Mercer County Library Blog

Here are some of the events and programs from around the Mercer County Library System for the month of September. For a complete list of events at your local branch, visit the MCLS Events Calendar , and check out the flyers in this post! Fall into September: Celebrating Culture and Community September brings a vibrant mix of cultural celebrations and seasonal activities to MCLS! This month, we're honoring Hispanic Heritage Month with special programs including movie screenings, crafts, book, and short story discussions. We're also celebrating Rosh Hashanah with special storytimes and welcoming autumn with themed crafts and activities. For Kids Story & Snack: Apples Friday, September 5, 10:30 am Hickory Corner Branch Celebrate Hispanic Heritage: Storytime & Craft Monday, September 15, 4:30 pm Ewing Branch Rosh Hashanah Storytime Wednesday, September 17, 5:00 pm Hickory Corner Branch Rosh Hashanah Storytime Thursday, September 18, 5:00 pm Robbinsville Branc...

Noir storytelling has an interesting history. The term “noir” is a French word that translates to “dark” or “black” and was, as a storytelling genre, first paired with the word “film” by French film critics in the 1950’s to describe a style of Hollywood filmmaking in the 1940’s and 1950’s of crime films that focused on the seamier (dark) side of life. The classic film noirs include The Maltese Falcon (widely considered the first film noir), Double Indemnity , Strangers on a Train and The Postman Always Rings Twice . The term noir was then retrograded to include the novels and fiction that were the basis for the films made in the classic film noir period. They included the works of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain, from the 1920’s and 1930’s. Noir fiction than became a subgenre of crime fiction that focused on dark, cynical and pessimistic tones, and gritty urban settings. These novels featured morally flawed characters, usually fighting against societal corruptio...

Children often don’t encounter standard-sized fonts (like Times New Roman 12-point) until third or fourth grade, since early elementary books usually use larger print. I was a student at the top of my class, but something had happened to me as soon as the fonts became smaller. Some of my issues midway through elementary school included:      ■  Falling asleep after 15 minutes of reading, particularly if I did not find the book meaningful, fun, or interesting;      ■  Taking too long to read due to a combination of re-reading the same lines, eye strain, and headaches;     ■  Never finishing any books as an elementary school kid except for Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey, Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix, and The Giver by Lois Lowry;     ■  Feeling sad when adults said to me, “You’re really smart; you must read a lot!” because my options seemed like I could lie and nod my head at their belief, or explain...

You know what’s a really fun thing to do? Vote! In what other way can you put your opinions, values, and beliefs out there, but in private, and no one can tell you that your choices are wrong? Pretty cool, right? Speaking of rights, many societies don’t enjoy this one. And we Americans have certainly struggled to expand it to more of our fellow citizens. But our right to vote is enshrined in several Constitutional amendments and legislative acts. Those worried about election integrity can keep in mind that even federal elections are managed by individual states and municipalities. Though Congress and states set the rules, there is, by design, no national administration of elections in the United States. The hard truth about voting is that after an election is over, you may find the results aren’t what you hoped for. But you know what? They definitely will not reflect your choices if you and others sit it out. It’s that simple. Now that I have you excited about voting, did you know...

Hunting for a job has always been a daunting process, but in the year 2025, it is even more so. Today, the workforce places greater and greater demands on potential employees. Standards are high, and the competition can feel overwhelming. So how can you, the job-seeker, help strengthen your chances in today’s market? By being educated. Know what resources are available to you, and take full advantage of them. The Mercer County Library System is an excellent resource to have at your disposal. We are happy to help! One of the areas that people often struggle with when job searching is their résumé. To make yourself more desirable to the employer, your résumé should be tailored to the individual position for which you are applying. This can help you stand out in the crowd. How can you connect your résumé to the job posting? Look for keywords that stand out and phrases that are repeated. These are what the employer is stressing as desirable qualifications. If you have them, make them know...

Did you know that New Jersey is a major center of the fragrance industry? I learned this recently when I took a workshop on fragrance. Three of the biggest companies in the “flavors and fragrance” industry have headquarters in New Jersey: Firmenich (close by in Plainsboro), Givaudan (East Hanover), and Symrise (Teterboro). According to the blog of Rutgers’ Master of Business and Science Degree, 125 flavor and fragrance companies are located in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area. The workshop that I attended was led by a former marketing manager at one of these F&F companies. Despite not being a perfumer herself, she still had to pass a difficult test in which she recognized scents from an array of glass vials. During the workshop session, we smelled many things, including an array of lavender-scented products. On one end, the products smelled good, but smelled… purple. The workshop leader called them “fantasy lavender” – they were sweet and pleasant, but had little to do wi...