Video Games

It is time, once again, to look into the purchase of computer software and video games for our patrons to checkout. It is very difficult to decide what platforms to purchase for (XBox, Nintendo, Wii, etc...) and which titles our patrons will be most interested in. We want to purchase products, within library collection policies, that are used and enjoyed by as many people as possible. We do not want to purchase things that just sit on the shelf. Video games can be expensive so I want to make the best choices for the limited amount we can afford. I'd like your input - what would you like to see the library purchase?

Susan

Farewell to Becky

The evening shift, 5-9 pm, is Becky's last shift at work. She has been a clerk at the library for almost 15 years and we will truly miss her. She handles her work at the front desk with a calm, quiet manner and always a smile. Becky makes every patron feel important and listened to. She always had a good suggestion for people who wanted a "clean" or "gentle" read. Her years at the circulation desk made her an expert on new titles, series, and the most efficient methods of helping people. We hope that Becky has time to come back and volunteer with computer classes, book sales, the Friends organization, and anything else that needs a helping hand.

Lisa Mangum Presents "Finding Your Voice" Tonight

Lisa Mangum - "Find Your Voice: Opening the Door to Your Imagination"
19 April 2011 @ 7 p.m.

Join us Tuesday, 19 April 2011 at 7 p.m. for Lisa Mangum's presentation, "Finding Your Voice: Opening the Door to Your Imagination", a 45-minute presentation on sparking creativity, finding good ideas, and understanding the basic building blocks of writing a novel (characters, conflict, plot, and developing your voice as an author). As an example, she discusses the writing process she used to write The Hourglass Door and The Golden Spiral, the first two books in a trilogy featuring the love story between Abby, a senior in high school, and Dante, an Italian foreign-exchange student who has been sent forward in time through a time machine crafted by the legendary Leonardo da Vinci.

Lisa Mangum has loved and worked with books ever since elementary school, when she volunteered at the school library during recess. Her first paying job was shelving books at the Sandy Library. She worked for five years at Waldenbooks while she attended the University of Utah, graduating with honors with a degree in English. An avid reader of all genres, she has worked in the publishing department for Deseret Book since 1997.

Besides books, Lisa loves movies, sunsets, spending time with her family, trips to Disneyland, and vanilla ice cream topped with fresh raspberries. She lives in Taylorsville, Utah, with her husband, Tracy. She is the author of The Hourglass Door (which was named the 2009 YA Book of the Year by ForeWord Reviews) and The Golden Spiral. The final book in the trilogy, The Forgotten Locket, will be released May 2011.

This author is provided by the Utah Humanities Council.

Magician Coming TODAY!

This morning turned out a little grey and rainy, who knows what this afternoon is going to be like. It looks like a good day to come to the library and see a magician! At 2 pm, Christopher Fair will be here to perform magic for the kid for FREE - what more could you ask? Fun - Free!

Christopher was part of the original Mickey Mouse Club Talent Roundup and was a regular performer at Disneyland. He has choreographed a special mix of illusion, grace, and personality into the program you will see today.

National Park Week

Yosemite Falls

Remember that Saturday, April 16th, is the beginning of National Park Week which lasts until April 24th. During this week entrance to any of the 394 national parks is FREE! What a great time to visit a park while the weather is cooler and schools aren't out yet. Visit the National Park website to get more information about planning your trip. http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/plan_your_visit/index.htm

We're also excited to hear that they will be extending our Utah State Park Pass which can be checked out at the front desk and allows 1 vehicle free entrance to any of the Utah State Parks. Susan

Create your own Story @ your library

Happy National Library Week!

It's our favorite week of the year, when we celebrate the library and all it does for our community. We decided to celebrate by having activities and dress up days all week. Kids and adults could find a book worm hidden on the shelves this week and turn it in for a small prize. We also had a scavenger hunt activity and a Bookmark guessing game, "How many are in the jar?"

The national theme for the week is "Create your own story @ the Library. We had themes for each day, Monday the staff wore hats for "Hats Off" to a good book day, Tuesday we dressed up as Geniuses/Nerds, Wednesday we wore our gardening outfits and had Green Thumb day. On Thursday we wore our aprons and passed out cookies for Magic Chef day and Friday will be Animal Safari day. Each day of the week we displayed parts of our collection that went along with the theme for the day. Monday we spotlighted classics and award winners. Tuesday we spotlighted our ...for Dummies books and How-to books. Gardening books were featured for our Green Thumb day and on Friday our selection of animal books were the highlight of the display.

Finally on Saturday, we will celebrate Witches & Wizards day with a performance by magician Christopher Fair. He will begin his show at 2:00 p.m. and it is free and open to everyone! Dress up as a witch or wizard and you could win a special prize too.

