#lcpl reply

[lakecountylibrary]

sending much love in this everyone is getting defunded time 💕💕💕💕 hope u guys are doing ok

Hi! Thanks! We are Going Through It!

The truth is, we don't how bad it's going to be for us specifically. You've heard of the federal-level funding problems; here in Indiana we're undergoing our own budget trials as well. Your support means the world to us.

I've put details about our state-level challenges as well as a refresher on the federal funding problems under the cut but here's the tl;dr:

There isn't much you can do for LCPL at the state level right now, but please call Congress and tell them to support libraries at the federal level.

The proposed FY2026 budget completely eliminates IMLS and that's not good. The American Library Association has a tool to make calling easy, complete with script!

And here are the promised details:

At the federal level:

The current administration used an executive order to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which provided millions of dollars in grants to libraries across the country.

These IMLS grants were used to fund things like interlibrary loan systems, research databases, and braille/talking books libraries.

As of May 1, a temporary restraining order has been placed preventing the further dismantling of the department while things are investigated, but a lot of damage has been done.

On May 2, President Trump's FY2026 budget proposal [PDF] was released. On page 39, it calls for the complete elimination of IMLS (as well as many other departments such as the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts). The American Library Association was able to sue for that temporary restraining order we mentioned partially because Congress HAD funded the IMLS for 2025. If Congress opts not to fund it for 2026 as suggested in this proposal, that'll be it.

This is the part where I repeat: please call Congress and ask them to support libraries. Here's the link with the script again.

And here's what's going on locally in Indiana:

Funding for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has been eliminated from the state budget. After some pressure, Governor Braun has handed the program over to his spouse to try to fund-raise what's needed to keep it running across the state. Here's an article from the Post-Tribune with some library officials' perspectives on that decision.

Funding for the Indiana State Library has been cut by 30% (HEA 1001)

A new property tax bill has been passed (SEA 1) that will drastically cut libraries' main source of income. The Indiana Library Federation reported: "The Legislative Services Agency’s fiscal impact statement shows that SEA 1 would reduce public library funding by over $12.2 million in 2026, growing to nearly $16.8 million by 2028." (source, PDF)

So it's sort of... a lot. Lately. Thank you for reading all of this, and thank you for supporting your libraries!

[lakecountylibrary]

#question for librarians#i have taken to holding and taking out books even if i don't actually plan on reading them#just to keep numbers up and titles i like in circulation#is this useful? neutral? or harmful?#can libby or hoopla tell if I haven't cracked open the book i borrowed and does that affect their metrics?#(also I don't do this to books that genuinely have people waiting on them behind me)

What an interesting question! I'm sure you're not the only one wondering, so I took it down to our collection development librarian for a thorough answer. Here's what we've got for you:

Simplest answer:

Whether or not you actually read the books does not matter in the least to our circulation stats! We have no way of knowing.

Longer answer:

Checking out the book multiple times may not have the effect you think it will, at least on Libby, because many books are purchased for a set number of checkouts. The book remains in our collections until the checkouts are used up.

Once we run out of licenses we have to decide whether to purchase the book again, and that answer may be no, depending on various factors (ie, presence of other books on the topic in the collection, how many licenses for the price, is it even still available, etc) even if it circulated a bunch.

If the book doesn't run out of checkouts, it stays in our collection anyway even if circ on it is low.

Other books are purchased for a set time period. When that time period is up, we decide whether to buy it again. Circulation on the title matters - but so do those other factors I mentioned earlier.

How can you as a patron tell which books are which? You can't.

There is also the possibility that continually checking out materials means other patrons who just browse the collection looking for what's available will never discover books that are always checked out. You'd be surprised how many people only look at what's in and refuse to put a hold on something that's checked out!

Should you feel guilty checking out a book you want to read if it means it uses a checkout or someone else has to wait? No!! (Scroll up and read the original post again - you're good!)

So, what to do? Our best advice is to use the digital resources genuinely. If you start to see that books you find valuable are leaving the collection, use the purchase request function or Notify Me tags to tell us you want them back.

But most importantly, don't stress over it. You're not going to break your library one way or the other; we have systems in place to ensure a healthy collection and to maintain our budget.

Bonus info about finishing books:

Libby and Hoopla might record how much of a book you read, but that's just for your convenience. The number may not be accurate either; if you download the book, turn on airplane mode, and read the whole thing and then return it before you have an internet connection, the app would have no idea how much you read (I do this frequently to save battery on my elderly kindle Paperwhite lol)

So even if we wanted to see that stat, it's not something we could rely on!

