News from KNOWhere - 7-25-08

It’s hot outside, but we’ve got cool reads and comfortable chairs here at the library!

News from Screven

The Vacation Reading Program may be over, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing anything. In fact, we’re pretty busy!

Busy with what? Well, Tuesday morning at 10 am we have our wonderful storytime for the little ones, who can come to the library and listen to a great story and then do a creative craft or make a piece of art suitable to go on your fridge!

Tuesday afternoon at 2 pm is for the older set – teens and tweens can come to our weekly book club and talk about some of the best books out there! This Tuesday, July 29 we’ll be talking about HARRY POTTER & THE SORCERER’S STONE by J. K. Rowling. Best of all, if they don’t have a copy of their own, we can give them one FREE! It’ll be a magically good time, so if you’re in that age group, come join us!

Thursday at 2 pm we’ve got our cool craft time, in which kids from 3 to 93 can create wonderfully clever craft projects for free! There are only so many seats available, though, so make sure you sign up for that one ahead of time.

Starting in August, it's the return of Free Movie Fridays! Every Friday at 3:30 pm we'll be showing a different cool movie on the big screen, so don't miss it!

Have you ever heard of the Libri Foundation? They’re a great organization whose goal is to help libraries in small rural communities like ours have access to the very best children’s books out there – and they’ve granted over 60 wonderful, fun and educational books to us! We’d like to extend our thanks to them and to the Friends of the Screven County Library, without whom we could not have raised the funds to be eligible for the grant. Bring in your youngster and check out all these wonderful children’s books!

News from Jenkins

This Wednesday, July 30 at 2 pm we’ll be talking about HARRY POTTER & THE SORCERER’S STONE by J. K. Rowling. Best of all, if they don’t have a copy of their own, we can give them one FREE! It’ll be a magically good time, so if you’re in that age group, come join us!

Friday, August 1 at 1:30 we'll be enjoying FREAKY FRIDAY with a free showing of the movie!



Now, on to the books - and remember, all it takes is a library card and your PIN number to reserve these books online! Don't have a card or a PIN? Come in to the library and you can get one!

ELECTRONIC RESUMES & ONLINE NETWORKING by Rebecca Smith. More and more, employers are depending on the internet to accept applications, advertise for positions, and find the people they want to hire. Here is a book that will tell you how to take advantage of the possibilities the internet has to offer.

HOW TO PRAY WHEN YOU THINK YOU CAN’T by Marci Alboghetti. This book provides gentle reassurance and practical help for those times when we feel out of touch with God.

FINAL SALUTE: A STORY OF UNFINISHED LIVES by Jim Sheeler. One of the most difficult duties any soldier can face is to go to the home of one of his fellow Marines and notify their families that their loved one will not be coming home. That sorrowful task lies in the hands of men and women like Major Steve Beck.

THE PARTING by Beverly Lewis. The Amish village of Honeybrook is being torn apart by conflict and innuendo. As farmers demand tractors and other modern conveniences, young Nellie Mae sets aside her grief over the death of her younger sister to dream of a life with handsome Caleb. But there are rumors about Suzy’s death, and there are those who would keep the couple apart…

INVISIBLE LIFE by E. Lynn Harris. Law student Raymond Tyler had enough trouble being a black man, but when his feelings towards Kelvin, a young man he met in law school, make it impossible to continue his relationship with his longtime girlfriend Sela, he flees to New York to try to find inner peace and a lasting love.

LOBSTER ROLLS & BLUEBERRY PIE: THREE GENERATIONS OF RECIPES & STORIES FROM SUMMERS ON THE COAST OF MAINE by Rebecca Charles & Deborah DiClementi. Memories of a childhood on the coast of Maine helped to inspire both the book and the recipes that Rebecca Charles creates at the Pearl Oyster Bar in New York.

Click to check out these cool sites!

Swimming in Picture Books
Website companion to a past physical exhibit featuring "illustrations that captured the sensations of being by or in the water. ... For this virtual version, there is more information about the stories and their illustrators of the sort you might learn during a gallery talk." Click on images near the top of the page to see larger pictures and annotations. From the Cotsen Children's Library at Princeton University.

SmartMoney: Travel Guide
This collection of personal finance articles covers business travel, budgeting (including gas incentives and ways for single travelers to avoid paying double), flights (such as airline fees and recouping costs for lost luggage), accommodations (including timeshares), and other financial aspects of travel. From SmartMoney.

