Easy access to academic resources

With many libraries closing their physical locations, MNLINK.org is offering a new way for Minnesota residents to directly request electronic journal articles and chapters of electronic books. Just visit MNLINK.org and click on the red “Request Electronic Resources” link. This is especially useful for college students but available to all.

https://news.minitex.umn.edu/news/resource-sharing-delivery/mnlink-offers-streamlined-access-electronic-resources

Library Closed, Resources Still Available

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

The Litchfield Public Library is closed indefinitely because of COVID-19, along with all other libraries in Pioneerland Library System.  The book drop is closed, as well.  For now, please keep public library books and movies at home, and once the library reopens you may return them.  Due dates will continue to be extended while the library is closed, so there’s no need to worry about late fees.

All library events and programs that had been scheduled for April and May are canceled or indefinitely postponed.  This includes storytimes, Brickheads Lego building, book clubs, craft and activity programs for adults and kids, and the May book sale.  We are hoping to offer some virtual programs or online content that you can access from home.  For example, I’m hoping to host my April 14^th book club meeting via Zoom or Facebook Live so that we can discuss “O Pioneers!” without the health risk of gathering a group of people. 

Some resources are available while the library is closed.

Pioneerland’s downloadable ebooks and audiobooks are available at pioneerland.overdrive.com or by using the free Libby or Overdrive app on a smartphone, tablet, or Kindle.  To find your local collection, search Overdrive for your local library, and that will lead you to Pioneerland.  If it lists a library system name other than Pioneerland, you may have chosen a Litchfield or Grove City in another state; it’s a common mistake.

Most titles are available to only one person at a time, just like a physical book, but a collection of classics is available for unlimited numbers of users to borrow at one time.  Another option is the current Big Library Read, a book that Overdrive chooses for unlimited checkouts for a limited time.  The current title is Funny, You Don’t Look Autistic: A Comedian’s Guide to Life on the Spectrum by Michael McCreary.  This is a teen-oriented memoir that adults can also enjoy.  It’s available for unlimited borrowers through April 13. 

Even though the libraries are closed, our library system is adding more downloadable titles all the time to meet your need for books.  Looking for something you can check out immediately, instead of putting yourself on a waiting list?  Choose “collections,” then “available now,” and you can view your many options for checking out a book right away. 

Don’t have a library card? There’s a new way to sign up for a digital card online.  Go to Overdrive or Libby on a computer, phone, or tablet, and choose the option to sign up for an instant digital card using your cell phone number. You should only use this option if you don’t already have a library card. Ebooks are only available to people who live within the service area of each library system; Meeker County residents can access Pioneerland ebooks, but residents of some of our neighboring counties cannot.

If you have a library card that has expired within the past year or that was about to expire in the coming two months, your card’s expiration date has now been extended to June, and you should be able to use it to check out ebooks.  If you have trouble using your card, you can email me at elizabeth.cronk@pioneerland.lib.mn.us and I will find out if someone from our headquarters can resolve the issue. 

You can also send me an email if you need assistance with research, and I’ll do what I can with online resources from home.  Another option is AskMN, the 24-hour information and research help service from Minnesota libraries.  Visit askmn.org for real-time online chat assistance from a librarian for help finding information on any topic, including college research. 

Prefer to do the searching yourself? The Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM) is a massive online resource that’s free for Minnesotans.  You can access magazine, academic journal, and newspaper articles, encyclopedias for all ages, test prep resources, résumé guidance, and federal government documents.  It’s a fantastic resource for students as well as the general public.  One unique collection within ELM is called Minnesota Reflections; it’s made up of images and documents from throughout the history of Minnesota, contributed by museums, archives, colleges, and libraries across the state.  Access ELM at elibrarymn.org.

Free public wifi is available outside the library.  If you park on the street or in the parking lot near the building, you should be able to pick it up, and no password is required.

I hope you are staying home as much as possible as our whole society works together to control this pandemic.  I am hopeful that we can care for each other and each do our part for the greater good.  I wish you health and happiness in the midst of this stressful time.

Access resources while the library is closed

The Litchfield Library remains closed through the end of the month, but some library resources are still available to you. 

Our downloadable ebooks and audiobooks are available here: https://pioneerland.overdrive.com/ or by using the free Libby or Overdrive app and searching for Litchfield Library (making sure you choose the one in Minnesota). 

Mnknows.org is the website for statewide free electronic library resources. 

