Mercer County Library Blog

Do you have your digital photos printed? Use an actual print camera to take pictures that need to be developed? Do you develop and process your own film? In the digital age, it can be all too simple to just tap the button on our smart phone. We take pictures that linger in the digital ether and never get printed in a physical format. Sometimes they never even get looked at again. When you have thousands of pictures on your phone—family, pets, vacations, that beautiful flower, or your daughter’s very first bike ride—it’s easy to just let them melt into the background of your mind. All the experiences of our lives that we deem worthy of remembering are so quick to forget. During my undergraduate days, I focused on art and attended several photography courses. I loved it. I would bring my Canon Rebel G with me everywhere, taking a picture of whatever struck me as interesting at that moment. I learned to develop my own film and spent hours in the photography lab in the darkroom. When I st...

In the past year, I have fallen in love with graphic novels. Though I’ve read a handful of them before, it wasn’t until recently that I began to open myself up to everything that the medium can be. Adult, young adult, or juvenile. Sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, drama, horror, or any other genre. Fiction or nonfiction. Stand-alone or multi-book series. Comic books, newspaper strips, manga, or webcomics. Traditionally or independently published. It can be easy to pigeonhole the medium to the same few categories you are used to when you encountering them, but if you do so, you’re missing the forest for the trees! What makes a graphic novel so special? Why not read a written novel or watch an animated movie instead? Well, that is because by doing so not only would you miss out on so many stories and authors that specialize in this medium, but you could never witness the beauty that can only be found here. A book and a movie cannot be written in the same way. Prose written to reflect a cinemat...

It is easy to think of art and science as separate realms. Art is often associated with creativity. It taps into our emotions and allows us to look beyond the concrete world around us and into our imaginations. Science, by contrast, is commonly linked to logic. It seeks to understand the tangible world through structured methods, rules and observations. And yet, the two are far more connected than they may seem. Beautiful artistry exists in the natural world and is inspired by it. One striking example that comes to mind is the Fibonacci sequence. Fibonacci numbers are part of a sequence in which each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34…). When visualized a certain way they create a spiral pattern that is often found in the natural world – seen in seashells, the arrangement of flower petals, and in works of art. If you’d like to learn more about the Fibonacci sequence, check out Do Plants Know Math?: Unwinding the Story of Plant Spirals, from...

If we went back to when I was eleven years old, I don’t think I would have thought I’d be a librarian as an adult. I liked the library as a child - going to craft programs and playing on the computer, but books weren’t really my friend. I struggled with comprehension a lot, so instead of reading being a pleasure, it was more of a task. One summer, my parents sent me to the library a couple days a week to read to a tutor. Again, I liked the library, so I’m glad I at least had to learn in that environment. I don’t remember much of the tutoring, but what I do remember is sitting with this woman – I wish I could remember her name, but I do remember her hair was white – and she gave me Junie B. Jones to read. The tutor told me I had to read a certain number of chapters when I got home, but I remember finishing the whole book. I loved Junie B. Jones and how imperfect she was! I felt like I had a new friend, and I felt proud of myself for finishing a book that I could comprehend. As an adu...

I’m sure you’ve all heard the phrase “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Have you ever done this? I have to say I am very guilty of it. Having worked in a library for almost ten years (mainly in the children’s section, but more recently in the Acquisitions and Cataloging Department), I see a lot of books. I have walked the aisles of the library as well as book stores, grabbing the books that “speak to me.” How do they speak? I don’t know. Sometimes, it’s a color that catches my eye or an interesting picture, but in that first 30 seconds of having the book in my hand, I decide if I’m even going to turn it over and read the summary. I have taken books home from the library just because I liked the picture on the cover. Do I start to read them? Yes, I do. Have I been disappointed? Sometimes, but most times I have enjoyed the book. This got me thinking about what draws one to a particular shelf or a particular book. I decided to ask my coworkers in the library some questions about their boo...

If you are a fiber lover, may your yarn never split and your works never need to be frogged. If you aren’t a yarn lover, welcome! We accept everyone who appreciates the simple beauty of yarn, especially the squishiness and softness of it. Now you may be wondering why I’m extolling the virtues of yarn – it’s because something important is coming up… New Jersey Wool Walk 2025! For those who don’t know, a wool walk is equivalent to a bar crawl or, for those younger, trying to eat something in every country at Disney’s Epcot. The whole event is a centered around the love people have for yarn and to celebrate Local Yarn Store Day (typically the last Saturday of April) by supporting all of your favorite independent shops. This year, there are 22 shops located throughout New Jersey participating in the wool walk. They stretch the whole state, from Biscotte Yarns Knitting Store in Northvale all the way down to String Theory in Absecon. If you want to visit a shop within Mercer County then ...

How to Draw With Help From MCLS By Julia @ the Lawrence Headquarters Branch Every year as the “Drawing Party” program continues to develop, participants work on pushing themselves to try new techniques. As a library, we are lucky to have numerous resources for learning how to draw, including books and DVDs. I helped the Drawing Party group utilize some of those resources this past year, and I wanted to share them with the Mercer County Library System community for anyone looking to further hone their artistic skills. My primary style is realistic art, so normally in class we work on landscapes, flowers, animals or things that can be photographed. In addition to challenging the patrons with new drawing styles, I wanted to challenge myself by trying out one type of cartoon style known as anime, or Japanese animation. This popular style of art is also featured in many Japanese graphic novels known as manga. To try out this style, I utilized the book Cute Creature Art Class: Enchanting A...

Last year, I took a four-session class on ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. With no previous experience in any kind of flower arranging, it was a revelation to pay close attention to curve of stems, the direction the flowers faced, and the harmony achieved (I tried to, anyway). Ikebana has its origins in the sixth century, when flower arrangements were used as temple offerings to Buddha. Centuries later in the Muromachi period (late 14 th to early 16 th century), Tatebana (“standing flowers”) arrangements were popular with aristocrats and the samurai class. In the centuries since, schools formed and distinct styles developed. During the Meiji period (1868-1912), women began to be taught the previously male-only artform. As Western flowers were introduced to Japan, practitioners used them in the Moribana (“piled-up flowers”) style. Worldwide, there are now several hundred schools that teach the ikebana. During class, we all crowded around the teacher while she arranged ...