Catch the Beat with SEMLS SRP 2007

Quick tip for not having to enter the online password for every freakin' clip art. ARGH!

This works for Mozilla Fox users:

To quickly retrieve clipart images for your brochures and fliers, try this method:

Once you find the Catch the Beat program for our state, select the JPEG version of the download.

Click on Download the JPEG clip art.

You'll then be asked the password. Enter it and then look at the left side of your screen for the EXTRACT ALL FILES section. (This is located under the Folder Tasks section of Windows 2000& higher).

Once you click on this EXTRACT ALL FILES, another window will be displayed prompting you to click NEXT.

Click NEXT for another screen. (Here I would highly recommend that you create a file folder where you can easily find the clip art).

So the next step would be to select BROWSE.

Then select MAKE NEW FOLDER. (I've named my file SRP 2007 Clip and saved this on my desktop to make life easier).

Click OK. (You may have to enter the password one more time for the extracting to begin. But once you do you should see the files downloading).

Voila! Your clipart files should all be in a folder on your computers. YEAH! No more entering the password.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Internet Explorer Users
Try this set of instructions offered by Janet Eckert of Western Region:

5. When you select a clip art file, you will be prompted for the confidential password.
6. When you enter “OK” the clipart that you selected will open and you are ready to go!

If you are still having trouble, please give me a call! I'll gladly walk you through.

Just wondering....How did the Barnes & Noble Bookfair go last week? I've heard back from two people who volunteered but what about my others?

Barnes & Noble store managers are still tallying the figures. We should have results of our statewide effort in days. Again, thanks to all who tackled their patrons to the floor and force-fed a voucher into their clinched hands. *smile* We appreciate all of our guerilla librarian warriors!

NEWS...NEWS...NEWS and more NEWS!

The summer reading materials are in the mail and are being shipped directly to you! All of your summer reading materials, the bookmarks, posters and reading logs are all on their merry way. You should be receiving them within days. Woo hoo! Thanks to Waste Management's contribution we have been able to afford individual branch shipping costs. Yeah! And speaking of sponsorship, we'll release a press release thanking them for their cooperation and participation in our 2007 state program within a few days. But in the meantime, you can add the wording of this credit line to all of your fliers & brochures:

Catch the Beat at Your Library is sponsored by your local library, the Massachusetts Regional Library Systems, and Waste Management.

or you can use this graphic instead if space is a premium on your printed materials:& Waste Management


And for those of you who will be participating in the online reading program this summer(and beyond), you'll see a credit line such as this below already embedded on your branch's online summer reading web link:

ReadsInMa is sponsored by your local library, the Massachusetts Regional Library Systems, and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.

Either way, we are giving credit where credit is due!

Late program idea news from our Catch the Beat Roundtable of April 17th.

Lots of information...so little time! Where do we begin?

Let's start with some of the craft ideas that were shared by librarians as far South as Eastham up to Norfolk:

Using Accu-cut images as design options, Somerset hopes to inspire kids (and parents) to create Native American Lakota Shields using cardboard & construction paper.
Each week, Eastham will build song and craft ideas around selected song titles. So when, In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle the Lion Sleeps Tonight song is featured, kids will build Lion Masks and dance.
Stoughton will offer...geeze I forgot. It's been a while. Would anyone else care to elaborate more on their summer program ideas?

If you are collecting an arsenal of music-themed children's books for your storytime, perhaps this website can be of help? At Musickit.com the site provides an alphabetical listing of children's books that incorporates lyrics of popular music as text. You may have many of these pre 2000 copyrighted titles in your collection but just in case you don't, a March 14 Massyac email offered by Dallas librarian Rebecca Williams posts a small compilation of music-themed picture books, many printed within the last five years:

