Seymour Library

Need help downloading an eBook?

Seymour Library is offering eBook help sessions this week and next, but we have handy "cheat sheets" available, too. Click on the links below to view and print the directions you need.

How to borrow library eBooks with a Kindle

How to return library eBooks with a Kindle

How to borrow library eBooks with a Nook

How to return library eBooks with a Nook

How to borrow and return library eBooks with an iPad, iTouch or iPhone

How to borrow and return library eBooks with an Android device

Learn more about Black History

February is Black History Month, and as the public library in a city with a proud abolitionist tradition, Seymour Library has many resources for people interested in learning more.

Some information is right here on our web site: Our History Room has a specialized collection on Harriet Tubman, and the books and publications we have available are listed here. Those resources are available during History Room hours, 3 to 7 p.m. Monday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.

Other web sites that might be of interest:

Abolitionism in America uses rare material from Cornell University’s Library to portray the country's struggle to achieve freedom for all Americans. http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/abolitionism/

The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship uses more than 240 objects from the Library of Congress’ collection to tell the story of African Americans through nine chronological periods from slavery to the 2oth century civil rights era. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aointro.html

African American Writers of the Nineteenth Century contains a collection of 41 full-length books by well-known and anonymous authors of novels, autobiographies, poetry, and memoirs. http://digital.nypl.org/schomburg/writers_aa19/toc.html

Africans in America, a companion to a PBS series, relates the history of racial slavery in the United States -- from the start of the Atlantic slave trade in the 16th century to the end of the American Civil War in 1865. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html

History of Dred Scott (Washington University, St. Louis MO) chronicles the landmark Supreme Court case that perpetuated tension between slave and free states. http://digital.wustl.edu/d/dre/index.html

In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience (Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NYPL) explores the rich and diverse African-American experience that resulted from migrations of blacks from around the world. http://www.inmotionaame.org/home.cfm;jsessionid=f830335701328162499251?bhcp=1

 Uncle Tom’s Cabin & American Culture: a Multimedia Archive documents the significance of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s monumental work with full array of multimedia primary sources as well as scholarly essays. http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/

Voices from the Days of Slavery has audio tapes and transcripts from 23 interviewees, born between 1832 and the early 1860s, who share their feelings about slavery, slaveholders, their families and freedom. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/voices/

War for Freedom recreates the move from slavery to emancipation by visiting five sites of historical importance: Manassas, VA; Harper’s Ferry, VA, Gettysburg, PA, Ft. Sumter, SC and Ft. Pulaski, GA. http://www.nps.gov/features/warforfreedom/

New library director named

    Seymour Library's board of trustees has named a new director, and her name will be familiar to library patrons. Lisa Carr, who has been a librarian at Seymour Library since 2003, will take on the role of director on March 5.

   One of Lisa's first accomplishments here was to start the Coffee and Conversation book clubs. The daytime and evening book clubs she started continue to meet monthly, and the mystery book club that Lisa began continues its monthly meetings as well. Lisa has worked in all aspects of library operations at Seymour Library, with a focus on collection development, staff training and readers advisory services.

    Lisa moved to Auburn with her husband, David, and their two sons, Jamie and Nicholas, in 2003. She also is employed as a site manager at Polaris Library Systems in Liverpool, has worked at Gray Public Library and Baxter Memorial Library in Maine, and served as interim director at Edith B. Ford Library in Ovid.

    Lisa graduated from the University of New Hampshire and worked at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Maine for 10 years before deciding to pursue her master’s degree in library science at Simmons College in Boston.

       Lisa replaces Sheila Mikkelson, who left Seymour Library to accept a library director job in Delaware.

Those books you've always been meaning to read

How do you define a classic? Some say a classic novel is one that stands the test of time. Says author and critic Italo Calvino, "A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say." For some of us, the classics are the books we've always been meaning to read - ones that are recommended and referenced so often that we feel as if we're missing out if we're unfamiliar with them.

In January Seymour Library will host the first meeting of its new classics book club. The selected book is a beloved one : Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women." The Coffee and Classics book club will meet at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 28. Subsequent meetings will be at 11 a.m. the last Saturday of the month.

Copies of "Little Women" are available at the library, and free eBook downloads are available. (See the end of this article for eBook details.)

The February meeting, at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, will feature "Doctor Zhivago" by Boris Pasternak. The 1965 movie based on the book will be shown the week before, at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 18.

The March meeting, at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 31, will feature "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov.

The Coffee and Classics book club is a bit of an experiment. If there's enough interest, we'll continue the club beyond March.

("Little Women" is one of some 34,000 public domain books available as an eBook. The titles may be downloaded for free, never expire and don't count against your eBook borrowing limit. To download a public domain eBook, go to Digital Downloads and scroll all the way to the bottom of the right-hand column, to the section titled "Additional eBooks always available.")

 

 

 

 

Getting ready for tax season

Now that January is here, many patrons are looking for income tax forms. The library will have tax forms available, but they haven't arrived yet.

In the meantime, though, it's easy to get the forms you need. Federal and state income tax forms can be downloaded and printed. For federal forms, go to www.irs.gov . For state forms, go to www.tax.ny.gov .

You may also ask to have tax forms sent to you, a process that may take about two weeks. For federal tax forms, call the Internal Revenue Service at (800) 829-3676. For state tax forms, call (518) 457-5181. (The state does not have a toll-free number.) When you call these numbers, be prepared to listen to several recorded messages and menu options before reaching the proper extension.

 

Tell us your reading resolution

Maybe 2012 is the year you're going to lose weight, save money or organize your home - but what about your reading resolutions? January is the perfect time to set a reading goal for yourself - whether it's discovering a new author, trying out a new genre, or reading that classic novel you've always meant to tackle.

Let us know what your resolution is. Visit our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/SeymourLibrary) or pick up a "Reading Resolution" card at the library. We'll be posting your resolutions around the library to remind you of your goal and to inspire other readers.

 

 

Want to borrow an eBook?

You can check out eBooks from Seymour Library and read them on a device such as a Kindle or Nook. Click on the Digital Downloads link (the link also can be found in the right-hand column of our website.) Once you're at Digital Downloads, look in the right-hand column and click on the My Help! logo. Click on the eBooks selection, and from there find help for the e-reader that you own.

Printed sheets of directions also are available at the Main Desk. The popularity of our drop-in sessions on downloading books has been overwhelming, and we'll be offering them again in February. Dates will be announced in the near future.

 

 

Get a Nook - from the library

The Nook Color e-reader has arrived at Seymour Library, ready for patrons to borrow. With the Nook Color, from Barnes and Noble, you can download and read books, browse the Internet and play games. You'll be able to borrow a Nook for 14 days and renew it once, and you'll be able to place a hold on a Nook. Seymour Library has two Nooks to loan, and additional Nooks are available through the Finger Lakes Library System.

You'll need to sign a borrower's agreement before taking out a Nook. They can't be left in the drop box but will need to be turned in at the Main Desk. The fine for an overdue Nook is $1 a day.

The Nooks were provided through a state grant obtained by Sen. David Valesky.

Check it out - at our new self check-out

Walt Aikman is the first patron to use the new self check-out station at Seymour Library. The self check-out gives patrons the option of checking out their own books and magazines rather than waiting for a clerk. It's part of our effort to streamline services for patrons. Another change: Patrons no longer need to wait in line and ask at the desk for the books and magazines they asked to have held. Instead, the books and magazines will be shelved just outside the microfilm room (in the photo, on the red shelves at the right.) Click here for more information about the self check-out.