Happy New Year!

This has been a great year for the Bedford Public Library. 2008 promises to be even better with the design and renovation of the new library. The library will close at 5 pm on New Year's Eve and re-open on Wednesday, January 2nd. Stop by the library before 5 pm , if you need reading materials or a great movie to start the New Year right! We will be showing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on Wednesday, January 2nd at 2 PM in the Bonnie Finn Room. Bring the whole family for popcorn and a cinematic adventure!

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. **

We’ve got a myspace page! Right now we’ve only got a few friends – mostly other libraries, authors and publishers. But we want to be your friend too. So check out our page, post what you think, and spread the word! We’re at http://www.myspace.com/bedfordlibrary

** - - Humphrey Bogart in the movie Casablanca (1942).

Holiday Spirit & Library Hours

It has been an incredibly crazy week with Christmas just around the corner. 190 children and parents attended the Miss Carrie's Christmas Story Time program earlier this month. Christmas Carol the Elf delivered 87 letters to Santa. Just imagine, Santa took time to write a personal response to each child. It is a lot of fun to work at the library! For those of you looking for the Christmas tree, it is in the Bonnie Finn Room. Next year, we will put the Christmas tree back in the lobby.

The library will close today at 12:00 pm for the annual employee luncheon. The library will re-open Saturday and Sunday at the regular hours. We will be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New year.

Library Journal Design Institute: Going Green

I recently attended the Library Journal Design Institute: Going Green in Chicago. The Design Institute is offered free of charge to librarians who are in the process of building a new library. The North Texas Regional Library System paid for my travel expenses. In return, I have to conduct two workshops for area libraries on what I learned at the Design Institute.

The Design Institute was held at the downtown Chicago Public Library located on 400 S. State Street. It is the largest library in the world! If you ever go to Chicago, you need to see it. The library houses over 7 million materials. Patrons use escalators and elevators to move from floor to floor. As a librarian, it was wonderful just to sit in it.

Our new library project was selected for a focus group based on the challenges that we face with the new Food Lion. I was pleased to learn that by purchasing an existing building, we have already implemented a major green element by recycling. The adaptive reuse of the Food Lion will have a smaller impact on the environment since we will not be using a large amount of natural resources to build a new library.

Denelle Wrightson from PSA-Dewberry looked at the Food Lion and suggested Green solutions for solving problems. She used a covered patio to shade the front of the library from the west sun. The north side of the building was lined with windows to let in natural light without creating hotspots or glare. Landscaping was introduced throughout the parking lot to eliminate the heat island effect. High windows would be placed along the south side and strategically placed sky lights would be put in the roof. Light monitors would be installed to automatically adjust light as needed.

In order to reduce utilities, PSA-Dewberry suggested installing a Geothermal System which uses the earth to heat and cool a building. This would reduce our energy use by 50%. A highly reflective roof, would also reduce energy consumption. She also suggested harvesting water through a cistern to irrigate the landscaping. It was exciting to see all the different ways that green design elements can be used to make our new library beautiful, energy efficient and minimize our impact on the surrounding environment.

Holiday Fun

Miss Carrie's Story Time
You are invited to Miss Carrie's Christmas Story Time on Thursday, December 6 at 6:30 pm. Santa's elf, Christmas Carol, will visit us all the way from the North Pole. Bring your letters for Santa Claus and she will deliver them directly to Santa. Enjoy stories, crafts and hot chocolate! Thank you to the Friends of the Library, Starbucks of Bedford and Starbucks of Euless on Main for sponsoring this enchanted evening.

Movies @ the Bedford Public Library
Bored kids? Join us for free family movies while school is out. Movies will be shown in the Bonnie Finn Room and start at 2:00 pm.

• Wednesday, December 26: Shrek the Third


• Thursday, December 27: Evan Almighty


• Friday, December 28: Ratatouille


• Wednesday, January 2: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Thanksgiving Holiday Hours

The library will close at 5:00 pm on Wednesday, November 21st and will remain closed on Thursday, November 22nd and Friday, November 23rd. We'll be open regular hours on Saturday, November 24th and Sunday, November 25th so be sure to stop by if you need a break from eating turkey and shopping.

November 21 - will close at 5:00 p.m.
November 22 - closed
November 23 - closed
November 24 - open from 10 - 5
November 25 - open from 1-5

Lively Book Discussion

Join the Bedford Bookworms this Thursday at lunch to discuss Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen. This novel brings Magellan's voyage around the world to life by incorporating first-hand accounts from sailors and eyewitness reports.

Bedford Bookworms meet the third Thursday of each month from 12:00 - 1:30 pm. No registration is required for this free library program, sponsored by the Friends of the Bedford Public Library. Copies of the selected titles are available for the discounted price of $5 at the library.



December title: The Echo Maker by Richard Powers

Friends Fall Membership Drive

The Friends of the Library invite you to join or renew your annual membership. Members joining at the Family Level ($15) will receive an autographed copy of Color of Law while supplies last. Your Friends of the Library membership helps support the Bedford Public Library.

The Friends of the Library assist the Bedford Public Library by sponsoring programs, purchasing equipment and materials. Here are a few of the things our Friends did this year:

Purchased an Early Literacy Computer for children
Purchased a data projector for the Family Movies
Purchased a magazine rack for the reading area
Split the cost of the 42" plasma TV at the Circulation Desk
Sponsored Author Events
Sponsored the Seuss Celebration
Sponsored the Harry Potter Party
Sponsor the Bookworms Discussion Club
Sponsor the Short Story Contest
Sponsor the Summer Reading Club

It is easy to become a Friends of the Library member. Forms are available at the circulation desk. The Friends of the Library meet the third Thursday of each month at 7 pm.

Membership Levels
Individual $10
Family $15
Benefactor $30 or more

A New Library for Bedford

On July 24, the City Council approved $2.25 million for the purchase of the vacant Food Lion building located at 2424 Forest Ridge Dr. near Bedford Road.

The Food Lion will provide 37,000 square feet of space, more than doubling the size of the current facility. The new library will provide space for a larger collection, more public access computers and additional meeting space.

Several area cities have successfully converted Food Lions into libraries. These include the Carrollton Public Library located at Hebron & Josey, the North Denton Branch Library and the South Garland Branch Library.

The City is scheduled to close on the building on October 15. A Request for Qualifications for Architectural Design Services has been issued to solicit qualified with relevant design experience.

LibraryThing for Libraries

Bedford Public Library became the second library in the nation to add LibraryThing for Libraries to its online catalog. The new Amazon-like feel to the online catalog is sure to appeal to patrons of all ages. See us mentioned in LibraryThing's Thing-ology blog.

LibraryThing for Libraries will enhance our online catalog by allowing users to view other editions, similar books and to search for items using tags.

Other editions and translations: Links to audiobook editions and Spanish-language versions of a title. See the title Foreign Correspondent.

Similar books: Lists of similar books based on data from LibraryThing and its members. See the title The Yiddish Policemen's Union.

Tags and Tag Browser: Tags are keywords and labels used by regular people to categorize books as opposed to Library of Congress subject headings which use a controlled vocabulary of predefined and authorized terms. The tags come from LibraryThing's 17 million member-added tags. A simple "tag cloud" highlights some of the more popular terms people use to describe a book. The larger a word appears in the "tag cloud" the more people have used that term to describe the title thus it is more relevant to the search. Tags with very low relevance appear very small and may be meaningful only to the person who assigned it. Take a look at this example: Cozy mysteries.

Incorporating LibraryThing for Libraries into our catalog will open up valuable new ways for patrons to find books of interest to them. We hope you enjoy this new catalog functionality.

BPL Blog Guidelines

Bedford Public Library sponsored blogs are a place for patrons to share opinions about library related subjects/issues. Comments are welcome and will be reviewed prior to publishing. The following will be removed by Bedford’s editors before being published:

• Potentially libelous comments
• Obscene or racist comments
• Personal attacks, insults, or threatening language
• Plagiarized material
• Private, personal information published without consent
• Comments totally unrelated to the topic of the forum
• Commercial promotions or spam
• Hyperlinks to material that is not directly related to the discussion

By posting a comment you agree to indemnify the City of Bedford and its officers and employees from and against all liabilities, judgments, damages, and costs (including attorney's fees) incurred by any of them which arise out of or are related to the content that you post. Forums and messaging may not be used for commercial purposes or for organized political activity.

Bedford Public Library reserves the right to monitor content before it is posted on all their blogs, and to modify or remove any messages or postings that it deems, in its sole discretion, to be abusive, defamatory, in violation of the copyright, trademark right, or other intellectual property right of any third party, or otherwise inappropriate for the Service. Bedford Public Library also reserves the right to edit or modify any submissions in response to requests for feedback or other commentary. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Bedford Public Library is not obligated to take any such actions, and will not be responsible or liable for content posted by any subscriber in any forum, message board, or other area within the service.

If you do not agree to these terms, do not use the service as violation of the terms can lead to legal liability.

Adapted with permission (10/31/07) from Computerworld’s blog comments policy (www.computerworld.com/blogs/node/310).

Last updated October 31, 2007

Welcome to our Blog!

We're excited to bring you our new blog - bedfordlibrarylink.blogspot.com/ You'll find everything here ranging from the latest news, events and services to books we're reading, DVDs we're watching and music we're listening to.

You're welcome to make comments, ask questions and generally take part in the conversation. We look forward to blogging with you!