And you can email the county librarian Beth Cronk at elizabeth.cronk@pioneerland.lib.mn.us for research assistance, and she will use her training and experience in online research to answer your questions. 

We will also answer your questions via Messenger, but that is not a very private way to ask your research questions. 

If you need free public wifi at any hour, you can park nearby to pick up the library's, no password needed.

Stay well!

Legal Information for Minnesotans

by Beth Cronk, Meeker County Librarian

Legal information can be tricky to find.  At a recent meeting of the Pioneerland head librarians and administration, the Minnesota State Law Librarian presented information about free legal resources available to everyone in Minnesota.  Although I knew about some of them, I found this so helpful, and I thought I could share some of those resources with you.

The website lawhelpmn.org is a really exciting new resource for Minnesota residents.  Part of the Legal Services State Support program, the site asks you questions and guides you to the legal resources you need.  It’s set up to be user friendly when you don’t know what you need.  For example, I could be a landlord having trouble with a tenant, or vice versa, and it would lead me to information from the attorney general’s office and court forms from the Minnesota Judicial Branch website.  Maybe I want to make a will and I don’t know how to get started.  Working through the website, I get to fact sheets about wills, court forms about probate and wills, and guidance from the Senior Legal Line about the documents I need.   There’s also a Self Help Library on the website with sections like family, work, seniors, and other common topics people need legal information about. 

Minnesota has a State Law Library in the Minnesota Judicial Center in the state capitol complex.  It is open to the general public, besides serving the needs of the government and lawyers throughout the state.  Their book collection is largely focused on state law, both that of Minnesota and other states. 

You probably aren’t likely to visit the state law library in person, but you can make use of the library anyway.  Visit their website and you’ll have access to a wealth of legal information.  The section I’m most excited about is the forms finder.  The website organizes them by topic, including things like adoption, bankruptcy, copyright, and criminal law. 

Another section of their website that I know will be helpful is legal referrals by county.  You choose the county you live in and get a list of low-cost and free legal services available to eligible people in your county.  Many are not based in that county, but they serve people who live there. 

For example, Central Minnesota Legal Services is based in Willmar, but it serves eligible clients from Meeker County on matters of family law, housing, and other particular topics.  The Volunteer Lawyers Network is a statewide service based in the Twin Cities that serves low-income people over the phone or in person.  There are sections of the referral list dedicated to disabilities, domestic abuse, immigration, and other specialized concerns. 

Another handy link on the law library’s website is for ordinances.  The law library’s staff has gathered links to city and county ordinances in one place for convenience.  Click on “Litchfield” and it will bring you to the code of ordinances on the city’s website.

If you need help, click on Ask A Librarian to submit a question to their library staff.  They can help you get a form, but they can’t tell you which form to use.  Similarly, they can find you a statute, but they can’t explain it to you, and they can’t give you legal advice.  Their role, like ours, is to direct you to resources.  Not comfortable using a computer?  You can call them at (651)297-7651. 

A third website the state law librarian covered was the Minnesota Judicial Branch website, mncourts.gov, which is a wealth of legal information, as well.  Click on Get forms to find court forms of all kinds, such as forms for a name change, criminal expungement, child support issues, and many others.   You can also access criminal and civil caserecords if you want to find out about someone’s background or learn how a particular case was resolved. 

When you need a legal form or a place to start on a legal issue, you can make use of these trustworthy resources for Minnesotans. 

We support education

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

It's back to school time!  It will be quieter in the library during the school day now (except for storytimes).  It might be busier after school and in the evening when students with iPads and MacBooks need WiFi to do their homework.  We’ll be interested to see how that affects library traffic this fall.

 

The public library can be a resource for school in a number of ways beyond basic internet access.  Librarians still help people find information even in this era of search-it-yourself.  If you have a paper to write, whether you’re in middle school or graduate school, we can help you search for or order sources. 

One of the best sources is provided by the Minnesota state library agency.  It’s called ELM, the Electronic Library for Minnesota, and it can be accessed at elm4you.org.  You can get to it from home or we can help you with it at the library.  The website offers access to many databases of articles and encyclopedias, all high-quality, reputable sources.  If you’re in college and your professor requires it, you can limit your results to peer-reviewed journals.  Elementary school students can use the section especially for students their age that includes Britannica Learning Zone and Searchasaurus, a way to search elementary-age magazines, dictionaries, and encyclopedias.  I have used ELM countless times for my own grad school work as well as to help library patrons.  It has so much to offer.

