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Showing posts from September, 2010

October 17 to October 23 is Teen Read Week!

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During Teen Read Week libraries around the country promote reading and books for teens. This year's theme is “Books with Beat" celebrating books about music, about making your own music, And about poetry. Some of our branches are even marking this week with special events: At Ewing Bring in your MP3 players or iPods, and share your playlist! From your list, we will create poetry, and set it to music, Monday the 17th until Thursday the 22nd at 5 p.m. Light refreshments! Sponsored by the Friends of the Library! Teens read to preschoolers, October 20th, 4 p.m. Teens will receive one hour of community service At Lawrence Contest!! Teens can write a paragraph, a blog entry, a poem, or create a piece of artwork about any book of poetry or book about music (fiction or nonfiction). Entries should be submitted to a youth librarian with name, age, and phone # any time during the week of 10/17 – 10/23. Winners will be chosen at random and will be able to choose a grab-bag prize.

Books to Get You Thinking

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September 2010 marks the second anniversary of the tumultuous financial crisis of 2008 the undercurrents of which had been brewing since early 2007. It was a time of intense financial upheaval, a time when financial giants like Lehman Brothers and Wachovia crumbled, and AIG the country’s largest insurer of Banks was on the verge of collapse. The shock waves have reverberated to all corners of the world and in the past two years the dynamics of the global economic system have been rewritten. This month’s picks analyze the events that led to this catastrophic financial collapse and point to what directions the future will likely hold for the world economy. On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System by Henry Paulson The former chairman of Goldman Sachs and U.S. Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson’s gripping memoir of the financial crisis takes the reader to the fascinating drama that was unfolding behind the scenes in September2008 to avert what could

The Smartest Card. Get it. Use it. @ your Library

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September is Library Card Sign-up Month, and the Mercer County Library System wants to make sure that your children have the smartest card of all – a library card. Observed since 1987, Library Card Sign-up Month is a time when the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country remind parents that a library card is the most important school supply of all. Just to name a few resources, our library provides: Access to research databases from home for term papers Books for school reports AND pleasure reading Downloadable audiobooks and eBooks CDs and DVDs for check out Myriad events and programs for all ages! For more information on how to sign up for a library card, please contact one of our nine branches or visit our website . -Anna, Hopewell Branch

Check Out Our Old Website!

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So, what do you do as a librarian when all kinds of information moves from the print world to the digital one? One instinct may be to kill the printer making a bazillion copies of webpages to squirrel away in a file someplace a little safer than an anonymous server out in the ether. Most of us, however, are happy that a few technology companies have come together to create the Internet Archive (IA) to store and organize all kinds of digital information from the web. Established in 1996 as a non-profit group, the IA has a very thorough mission statement and set of goals that are geared toward preserving a static copy of a publishing form that can change by the minute, so that researchers and the general public can access this valuable information even after it disappears from a website. You can even sign up for a free account and bookmark your favorite material on the site. But even if you aren't doing any serious research, this is a great site to explore and one you may go to and

Easy Breezy Makeovers!

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Converting Text into a Table and vice versa in Word 2007 is easy and convenient. You have pages and pages of data which you would love to have in a table format. Not only would it look more organized but it would also be easier to read, and retrieve, data when you want it. The trouble is you have neither the time, nor the inclination, to re-type it all in a table format! Word 2007 has made it extremely easy for you to organize your existing data into a table with just a few clicks of your mouse! First, select the text that you want to change into a table. Then from the Insert tab click on the Table command, and then click on Convert Text to Table . From the dialog box that appears modify the settings by choosing the number of rows and columns you want and whether you want the data to be separated by commas, tabs or paragraph marks. There will be no need for any further modifications if your existing data is formatted into columns. Go ahead and click OK which will close the text-to-ta

Eid al Fitr

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Ramadan is an important Islamic holiday, which is celebrated during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Muslims who are physically able are required to fast each day for the entire month, from sunrise to sunset. The evenings are spent enjoying family and community meals, engaging in prayer and spiritual reflection, and reading from the Koran. This year, Ramadan began August 11th and will end on September 9th. The holiday known as Eid al Fitr or spelled Id al-Fitr is a joyous holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Eid al Fitr will be celebrated around September 11th. With the upcoming holiday, now is a good time to take a look at some books that explain Ramadan and Eid al Fitr for those unfamiliar with Islam. These are excellent books to learn about the sacred time. Fiction Picture Books The White Nights of Ramadan by Maha Addasi This book is the perfect choice to introduce another culture to children or for Muslim children to celebrate and rejoice in their own rel