Mercer County Library Blog

Summer is the classic time of year for vacations. Maybe you like going north to escape the heat, or you like working on your tan in the tropics. Maybe you like exploring far away cities and sampling unfamiliar cuisine. And maybe vacations are a little more trouble than they’re worth, sometimes, so you stay home where you’re comfortable. No worries about flight cancellations or keeping track of your passport. No packing, no finding a dog sitter last second. But, just because you’re not physically leaving, it doesn’t mean you can’t go on an adventure! Books can take you anywhere at any time, all from the comfort of your own home. Some books are so enchanting, they make you forget you’re reading. I absolutely love that feeling when I’ve been reading for so long that when I finally look up from the pages, I almost feel jet-lagged. My cozy chair doesn’t quite feel real, and half my mind is still stuck in the pages of a book. While some of the adventures might not feel as relaxing as a tru...

July was Graphic Novels in Libraries Month! Despite the old stigma of graphic novels being ‘just comic books for kids,’ graphic novels hold much literary value, which is why the library celebrates them during July. Graphic novels are a great way to bridge the gap between upper Juvenile and Young Adult, make reading more accessible for bilingual students, and bring in new readers who might find larger chapter books daunting. Graphic novels also help young readers explore and foster artistic expression through the many different styles that each illustrator and author bring to their stories. A multitude of informational and emotional resonance can be expressed in just one panel! In recent years, graphic novels have become so beloved in libraries that the American Library Association put together the Graphic Novels and Comics Roundtable, which is an affiliated organization that promotes, advocates, and even provides grants for graphic novel collections in libraries (how cool is that?)! I...

Although it is not over yet, summer has come and will soon be gone. Hopefully, by this point in the year, you have worked through your summertime checklist of things to do: Go to the beach Drink some lemonade Swim in a pool Catch fireflies in a jar (with proper ventilation, of course) Celebrate International Clown Week You did celebrate International Clown Week, didn’t you? You do know about International Clown Week, don’t you? What started as a single day to celebrate and recognize our country’s clowns became a weeklong event in 1970, when a joint resolution was passed in Congress, authorizing and requesting the President of the United States to issue a proclamation making August 1-7, 1971, National Clown Week. On August 2, 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon issued Proclamation 4071, making August 1-7, 1971 National Clown Week. Twenty years later, the Clowns of America made a push to share the spotlight with their intercontinental colleagues, allowing us all to celebrate In...

Summer and early fall are the perfect times of year to go on a nice holiday. But sometimes life gets in the way, and we just don’t have the resources for that big trip to Disney that we’ve been planning for the family. So, what’s the solution? A staycation!  What’s a staycation you might ask? It’s still a vacation, but usually consists of small day-trips and excursions that take place in the areas surrounding your home. It’s less expensive than that big trip, but just as enjoyable. You’ll still make treasured memories spending quality time with the ones you love (or just pampering yourself). There are tons of local gems that you can escape to in the tri-state area. One of the best known is the famous Jersey Shore. I was lucky enough to grow up a beach kid just a few minutes from a number of great area beaches, like Point Pleasant and Seaside. It’s a wonderful place to spend time. There are attractions like the boardwalks and aquarium if you’re entertaining kids. If you’re looking...

Dear Tech Guru, I downloaded a document that I need to file with a company, but the document has to be edited before I can sign it and fax it back. Does the library have a subscription for Adobe Pro or Adobe Creative Cloud for editing PDF documents? Does the library have a faxing service? Signed, Ado be needing help Hi Ado be, The library only provides Adobe Reader on our public PCs. However, Adobe does make some of their tools available online including the PDF to Microsoft Word converter . You can use this tool for free without signing up for an account. Adobe offers trials of more of their services with a free account if you find you need to do more than just edit your file. Once you have converted the document, you can edit it in Microsoft Word on our PCs. The quality of the original PDF will determine how clean the Word document appears. Once you have the file open in Word it is easy to edit the document. After you’ve made your changes, you can save the document as a Word f...

There seems to be a line of thinking in our society that sports and the arts exist on two opposite sides of the spectrum of the human experience. I found it very interesting when I read a quote from a sports photography editor in which he said that “photos of athletes playing sports are a dime a dozen.” The photos that he looks for, and the ones that make him money, are the ones that show a human element that gives insight into the athlete’s life. Here at the Mercer County Library System, we offer a combination of the world of storytelling and the world of sports through our great collection of sports memoirs and biographies. Give them a chance! Great stories are everywhere! Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe by David Maraniss ISBN: 9781476748412 Summary: “Jim Thorpe rose to world fame as a mythic talent who excelled at every sport. He won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, was an All-Amer...

Have you ever seen a movie so amazingly bad that instead of turning it off, you just couldn’t stop watching it? It may have been completely inept, but you couldn’t take your eyes off it until you reached the final frame. If so, then you may have just seen a “good bad movie.” There are plenty of bad movies around, and there are more produced every year. But only some bad movies become “good bad movies.” What makes a bad movie so bad it’s good? It must be made with the sincere desire to make a good movie, so intentionally bad movies don’t count. And it must be inept in a way that is entertaining. Ideally, it should display a perfect combination of stunning ineptitude and misplaced sincerity, and leave you thinking “I can’t believe they actually made that!” My love of “so bad they’re good” movies began many years ago when I read The Golden Turkey Awards which gave mocking “awards” to the worst movies ever made. That’s where I discovered the works of such directors as Ed Wood, who made ...

As long as you’re not asking me to run more than three miles or spend more than an hour pulling weeds, I’m generally up for a challenge. That’s why my interest piqued when, at the start of the year, the Mercer County Library System introduced the 2023 Reading Challenge. The idea is to read 25 books over the course of the year, with one book falling into each of the established 24 categories, plus one bonus category in the challenge. Some of the categories might seem easier than others to accomplish, such as reading a book on the New York Times Bestsellers list or a book published this year. But others, such as a book of poetry or the health, fitness or self-help category are tougher - at least for me. To me, one of the best aspects of the Reading Challenge is it takes you out of your comfort zone and helps you discover new genres you might not otherwise read. Normally I would not think about picking up a book of poetry or a graphic novel, but thanks to the challenge I’ve done both....

In a world beset by climate change, environmental problems can feel overwhelming. Afterall, most people don’t set climate policy and even people who do don’t seem to have a firm handle on the issue. However, there are still things an individual can do to make the world healthier and more sustainable. One of those solutions is zero waste living: a form of living that minimizes waste, maximizes recycling, and reduces consumption. Another solution is upcycling. Upcycling is the process of reusing discarded material by creating a product of higher value. For example, using discarded clothes to create textile art. But the real goal of people trying to live a sustainable life is to reduce their ecological footprint, usually through simple living. There are many different ways to contribute to the health of the planet and some of the books in our collection are brimming with ideas on how best to do that. All the books mentioned in this blog post are available in Mercer County Library System’...