Between 2010 and 2019, Cauli Le Chat (2006?-2020), feline roving reporter for Mooresville Public Library (Mooresville, Indiana), reported all things interesting to cats (and humans) happening at the library. Related stories from across the state (and beyond) were also included.
My longtime readers know that, being a public library, we love statistics of all kinds. So passing 150,000 viewings for this fine feature is quite the coup for moi. (If it were a coupe, I could drive it around the parking lot.)
MPL patrons have a brand new local history game to play. The catch is that you have to come to the Library to participate. Apologies to our web-based friends.
Mooresville History Hunters!
How well do you know your hometown history?
· Can you identify WHAT, WHERE & approximately WHEN this photo was taken?
Click Image to Bigify
· Patrons may find the answers in the MPL “Treasure Trove” handouts on this blog.
· Correct identifications of the photo subject, place, and the closest date will be included in a drawing to WIN a FREE local history book!
· Winners (one per week) will be selected EVERY THURSDAY, beginning January 3, 2013.
· New Photos will be featured each week.
· Patrons must visit the Library to fill-out an entry form (name, phone number or email address) to drop into our entry box—Be sure to indicate week number!
· Winners will be notified by email or phone.
Walk-ins should fill-out the contest entry forms. Here's an important detail missing from the signs: Write your answer on the back of the sign-up slip. Scowl-Face forgot about that!
Speaking of our Indiana Roving Reporter Room historian, I asked Scowl-Face why only our walk-in patrons were eligible to participate in this contest. He said it had to do with the distribution restrictions for the prizes (local history books). They may only be given to walk-in patrons, he said.
Why not offer another prize for online patrons, I queried. Ol' Scowlly shrugged. "We don't have a funding source for online prizes," he explained. "Sorry, folks." But I already covered that base.
Clearly, Scowl-Face needs to devise a local history contest for our online patrons. Get to work on it, Scowlly. Cauli tie-ins will substantially enhance participation, I'd wager.
Your Roving Reporter On The Go,
Cauli Le Chat
P.S. Speaking of patrons walking into my Library, "Walking on Sunshine," by Katrina and the Waves, appeared on the self-titled LP (1985). Here's the band's music video from back in the day.
HELP! My entire world is snowed under as the "blizzard of 2012" stampeded across Indiana today. I wasn't about to go outside to do the roving reporter thing, so minions, who were themselves snowbound, took some photos under my direction. Click the images to bigify.
Deck Railing Tells the Tall Tale
(Over a Foot of Snow Accumulation)
Roving Reporter Secret Sanctuary
Looks Pretty Socked In
Even Scurrydogs & Winged Dinners
Are Staying Sheltered
(No Traffic at the Feeder)
Can You See the Snowfall Against the Brick?
It's Falling at Two Inches an Hour
Official Snow Measuring Stick
Just Under 13 Inches After About Six Hours of Blizzarding
My Library is closed today (Wednesday, 12/26/12), but we're hoping to be open again tomorrow. But not moi, I can assure you. I'll stay snug indoors until the spring thaw.
I hope the roads are clear in three days. Wild Thang and InsuraDude are getting married a few days later, I think. So the roads had better be clear!
Back To Shoveling, Minions--Just Saying,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Winter Weather News Beat
P.S. Somebody shot this video of today's blizzard (somewhere in Southern Indiana). Limited shot selection--hey, it's a blizzard, windy, and cold, so why go outside?--but the music soundtrack rocks. Sorry--I don't recognize the band.
Break out the ALE, minions! Ancestry Library Edition is now available for our genealogy patrons across the Library campus. Check out our nifty promo trailer--just completed moments ago! My keyboard is still smoking!
Log-in slips are now available at the circulation, adult information, and Indiana Room desks. Pick-up yours today! Well, not actually today. We close in 22 minutes, and you're probably busy right now. After the holidays, for sure.
Your Roving Reporter On The Go,
Cauli Le Chat
P.S. Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest Online rely upon digitized genealogical and historical records preserved in archives. Our promo trailer above honors all such archives for their important preservation of our historical heritage.
It occurred to moi that our children's book trailer playlist (on the MPL YouTube Channel) would be much improved if we divided it into two separate playlists: one for picture books, and another for chapter books. Like so:
There! Much more manageable, I'd venture. Now, if we can just get the playlists to organize alphabetically instead of by creation date, we'd be all set.
Your Roving Reporter On The Go,
Cauli Le Chat
P.S. We made some changes in our young adult book trailer playlist, too. Took some videos out, added others. See what you think.
You remember our glass jar cart I mentioned recently? To collect United Way donations in our "Name the MPL Super Librarian" contest?
Where Was MY Donation Jar, BizMeister? Just Asking (Again)
Truly Nice Gentleman (TNG, for short) has been named MPL Super Librarian, thanks to generous charitable contributions from library patrons and staff (who were voting against themselves, I think). All proceeds go to United Way of Central Indiana, so many great causes will receive a much-needed financial boost.
Truly Nice Gentleman (TNG)
Our YouTube Channel viewers may be familiar with TNG's legendary status as a member of the MPL Circulation Team. He is featured in several library videos.
