Holiday special this week at Beach Library
Weekly Activities
Special Children’s Holiday Special starts at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 22. This is a perfect time for families and children, and for those who are willing to be ‘young of heart.’ Folk artist Chip Withrow will provide music and messages that help one soak up the joy and awe of this special season.
We are closed Friday, Dec. 24, Christmas Eve and Saturday, Dec. 25, Christmas day.
Gifts
The Friends of the Library have published a cookbook filled with local culinary treasures. Consider it a possibility in your gift giving.
There are also, via The Friends, a variety of Gift Paks of titles. Each pak has its own emphasis and the price can’t be beat.
Upcoming Activities
We find that so many have varying schedules during the holidays that we have little scheduled in the Conference Room during holiday week. Feel free though to enjoy our book, audio, visual and magazine selections-these continue and treasures are to be discovered. We added 884 new books and 209 new audiovisual titles during October & November so there are newly published works awaiting. However, browse the stacks too as some of the titles you may discover will be that right reading for this season.
Printed Books
Printed books will never go away-if anything, they will increase in value. While we welcome the addition and option of digital, people seem to love the feel of books. Technology will grow too. While the Kindle and Nook make it easier to travel with a bunch of books and offer some features like search and basic annotation, there is still the tendency to interact with digital books in isolation-each person reading the equivalent of their own copy. In the new library, we’ll expand digital options as the technology becomes more commonplace and economical.
Gutenberg gave us the printing press in the 1400s and we are better for it. More people were informed and literacy rose. 400 years later, radio was invented and some surmised that newspapers were dead. Then came TV and there were those who thought radio was dead. With Internet, some hold that television is dead. In reality, each has their place and adapts to a changing society.
When I read the Dec 13th issue of Barron’s, a feature article talked about people who insist traditional toys are a dying breed as kids are more attuned to electronic and virtual diversions to bother with tangible playthings. But such an evaluation is likely not coming from those who have reviewed a 6-year-old’s holiday wish list, or attempted to buy a Monster High doll. As the nation’s leading toy maker, Mattel’s profits are on pace to rise 20 percent this year.
Ah, we live in a fascinating world.
Library Hours
Don’t remember library hours? Call for information. When we are closed, a recorder gives the hours of operation, either on 765-8162 or on 765-8163. Except for holidays, which would be mentioned on the recorder, we are open Monday and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 to 5; and Saturday 9-1. We look forward to seeing you.
By Dr. Leroy Hommerding