USA Today Politics
News and analysis about the 2008 presidential election. Includes material about public financing of campaigns, a candidate match game in which you discover which candidate (Barack Obama or John McCain) shares your views on selected issues, a poll tracker for head-to-head match-ups, background about candidates, and more. From USA Today, a division of Gannett Company.

Prepaid Funeral Contracts & Burial Plots: A Guide for Medicaid Applicants
This 2007 fact sheet discusses the impact of owning a prepaid funeral contract or a burial plot on a person's right to obtain Medicaid benefits. Describes a prepaid funeral contract, considerations in buying a funeral contract or burial plot, and what happens to the money given to a funeral home. In English and Spanish. From the Legal Assistance Resource Center of Connecticut.

Pipl
This site bills itself as "the most comprehensive people search on the web" because it searches "the deep web," covering sites such as Amazon, Flickr, and MySpace. Search by first and last name, city, state, and country to obtain links to sites with information about individuals.

It's a Spoon Not a Shovel: Etiquette Books for Children
This book list suggests etiquette titles for children, including both serious and humorous selections. From the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL).

Well, that’s it for now – see you at the library!

News from KNOWhere - 7-21-2008

Summer reading is over – but summer vacation is still going, which makes this the perfect time to come in out of the heat and enjoy some cool reads!

The board of the Screven-Jenkins Regional Library System will be meeting at 4 pm on July 24.

News from Screven

Don’t think that just because we’ve finished with the reading program that we aren’t doing anything else for the kids, either! In fact, we’ve got two weekly programs that will be continuing until school gets back in: our weekly storytime and the return of the teen book club!

Storytime is on Tuesdays at 10 am, and it’s a great way to let your kids hear a wonderful story and do a craft that’s related to the story. It’s a ton of fun for the little ones, so don’t miss it!

The teen book club will be meeting Tuesday, July 22 at 2 pm, and we’ll be discussing HOLES by Louis Sachar. If you don’t have a copy yet, don’t fret – just come in and ask for a copy, and you can get one to read (and keep!) thanks to a grant from Planters EMC! Tuesday, July 29 at 2 pm we’ll meet again to discuss HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE by J. K. Rowling.

News from Jenkins

Summer reading is over – but summer vacation is still going, which makes this the perfect time to come in out of the heat and enjoy some cool reads!

The teen book club will be meeting Wednesday, July 23 at 2 pm, and we’ll be discussing HOLES by Louis Sachar. If you don’t have a copy yet, don’t fret – just come in and ask for a copy, and you can get one to read (and keep!) thanks to a grant from Planters EMC! Wednesday, July 30 at 2 pm we’ll meet again to discuss HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE by J. K. Rowling.

Now, on to the books!

DEVIL MAY CARE: THE NEW JAMES BOND NOVEL by Sebastian Faulks writing as Ian Fleming. An Algerian drug runner has been executed on the streets of Paris. Not a case for 007, one would think – but M, the mysterious head of MI6, disagrees.

THE TEMPEST TALES by Walter Mosely. Tempest Landry was a poor black man from Harlem when he was “accidentally” shot by police. Now, the very fate of Heaven and Hell depends on whether Tempest goes to eternal damnation, or eternal bliss.

EVER AFTER by Karen Kingsbury. Emily and Justin are in love and thinking about marriage. Emily’s parents, Lauren and Shane, are not so lucky – they can’t agree about whether war and faith can possibly coexist. When a tragedy rocks their world, can Lauren and Shane set aside their disagreements so that God’s love will conquer all?

HUNGRY GIRL: RECIPES AND SURVIVAL STRATEGIES FOR GUILT-FREE EATING IN THE REAL WORLD by Lisa Lillien. The clever connoisseur behind hungry-girl.com provides smart tips for simple, healthy (and tasty) eating for women on the go!

AUDITION: A MEMOIR by Barbara Walters. From G. W. Bush to Christopher Reeve, from John Wayne to the Dalai Lama, Barbara Walters has interviewed them all in a career that spans 40 years and a lifetime of firsts. Now, she tells us about her illustrious career and the personal forces that drove her to success.

BREAKING BACK: HOW I LOST EVERYTHING AND WON BACK MY LIFE by James Blake. He was a rising star of tennis, People Magazine’s Sexiest Male Athlete of 2002, and his life was getting better all the time… until a freak accident in May 2004 left him with a broken neck, and that was only the start of the troubles that would plague him that year. Now, he’s become one of the world’s top five tennis players. Learn how he made it back and better than ever in this book.

