City Librarian | Getting Social

It's no secret that the public library is about more than just books. I can't imagine the day would ever come when our primary offering is the printed word (or downloaded word, or word on CD, or word on eReader....you get the idea) but the public library has always been about community as well. 

In many towns for many years, the library has been the one public place where people can come together to learn, share ideas, or simply be together in a comfortable, safe environment. That is still the case today as we have close to 2 million people come through the doors of SSJCPL locations every year!

But, as the Internet has become ubiquitous, as seen through the new variety of reading formats we now offer and by the number of our visitors who come to the library for free access to the Internet, the library as a community space has evolved, as well. 

 Today, even as we have visitors streaming through our doors every day of the week, we are building an ever growing online community of library lovers with whom we interact on a daily basis. Our "Let's Connect" online newsletter is published bi-monthly and is filled with news about all manner of goings-on at SSJCPL branches. You can subscribe to the newsletter and get it emailed to directly to you by using the subscribe link at the bottom of the newsletter.

 

We're also reaching out via our Facebook page where we are rapidly approaching 1,000 fans and on Twitter where we have over 200 followers. If you use either Facebook or Twitter on a regular basis, you'll love the conversations we have with our dedicated library fans.

And, if you aren't yet following SSJCPL on either of our social networking sites, we've got the books to help you learn how. Clicking on either of the book covers will take you right into the library catalog where you can check out these and other similar titles!

 



You can even watch the Oscar-winning film that tells the story behind the rise of Facebook from a Harvard dorm room to the largest social networking site in the world!

City Librarian | Hooked on Nooks, er...Books!

The Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library has come a long way in the past couple of years. First, we began offering eBooks and digital audiobooks that you can download from home or even directly to your mobile phone. Then we joined the Link+ group that lets all San Joaquin County book lovers borrow books from over 50 libraries across two states. That's an additional 9 million titles beyond what SSJCPL already makes available to you. 

And now this! Starting on October 22, SSJCPL will start lending Nook eReaders loaded with great content that you will be able to take home with you just like any other book, movie, or music that we lend!

Beginning today, you can start searching the Library's catalog to browse the variety of Nooks we'll be offering and you can even start making holds on the devices so you can be one of the first library users in the County to get your hands on these awesome gadgets!

We've purchased over 50 Nooks and they all come pre-loaded with high quality, current titles in a variety of genres. For example, you might be a  lover of romance, so you can take home a Nook with ten different complete romance titles. Or maybe teen fiction is your thing. Sci-Fi? Mysteries? We've got those, too. Just type "nook" (no need for the quotation marks...) in the catalog on our home page and, voila, you can take your pick. And, if you're dying to know exactly what titles are loaded on each Nook, in the catalog, you can click on the Nook genre you want, then click on "catalog record" and scroll down to "Contents". For example, on our Bestseller Nook, you'll see that you can read the latest Evanovich, Patterson, Laurel Hamilton, and, yes, 50 Shades!

You'll also find that, when you search for a specific title, say the popular teen series The Maze Runner, any titles we have on our Nooks will show up in your results page that way, too. In short, when you search for the latest title you've been dying to get your hands on, you'll be able to choose whichever format you want that the Library owns: book, eBook, audio book on CD or in digital download format, and now, on the Nook! Pretty cool, huh?

City Librarian | Welcome to Our New Site!

As you might have noticed, things have changed around here! Yes, you're still visiting the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library's virtual branch but we thought our website needed a little sprucing up. Hopefully you like what you see.

Some of the features we're excited about on our new site include super easy access to information about your favorite SSJCPL library using the "My Library" section on the home page. Pick a library from the drop-down menu and you'll instantly see that week's schedule of open hours, the library address, telephone contact information, and even a photo of the library! For more  detailed information about your library location, just click on the picture of the library.

We know that, aside from taking advantage of the awesome collection of books, movies, music, and more that we offer, you love coming to the great events we offer to the public throughout the county. Another cool feature on our new home page is the "Events of the Day" calendar. If you want to know what's happening today, just take a peek. The events are updated in real time, too, so the next time you come back, you'll probably see some different event listings! And, if you want to see what is happening at a specific location, click the "more" link to visit the master events calendar.

And, of course, if you're reading this welcome to our new site, you've already discovered that SSJCPL now has our own blog. Check back as often as you like because the blog will be updated a couple of times every day. You'll have a great time getting to know each of our fabulous team of Library Bloggers. We all have our own personalities and we'll all be writing about different topics. You'll read about books (of course!), travel, food, parenting, style and lots more. Each blog post will also include links directly into the SSJCPL catalog so you can borrow books and other stuff related to the what you just read.

Lots of thought and effort went into designing a site that would be easier for you to use so please let us know what you think after you've poked around a bit. You can share your thoughts on our Facebook page, tweet what you think to all your friends (don't forget the #ssjcpl hashtag!), or send an email directly to me, Chris Freeman, your City Librarian at chris.freeman@stocktongov.com. We really want to hear from you!