Volunteers are a vital force at Canton Public Library. From cutting scrap paper, to digitizing historic photographs, to hosting programs, our volunteers do great work that we simply could not do without them. If you enjoy the Secondhand Prose bookstore, you've reaped the rewards of our volunteer program; the bookstore is staffed entirely by volunteer Friends of the Library. In 2010, volunteers played an essential role, contributing over 4,700 hours, and their efforts are greatly appreciated.

Canton Public Library relies on donors like you for funds that let us be extraordinary. Your donation to our operating fund provides us with supplies for our acclaimed programs, additional copies of books & more, and much more. Donating to our Endowment Fund helps secure a financially-stable future for the library.

Endowment Fund

Operating Fund

The Canton Public Library was recently awarded a certificate of completion for meeting the Essential Level requirements of the Quality Services Audit Checklist (QSAC) by the Library of Michigan.

QSAC has defined "essential services" — the basics of all library service — as relatively low-cost standards that every library can and should achieve. The Canton Public Library has demonstrated competence in seven categories including human resources, governance/administration, services, collection development, technology, facilities and equipment, and public relations/marketing.

Attention Comic Lovers! Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 12th. From 10:00AM to 8:00PM at the Ann Arbor Art Center an awesome free event is being presented. Interact with real cartoonists, enjoy some great hands-on workshops and create your very own comics.
Learn more about this spectacular event by visiting the event website.

Last fall we asked for your opinion on a new library card design and got a great response. In total, 880 votes were cast and many of you included comments. Here are the results:

• 252 thought that the patron should be able to pick a color from our 3 options
• 223 favored the blue card
• 217 liked the orange card
• 148 preferred the turquoise card
• 40 wanted to keep the old card design

Many expressed concern about incurring extra costs to have new cards made. Our supply of cards was already running low (we issue about 6,000 new cards each year), so we needed to order cards regardless of the design. We gathered estimates from several card printers and were able to print the new design without incurring set up charges for the additional colors. Other than a small design fee to include our new logo, which was budgeted, it did not cost anything extra to offer a choice of cards.

We have a limited number of the previous design still available. There is a $1 charge to switch to the new card or replace a lost card if you choose the new design. Remember, your barcode number will change! There is not a charge for a new patron to get a card.

The March/April issue of Connections is available online now as a pdf document.
You may subscribe to an RSS feed of library communications by pasting http://www.cantonpl.org/forpress/rss.xml
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The January/February issue of Connections is available online now as a pdf document.
You may subscribe to an RSS feed of library communications by pasting http://www.cantonpl.org/forpress/rss.xml
into your feed reader. Please note: The Living Book program date is incorrect in the newsletter. The correct date is February 22, 7:00PM.

The Canton Public Library will be closed on the following days:

• Friday, December 24, 2010
• Saturday, December 25, 2010
• Sunday, December 26, 2010
• Monday, December 27, 2010

and

• Friday, December 31, 2010
• Saturday, January 1, 2011
• Sunday, January 2, 2011
• Monday, January 3, 2011

Although the building will be closed, you may return items using the outdoor drop slot. Access to patron accounts, the catalog and databases will be available through the website.

Library director Eva Davis accepts a contribution of $407 from Meijer store director Jack Schubert. The money was part of the Pepsi Refresh Project.

On Monday, November 29 from 10:00-11:00AM, CPL librarian Joyce Simowski takes the mystery out of finding a great mystery book during the Barnes & Noble Northville Book Fair. Use your B & N voucher for books, games, CDs, and DVDs at Barnes & Noble Northville (17111 Haggerty @ Six Mile Road) and the Canton Public Library will get a percentage of your sale on nearly everything B&N sells, including the Nook and Nook accessories, plus coffee and snacks from the B&N cafe. The offer does exclude textbooks, ebooks, video games and gift cards. Stop by for reading suggestions. No registration necessary.

Everyone loves to receive books, games, CDs and DVDs as gifts. Now when you shop for these and other items at Barnes & Noble, the library benefits. On [cyber] Monday, November 29, we're hosting a one-day bookfair at the Barnes & Noble in Northville. Just print and present this voucher or use the ID #10289981 when you check out and the library will get a percentage of your sale on nearly everything B&N sells, including the Nook and Nook accessories, plus coffee and snacks from the B&N cafe. The offer does exclude textbooks, ebooks, video games and gift cards.

If you can't get to the store, you can still use the code to shop B&N online from November 29 through December 4. Take advantage of great Cyber Monday deals and use the ID #10289981 when you check out.