MPL Program (Promo) Trailer #10
OverDrive Digital Books at MPL
Librarians Do Taio Cruz
by Broadway Gal
MPL 100th Anniversary Promo Trailer
by Scowl-Face
TNG is my Library's personification of customer service. Nobody at MPL goes further to assist patrons. His is the standard we all should emulate. Well, when I say we, I mean, of course, my minions. As a feline, I set my own standards. That's just how it is--and should be.
Now TNG must spend a day (or more?) wearing a super librarian costume while working. Minions, make with the digital camera! We don't want to miss recording this for posterity.
P.S. Wouldn't it be cool if we could create a video as wonderful as McCracken County Public Library's "Super Librarian" promo trailer? It's worth visiting Paducah, Kentucky just to meet her (and her super colleagues).
My Library now subscribes to Ancestry Library Edition (ALE), an online genealogical research database from ProQuest. If you plan to research your family tree, then you'll want to use this service, which is now available on the Library campus (onsite use only!).
Now Available at MPL (Onsite Use Only)
Can you spare a couple of minutes? ProQuest has a dandy video that explains ALE in a nutshell.
Ancestry Library Edition
Two-Minute Promo Video
by ProQuest
Patrons will be able to log-into Ancestry.com to do genealogy research. There are some important rules, however:
MPL patrons may ONLY log-into Ancestry Library Edition (ALE) from the Library's campus. So there is no remote access available.
The good news is that you may log-into ALE using your wireless device (laptop or notebook computer or other web-browsing gadget), but, again, you must connect while you are physically at the Library.
ALE will also be available at the Library's computer lab work stations and on the Indiana Room public PC.
If you need remote accessibility, the Library also offers Heritage Quest Online (HQ), another popular genealogy database. You may access that anywhere you have an Internet connection. All you need is your MPL-issued Evergreen Indiana library card (or MPL Access library card). Click the icon below to jump to Heritage Quest's log-in screen.
Click Logo to Log-in
My Library will also have free bookmarks with quick tips and strategies you may use to enhance your ALE research.
You may also ask the Library's historian to assist you. That's Scowl-Face. (Actually, he's the website manager, but he was our local historian first, so I guess he will do in a pinch.) He will be happy to help, even if he doesn't look friendly. There's a reason we call him Scowl-Face, but he's actually reasonably nice and moderately capable. As one of my minions, he's fair-to-middling.
Scowl-Face in the Indiana Roving Reporter Room
Trust moi: You will love Ancestry Library Edition. When coupled with Heritage Quest Online, your genealogy research practically does itself.
Your Roving Reporter On The Go,
Cauli Le Chat
P.S. If you've got a couple more minutes, ProQuest has another short promo trailer explaining Heritage Quest Online. I wish our videos looked this good. See what having a social media budget can do, Boss Lady? Just saying.
Queenie the Cow, MPL early literacy spokescritter, wishes everybody a MOO-velous Christmas (I'll extend that to all the December holidays) in her Christmas Countdown video.
Queenie's Christmas Countdown
by Queenie the Cow
MPL Early Literacy Spokescritter
This is a nice message for this, my 900th blog posting. Worked out as if we'd planned it that way. Serendipity strikes again!
My only criticism of the video is that Scowl-Face forgot to mute the background noise in a couple of "silent" video clips. Oh, well. That's "library atmosphere," I suppose. Sorta sets the mood.
Why doesn't Savvy, MPL teen librarian, make more book trailers? She has rare talents, as you can see with her video about a popular feline children's book.
My Library has quite a few book trailers (175 at present count), but we could certainly use more, especially if they are as good as Savvy's above.
I'm thinking that Savvy, being a young adult librarian, should create book trailers about YA titles. She already reviews such fare in her blog (The Savvy Reader) and her video blog (or vlog), MEG-A-RAE, which she films with Programma Mama, MPL adult programming coordinator.
MEG-A-RAE Vlog Playlist
Book trailers are easy to make--Scowl-Face can do it, thereby proving my point--and it's fun to boot. Plus, we need some variety on the MPL YouTube Channel.
Fortunately, MPL has its own composer whose music graces nearly all of our videos, such as the "theme song" for MEG-A-RAE, which comes from this album (available to check-out at my Library). So Savvy would have a readily available soundtrack source for her book trailers-to-be. It's just a matter of time. I know Savvy is super-busy, but surely she has time to do something for moi. And our patrons, of course.
Make with the book trailers, Savvy! Your talent should blossom before a wider audience. Our YouTube Channel videos have been viewed (as of right now) 229,030 times (although the public counter lags a couple thousand behind--go figure), so they're reaching somebody besides the family feline or slobberdog.
Your Roving Reporter On The Go,
Cauli Le Chat
P.S. One of Savvy's social media projects has been to create a Pinterest site for the Library. She and Programma Mama update it frequently with new, interesting items. It's well worth your time to take a peek.
This fine feature has been up and running for exactly two years now. "Cut loose like a deuce; another runner in the night," as Bruce Springsteen sang.