Click to check out these cool links!

100 Useful Web Tools for Writers
"Turn to this list for 100 useful Web tools that will help you with your career, your sanity and your creativity whenever your write." Includes collections of links to sites about getting organized, finding inspiration, finding writing jobs, communicating with vendors, networking and marketing, forums, productivity tools, and more. From a website promoting online colleges.

Summer Reading That May Improve Your Fall Teaching
This summer reading list features titles on improving teaching and learning at the college and university level, most from a national association of faculty developers. From the Chronicle Review of the Chronicle of Higher Education.

UCSF Japanese Woodblock Print Collection
This digitized collection of almost 400 Japanese woodblock prints "illustrates a wide variety of health-related topics. The prints provide a window into traditional Japanese attitudes toward illness, the human body, women, religion, and the West." Searchable; or view prints by themes such as contagious disease, drug advertisements, and religion and health. From the Library and Center for Knowledge Management at the University of California, San Francisco.

opensecrets.org: 527 Committee Activity
"527 groups are tax-exempt organizations that engage in political activities, often through unlimited soft money contributions. Most 527s on this list are advocacy groups trying to influence federal elections. ... 527s must report their contributors and expenditures" to the government. This site provides current information about the top 50 committees and top contributors and individual donors. From the Center for Responsive Politics.

Budget Travel: The Real Deals
Compilation of reports of airline and lodging specials and package deals, grouped by regions of the world. Also includes other specific travel deals, such as hotels offering gas cards, golf getaways, volunteer vacations, tours, "girlfriend getaways," and cruises. From Budget Travel magazine.

Special Report: Water
This series of stories from June 2008 explores current water-related issues, including water scarcity, drought, waterborne diseases, dams and hydro-electricity, the global water industry, and bottled water. Also includes a map showing world water use and some articles on "lighter" water topics, such as "extreme beach toys" and windsurfing. From Forbes.

Well, that’s it for now – see you at the library!

News from KNOWhere 7-14-08

The Vacation Reading Program is over for the year, but that doesn't mean that summer reading is! We've got a ton of great fun books to read, as well as movies, audiobooks, music and much more - all available for checkout!

Looking for something a little more active to do? We've got Georgia ParkPasses available for checkout thanks to the Get Outdoors Georgia program. It's a chance to get free admission or parking at one of Georgia's hundreds of state parks or historic sites, so come check it out. And did you know that Wednesdays are free at all 63 of Georgia's state parks? Sounds like a good reason to get out, get dirty, and get fit!

Check out our great displays of books on America, including the “We the People” bookshelf on being Created Equal! It’s another way to remind yourself what makes America such a wonderful country to live in!

The Jenkins County Memorial Library Board will be meeting at 10:30 am on Wednesday, July 16. The Screven-Jenkins Regional Library Board will be meeting at 4 pm on Thursday, July 24. The public is invited to attend either or both of these meetings.

News from Screven

Tuesdays at 10 am we have our wonderful preschool storytime for all the little ones. They get to listen to a fun story and then do a little creative craft related to the story. It's a ton of fun, so bring them in and let them have a blast!

Also on Tuesdays but at 2 pm we have the teen book club. Each week we'll be discussing a different book:

• Tuesday, July 15 at 2 pm - ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card
• Tuesday, July 22 at 2 pm - HOLES by Louis Sachar
• Tuesday, July 29 at 2 pm - HARRY POTTER & THE SORCERER'S STONE by J. K. Rowling

Looking for even more fun stuff to do? Then join us Thursdays at 4 pm for our fabulous craft time! It's a chance to create cool stuff, and it's good for all ages, so come in and enjoy - but please sign up first, because we've only got so many seats!

The Friends of the Screven County Library will be meeting at 7 pm on Thursday, July 17 at the library. The board will meet at 6 pm the same evening.



News from Jenkins

At 2 pm on Wednesday, July 16 we’ll be talking books with the teens and tweens as we discuss ENDER’S GAME by Orson Scott Card. It’s an award-winning book about a young boy who just might become humanity’s savior… if he makes it through military school. Don’t have the book? Just ask – it’s free to any teen or tween, thanks to a grant from Planters Electric!

We will not be having storytime this week. We will resume storytime in two weeks, when school begins.



Now, on to the books!

CHARM! by Kendall Hart. Love your soaps? Then this is the book for you! Straight from the set of ALL MY CHILDREN, written by Erica Kane’s daughter Kendall Hart, this book has all the melodrama of one of television’s longest-running soaps, because it’s written by a character in one!

