Relay for Life 2011

Since 2003 there has been a Relay for Life event in the Des Plaines/Park Ridge area. Every year the library has had a team participating in the Relay. Our team name is the Book Babes (of course, the team isn’t made up of just women—men are on our team too!).

See the moon shining in that picture? Relay for Life is an overnight community event. At least one member from each team needs to be walking on the track from 6:30pm until 5:30am. This is to symbolize that the battle against cancer never sleeps so for one night we won’t sleep either.

Every Book Babe Relays for a different reason—maybe they’re walking in support of a friend or family member, or in member of a loved one. But the Book Babes all walk in support of our fellow coworkers who are cancer survivors. We also walk to remember our good friends and coworkers who are no longer with us, Barbara Saletnik and Kathy Kyrouac.

We fundraise during the year by holding bake sales for the library staff as well as having Denim Dayz, where staff has the ability to wear jeans (and lots of pink!) to work in exchange for a small donation.

Every Book Babe also fundraises individually. The money that we raise goes to the American Cancer Society, which puts the money towards research, early detection, and education as well as help to those who have cancer (like giving rides to patients who have no way to get to treatment).

As captain of the Book Babes, Cheryl Gladfelter is very proud of the 14 library staff members and their families who donate their time and energy to represent the library in our community.

If you are looking for a fantastic event to go to on Friday, come on out to Relay! Bring your friends and family. Different teams will be selling items like Walking Tacos, candy, and homemade root beer. If you know someone that is a cancer survivor, please encourage them to come to the event because we want to honor and recognize our survivors. The fun will be happening at Maine West High School on the track this Friday, June 24^th. The opening ceremony starts at 6pm. The closing ceremony will be Saturday, June 25^th at 5:30am.

The library’s Book Babes hope to see you there! We’ll be at campsite 6, so please stop by and say hi!

Riding with the Des Plaines Peloton

Peloton: noun/ˈpeləˌtän/ The main field or group of cyclists in a race.

We weren’t actually racing on June 4th, as Police Chief Jim Prandini kept reminding us, though I saw plenty of riders in spandex and clip-in bike shoes. We all had helmets and we all had bicycles and we all had a great time.

We were celebrating the refurbishment of the Des Plaines River Bike Trail, a 3-year effort by the City of Des Plaines to improve the existing Des Plaines River Trail through the city.

Riders gathered at Public Works near the Methodist Campground to register, buy a helmet if needed, and in general gear up for the ribbon cutting and trail ride. There were at least 250 people in attendance, some riding, some setting up drinks and food, some registering riders, and everyone having a good time.

The trail is just gorgeous, with dappled sunlight breaking through the trees, and plenty of room for riders and runners on both sides of the path. We had so many riders that we started seeing them coming back while we were still on our way south!

Here’s the end result: sweaty, thirsty and all smiles! Pictured are Alderman Dick Sayad, Library Trustee Steve Mokry, Acting Assistant Director Roberta S. Johnson, and Alderman Dan Wilson, liaison to the Library Board. So get out on that bike trail - you'll probably cross paths with the Mayor!

myCatalog: How to Sign Up Today

For the last several months DPPL patrons (that means YOU) have had the chance to try out our new catalog searching experience. Its brand name is BiblioCommons but we're calling it mycatalog and you can access the DPPL gateway here: dppl.bibliocommons.com

The most important thing you need to know as a new user - you'll need to spend a few minutes creating an account. It's a short, simple process because mycatalog can access much of your account information from our former catalog. You'll see the login box on the right side of the screen - type in your library card barcode number and your current password to get started.

• VERY IMPORTANT. You will need to create a screen name for yourself - choose something that is meaningful to you and easy to remember. If privacy is a concern, choose a nickname rather than your real name but PLEASE do not use your library card number as your screen name. When logging into the new catalog, you will be able to use your screen name OR your familiar library card number.
  
  
• MOST IMPORTANT. If you have been using the word "patron" is your password, you MUST CHANGE IT in this new catalog. Not doing so will create a serious security risk, so please, take it upon yourself to create a new password. If you forget your password at any time, you can reset your password via email (so add your email address to your account).

Once your account is set up, take mycatalog for a spin! Try searching, using the search box located at the top of every screen. Try placing a hold on an item. Notice that you can: create lists of books you've read, write your own comments and ratings on individual items, "follow" other users whose interests are similar to yours.

It will take some getting used to as the information displays differently than our current catalog, but thousands of DPPL patrons have already signed up and report that they love it! Give it a whirl today!

Below, easy instructions for myCatalog use. This brochure is available at the library, as well. For easier reading, click on the images below to open each page -with larger type - in a new window: