Lucas Duyck Drawings on Exhibit in North Plains

Local teen artist, Lucas Duyck, will be exhibiting his work at the Library through the months of August and September. He is a self-taught artist, who has been honing his skills at Glencoe High School. Much of his hand-drawn and computer-enhanced artwork is characterized by colorful graphics, lively characters, and imaginative themes inspired by his favorite anime and manga characters.

A reception will be held in Lucas' honor on Friday, August 30 from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Library, and the public is invited to attend this free event.

Lucas is a volunteer at the North Plains Public Library and a staff member of the upcoming 2013 Kumoricon, an anime convention held in Vancouver, WA over the Labor Day weekend. He also enjoys reading, gaming, whittling, fishing, and hunting.

Libraries closed on Labor Day

All WCCLS member libraries will be closed on Monday, September 2nd in observance of Labor Day.

Image via PlaceIt

Want to check out a book but the library's closed? Visit Library2Go to download e-books and audiobooks to your smartphone, tablet and more - 24/7!

If you have any questions, please contact your local WCCLS library. 

WCCLS catalog and online accounts are back up!

Thank you for your patience while the WCCLS catalog and online accounts were unavailable for software updates! We are now back up and running as usual.

If you are seeing any odd behavior with the catalog or account, please clear your browser's cache. We aren't expecting any problems, but this should resolve any issues. We have information about clearing your browser's cache on your desktop computer and your mobile device on our website.

If your browser is not storing your WCCLS barcode and PIN when you log in to your account, clear your browser's cache (see above for info), and then adjust your browser's settings for saving login information. You'll find that at the bottom of this page on the WCCLS website.

Information if you use the desktop version of the catalog

You'll notice that the look of the desktop catalog has changed a bit. Searching works the same as it did before, but the buttons you're used to may be in a slightly different place.

Getting around your WCCLS patron account is a bit different. We have posted some very short videos on YouTube to help you with this change:

• Logging in to your account
• Getting around your account

If you want to get deeper into some features of the catalog, we have videos on creating saved searches in the desktop catalog (these alert you to new items added that match your search), as well as creating and managing lists of saved titles.

Information if you use the mobile version of the catalog

The look of the mobile catalog hasn't really changed. You'll notice more information about titles is now available when you search. What is exciting about the mobile catalog updates is that there is more functionality.

You can now update your password, email address, phone number and notification preferences using the mobile catalog. To do this, log in to your account, then tap on Update Account and Preferences, then on the Update Preferences link at the bottom of that page.

You can also now create saved searches using the mobile catalog. These alert you to new items added to the catalog that match your search. We have a YouTube video explaining how to do this.

If you'd like to create lists of saved titles in the mobile catalog, we have a video showing you this as well.

Questions?

If you have questions about your WCCLS account, please contact your local WCCLS library for assistance.

Catalog and account software will be down starting Sunday night until Tuesday

We will be posting more frequent updates about the catalog and account availability on Facebook and Twitter. 

Starting at 6:00 pm on Sunday, August 18th, the WCCLS catalog and accounts will be unavailable. This is because WCCLS will be performing software updates during this time. We anticipate that the catalog and accounts will become available sometime on Tuesday, August 20th.

Here's what you need to know:

• No library materials will be due on Sunday, August 18th, Monday, August 19th, or Tuesday, August 20th
• Follow WCCLS on Facebook and Twitter to get the most frequent updates about the downtime
• When the catalog and accounts are available again, we will also announce it on our News & Events blog

What will be available during the software updates?

• You will be able to access downloadable e-books and audiobooks via Library2Go as usual while the WCCLS catalog and accounts are down
• WCCLS online resources will be available
• The wccls.org website will also still be available, including the events calendar

What will be different when the WCCLS catalog and accounts are updated?

• You'll notice the appearance of the desktop catalog will be different, but the basic search will work the same
• The mobile catalog will look more or less the same, but with additional functionality
• We have videos showing some of the changes to features in your WCCLS account on the desktop and mobile catalogs - find them on the WCCLS website or on YouTube.

Thanks in advance for your patience while we work to upgrade our catalog and account software! We apologize for the inconvenience.

Improvements coming to the OverDrive app for iOS and Android on 8/20

Attention Library2Go users! We're excited to share that there are some big improvements coming to the OverDrive app on August 20th.

These updates include:

• Simplified menus in the app
• When you open the app, it will automatically take you to the last spot you were reading/listening to a downloaded book 
• On iOS devices - you can now vary the playback speed of audiobooks
• If you use multiple libraries (e.g. Library2Go and Multnomah County), it's easier to switch between libraries

To upgrade to OverDrive Media Console 3.0, you need to have iOS 6.0 or Android 4.0 on your device. Depending on your device settings, your app may update automatically, or you'll be prompted to install the update.

If you have an older device, the current app will still work. OverDrive reports they will roll out these improvements for the Blackberry app and Windows Phone in the future.
 
Check out the video preview for the new app:



After the updates next week, hopefully you'll never feel like this again!

Updates to WCCLS catalog & account August 18 - 20

Starting at 6:00 pm on Sunday, August 18th, the WCCLS catalog and accounts will be unavailable. This is because WCCLS will be performing software updates during this time. We anticipate that the catalog and accounts will become available sometime on Tuesday, August 20th.

Here's what you need to know:

• No library materials will be due on Sunday, August 18th, Monday, August 19th, or Tuesday, August 20th
• Follow WCCLS on Facebook and Twitter to get the most frequent updates about the downtime
• When the catalog and accounts are available again, we will also announce it on our News & Events blog

What will be available during the software updates?

• You will be able to access downloadable e-books and audiobooks via Library2Go as usual while the WCCLS catalog and accounts are down
• WCCLS online resources will be available
• The wccls.org website will also still be available, including the events calendar

What will be different when the WCCLS catalog and accounts are updated?

• You'll notice the appearance of the desktop catalog will be different, but the basic search will work the same
• The mobile catalog will look more or less the same, but with additional functionality
• We have videos showing some of the changes to features in your WCCLS account on the desktop and mobile catalogs - find them on the WCCLS website or on YouTube.
• We'll be sharing more info about the changes closer to the update

Thanks in advance for your patience while we work to upgrade our catalog and account software! We apologize for the inconvenience.

Survey says... WCCLS exceeds expectations for 9 out of 10 residents

A snapshot of the word cloud from survey comments.
See the whole word cloud.

In June, WCCLS did an online survey of Washington County residents. Over 2000 residents participated! What did we learn from the survey?

WCCLS member libraries exceed the expectations of 88% of Washington County residents - nearly 9 out of 10.

A strong majority of residents (73%) believe that their library does a good or excellent job of managing taxpayer dollars. 

The majority of those surveyed are increasing their use of e-books and e-resources, at 57%, while 75% of people are not decreasing their use of print materials. WCCLS' Director, Eva Calcagno, notes that "patrons seem to be diversifying how they access information, rather than replacing one format with another," which "mirrors national trends."

Want to learn more about the survey results? We have posted the PDF summary on the WCCLS website, and here is a direct link to the PDF of the summary.