Mercer County Library Blog

Hello from Interlibrary Loan! Interlibrary loan (ILL) is one of the many services that Mercer County Library System offers. If our library system doesn’t own a book, ILL tries to borrow the book from other libraries around the state or around the nation. We also reciprocate that relationship with other libraries when their patrons would like to read a book their own library doesn’t own. When we borrow books, we start looking for an available copy in New Jersey first. Sometimes a nearby library like Hamilton Public, Hopewell Public, or Princeton Public kindly lets us borrow a book from them. We love when this happens as it means we can fulfill the request quickly. If there’s not a copy available in a neighboring library, then we look to the rest of the nation for help. We have worked with libraries all across the country! The library we’ve worked with that’s the farthest from us is Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library, Alaska, which is more than 4,000 miles away from the Lawrenc...

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...

Hatching chicks is a special, fascinating experience! Anticipation and excitement build for approximately three weeks, and then… “cheep! cheep!” the baby chicks peck their way out! For the next two weeks, you watch their adorable antics as they figure out the world, interact with each other, double in size, and start getting feathers. The West Windsor Branch has been able to share this experience for four years now, once a year starting in 2023, and it’s something that patrons and staff look forward to each spring. For those who haven’t been able to observe each stage or for those who want to know more, read on for an overview of the process, some interesting facts about chickens, and a book list of kids’ non-fiction titles for more information, pictures, and activities. The Process Various companies and farms offer chick-raising experiences. The company we have used is Rent the Chicken. They deliver all the supplies and instructions needed for a 5-week hatching experience and then ta...

If you visited the Lawrence Headquarters Branch last year, you might have seen a transformation occurring in our front garden beds — especially the birth of our native plant meadow. Have you noticed a magnificent chaos beginning to bloom outside the library doors this season? What may have once looked like an unkempt lawn is becoming a vibrant native plant meadow, a living extension of our Mercer County Library System's mission to foster growth and learning. By replacing traditional manicured grass with native species, we are doing more than just landscaping; we are restoring a vital ecosystem. These plants — like Creeping Phlox, the pollinator-favorite Purple Coneflower, and Purple love grass — are specially adapted to our local climate. Unlike typical lawns, this meadow requires no fertilizer and, once established, survives on rainfall alone. In the gardening world I came across what seems to be a common saying for perennials:  "The first year they sleep, the second y...

Eid Mubarak! On Saturday, March 14 th , we celebrated Eid al-Fitr at the Hightstown Branch with crafts, decorations, and snacks. This was our third year doing the program and the most successful one yet. It’s always wonderful to see everything come together after working so hard to create a program that will be enjoyable for both people who are familiar with the holiday, and those who are not. Growing up in New Jersey with no close relatives and few families that my parents knew well, Eid was always hit or miss. We would go to prayer in the morning, my sister and I would put mehndi (henna art) on each other, and we would eat seviyan (a pudding made with thin pasta). The rest of the day was not spent doing much. Occasionally, we would be invited to lunch or dinner at someone’s house, which for kids was more boring than being home and watching TV. We did not really decorate the house, except for putting up Christmas lights outside when Ramadan started. However, my parents would sometime...

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...

Have you ever found yourself in a “reading rut"? Finished one book and can’t move on to the next? This can happen to readers of any age, and I am currently in a reading slump right now. Try as I might, I cannot get interested in a book enough to want to read it. This is a common problem that can happen to both readers and non-readers alike. I find it especially difficult for my non-reading children to get out of it. When reading is a struggle to begin with, it can be hard to figure out what to read next after finishing a book or series. Maybe they finished a favorite series and aren’t excited to read anything else. Or maybe reading is just always a struggle. I’ve dealt with both situations as a parent and a librarian, and it can be frustrating in any circumstance.   Here are some ideas if your child (or yourself!) needs help breaking through a reading slump… Browse New Books At the Lawrence Branch, our new books are very easy to browse. Most are facing out so you can check ...