If you don't use your library's Libby and Hoopla collections, you run the risk of losing that access. Your library will see the low numbers and think "no one is using this service and we need to save money so let's get rid of it". I am saying this because at the library I work at, the collections team reduced the number of books you can check out each month for Hoopla. They reduced the amount by more than half - 25 to 10 - all because people weren't using it at the same capacity they were during lockdown.

Digital collections are expensive yes but when libraries are able to show the library board or city that their services are highly sought after and used in large numbers, that aids in arguing for increasing the budget - or at least keeping the budget where it's at.

Whatever your opinion on pirating is, you are doing not a single person favors by not using library resources just because you have a misunderstanding in how it actually works.

[alonygamingnerd]

"A bit too quiet"

Sedra Campaign part 6

Following 1st and 3rd Squad rendezvous with each other and assessing their situation. 1st squad, at half strength and at the request of Grimes, would walk in front of the platoon's tank, while 3rd squad, at full strength, would walk behind the tank to counsel their numbers.

The sounds of distant explosions fill the air through the silence of the platoon's march.“So…” CPL Mullins speaks, breaking the silence, “heard any updates from the other platoon over the radio?”, looking back towards Warren with a tone of boredom and curiosity in his voice.

LCPL Warren, who had been staring to his left watching the tree, looks forward to Mullins, “From what I’ve heard, 1st Platoon has been in and out of skirmishes with light Covie resistance. 2nd Platoon has been locked in a firefight for the past 15 mins.”

“While we’re on the subject of updates, heard anything else?” GYSGT Grimes jumps in.

“4th platoon have been deployed into the nearby cities to assist the Sedran Colonial Guard.”, Warren replies, turning towards the Gunnery Sergeant, “I also heard some chatter of Echo and Lima Company being deployed, but I can’t tell for sure.”

“Ha”, CPL Godfrey letting out a small laugh ,“And they were saying they weren’t going to need us.”

CPL Mullins let out a sigh, “So much for us not being here long.”

“Let's be honest, did you really think this was going to be quick?” CPL Godfrey responds with a small bit of surprise and annoyance in her voice.

“I could hope, it is just a bunch of Covie remnants, a single cruiser, and 5 corvettes. How strong could they possibly be? Especially against Battle Group Thire. Those covie remnant ships are barely functioning at full strength with little crew they have. This whole thing could just be some sad desperate last attempt to get one last battle in”, says CPL Mullins.

Battle Group Thire was the 19th fleet’s biggest battle group composed, at this time, of 4 Halberd-class destroyers, 6 Mulsanne-class Frigates, 5 Paris-class Frigates, and a single Halcyon-class Cruiser that was brought back from the dead, refitted and refurbished with parts and weapons from Marathon and Autumn Classes. The Point Blank-class prowler was away undergoing maintenance.

“You just jinxed us.”, GYSGT Grimes says in an agitated tone as he stares directly at Mullins.

SHLD 2 slightly turns his head to look back at the Marines, “Mullins, you should know better by now, if they deploy us it’s never going to be easy or simple.” he then gives a quick look of to Shield 6 before continuing to look over his Spiker.

[mollynoble]

sleepwalkerindreamersclothing replied to your post “��Get to know the blogger. List five facts about yourself and then pass…”

Oooh but now I wanna know the story of how you and hubby met! ����

So first I shall direct your attention to my wording first time hubby saw me. We did not in fact meet due to this incident. Second, there is no short way to tell this story so I will say sorry now.

Alright, the year is 2008. I, Lcpl Molly, am a Military Policeman at Marine Corps Air Ground Center(MCAGCC). My job is basically that of a regular cop, just on a Marine Base. It is early on a Monday morning, I’m driving around base in my patrol vehicle Enforcing The Law™. 

Now at the same time a Lcpl Hubby has arrived at the MP station. He is also a MP and has just been reassigned to MCAGCC. Part of starting on a new base is “checking in”. It is a process of going to all the various admin people and then all the way up the chain of command getting signatures and filling out various forms. So he is starting this process of paperwork, waiting about in the admin building. That building with all the admin and boss people is right next to station.

