School's In for Autumn

With apologies to Alice Cooper, it appears that school was not out forever. In fact, it is just around the corner. As children sigh and parents rejoice, I'll just remind everyone that the library is a tremendous resource for students and their parents. Not only do we have great books and magazine, but also so outstanding online resources available at home. All you need is your library card.

To highlight just one such resource: Britannica Online provides a wealth of information on a variety of school topics including: Language Arts, Math, Social Studies and Science. It also includes an online dictionary, atlas, in-depth analysis of countries around the globe, and a continually updated news feed from the BBC News and other sources. As a bonus, there is a search function that allows you to look up particular topics of interest with a pretty good result in most instances.

Additionally, the website is actually subdivided into age appropriate resources for Elementary, Middle, and High schoolers. The default is to the High School page, so if you want to explore the Elementary or Middle School pages, you'll need to scroll to the bottom of the front page and click on the Elementary or Middle School "buttons".

Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts

The Mukwonago Community Library is part of the Waukesha County Federated Library System (WCFLS). What this means is that we have access to a tremendous amount of materials and resources that we would never be able to provide if we weren’t part of the system. Most of the books, movies and other materials you put on hold come to us from other WCFLS libraries. Our online catalog is a joint venture with the other county libraries. Many of our online resources, including the very popular Ancestry.com and HeritageQuest genealogical databases, the Auto Repair and Small Engine Repair collections, and the Morningstar Investment Research Center are only available because of our collaboration with WCFLS.

Ouch: Now This is a Brutal Review

The Library has been gradually adding Wii, PlayStation 3 and XBOX 360 games to our collection. I almost bought this game over the weekend:


After reading THIS review, I am quite glad I didn't. Yikes, that's a scathing critique. Here's the money quote from the reviewer's conclusion:

There's more, of course. Between levels, there are some impossibly dumb minigames that give you no chance to figure out what you're supposed to do before they're over. There are times when you're supposed to wave your wand, but the game can't distinguish between a wand wave and an attack, which forces you to sit there for five minutes until you do the mysterious magical motion that gets it right. Ultimately, what you need to know is this: Anubis II is one of the worst games ever created and fundamentally broken. If you play it, you can never get back the three hours you wasted on this unique brand of torture.

Okay, so how do you really feel?

Library Collections: What Should We Have?

A comment recently came through, asking if it was a good idea that the library had DVDs, and now video games, in an era of childhood obesity. I responded to it, briefly, in the library's column in the Mukwonago Chief, but I post the comment in full here because I think it raises some interesting points and it requires a full and thoughtful response that I just don't have the room for in the newspaper column. Here is the full-text of the suggestion:

With today's children spending so much time in front of the television, is it necessary to promote this by offering hundreds of movie DVDs and now video games at the library? Studies have proven that our children are less imaginative than ever before, and cases of obesity in children is [sic] overwhelming. On my past trips to the library, I notice that children and their parents are not checking out books, but instead are checking out stacks of DVDs and now video games. Is this the quality time that parents spend with their children now, mindlessly parking them in front of the television set? What about sharing a good book and talking, or venturing outside for some fresh air and exercise. A little sun won't hurt any of these kids. Maybe it should be suggested that we spend more money on books, magazines, papers, etc. and less on mindless visual entertainment.

I want to thank whoever made the suggestion. And I mean that very sincerely-- it clearly comes from someone who truly cares about his or her community and the community's library. Similarly, thanks to everyone else who has made a suggestion or left a comment—please, keep them coming. We appreciate any and all feedback from the community we serve.

It is also important to provide a little historical context-- this is a question that has been around, in one form or another, for centuries. In America, it has arisen in the form of "good" books vs. "bad" books, newspapers and magazines vs. books, movies and videotapes vs. books and newspapers, and even genre books (SF, fantasy, mystery) vs. other fiction.

Essentially, it boils down to: Is the public library an educational institution, an entertainment destination, or some blending and combination of the two? The general consensus has been for option #3, a blending and combination of the two. Certainly that has been the approach of the Mukwonago Community Library. Our vision statement identifies us as both a Lifelong Learning Place and an Entertainment Place. Most significantly, perhaps, we see ourselves as A Place For Everyone.

Now, in regards to particulars of the patron's comments, let's start with the final point. It is important to realize that the library spends more on books than on DVDs, CDs and video games combined—more than twice as much, when you include our newspaper and magazine subscriptions. Books, newspapers and magazines are staple of library holdings, and despite speculation like this, I don't see that changing any time in the near future.

I also think calling movies and video games, “mindless visual entertainment” is too harsh. Certainly, some movies and games are pure escapism, but movies are often as thought provoking as books and many video games can be shared by a family in the same manner as a board game. My kids and I had a blast last week playing SuperMario Kart together, and with the motion-sensing capabilities of the new generation of games, even the "couch potato" image of a typical video game player may be going by the boards. Having recently purchased Wii Fit, I can testify that "playing" that "game" will provide you with a workout. Plus, recent studies are showing that video games can be beneficial to the brain in many ways.

And, then again, what's wrong with a little pure escapism from time to time? Certainly some books are primarily, perhaps entirely, escapist fiction. Not every book can be The Grapes of Wrath, Wuthering Heights, or War and Peace. Nor would we want them to be.

Additionally, the library is also an entertainment place and both DVDs and video games are part of the entertainment landscape. Certainly we hope that families check out books as well as videos and games, but the library's vision is for it to be a "place for everyone". One group that is a challenge to "be a place for" is the young adult population-- video games are a way for us to reach out to them.

In regards to getting outside for some sun, the library is exploring options for making better use of the park to our west this summer, including outdoor reading spots and possibly checking out some sports equipment (basketballs, kickballs, etc.). Overall, however, I would say that video gaming is no more inactive than reading a book, and that today's games are sometimes quite active, indeed.

The challenge to today's library is to be that "place for everyone". Old, young, readers, writers, viewers, gamers. Computer savvy or not, religious, agnostic, retired, unemployed, students, parents, children, artists, professionals, factory workers, athletes and intellectuals. To meet that challenge, we attempt to keep a balance of educational and entertainment materials, in as many formats as possible, to reach as broad a portion of the community as we can.

And we are always open to suggestions and new approaches. Please, help us be the best community library we can possibly be-- add your comments just below, if you'd like, or stop in and let us know what's on your mind.

Your Library: A Place to Catch Up

Whether it is finally reading all those literary masterpieces you've meant to pick up for years, brushing up on small engine repair, or re-watching Indiana Jones I-III before sitting down with your new copy of The Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls, the Library is the perfect place to get up to speed.

For me, I've been taking advantage of the Library's holdings for shows that air on HBO and Showtime-- stations which I do not have. For the past few weeks I have been immersed in the saga of Tony Soprano and his families. I did not participate in the Sopranos craze when it was happening between 1999 and 2006 because we don't have HBO. So, I heard how awesome it was, but never got to appreciate it directly.

But now-- now I can check out the Sopranos one season at a time and watch them at my leisure. Usually one a night, but sometimes two in one day, while other days are just too full to share any time with Tony, Christopher, Carmella, Paulie and all the rest. And now I understand what all the hype was about-- the writing and acting is as good as I had heard and better than I expected (I was prepared for the reality to not match the hype). Just great stuff.

I am currently in the middle of season 4 and already I am sad to think there are fewer unviewed episodes than there are ones I have watched. Still, what a cool thing-- to have those episodes available to me simply by having a library card.

Once I do finish the Sopranos I think my next adventure will be to dive into the second season of Dexter. I saw the first season on NBC last year and liked it a lot, so I'm curious to see the second season and also to see it unedited from the original Showtime broadcasts. I know the Sopranos aren't as good on A&E as they are in their original HBO format, so I'm curious to see how much different the original Showtime cuts are than the NBC edits.

Final point-- if there is a TV show, movie or book that you'd like to see the Library own, let us know. All requests are reviewed by the staff, but we generally do purchase requested items since we know that there is a demand for them and we do our best to keep our patrons happy.