Meridian Library System

A Cold White Sun: A Constable Molly Smith Mystery by Vicki Delany

Sharon — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:59:01 +0000

I am unfamiliar with Canadian authors so this was a new mystery series for me. The action takes place in a small mountain ski town in British Columbia where a high school teacher is shot one morning while walking her dog through the woods. Various characters are introduced including Constable Molly Smith, Detective Sargent John Winters, Smith’s boyfriend and cop Adam Tocek and various townspeople. As the police work the case, it becomes clear that this is a woman with no enemies and there is no evident motive for the murder. A secondary plot concerns Molly’s ski dates with a new man and her uncertainty about continuing her relationship with Adam.

The mystery was a good one and I think it is probably pretty realistic for some murders to be random and motiveless. Although this book is called A Constable Molly Smith mystery, we really don’t get much of Molly in the book. I don’t know her much better now than when I started. This book struck me more as a “team” type of mystery – where a number of police professionals were involved in solving the murder. I did know early on who the murderer was from clues given but not why.

I liked it and will look forward to other titles in this series.

Nebraska Library Leadership Institute 2013

Sharon — Thu, 02 May 2013 21:57:44 +0000

Apply now for the NLLI 2013 at the St. Benedict Center Schuyler, August 5-9th.

NLLI flyer 2013

NLLI application 2013

Freegal Opportunity

Sharon — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:16:59 +0000

Freegal Flyer

Passive Programming for Teens

Sharon — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:50:31 +0000

Thanks for Denise from RVLS for this link to an article on great passive programs that will involve teens at your library.

National Poetry Month

Sharon — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:46:32 +0000

The Future of Libraries from OpenSite.org

Sharon — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 15:19:17 +0000

Sample Employee Handbook/Personnel Policies

Sharon — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:03:09 +0000

The Nebraska Regional Library Systems contracted with Susan K. Sapp, Attorney and Senior Litigation Partner with Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather, L.L.P. in Lincoln, to put together a template of a personnel policy for Nebraska libraries. The project was in response, in part, to the signing into law, LB470, which requires library personnel policies to be approved by their local municipality. We hope this will prove to be a guide for library boards and directors in reviewing policy and complying with federal and state requirements.

The handbook was compiled in August and the recording in November of 2012. Print copies of the sample employee handbook and a recording of Susan Sapp reviewing the handbook are available through Nebraska Regional Library Systems. You’ll note that the template provides ample space on the page for each segment to add specifics pertinent to your individual community. There are blanks to fill in and shaded areas that each library will want to address to make sure it complies with their policies and rules, e.g., vacation, sick leave amounts and accrual; contact people for FMLS leave, etc. Thus, each library will want to pay careful attention to the specifics. Policies can be modified to fit the culture of each library, e.g., dress code, time cards, etc.

If you wish, I am available to come to your library and work with you and your board to update (or create) personnel policies and an employee handbook.

New Book Club Title

Sharon — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:32:14 +0000

We have added 10 copies of The Secret Garden to our sets. For a full listing of books available click on the Book Sets tab above.

New book club titles

Sharon — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:16:00 +0000

We have added 10 copies of the One Book Nebraska title O Pioneers by Willa Cather and 8 copies of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 to our book club sets.

New book club title

Sharon — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:42:01 +0000

We have added 10 copies of The Red Tent by Anita Diamant to our book club sets.

Her name is Dinah. In the Bible, her life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that tell of her father, Jacob, and his twelve sons.

Told in Dinah’s voice, Anita Diamant imagines the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood—the world of the red tent. It begins with the story of the mothers—Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah—the four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that sustain her through childhood, a calling to midwifery, and a new home in a foreign land. Dinah’s story reaches out from a remarkable period of early history and creates an intimate connection with the past.