Cut back to me: I Lcpl Molly execute a left hand turn from a stop-sign and T-bone a Marine minding her own business. I wasn’t on my phone or anything, I just failed to see her and ran RIGHT into her. She was fine, I was fine, her car was totaled, the patrol vehicle was totaled, it was super embarrassing and scary. One of the traffic guys gave me a ride back to station where I started in on the stack of paperwork I needed to fill out for destroying government property.

At the same time the Boss whose office Lcpl Hubby is sitting outside of gets the call that Lcpl Molly had wrecked a vehicle. The Boss demanded I present myself for an ass-chewing. 

So little Lcpl Molly walks out of the station, crosses the little garden between the building and enters the admin building. There is a large open area/hallway I had to walk through to get to the Boss. Lcpl Hubby is sitting in one of the chairs in that area. I am in full tunnel vision and march right past him on the way to my death. Lcpl Hubby watches me walk by, having heard the Boss screaming about how expensive vehicles are, fully aware I was about to die. I don’t actually remember what the Boss said, I don’t remember leaving his office or getting back to my own desk. 

I never noticed Lcpl Hubby. We didn’t actually meet officially until months later. The only reason I know he was there at all is because he told me he was after we had been friends for awhile. 

That is the story of my one car accident and the first time Hubby saw me.

[lakecountylibrary]

I’m seeking a job as a librarian. Do you have any advice on the best cardigans to invest in?

DO WE.

Friend, I polled the folks who appeared in our cardigan video (link goes to a tumblr post) and, this may shock you, but they had Opinions.

Pockets: yea or nay? For me, a must, or I will be constantly trying to put my phone in a nonexistant pocket and then it will be on the floor. Then again, if you're not a social media manager you may not have a phone on you regularly on the job.

Kelley says the desirability of pockets depends on the cardigan - sometimes the rest of your outfit has the pockets you need, or maybe Kelley just travels light/is a sorcerer, idk.

Rachel is also team pocket because of their utility - they make it easy to have your library keys and a writing utensil on you at all times - she has one cardigan that can even fit a whole Kindle in the pocket. For emergencies, presumably.

Sleeves: Rachel advises loose, full-length sleeves because they're easy to roll up when the job calls for it, but still keep you warm otherwise.

Material: Max recommends knit or waffle wool. He didn't say why, but I trust him.

Color: Rachel loves a fun, unique cardigan but says it is valuable to have a cardigan that matches the majority of your wardrobe, especially if it's the emergency cardigan you keep at your desk. Max is in agreement and suggests gray, blue, or green because they go with almost anything you might wear.

Size: Max is partial to oversized sweaters, so a cardigan a couple sizes larger than normal is useful for maximum effect - plus it helps for when the sweater inevitably shrinks in the wash. Rachel suggests considering a longer cardigan, to keep your legs warm too.

The Most Important Factor: This final piece of advice comes from someone quite high up in the library who wanted to remain anonymous. This is the true expert advice and final decision-making factor for any cardigan choice:

The cardigan you are most comfortable in is the best cardigan.

And with that, you are well equipped to achieve the job of your dreams. Good luck!!

(Also, I am CERTAIN other library professionals have opinions on this. Feel free to add!)

[lakecountylibrary]

any recommendations for light/silly fantasy for someone who's read most of them? favourites are: finding home by hari conner, so this is ever after, emily wilde, the ruthless lady's guide to wizardry, legends and lattes, terry pratchett. also liked the very secrety society of irregular witches, the league of gentlewomen witches, tress of the emerald sea, some other f t lukens books, swordheart, fangs by sarah anderson. so anything with those vibes that are not one of those. I do want to read half a soul and psalm for the wild-built but I can't get them currently through my library.

Wow you were not kidding when you said you had read most of them! Many we would typically recommend are already in your list, but we DO have some more for you that hopefully you haven't read!

Oh, and real quick: You may have already done this, but if you haven't - check and see if your library has a purchase request or interlibrary loan service. Many libraries do, and often people don't know about it. They might be able to get you Half a Soul and Psalm for the Wild-Built if they know you're looking for them!

Now on to the recs:

Rachel says:

I have not read it yet, but I have heard great things about A Lady's Guide to Marvels and Misadventure by Angela Bell. And as a kid, I loved Bunnicula by James & Deborah Howe.

Abby says:

Try A Spell for Heartsickness by Alistair Reeves. The MC is a manic witch with a snarky corvid familiar, and they have to navigate setting up shop in a remote village that's harboring secrets and surrounded by some creepy woods.

Since you like FT Lukens I think you'd like this too.

