DPL Blog

Hello T-County neighbors!  Our library is looking for submissions for the second edition of the literary magazine, Tapestries of Tuscarawas County!   We are compiling stories for publication in a book as part of an ongoing oral history project.  This project is a vibrant book that captures what it is like to live in Tuscarawas County and we hope you can help.  If you have a strong memory of your life that you can share with us in the form of a letter or email, you could be included in this book–and may even win a cash prize!  Each story provided will be a thread, and each thread will be woven together with stories from friends, family, and neighbors to contribute to a rich tapestry that expresses the varied beauty of our individual lives. This book will display a collection of stories and art of and from Tuscarawas County in its second edition!

Submission Form

How do I contribute?

You can contribute by sharing your stories with us! There are several ways to do this: You can write us a letter. You can dictate your story to a loved one. You can record it at a family gathering. It can be handwritten, typed, or emailed. All we ask is that the final submissions are kept to 2,000 words or less.

What if I’m not a very good writer?

Stories are not judged based on writing ability, but on interest and relation to our county, and our editor will help make them ready for publication. You will get a chance to review the edited version before it is published.

What should I write about?

Anything! Your best/worst memory, something embarrassing that happened, something that changed your life, something that stands out to you as a representative example of your youth or adulthood in Tuscarawas County. The stories must adhere to only two rules: they must be true, and they must not harm anyone in the telling. See the reverse side for some prompt questions to help you get started. More questions can be found at https://storycorps.org/great-questions/

How can I win the cash prize?

The editing team at the Dover Public Library will award the top prize to the most appealing story. Writing ability is NOT a factor. There is no cost to submit a story, and you are under no obligations.

When can I get the book?

Tapestries of Tuscarawas County will be released in the fall of 2017. Contributors will receive a free copy. It will also be available at Dover Public Library and other local libraries and historical societies. Write your letter today! You can be proud to be a part of this valuable addition to our local living history.  Deadline for submission is August 1, 2017.

If you have questions about this project, please contact Kellie Pleshinger at kpleshin@ashland.edu or by calling the library at 330-343-6123

What are you doing in that “tiny room” by the back door?

I’m Linda Toohey the Outreach Librarian and I’m asked that a lot. Big things happen in that” tiny room”. For instance, did you know that over 100 people throughout our community get items delivered right to their door?

Being the Outreach Librarian, I am responsible for making sure our homebound patrons are still able to make use of our library. I keep records of what each of these individuals like to read and maintain a reading list for them. I then select items for them. Whether they like books, CDs, DVDs or magazines, it doesn’t matter. Whatever is available in the library is also available to our homebound patrons as well. Then I check these items out for them and put them in a bag with their name on them. Then these bags get crated up for delivery. With the help of some very reliable volunteers we deliver these bags to the patrons and pick up what they are finished with. Everything then comes back to the library where I unload and check everything back in.

In my spare time, I also do research for entertaining and educational programs that I compose and present at the area care facilities and the Senior Center. So although you might not see a lot of me, I am doing a lot for the people of our community that can’t make it to the library.

Stop by to say “hi” and see the big things that happen in that “tiny room”!   

Hello, Patrons! Ever start talking to one of us here at the library and get the sense that we’re actually speaking a different language? Well, here are some commonly used Librarian phrases and their meanings.

1. Patron: (n) A person who uses the library. AKA: You! Other libraries also use the words “Customer” or “User.” We prefer “Patron” because without your support, or patronage, we wouldn’t have a Library to begin with.
2. Processing: (v) The task of getting items ready to be checked out. This includes adding labels, bar-codes, and stamps to the materials and putting the record in the system.
3. Polaris: (n) Our computer system. It houses all of our records for every item we circulate and all of our patrons. (No wonder we get stressed out when “Polaris” goes down!)
4. ILL: Inter-Library-Loan; (v) the process of borrowing a book from a different library. We contact the other library, check it out (as if we were a patron), have it sent to us, add it temporarily to Polaris, then call the Patron who requested it. (n) An item that has been obtained from another library. Learn More.
5. Weeding: (v) The process of removing books that are outdated, no longer circulate, or are in bad shape from the library shelves. No, we are not working outside. But just as a successful garden requires weeding, so does a successful library.