THE MARRIAGE GAME by Fern Michaels. Samantha Rainford had just arrived home from her honeymoon when she found divorce papers waiting for her. Now, she’s discovered that that she’s the fourth ex-Mrs. Rainford. Unfortunately for her ex, Samantha doesn’t get mad – she gets even… and she gets backup.

CHILLWATER COVE by Thomas Lakeman. Peggy Weaver was only 10 when her best friend Samantha was kidnapped as they rode their bikes through their hometown in Tennessee. She ran for help and Samantha was saved, but not before she suffered a horrific experience she could never speak of, and the kidnapper escaped. Now, Peggy’s an FBI agent who’s stumbled on pictures of Samantha’s ordeal, and he’s not going to escape again…

THE THIRD ANGEL by Alice Hoffman. Three women in love with the wrong men. And one woman who blames herself for a tragedy she witness when she was only twelve, and who has spent her life looking for the Third Angel, the angel on earth who can renew her faith.

SWINE NOT? A NOVEL PIG TALE by Jimmy Buffett. Imagine, if you will, a southern belle marrying an author and moving to a hotel apartment in Manhattan. Now imagine that, in addition to twin children, cats… and a large pet pig. Sounds like the leadup to a hilarious novel! Check this book out!

Click to check out these cool sites!

Beach Reads: Suggestions From Beach Towns
This 2008 article compiles reading suggestions from "folks who work in bookstores near great bodies of water" in towns such as Kona, Hawaii; Laguna Beach, California; Nantucket, Massachusetts; and Miami Beach, Florida. From the Contra Costa Times (California).

Air Travel: Your Summer Survival Guide
This 2007 feature provides tips for air travelers. Includes lists of the most crowded airports (large and regional), planning your trip (getting better airfares and deciding whether to fly or drive), and advice for surviving the lines and hassles and airports. Also includes flight attendant secrets, such as underpacking, using the bathroom before you board, and dressing in layers. From U.S. News & World Report.

Waymarking
This site, which bills itself as "a scavenger hunt for unique and interesting locations in the world," allows users to add photographs and descriptions of locations as designated by a waymark, "a physical location on the planet marked by coordinates (latitude/longitude) and [which] contains unique information defined within its waymark category." Site is browsable by categories or waymarks (and often by postal code). Categories include castle, firehouse, and art museum.

The Living Library
This organization promotes confronting and understanding your prejudices by creating a system in which participants ("readers") may "check-out" individuals for short face-to-face discussions. These individuals represent the "disabled, the Muslim, the HIV infected or the refugee," and others. The site provides a history of the organization (started by the Stop the Violence group in Denmark), details for organizers and potential "living books," and an events list.

MixitUp
Website for this project "supporting student efforts to identify, question and cross social boundaries within their schools and communities." In addition to information about the program and the annual Mix it Up Lunch Day, the site feature a large collection of stories from student activists, on issues such as moving past labels and stereotypes, bullying, standardized testing, segregated proms, and wearing a Muslim hijab. From the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance program.

Well, that’s it for now – see you at the library!

News from KNOWhere 7-7-08

Last week of vacation reading program! That’s right, July 11 is the last day of the summer reading program, and if your kid or teen is participating, they’ll need to bring in their reading record before then!

The Screven County Library Board will be meeting at 4 pm on July 10. The Jenkins County Memorial Library Board will be meeting at 10:30 on July 16. The Screven-Jenkins Regional Library Board will be meeting at 4 pm July 24. The public is invited to attend any or all of these meetings.

News from Screven

Vacation reading ends Friday, July 11! If your child is not in the reading club yet, get them in now!

Why, you ask? After all, they've only got this week to do stuff. Well, there is a reason - the Wii DDR (that's "Dance Dance Revolution for you non-gamer types) party! We'll have pizza, drinks, the hottest music and, of course, the chance to play our brand new Wii game! So put on your dancing shoes and get ready to strut your stuff 4 pm Friday, July 11!

Tuesday will be busy – at 10 am on Tuesday July 8 we’ll have our fun Reading Bug storytime. Your little one can listen to an insect-themed story and then create a piece of art based on that story. It’s a ton of fun for the little ones!

Tuesday at 2 pm we’ll have our last “Movie Evolution” program. It’s a great time for your teen or tween to watch A BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA and get a free copy of the book the movie was based on, thanks to a grant from Planters EMC!

