Ride Your Bike.

May is National Bike Month!

Today is Bike to Work Day!

I live about 5 blocks away from where I work, so riding to work feels almost like cheating.  It’s all downhill and takes literally two minutes. Riding home on the other hand…

As of today, I have worked at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh for exactly nine years. Before that I was a bike messenger. Yes, in Pittsburgh. Yes, Pittsburgh has bike messengers. Yes, it’s an awesome job. (In the summer. Not so much in sleet and snow. I’m a baby about the cold.)

After I quit, I stopped riding my bike and promptly got fat. I got back into bike riding again and recently bought a spanking new bike. It’s a thing of beauty. Every time I walk past it, I pet it.

MY Raleigh RX 1.0 Cyclocross Bike

I’ve already put a bunch of miles on it and I’m planning some big rides this summer. I’m doing a 50-mile ride to raise money for Diabetes research. I’m also planning some overnight camping trips on the Great Allegheny Passage and in September I’m going to Washington, D.C. via the Great Allegheny Passage and the C & O Canal.  All camping. Pray for me, folks, because a camper I am not. I’m more of an eat-in-restaurants-sleep-in-hotels kind of girl. For example, I made a list of what to take and it included make-up, hand cream and perfume. That’s definitely a tough guy fail.

Carnegie Library’s website has a whole section of helpful cycling information, including links to trail maps, tour and advocacy groups and even a book list about cycling (fiction and nonfiction!)

Here are some of my favorite resources. And a bicycle cafe.

Bike Pittsburgh

A Pittsburgh-based cycling safety, advocacy, and awareness organization offering
a wealth of local cycling information, news, events, links, and community
information, including an online bike map.

Free Ride Pittsburgh

Free Ride! is a non-profit recycle-a-bike shop recycles bikes. Located inside
Construction Junction.

And this is just awesome bike stuff.

So if you see me on the trail, say hi! I’ll probably let you pet my bike.

Ride on.

-suzy

Introducing the Red Herring Book Club!

The mystery book discussion group at the Main Library has been recently re-branded and re-introduced as the Red Herring Book Club. As a special kick-off for this new look, and to try to attract a few additional group members, our theme for the books we’ll be reading over the next 4 months is “Mysteries of Pittsburgh.” (Because there’s nothing Pittsburghers like to read/do more than talk about Pittsburgh!) Each of the novels will be set in our fair city.  Serial killers, murders, mobsters and mayhem abound!

We’ll be discussing the first book in the series, The Burnt District by Gary Link, this Friday at 1pm in the Teen Meeting Space on the First Floor. All are welcome to join us. We’ll talk about the book (and its setting, of course!), plus you’ll be able to pick up and check out a copy of June’s book, Thou Shalt Kill by Daniel Blake.

Besides the four books on our agenda, many other mystery authors have chosen to set their books in our interesting and diverse city. Here are some more options for your reading and puzzle-solving pleasure…

Steel Ashes by Karen Rose Cercone

Never Buried: A Leigh Koslow Mystery by Edie Claire

Compass in the Blood by William E. Coles, Jr

Vengeance for a Stranger by Mary Ellis

Simple by Kathleen George

Resolve by J.J. Hensley

The Prophecy by Chris Kuzneski

Snake Skin by CJ Lyons

Murder in Pittsburgh: A Redmond and Jennifer McClain Mystery by Walter McKeever

Time of Death by Gary Madden

A Toast to Destiny by Ceane O’Hanlon and May Tantlinger

Mirror Image: A Daniel Rinaldi Mystery by Dennis Palumbo

The Headline Murders: A Story of Murder and Deceit Set in the City of Pittsburgh by David W. Rees

Bitter Waters by Wen Spencer

Tonight in the Rivers of Pittsburgh by Brian Lee Weakland

And one for the kids:  The Great Smith House Hustle by Jane Louise Curry

May all your mysteries be easy to solve. (And set in Pittsburgh!)

-Melissa M.

Gadgets A-Go-Go

 Librarians here at CLP enjoy opportunities to do some pretty amazing work.  We educate, inform, and often end up learning right along side the customers and patrons we so happily serve.  One of my great pleasures in my work remains my role on CLP’s Technology Training Team.  This relatively small sub-group of CLP staffers principally goes about the business of teaching customers and fellow employees how to use CLP’s eResources.

