City of Stillwater NEWS
'Library Shelf' from the Stillwater Public Library at 1107 S. Duck Street in Stillwater, Okla.
For more information, call (405) 732-3633 or e-mail askalibrarian@stillwater.org or vist the library online at library.stillwater.org.
Click here to read the "Library Shelf" columns for 2008.'Library Shelf'
Dec. 17, 2007: SPL Reaching Out to the Community
(STILLWATER, OKLA.)—Starting in January, library services will expand outside of the building walls and into the community. The Stillwater Public Library received a grant from the Buel J. Stanton Charitable Trust to purchase a delivery van making our new outreach book deposit program possible.
Facilities such as daycares, schools, assisted living centers, and other similar organizations qualify for this deposit collection program. The facility director or a designee will need to fill out a short survey about the type of materials that best suit the organizations needs, as well as the best time and day for delivery. The library will do the rest! Once a month, library staff will deliver a collection of library materials to each facility and leave the items for facility clients to enjoy during their stay.
Stillwater Public Library has already made arrangements to deliver deposit collections to many daycares in Stillwater, beginning in January, and it hopes to add other facilities by September 2008.
If you direct a facility with members or clients who aren’t able to travel to the library, but you would like your clients to have access to the many different types of material we have, please contact us. We will bring the Library to you.
This program is FREE and made possible by Stillwater Public Library Trust Board, the Buel J. Stanton Charitable Trust, and the City of Stillwater.
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'Library Shelf'
Dec. 12, 2007: SNOW IS FALLING...BOOKS ARE CALLING
(STILLWATER, OKLA.)—Winter is here and it’s time to think about activities you can do with your child indoors where it’s warm and cozy.The following list of books, some new, some old favorites, are perfect for sharing with your child on a quiet evening.
- "The Snow Globe Family" by Jane O’Connor follows the parallel adventures of a big family and the little family who live in a snow globe in their house. Readers will take special pleasure in the miniature world of the snow globe, where ice skates are only as long as eyelashes and a snowman is no bigger than a sugar cube.
- Nick Butterworth’s "One Snowy Night" features Percy the park keeper who is visited by some surprise guests one very cold night.
- Jeanette’s cat Kitty Doyle always walks her to school and comes to meet her on the way home. But one evening, Jeanette and neighborhood children have a snowball fight and Jeanette forgets all about Kitty until much later. Read about their adventure in The Big Storm by Rhea Tregebov.
- “It was Sunday morning, March 11, 1888, and rain was falling, spraying a steady tempest from heaven.” Thus begins an account of the “Great Blizzard of 1888,” one of the United States’ greatest natural disasters. Read about it in "City of Snow" by Linda Oatman High.
- Anna Grossnickle Hines’ "Winter Lights" celebrates our darkest season. This book is illustrated with photographs of quilts made by the author: luminous fabrics, eleven miles of thread and an uncountable number of stitches.
- "Robert’s Snowflakes," compiled by Grace Lin and Robert Mercer, is an amazing book with artwork created by award-winning children’s book illustrators with haiku poetry to celebrate the season. All of the royalties from this book are donated to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
- Marc Harshman’s "Snow Company" tells of a family who have unexpected, though familiar guests show up to spend the night during the worst storm in twenty years. They share stories, candlelight and the warmth of the stove to create a special, unforgettable memory for Teddy.
- " In the Snow: Who’s Been Here?" by Lindsay Barrett George has William and Cammy following a snow-covered trail and trying to identify what creatures have passed by.
These winter-time books and many more await you in the children’s area of your Stillwater Public Library. Happy reading!
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'Library Shelf'
Dec. 5, 2007: 'TESTING 1, 2, 3...'
(STILLWATER, OKLA.) If you are thinking about a career change or getting ready to head off to college, you might want to check out the Testing and Education Reference Center database available through the Stillwater Public Library Web site at http://library.stillwater.org.
This online database provides information about colleges, graduate programs and specialty and career programs such as Vo-Tech, Nursing, and distance learning. The database also provides access to test preparations exams such as GED, ACT, SAT, ASVAB, GRE, TOEFL and many more. There are civil service and licensing exams as well as job skills assessment tests.
All you need to access this free service, which is paid for by the Stillwater Public Library Trust, is a Stillwater Public Library borrower’s card and a computer. If you do not have a computer at home, we have 21 available for use at the library. Stop by the library at the corner of 12th and Duck or visit us online 24/7 at http://library.stillwater.org for all your informational and educational needs.
For more information about the Testing and Education Reference Center or other online databases available free of charge from the library Web site, call 405.372.3633 ext. 106 or e-mail askalibrarian@stillwater.org.
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'Library Shelf'
Nov. 28, 2007: 'EBOOKS'
(STILLWATER, OKLA.) —Immediate access to information you need can be found through the world of NetLibrary eBooks. EBooks are digital versions of print books. From your home, office or in the library, eBooks are available free to residents of Payne County through the Stillwater Public Library web site. NetLibrary Ebooks offers 540 electronic books and public domain titles provided by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg is the creation of Michael Harta former University of Illinois student who was given a user's account on the university’s computer system. Michael decided there was nothing he could do, in the way of "normal computing," that would repay the huge value of the computer time he had been given, so he announced that the greatest value created by computers would not be computing, but would be the storage, retrieval, and searching of what was stored in our libraries. The first publication he typed into the computer was The Declaration of Independence. He then proceeded to manually type 313 more books in the public domain. For more information about Michael Hart visit Project Guttenberg at http://promo.net/pg/
The NetLibrary eBook collection is primarily non-fiction representing a wide range of topics. Business, resumes, histories, foreign languages, Cliff Notes and Idiot Guides are some of the subjects and titles represented. You can search an entire book or an entire collection in seconds, and read eBooks online. It’s a resource that lets you get reliable information, right when you need it.
