AAUW book sale!

It’s that time of year!

The Ann Arbor Branch of the American Association of University Women is now taking donations for their annual book sale! Proceeds from this sale are used to provide fellowships and grants to support the education of women.

If you have some great used books that need a new home, they will be taking donations from now through mid-August.

Collection of used books for the Fall Used Book Sale begins June 22, 2009 and continues through August 22, 2009. Books will be accepted on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2570 Jackson, Ann Arbor, MI, in the former Blockbuster store directly across from Westgate shopping.

For more information, please see their web site. The book sale itself will be Sept. 11-13 at the Morris Lawrence Building at WCC.

the chickens are coming!

Backyard Chickens 101

Saturday, May 30 at 10:30 a.m.

If you’ve ever thought about having a few chickens in the backyard, this is your chance to learn more! Bridgewater resident and chicken keeper Lois Pawlusiak will share her tips on starting a flock, providing safe and convenient housing, and basics like feeding and care. Plus you’ll get to meet a real chicken!

If you’ve ever longed for your own fresh eggs in the morning, don’t miss this program! Free and open to everyone; for more information, call the library at 734-428-8045. The program will be held at the library, 912 City Rd., Manchester MI 48158.

Diana Gabaldon Coming to Jackson District Library in May

Diana Gabaldon, author of the bestselling Outlander series, will be our featured presenter at the 9^th annual Word Wise celebration of readers and writers on May 8 and 9.  The public is invited to meet Diana Gabaldon and a number of local authors at an intimate reception that will kick off the two day event on Friday, May 8, from 6 to 8 pm at JDL’s Carnegie Library, 244 W. Michigan Avenue.  Gabaldon will be signing books and reading a selection from her latest work, An Echo in the Bone.  A selection of Gabaldon’s books, as well as other local authors’ works, will be available for sale by Best Books with twenty percent of book sale profits benefitting the library. Celtic music will be provided by the Brass Camerata. Appetizers and beverages will be served. The Word Wise Author Reception on Friday evening is free and open to the public.

The two day event continues on Saturday, May 9, with two writers’ workshops presented by Diana Gabaldon and Beverly Jenkins.   “The Use of Details” is Gabaldon’s topic.  She will talk about how to use details to make a story three-dimensional and vivid, without burying it alive.   Jenkins writes historical romance novels that highlight African American life in the 19^th century.  Her workshop, “Research for Writers: Revealing 19^th Century African American Life,” will look at sources and techniques to help create a fact-based African American historical. The writers’ workshops run from 9 am to 11:45 pm on Saturday. Registration is required.

Following the workshops, Gabaldon will be the featured speaker at the luncheon segment of Word Wise on Saturday. The luncheon will be served at the First United Methodist Church, 275 W. Michigan, Jackson, directly across the street from JDL’s Carnegie library building beginning at 12:15 pm. Ms. Gabaldon will give the keynote address and answer questions after the repast. Books will be available for sale and signed before and after the luncheon. Registration is required.

As an added treat, Bob Droppleman, pipe major for the Ann Arbor Pipes and Drums, will perform a recital on the lawn at Carnegie.  He will lead a procession from the library to the luncheon site to the tune of “Scotland the Brave” and follow this performance with a short talk on the history of the bagpipe.  He will also provide music during the book signing, wrapping up the day’s events.

The cost of the writers’ workshops and the author lunch is $35 before May 1. The price increases to $40 after May 1. The author lunch is $20 before May 1, after that date the price is $25. Registration is available online at www.myjdl.com or by calling, 517-788-4087 x234. Registration forms are available at all 13 JDL locations.

Diana Gabaldon has written 19 fiction and nonfiction titles, ten of which are published, with her Outlander series topping the New York Times bestseller list. A Breath of Snow and Ashes, the most recent novel in the main Outlander series, opened simultaneously at #1 on the bestseller lists of four countries, and won both a Quill Award and the Corine international literary prize for fiction. Her long and anxiously awaited 7^th book of the Outlander series, An Echo in the Bone, will be released in September. A former university professor, Gabaldon holds three degrees in science (Zoology, Marine Biology, and Ph.D in Ecology) ,  resides in Scottsdale, Arizona where she writes and lives with her husband, Doug Watkins; they have three adult children.

Beverly Jenkins has published 21 novels and has received several awards for her works.  She was named one of the Top Fifty Favorite African-American Writers of the 20^th Century by AABLC – the nation’s largest on-line African-American book club.  Ms. Jenkins was a librarian before taking up the pen. She lives in the southeastern Michigan area with her husband, Mark Jenkins, and family.

Over the last eight years, Word Wise has brought renowned authors to Jackson such as Elmore Leonard, Judith Viorst, Sue Harrison, Jodi Picoult, Audrey Niffenegger, Harlan Coben, and Elizabeth Berg.

This event is co-sponsored by Jackson District Library, Friends of the Jackson District Library, Country Inn & Suites, Comerica Bank and The Glick Foundation. For more information about Word Wise please contact Elaine Piper, 517-788-4099, x224.  For registration and driving directions, please contact Debby Sears, 517-788-4087 x234.

Have you used the library to help save money during tough times?

Share your story with Woman’s Day magazine!

Do you have a story about using the resources and services at the library to save money, search for a job or manage your small business? If so, you could be selected to appear in Woman’s Day magazine.

Between February 17 – May 18, women 18 and over are invited to tell their story in 700 words or less and send it to womansday@ala.org. Up to four stories will be highlighted in the March 2010 issue of Woman’s Day. For more information and to read the official rules, visit www.womansday.com/ala.

The initiative was developed by Manchester District Library, Woman’s Day and the American Library Association’s (ALA) Campaign for America’s Libraries, (ala.org/@yourlibrary) ALA’s public awareness campaign that promotes the value of libraries and librarians.

If you need a little inspiration, go to the Library of Michigan Return on Investment Calculator, and see what your library is worth to you!

book donations

Staff cannot take book donations during normal library hours. We used to do so, only to be overwhelmed with the generous donations of our users. We cannot use every item donated, and not every item in a book sale will sell. That means that donations must be sorted, shelved, carried to car trunks, driven to recycling… The library has very limited storage space and our staff is already quite busy. We’ve learned through experience that we cannot manage the influx of donated materials on a day-to-day basis.

 

Thankfully, the Friends of the Library have stepped in to help! They take donations of books, audio books, and movies in good used condition on the third Saturday of the month in the Village Room. Volunteers immediately sort the donations, save the best for the on-going Friends book sale, and then recycle or discard the remaining materials. Proceeds from the on-going book sale are used to help support library programs and collections. And if you’d like to help, the Friends are always looking for volunteers!

 

We apologize for the inconvenience of having to hold onto your items until Donation Day rolls around. Those dates are listed on the library’s event calendar for your convenience. If it’s just not possible to wait, please consider donating to Worth Repeating on Main St. Worth Repeating is a not-for-profit resale shop run by volunteers and all proceeds are used to help local families.

 

Thank you so much for your generosity and understanding. We love books as much as you do, but our resources are limited, and this is the best, most efficient way we’ve found to make use of the donations our community is kind enough to bring to us.

Ghost Hunters in Ypsi!

This was too fun not to share with everyone.  ~Heather

Ypsilanti District Library Celebrates Friday the 13th
with Sci-Fi Channel’s Ghost Hunters

Calling all paranormal enthusiasts, skeptics, and fans of the Sci-Fi Channel’s popular Ghost Hunters! The Ypsilanti District Library is hosting a visit with the series’ stars Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson on Friday, March 13, 2009 in Pease Auditorium on the campus of Eastern Michigan University at 7:00 p.m. Professional plumbers by trade, Hawes and Wilson and members of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) travel investigating reports of haunted places. The team uses state-of-the-art equipment to detect otherworldly activity. Hawes and Wilson will give a presentation of true documented hauntings, take questions from the audience, and sign autographs. For a pre-visit taste of  Sci-Fi Channel’s top-rated “Ghost Hunters” series, check your local cable listing or visit their website: www.scifi.com/ghosthunters.