Litchfield high school students sometimes come to us for help finding a book for a reading requirement.  We are glad to help you come up with ideas for that.  There are many options right here in our own building, plus we can order almost anything else you’d like to read.

Newsbank is a newspaper database that Litchfield Library subscribes to, primarily because it includes the Litchfield Independent Review in a searchable form.  But it also includes current event reports that could be useful to students.  This month’s include the latest articles on the Ebola outbreak, the threat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and the fighting in Gaza.  A social studies student may be able to use these special collections for current events homework.

If you’re getting ready to take a college entrance exam, you could check out one of our test prep guides.  We have the 2014 edition of Cracking the ACT from the Princeton Review and their 2014 edition of 11 Practice Tests for the SAT and PSAT.  We also have new test prep books coming in soon for the GRE, the LSAT, the GMAT, and the nursing school entrance exams. 

Parents looking for ideas for those lunchboxes could check out The Best Homemade Kids’ Lunches on the Planet.  This has been a popular book this summer.  The author of “100 Days of Real Food”, Lisa Leake, endorses it.  I am completely stuck in a rut for cold lunches, so I think my kids would appreciate it if I’d check it out sometime.

And for anyone interested in our educational system and teaching, we have the book Getting Schooled by Garret Keizer.  Keizer is a teacher who left the profession and then returned fourteen years later to the same school, putting him in a unique position to see what has changed in high school education in the past two decades.  Critics say his writing style is very engaging and that he has some unique insights on what should be changed in our schools. 

Supporting life-long learning is one of the purposes of the public library.  Whether you have little ones to bring to story hour so that they can start to learn pre-reading skills, students to bring in to do homework, or sources to find for your own college paper, we’re here for you.

Librarian: The original search engine

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

“Google can bring back a hundred thousand answers; a librarian can bring you back the right one.”  This quote has been attributed to author Neil Gaiman and to librarian Diana Tixier Herald, but this librarian must admit the irony of having trouble finding the right source.  Herald, who is known as genrelibrarian on Twitter, was attributed by The Guardian newspaper as the source. She has set the record straight and said that she merely retweeted Gaiman’s tweet.  

Neil Gaiman is known for being very conversational on Twitter (he even answered a question of mine once), so I’ve asked him on Twitter if he would set the record straight, as well, and tell us whether he quoted someone else.  Twitter as a new research tool?  You go where you can find answers.

In the last two weeks I’ve had a string of people apologize to me for taking up my time when they’ve asked if I knew where to find some information they needed.  Let me set the record straight: helping people find information is part of my job.  

It’s not a big part of the job in a library of this size.  We don’t have a reference or information desk where a librarian handles questions all day, like they do at Willmar or St. Cloud or Ridgedale libraries.  But public libraries are always supposed to be places where you can ask for help to find information. 

Some of us at the Litchfield Library have had specialized training on handling reference questions, the librarian term for requests for help finding information.  Jan and I each completed a course on that many years ago.  I took a graduate school class on reference last year.  Others on our staff, like Mary and Linda, have had years of experience digging for answers for people.  We don’t always find the answer, to be honest, but we can help you figure out where to start and find good sources, and sometimes we can put exactly what you need in your hands for you to take home. 

Just try not to ask your question of the person shelving books, even though that may be the least intimidating way to go.  Reference questions aren’t part of that job, although she can tell you where to find a specific book.

I might look busy (it’s a busy library!), but I really do hope you’ll ask me if you need some information or some books on a subject.  A library staff member said to me lately, “You like the challenge, don’t you?” I do.  Rather than it being a bother, it is an interesting challenge to find something you’re seeking.  And it gives me a sense of purpose when people go away with some books and printouts on a medical condition they’re dealing with, or some contact information for a difficult insurance issue, or some resources for a college paper they’re writing.  I’ve had people shake my hand in surprised gratitude after finding what they didn’t think they could find.  It makes my day. 

We can’t give medical or legal or tax advice.  We’re not experts in these things.  But we can help with finding print and reliable internet resources on whatever subject you need, and then you can read it and interpret it for yourself.  Always consult an expert, your doctor, lawyer, or tax specialist, when it really matters that you understand things correctly and have the right answer on these kinds of issues.

 The next time you need some information help, think of the library.  You don’t have to go it alone and just Google it if that leaves you buried in a pile of possible answers.  We often use Google, too, but we might have some good ideas you wouldn’t have thought of to help you find just what you need.