Holiday Greetings

Christmas Past...




Christmas Present...




I don't know what Christmas Future will hold, except that it will be infinitely better for your presence in it.

To Family and Friends, both near and far: Have a Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Holiday greetings from our family to you and your loved ones!

Christmas Celebration 2008

It's a mixed bag of photos, from Scott's TV appearance to Mom's afghan to Sean's Slinky. A patchwork of memories, fun and good cheer, the best kind of holiday celebration.

Christmas Greetings

"Bringing Home the Christmas Tree" by Tim Cordell

Stars over snow,
And in the west a planet
Swinging below a star -
Look for a lovely thing and you will find it,
It is not far -
It never will be far
-Sara Teasdale

May you find many lovely things in your life! Have a peaceful and joyous holiday.

Life is One Big Top Ten (2008)

I've been tagged by my good friend, and fellow teacher/librarian, Cathy Nelson, for a meme. Paul C. invites bloggers to write a Top Ten list for 2008 on a topic of their choice. He plans to collect the lists later for our instruction and edification.

A news article that popped up recently in my Google Reader quotes Florida State Senator, Ronda Storms, who "railed against the book-cataloging system during a budget hearing on state library aid, calling the Dewey Decimal System 'anachronistic,' costly and just plain frustrating."

Here is my response to such blasphemy:

Top Ten Reasons not to abandon the Dewey Decimal System

1. The Dewey Decimal System is the norm in most U.S. elementary and secondary schools. Students who learn to navigate the system can apply this knowledge when searching for materials in their local public libraries, which also use the DDS.

2. Melvil Dewey designed the system to be very flexible. Categories that didn’t exist in the late 19th century – computers, space exploration, nanotechnology – can be accommodated by the infinitely expandable decimals.

3. Although the Dewey Decimal System is copyrighted, libraries do not have to pay to use it. Melvil made his personal fortune through selling library furniture.

4. Library staff members quickly become familiar with the ten categories and can point patrons to relevant shelves. The same can not be said of the Library of Congress System, which is complex and less user-friendly.

5. The Dewey numbers always follow in sequence. No matter how large a collection becomes, items are arranged in order, not tied to a physical location.

6. Dewey numbers are not just for books. Video tapes, DVDs, magazines, hardware, software, etc. can easily be assigned Dewey categories.

7. Since the DDS uses numbers, it is not tied to a particular language. Any patron familiar with Arabic numerals can locate materials.

8. Without the DDS, each library would have to create its own system. Interlibrary loans and union catalogs would be difficult, if not impossible.

9. The OCLC, which holds the copyright on the Dewey Decimal System, maintains a database for cataloging and searching purposes and "integrates updates to the DDC almost as soon as they happen through quarterly, electronic updates to WebDewey and Abridged WebDewey."

10. Melvil Dewey was one of the founders of the American Library Association. He elevated librarianship to professional status.

If anyone else would like to contribute a Top Ten list, please be sure to do so and link back to Paul.



"Seattle Public Library - book spiral" by Padraic

A Very Merry E-Christmas

"For centuries men have kept an appointment with Christmas. Christmas means fellowship, feasting, giving and receiving, a time of good cheer, home." -W.J. Ronald Tucker

Many of the gifts exchanged in our household this Christmas had a technical or digital component.

There was a selection of books (from a Jane Austen mystery to a home improvement manual); the requisite sweaters, scarves, and socks; food and beverages enough to ensure jolly times for days to come.

But there were also the connected "toys": my MacBook, my husband's digital camera, a new phone with answering machine, a DVD player, wii accessories galore, a printer, and a GPS system.

Rather than fracturing the family, these tools bring us closer together as we set them up, learn their idiosyncrasies and use them for communication, collaboration, and just plain fun.

Our skills range from basic to professional grade. Within our ranks, we manage to differentiate for, and accommodate, a very mixed group of learners.

In our various ways, we move with inquisitive minds into the future.

"I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity." -Eleanor Roosevelt

And wild and sweet the words repeat...

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day. Their old familiar carols play. And wild and sweet the words repeat. Of peace on earth goodwill to men." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Yesterday I heard "Oh Holy Night" on the radio and was immediately transported back to a Sunday afternoon in late December, over 45 years ago.

Every adult parishioner, each student from the school (grades K -8), all members of the elementary and high school choirs, gathered for a program of traditional and sacred music.

Jimmy Maguire sang a solo in his soaring Irish tenor; the senior choir contributed a cappella Latin hymns; the entire congregation thundered forth "Joy to the World".

We walked home in the deepening evening to sip hot chocolate and dream beside the Christmas tree.

My beliefs have matured, possibly; changed, certainly. The music has stayed with me as a continuing comfort and delight.


"Adeste fideles, laetit triumphants, venite, venite in Bethlehem!" -Adeste Fideles (Oh Come, All Ye Faithful)

"You are the music while the music lasts." -T. S. Eliot