FPLDidYouKnow

A straight line may be the shortest distance from Point A to Point B, but travelers will tell you that the memorable events occur when your course deviates. It may not always be easy, but it will certainly be interesting. The experience is best when travel is approached with a sense of adventure.

¿Habla usted español?
Parlez-vous français?
Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
Nihongo o hanashimasu ka? / 日本語を話しますか。
Do you speak English?

Anticipation, delayed gratification, whatever you want to call it, I'm a big fan, so this month I thought it would be fun to feature books that we're looking forward to reading.

For 58 years I was a cat person. I never had any pets but cats. And my cats were friendly, personable creatures, despite the haughty stereotype that has been so slanderously assigned to them. Everything changed, however, a few years back when my husband came home one day, placed a little bit of white fluff in my hands, and said, “Here’s your new puppy.”

Can you imagine leaving your home and traveling thousands of miles to take up residence in a place where you only have a basic knowledge of the native language?

For the students of Frisco Public Library’s ESL Conversation Club, this is a reality.

They come from all over the world... Mexico, Brazil, Iran, Africa, China, and Slovakia... for many different reasons. Some have been here for years, others for a matter of weeks, but in spite of their differences they’re all in the Club for the same reason – to improve their spoken English.

Every now and again I'm reminded that not everyone has 5 years or so experience working with the back-end of our catalog system and therefore isn't fully aware of everything that can be done through the front end.

So today, I thought I'd share about a little-known feature that's exceptionally useful -- especially for those of us who put a lot of items on hold only to have them all become available at the same time.  Or for those who want more control over the order in which items become available.

“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” – W. Somerset Maugham

W. Somerset Maugham may have been on to something, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to find our own rules for writing a novel—or writing in general—which is why we currently have TWO writing clubs. 

One of the groups (Write Club) is for adults...

There's something new on our website.  Have you noticed?  Take a look. 

I've got time, so don't feel rushed.

That's it.  You're getting closer.

Almost there...

It's no secret that we all have our favorites.  Yes, plural.  Who could choose just one?!?  No one who works in a library, that's for sure.

We have our favorite authors, titles, subjects, and genres.  Also, characters, scenes, first lines, and quotes. 

But, working in a library, we also have a lot of books to choose from, so from time to time we can't resist the lure of a book that's not from a favorite category.  And sometimes it's fabulous. 

So, you might call these... favorite books from genres we don't usually read.

You’re in for a pleasant surprise the next time you visit the library’s OverDrive-powered website, http://digital.friscolibrary.com, to checkout eBooks and eAudiobooks. Not only is the upgraded website set up so that the user experience is the same on both desktop and mobile devices, but there are also several new features and navigation improvements.