April 2007
2007 Schedule
of Events
April 13, 9:30-? Garden Weeding
April 21, 9-3:00 Plant/Bk
May 11, 10:00 Garden Weeding
May 24, 6:30 KRL Bd Mtg
June 17, 12-5:00 Salmon Bake
September 15, 9-3:00 Book
November 17, 9-3:00 Book
Message
from the President
Why
would anyone want to be a Friend of the Manchester Library? It has to come from the heart! We have a core of about 20 individuals who
volunteer up to several hundred hours each year just to keep our Library’s
doors open to the community. Did you
notice the Library doesn’t charge patrons for any of its services! Enhancing literacy in our community is a
noble goal; we try to encourage the very young with programs for toddlers &
pre-schoolers, Summer Reads program for the older kids, teen events and
homework help on-line, and adult reading/ book clubs. We “Friends” feel that the Manchester Library
represents the heart of our community and want to see it succeed in its
mission!
The
Friends of the Manchester Library also try to make the volunteer efforts
fun! We give each “Friend” the chance to
work on those projects which fit their personal schedule/interests as best
possible. The “Friends” are welcomed to
special pre-sale events prior to our special book sales where we share
appetizers, favorite beverages, and desserts, while looking over the collection
of materials we have for sale the next day.
Every few months we try to acknowledge one of our “Special Friends of
the Manchester Library” with recognition for some extra effort on behalf of the
Library, and we often get a special treat donated for those special friends as
our way of saying THANKS. We invite
you to become a “Friend” and feel
the joy of making a contribution to your community, meeting neighbors, and
having fun along the way!
John
Winslow, President FOML
February
10th Book
---by
Ray Pardo
Guess what? Self-Help Books do sell
!!
That fact is the result of the Friends’ creative MEROB* method of
book sales analysis. Using this method at the February 10th Book Sale, we
discovered that the big sellers were Science (80%), Art (83%), Pet/Animals
(62%), History/Biography (62%). 47% of Self Help and Sports books
sold. Before MEROB, the myth was that both of these categories were
losers.
What is MEROB? MEROB is “Measure Every Row Of Books.” It takes
two sets of hands and a tape measure -- then we measure the row of
books (across the spines). The “before” measurement is taken
just before the doors open, after all the books are put out in their
various categories. The “after” measurement requires a fast cleanup
of the mess the buyers leave, so that the remnants in each category can
be measured before being boxed and/or put on the shelves.
Why is this information useful?? For one, it allows us to keep
an eye out for the book categories that sell. Secondly, if we
have more books than tables, we can make sure we allocate the most space
to the “best selling” categories. Third, we can experiment in book
placement. Another advantage is that we can investigate the books that
don’t sell. For example, of the self-help books that didn’t sell,
many were over ten years old (i.e., out of date). These books
clearly should be discarded.
By the way, although only 22% of all fiction sold, over 45% of recently
donated paperback fiction sold. If you would like the complete
sales analysis or have suggestions for our next MEROB exercise, let us
know.
*Measure Every Row Of Books (patent pending)
Special
Friend Recognized
Norma
Brady, plantswoman extraordinaire, was recognized recently as the FOML Special
Friend. Norma organized the annual plant sale for many years, with great
success. Now that she’s “retired” from the plant sale, she’s still coaching the
new plant sale manager, and is spending more time sorting and pricing books for
the store. As a Director and long-time Friend, Norma is an example to us all!
The
Library Staff Recommends:
Deidre –
§ A wonderful story about love and animals -
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
§ A new worthwhile
cook book full of useful recipes and techniques - Kitchen Sense by
Mitchell Davis
§ Two poignant
§ Unravel a mystery in this fascinating book
by Diane Stetterfield, The Thirteenth Tale.
Lauri –
§ One choice from a wonderfully funny series
- Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann Ross
§ An enlightening look at the character of
Ronald Reagan - When Character was King by Peggy Noonan
Kirsten –
§ The 2003 winner of the Nobel Prize in
Literature, Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee.
Leigh Ann –
Try
Author Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody audio series with reader Barbara
Rosenblat. Join Amelia Peabody and her archaeologist husband
Emerson in their many adventures as they solve both murders and
mysteries of ancient
Plant
of the Month
---
by Norma Brady
A
favorite plant of mine is the hardy cyclamen. This small, low growing cyclamen
is not the florist-grown variety that is sold for indoor use. This plant is
very hardy, comes from the mountains of
Over
a period of time whole areas of the garden can be covered by this delightful
little plant. An example of this is the beautiful cyclamen grove at
Read
any good books lately?
----a book review by Bill Lounsbery
We’ll
begin with a
review of Collapse by Jared Diamond, arguably the best environmental read since
Silent Spring, written by Rachel Carson in 1962. Collapse does for the
environment what Diamond’s award-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel does for
history. (Where does Diamond find the time to write all this stuff and still
teach at UCLA?)
Diamond
begins by comparing a farm in modern
Using
both a broad brush and a scalpel, he examines the continuing struggle between
man and nature. His scholarly treatment of selected civilizations reflects
genuine interest, and his insightful comments transcend these societies to
address modern-day concerns such as global warming. Collapse answers the
overarching questions: Why did these civilizations fail? And, what implications
do their failures have for us?
While
most of his studies concern small communities in fragile, isolated
environments, he takes a full chapter with the Maya, an advanced society in the
pre-Columbian
In
another example, Diamond shows how British colonists deliberately introduced
foxes and rabbits into
Several
themes run through Diamond’s book. One example is his ‘tragedy of the commons,’
where a renewable resource belongs to whoever can claim it. From time to time
powerful individuals have enforced quotas to protect the resource, but they’re
the exception. Diamond shows how renewable resources have been depleted over
the years through overfishing, overgrazing, and overharvesting.
Diamond
runs through a long list of human debacles – the Norse colonists’ failure in
Greenland, Polynesians’ deforestation of Easter Island, the unsuccessful
Anasazi attempt to combat droughts in Chaco Canyon, genocidal killings, Haiti’s
desolate landscape, China’s imported electronic garbage, offshore oil platform
accidents, catastrophic forest fires, freeways and urban sprawl – even how JFK
and his advisers learned from the Bay of Pigs fiasco to more effectively make
decisions during the subsequent Cuban missile crisis.
Diamond
explains that societies make disastrous decisions either because they failed to
anticipate a major problem, didn’t recognize its arrival, or couldn’t cope with
it once they perceived it. One example: for years
Collapse
shows how much modern societies depend on natural resources, and that the
interests of big business, environmentalists, and these societies coincide more
often than one might guess. It reveals how oil, gas and coal companies pass on
environmental costs to the consumer; how the hardrock mining industry (which
has a history of bad behavior) still has a lot to learn; and how the logging
and seafood industries differ from the others in that their resources are
renewable if given the proper amount of time.
Diamond
compares the globe to a tract of reclaimed lowland, and produces a litany of 12
critical environmental problems. Diamond believes they will get resolved. The
question is whether their resolution will occur in a pleasant or unpleasant
way.