Returning snowbirds are encouraged to check out the Beach Library
Weekly Activities
Preschool Story Hour on Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 10:30 a.m.
Apps for iPad, Thursday, Oct. 17, at 10:30 a. m.
Astronomy and Music, Friday, Oct. 18, 10:30 a.m.
Garden Club, Monday, Oct. 21, from 9 to 11:00 a.m., Community Room B
Creating Digital Stories, Oct. 21, at 10:30 a.m.
Activity Details
Astronomy and Music promises to be a stimulating time with the cosmic blending of the skies and music. Pre-register.
Garden Club welcomes all who’d like to learn more about the activities of the group and gain insight into growing productively in southwest Florida.
Creating Digital Stories is a chance to get a better grasp of the “Human Resilience” project as well as skills in how to edit video and audio. Pre-register.
Upcoming Activities
Making Your Own Market Bags is scheduled for Oct. 25, at 1:30 p.m. Get helpful tips on how to have a bag you can use right from materials so near to you you’ll wonder why it wasn’t done earlier. Pre-register.
Afternoon movie offering a new, award-winning independent and foreign film features “Lucky” on Oct. 25.
e-Books
You’ve probably given some attention to e-books since the readers are getting more economical. At this point, studies show that close to 40 percent of Americans have either an e-reader or a tablet, such as Apple’s iPad. What is encouraging is that adults with a reading device say they read an average of 18 books a year. While e-books have been selling in triple digits in the last few years, 2012 was a less than banner year with e-books sales increasing 42 percent, and so far for the first six months of 2013, e-books sales have fallen 5 percent. Publishers have also started to notice that some readers want to own paper copies of digital titles they enjoyed, e.g. publishers of Atria Books is printing “Red Hill” by Jamie McGuire for that reason.
Libraries have noticed for a number of years now that e-books readers who read many titles also read many titles in print. In general, the growth in reading is good for authors, publishers and readers.
Read a Book and Share Your Thoughts
Do you like to talk about books? Would you like to join a book club, but do not have the time to commit to regular meetings? The library’s reading program, “Human Resilience: A Community Story”,offers people just like you a unique opportunity to share your thoughts about a book in a convenient and meaningful way. Your participation will help to foster a community discussion and appreciation of literature based on the theme of human resilience. Participation is easy and all participants are entered into a drawing to win a Kindle Fire HD.
To get started, choose a book to read from the program’s reading list. Then share your thoughts in a short video or audio interview (your choice) at the library and reflect on your own resilience in tough circumstances. Your story will be joined together with other stories into a community movie presentation at the end of the program. Visit the library’s web site or come to the library to pick up a program guide and reading list. Kids ages 5-12 are also encouraged to participate in the kid’s version of the program, “Kids of Courage”.
Smoking
If you notice a smoker on library grounds, please ask them to move out to the sidewalk and walk in the direction of traffic and smoke there as in accord with Lee County policy.
Snowbirds
We welcome snowbirds returning. It was a pleasure to see familiar and new faces every day last week.
When you place items (books, DVDs, audios or magazines) in the automatic return, please put in one time at a time. Also, give each title the time to be checked in and sorted in the correct bin. If you put in an item and wait with the next title until the second blue light is lit (which reads item recognized), then you can proceed with putting in the next title. It saves staff time.
Usage
Number of people using the library in person continues at a brisk pace. We have in the past two months noticed that the number of items being checked out is also increasing. While it has seemed that reading has decreased in our society overall in recent years we may be at a threshold indicating a change. That would be good news as there are so many benefits to the individual and to the community from those who read often.
It is not unusual for us to hear from readers who note that no matter what they read, the act of reading every day has helped them in nearly every aspect of their life. Not everyone uses the same description, but benefits include (a) enhanced smarts, (b) reading reduces stress, (c) increased vocabulary, (d) greater tranquility, (e) improved analytical thinking, (f) Improved memory, (g) improved writing skills (h) helps prioritize goals, (i) new ideas, and (j) offering another way of looking at problems.
Library Hours
When we are closed, the summer hours of operation are included in a recording when you call in. Stop by on Monday and Wednesday between 9 a.m. and 6. p.m.; on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday between 9 and 5; and on Saturday between 9 and 1. We look forward to seeing you.