Small Business and Entrepreneur Resources at the Library

Despite the dreary reports we hear about the current state of the job market, more people are becoming increasingly clever at finding ways to generate income through freelancing, working as an independent contractor, or opening a small and/or home-based business.

Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library has a section of materials dedicated to helping the small business owner get started with everything from information on Schedule C filing and maintaining corporate records to markets for writers/artists/musicians to searchable databases for grants and materials on writing grant proposals. Small business owners can even learn how to leverage social networking sites like Twitter and e-commerce sites like eBay.

Our Library Thing virtual bookshelf shows highlighted materials available for checkout to patrons or through interlibrary loan. Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library is also one of two libraries in Maine to host access to the Foundation Center Directory Online, which holds information about corporate and private grantmakers. The IRS has provided packets of information for small business owners regarding applying for an EIN and many other helpful tax tips. Educator Shawn Savage also offers periodic live two-way teleconferences for entrepreneurs and small business owners about Schedule C and other necessary information.

Rod Thompson from Northern Maine Development Commission has provided electronic packets specific to entrepreneurs in Aroostook County.

To inquire about access to the Foundation Center grant database, conference times with IRS educator Shawn Savage, or any other services or materials from Turner Memorial Library's small business and career resource center, please email Lisa Neal Shaw at lisanealshaw @ presqueislelibrary.org or call (207) 764-2571.

NOTE TO PATRONS: Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library welcomes requests for information and material renewals. To ensure that your request is received and processed, please email pimelibrarian@gmail.com, lisanealshaw@presqueislelibrary.org, diannaleighton@presqueislelibrary.org, or call (207) 764-2571.

Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library Interior Design Survey

Press Release

Contact: Sonja Plummer Morgan Phone: (207) 764-2571

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 4 P.M. EDT, April 5, 2012

Library receives $25,000 donation for Interior Design

Presque Isle, ME, April 5, 2012: Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library is pleased to announce a $25,000 donation from Mary Smith to the Library Board of Trustees Charitable Trust. This gift is to initiate interior design planning for facilitating the comfort and flow of library patrons. Mary's goal is to work with the community, its library staff, its trustees, and professional designers to bring the warm and vibrant colors of Aroostook County to the library's interior. This team will work together to invest the funds raised for library furnishings by the community, augmented by additional forthcoming donations, to offer patrons quality, comfortable, and beautiful furniture for reading, research, and community social interaction. The design team hopes to use Maine-made furniture.

Library Trustee Chair Nicole Cote expressed her appreciation,

“We are constantly amazed at the generosity and enthusiasm of Mary Smith and other contributors such as the Gauvins. Our heartfelt thanks go out to all those who have made donations to the library for their support. Such gifts are the very essence of community building, and will benefit our library patrons for years to come.”

Library Trustee Louise Hamlin also states,

“I would like to express heartfelt gratitude to Mary Smith and the Gauvins for their generous donations and continued involvement in the ongoing improvements to Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library.”

The scope of the project encompasses the entire library. In addition to Mary Smith's planning donation, Ray and Sandy Gauvin have stepped up with generous funding pledges for a dedicated teen center on the third floor of the library. This gift follows the Gauvins' donation of a commissioned series of oil paintings by artist Chester Gage titled “Maple Sugaring” on permanent display at the library. The Gauvins share Mary's vision of a library that meets the usage needs of its patrons, respecting environmental impact and local beauty, and offering a warm and comfortable ambiance.

Mary Smith, the design team, and the Gauvins are working to create a library presence that will offer lasting beauty and value for the community of Presque Isle.

Axis 360 Ebooks Just for Our Patrons

In 2011, library card holders from Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library downloaded 1,049 ebooks from Maine InfoNet. InfoNet is the statewide consortium of Maine libraries who have entered into an agreement to share access to library ebooks through Overdrive, the vendor who supplies the access to these books. Rarely a day goes by in the typical public library now when a question about accessing library books on an ereader does not come up. Demand for library ebooks is on the rise: December of 2011 was the highest month for number of downloads and number of new patrons registered to download - not just at Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library, but statewide. In fact, the statewide registration of new ebook patrons was up 60% over the next highest month of November. Patrons of Turner Memorial Library want access to ebooks, but because the demand is so high statewide, they often have to wait for the books they want to become available. In response to this demand, we are now pleased to be able to offer ebooks
purchased and available especially and uniquely for patrons of Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library. Axis 360 is a program that will allow our staff to purchase ebooks based on our patrons’ needs and wants, add them to our own library catalog, and cut down the wait times for our patrons for library ebooks. Our library ebooks can be viewed two ways: Through a link on our website to a “wall” of books that looks very much like browsing a traditional bookshelf, and through our library catalog in the same way as any other book. These books are viewed on a
free reader app called Blio, which displays the books in the same beautiful way that the writer and publisher intended, and which is the first reader app to be 100% compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These books will currently run on any Windows PC
and on iOS and Android mobile devices. Axis 360 will soon be available for Nook, Kobo, Sony, Mac desktops, WebOS, and they are in talks with Amazon for Kindle compatibility. Meanwhile, Turner Memorial Library will continue its membership with InfoNet to allow our patrons with Kindles ongoing access to library ebooks. The landscape of publishing and books is changing rapidly, and new developments arise almost daily. The library staff are working to ensure
that our patrons maintain access to as many items as possible in the ways that are most convenient to those patrons.

To access our "Magic Wall" of ebooks, go to http://pimelib.axis360.baker-taylor.com/default.aspx . You will need a library card, a Blio account (free) & the Blio reader app (also free). To begin downloading these ebooks, first sign up for a free Blio account at www.blio.com.

Next, download the free Blio app to your iOs, Android, or Windows PC device. Third, make sure you have a Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library library card. Then, visit our Magic Wall of library ebooks above. When you check out an ebook, you will be asked to enter your library barcode number and a five-digit PIN of your choosing. If you are a first time visitor to the Wall, it will ask you to create a free account, which will include your email address, a username of your choosing, and the PIN of your choosing. PLEASE NOTE that when you enter your library barcode number, you MUST put five zeros at the beginning. For example, a library barcode of xxxx would be typed in as 00000xxxx. When you check out your ebook, you will be asked to
enter your Blio account login (email and password to your Blio account). Your ebooks are sent to your Blio reader app, and the books will load into your Blio library the next time you open it. PLEASE NOTE that Baker & Taylor is working to make these books available for iMac, WebOS,
NOOK, Sony, Kobo, and Kindle. Users of these devices may still download ebooks from Maine InfoNet.

If you have questions about our ebooks and your devices, please call (207) 764-2571 during business hours or contact us any time via Facebook under Presque Isle Librarians or by emailing lisanealshaw@presqueislelibrary.org, diannaleighton@presqueislelibrary.org, or pimelibrarian@gmail.com.