Save Energy by Checking Out a Power Check Meter

Everyone wants to save energy – whether it’s to lower your monthly bills and/or to help save the environment.  East Central Regional Library has partnered with Xcel Energy to help members of the community learn more about their energy use and determine ways they can save money and conserve energy.

All of East Central Regional Library branches now have a Power Check Meter available for check out by library users.  With the meter you can:

·        * Determine the approximate operating costs of various appliances and electronics

·         *Identify high energy-use appliances

·         *Calculate the cost savings for replacing older appliances with more energy-efficient ones

·      *   Discover which appliances use energy even when they are switched off

In the Power Meter case you checkout you will find the power meter, a brochure with information and quick-start instructions, a manufacturer’s instruction booklet and a USB cable.  ECRL branch staff cannot answers questions about the Power Meters, however, if you need help using the Power Meter you can go to xcelenergy.com/PowerCheck for an instructional video.   To place a hold on a “Power Meter” simply go to the ECRL catalog on our homepage at www.ecrlib.org and type in “power meter” under the keyword search  or call your local ECRL branch for more assistance.  

Watch a video on how to use the power check meter:

Vickie Sorn, ECRL Youth & Community Services Librarian

ELECTION 2008

November 4, 2008 is election day!

You may want to look at the following websites and familiarize yourself with your Federal and State governments. Become an informed citizen!

In this election year you may also need to locate your polling place or view election results.

Check out these sites:

USA.gov

http://www.usa.gov/index.shtml

This is the official website of the Federal Government. Peruse the A-Z index of government departments and agencies. Note the links to State, Local, and Tribal governments. Contact your elected officials, replace vital records, or find out how to apply for a passport. Its all here!

Minnesota North Star

http://www.state.mn.us/portal/mn/jsp/home.do?agency=NorthStar

This is the official website of the State of Minnesota. See the various links to state agencies, jobs, education, social services, and natural resources. Find a phone number in the Government Telephone Directory. Look at the "Kids Page" and the resources for "Minnesota Seniors". Or contact the office of Governor Tim Pawlenty!

Polling Place Finder

http://pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us/Default.aspx

Locate your polling place (where you go to vote) in Minnesota. Get maps and directions. Locate a specific district number. Just enter your zip code or county of residence to get started!

Election Center

http://www.sos.state.mn.us/home/index.asp?page=4

From the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State. Access voter and candidate information, view election results and statistics. Includes historical facts and figures from past election years!

Above all, don't forget to vote on November 4th!

Bob Gray, Reference and Adult Services Librarian

A North Branch Story

Shared by Maureen . . .

We have a 'Mom' using our public access computers to communicate with her son who is serving on the carrier The U.S.S. Roosevelt. She is e-mailing her son one question at a time from the pamphlet, "Minnesota Sesquicentennial: 150 Years of Statehood" that ECRL prepared for us. When he e-mails back with the answer she sends him another question.

What a wonderful use of the libraries resources! It is amazing the unique ways in which some of our patrons make use of their libraries!

Sue Monroe, Branch Librarian, North Branch

Congratulations, Sue

North Branch Librarian Sue Monroe has completed a class in American Sign Language. Sue says it was a very intense 6 weeks where she learned "the very basics of American sign language."

She very quickly found her new skills useful and told us about it in this e-mail:

Today I had a deaf woman come into the library for the first time. She brought her granddaughter with her and wanted to get her a library card and to check out Scooby-Doo materials. The granddaughter is not hearing impaired and it was so interesting watching the two of them interact with one another. I was able to communicate with the deaf woman with my very limited ASL vocabulary on such items as establishing that she was the grandmother and not the parent of the young girl, taking the registration form to a table to fill out, the need for two pieces of identification (I used finger spelling for this as I do not know the sign for ID), and a 3 week CKO period on materials. I was able to understand some of her signing, but certainly not all of it. She knows that I am just learning to sign, so she was patient with me. I felt that it was a positive experience for both of us.

About her training, Sue further stated, "A couple of items that I found interesting was that ASL is NOT a universal language, there is no universal sign language. In fact not only is it not universal, but some ASL signs are geographical as well. A sign that is used in Minnesota, may not be used in another part of the country. Also, deaf people do not view themselves as disabled or handicapped, but as whole & complete. . . Sign language is just like learning a foreign language. It takes practice, practice, practice."

Keep practicing, Sue. ECRL Assistant Director Nick Dimassis said this in an e-mail to Sue: "Congratulations, Sue, on finishing the class, putting what you've learned into practice for your patrons/community and for providing yet another set of skills from which ECRL staff can draw." And from me -- thanks for your dedication to serving your community!

Barbara Misselt, ECRL Director