Using the Catalog at Home!

Pipestone County Star – 06-11-2015

Searching online from home is a great option for people who have a lot of books to look up or a list of things they are looking for.  Not only can you use the regular library catalog for Plum Creek, you can also search the entire state from your home computer.  To search Plum Creek, go to www.plumcreeklibrary.org/pipestone and click on the “Library Catalog” button on the left side.  To search the whole state, go to www.mnlinkgateway.org and do your search.  You will need your library card and pin (the last four digits of the card) for either search option.

Some of the best features on the Plum Creek website are Cart and Lists.  I’ll start with the cart.  It functions a lot like internet sites where you can make purchases.  You can choose all sorts of books while you search the catalogue and place them into your cart, which will save them for you just for that session.  You can search various subjects and titles and not lose the books you’ve already looked at, as long as you place them in the cart.  This allows for you to choose how many holds you’d like to place at once and if you want to save any of them for later.

That brings me to lists.  You will have an option in your cart of placing a hold or adding an item to a list.  If you add to a list, the system will save that book for you until you delete it and you can place a hold on it in the future if you would like to.  This is a GREAT place to keep track of books you WANT to read, but don’t have time to right now.  The list will save it.  The cart will NOT.  If you leave anything in your cart when you log out, it will not be there when you log back in.

There is also a way that we can leave you messages.  Say you leave your wallet in the library and we find it before you realize it’s missing.  We could leave a note for you so the next time you log into your account, it will tell you that we have your wallet.  You can’t send messages back to us, but you can give us a call or email us in response.

There are other features that will make your on-line experience more friendly.  I encourage you to fiddle around with the website and press buttons, see where it takes you.  There’s no better way to learn than doing it yourself.  I especially encourage fiddling with the MN Link site for the whole state.  There are some great features there I haven’t gone into detail about and it is a fantastic resource to anyone who loves more unusual books and authors.

If you are interested in getting started with the website or on MN Link and have never done it before, or need a little help, come in and see us!  We would be more than happy to help you get started.

And please don’t hesitate to call if you have questions – we’d be glad to help!

Event Update:  We have just begun the Summer Reading Program for kids! Activities are Tuesdays at 2:00 PM from now until July 21^st, but kids can read and collect prizes until the end of August.  Stop in to sign up and get started!

PAFL Update:  Pipestone Area Friends of the Library is looking for members – anyone who is a friend to Meinders Library is welcome to join!  The Friends group works hard to promote the library, raise money for projects, and organize their yearly book sale, in addition to the HUGE amount of support they provide throughout the year.  Call for the date of their next meeting.

Book Club: We are thinking about trying to start a new book club in the fall.  If you are interested, please stop in and let a librarian know! It would be great to get this activity up and running again.

If you have questions or have a book you’d like to reserve or renew, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at (507) 825-6714.  The hours for Meinders Library are Monday through Thursday from 10 AM – 8 PM, and Friday and Saturday from 10 AM – 5 PM.  Meinders Community Library is located at 1401 7^th Street SW, on the south side of the high school.