We’re starting a new book club here at the woods, it may be our first one ever, and I’m so excited about it.  I’ve been a part of different bookclubs throughout my many years of working in libraries.  I started one of the first mother/daughter bookgroups way back in the early 90’s and it was always so much fun to hear the different opinions and discussions from the moms and the girls.  Many times a mom would be sharing something about when she was young and her daughter would turn to her and say, “I didn’t know that happened.” Book clubs can become tremendous vehicles in bringing people together who might otherwise never meet, to discuss great stories and books.  Claudia, one of our Branch staff is going to be facilitating our new group and I invite all of you, who can, to join us.  Here are my top 10 reasons to join our book club. (which is starting on January 30th @ 2:00pm - reading and discussing “A Thread of Grace”)

10. get great recommendations from other readers

9. learn interesting things about the authors

8. meet at the perfect place - the LIBRARY

7. read different genres (historical fiction, mystery, contemporary)

6. helps get your mind off other things

5. can amuse and inform

4. can discuss and learn about different people’s reading rituals

3. get to know and meet new people

2. become a better reader

and my #1 reason for joining our book club……

1. share and talk about great books with CLAUDIA, our new book club facilitator!

Hope you can become one of our new book club groupies!

Nancy

My husband and I have just moved into a new house and we have boxes everywhere!!  Trying to find a document for our transition from Florida to Connecticut has been a nightmare.   We have boxes and bags and folders full of paper, and I’m slowly trying to get organized. 

I  love watching those shows on the HGTV channel about organizing, and seeing all the “stuff” people cannot seem to get rid of. I’m happy to say my husband and I don’t even come close to the way some of those houses look, the clutter!!.  Fortunately we are both kind of neat freaks and me being a librarian….well you get the picture.  Getting our house in order quick is something that just has to happen. 

For those of you who may be making that all to familiar New Year’s Resolution: “this year I will throw out my 35 year old sons baby blanket (along with all his other accumulated stuff he’s dropped off here) and buy some beautiful Pottery Barn baskets to neatly place on my newly aquired Ikea bookshelves”,  I’m so excited to tell you about an upcoming program we are having here at the branch, that might actually start you on the right path.  A panel of organizing experts will be visiting us to help us decipher what is trash, what’s a keepsake, what do we keep, and where do we store it all. 

 If you want to get a head start on your organizing dilemma, we’ve got some great books to help.  Check out “Simplify your space: create order and reduce stress” and “Easy home organizer: 15-minute step by step solutions” as well as “Rightsizing your life” - or a host of other titles in the 640’s.  I’ll be at the “Get Organized” program on Saturday, January 12th, from 1:00pm-2:30pm and I hope you can make it to.

Nancy

Everyday, somewhere in this world, a library and books are changing someone’s life.  Richard Wright, writer of the “Native Son”, believed that books and the public library changed his life.  Because of rules and regulations on segregation, Richard was unable to get books from his local library in Mississippi.  He enlisted the aide of a white co-worker who helped in gaining access to the public library and books.  Learning, for Richard, was his ticket for freedom.  Gary Paulsen, another great writer said, “I would have been an intellectual idiot without the library.”  He visited a library in Minnesota one night, to get warm, and met a librarian who offered him a library card.  This opened up a world of books for him.  Westerns, sci-fi and some classics thrown in.  He say’s “it saved me, it really did.” You don’t need to be famous to have the same enriching experience. Every library has a story about helping someone find the perfect book, piece of information, or in fullfilling their dreams. 

Building a better life by using the library as a resource, continues daily in libraries across the world.  It’s a great gift libraries have to offer.  The gift of freedom of choice, the gift of knowledge, the gift to dream…….

As we begin the New Year, the Fairfield Woods Branch Library staff would love to hear your story on how a library may have helped to change your life.

We wish you all the best for the upcoming year.

Nancy

Have you ever had the desire to make a gingerbread house but………fill in any excuse you’ve ever used.  Yes, they are extremely difficult to make and decorate but it is so much fun.  This past Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I knew, would be the perfect time for me to finely attempt one. My kids were coming to spend the weekend and I hoped I could entice/bribe them into helping out.  I checked in our library catalogue and found several great books on gingerbread recipes and lots of pictures of gingerbread houses to look at.  I made the dough a couple of nights before their arrival and then had to decide on a template, and how to cut the rolled dough out.  I went on line and found a great template that was put out by Bob Villa, “the builder”! How perfect is that - a real builder explaining how to cut out and construct a gingerbread house.  Once I got going it was really quite easy, and while it was baking it smelled delicious in our house.  With that done I had to just wait for the kids to arrive.  I laid out all the candy, made the frosting, and away we went…….. a couple of bags of candy and several hours later we had put together our first ever gingerbread house.  I think it came out pretty great.  Take a look at the pictures or come into the library, follow your nose and take a look at the real thing!  It was great family fun, thanks, John, Alicia, Beth, and Jeff for all your hardwork.  Notice my husband Alan’s name is not included in the helping out list……oh, wait a minute, he was the one who ate the houses chimney before we could get it up! That meant having to figure out a whole new strategy from our roof builder, my son.  Anyways, if we can do this as a family activity and live to talk about it anybody else could too.  Think about, and check out some gingerbread books, at your local library, today.

