David Townsend (re: CdA library user viewing porn upsets girl): For the sake of clarification, indications are that the incident described was probably someone using their own laptop rather than one of the unfiltered computers in the library's computer lab. Filtering would not have an impact on the WiFi … users who are in the library on their own computers. Users do agree — by logging on to the library WiFi — to not view pornography in the library. If staff get complaints a patron's behavior is disruptive — including viewing porn — they can be asked to leave.

Thoughts?

Item: Perusing in public: Some library computers are unfiltered for a good reason, but that also allows patrons chance to view pornography/Tom Hasslinger, Coeur d'Alene Press

More Info: Compared to cell phone chatter, it barely registers. But the explicit images Elisabeth Goltz's fourth-grade daughter saw on a library patron's computer screen shocked her. The girl, at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library on Nov. 21 for a class trip, was perusing the upper level when she saw a man she'd describe as wrinkly, with long, gray hair looking at naked women on his computer. She did not report it to library staff. Instead, the girl kept quiet until her mother was tucking her in that night.

David Townsend/CdA Library: “Indications are that the incident described was probably someone using their own laptop rather than one of the unfiltered computers in the library's computer lab. Filtering would not have an impact on the WiFi… users who are in the library on their own computers. Users do agree - by logging on to the library WiFi - to not view pornography in the library. If staff get complaints a patron's behavior is disruptive — including viewing porn — they can be asked to leave.”

Question: Should more be done to prevent adults from viewing pornography at a library computer?

Well, of course, the City owned the Library all along. That’s not the issue. The issue is, once again, the reactive approach by highly-paid city staff to a long-standing issue during an election campaign. It’s becoming predictable. In today’s Press, an article states that the City owns the Library. For whatever reason, the County Assessor has listed the Library as an asset of the LCDC. It’s been listed that way since the Library was constructed over four years ago. City Administrator Wendy Gabirel took it upon herself to “correct” the situation. According to the article, she directed Finance Director Troy Tymesen to contact the County and have them re-classify the Library as a City asset. Having the county make that adjustment is okay because the City does own the Library, but I have a question: Why did it take one of the City’s highest paid officials so long to recognize such an obvious mistake?/Dan Gookin, Dan Gookin Campaign Blog. More here.

Question: What to you think of the point Dan Gookin makes here?

Libraries in the Cooperative Information Network (CIN) have added a new online “branch” providing downloadable digital books and audiobooks available 24-hours a day. This new service, powered by OverDrive, is free for patrons with a resident library card. Patrons can browse the available books by visiting their library’s website where they will be directed to the “CIN Digital Downloads” page. Users will need to install free software on their computers or wireless-equipped reading devices.
The system is compatible with most popular devices including Kindle, iPad, iPod, Nook, and others. In addition, audiobooks can be downloaded to computers and burned to a CD or transferred to an MP3 player. The system is designed for use with patrons’ devices rather than with Internet computers in area libraries/Coeur d'Alene Today. More here.

Question: Have you been waiting for this as much as I have?

Before the Kootenai County Constitution Party was offended by the public art depicting Hindu god Ganesha on Sherman Avenue, it got ticked off by a Coeur d'Alene Public Library Thanksgiving display. Which showed some of the Pilgrims as African-Americans. Here's part of a letter that Justin Cottrell of the Constitution Party sent to library Director Betty Ammon on Oct. 1, 2009: “On a recent trip with my family to the Coeur d’Alene Library I took notice of the festive holiday kiosk in the children’s section of the library. However in enjoying the vivid array of color, I was shocked and disappointed when my family and I came to the display on Thanksgiving. While the display was full of fall colors and traditional harvest related items, the portrayal of the Pilgrim’s race is in obvious error. Even by the most liberal accounts of the Puritan Thanksgiving, of which our holiday is based off of, none suggest anything other than the Pilgrims were European in their lineage.” More here. (Wikipedia photo: “The First Thanksgiving” by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris)

Question: Do you suppose the Native Americans who helped saved the Pilgrims wereof  European descent, too?

