emerging, although the picture is far from complete. One of the big answers came from the Overdrive blog, which clarified:

Your existing collection of downloadable eBooks will be available to Kindle customers. As you add new eBooks to your collection, those titles will also be available in Kindle format for lending to Kindle and Kindle reading apps. Your library will not need to purchase any additional units to have Kindle compatibility. This will work for your existing copies and units.

Overdrive books won't be available until this coming fall, and by then, many more answers should be available.

Karen Estrovich manager of content sales for OverDrive wrote this article on April 20, 2011
http://overdriveblogs.com/library/2011/04/20/kindle-library-lending-and-overdrive-what-it-means-for-libraries-and-schools/

Today Amazon and OverDrive announced the Kindle Library Lending program, which will enable Kindle customers to borrow and enjoy eBooks from our library, school, and college partners in the United States. The program is scheduled for launch later this year, and will significantly increase the value of the investments that libraries have made in OverDrive-powered eBook catalogs.

Many of our partners will immediately receive inquiries about this new program, so here is a brief introduction into what can be expected when the program launches:

The Kindle Library Lending program will integrate into your existing OverDrive-powered ‘Virtual Branch’ website.

Your existing collection of downloadable eBooks will be available to Kindle customers. As you add new eBooks to your collection, those titles will also be available in Kindle format for lending to Kindle and Kindle reading apps. Your library will not need to purchase any additional units to have Kindle compatibility. This will work for your existing copies and units.

A user will be able to browse for titles on any desktop or mobile operating system, check out a title with a library card, and then select Kindle as the delivery destination. The borrowed title will then be able to be enjoyed using any Kindle device and all of Amazon’s free Kindle Reading Apps.

The Kindle eBook titles borrowed from a library will carry the same rules and policies as all our other eBooks.

The Kindle Library Lending program will support publishers’ existing lending models.
Your users’ confidential information will be protected.

The Kindle Library Lending program is only available for libraries, schools, and colleges in the United States.

We’re thrilled that our library, school, and college partners will be able to provide Kindle customers with access to eBooks from their digital collections. And we look forward to providing you with more information on the launch of the Kindle Library Lending program as it becomes available.

Congratulations to Shelby B and Jace H the winners of the two Easter baskets designed by staff members
Donna Kirchgatter and Sandy Riedel.

This fun activity helped celebrate the holiday with a great guessing game for the children. It was interesting to see the different methods the children had for choosing their special number. One little 2 year old guessed the number 5 and no matter what her mother said to encourage her to guess a larger number she refused and said her favorite number was 5. The correct number of the eggs in a bowl was 145 eggs.

Thank you to all who participated.









Jace H. and her sister will share the basket.










Shelby will have help from her two older sisters eating all the goodies.

Children's Librarian Quoted in the New York Times!!

Kindle Users Gain Access to Library E-Books. Amazon, the maker of the Kindle e-book reader, said it would reverse its policy and allow the device’s users to borrow e-books from public libraries later this year.

Ingvild Herfindahl posted an update on this exciting news about eBooks and Kindleon our Library's Facebook pagehttp://www.facebook.com/kassonlibrary and not 5 minutes later got a call from the New York Times - they're doing a story on it and wanted to interview her.

Ingvild's quote was chosen and quoted in the NY Times! Check it out: http://nyti.ms/flI2FY

Congratulations Ingvild!

Easter Storytime April 19-21

Easter and the Easter bunny was on all the children's mind this week. Children's Librarian Ingvild read great bunny stories and talk about egg of all sizes. The children were able to go on their very own Easter Egg hunt in the library. The children found their egg and turned in the empty egg for one filled with candy. The craft was to create their own egg out of a coffee filter, magic markers and a spray bottle. Wonderful creations out of this fun project.

Additional pictures may be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary/

Wednesday, April 20

Tuesday, April 19