R u watching the Oscars?

It's Sunday night and The Academy Awards are on, in fact Alan Arkin just won the award for Best Supporting Actor in Little Miss Sunshine. But did you also know that next weekend the library will be hosting its own Oscar Celebration??? That's right the 13th Annual Auction and Dinner-Dance to benefit The Children's Department will be held on Saturday, March 3, 2007 at The Lebanon Country Club and this year's theme is the Oscars.

Tickets to the event are $75 each and the last day to reserve a ticket is tomorrow, so if you are interested please call the library at 717-273-7624 x 209 or email anderson@lclibs.org. Note: the ticket price includes a sit-down dinner of two entrees on one plate and the dance.

For a complete listing of this year's Auction items check out our Auction page. New items will be added tomorrow. http://www.lclibs.org/lebanon/Auction.php#2007items

New Arrivals

Fresh out of the box:

Scattered Leaves by V.C. Andrews. Andrews may have passed away in 1986, but her books just keep coming!

When the Light Goes by Larry McMurtry. Catch up with Duane Moore from Duane's Depressed (1999).

The Fifth Vial by Michael Palmer. Hold on to your organs! The "illegal transplant organ trade" takes center stage in this novel.

Beyond the Gap by Harry Turtledove. This novel starts a new series for Turtledove, "the modern master of alternate history." (Publishers Weekly).

Puss 'n Cahoots by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown (This will be available Feb. 27th). Who's your favorite sleuth: Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, Tucker, or Harry?

Look for these on the shelf soon!!!

The Library Blues

Tonight library patrons were treated to various blues songs including: Blind Blake's Mr. Diddy Wa Diddy, Sam Theard's You Rascal You, Robert Johnson's Crossroads all performed by the entertaining PHC Humanities Speaker, Bradley Litwin. Then Mr. Litwin wrote two blues songs on the spot The Emily Blues and The Library Blues specifically for audience members. Litwin's presentation Writing A Blues Song is just one of Mr. Litwin's many gigs - check out his website http://www.jujubee.com/ to get more information on him and the blues. He has two wonderful CDs for sale there, and also be sure to check out some blues music available @ the lebanon library - follow this link... http://catalog.lebanoncountylibraries.org/polaris/Search/searchresults.aspx?ctx=4.1033.0.0.3&type=Advanced&term=blues&term2=rhythm&term3=music&term4=&by=SU&by2=KW&by3=SU&by4=KW&bool1=Not&bool2=And&bool3=And&limit=TOM%3d*&page=1

It's a Knitty Night @ The Library!

About 16 people are knitting right now in the library!

Knitting for the NICU rescheduled!

The Knit-a-long night has been re-scheduled! Join us Tuesday, Feb. 20th from 6-8 PM to knit (or crochet!) hats for premies! See the blog from February 7th for more info!

Catch Us @ The Mall!

We're back! That's right the library is open today, but much like the rest of the city, county and state we are digging out of the great ice storm. Hopefully you all got your candy and flowers in spite of the rough weather conditions.

And in addition to the library being OPEN today... The LIBRARY is also @ The MALL - The Lebanon Valley Mall! All six Lebanon County Libraries are participating in community days at the mall and right now Michelle Hawk, Lebanon Community Library's Head of Reference and Maureen Anderson, Lebanon Community Library's Assistant Director are manning a booth at the mall at which YOU can signup for a new library card or bring us your library card and we will help you register for your very own eAudiobook account! Then YOU can download audiobooks to your home computer... and transfer them to your own MP3 player!!! (sorry it doesn't work with Macs or iPods)

We also have additional handouts on: Power Library Databases, Ancestry Genealogy Database, Learning Express Library (test taking preparation resource), Ask Here PA (the new state-wide online reference service - which is very cool), Pennsylvania Humanities programming @ Your Library, and Instructions on how you can access your library account on the Internet and renew your borrowed items.

Library staff and volunteers will be at the mall today and tomorrow to answer your questions - so stop by Auntie Anne's or Mancino's Pizza for a pretzel or a slice and see us @ The MALL!

New Book Group & a Free Book!