General admission tickets are $10 and available at the EMU Convocation Ticket Office, online at this web site, or by calling (734) 487-2282.

The Ypsilanti District Library’s mission is to enrich life, stimulate intellectual curiosity, foster literacy and encourage an informed citizenry. For a full listing of activities at your library, visit www.ypsilibrary.org.  For more information, feel free to call 734-879-1303.

The Mighty Queens of Freeville

You’ve probably seen her advice column at least once. Ask Amy runs in papers all over the nation, and author Amy Dickinson has now written a book that tries to explain how she’s earned the right to advise people. She’s not a counselor or a physician. Mostly, she says, she doesn’t want her readers to make the same mistakes she has.

Her book, The Mighty Queens of Freeville, looks like a great read. I scanned through it when it arrived and had to force myself to put it down so it could be processed. Her life in a small NY town as the child of a single parent, then as a single parent herself, had its problems. But there were always good things to outweigh the bad. In an interview at NPR she said “There’s a lot of prevailing in my family. When I think about what’s going on right now in the economy, we live in a cynical age, but we really need one another right now. We need to remember or learn to just keep going. That’s something the women in my life really excelled at. They just prevailed.”

Dickinson’s columns feature answers and advice notable for their compassion and common sense, and her book is written in the same warm voice.

You can read an excerpt here, and place a hold on the book here.

MiRideshare

Gas prices have fallen lately, but there are hints here and there that prices will rise again as the weather warms.

Which means it’s a good time to remind local commuters about MiRideshare, the free carpooling service. MiRideshare recently expanded its service by connecting with the Ann Arbor Transit Authority. Sign up for the service to get matched with other commuters on the same route. You’ll be going green in more ways than one by cutting your commuting costs! If you’re interested in a more economical, eco-friendly way to get to work, check out MiRideshare.

MiRideshare

snowy days

February and March can seem so gloomy — spring seems so close, yet so far away! This is the perfect time of year to spend some extra time at your library, getting to know it better.

• Tomorrow (Sat. Feb. 21) is Friends Donation Day. Friends volunteers will be available from 10-2 to take your gently-used books, audiobooks and movies. They’ll keep what they can for the Friends Book Sale (now open on the 2nd floor of the library!), and proceeds will be used to benefit the library’s collection and programs.

• Tomorrow is also the 2nd of our 3 Winter Science Workshops. Students ages 6-12 are invited to attend and enjoy hands-on science experiments as they learn more about space! For more information see the library’s home page.

• Next week is our monthly Book Discussion Group meeting — The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon was our pick for the month. Next month’s pick is Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin.

• If you’re a gardener anticipating planting time, don’t forget that we have an extensive collection of books about plants, landscaping, vegetable gardening, and other related topics to help you plan.

• Last but not least, our winter story times are a great way to have fun with little ones. We’ve added a Saturday story time for families who might not be able to make it during the week. See the full schedule on-line!

Family Movies @ Your Library

Join us this fall for two weekend family movie series at the library!

At 1 p.m. on the first Saturday of each month, take in a family feature — pillows and snacks welcome!

• 9/6 Ella Enchanted
• 10/4 Shrek
• 11/1 Tuck Everlasting
• 12/6 The Polar Express

At 1 p.m. on the third Saturday of the month, you can Read the Book and Watch the Movie!

• 9/20 Nancy Drew
• 10/18 Hoot
• 11/15 The Secret Garden
• 12/20 The Water Horse

An optional book/movie discussion will follow each Read the Book and Watch the Movie event.  Copies of the books will be available at the Service Desk several weeks before the movie showings.  Haven’t read the book?  No problem!  Join us for the movie anyway.