Scotch Plains Public Library

Now you can show your love for the Scotch Plains Public Library on Facebook!

Just click on this link, then click “Become a Fan” on the upper right hand part of the page.

You can RSVP for programs, check out event pictures, and ask questions about SPPL, all on one page!

Why do you love your library?  Watch this YouTube video to find out the reasons these New Jerseyans love their libraries:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjS3iCALjrM

The Scotch Plains Public Library will host a free seminar on the naturalization process on December 5, 2007, at 7:30 p.m.

Habrá disponible un intérprete inglés/español.

Laurie Woog, Esq., a local immigration attorney, will discuss the current process for obtaining United States citizenship and upcoming changes to the testing requirements. Ms. Woog will also answer questions concerning the advantages of applying for naturalization, eligibility and documentation requirements, grounds of inadmissibility, disability exemptions, and questions about other areas of immigration law.

Advance registration is encouraged. Please call 908-322-5007, x.204 or e-mail library@scotlib.org with your name and phone number to reserve your spot.

The Literacy Volunteers often come to the Scotch Plains Public Library for tutoring sessions- and they’re on the lookout for more volunteers.

Literacy Volunteers of Union County is sponsoring free Tutor Training Workshops in January at the Summit YMCA located at 67 Maple Street in Summit. A new daytime training program is being introduced to accommodate volunteers with school age children. The workshops will be held during morning hours from 10 am to 12:30 pm. The classes will be held Tuesday and Thursday on the following dates: January 8, 10, 15, 17, 22 and 24.

Volunteers are needed to tutor adults one hour a week in reading, writing or English as a Second Language. No experience is necessary. Training and certification are free. Ongoing tutor support is provided.

The Literacy Volunteers has a waiting list of over 150 adults waiting for a volunteer tutor. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Literacy Volunteers at 908-755-7998 or email dawn@lvaunion.org.

There’s a lot going on at the Scotch Plains Public Library this fall, and we’d love to have you join us for one of our many programs.

New to our program schedule are two e-mail classes, designed to get you started in using web-based, free e-mail services. Learn how to use Yahoo!Mail on November 14 at 2:30pm, and how to use Gmail on December 6 at 8:30am. Both classes require pre-registration- call the Reference Desk at 908-322-5007 x204, or e-mail library@scotlib.org.

Monday Night Scrapbooking will be meeting again on November 19. We’ll start at 6:30pm, and coffee will be provided. Bring your own supplies, and get ready to share great ideas with your fellow scrapbookers! Please sign up at the Reference Desk, or e-mail library@scotlib.org.

Our Lunchtime Foreign Films series is going strong- we still have four Academy Award winning movies to show. Next up is The Sea Inside on October 31, followed by Life is Beautiful on November 14. As always, coffee, tea, and doughnuts will be served.

We recently had a local farmer come to the library to speak about his family’s farm and all of the interesting vegetables and herbs that are grown there. Pictures can be seen on our Flickr page- and some can be viewed on the right hand side of this blog.

Watch this blog for LOTS of new upcoming events and programs…all happening @ your library.

Marimba musician Simon Boyar performed at the Scotch Plains Public Library on Monday night to a crowd of 30+ music lovers.  People of all ages enjoyed his energetic performance!  Mr. Boyar also answered many questions from the crowd, explaining how mallets are made and the logistics involved in getting a marimba to play in Taiwan (answer: 70+ e-mails!)

You can find out more about Simon Boyar on his MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/simonboyar

Our Flickr page has pictures from the performance.

Yesterday, a patron came in and asked me if there was a way to save a list of books in the “My Account” section of our online catalog.  Unfortunately, there is not- you can place holds on books, but you can’t make a list of favorites or books that you want to read in the future.

There is, however, a web site that will keep track of your books for you- GoodReads.com.   On the site, you can create lists of books- ones that you have read, ones that you are currently reading, and  ones that you plan on reading.

You can add us as a friend (library@scotlib.org) and see what the staff at the library is reading!  Make sure to invite us to your list of friends so we can see what you’re reading, too!

Jane Doherty came to the Scotch Plains Public Library last night to speak about her new book, “Awakening the Mystic Gift.” Over forty people came out to hear Jane talk about her life and how she became a psychic. We all took a “Psychic Quiz” to assess our own psychic abilities. Jane demonstrated how to determine the location of a person’s aura and also answered questions from the audience. The night was capped off with Jane signing copies of her book. You can find more pictures on our Flickr page.

We have many more events lined up for this summer- check out our events page for more information, or call the Library at 908-322-5007.

The turmoil in the adult section is almost finished! All of the adult fiction is now back on the new shelving, hopefully in order! The Young Adult materials can now be found along the back wall with expanded space to accommodate our fastest growing and hugely popular collection.

One new table and chairs are near the magazines and newspapers. More are on order thanks to a generous gift from the Friends of the Library. While we can’t create bigger  floor space, we are doing our best to crunch and make room for all the new growing types of materials people want such as music cd’s, books on CD and, of course, our DVDs for adults and children.

Thanks for everyone’s patience and help. If you can’t find what you need, just ask one of us to help you.

School’s out, which can only mean one thing- the summer reading program is about to begin!  Join us at the library at 10am on Monday, June 25 for the kickoff program with Curious George!

Kids of all ages are invited to sign up and get a reading log at the desk in the Children’s Room.

Be sure to check out all of the summer activities at the library on our events page.