Wednesday, July 9 at 2 pm Keep Screven Beautiful will be hosting their e-cool-ogical “Litter”acy story & craft time. It’s a lot of eco-friendly fun, so come join in!

Thursday, July 10 will be the last of the “Buggy Crafts” programs, so you won’t want to miss that!

And don’t forget that we have TWO special events on Friday, July 11! At 2 pm we have Barry Mann’s Bug-a-Boo, Bug-a-Zoo program, with lots of funny stories, songs, and even buggy poems! We’ll even throw some pizza into the mix!

At 4 pm on the 11^th, after Barry Mann, we have the super-cool Wii DDR Party for all of our reading club participants! Put on your dancing shoes and prepare to rock out with the hottest video game ever at 4 pm! There will be drinks and refreshments, and the chance to strut your stuff on the dance pad!

News from Jenkins

Wednesday we’ll have another special program as the butterflies we’ve watched grow up in the library are set free at 2 pm!

Friday, July 11 is our final Vacation Reading day! At 11 am we have Barry Mann’s Bug-a-Boo, Bug-a-Zoo program, with lots of funny stories, songs, and even buggy poems to share the Reading Bug fun. Please join us for our big finale!

Now, on to the books - and remember, all it takes is a few clicks and your card number to have these books set aside for you!

GRAVEYARD SHIFT by Kelly Lange. The nightside is the dregs of news reporting, or so TV anchorwoman Maxi Poole says. But when her neighbor’s toddler is kidnapped in broad daylight, and then the neighbor winds up dead, that’s just the lead-in to the biggest story of her life.

ZAPPED by Carol Higgins Clark. Cop Jack Reilly and his PI wife Regan just want to have a quiet supper on their rooftop terrace. But it’s not meant to be as the lights of the Big Apple go out, and the chaos begins…

LONG TALL TEXAN LEGACY by Diana Palmer. Two tales told under the hot Texas sun – but the passion flaring to life between these two couples puts even a Texas summer to shame!

LOVING NATALEE: A MOTHER’S TESTAMENT OF HOPE AND FAITH by Beth Holloway. High school senior Natalee Holloway left for her senior class trip to Aruba May 26, 2005. Her mother would never see her again. The story of her disappearance made the national news, but Natalee has never been found.

SCHULZ AND PEANUTS: A BIOGRAPHY by David Michaels. Is there anyone out there who doesn’t know Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang? Did you ever wonder where he got the ideas for his 50 years of daily comic strips? You can find out where a lot of them came from in this book!

Click to check out these cool links!

GA Health – Go Local!
Need to find out how many dentists there are in our area? Want to know who’s got a good reputation as a doctor? Does the hospital here in town treat your particular problem? The answer to all those questions is at GA Health – Go Local!

Lawn Nation: Art and Science of the American Lawn
Companion to a 2008 exhibit in which "[o]ver thirty artists, designers, filmmakers, scientists, and landscape architects consider America's big green carpet." Includes galleries of outdoor and outdoor works (such as time-lapse photography of "Revenge of the Lawn" in which grass grows over a furniture-shaped installation), and links to sites on using less water and fewer chemicals. From the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the museum of the Chicago Academy of Sciences.

Recaptcha
"A 'captcha' is a program that can tell whether its user is a human or a computer [such as those with distorted images of letters]." You can use this site to help stop receiving email spam "by asking people to solve a recaptcha before they can view your email address" (if you are running a web application that lists user's email addresses). This process uses unclear images from digitized books. From Carnegie Mellon University.

Epicurious: Seasonal Cooking
Collection of resources for seasonal and local cooking, including seasonal ingredients, a peak season ingredient map for the U.S., visual introductions to foods such as peppers and mushrooms, farmer blog, and recipes. From Epicurious.

Listen to Nature: The Language of Birds
"[A]n introduction to how, why and when birds communicate, illustrated with sound samples, including Alex the famous talking parrot." Features essays and sound clips on topics such as songs (including vocal appropriation and duetting), calls (of young birds and as deceitful mimicry), bird to man communication, birds that talk to themselves, nature or nurture (including "talking birds"), and human appreciation of bird songs. Includes a short bibliography. From the British Library.

Water Calculator
This site helps you calculate residential water use per day. Covers source of water supply, and water use in the bathroom, kitchen, and outdoors (including landscaping, washing a car, and swimming pools). Results include suggestions for reducing water use. Also includes links to water conservation tips and related material. From the National Wildlife Federation.

Well, that’s it for now – see you at the library!