Robin says:

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan - it's portal fantasy and the main character is incredibly genre aware. And sarcastic about it. The author is on tumblr and it shows (in a good way!)

Since you like T. Kingfisher, if you haven't continued on with Paladin's Grace yet it's very much in the vein of Swordheart so give that a look. You could also try A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking which is a bit different to the World of the White Rat books but still great!

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede was a formative read for me. Princess Cimorene is determined to avoid marriage so she arranges to get herself carried off by a dragon. It's a delight. Start with Dealing with Dragons.

--

Hopefully there are a few there you haven't read yet and that you'll like! You can also check out our fantasy tag for all the fantasy recs we've made here over the years, light-hearted and otherwise!

[lakecountylibrary]

My girlfriend and I meet at one of your branches every month or so for a date (we're long distance and you're between us). Thanks for making your facilities accessible to out-of-towners. We've found a lot of treasures at your book sales.

By treasures I do mean one of the most excruciating cyborg romance novellas we've ever read.

Keep up the good work!

A library date? 🥹

A library date where you acquire excruciating cyborg romance novellas to read together?????!!

Just. SO delighted to hear this, I can't even tell you. Wishing you and your gf many, many more years of amazing book sale finds. Excuse me, I need to go tell the book sale coordinator she's doing a fantastic job curating.

[lakecountylibrary]

THE JUMPSCARE I GOT SEEING MY LOCAL LIBRARY SYSTEM ON TUMBLR

hello you guys are epic but oh my god why are you here

oop got another one.

We're here because you are, of course <3

[lakecountylibrary]

hey could you get me a library card even though I don't live in lake county, or Indiana :3

That is actually a thing we do! It costs $55/year though. (The price is regulated by the state.)

Here's what you get (link goes to our website page)

If you're thinking "Well, that comes out to less than $5 a month for a whole lot of ebooks, audiobooks, music, movies, and comics" then you can head on over to www.lcplin.org/get-a-card and fill out the form!

After you've done that, email us from www.lcplin.org/ask and let us know you'd like to purchase a full access card. Our awesome circulation staff will take it from there. (You can also do this part in person or by phone, but if you're out of state I doubt you'll want to come in person - and let's be real, who wants to use the phone when you can email?)

Anyway, we'd love to have you but no worries if it's not in the budget this year. You're all honorary LCPL cardholders in my heart!

[lakecountylibrary]

Can you recommend a cosy historical mystery series? I’d prefer a female protagonist if possible

We can! Historical cozies are a little harder to come by than ones set in modern day, but reader's advisor Susan has some suggestions!

Susan says:

You should try Rhys Bowen. She has two series that would be good; The Molly Murphy series and The Royal Spyness series. Start with Murphy's Law and Her Royal Spyness, respectively

Victoria Thompson writes the Gaslight Mysteries series about a detective midwife set about 1900 in New York City. Start with Murder on Astor Place.

Stephanie Barron has a series with Jane Austen as the detective. Start with Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor.

The Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear might work for you, too. It is set in 1929. Book one is just called Maisie Dobbs.

You might try Mary Roberts Rhinehart. She was often called the American Agatha Christie, so if Agatha Christie is a winner for you then definitely give Rhinehart a try.

And finally, take a look at The Cadfael Chronicles about a mystery-solving monk from 12th-centruy England. If you like them, you're in luck: there are a lot. These were written by Ellis Peters (pen name of linguist Edith Pargeter). Start with A Morbid Taste for Bones.

--

I hope there's something on that list that works for you! We don't actually have many cozy mystery recs in our backlog so I don't have a tag link for you, but I invite others to share their own recs on this post as well!

[lakecountylibrary]

unfathomably based and borderline incomprehensible to see a sentient library on tumblr. luv u, lcpl <3

That's what happens when you leave the books alone with an internet connection overnight. You show up the next day and the library has gained sentience and made a tumblr account. Could happen to anyone

[lakecountylibrary]

Hi! I'm a library page working in Indiana. I noticed in your post about Happy Head that books on the lower most shelves are turned spine-up. Is this standard practice for you all? I feel like doing that could benefit my library.

Good eye! It's not a rule that our shelvers have to shelve the bottom rows that way - some branches may opt not to, depending on their shelf configurations. But the reason we do it is so that the titles are easier to read when standing! If you have shelf readers getting a twinge in their neck from looking sideways at their shelves, this style may be for you ;)

Here's the picture in question for anyone who's curious:

[lakecountylibrary]

hello hello!! I don't know how common it is, but I've heard some libraries have maker spaces (sewing machines, 3d printers, etc) do yall have such a place?

