Trick Our Book Truck Winners Announced!

The Lebanon Community Library and The Lebanon Valley Council on the Arts (LVCA) are proud to annouce the winnners fo The Trick Our Book Truck Contest. These are the chosen who will artistically improve three of the library's old book trucks and create awesome works of ART! Thank you to all of our participants - we appreciate and encourage your creativity and love of literature! And a special thank you to Ralph Watts of Comics & Paperbacks Plus in Palmyra for donating part of our third prize.

First Place - Laura Roberts
Second Place - Jeremy Trostle
Third Place - Karlyn DeAngelo

These talented artists will create the actual Tricked Out Carts from Nov. 6-Dec. 6, and then they will be on display at the Lebanon Arts Center from Dec. 7-Dec. 21. Join us on Friday Dec. 7 at the Lebanon Arts Center (734 Willow Street, Lebanon), prizes will be awarded and light refreshments will be served. Please join us when we celebrate local artistic talents with a library twist!

Thanks 4 the Display Fixtures Eagle Scout!

Thank you to Torrey Shirk who created three beautiful display fixtures now showcased @ the library! Torrey created these great fixtures using slat boards, a wooden dolly on wheels, (which he hand made) and he also reinforced the slats. Torrey's ingenious design has transformed the library. The slats offer a wonderful opportunity to display materials, and the portability to move the displays all over the library - thanks to those great wheels! Torrey even raised all the money for the project himself through a food sale which took place in the library's lobby during last year's fall book sale.

The fixtures have given staff a unique & practical way to focus attention on a certain subject or area. Torrey's hard work was his major project on the way to becoming an Eagle Scout. Torrey received his Eagle Scout award on September 30th at Old Salem Lutheran Church. Torrey is a member of Troop 12 - Lebanon BSA. Congrats Torrey!

Look forward to lots of great seasonal displays to highlight interesting topics @ the library thanks to Torrey's dedication and skill!

Book Sale Preview Pass Prizes - Buy Your Book Sale Preview Pass Today! Good Friday Oct. 19 - Noon-5pm Only!

The October Book Sale - Preview Pass Prizes* are as follows: Prize #1 One Book, One Community Library TotePrize #2 Black, White & Green Book BagPrize #3 Riccar Mini VacuumPrize #4 Crystal Chess Set (see photos)

*The Preview Sale is new, it costs $5 and gets you into our library book sale a day early so you be one of the first people to pick through our titles and buy what you want! Purchase your preview pass at the circulation desk before our book sale or at the door on Friday. Passes are on sale now! And as seen above you will also be entered to win one of 4 fabulous prizes. ADMITTANCE TO THE PREVIEW SALE - ONLY WITH THE PREVIEW PASS! One per person. SORRY NO SHARING!

October Book Sale Announced!

The Library will be hosting a October Book Sale and the hours are as follows:
Preview Sale* - Friday, Oct. 19 - Noon-5
Regular Sale - Saturday, Oct. 20 - 8:30-5
Regular Sale - Sunday, Oct. 21 - 1-4
Regular Sale - Monday, Oct. 22 - 8:30-8
A Box Full of Books for $10 - Tuesday, Oct. 23 - 8:30-8
A Box Full of Books for $5 - Wednesday, Oct. 24 - 8:30-8
*The Preview Sale is new! Purchase your preview pass at the circulation desk before our book sale or at the door on Friday. Passes are on sale now@ The Library & cost $5 EACH! In addition to getting you into the book sale early, you will also be entered to win one of 4 fabulous prizes. ADMITTANCE TO THE PREVIEW SALE - ONLY WITH THE PREVIEW PASS! One per person. SORRY NO SHARING!

Therefore we are accepting used book donations!
We will gladly accept gently used books, CDs, videos, & DVDs. But please note - The Library cannot accept the following items: textbooks more than four years old, damaged items, musty books, wet books, moldy books, dirty and/or smelly books, or condensed versions (such as Reader’s Digest condensed books). The proceeds of the library's book sales are used to fund special projects, programs, and facilities improvements. While, The Library is unable to assess a monetary value of the items you donate, a receipt may be given stating how many books were received.

If you have additional questions about our book sales, or this sale specifically, please email the library's Assistant Director, Maureen Anderson at anderson@lclibs.org and please include book sale in the subject line of the email.

Book Sale Fever - Catch It!

Thanks for making our last book sale such a success! Would you like to be notified of our next sale??? If so, email Maureen Anderson at anderson@lclibs.org and please include your name and mailing address. Be sure to use the subject heading: book sale. Or call Maureen at 717-273-7624 ext. 209

Check Out Our New Banner... Are You Reading The Curious Incident?