See, I Told You So
"Blinded by the Light" [single release, February, 1973; included on Springsteen's debut LP Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)] was a much bigger hit for Manfred Mann's Earth Band (1977 single reached #1 on Billboard's pop singles charts). There's a controversy about re-written lyrics in the song, although it may be a matter of how acute one's hearing (or listening) is. Manfred Mann's "revved up like a deuce" sounded to moi like "wrapped up like a" feminine hygiene product. Whatever the change, Springsteen's version tanked, and Manfred Mann's topped the charts. Go figure.
We've had about 150,000 viewings of my blog in two years. Not bad for a feline with a cauliflower ear. Thanks for reading! I hope you'll stay with moi through many years to come.
Your Roving Reporter On The Go,
Cauli Le Chat
P.S. That's a video player above. The box isn't showing up on my web editing browser--just a logo floating on white space. Click the play button on Manfred Mann's Earth Band's logo to hear its cover of Springsteen's "Blinded By the Light" (1976). Catchier, I'll admit. Great hook. With this digital recording, I can hear the lyric more clearly than on the original vinyl. It is plainly "revved up like a deuce." You have to listen quite carefully, however.
My Library's patrons are beginning to request tax forms. It's almost tax return filing time for many folks (January through April 15 or thereabouts).
There will be fewer free printed copies of federal and state tax forms for the 2012 tax year (i.e., the tax returns people file in 2013), so patrons should be prepared to visit the governmental websites from which they may print copies of tax forms. Click the links below:
Hopefully, that will make your entire tax return filing experience easier.
Dude! Not the Preferred Way to File Your Tax Returns Online
Tax filing is a frustrating undertaking for many humans. Felines, not so much. I have never filed a tax return, although my minions do every year. They whine and squeal like stuck stickerpigs every time, too. I guess my minions need minions who could do this task for them. Don't look at moi. I'm a taskmaster, not a taskdoer.
Your Roving Reporter On The Go,
Cauli Le Chat
P.S. "Success Story," by The Who, included the lyric "I've gotta play some one night stands; six for the tax man and one for the band." Bass player John Entwistle, who composed the song, knew that he and his British bandmates were paying astronomically high income taxes when their album, The Who By Numbers (1975), was released. Sadly, Entwistle passed on a decade ago (2002), so I guess death and taxes are the only certainties in people's lives.
This Friday (December 21, 2012) is supposedly the end-time under the Mayan calendar. Apocalypse and all that hoopla. It'll just be another Friday for moi. I fully expect all of my meals to be served. Minions, take note.
We have several interesting books about Mayan culture, earth crust displacement, and the whole 2012 thing in our online Evergreen Indiana catalog. Minions, make with the lists.
Did you know that there is scientific evidence supporting the earth crust displacement theory? Our book trailer elaborates.
Now, about Mayan culture. We've got a few books about that.
Mysteries of the Mexican Pyramids, by Peter Tompkins. New York: Harper & Row, 1st ed., 1976. MPL Call No. 972 TOM (click the call numbers to access our E.I. online catalog)
This classic treatise focuses upon the pyramids in the Valley of Mexico, the Yucatan, and Central America. It was many a reader's introduction to the topic. Scowl-Face, who spent some time tumbling about these parts way back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, read it when it was first published, and he still recommends it as a solid survey of the subject matter. Great drawings from many historical sources.
Daily Life in Maya Civilization, by Robert J. Sharer. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2d ed., 2009. MPL Call No. 972.81 SHA
If you ever wanted to imagine yourself living in Mayan society (not moi--no canned tuna-in-oil, for starters), or are simply interested in learning about Mayan history and culture (works for moi), then this book is superbly suited to your purpose. Tons of illustrations to help make sense of it all.
Another classic treatise extensively covering the history of Mayan civilization. Loads of informative illustrations. Sprightly written, too. The eighth edition is "fully revised and expanded." Well, duh.
The Lost History of Aztec & Maya, by Charles Phillips (Dr. David M. Jones, consultant). London: Hermes House, 2005. MPL Call No. 972.018 PHI
Much more than just colorful photos, but it has plenty of images, to be sure. A nice overview of ancient Mesoamerican history.
So, what about this whole 12/21/2012 scenario?
2012 Awakening: Choosing Spiritual Awakening Over Armageddon, by Sri Ram Kaa and Kira Raa. Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press, 2008. Available from Simon & Schuster.
Looking for your soul's deeper purpose? Now may be your time to choose spiritual development. This book might help you in your journey.
2012 and Beyond: An Invitation to Meet the Challenges and Opportunities Ahead, by Diana Cooper. Forres, Scotland, U.K.: Findhorn Press, 2009. Available from the author's website.
Lots of changes forecast during the next 20 years, according to this author. Challenges and opportunities, as the title says.
So, if the world does end this Friday, you'd better check these titles out beforehand. Still plenty of time to read one or two before the apocalypse parties begin.
Your Roving Reporter On The Go,
Cauli Le Chat
P.S. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)," by R.E.M. (single, 1987; from the album, Document [1987]), is the best musical closer I can think of for this post. I feel pretty good moiself.
