Mercer County Library Blog

The best part of being Social Media Librarian for the Mercer County Library System is knowing that every day I go to work, I’m going to be posting something positive about the great things going on in our community. In a world where so much of social media is filled with negativity and rancor this is, seemingly, a comparatively rare pleasure. When people ask me what I like best about my job I say: Showing all the good things people are doing in Mercer County. Our social media is not merely a promotion of the library. It’s a demonstration of what you – the patrons and employees of the MCLS - are doing to connect with each other. It’s a chance to show our youngest patrons taking their first steps into a wider world of dreams, what books and activities at the library can bring. It’s a chance to show their parents this as they look on with pride and remember their own fond memories of libraries of the past. Or, maybe, if they’re lucky, their memories of the same MCLS library they used to ...

This April marks the 30 th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death, a cultural moment that shook the lives of people around the globe, especially younger folks - the angsty counter-culturists for whom Nirvana and their “grunge” contemporaries provided an emotional outlet. Cobain’s death happened to coincide with the more gradual decline of the grunge era, after having enjoyed roughly five years in the mainstream, from 1990 to 1994. But its influence lived on, and still lives on. While I was a bit too young to experience grunge at its pinnacle, the “Seattle Sound” still had a profound influence on my musical taste and, for better or worse, attitude. Whether I was passively listening to it on the radio, or blasting it through the speakers of my five-CD (yes, five!) stereo, grunge followed me everywhere. But what is grunge? Though that question has been debated since the scene’s beginnings, there seems to be consensus among critics, historians, and musicians that the single, unifying charac...

Hi, it’s me, I’m a Swiftie, it’s me. This April, Taylor Swift is taking on a new role, The Chairman of The Tortured Poets Department, a nod to her newest album, The Tortured Poets Department . Always happy to dig into the clues that Ms. Swift shares about her work, fans were very quick to notice something special about the release date of April 19th. Yes, it’s National Cat Lady Day, and Swift is a proud “Cat Lady”. But that’s not all - National Cat Lady Day happens to fall within National Poetry Month  “a special occasion that celebrates poets’ integral role in our culture and that poetry matters” established by the Academy of American Poets and celebrated since 1996. As the lyrics to “Mastermind” ask, “ What if I told you none of it was accidental ”? Smart marketing strategy? Likely. Perfect opportunity for Librarians to share poetry related resources? Certainly. So, whether you’re brand new to poetry or just looking for something new, I present to you Databases I’m fairly...

There is a new book club coming to the Lawrence Branch. The True Crime Book Club was originally scheduled for May 28 (you may have seen the flyers), but our new date is June 25 at 3PM. That's one extra month to pour over Michelle McNamara's exciting book. We hope you'll join us on June 25 at 3PM. Why true crime? Well, despite some people’s discomfort with the genre it is extremely popular, particularly in the podcast space and particularly among women. However, we’re diving into the book space and there is a long history of true crime books capturing curious readers. For example, Zhang Yingyu’s The Book of Swindles , a book of allegedly true cases of fraud, dates back to 1617. There is also the first true crime book in English, John Reynold’s The Triumphe of God's Revenge Against the Crying and Execrable Sinn of Murther , which dates back to 1635. However, the true crime genre as we know it today, a nonfiction “novel” of investigative journalism, started with Rodolfo Wa...

As the weather warms up, I’ve been taking more walks. I listen for birds, spy on chipmunks, and watch for wildflowers, even the resolute weeds that emerge from the cracks of the sidewalks. Back at the library, I might look up a curiosity in one of our many field guides. But what about the sidewalk itself? I wonder most about animals and plants, but I wonder too about all the human stuff: the drainage grates, the names of streets, the sanitation workers collecting recycling. The library also has field guides to these things. As an example, I picked a house, typical of this area, that I often pass on my lunch break walks. What can I learn about this house? Using property tax records, I learned that it was built in 1969. Then I turned to our copy of A Field Guide to American Houses: The Defining Guide to Identifying ad Understanding America’s Domestic Architecture by Virginia Savage McAlester. This is a large and delightful guide, with lots of example photos and diagrams of architectura...

Every few years, I develop a new preference for one genre over all others. I call it my “bread-and-butter” genre, and at least half the books I read will be part of it. My b-n-b genre of the last year or so has been (mostly) epic fantasy written by women. I’ll share just a few of my favorites in the genre with you. Better yet, these are all series starters so, if you like the first book, there’s more enjoyment to be had. Happy reading! A River Enchanted  by Rebecca Ross Rebecca Ross accomplishes what so few authors can: a feeling of magic that weaves through the pages of a book, until you feel enchanted through reading it. Ross’ fantasy Scotland is a place worth visiting again and again. I only hope she continues to write in this world. Jack Tamerlaine hasn't stepped foot on Cadence in ten long years, content to study music at the mainland university. But when young girls start disappearing from the isle, Jack is summoned home to help find them. Enchantments run deep on Cadence:...

The thought that we could have a Community Quilting Project at the library struck me quite unexpectedly. It might have been simmering forever as a constant draw towards fabric, colors, and patterns. Or it might have slowly infused from seeing donated sarees sitting under my desk for more than a year. Quilting requires bringing together fabric and patterns skillfully, something I had never done before.  Feeling this is amazing and someone ought to stop me in equal measure, I promptly checked with two of my trusted creatives--“Do you think this doable?” And as luck would have had it, they encouraged my flash of inspiration. Even more serendipitous was the fact that around the same time we had created a new workspace for patrons at the branch, and the bare walls there were begging for artwork. Not to mention, a super-important enthusiastic reception of the idea from my supervisor. Our quilt would be created at our branch and it would also end up having a home in our library! I st...

One of the wonderful privileges that I have as a Youth Services librarian is providing outreach to our community. Outreach can come in many forms, including preschool story times, library card drives, book talks at the middle school, providing information literacy to high schoolers, and all ages opportunities like tabling at a local farmer’s market or fair. I personally believe that library outreach is one of the most important services that we provide. By going out into the community, we aim to establish and nurture relationships with our patrons, encourage literacy, and spread the word about all of the other services one can get with their library card! This morning, I had the privilege of performing a preschool story time at the West Windsor Learning Experience. I got to meet forty bright-eyed children, and taught them songs and rhymes as I played my ukulele. Then, I read two books, one about going to school and one about friends having different interests. I asked them at the end...

April is a month with many reasons to celebrate, whether it’s a religious holiday, April Fools’ Day, or simply the blooming of daffodils. For a Boston native like myself, the third Monday of April always meant Patriots’ Day, a day off from school that was spent happily watching an 11am Red Sox game and the Boston Marathon. Not to be confused with the Patriot Day that arose after September 11, 2001, Patriots’ Day commemorates the 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord, considered the first volleys in the Revolutionary War after years of unrest between Britain and the colonists.  And why is the Boston Marathon held on that day? The name itself evokes a battle, coming as it does from the Battle of Marathon in ancient Greece. After the modern Olympics was revived in Greece in 1896, members of the Boston Athletic Association were inspired to organize a hometown version of the race. They scheduled it for April 19, 1897, which had been made a holiday j...