Be sure to spy our new banner at the corner of 7th & Willow Streets. It asks the question Are you Reading This Year's Book? This year's One Book, One Community title is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon. Reserve your copy today @ Your Library!

Clifford Dances, World of Song Rocks, and The Block Party Draws A Crowd of 1,000!

The Library rocked the block this past Saturday! (Just watch Clifford getting down to the sounds of World of Song). We gave away over 443 free books to the over 600 children that attended this event. At least 1,000 people made the library family block party their destination this past weekend and we thank you! This is the 7th Annual Family Block Party and we hope to see you back here for the 8th! Many thanks to all those who made this event a success including our community partners: Friends of All Animals, Fulton Bank, Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania, Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 – Family Literacy, The Lebanon Bureau of Fire, Lebanon City Police, Lebanon Valley Council for the Arts, Lebanon Valley YMCA, Literacy Council, Michaels and Safe Kids. Additional thanks to all our staff and volunteers who helped run the event we couldn't have done it with out you!

We Rock The Block This Saturday!

The Library hosts the 7th annual Family Block Party this Saturday, September 15 from 10AM to 2PM. And for the second year in a row we are blocking off the street! (7th Street between Willow & the YMCA will be blocked off for this event - from 8am-2:30pm.)

Each child that attends this event will receive a free book! This year’s festivities will include live musical entertainment from World of Song, an appearance by Clifford: The Big Red Dog, children’s games & crafts, free balloons, plus children can jump around in the bouncing house. Hot dogs, drinks, and ice cream will be sold and there will be free popcorn for all that attend.

Children can also explore the workings of a firetruck and learn life saving techniques in the fire safety house. Children’s bike helmets will also available for sale - $3 per helmet.

This event is sponsored by The Lebanon Community Library and is held in coordination with Friends of All Animals, Fulton Bank, Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania, Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 – Family Literacy, The Lebanon Bureau of Fire, Lebanon City Police, Lebanon Valley Council for the Arts, Lebanon Valley YMCA, Literacy Council, Michael's and Safe Kids.

Parking is available in the surrounding city lots.

Changes & More Carpet Photos

Before and After Comparison of the (former)Rainbow Room and what will soon be The Library's Rainforest Room. We have plans to paint a rainforest scene on this wall, but first we had to cover the old rainbow, so we took the opportunity to do so while we were closed. If you are interested in volunteering to help with the Rainbow to Rainforest Project please contact Maureen Anderson at 717-273-7624 ext. 209 or email her at anderson@lclibs.org

Also check out the Before and After in our Vietnamese & Language Sections. This is the area of the library where you can find books in Vietnamese, materials for readers who are just learning the English language, or materials for patrons who are interested in learning a new language such as German, Spanish, Hindi, etc. We painted it with a color called Sage Clary to compliment the new table and chairs seen in both pictures. We welcome patrons to seek this area for study or wireless connectivity.

We've been open for business for a week since the new carpet was installed! Check out some of the pictures from when we were closed and see staff member Peggy Shirk putting books back on the children's non-fiction shelves - it was quite a task! Many thanks to all our volunteers and staff members who went over and beyond the call of duty to make this project work. Also check out the newly carpeted Story-time Room and children's room - soon to be Rainforest Room!

And finally many thanks to all the great workers from Fritz Leiss Carpet Gallery who installed our great new carpet - it looks fabulous! And thanks to Woodland Contractors who supplied us with the manpower to move tons of furniture around!

Library Delays Opening!

FOR PATRON SAFETY WE HAVE DELAYED THE OPENING OF THE LIBRARY ONE DAY and we will reopen on Thursday, SEPTEMBER 6!This is in relation to the Installation of NEW CARPET! The Library was originally supposed to reopen on Wednesday, September 5th. We apologize for any inconvience this change may cause. Please contact any of the other Lebanon County Library to renew items. And during this time please return all library materials in one of the book drops.

Day One - Carpet Installation

Today the carpet is being put down! It is in place in the children's area and reference section, and now our entrance way is being prepared. Staff have cleared away all the computers, CDs, videos and DVDs to make way for the continuing carpet installation. We are using every possible space to store furniture and shelving including the non-fiction aisles (see photo). Linda Nicholson, Lebanon County Libraries District Library Consultant and County Cataloger, is also joining in capturing some of the action using a digital video camera. (You can see her in the second from the last photo between the empty white shelves). Who knows maybe the library will make YouTube one day? And finally, (in the last photo) checkout the almost completed section of carpeting in the children's area as the library's director, Jayne Tremaine looks on.

