The Director's Corner, by Sandra Collins

As we move towards the beginning of a new year, I wish to say Thank You to:

• The communities of Bradford Woods, Franklin Park, Marshall Township, McCandless and Ross Township for their continued financial support of Northland Public Library. The 5 communities provide 56% of our funding and Northland could not operate at the level it does without their joint effort.

• The members of the Northland Public Library Authority Board –Jason Bragunier (Marshall Twp.); Daniel DeMarco (Ross Twp.); Jane Hopey (Franklin Park); John Murtagh Jr. (McCandless) Paul Parobeck (Ross Twp.) Cynthia Potter (McCandless); and Sheryn Trickett-Lammers (Bradford Woods) who volunteer their time to ensure library operations are efficient and meet community needs.

• The volunteer members of the Northland Library Foundation Board and Sara Jane Lowry, the Executive Director of the Foundation who raise private funding through grants and donations to supplement Northland’s budget for special projects. Northland is able to offer Northland Tutor, an online after-school tutoring service because of their efforts.

• The many community volunteers who aid in providing library programs and services by assisting in the Book Nook, working at the Three Rivers Storytelling Festival, updating community directories and similar activities.

• The 88 employees of the Northland Public Library who do a phenomenal job.
They have handled more than 1,000,000 loans in a year, reshelved those borrowed items and in 2008 will add more than 27,000 new items to the collection. They provided programs attended by more than 14,000 people and answered more than 92,000 reference questions.

Professor Randy Pausch—last lecture

The professor from Carnegie Mellon who gave his last lecture "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" died of pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008. He was 47 years old. The lecture on You Tube has been viewed more than 3 million times. If you are unable to come to the library on Tuesday December 9th you can listen to his speech here. It is definitely worth your time!

NORTHLAND STAFF REUNION

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1960 1970 1980 1990


2000 1960 to present

NPL guys over the years

HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY NORTHLAND

...and thanks to all of the Staff over the years!

The Director's Corner, by Sandra Collins

As reported in the New Republic (April 9, 2008), the Schipol International Airport in Amsterdam, Holland made a fascinating discovery. In an effort to deal with an ongoing problem in keeping the men’s rooms clean, an economist on the airport staff suggested a novel solution. An image of a housefly was etched onto the bowls near the drain on each urinal. Spillage decreased by 80%- -just by providing a target at which to aim. Northland Public Library is currently working on a strategic plan which will outline the target it will need to aim for during the next few years and will provide a map for us in developing our programs and activities to better serve you. The targets have been defined through information obtained from the various library stakeholders – the elected officials of the 5 municipalities Northland serves, the North Allegheny and North Hills Schools, library users, the Northland Library Board, the Northland Library Foundation and library staff. We want to make certain that Northland will continue to be an institution that is important to the residents it serves. Ah, the power of a housefly.

Memories

Stroll down memory lane with us and share your memories of Northland. Here are a few memory ticklers: Do you remember when Northland was at Three Degree Road? Do you remember when we moved into our current site and when we were at Northway Mall during our renovation? How about sharing your memories with us and our Northland family.

Do you remember...

Curious George arrives-- 1974

The Director's Corner, by Sandra Collins

Welcome to Northland’s blog. You’ll need to bear with some of us old folks who are tiptoeing into the use of new technology – but my staff has finally dragged me kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. Northland is all about connections –connecting you to books – to information – to learning –to the world and to our communities-to each other. Our blog is another tool designed to connect Northland to you and vice versa. Important connections for Northland are:

• Our memberships in the Allegheny County Library Association and the Electronic Information Network which has made the collections of all 44 libraries in Allegheny County available to you.

• Our participation in Access Pennsylvania which has made the collections of participating libraries throughout Pennsylvania and the P.O.W.E.R (Pennsylvania Online World of Electronic Resources) databases available to you.

• Our monthly Conversation Salon which provides a forum for discussion of topics of interest to those attending.

• Storytimes for children, ages 6 months to 5 years, which lay the foundation for lifelong learning.

• Computer Classes for adults of all ages that provide connections to the world of technology.

How does Northland help you make connections?