10 Things you May not Know about the Library’s Website

Our old website served us well, but it was time to move on to a new format.  We’ve created a list of 10 great features of our new website.

1.  Mobile Ready
   Take us with you on your smartphone.  Our new responsive site now adjusts to your screen size and looks good on any device. 
2. App Page
   Our app page goes great with our responsive site.  Download one or all of our apps to access free content including ebooks, magazines, music, video and more.  We have links to iOS and Android. 
3. Wynk, a Blynk and a Nod to Books
   Two of our wonderful children’s librarians with many years’ experience are writing a monthly blog feature new and classic children’s books.  If you love children’s books check out their latest blog Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!  for books all about winter and snowy days. 
4. Help with eBooks
   New to ebooks?  Click on the eMedia link from the homepage and you’ll find red question marks next to the most popular eMedia collections.  If you’re just beginning you can find out how to get started and if you’re a pro you can find out details about the services including how many items you can check out for the different services. 
5. Educator Collection
   We love our teachers!  Did you know that teachers can have their own special Library card.  A teacher can request special collections of books for their classroom and get additional lending privileges. 
6. Book Club Kits
   Do you and your friends meet monthly to discuss a book?  Be your book club’s hero when you tell them that they no longer have to buy their own copy.  You can check out a book club kit that has 12-15 copies of the book. 
7. New Item Lists 
   We know that you all love our new items lists!  You can sign up to receive the email list in your inbox, use your RSS reader or just check the site for updates. 
8. Music     
   Use our site as a gateway to all of the latest music.  You can check out our new CD list that I mentioned to find out what we’ve recently ordered.  If you can’t wait head over to Hoopla or Freegal and get instant access.   Hoopla allows 8 downloads per month and you can keep the full album for 7 days.  On Freegal you get three songs per week and they are yours to keep. 
9. New Calendar
   Our new calendar gets social too.  You can post our events to Facebook and Twitter or forward it to your friends using email.  If you want you can also signup for email reminders or add it to your calendar. 
10. Faces & Places
    With over 90,000 fabulous photos what is not to love???  We’ve made it even better now and added easier social sharing buttons.

 

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Snow Day Fun

Every school in the area is off today and I heard the words “I’m bored” by 9 a.m. So what do you do with your snow day?

Hopefully, like us, you anticipated the storm and stocked up on books and movies from the library. But in case you didn’t do that, we have a few ideas for you.

1. Search through the Faces and Places database. Maybe you can help us identify some of the snowy day pictures.

2. Do genealogy research as a family by searching online databases from home with your library card including HeritageQuest, World Vital Records, and the Historical Cincinnati Enquirer. You can also search geNKY and the Northern Kentucky Newspaper Index from home without a library card!

3. Sit down together to write your family newsletter for your holiday cards. Add something new you’ve learned this year about your family history in the newsletter. Don’t forget to include names and dates on the back of the pictures for future genealogists!

4. Bake while listening to Christmas carols (download a few for free from Freegal).

5. Make Christmas crafts for gifts with ideas you get from magazines. We have dozens of free online magazine subscriptions that you can access from home with your library card number.

6. Access some of your favorite movies on Hoopla from home with your library card number.

7. Children ages 2-12 can read books for prizes as part of our holiday read program.

8. Play board games or video games as a family.

9. No new books to read? Don’t worry! Download to your ereader from the library website.

10. Read Mom-spot’s blogs for other great ideas. 

What do you do on snow days?

Second Week of Giveaways; Job Search Central

The Kenton County Public Library wants to help you with your job search, boost your resume and get you the computer skills you need.  We are giving away an eReader case, along with a $20 Amazon gift card (to possibly use on job search book or magazine), a bookmark on how to download free eBooks from the Library, a tote bag, library card holder and a cool cup! But first, let’s talk about some of the ways the Library can help with your job search.

Do you see yourself or a friend in any of the following scenarios?

• Downsized professional?
• Stay at home Mom returning to the paid workforce?
• Thinking about changing careers?
• Recent college graduate?
• Senior looking for part-time work?
• Skilled tradesman with no computer skills?
• Looking to grow your current job skills?

Then think of the Kenton County Public Library as Job Search Central. The library has a myriad of resources available to aid you in your job search and help you grow your career skills. Turn to the library’s website to find the best and most up-to-date books on the job search hunt, career change, writing powerful resumes, composing strong cover letters and developing fresh interviewing skills. Our collection development staff ensures that the latest editions of “What Color Is Your Parachute?”  by Richard Nelson Bolles and “Knock’em Dead Resumes”  by Martin Yate are always available to library users. No two job seekers are alike, so resources are selected to serve the needs of job searchers in diverse situations. You can find both hard cover and eBooks on resume writing for executives, preparing for positions with the Federal government or seeking a new job out of prison. The website also has links to the most respected online help sites for resume writing and conducting research on posted positions. Consult a reference librarian at any of our three branches for the resources best suited to your personal situation.

This winter the library will offer a series of classes at the Erlanger Branch to jump start a job search. A Job Research Skills class will teach participants how to use Demographics Now, a Library online service, and other key resources to help find companies that are hiring, how to dig up data for interviews and pin-point appropriate contacts. Target Your Resume Workshop will feature a brief presentation on how to flesh out the critical skills posted in an open position in your field and streamlining your resume to clearly fulfill those needs. Individual resume help with a reference librarian will be available at the Covington Branch.

Social media sites are growing in prominence as conduits for job searches. If you missed the library’s recent class on How to Use LinkedIn, email Natalie Ruppert, Reference Librarian in Covington to schedule a 30 minute help session to learn how to effectively “network” via the site. If you know someone struggling to gain computer skills, the library also offers regular classes for First Time Computer Users plus classes on using Microsoft Office Suite including MS Word, Excel & PowerPoint at all three branches for free. Susan Rasche, Covington’s Computer Learning Center Coordinator offers limited individual computer help sessions.

The Library also offers online Self-Paced Software Classes and Occupation Practice Tests from Learning Express and Mango Foreign Language courses. You do need a free library card for some of these services. Save time, save money and get the support you need for your job search at the Kenton County Public Library today!”

Second Week of Giveaways:

Are you ready to enter the Week 2 Giveaway? To enter simply do one or all of the following and leave a separate comment IN THIS POST to be entered to win:

1. Tell us how a librarian has helped you in the past.
2. Follow the blog by hitting the “Follow” button and comment here that you did.
3. Follow Kenton County Public Library on Facebook and leave a comment saying you did.
4. Follow the Kenton County Public Library on Pinterest and leave a comment saying you did.

Easy, right? Just make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry on this post. The winner will be chosen randomly and will have to pick the prize up at the Erlanger, Covington or Durr Branch Library. The contest ends Monday, Dec. 17 at noon. The winner will be emailed and has 24 hours to respond. Good luck and happy holidays!

This post was written by Natalie Ruppert, reference librarian at the Covington Branch