Mercer County Library Blog

As summer approaches, we begin to dream about the exciting months ahead—beach days, picnics, family reunions, holidays in the mountains, evening bike rides that take advantage of the longer days of sunshine, and fantastic weather. But if you’re a parent, you may have something else on your mind: How to keep your kids learning over the summer while school is out. Are there ways to reinforce what they’ve learned during the year, perhaps help them push to improve their skills, or simply help them to understand that learning can happen at any time and can even be fun? As a child, my mother held “quiet hour” each morning from Monday through Friday. It was a time to work on spelling, reading, and math skills. She was adamant that we continue to improve over the summer. Quiet hour was not terrible, but it wasn’t really fun either. It felt like going to school in our hot kitchen every day. So how can parents help their kids keep learning, but add fun ...

Nice weather has arrived, which means it’s time for some deep house cleaning! Spring or summer, it doesn’t matter: It’s always the right time to take a fine-tooth comb (and some garbage bags!) to the basement, the attic, the back of closets, under beds, in the garage, around the yard, and maybe even a storage unit! But, before we clean, we need to remove stuff to make the task easier. Unfortunately, for many of us, getting rid of clutter, and saying goodbye to things, can be a challenge. We panic, and think: What if I need it again?; I spent a lot of money on that; Maybe someday I'll wear it; It’s sentimental; It’s cute; and a slew of other excuses for holding on to things. Can you feel the tension created by all the extra stuff around you? All the space you could use for something else? Have you ever just let go of some stuff, not missed it the next day, and felt a sense of relief when it was gone? It’s time to purge the clutter and clean your home! Below are a few books from ...

Travel has always been a passion of my family. Whenever we found a little time, our minds would start wondering about where our next adventure should be. Our travel has never been limited to the boundaries of this country; we were always ready to explore faraway places on other continents. In the words of Oscar Wilde, “Live with no excuses and travel with no regrets.” The pandemic of 2020 gave a pause to this wanderlust mind of ours. The vision of spreading our wings again seemed very far off. During those long months being homebound, I was able to ponder and revisit the places which were fading away. I woke up one fine morning and decided to start a travel journal. To my utmost surprise, a journal I bought from the library book sale had been just sitting on my desk all this time. I found myself engrossed in this new project of mine, detailing every place we visited, whether it was in the USA, in Europe, or Asia. I used the National Geographic Traveler...

If you use Libby to access our eBook and digital audiobook collections, you may have questions about the service and, not surprisingly, we get asked a few questions repeatedly. Here are some tips for making the most out of your use of Libby, based on the most frequently asked questions about the service. Why do I need to place a digital item on hold and why is the wait so long? Many publishers want to treat eBooks and digital audiobooks like physical items, so even though one would think sharing a file would mean unlimited check-outs and that everyone who wants to borrow the book can do so at the same time, the reality is there is still a wait. But, the wait is never as long as one would expect based on the estimate given on Libby or the eLibraryNJ website. In reality, there are far more copies of most titles that are not factored into the estimates and titles can arrive in weeks or even days, not the anticipated months. OverDrive, which runs Libby, overestimates the wait time by ass...

May always makes me think of that line from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 : “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May.” In honor of this month, here are my reflections on my favorite parts of that poem. (Here’s a quick refresher for those of us who haven’t been in a high school English class in a while: a sonnet is a poem consisting of fourteen lines, with each line written in iambic pentameter. That means each line is ten or eleven syllables with an emphasis landing on every other syllable. The kind of sonnets that Shakespeare wrote follow a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.) The tonal variance in Shakespeare’s sonnet cycle, of which Sonnet 18 is a part, is erratic. The speaker of the sonnets is sometimes playful, sometimes pensive; at one moment seductive, the next reticent and the next analytical. This variance is on display here in Sonnet 18. The question of the first line can be read as reverent, but it can also be read as flippant, almost whimsical. The speaker may just as much ...

Readers often talk about a book changing their opinions, outlooks or lives. But what if we turn the table and change the book? The process of taking a book and changing it into something else can be fascinating. You could take a book and turn it into a box or a clock or some other object – or you could make its pages tell a completely different story. There are many ways to alter a book. You can treat it as a sketch book and fill its pages with art. Use it as a photo album or scrapbook. I have been working on one that collects quotations about books and libraries and another of mini collages. There are some great classes on CreativeBug – just search “altered books” to find them. YouTube and Instagram are also full of altered book content – so I am guessing that there might be a few altered book enthusiasts amongst our library patrons! I have been thinking about starting an Altered Book Club (or Workshop?) at the West Windsor branch. It would give you (and me!) a chance to meet oth...

It’s May, and I’m starting to think about summer and the holiday that unofficially starts it all off – Memorial Day. I’m not really into history, but I have found myself becoming more interested as I get older. I think it may be because I have a better perspective now than before - more time has passed from history meaning school projects and long days in class. But, back to Memorial Day – I recently learned about the beginning of Memorial Day by watching Henry Louis Gates’ The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross – an excellent series! Dr. Gates is such a pleasure to listen to. That made me start thinking about other documentary series that I have enjoyed. Another series by Dr. Gates is The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song . I learned so much about the importance and history of the Church in African American communities. I never knew that the Church was so much more than religion – a school, a place to prepare for a career, an extended family and support system. ...

Most people come to the library to read books, but did you know it’s also a great place to write them? First and foremost, libraries provide a wonderfully inspiring environment to sit down and write. And if you’re like me and you end up with pages and pages of notes, some of the big tables are really nice to spread all papers out on. It’s also nice to have access to research material if you’re writing anything to do with history or non-fiction. I don’t know about you, but something about a physical book makes the information stick in my head better, so I find it helpful to have access to just about every topic I could possibly want. Plus, when I’m browsing for one book, I see other similar titles around it that might also have information I’m interested in that I didn’t know about before. There are also groups who meet at the library. I participated in a ‘Write In’ for National Novel Writing Month a few years ago, which is where writers come, chat for...

What are microgreens? They are young vegetables or herbs that are grown from seeds and harvested at the seedling stage. They can have up to 40 times more nutrients than mature plants. Microgreens are considered baby plants that look like sprouted greens, also called cotyledons. They differ from sprouts in that you cut off and eat only the stalks and leaves, not the seeds and roots. Microgreens are ready to be eaten after seven to ten days, depending on the seeds and the season. To grow microgreens, we need the following supplies: Two shallow containers of the same size (plastic yogurt cups, plastic trays, plastic fruit packages, disposable aluminum trays, or takeaway containers)  Microgreen seeds Potting soil Spray bottle  Spoon Sewing needles or forks to make the holes Plate to water the microgreens Instructions: At the bottom of each container, make 10-12 holes with a needle or fork.  Add...