Thursday, March 8 will be the first meeting of our new book group! Join us at 2PM to discuss The Round Barn by Suzi Wizowaty. Here's the link to the Amazon page:

http://www.amazon.com/Round-Barn-Hardscrabble-Books/dp/1584653760/sr=8-1/qid=1171390046/ref=sr_1_1/105-2924281-6890038?ie=UTF8&s=books

The first 26 people to sign up will get a free copy, so hurry on in!

The group will continue to meet the first Thursday of each month...we hope you can join us!

If Thursday afternoons don't work for you, check out the Lebanon Book Group that meets the last Tuesday of each month in the library. Their next meeting is February 27th at 6:30. They're reading A Pachwork Planet by Anne Tyler.

GED & Career Information is HERE!

That's right we have NEW GED books! Always a hot commodity with adult learners these books are available now @ the library. And did you also know that the library has entire section dedicated to careers? Well we do! So ask a staff member next time you're here to show you the Career section of the library. Need help with resumes and cover letters we've got books plus check out this website http://www.jobstar.org/tools/resume/index.php

Find TAX forms @ The Library!

So this year the U.S. Post Office in Lebanon is not carrying state and federal tax forms, only local. But rest assured we still have tax forms @ the Library, state, federal and local. Our website also has links to tax sites of interest!

Plus don't forget we offer free internet and computer usage - all you need is a library card - with a balance less than $5! Printouts are 20 cents for black and white and 30 cents for color. If for some reason we don't have the forms you need you can print them out here.

Knit-A-Long for Babies

If anyone out there loves to knit or crochet, come to the library on February 13 at 6pm. We'll be knitting hats for area premature babies to be donated to the NICU at the Hershey Medical Center. Judi Lentz, manager of Yarn Over Ewe will be here to offer advice to those of us who haven't done anything beyond knitting square shapes (that would be me). Judy will bring simple patterns, and she assured me that even beginning knitters will be able to participate. If you're a little rusty with yarn skills, sit and knit with me. We'll hover in the back row and learn a few things from the yarn masters.

Yarn has been donated and for this event and you can even borrow knitting needles. Both stimulating conversation and coffee will be brewing.

If you don't finish your hat that night, Yarn Over Ewe will be a drop off point for the caps until February 22. As an added incentive, the store will be offering a 10% discount on yarn purchase for every 10 hats brought into the store. She'll be presenting the preemie caps during the "I Care for Kids" WIOV Radio-Thon February 23-25.

Big Books R Here!

BIG BOOKS R HERE! Remember a while back (on our very first blog post) I told you about Big Books... large format storybooks (15"x18") which are great for teachers and childcare providers when they read to a group of children??? Well they are now available for u to take home!

For those Barbara fans.

Barbara Delinsky's new book, Family Tree, just arrived. I saw this compared to Jodi Picoult's books, so if you like either author, this should be a real treat!

Dana Clarke never knew much about her family background, especially her father. Her life seems idyllic: she adores her husband and is about to give birth to their first child. When the baby is born with African-American traits, Dana's husband suspects infidelity and Dana is prompted to delve into her family history. "Dana's determination to discover the truth becomes a poignant journey back through her past and her husband's heritage that unearths secrets rooted in prejudice and fear." (from the front flap).

Look for it on the shelf soon!

Contests!

Today is the official kick-off of the eighth annual Poetry Contest! The contest is open to Lebanon County Library Card-holders of all ages...and library cards are free and easy to get, so what's your excuse? Enter today! I'll even give you a link to the entry form: http://www.lclibs.org/lebanon/poetryentryform2007.pdf

The deadline is April 30th!
Two original entries only per person, please!
20 winning poems will be published and available for purchase.
Winners will be posted by June 5.
See the entry form for complete rules.


Also check out the Write & Illustrate Your Own Book Contest! This contest is open to students in grades 1 through 5 who live or attend school in Lebanon County. The deadline is March 23rd at 5PM! Check out the entry form and get started! http://www.lclibs.org/lebanon/writeillustrateform2007.pdf

Harry Potter Release Date Announced!

Just announced the 7th and final Harry Potter book release date has just been announced!!!! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released on July 21, 2007.