Children's Books on the Move! New Carpet Preview!

On Friday more moving took place this time in the children's department. Right now all the children's books are stacked high in the youth services office and in the storytime room - thanks to all our staff members who helped with the move. Pictured in the orange summer reading shirts are Sarah Annibali, Head of Youth Services, and Caridad (or Carol) Yeagley, Head of Bilingual Services. The pictures on the very bottom of this blog post show the rolls of rug and the color that will be placed in the reference and children's area. More updates on the progress later!

Books Everywhere - Sale & Reference Move

Be sure to join us at our book sale starting today at 8:30AM in the library's community room! Yesterday volunteers feverishly unpacked 50 or so boxes of books and sorted them neatly. Most books are priced at $1! Be sure to stop by Friday (8:30-5pm) or Saturday (10am-2pm) and get some great reads. Remember prices will be slashed Saturday $5 for a whole box of books! More books to be added as the sale continues. Many thanks to all our volunteers who helped unpack and sort books - pictured are Pat Hagens (with books in hand) & Bobbie Diefenderfer (waving on more boxes).

And Did all the library's reference books disappear? No silly, they've just been moved for our new carpet! (If you notice from the pictures all the reference books are now in the Library Director's office - you can see her waving from her desk in the third photo). Don't forget the library will be closed Aug. 26 thru Sept. 4 (reopening Sept. 5) for the installation! We are sorry to inconvenience patrons during the next few days before our closing, but the reference and children's sections must be cleared in order for the new carpet to be installed starting bright and early Monday morning. Please bear with us! And thanks to our faithful moving crew (pictured below) - Sarah Annibali, Head of Youth Services; Jayne Tremaine, Library Director; and Michelle Hawk, Head of Reference Services.

Summer is (Almost) Over

80 children have now completed the library's summer reading program this year. On Tuesday 49 of those finishers came to an ice cream party at the library. These guys worked hard all summer, reading, doing activities and coming to library programs to earn points.

Almost 400 children, 250 teens and 300 adults

participated in the summer reading programs this year!

At the party we made crafts,

ate ice cream sundaes

and read books,

sometimes all at the same time!

Start a Conversation!

It's One Book One Community time again! This year's title is...drumroll please...The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon!

The purpose of One Book One Community is to bring people together to discuss a book and themes that are relevant to everyone. What's the book about?

"Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. Routine, order, and predictability shelter him from the messy wider world. Then, at fifteen, Christopher's carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbor's dog, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing.
Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer and turns to his favorite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with the dissolution of his parents' marriage. As he tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, we are drawn into the workings of Christopher’s mind." (www.oboc.org/Curious.htm)

Programs will be offered at the library during October, but stop in now to check out the book and get free bookmarks and window clings, along with a One Book One Community totebag for only $10!

John Vavrous

I am writing with some extremely sad news. Former library volunteer Lee Vavrous called the library on Monday morning to inform us that John Vavrous, her husband and one of our most active library volunteers, had passed away Sunday July 29. A service for John will be held on Friday August 3, 2007 at 2pm at Christman's Funeral Home here in Lebanon. For more details on John's life and the funeral arrangements please check the local newspaper article http://www.legacy.com/LDNews/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=91731956

For those of you who did not know John, he was a library volunteer for what seems like forever – his and Lee's service to the library and the community pre-date the current library building! I have attached a picture of both John & Lee from back in the 1980’s so you can put a face with a name. Most recently John was our Tape Doctor, repairing all VHS and audiobooks that landed in repair or the “Tape Hospital.” John was a skilled handyman and technician saving the library thousands of dollars over the years with all his repairs. In addition to this, he also worked at the circulation desk in years past, and reigned over the world of AV shelving for decades. He and Lee gave thousands of hours of volunteer service to the library and were a steady force the library could always count on. In addition to library volunteer work, John was also active in The Friends of the Library in years past. John was a great and unique person who will be greatly missed!

Summer Reading Artwork Now on Display!

Sarah Annibali, Head of Youth Services @ The Library hangs up some of the artwork created by this year's youngest summer readers. As of today, the library has registered over 400 summer readers (12 and younger). To see more artwork check out the library's rainbow room.

And be sure to check out our last two summer programs for children: Mon., July 30 1:00pm – Movie – Night at the Museum and Tues., July 31 6:30pm – Bravura Brass Quintet – Bravura Checks Out the Library!