What other words or phrases have you heard us use at the Library?

-Liz Strauss

Teen Librarian

Ever wonder what we do all day? Here’s an inside look at what being a Library Assistant here at Dover Public Library is all about. 

Syrena and Children’s Librarian Dani at the StoryWalk(r) at Dover City Park

Name: Syrena Troyer

Job Title: Library Assistant

12:30 – 1:30 PM

Cover the Desk for the morning shift’s lunch break. Check patrons out. Check returned items in. Shelve (put away) items that have been returned and checked in.

2:00 – 3:00 PM

Cover the Desk. Help patrons.  Process new DVDs. This means putting a record in the computer system and adding labels and a bar-code to the case. Check the Book Drop in the back for books that need checked in and delivered to the Adult Department.

3:00 – 4:00 PM

Cover the Desk. Help patrons. Shelve books. Check in returned items. Check the Book Drop.

4:00 – 5:00 PM

LUNCH BREAK! YAY!

5:00 – 7:00 PM

Cover the Desk. Help patrons.  Check in returned items. Check the Book Drops. Shelve all materials that were checked in.

7:00 – 8:00 PM

Work on changing some of our Graphic Novels from Fiction to Non-fiction. Change the labels on said Graphic Novels. Check out and assist patrons. Perform Closing Procedures

“With the good sunny days we have been having, it’s great to get outside and enjoy just being outside.  I love when winter gets out of the way and warm spring comes and takes it’s place. Now watch, I will have cursed us, and we’ll have snow and cold weather.” – Me about a month ago

Oops.

Well, we can still plan ahead, right? For when Spring is here for real?

 I, for one, have been planing on just what flowers, vegetables, and new seed items I want to plant. We have a seed library for those who like to garden. It’s open to anyone in the community,  and the seeds are free. Everything is located in the old library card catalog. If you aren’t sure what a card catalog is, come to the front desk, and we’ll show you. You can take any seed packets, plant the seeds, watch them grow and bring back some seeds from the plant if you can. We take seed donations, too.

 We have our annual Seed Library Plant Sale on Saturday,  May 6th from 9 to 12. You can find plants for your yard , some yard art, crafts, and other garden items. All for a donation. If you wish, you can donate plants that you need out of your yard. Yes, we will take hostas. All proceeds will help the Seed Library keep planting. 

Please call us here at the Library at 330-343-6123 if you have any questions!

NOW, let’s all think good, warm thoughts, and maybe, just maybe, this cold wind will go away.

-Denise Campbell-Johnson, Library Assistant & Plant Enthusiast

When it gets down to it, books, reading, and the culture of books and reading have always been the public library’s “bread & butter.” A great way to celebrate that culture is to get involved in a book club. Book clubs are everywhere and not just at the public library. Churches sponsor and promote book clubs, as do private groups of friends and families. Even sports teams have discussion on a common book. Coaches often see reading and experiencing a common book as a great team building experience. At its most basic level, book clubs bring people together and creates community through the shared experience of reading the same book.

Each year the county Literacy Coalition sponsors One Book, One Community on that same concept: let’s get one book in the hands of thousands of people and discuss it. Let’s put aside our differences and our backgrounds and our economic and educational differences and find common ground.

At the Dover Public Library, we offer several book club options at various times on different days of the week. The Tuesday Night Book Club meets the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM. The focus of this group is variety and popular fiction and non-fiction. B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Book Club) meets offsite at restaurants and pubs on the 1st Thursday of each month at 7:00 PM. Each month the group uses a different theme. For example, one month it may be Ohio authors or British mysteries. The next it could be plays or Civil War non-fiction. Another library book club is called the Chautauqua Literary & Scientific Circle, or CLSC, which meets on the last Thursday of each month at noon. This book club reads books on the Chautauqua Institution’s book list. Participants are given the opportunity to apply for “graduation” through CLSC, which is the oldest continuous book club in America.

In the end, book clubs are not only challenging and inspiring but great social opportunities as well. Let’s face it: we were not put on this planet to walk alone. If you love reading, we encourage you to connect with other bibliophiles at the Dover Public Library. Who knows, it may just change your life!

-Jim Gill, Director