The eBooks have a dictionary feature that allows readers to highlight a word and view its definition while online. The dictionary also includes graphics and audio pronunciations that accompany the terms.
Accounts can be created by visiting the Stillwater Public Library web site http://library.stillwater.org and clicking on the NetLibrary icon. Accounts must be created at the Stillwater Public Library, but the service can then be used at home.
For more information, contact a librarian at 405-372-3633
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'Library Shelf'
Nov. 21, 2007: 'Strong, Quirky Women and Great Books'
(STILLWATER, OKLA.) —My favorite books center on ordinary people and their relationships with their families. Anne Tyler's novels fit this category with her quirky Baltimore characters that are appealing and recognizable. The characters encounter and solve every day family problems and learn from them. Many of the situations are familiar and you’ll learn along with the characters.
I've recently discovered Joanna Trollope, whose books strike me as very similar to those of Anne Tyler. Her novels take place in England and feature stories of middle-class family relationships and capable women. By the end of each story, these women have formulated solutions to their problems that may not be perfect, but are tolerable.
Barbara Kingsolver's early stories and many of those by Maeve Binchy and Rosamunde Pilcher also involve family issues and relationships with which we can all identify. Other similar authors that I really enjoy are M.C. Beaton (real name Marion Chesney), whose stories are full of witty, capable characters, and Jan Karon, whose Father Tim character is the epitome of the perfect man.
If you have read all of your favorite author's books, the library's web site can help you find read-alikes like the ones I have found. On our homepage, choose Online Databases, then Novelist. At the Novelist homepage, go to the For Readers tab, and then click on Author Read-alikes. This handy tool will provide you with enough options to make sure you are never at a loss for what to read next.
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'Library Shelf'
Nov. 14, 2007: 'BookPage'
(STILLWATER, OKLA.) — Daylight savings time is gone; the nights are longer, and we’re getting a chill in the air. Now is the time to grab a perfect read and a cup of tea and settle in for an evening of cozy pleasure. But what if you can’t find a perfect read? Your favorite author has not published a new book for months, and you’ve been through all those books your friends have suggested. There are so many choices (or no choices it seems). Where do you start?
Start with the new book review magazine, BookPage, available at Stillwater Public Library. Between the covers of BookPage, you will discover many reading suggestions and reviews, meet authors, and be entertained by the feature articles. BookPage also includes children and teen book reviews and covers multiple genres like romance and mystery. BookPage is not limited to fiction readers. Nonfiction readers also will find numerous reviews and articles of interest.
The library has many available sources to assist in your search for reading pleasure. Look for library displays and check out our databases, Novelist and Books in Print. Remember, the librarians are always looking for the opportunity to provide assistance. Telling others about a good book is the best part of their jobs.
Copies of BookPage are located in both foyers of the library. BookPage is a free gift to you from your library. Grab one today to help you locate that perfect book for your cozy night of reading pleasure.
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'Library Shelf'
Nov. 7, 2007: GET MARRIED AT THE LIBRARY
(STILLWATER, OKLA.) —When you’re eighty years old, rocking on your porch on a warm summer night, surrounded by your children, grandchildren, and great grand kids, how neat would it be to tell the story about the time great-grandma and grandpop got married in a library? Did you even know that you can get married at Stillwater Public Library? A huge auditorium and an intimate reception area are available to rent for just such occasions. The library recently has accommodated three lovely weddings in its meeting room building.
A helpful meeting room staff provides advice, layout arrangements and set-up, tables, chairs, coffee and tea services, ice, and more. The meeting room staff also can help you locate a caterer or arrange for you to use the preparation kitchen which is free with room rentals. Happy couples just bring decorations, flowers, and a cake (and the rings of course)! The large auditorium accommodates up to 150-250 people and the reception area will hold up to 48-85, depending on set-up. The auditorium rental fee is 35.00 per hour and the reception fee is 25.00 per hour.
The library meeting room staff also provides rental space for beautiful receptions, children’s and adult’s birthday parties, graduation parties, baby showers, and family reunions. If you want a neat story to tell in fifty years, then visit the library meeting room staff to schedule your own library wedding.
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'Library Shelf'
Oct. 31, 2007: STUDY SKILLS
(STILLWATER, OKLA.) — The children’s department has been full of kids starting post-fall break homework and school projects. The children’s librarians have ten tips for parents to help their children build excellent study skills while at the library or at home. The study skills are as follows:.
1. Set up a regular study time in a quiet, comfortable place without too many distractions.
2. Encourage daily study, even if there’s no homework. Reading books every day will help develop good study habits.
3. Make sure your child keeps track of assignments and has all the books and study tools needed for homework in one easily accessed place.
4. Help your child become familiar with their local and school libraries and how to find information when they need it.
5. Help your child break large tasks into smaller ones to study more efficiently.
6. Let your child know it’s OK to ask teachers and librarians for help and that you’re available, too.
7. Allow study breaks every 20 minutes or so, and offer nutritious snacks and drinks.
8. Use study aids, such as quizzes, flash cards, and reading out loud sessions.
9. Reward you child’s efforts to build study skills. Praise goes a long way!
10. And remember-lead by example by letting your child see you reading, studying, and visiting the library yourself!
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