We most often help the public in this capacity through our regularly scheduled Gadget Labs.  You can also find listings for imminent Gadget Labs on our Upcoming Events page here.  So exactly what can you learn about at one of these Gadget Labs?  Not surprisingly, gadgets of course!  When we speak of gadgets at CLP we generally mean any handheld device that allows a person access to our eResources.  This most often includes eBooks, audiobooks, music, and magazines from the eNewsstand.  Gadget Labs offer you the chance to test and handle a number of sample devices from some of the most popular manufacturers, but more often we find ourselves helping customers with their own gadgets that they have brought along, and therein lies the real beauty of these ongoing programs.  You get hands-on, in person help with sorting out any issues you’re having accessing our content.

So if you want to figure out how to download three totally free songs per week from Freegal, we’ve got you covered.  If you want to learn how to sign up for Zinio and subscribe to hundreds of popular magazines and read them on your computer, iPad, or tablet device, we can make that happen.  If you’re into audiobooks and you want to learn how to get them on your smart phone, we’ve got two great options we can show you.  Or if you want to sort out how to get some eBooks on your new eReader, we’ve got well over 20,000 titles we’re very excited about showing you how to access!

While just about everyone at CLP recognizes that print books and other physical resources will not be going away anytime soon, we have also made a commitment to staying on the cutting edge of these new and emerging technologies.  We demonstrate this commitment and excitement at every Gadget Lab, and we invite you to come and join us in the process!

–Scott

Friday We’re In (Library) Love

Is Tuesday too early to start planning your Friday happy hour? We don’t think so, especially since tickets to our After Hours events tend to sell out. You are cordially invited to join us at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh–Lawrenceville on Friday, May 17, 2013,  between 6 – 8 p.m., for drinks, snacks, entertainment, and a closer look at the branch’s recent renovations.

Only 225 tickets will be sold, so make sure you get yours by:

• Purchasing them online
• Visiting the library branch at 279 Fisk Street
• Giving us a call at 412-622-6276

Need more reasons? Your ticket purchase supports the day-to-day operations of the library you love, and is partially tax-deductible to boot. Bonus: after After Hours, you can stick around the neighborhood with us to enjoy specials on drinks and/or food at several Lawrenceville establishments, including Eclipse Lounge and Tender Bar + Kitchen.

Have questions we didn’t cover in this blog post? Click here to learn more, or call/e-mail Jesse at 412.622.6276 ( dilauraj at carnegielibrary dot org).

Leigh Anne

with apologies to The Cure

Hitting the Movie Lottery

If you wanted to place a hold on Zero Dark Thirty right now, there are approximately 505 people standing in your way of finding out how the CIA took down bin Laden. Bummer, right?

Good news! Last week the library beefed up our Best Sellers program to now include DVDs!

This is pretty darn exciting, friends. Just like with the book collections, you too can hit it lucky when you walk into any of the branches and find the latest and greatest. Right now, we have available:

• Life of Pi
• Playing for Keeps
• The Hobbit (fancy two disc version!)
• Perks of Being a Wallflower
• Red Dawn
• Les Misérables
• Silver Linings Playbook
• Lincoln
• Skyfall
• Killing Them Softly
• Flight
• Django Unchained
• The Guilt Trip
• Wreck It Ralph
• Argo

And just like with the book collections, new movies will be added every week, too. Happy watching!

- Jess

No Need to Apologize to Your Librarian

We’re here to help (and lean on furniture)!

When I tell people what I do for a living, and then they realize that I serve the public, sometimes I get a twisted face of pity coming at me.  Folks who sit in an office all day might not be familiar with what it means to meet new people all day long.   I find serving the public in the library to be an extraordinarily rewarding job.  While I can’t speak for airline workers and their clientele, the vast majority of library patrons that I meet are kind, inquisitive, grateful and generally lovely.  In fact, sometimes they can even get sheepish or apologetic about what they don’t know or do.  And so this post will serve to say that we’re okay with all of it, really!  The Library would just be a big empty building without you! We’re glad you are here.

Below are some apologetic phrases we hear, and the reasons why there is no need to apologize to your librarian.

