Tea Lecture and Tasting

What is more soothing than a cup of hot tea on a cold winter's night or refreshing than a tall iced tea on a hot summer afternoon? Tea is magic in many ways, and you can find out what they are on Wednesday, July 22 at 7 pm when Danielle Beaudette, Certified Tea Specialist, visits the library for "The Health Benefits of Tea," an interactive tea lecture and tasting.

The audience will learn about the benefits of adding whole-leaf tea to their diet. Topics will include tea and antioxidants, stress, caffeine, and merits of green vs. black tea.

Danielle is owner of The Cozy Tea Cart in Brookline, NH, and she will have a selection of teas from the lecture available for sale for cash or personal check at the end of the program. Seating is limited and we really need a head count for this program, so please register by calling 424-5021 or emailing.

What Do You Geek?

Yes, yes, geek is a noun, right? I know (and love) several geeks, and I'm even a little geeky myself. But how can geek be a verb?

Check out Geek the Library a new non-profit organization that describes it's mission this way:

Geek the Library is a community-based public awareness campaign designed to highlight the vital role of public libraries and raise awareness about the critical funding issues they face.

Geek the Library defines what you "geek" as something you are passionate about. And because libraries have resources that support so many of the things people geek (gardening, travel, music, dogs, movies, art, books...) it follows logically to include libraries in things you geek.

On this site, you are invited to post about the things you geek and how libraries help you geek them. But more than this, the site raises awareness of library funding issues and the role libraries play in helping people through difficult economic times, even as library budgets are falling to the ax. Think you know how libraries receive and manage their operating funds? Check out the Myths and Realities tab. Think that no one uses libraries anymore? Check out the Get the Facts tab.

Finally, this site shows you what you can do to help libraries get the funding they need to provide the services the community needs and wants. The Show Your Support page offers action items you can do yourself: talk to the people who make the funding decisions, tell them the reasons libraries need their support, and show your support in other active ways like joining the Friends of the Library and help organize fundraisers.

You can also find Geek the Library on Twitter, You Tube, and Facebook. I'm a fan. You can be, too.

From Nashua to Alaska: an Adventure

Janice Schofield Eaton will visit the library on Wednesday, July 1, at 7 pm to present her slide program"Beyond Road's End: Living Free in Alaska," the true-life tale of a NH couple who migrated to Alaska during the 70's recession, seeking a freer life. Learn what unfolds as jobs are left behind and a log home built in the wilderness. Discover what life in Alaska is truly like.

Eaton, who grew up in Nashua and has family in Merrimack, has written a book about her experiences (pictured at left) and copies will be for sale for cash only at the program. She is also the author of Discovering Wild Plants and Alaska's Wild Plants.

Eaton currently lives in New Zealand (and there's likely a story there, too), and she will be visiting in Merrimack for part of July. We are grateful to her brother, John Desclos, for suggesting that she might like to speak at the Merrimack Library during her visit. This will be a great program for dreamers and armchair travelers.

We recommend you reserve a seat by calling 424-5021 or emailing. Our programs often fill up, so a reservation guarantees you a seat.

Some Praise, A Promotion, and a Sad Parting

Do you want the happy news or the sad news first? Okay, let's start with the happy news...

Happy news: Library Director Janet Angus was recently honored by the Merrimack Chamber of Commerce for 10 years of service on the Chamber Board of Directors. That's a lot of time and a lot of dedication. The Chamber is lucky to have access to her talents and so is the library. Janet is also active in the Merrimack Rotary Club. Her participation in these community organizations is good for the library. It gets our services and message out to the people who need them. We're proud of Janet!

More happy news: Alex Estabrook, Reference and Young Adult Librarian, is about to be promoted to Head of Circulation. Alex has been with us for four years. He holds an MLS from the University of Rhode Island and got his start in libraries at Leach Library in Londonderry. In his new position, he will continue to oversee Young Adult Services and work a few hours a week at the Reference Desk while supervising the staff and daily operations at the Circulation Desk--a big job, to be sure. Alex runs the popular manga/anime club for teens, serves as chair of the TeenNet section of GMILCS, and also serves as treasurer for YALS, the young adult services section of the New Hampshire Library Association. We're proud of Alex, too.

Now some sad news: Diane Arrato Gavrish, Assistant Director and Head of Circulation since 2003, has left us to be Assistant Director at the Derry Public Library. While you can't fault someone for accepting a better job, we were all very sad to see her leave, as she has been an important member of our team and leaves a big hole, not only in the daily work of the library, but in our hearts, too. But Diane and I have been friends for nearly 30 years, and I know from experience that she never really leaves any place she's worked. In fact, from 1980 to 1983, Diane was Director of the Derry Public Library, and ever since, she's been active in the Friends of the Derry Library. She's really going home. We're proud of her, too, and we wish her all the best.

More sad news: A nearly 10% budget cut for the fiscal year that begins on July 1 means that we will have to say goodbye to some of our part time employees. Mike Leonard, Susan Primeau, Linda Thompson and Library Link editor Jan Segedy will all be leaving us at the end of this month. We wish them well, too, and we will miss them.

So, with all the partings and staff reorganization to keep our services running smoothly, things are pretty eventful here these days. Alex's promotion fills part of Diane's job, and a part time reference librarian will be hired to take part of Alex's old job. And we will also fill our Head of Children's Services position which has been vacant since early winter. All this while keeping within the limits of our reduced budget. The balance of Diane's job is being distributed throughout the remaining professional staff. The biggest impact that you, the customer, will see is the loss of "paging" hours. It means that it will take a bit longer to get returned books checked in and back to the shelf, and there will be little time for keeping the stacks as orderly as they should be. We ask for your patience.

We're on Facebook!

We are pleased to announce that the Merrimack Public Library now has a Facebook page, and we're recruiting fans. If you're not familiar with Facebook, here's the deal. Facebook allows you to set up an account and personal profile with as much or as little information about yourself and your interests as you care to share with others. You can post pictures, manage and share a "bookshelf," send messages to others, play games, take quizzes, and lots of other things.

When you join, Facebook recommends people you might like to "friend" based on information in your profile. For example, when I started my personal page, Facebook immediately suggested a "friend"--who just happened to be my childhood best friend. Facebook matched us on the basis of the same high school and also the same college. It's been lots of fun connecting with people I haven't seen in years.

When a library has a Facebook page, you can sign up to become a "fan." You'll always see what's going on at the library. We are gradually building our page, so watch for changes. If you're on Facebook, just type Merrimack Public Library in the search box to find our page, then click on Become a Fan.