Get extra copies of this voucher at the library, or print this one to share with your neighbors. We'll also host special programs at Barnes & Noble on November 29 and offer gift wrapping. Thanks for supporting your library.

Last year, you helped us collect over 17,000 diapers to benefit the Canton-based Detroit Area Diaper Bank. This year, we're going for a truck full. Fat Chef in a Little Coat owners Steve and David Hulett have donated a truck for the cause and our director, Eva Davis, will camp out while we fill it.

We're asking for your help to "Stuff the Truck" so bring diapers, any brand or size, baby through adult, to the library on November 17 and 18. Open packages, pull ups and swim diapers are all acceptable; if diapers are loose, please label with the size.

The Detroit Area Diaper Bank is a nonprofit charitable organization serving SE Michigan to meet the need for diapers at partner agencies working with people in crisis. Please help support those in need in our community with your donation.

Our CPL History post on October 25 talks about our grand opening celebration and the flag raising ceremony with the Canton Veterans of Foreign Wars so here's a contest question for you based on the American flag. Be the first to post the correct answer to this question in the comment of this post, along with a link to the CPL database where you found the answer and win a prize.

Here's the question: On what date was the stars and stripes pattern adopted as the official flag and by whom?

The November/December issue of Connections is available online now as a pdf document.
You may subscribe to an RSS feed of library communications by pasting
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This program has been discontinued

Library card users can now get special savings at local Canton businesses thanks to Check Out Canton, a partnership between the Canton Economic Development office and the Canton Public Library. Local businesses supply special offers that can be checked out with a library card, just like the Museum Adventure Pass program. Take a pass from the Check Out Canton rack and present it at our Checkout Desk. You'll be issued a voucher good for one week.

Offers include a buy one, get one free ticket from the Village Theater at Cherry Hill, savings on catering, carpet cleaning, veterinary care and more. To see the current offers and availability, search the online library catalog. One pass per library card per week, no holds on passes.

You are invited to change the world through the power of the written word at Zoe Live Publishing's Author Extravaganza on Saturday, September 11, benefiting the Canton Public Library.

• 10:00-11:30AM: Aspiring Author Workshop — Learn to tell your story, or share your message in this free workshop
• 1:00-5:00PM: Book Expo — More than 20 family-friendly authors sign and sell their works to raise funds for the Canton and Plymouth libraries
• 6:00-8:00PM: Poetry Slam — A family-friendly open mic venue to share your prose and poetry

The Plymouth Author Extravaganza will be held at the Comfort Inn, 40455 Ann Arbor Road in Plymouth (near Bennigan's). The event is free. Each author will donate $1 from book sales and a signed copy of their book to the Canton and Plymouth libraries. For more information, visit www.zlwriters.com.

CANTON, MI — The doctor is checked out at the Canton Public Library. So is the Civil War living historian, the scrapbooker and the homeschooling expert.

Thanks to a new Living Books program offered at the Canton Public Library, patrons can now check out a person with knowledge of, or experience with, a variety of topics for a one-on-one discussion and exchange of ideas. The living books include a doctor of naturopathic medicine, a licensed professional counselor, a Christian seminary student, gardener, and others.

Marcia Barker, program specialist and one of the Living Books organizers, says the goals of the program are to celebrate and promote diversity, encourage understanding and respect, challenge stereotypes and prejudices and have fun learning about each other and sharing personal knowledge.

The September/October issue of Connections is available online now as a pdf document.
You may subscribe to an RSS feed of library communications by pasting
/forpress/rss.xml
into your feed reader.

The budget outlook for the library remains bleak in 2011. As I wrote last year, the deepening recession and declining property values mean less money coming in to the library — 95% of our 2010 revenues come from taxes Canton property owners pay to support library programs, collections, and services — which means more cuts for the next several years.

In 2011, our budget will drop another $300,000, to $4.9 million, bringing our cumulative total cuts since 2008 to $1.6 million. $4.9 million is the size our budget was in 2004, when we served 15,000 fewer people, checked out 600,000 fewer items, and had 40% more staff.

You could help the Canton Public Library get $500 and win yourself a one-of-a-kind experience with Free Press Sports Editor Gene Myers in the Free Press Reader Envy contest. Vote for Gene and you could win an experience that includes a tour of the Free Press building, sitting in on a news meeting in which decisions are made for all sections of the paper, lunch at a downtown spot, watching the sports section come together, and other surprises. Plus, if Gene wins, the library will get a $500 donation. Enter the contest at the Free Press website. Deadline for entry is July 31, 2010. Review the contest rules.