Patrons participating in an overdue-fine amnesty at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library donated a record amount of food to a local food bank. From Nov. 15 to Dec. 4, patrons gave 892 pounds of food as part of the Fa La La La La Food for Fines. A donation of nonperishable food for people or pets could be donated at the library in lieu of payments for late fees. The amnesty did not apply to charges for lost or damaged items. Since the periodic Food for Fines program was introduced, the largest donation to date was in March 2008 when 510 pounds was collected/David Townsend, Coeur d’Alene Today. More here.

Question: I’ll confess right up front that every other book that I return to the library is overdue. How about you? Do you get your library books back in time?

I’ve forced myself to enjoy poetry since I read a feature story on Walt Whitman in a National Geographics while working out on an exercise bike some years ago. The writer suggested reading poetry out loud, if you had trouble understanding or enjoying the form. I did that with “Leaves of Grass” and later Emily Dickinson’s poetry. However, it wasn’t until I read Billy Collins’s work that I got the hang of poetry. Last week, I checked out Collins’s “Ballistics” from the Coeur d’Alene Library. Before scanning the book for me, the librarian mentioned that Collins was also her favorite, and that a poem about “Canada” had particularly spoken to her. “More people would enjoy poetry, if they read Billy Collins,” she said. I agree. I (heart) Collins’s insightful poem, “New Year’s Day.” (You can hear & see Billy Collins reading his poetry here)

Question: Who is your favorite poet?

Candice Reed, co-author of “Thank You for Firing Me! How to Catch the Next Wave of Success After You Lose Your Job,” will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29, in the Community Room of the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave. Reed’s successful writing career has spanned more than 20 years. Before her career in journalism, she lost jobs as an insurance salesperson, a funeral director, a singing/dancing waitress and an ice-cream binging weight-loss counselor.

Question: Did you ever come well ahead as a result of being fired from a job?

Rod Erickson, who learned to yodel from a Gonzaga opera instructor and now operates Spirit Lake’s Fireside Lodge, is another of the subjects that you’ll find in Ralph Bartholdt’s photography exhibit, “Neighbors,” at the Coeur d’Alene Library. You can see Ralph’s exhibit through Sept. 30 at the library @ Front & 7th. And you can read Rod Erickson’s story here.

Above, you see World War II veteran John Meschko in his St. Maries home. John’s portrait by Ralph Bartholdt is one of many that is on display through Sept. 30 at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library lower gallery as part of Ralph’s photography exhibit: “Neighbors, Faces of North Idaho.” Ralph is a long-time North Idaho blogger (see: Skookum Photography in right rail) and now a reporter for the Bonner County Bee. Ralph e-mails Hucks Online: ” These are images of Panhandle people that I interviewed for stories over the past decade ranging from a heavy-legged Priest Lake barber to Jonesy Woltering, a 70-something independent woman who lived at Little Carpenter Creek south of Fernwood and prided herself in being able to hunt ‘as well as any man.’ A few celebs such as the late Vernon Baker and classical guitarist Leon Atkinson, but mostly just neighbors, unfamed but still worth celebrating for their decency and candor and humanness.”

In this 2007 SR file photo by Kathy Plonka, Vietnam veteran Dusty Rhoads of the Coeur d’Alene chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America power washes the headstones of veterans from the Civil War, Spanish-American War and WWI at Forest Cemetery in Coeur d’Alene. Beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday, the city library and parks department will lead a guided tour of the history cemetery. The cemetery at 1011 Government Way was originally owned by the U.S. Army from 1878 to 1901, for use by Fort Sherman troops. More here.

Question: Do you consider cemeteries as a place of peace and reflection — or scary?

“Apparently people aren’t the only ones who appreciate public art,” posts David Townsend/Coeur d’Alene Today. “This pair of ducks enjoyed the water feature at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library Wednesday. ‘Horizons,’ by artist Mark Stasz was installed in 2007 when the library opened. The ducks may have arrived early for the Summer Reading Program at the library. The youth theme this year is ‘Make a Splash.’” More here.

Question: Which display of public art is your favorite in the greater Coeur d’Alene area?