Story sharing session offered at Beach Library
The Week’s Events
Preschool Story Hour on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 10:30 a.m. in Children’s area.
Naked Meadow, Monday, Aug. 24, 10:30 am
Sharing Stories
The session on Monday is a time to enjoy hearing and considering original and local stories. It’s also a time you can share a work of your own, or a favorite selection from a writer worth discussing.
Android
Those wanting to learn basic features for using Android devices can consider registering for the class Android Devices for Beginners on Friday, Aug. 21, at 10:30 a.m. The class will include searching for and downloading apps and widgets. A host of helpful tips are included in the class discussion.
Activity
New titles arrive on a daily basis. These are processed and made available. You might be interested to know that last week these new items were added: 10 DVDs, 5 audio books, 96 music CDs, 25 books and 32 issues of magazines. We appreciate the volunteers who assure that these items get to the shelf on the day the processing is completed. There is a volunteer on duty each hour that the library is open and many of the tasks done are integral to the updating and active use of the library by users.
Good for the Community
Each year, The Pew Research Center studies libraries and where they fit in the lives of their communities and patrons. In the latest study they uncovered some surprising facts about what Americans think of libraries and the way they use them.
Although 10 percent of Americans have never used a library, they think libraries are good for their communities. About two-thirds of them or more say libraries are important because they promote literacy and reading, that they play an important role in giving everyone a chance to succeed and they improve the quality of life in a community.
Summer Hours
Beachcomber’s Books on the third floor is open Monday to Friday from 10:15 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. The collections of fiction, mystery and children titles have expanded in the past week. Browsers, of course, find this a plus as it’s likely more treasures will be found.
Value of Reading Novels
Psychologists at the New School for Social Research have found that fiction “forces you as a reader to contribute your own interpretation to reconstruct the mind of the character.” The value of reading novels keeps being reinforced. A University of Toronto study found that avid readers of fiction were far more socially adept than avid readers of non-fiction: “Comprehending characters in a narrative fiction appears to parallel the comprehension of peers in the actual world, while the comprehension of expository non-fiction shares no such parallels.”
Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (in large print fiction, TWA, in CD audiobook TWO, and Readings on to be found in Classics Classics Twain. The narrator is a young adolescent boy who as the start of the novel shares the pro-slavery views of the state he grew up in. Gradually, however, as he travels with the runaway slave Jim, he comes to moderate his views (long after the reader has) and eventually assists Jim.
Pick Up a Novel This Week
Powerful novels demand that we slow down and process how we are creating and destroying in our lives. With the barrage of violence we are subjected to via the media today, we must stop and reflect upon the world we exist in.
Landscaping
You may notice that we are sprucing up the landscaping over the next few weeks. With the rainy season having provided some rain, plants have grown and the weeds are seeking a place. If you want to adopt a section to assist, please talk with me.
Movies
When some people think about checking out movies from the library, they have preconceptions about nature documentaries and science programs geared toward students. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with informative and educational material, the public library has so much more to offer in the way of movie titles than you probably thought.
Check out the DVD collection as the movies span all genres from classics to horror, science fiction and fantasy, romance, comedy, mystery, popular television series and in-depth documentaries.
Returns
When you put books or DVDs in the Return Materials slot (whether inside or outside the library) please lay the book or DVD by the narrow side first. Oversized books put in by the narrow side rarely block or cause a concern in the sorter but when very wide books are put in by the widest side, they can sometimes block the sorter.
Hours
A recorder gives the hours we are open if you call in at 765-8162 when we are closed. Open hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wednesday 9 to 7; and Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.