Asch, Frank - Barnyard Lullaby
Base, Graeme - Jungle Drums
Cox, Judy - My Family Plays Music
Emberley, Barbara - Drummer Hoff (Caldecott)
Falconer, Ian - Olivia forms a band
Harper, Wilhelmina - The Gunniwolf
Horowitz, David - Soon, Baboon, Soon
Hurd, Thacher - Mama Don't Allow
Johnson, Angela - Violet's Music
Krosoczka, Jarret J. - Punk Farm
Kuskin, Karla - The Philharmonic Gets Dressed Karla Kuskin.
Lionni, Leo - Geraldine the Music Mouse
Lithgow, John - The Remarkable Farkle McBride
London, Jonathan - Froggy Plays in the Band
McMullen, Kate - Rock-a-baby band
McPhail, David - Mole Music
Miko, Imai - Sebastian's Trumpet
Mills, Claudia - Gus and Grandpa and the piano lesson
Ziefert, Harriet - Animal Music

Adler, Naomi - Play Me a Story: Nine tales about musical instruments
Anholt, Catherine and Laurence - Chimp and Zee's Noisy Book
Bartlett, T.C. - Tuba Lessons
Blake, Quentin - All Join In
Brett, Jan - Berlioz the Bear
Cowan, Catherine - My Friend the Piano
Fowler, Susi - Fog
Garriel, Barbara - I Know a Shy Fellow Who Swallowed a Cello
Shannon, George - Lizard's Song
Gray, Libba Moore - When Uncle Took the Fiddle
Harrison, David - The Animals' Song
Kraus, Robert - Mort the Sport
Kraus, Robert - Musical Max
Mahy, Margaret - Boom, Baby, Boom, Boom
Mandy - Hattie's House
Munsch, Robert - Mortimer
Pinkney, Brian - Max Found two Sticks
Raschka, Chris - Charlie Parker Played Be Bop
Sage, James - The Little Band
Seeger, Pete - Abiyoyo
Sharratt, Nick - Animal Orchestra
Waddell, Martin - The Happy Hedgehog Band
Webb, Steve - Tanka, Tanka, Skunk
Wells, Rosemary - Practice Makes Perfect
Wiggles - Hot Potato, Hot Potato (board book)
Williams, Vera - Something Special for Me
Wilson, Budge - A Fiddle for Angus

Cleveland Lee's Beale Street Band by Art Flowers
Nurseryland King Cole's Castle by Colin Maclean
The First Music by Dylan Pritchett
Hands, Fingers.....Dr. Seuss
Orchestranimals by Vlasta Van Kampen
The Will Hillenbrand version of "Fiddle-I-Fee" features animals playing
different instruments, with appropriate sound effects.

If you have a picture book favorite that you would like to share, feel free to post here.

13...14..15...16....We are seventeen days away from the big event. And while there are several mark-your-calendar moments in this month alone, National Library Week, Spring Break, Earth Day we here at Summer Reading Program Central are concerned with one at the moment--The Catch the Beat for Your Library at Barnes & Noble event. Now is the time to really promote our statewide bookfair! While you continue to have access to the vouchers online, you should be receiving a hard copy of the press release, voucher and flier via the courier. If you have already started passing out these handsome-looking vouchers, kudos to you! For those of you who haven't, you still have time. All information and promotional material can be found at www.cmrls.org/bn.

We want to let the public know how excited we are by joining with B&N for this annual event so go ahead and advertise the Catch the Beat for Your Library at Barnes & Noble April event! We urge you to share this information on your webpages and any other vehicle that you may use to let your library-loving patrons know of this partnership to promote literacy. And while this is a statewide affair, let your patrons know that through the "wishlist" list there is even an opportunity for your library to directly benefit from this fundraiser/bookfair. Tell them that if they would like to help you build their favorite library's collection and help support summer reading, that vouchers will be made available at cash registers in every Massachusetts and select RI, CT and NH Barnes & Noble retail stores.

And speaking of partnerships, I want to thank any and all of the librarians who expressed an interest to offer a craft and/or storytime at their local Barnes & Noble stores during April 20-21st. Your participation is sure to make this event a success! If you would still like to volunteer for that day or any other day beyond April, you're welcome to call any of the listed Southeastern Region store managers below:

• Lorie Sullivant--Hyannis Store 508.862.6310
• Eric Oh--Braintree Store 781.380.0665
• Jessica Foley--Hingham Store 781.749.3319
• Beth Savage--North Dartmouth 508.997.0701
• Anne Marie Kennedy--Walpole 508.668.1303