Mercer County Library Blog

As school winds down and temperatures heat up, the air is full of the anticipation of days at the beach, lazy afternoons, and outdoor family activities late into the night when it’s still light out. But with those carefree days of summer vacation comes a statement from kids that all caregivers have heard countless times: “I’m bored!” No matter how many trips, games, activities, and snacks we provide, kids still lament their boredom over summer vacation. A great solution to this dilemma is to read a book. Not only do books help us travel without leaving the room, show us empathy for others, and teach us new things, but reading can also help children maintain academic skills and prevent the “summer slide.” The U.S. Department of Education defines “summer slide” as learning loss or a decrease in academic skills when “children do not engage in educational activities during the summer months.” To combat this, it is important to balance summer fun and relaxation with educational activitie

Looking for fantastic photography on a wide variety of topics? Check out these stunning titles this summer. 1) Oceanology ISBN: 9780744020502 Call #: 551.46 OCE 2020 Book Size: 10.13 x 1.2 x 12.06 inches MCLS Catalog Quick Link What to Know:  Oceanography’s back cover calls it “ An informative and utterly beautiful introduction to the ocean, this book brings the riches of the marine world onto the printed page.” About this title: From jellyfish that live upside down (page 108), to octopi that can change color (page 131), and sharks that can briefly crawl across land (page 44), this book is filled with fascinating marine life. Each entry in the collection contains a crisp, vivid photo alongside graphs and bite-sized descriptions of the subject. Features: Table of Contents categorizes topics by location, including “rocky coasts”, “coral reefs”, and “polar oceans” . Accompanying graphs impart additional information relati

Growing up, I only read the first book of the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer. I could not get into the whole love triangle between Bella, Edward and Jacob, and the mind games Bella played to get what she wanted. When I told people back then – when Twilight was at the height of its popularity - that I did not read past the first book, they looked at me like I had three heads. Worst of all, my older sister was a huge fan of the Twilight series. She would drag me to watch the movies in the local movie theater; she would have long conversations with her friends about which “team” they were on (if memory serves, my sister was Team Jacob); and she had a large poster of the trio - Edward, Jacob and Bella - looking serious and intimidating. And, even before my mother-in-law was my mother-in-law, she would sometimes sit down and watch the Twilight movies or have the movies playing in the background.  You would think that with being surrounded by all this Twilight love, I would cave i

Did you know? Among the exciting array of in-person and virtual programming offered by the Mercer County Library System (MCLS) are library film screenings! Ranging from action and drama to comedy and horror, library film screenings are an excellent opportunity to gather with friends, family and other film-lovers to experience a cinematic story together from the comfort of your local library. Sponsored by each branch’s respective Friends of the Library group, library film screenings are a fun, low-key program where patrons can kick back and relax to enjoy both newer and older films – sometimes long after a film’s theatrical run is over. Lawrence Headquarters Branch The Lawrence Headquarters Branch is screening two feature films in June 2023 as part of their “Film Screening” series: 12 Years a Slave (2013) will be screened on Wednesday, June 7 th at 2:00 p.m. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) will be screened on Wednesday, June 21 st at 5:30 p.m. The Lawre

Winter is behind us and the warm weather is here, so time to get in the gardening groove! Gardening is a wonderful way to introduce children to nature, teach them responsibility, and help them develop a love for the outdoors. If you start with easy-to-grow plants like herbs, strawberries, and sunflowers, they will be able to see the fruits of their labor in no time. Additionally, when young gardeners grow vegetables and flowers, you can acquaint them with new flavors by encouraging them to eat what they grow. Gardening gives children a powerful environment for hands-on exploration in science, math, and art. They will learn about soils, manures, compost, the timing of watering the plants, and the impact of sunlight and weather on the plants’ growth. They will also learn about the ratios of water to soil.  Follow along to make and decorate a marble pot and then plant a seedling! It is an interesting and simple art project that brings beautiful colors to our clay pot. Materials Needed

My first blog post of the year in January was about National Bootlegger’s Day. It seemed fitting to write about a related group of people in this post – the Mafia. Otherwise known as the mob or Cosa Nostra (“our affair”).  I am half-Italian. That doesn’t make me an expert on the mob, but it has meant I’ve seen the Godfather movies about one-hundred times. Well, mainly I and II. I saw III in the movie theater in 1990 but not many times since. My dad (the non-Italian side) really enjoyed Mario Puzo’s novel when it came out and was the driving force behind my Mafia tutelage. I have also read Puzo’s The Godfather – I liked it, but it’s hard to beat the movie. Especially when you’re seeing the Corleones eating dinner all together just like us going to my grandparents, complete with the same Statue of Liberty figurine on the mantel. The book was released in 1969 and was an instant bestseller. The New York Times’ Roger Jellinek wrote in his March 4, 1969 review: “’The Godfather is bound to

Many times, it seems as if I am going through the motions of life as if I am on auto-pilot. Part of the issue is that every day requires the same routine at home or at work. Work, coffee, work, home, dinner, laundry, read, sleep and do it all over again...or some version of it. Although I am very grateful to have the simple and calm life I now have, it becomes important to pay attention to "why” I do the things I do so that my life still has meaning. There are numerous reasons to work, volunteer, or do the daily tasks that life generally requires of us. People with "intrinsic motivation" are driven by curiosity, interest, and the desire to develop skills from within. They are not satisfied to stay at the same level throughout life. There is a need to be better and to continue to improve the self. Others need recognition from those around them. Their validation and motivation come from being recognized by outside sources. Money is also definitely a big motivator as well.

Just as when you buy a white car--and then all of a sudden all you see everywhere are white cars--I became acutely aware of books with “library” or “librarian” in their titles once I started library school. Susan Orlean’s The Library Book came out in 2018, and was on the bestseller list for weeks. Then in 2020, there was Matt Haig’s hugely popular The Midnight Library . Was this th­­­e start of a new wave? Or have books with a version of library in their titles always been available and fashionable? I’m not sure of that answer, but while exploring these titles, I did discover different categories of “library” books. Agatha Christie’s The Body in the Library , published in 1942, turned this otherwise peaceful space into a good setting for a crime. Murder in the library has become a common theme in “cozy mysteries” like Marty Wingate’s The Librarian Always Rings Twice and Denise Swanson’s Murder of a Stacked Librarian . Sulari Gentill’s The Woman in the Library is a new mystery thril