We do! Ours is located at our Merrillville Branch and is called the Libratory: www.lcplin.org/libratory

We don't have sewing machines but we do have 3D printers. When we created the Libratory we were mainly focused on the preservation of physical media, so most of our stuff is dedicated to that. We have special scanners for slides and photos as well as equipment to convert old film reels, VHS, cassettes, etc.

We expanded to add the 3D printers (we have a BambuLab X1-Carbon and a Dremel 3D45), then a WhisperRoom, which is a sound booth for recording music, podcasts, podfics, whatever. It's equipped with mics, software, audio interfaces and mixers and all that good stuff.

It's hard to grab the whole Libratory in a photo, but here's a promo video that has close ups of lots of our equipment and breaks down what you can do in there (video has captions):

[ID: Video panning around the room pictured earlier in the post. It focuses in on someone scanning photos and old film strips, then shows someone using a VHS converter, a DVD converter, and a converter for Hi-8 and Super-8 film. Next is the 8mm film converter, which threads the actual film on to a device that looks like a projector. Then they show the cassette capture and turntable record converter. A woman comes in and hands over a box of old material to demonstrate a drop-off conversion service where the librarians convert your material for you. Finally, the video shows someone sitting down inside the WhisperRoom and using the laptop and sound board to record voice audio. For details on all of the equipment and services shown you can visit www.lcplin.org/libratory /ID]

That's the basics! Just let me know if you have any more questions!

[lakecountylibrary]

Hello from Lake County, Florida. I saw your account and was hopeful for a moment that you were a library here, but it is still so great to see you all having so much fun, even if you are far away. :)

Thanks for being awesome!

Haha hello from Indiana, and welcome! You are far from the first to have that moment. There are so many Lake Counties in this country. You have discovered the reason for the 'The one in Indiana' statement in our bio XD

The other one we're most often confused with is Colorado, and more rarely Oregon. Hello to all you lovely people over that way, as well! Sorry we're not your library!

Little known fact*: It's said that in a time of great trouble, the many Lake County libraries will combine to form one mega-library to defend access to information and the freedom to read!

*not actually a fact

[lakecountylibrary]

I’ve completed a community college program in archives and am almost done with one in library tech. I’m trying to get a job in a library or archive, but I’m having trouble. Should I try to get my MLIS even though it’s expensive?

We have an employment committee here at LCPL that's tasked with helping people with employment questions like this. As you might imagine, they have particular insight when the question is about employment in a library ;)

I reached out to them with your question. Here's their expert advice:

First, it depends on what kind of position you want to work. Assuming you want a full time position as a librarian or archivist, and not as an assistant or clerk, an MLIS is definitely required.

If cost is a concern, try looking for a para-professional position (doesn't require an MLIS) at an institution that offers tuition-matching or other programs that will help pay for your MLIS. (We do that here at LCPL!)

Archives are more difficult to get into than libraries due to the limited number of positions available. Archives are cool - old manuscripts, diverse collections, history! - but there are only so many archives in the country. There just aren't enough jobs available to meet the demand of qualified candidates, so it might take a while. Be prepared to expand your job search to multiple areas and states if you have your heart set on an archive.

More specifically for getting a job in archives: having knowledge of digitization, finding aid best practices, and the ability to parse an EAD file will likely be important to be noticed. Experience on ArchivesSpace may help, even if it's just a personal collection you can point to. The tech side is increasingly important to be a competitive hire in archives.

If you're already starting your search, we recommend https://archivesgig.com/ . They post job openings and internships for archival positions across the country and around the world.

And here's https://joblist.ala.org/ , operated by the American Library Association, for library jobs in the U.S.

We hope that helps! Good luck!!

[lakecountylibrary]

For the aspiring librarian anon...

As somebody who graduated with an MLIS a year ago (and has two decades of experience in a related career) and can't even get an interview for a library job, my advice is: don't go to library school.

Oof, that's a tough thing to address.

There are a LOT of factors that can affect a job search and what's true for one may not be true for another. We don't want to discourage our aspiring librarian anon (still rooting for you!) but of course the job market is an important thing to consider. So! We suggest doing the librarian thing: finding good data to inform your decisions.

The American Library Association has a great page on becoming a librarian with reputable information on earnings, outlook, and employment stats to help set your expectations accurately and determine if this is the career path for you.