Mercer County Library Blog

Do you ever feel like you’re being watched? These days, security cameras capture you on street corners, generative AI remembers things about you, and third-party cookies track you across the Internet. The library offers a number of resources that will help you understand more about these important topics. In Means of Control , journalist Byron Tau explores how the U.S. government takes advantage of all the data collected about consumers on the Internet. “Recommendations” on social media feel eerily targeted and advertisements are specifically curated to your desires and purchasing behaviors. Beyond that, generative artificial intelligences such as ChatGPT, ClaudeAI, Google Gemini, and Grok are proliferating fast, with 62% of U.S. adults stating that they interact with generative AI at least once a week. In More Everything Forever , astrophysicist Adam Becker discusses how genAI companies and the billionaires who fund them do not always have our best interests in mind, valuing technol...

As school and public libraries continue to be targeted with challenges to their collections, I really enjoyed watching this documentary about the librarians around the country who are striving to protect the rights of readers. The Librarians has been screened at more than 50 domestic and international film festivals since its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, and has earned 22 awards as of this writing. It is being broadcast until May 9 by PBS Independent Lens. I had the pleasure of meeting one of the librarians who is featured in the film. Martha Hickson, now retired, was an award-winning school librarian at North Hunterdon (NJ) High School when a parent began organizing to try to remove books such as Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison from shelves--without following collection development procedures. Hickson’s resistance to removing these titles led to her receiving online threats and in-person harassment. Other librarians in Texas, Florida, and Louisiana endured the same. While depic...

Did you know that March is Social Work Month? First celebrated in 1963, it is meant to build public support for the profession and raise awareness of all the wonderful things that social workers do. Every year, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the main professional organization for the field, picks a theme for Social Work Month that represents the current climate. This year they have designated the theme as “ Social Workers Uplift. Defend. Transform.” This captures the many different ways that social workers help people and improve their communities. Qualification to be a Social Worker What makes someone a social worker? Social worker is a professional title that designates anyone who has received a degree in the field. There are three levels of social work degrees: Bachelor of Social Work (BSW)/Bachelor of Arts in Social Work (BASW), Master of Social Work (MSW), and Doctor of Social Work (DSW). Social work education focuses on how different systems (social experi...

The World Cup is coming to the Americas in the summer of 2026. It’s a great time for new and old fans of soccer to learn more about the beautiful game in preparation for the most exciting – in my opinion - sporting event in the world. This tournament will see an expanded number of teams, which means there will be more soccer goodness than ever. It’s also the last time that the world could see the two greats, Messi and Ronaldo, perform at this level. Soccer is a great spectator sport. You can analyze things and make predictions, or you can just get caught up in the drama and enjoy the spectacle. The World Cup can be enjoyed by the whole family. I have such good memories of sitting in my living room with my family and talking about the matches. It’s also neat to support the countries you have connections to by rooting for those teams. Here is a list of soccer related materials that are available at the Mercer County Library System: Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester...

You know what’s a really fun thing to do? Vote! In what other way can you put your opinions, values, and beliefs out there, but in private, and no one can tell you that your choices are wrong? Pretty cool, right? Speaking of rights, many societies don’t enjoy this one. And we Americans have certainly struggled to expand it to more of our fellow citizens. But our right to vote is enshrined in several Constitutional amendments and legislative acts. Those worried about election integrity can keep in mind that even federal elections are managed by individual states and municipalities. Though Congress and states set the rules, there is, by design, no national administration of elections in the United States. The hard truth about voting is that after an election is over, you may find the results aren’t what you hoped for. But you know what? They definitely will not reflect your choices if you and others sit it out. It’s that simple. Now that I have you excited about voting, did you know...

Today's news cycle is as changeable as the tides! If you want to monitor the tsunami of events of this turbulent time in history, Mercer County Library System is your trusty place for news. Print Newspapers. Each year, fewer and fewer newspapers are being printed, and newspaper distributors are limiting delivery to certain residential areas. But, you are in luck: MCLS continues to subscribe to the major papers so that you can sit, relax, and read the paper in your local branch. Feel free to make this ritual part of your daily routine. I read multiple papers each Wednesday morning in preparation for Current Events Chat, held weekly at Hickory Corner Branch. Sometimes you just want to hold the paper in your hands! Digital Newspapers. You also have the option to read newspapers online. Go to the library's  virtual branch and scroll down to select one of multiple online newspapers: Barron's , New York Times, Trenton Times, Trentonian, or Wall Street Journal. Or select P...

TrashedArt Contest Begins The 16th Annual TrashedArt Contest kicks off this January! Celebrate Earth Day by transforming everyday trash into extraordinary art. Open to teens and adults in Mercer County, the contest encourages participants to use at least 75% recycled content in their creations . Submit your artwork between February 25 and March 4, 2025, to the Lawrence Headquarters Branch . Judging and public voting for the “People’s Choice” Award will follow, with winners announced at the reception on April 22, 2025 . Visit the TrashedArt Contest page for details.   MLK Jr. Day of Service On Monday, January 20th, the Ewing, Hickory Corner, Lawrence, and West Windsor branches will be open 9:30am to 5:00pm. All other branches are closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by participating in our card and letter-writing campaign for Meals on Wheels, running from January 13 to February 1, 2025. Craft events and activities are happening at various b...

The upcoming presidential election is unique in many ways. We are living through history! Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman to serve as Vice President of the United States, is also the first Black and Asian American to run for President of the United States. On the other side of the ballot, at 78 years old, former President Donald Trump is the oldest presidential nominee in U.S. history. If elected, he will be the second president to serve two nonconsecutive terms. (Grover Cleveland was the first.) And there’s so much more to know about both candidates!     To learn more about the Democratic candidate, read Harris’s memoir, The Truths We Hold: An American Journey , to hear in her own words what the Democratic nominee believes are our strengths and our similarities as Americans.   In Kamala’s Way: An American Life , author Dan Morain describes Harris’s professional rise from deputy district attorney to attorney general of the state of California and ...