SCORE Small Business Q&A with Jim Muir

Wayne Public Library will be hosting a small business “question and answer” session on Tuesday, November 10th at 7:00 PM with SCORE mentor Jim Muir.  Mr. Muir is the chapter chair of SCORE Detroit, and can offer business advice based on a lifetime of experience.  Anyone who is interested in starting or growing a business is welcome to attend with any questions or concerns they would like addressed by an expert. The meeting is free to attend, and has been developed in accordance with Wayne Public Library’s Business Resource Center.  Your library considers fostering the growth of local businesses part of its mission to partner with the community. If you have any questions, please contact our adult librarian, Carola.

Growing Into Literacy By Adrianne M. Schinkai

          Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a fan of the Common Core Standards when it comes to public education in America. I think it takes away the enjoyment of education for the child, it’s far too static, and the child does not get enough chances to use their imagination and creativity when it comes to learning. We, as in our generation and the generations before us, learned through doing and discovery. This young generation is learning from seeing, not observing. And it scares and infuriates me.

            The truth is when you take away a child’s chance to be creative and use their own mind to solve a problem, you basically tell them to solve the problem for someone else, instead of themselves. Thus, learning becomes a job and not an adventure. It already takes a fun, colorful event and turns it to a dull gray hue when you think about it. Who wants to learn like that? Let a child be artistic! Let them explore with their hands and eyes. Let them make mistakes first while they try to solve the problem. Then, and only then, should we say, “Okay, now that you see what didn’t work, do you want to know how it does work?” Then you show them the solution. It creates a much more efficient way for the child to think critically of his or her experiences.

            Here’s an example. Not all children look forward to field trips. Some may not be into art and/or history, but if you take one to a museum, or an aquarium, or a planetarium, there is always going to be something that will catch their eyes and leave them asking questions. They get a chance to discover something that they had not known before and they do it all themselves. There is curiosity in our children and teens and our mission, as parents and educators, is to tap it. From there, we can do miraculous things with how they learn and what they want to learn. This sets up the growing foundations of their literacy in information.

            Now when I say literacy, I don’t just mean being able to read. What I mean is taking in information from one’s surroundings, being able to evaluate it, and using it for its proper purposes. Therefore, literacy can take on multiple forms. In our educational system today, the most important types of literacy, in my humble opinion, are reading literacy, computer literacy, and information literacy. If a student of any age is able to take in information, evaluate that information in a critical sense, and use that information accordingly to communicate their own opinions and knowledge to other parties, there should be no limit to how much they can learn and discover as a student (or any person who wants to grow academically).

            Let’s break this down a little bit…

            First, a young student should strive to be reading literate. While there are many other ways to gain information, such as listening to a radio broadcast or holding a verbal conversation, being able to read, to comprehend a written language, is one of the more key things to enhancing a child’s learning experience. I am always happy to see parents come into the library and ask about story time and reading programs for children who aren’t even a year old. By showing their child at such a young age that books and reading are an essential part of our lives, they will grow up with the desire to explore on their own and find out just what lies in these books and documents we, as parents and educators, have come to value so much.

            Second, with our age of technology, computer literacy is a must. Most times, it is how we communicate, explore, and discover most of the information we seek. As a librarian, I use an online catalog to look up items for our patrons. Card catalogs are a thing of the past. The last cards were actually printed by OCLC just last week, bringing an end to an era of library science. But I digress. If there are questions I have to answer, I turn to Google a number of times to find a quick explanation. I write reports and print them on Microsoft Word. I know how to navigate the World Wide Web in order to find whatever I seek. As we, as a people, dive further into an age of technological advances and dependency, we need to be able to train our children how to work these hard, tangible sciences ourselves. If not, then how will they be able to keep up with the world around them successfully? Sit with your child while they are online. Explore and discover with them. Don’t think of it as a way to supervise them (although in some cases, it may be a good idea). Try to use it as a way to bond and learn together.

            Thirdly, if a child is going to pursue academia, high school and beyond, they need to become information literate. Just because all information on the World Wide Web is readily available does not mean that it is true, and there for complete public use. The same goes for use of information in books, magazines, etc. When a student becomes information literate, they are able to perform a number of tasks. They are able to say, “I found this information. I know what this information means. When I used this information, I am going to say that the source of this information is here, it is not my original information, but it does support what I have to say.” If you’re wondering why this sounds familiar, it is because this is the basic concept we learned in school about how to choose resources when citing our papers. Many students are learning these concepts at younger ages now that the theft of information and plagiarism has become such a wide-spread topic. It is no longer the idea of copying off someone else’s work. It is now the issue of stealing work that isn’t yours and passing it off as your own. In many colleges and universities, this has been the cause for failure of classes, or in some cases, expulsion. Every child should take the time to learn the concepts of information literacy and learn how to create their own work before they try to build off of someone else’s creation. Work with them on their reports and projects. If either of you have questions, don’t be afraid to contact teachers or librarians. They make their careers out of answering questions like this. They want to help you discover and develop your skills.

            The bottom line is this. Those who were lazy and bored didn’t make history. It was those who had curiosity and interest who went on to discover wonderful things when it came to science, learning, and the human race. This is something that we need to remember when it comes to education in the United States. We need to remember, above all things, that we need to be literate. We need to be able to read. We need to be able to navigate technology. We also need to be able to navigate information. Above all else, we need to work together to expand our horizons beyond what we think our government’s standards should be. At least, that’s my $0.02 on it. 

