26 March 2014

Sunday is the last day to turn in you slips for the Grand Prize drawing for the Adult Winter Reading Program. The drawing will take place on Monday morning, 31 March. There is still time to get at least one entry into the drawing. If you are at least 14 years old and would like to work in the Library, we have an opening coming up for the page position. We are looking for someone who is able to work late afternoons from 3-5 two days a week and alternate Fridays and Saturdays from 3-5. You need to be able to lift at least 50 pounds and take an ability test. The successful candidate will start in May. While the minimum age for the position is 14, anyone older who would be available during the scheduled hours is welcome to apply. The Library has the Federal 1040, 1040 EZ and 1040A tax forms and instruction booklets as well as the State tax booklets with the forms. They are available until they are gone, the Library WILL NOT reoder any forms or booklets this year. Later in April the Library will be hosting the PNC Bank Financial Basics workshops they will cover using a checkbook, credit cards, budgeting and other basic financil facts you need to know. It is open to the public but we must restrict it to about 25 people. These are free workshops and sign-up sheets will be available after April 1. Pawsome readers will be in the Library on April 15 from 4-6 and April 17 from 5-7. Sign-up sheets are now at the circulation desk. Please call or register in person, no emails please. National Library Week is April 13-19 and this year we will forgive the fines on print materials that are returned that week. The amnesty is only on print materials. You will still have to pay the overdue fines for CD's and DVD's. A reminder; there is no eating allowed in the stack area of the library. The only areas where the public may eat is in the meeting room in the lower level of the library. Drinks are allowed if they are in covered containers and you are not using a computer. We appreciate your cooperation on this. In April, the staff picks for reading will feature books make into movies. The books and the pick card for the movie will be displayed so you can watch the movie and compare it with the book. To Kill a Mocking Bird, Gone With the Wind, The Hunger Games, The Bourne Identity, and Jurassic Park are examples of books made into movies. What do you do when you have a DVD that freezes up or an audio book that skips and stutters? When you return the item, let a staff person know. Most of the time the disk needs to be cleaned. We are able to clean them so they are ready for circulation. If a book has pages coming loose or if they get torn, let the staff know and we can repair it and put it back into circulation. The book for the Thursday Book Club is Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline and the Brown Bag Classics Club will be reading poetry for the month of April. Did you know what the words rant, undress, frugal, courtship, gloomy and laughable have in common? They were all credited as being created by William Shakespeare. In all, Shakespeare is credited with introducing over 1,700 words into the English language. In Shakespeare's lifetime over 30,000 words were added to the English language. Remember that the Library appreciates all gifts and donations for the support of the library and to purchase materials for public use. Until next week, continue to read and stay safe. John Sheridan

19 March 2014 Only 11 days remaining in the Adult Winter Reading program. Still possible for you to enter for the Grand Prize drawing of tickets for two to see, Boeing, Boeing and Annie Get Your Gun. Remember view, read or listen to 15 titles from the library collection of movies, books and audiobooks and you get one chance for the drawing. For the first ten titles, you get an insulated lunch bag and for every five titles you view, read or listen to after the initial fifteen books and you get an additional entry for the Grand Prize. There will also be second and third place prizes. April is National Poetry month and to celebrate, the Brown Bag Classics Book Club will be reading and discussing poetry, especially from authors works before 1950. We have several books on poetry behind the circulation desk. So if your tastes run toward Longfellow or Dickinson, Stephen Benet to Edna St. Vincent Benet, pick up a poetry book and join in the discussion. In April we will be changing circulation systems. The new system allows us to contact you by email. It sends a reminder two days ahead of the due date on long term check outs and then sends out the overdues by email. Staff will be asking you if you want to notified by email when you check out. The new module for the catalog will show you the cover of the book in most cases and give a short description of the book. If you are looking to do some volunteer work, the Library needs someone to come in once or twice a week to pull obituaries from the papers and funeral home websites, make copies of the obituaries and place the copies in the obituary binder. We are also looking for a page. Our page, Kylie, is a senior in high school and will be leaving us by the first of May. The page works six hours a week, alternating Fridays and Saturdays with the other page. You must be at least 14 years of age,be a freshman or will be a freshman by September and have reliable transportation. Apply in person at the Library. Looking for something good to read? On the southside of the circulation desk we have a cart of books with the staff best reads. This month we are concentrating on fiction. In April we will have books made into movies. Remember that we display books on the window sill in the magazine section. Next month we will have our gardening books out so you can get your lawn, gardens and flower beds ready for the new growing season. Traveling? Check out our audiobook collection. A great way to make a long drive enjoyable. Until next week, stay safe. John Sheridan, Director

5 March 2014 It's March and still feels like January. Stay inside, keep warm and read a good book! This is the last month of the Adult Winter Reading Program and there is still time to participate. After you register at the Library, for every five titles you read, view or listen to, count toward the fifteen titles you need to get an entry slip for the Grand Drawing. For every five titles you read after the first fifteen, you get an addition entry slip for the Grand Prize. The Grand Prize this year is two tickets for the play Boeing, Boeing in April and two tickets to see the musical Annie Get Your Gun in April at the Kalamazoo Community Theather. The program ends on March 30 and the drawing is on March 31. Come in and see the new paint job at the Library. It is hard to believe what a difference a new coat of paint can make. When the sun shines in the afternoon, the adult area just glows in a warm light. Much better than the putty color of the walls before. Our Board President, Judy Imanse, chose the colors and the Library looks fabulous. This part of the renovation was paid from the Library's endowment fund. The fund is set up to allow part of the interest accrued to be put into a fund that the Library can use for projects such as the painting. You can donate to our endowment fund by designating a gift to the Library to be deposited to the fund. Other areas that you can donate to help the Library are for the Summer Reading Program, toward the purchase of books, DVD's, CD's magazines or other Library materials. In spite of the increased costs to the library because of inflation, the Library has been able to maintain a high level service because of the generous donations of Library patrons. The selected author for the Brown Bag Classic Book Club is Ernest Hemingway. We have severl of his works available behind the circulation desk. Come and join us on March 17, at noon in the meeting room in the basement. Bring your lunch along and enjoy the discussion. Next month is National Poetry month and we will feature American poets. Keep warm and we'll see you at the Library for a book or a movie or an audiobook. John