Her suggestions?

• Identify your goal for an area.
• Allow that goal to dictate decisions you make regarding the items you go through.
• Stay focused: Don't leave the room until you've worked for at least an hour.
• If you find yourself emotionally attached to everything you find and you can't get rid of anything, you should talk to someone about this, like maybe a therapist.

Recommended Resources:

• The National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (NSGCD) Clutter Hoarding Scale
• NSGCD questionnaire: "Are you chronically disorganized?"

  	Stuff : Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost.
  	Throw Out Fifty Things : Clear the Clutter, Find your Life by Gail Blanke.
  	Clutter Busting : Letting Go of What's Holding you Back by Brooks Palmer.

April 22 at North Syracuse 1:30 p.m. Earth Day Celebration. Children ages 5 and up attended. They celebrated Earth Day by learning more about recycling and how to take care of our earth. The “Going Green” posters they made were fantastic, and everyone appreciated that none of the food available required icky packaging (fruit was served).
Monday, April 19 at Cicero 2:00 p.m. Pepakura! Printable Paper Models. This is Pepakura. Mario was made at today's event at Cicero. Took an hour to make.
Monday at Brewerton Noon to 3:00 p.m. Ace the Library Dog. Ace received top care at the library. 4-yr-old Emerson checked him out and brushed his teeth!

Be Counted!

Many thanks to Kyung Woo Han

NYC installation artist Kyung Woo Han presented his work to an audience at NOPL at Cicero on Tuesday, April 6 as part of the 'Art is for Everyone' series. Han's work amazed us, made us laugh, and stretched our brains. Our next visiting artist will be Thomas Gokey on June 1st at 6:30 (Cicero). Don't miss out!

In the News

October 15, 2009

The NOPL budget, with a modest increase of 2%, passed easily on October 14th, with 112 votes in favor, and 24 votes against.

NOPL now has two new trustees, Alice Lipovsky and Randy Lacelle.

Alice Lipovsky
Alice has taken an active interest in the library at Brewerton since 1992, when she got involved planning a big Halloween event for the library and then joined the Brewerton Friends group. She became a member of the board soon thereafter, and was among the original Board members when the Brewerton Public Library became part of Northern Onondaga Public Library (NOPL) in 1999. Alice remained on the board serving as corresponding secretary until 2002. She is retired from the position of executive assistant in the Department of Nursing at SUNY Upstate.

Randy Lacelle
Randy has been employed as a police officer with the Syracuse Police Department for twenty years, and has lived in Cicero with his wife and three daughters for the past fifteen. Randy is seeking a position on the board because he believes in the importance of the library and, as part of a whole family of avid library users and supporters, feels he can “bring many new ideas to the table.”

---

Calling all bloggers, hackers, patent holders, DIYers, tinkerers, artists and inventors.

NOPL wants to make special programs and services for you, and/or to talk about ways to collaborate with you.

Send links to your blogs/Websites to Meg Backus, or call her at 699-2534. She wants to hear about you and your work.

Site for Do-It-Yourselfers: Instructables.com
Blog for geeks and hacker-types: Boing Boing

Kids may not always look forward to going back to school, but they sure do like to get new stuff.
     But some students can't afford new folders, crayons and notebooks. On average, school supplies cost as much as $50 per child; some parents simply can't spend that kind of money. To make sure those kids get the same chance as others, the Northern Onondaga Public Libraries are conducting their ninth annual 'Great Start' school supply drive. Supplies can be dropped off at any of the three libraries through Aug. 31.
      "We know there is a correlation between school performance and socioeconomic class" said Meg Backus of NOPL. "Malcolm Gladwell's recent book Outliers delineates the patterns pretty well. The students who generate those statistics are likely not aware of the system-level disparity. They are more likely to experience their disadvantage by feeling lousy about their stuff compared to other kids' stuff, or feeling anxiety about that list of supplies they receive when they know their families have no spare money for those items."
      The school supply drive might not address those core inequalities, but it does address that immediate need.
      "The average individual person can do little in the way of serious social or educational reform" Backus said. "A single average person can, however, prevent a child from crying at the bus stop because she doesn't have a new backpack. We can alleviate some of the immediate distress experienced by underprivileged students and their parents."
      The supplies collected by NOPL are distributed through local food pantries.
      "People who use the food pantries come with the lists of required materials," Backus said. "The pantries try their best to fulfill those lists. Any supplies leftover at the pantries after school is underway are taken directly to schools, so that when teachers observe students who lack adequate materials, the supplies are immediately available at the point of need."
      About 100 students benefit from the drive each year. Providing supplies to those students, Backus said, equalizes the playing field on the first day of school.
      "Everyone should begin a new school year equipped with the materials to be successful," she said. "Bright, clean school supplies always seem full of promise. We picture ourselves doing great things with new sharp crayons, or unblemished notebooks. They get our imaginations going; they motivate us. We call the drive 'Great Start' because everyone should begin the year with that excited, hopeful, fresh feeling."