Michele, Children's Librarian

Lisa Mangum - "Finding Your Voice: Opening the Door to Your Imagination"

Lisa Mangum - "Find Your Voice: Opening the Door to Your Imagination"
19 April 2011 @ 7 p.m.

Join us Tuesday, 19 April 2011 at 7 p.m. for Lisa Mangum's presentation, "Finding Your Voice: Opening the Door to Your Imagination", a 45-minute presentation on sparking creativity, finding good ideas, and understanding the basic building blocks of writing a novel (characters, conflict, plot, and developing your voice as an author). As an example, she discusses the writing process she used to write The Hourglass Door and The Golden Spiral, the first two books in a trilogy featuring the love story between Abby, a senior in high school, and Dante, an Italian foreign-exchange student who has been sent forward in time through a time machine crafted by the legendary Leonardo da Vinci.

Lisa Mangum has loved and worked with books ever since elementary school, when she volunteered at the school library during recess. Her first paying job was shelving books at the Sandy Library. She worked for five years at Waldenbooks while she attended the University of Utah, graduating with honors with a degree in English. An avid reader of all genres, she has worked in the publishing department for Deseret Book since 1997.

Besides books, Lisa loves movies, sunsets, spending time with her family, trips to Disneyland, and vanilla ice cream topped with fresh raspberries. She lives in Taylorsville, Utah, with her husband, Tracy. She is the author of The Hourglass Door (which was named the 2009 YA Book of the Year by ForeWord Reviews) and The Golden Spiral. The final book in the trilogy, The Forgotten Locket, will be released May 2011.

This author is provided by the Utah Humanities Council.

Storytime Review

Attack of the Easter Bunnies!

Just kidding. We had fun this week at Story Time talking about bunnies and Easter. We read Bunny Days by Tao Nyeu, I Need an Easter Egg by Harriet Ziefert, Bunny Bunny by Kirsten Hall, The Bunnies Picnic by Lezlie Evans, What's the Matter Bunny Blue by Nicola Smee and my personal favorite, The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown. I am sometimes amazed by the classics by Brown, they are so timeless in their style and stories that even decades after they were first published children still respond well to them. The children and I discussed what other things we could runaway and become like the bunny in the story. Some good ones were a sheep, and mother could be a shepard, an astronaut and mother could become a rocketship, a monster and mother could become a superhero. The best suggestion came from 5 year old Trey, he said a germ and mother could become soap.

We talked about what rabbits eat and showed pictures of some foods they would eat like carrots, celery and radishes. Some pictures of things they would not eat like cookies, soda pop and fish. Some of the pictures were hard to decide, most of the children didn't connect pumpkins with food/vegetables only with Jack-o-lanterns. Only a few knew what the picture of a mango was and only one knew what the whole pineapple was. The picture of the coconut was surprising since some of the children knew what it was but we decided that a rabbit wouldn't be able to eat it unless someone broke it open for them. Interesting insights from 4 year olds.

We pulled out the parachute and played "Make the bunny hop" with a stuffed toy rabbit and then we made some bunny masks from my new die-cut mask making set. This was our final Story Time for the session.

Next session will be the summer program for 3-6 year olds. This year the theme will be One World, Many Stories. Registeration begins June 7th.

Michele, Children's Librarian

Wednesday nights are gardening night

Wow! how did Wednesday get here so fast? Time to write for the blog again and I'm clueless today. So I'm just going to remind everyone of the gardening classes the library is holding each Wednesday night through April 20th. Last week we had Barney Barnett from Willard Bay Gardens talk about grasses for the garden. He brought along a lot of his loyal followers and a pansy for each person in the glass. Tonight we had Glen Bradbury from Alpine Gardens talking about Landscape Design and this group got a full hour and a half of expertise on designing their gardens. Next week, Delia Barnett from Willard Bay Gardens will show everyone how to plant hanging baskets and how to garden with containers. You won't want to miss that one as they are giving a hanging basket as a door prize. April 20th, Barney will be back to talk about new and exciting perennials. The weather is going to warm up soon and you'll want some good information under your belt on how to get started planting your garden.

Susan

Writers' Discussion Tonight!

Writers’ Discussion with

Victoria Ramirez

Your Pages:

Pacing and Description

Tuesday, 5 April 2011 at 7:00 p.m.

Tonight Vicki will lead a discussion on pacing and description which will feature examples submitted by writing group members. You do not need to have submitted a page to attend and participate in the discussion. Pages will be part of the discussion and were selected by the authors who wrote them to represent a portion of their manuscripts which dealt in some way with tension, pacing, description and/or setting. Pages will be projected for the group to see during the discussion.

Victoria Ramirez, Ph.D., is a professor in the English Department at Weber State University where she teaches creative writing and specializes in the novel. She has led several other discussions for the BCPL Writing Group and her presentations are full of energy, inspirational, and educational.