Family Story Times

Join us Wednesday Evenings 6:30-7:15 for stories, songs, finger plays, movement and an easy craft at our fall story time.  Registration is currently open.  You can register in person at the Children’s reference desk, or by calling the Youth Reference Desk at (734) 721-7832, ex. 623.

The themes for our story times will be:


October     14: Fall is here.
October     21: Where did all the birds go?
October     28: Halloween (Please wear your costume)
November   4: Bears
November 11: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Craft

Saturday, November 21, 2015, 2:00 – 3:00 pm

Enjoy snacks and a Thanksgiving story. 
Make Thanksgiving Napkin Rings and a centerpiece for your table.  

Registration begins Tuesday November 10, 2015.  You can register in person at the Children’s Reference desk, or by phone (734) 721-7832, ex. 623.

A Note from Library Co-Director, Steve McGladdery: Non-Traditional Library Collections

Have you ever needed a particular tool for a home repair job, but didn’t want to purchase it or pay some outrageous rental fee? Have you ever wanted to use an unusual or novelty cake pan for a special occasion, but didn’t want it cluttering up your kitchen afterward?  Have you ever just wanted to play around with a musical instrument before committing to buying one?  If you answered yes to any of these, then you should know that public libraries across America are coming to your rescue.
Non-traditional library collections are becoming one of the next interesting trends in public library service.  In addition to books, music, movies, and other circulating media, libraries have begun offering unique items to enrich the experience of the everyday library user.  Right now there are public libraries where patrons can check out power tools, gardening equipment, musical instruments, kitchen tools and appliances, toys, and even small plots of a community garden.  There is a library in Iowa with a circulating collection of over 150 novelty cake pans, and another in Indiana where patrons can borrow works of art to hang on their walls for special occasions.
Arguably the most interesting non-traditional collection, or at the very least the most attention-grabbing, would be the unique libraries that offer patrons the opportunity to check out people.  Puzzled? So was I at first.  Here’s how it works.  The library has a circulating “collection” of volunteers from various unique walks of life – a police officer, a politician, a Muslim, a homosexual, a senior citizen, representatives of various minority groups, etc. After checking out their person, the library patron will then have the opportunity to sit down with them for a set period of time, and ask any questions they want, so long as they avoid slurs, inappropriate behavior and strong language.  Now obviously these “human books” aren’t stereotypes, so the experience of that volunteering senior citizen can’t be generalized to all seniors, but the patron is still learning about the life experience of that particular senior and that’s still something.
The best part of non-traditional collections is that you’re only really limited by your own imagination and the laws in your area.  And the only thing better than talking about non-traditional collections is getting involved with them! Is there a unique or unexpected collection you would like to see developed at your Wayne Public Library? If you do, let us know! Comment on our Facebook account!  Send us a letter! Give my office a call! (734-721-7832, ask for Steve) Better yet, stop by in person! Have a browse through our books, music, DVD’s, etc., then stop by and visit with our reference librarians and let them know what you think.

Wayne Public Library’s partnership with Unique Management Services, Inc.

Beginning August 1, billed delinquent library accounts are no longer handled by the Wayne Police Department.  The Wayne Public Library board of trustees has approved an agreement with Unique Management Services, Inc., an overdue fines/fees collection agency that specializes in libraries.  If a library account has overdue fees and does not respond to initial notices, the account information will be sent to this agency for collection.  The process begins with several gently worded letters and phone calls.  If the account in question has not been settled after 120 days from the beginning of the collections process and the account fees are $50 or greater, at that point the fees will appear on the credit report of whomever owns the account.  This is a standard means of collecting long overdue fines and fees.  Unique Management Services, Inc. is a well-known and trustworthy company used by several libraries in southeast Michigan.  

PC Partners

Have you had an opportunity to take advantage of our PC Partners program? Makia, a student from our neighbor Dorsey Schools, is providing free one-on-one computer tutoring in the library. Sessions are 45 minutes long and are available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 2:00pm until 7:00pm, Thursdays and Fridays from 1:00pm until 4:00pm, and Saturdays from 12:00pm until 4:00pm. You can come back for more instruction as needed. You can sign up by visiting the Adult Reference Desk, or by calling us at (734)721-7832, extension 630.

Friends of the Wayne Public Library Annual Book Sale

It’s that time of year again!  The Friends of the Wayne Public Library will be holding their annual book sale starting Wednesday, September 30, and running until the 3rd of October.  The front doors will open at 10 AM on Wednesday for the book sale only, and run until 8 PM. The library will open at its usual time.  The sale will then be 12-5 on Thursday-Saturday.  It has been a good year for collecting used books, so expect a huge selection.  In addition to boxes and boxes of adult fiction and nonfiction, there will also be plenty of books for kids and teens.  So feel free to drop by September 30-October 3 and stock up on some used books.  All proceeds go to support the Friends of the Wayne Public Library.

The History of Mulholland’s Dry Goods

The Friends of the Wayne Public Library will be hosting Matthew Mullholland on Wednesday, October 21.  Mr. Mulholland will be discussing his family’s old store, “Mulholland’s Dry Goods,” and how it relates to the development of historic downtown Wayne.

WHERE: Wayne Public Library

WHEN: Wednesday, October 21, 6:30 PM

Gerald Wykes Presents: A Weed Goes to War

Gerald Wykes, an historian and interpreter currently residing in Monroe, discusses how Michigan milkweed was integral to aviators and sailors in late WWII.  Against the backdrop of this truly unique period in history, Mr. Wykes will discuss how crucial this Michigan weed had helped save the lives of U.S. servicemen.  This event is presented by the Friends of the Wayne Public Library.

WHERE: Wayne Public Library

WHEN: Wednesday, November 11, 6:30 PM