• I don’t have time to read.  This is often muttered with a hint of guilt, and sometimes this phrase will include a lack of eye contact.  But listen.  We’re okay with that, really!  We won’t judge you.   Even librarians get into reading slumps.  We find ways to dig out of our slumps, and then we share them with you.  Library eBooks, of course, can be a time-saver.  If you have them on your tablet or smart phone, they are likely always with you…  you can read a couple of pages in line at the post office or grocery store, though we don’t recommend reading while stuck at a red light.  If you need a change of pace, listen to an audio eBook or an audio book on CD.
• I don’t like to read.  We are totally okay with you telling us this, but we kind of/sort of don’t believe you.  Like police are trained to protect and serve, librarians are trained to believe that there is one book for everyone.  It’s our job to find that book! Maybe you need to try something new!  A graphic novel, a staff recommendation or a  Read-Alike for that really popular novel might do the trick.  Okay, and maybe we need to broaden our definition of book.  Because maybe you just aren’t in the mood to read or listen to books.  You can still get your literacy fix at the Library. We have zinio & freegal ( free subscriptions to e-magazines and free music downloads), CDs and DVDs.  We are serious about celebrating multiple types of literacy!
• I haven’t been to the library in a long time.  Whenever I hear this one I just say: “Welcome back!”  We understand that the majority of people live rushed, busy lives, so we don’t judge you if you can’t make it to the library every day.  As mentioned previously, we have a vast online presence, with loads of options to entice library use from anywhere.  We also are working hard to get out of our doors and into your community, to make it easier for you to find us.  With all of that, we still host tons of events, programs, meetings, workshops, puppet shows, music and dance performances, discussions – books or otherwise and general fun for all ages – to entertain and enlighten all of those who visit us in the building proper.  Whether you’ve been away for a day or for 30 years, we heartily say welcome back! Let us show you around!
• I’m sorry to bother you.  Goodness, no, you are not bothering us.  We are at the desks in public areas so that we can be of help to you.  We might be working on a project, but that is just to stay busy until the next patron comes along and needs our help.
• I have fines. We do too! Now, it’s your turn to not judge us.  We are here every day, but we check out so many things that we just can’t remember what is due back when.  In my former life as a teen librarian, I would visit middle school classrooms to promote the library.  On a particular visit, I was telling a group of 7th graders that it’s okay to have fines, because a) we have options for teens who have fines, such as Teen Summer Reading Fine Forgiveness and the Fine Alternative Program, and b) I get fines all the time!  A very astute 7th grader said: “What!?!?!?!  You get fines?!?!?! That’s stupid.”  This may be a fair assessment, but it also serves to show that if we judged you, we’d be the pot calling the kettle black.
• I can’t find… this book.  the restroom.  Classroom A. the mezzanine. a way out of the building.  One is apt to get turned around, or have questions while using any of our libraries, if one is not accustomed to it.  And due to its massive size, imposing columns and larger-than-life architecture styling, the Main Library  can be quite imposing to folks on their 1st or 50th visit.  Think of the Main Library as a microcosm of Pittsburgh.  It can be quite confusing to find your way around.  And if you think of us as a microcosm of Pittsburgh, you’ll know that Main Library, or any Library locals (staff), like Pittsburgh locals, will smile knowingly and be happy to help you find your way.   You might even pick up a few tips or tricks while we’re at it.

We’ll climb the stacks to get you what you need. (Don’t try this at home.)

Happy apology-free library visiting!

Holly

No Fiction, I Cry

A couple of nights ago, I found myself in a very scary position: I had no fiction in my apartment to read. Yes, I had books in my own small personal library, but those were books I had already read and I don’t reread books. (So why I own them is a mystery.) I had just finished reading a book for a book discussion and wanted something just for fun. I went to my stack of library books and was dumbfounded to see absolutely no fiction. I had quite a few non-fiction titles on subjects like writing, eating healthier, creative thinking, and other self-improvement topics, but no fiction. I double-checked. Triple-checked. And then sat on the floor in disbelief at what I had done. I had no fiction.

But, I work in a library so only had to get through one night before I unleashed myself upon the shelves to see fiction what I could find! Here’s what I picked up:

              

Clearly, I Didn’t Think This Through: The Story of One Tall Girl’s Impulsive, Ill-conceived, and Borderline Irresponsible Life Decisions by Anna Goldfarb. Okay, so I broke my “MUST GET FICTION!” rule right out of the gate. This is not fiction, but it sounds like something I could have written so I had to grab it.

Gulp by Mary Roach. Again, not fiction, but it’s Mary Roach!

The Source of Life and Other Stories by Beth Bosworth. It’s a collection of short stories; I am me, so, of course.

Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan. I’ve never read any McEwan (Gasp! But I have seen movies based on his books). I just really like the cover and the concept. I hope it lives up to my vague expectations.

Tales From Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan. This is actually for a book club, but I already started reading it and am in love with it so don’t mind one bit.

I hope I learn a lesson from this and keep a closer eye on what books I have at home. I don’t ever want to be caught without a fiction title in my apartment again.

–Aisha