Nancy

Wouldn’t you be interested in a book that claims to contain “everything you need to know to get by in the 21st century?”  Especially if that book was published by an organization as established as National Geographic?  It’s called “The Knowledge Book,” and it’s so much fun to browse through.  The hook comes in the very first sentence of the forward by David Wallechinsky…”I was raised in a home with books in every room.”  What librarian wouldn’t love a book that started that way?  There’s also a fond remembrance of a childhood copy of “The World Book Encyclopedia,” another Reference favorite.  This book is quite readable all the way through, with lots of great photos, time-lines and fun “Insider Knowledge” boxes with info that will definitely come in handy for trivia games, crossword puzzles, and maybe even your next holiday party as great conversation openers. (”Please pass the dip - and did you know that no artist was reproduced more often in the 20th century than Vincent van Gogh?”)  Too bad this book isn’t small enough to fit in your pocket!

Every Tuesday I have the pleasure of “playing” with 32 of our youngest patrons. Nursery Rhyme Time, our storytime for babies under the age of two is in full swing.  The program is a combination of songs, stories, fingerplays, and lots of action.  We offer a pre-walker program, for those who are still not quite walking, and a walker program for those who are real movers and shakers.  These kids may seem too young to come to storytime, but listening to great stories and songs should definately be a weekly highlight. Did you know that children (and babies) who are read to at least 3 times a week do better in later development than those who are read to less than that? Coming to the library, with your baby, will get you one step closer to achieving that reading goal.  As one mom put it,”It’s so great to have a reason to get out of the house, and it’s free!”   You can’t ask for anything better than that.  So come on down and check out our newest program at the Woods library. Di 

There’s only six days left to Veterans Day and I would like to say thank you, thank you, thank you to all of our Veterans as we celebrate you. I got more interested in Veterans Day this year, when I heard a statistic on a radio station I was listening to.  It stated that as of 9/30/2006 there were 3,151,000 living WWII Veterans and that 1,025 passed away each day.  Wow, that seemed pretty staggering to me. My dad was a WWII veteran and passed away recently.  I knew about his basic Air Force service, during World War II, and how he had served in England and was a gunner but I wish I had learned more.  I wish he had shared more stories with me.  As I went through some old photographs, with my mom, I saw pictures of my dad standing in front of a plane with a group of men, all smiling.  Wearing a leather bomber jacket with a fur color, his hat tipped to the side a little looking so handsome, so young.  I would love to have heard about those men standing with my dad, ….were they scared? did they want to be there? and what  did they do on a day to day basis?   Preserving our countries history seems so important to me.  The Library of Congress is working on a Veterans History Project aimed at collecting oral history interviews, memoirs, letters, diaries, etc. from veterans of all our wars.  If you know a Veteran have him or her check it out and contribute their thoughts about their experiences.

I put up a Veterans Day display of books in our Branch and as I was searching for information about the history of Veterans Day I came about a site called Celebrating America’s Freedoms.  It’s a collection of stories about some of America’s customs and national symbols. It includes the history of “Taps”, the Pledge of Allegiance, and Veterans Day. 

 If you get a chance, visit the library and check out a book or two about our Veterans and the wars they served in.  We’ve got some great books about these courageous men and women.   I’ll be thinking about our Vets and our Soldiers at War this Veterans Day….. Thank you just doesn’t seem enough.

Nancy

Did you know that Connecticut is home to what is considered to be “the Most Haunted Town in the United States?”  Don’t worry - it’s not Fairfield!  It’s Dudleytown, located somewhere in Litchfield County (local folks don’t like to divulge it’s exact location to all of the would-be ghost hunters and tourists).  It really did exist, though, founded by Thomas Grifis in 1739.   Unfortunately, over the years the people of Dudleytown were visited by tragedies of all kinds - insanity, murder, lightning strikes, fire, mysterious illnesses - you name it.  Theories as to why this town was so cursed range from residents’ involvement in a plot to kill King Henry VIII back in England (anybody who knows anything about Henry VIII knows that it’s not a good idea to mess with him!), to revenge from angry spirits because the town may have been built over a Native American burial ground.  Regardless of the reason, things were so scary in Dudleytown that by 1899, it had become a ghost town.  People who do visit, even today, report strange phenomena, negative energy and really bad vibes.

There are many other haunted spots in CT, and if you’re in the mood this Halloween to check some of them out, come and check out a new book called “Connecticut Ghosts: Spirits in the State of Steady Habits” by Elaine Kuzmeskus, M.S., a certified Spiritualist Medium and Director of the New England School of Metaphysics.  We do a have a copy of this book in the Reference collection, too, at R 133.1 K.   It’s an interesting and timely read, with Halloween right around the corner.  Just the right amount of scary!

I had the opportunity to sit in on one of our newer programs here at the Branch, today. Nursery Rhyme Time is for our very youngest customers and their mom, or grandparent, or caregiver. It was so totally fun!  As a former children’s librarian I know the importance of reading aloud to children.  Early literacy, getting your child ready to read, is one of the best things a parent can begin to do.  Mem Fox, noted children’s author, who wrote “Reading Magic” says, “spend at least ten wildly happy minutes every single day reading aloud!” I love how she says wildly happy.  Is there anything better than that.  Imagine having your child sitting on your lap as you read aloud a perfect board or picture book you’ve chosen from the library.  Have fun with the book, change your voice to different characters if you can, look at the beautiful illustrations, listen to the way the words sound as you read them aloud. Reading aloud to this youngest group helps to foster their great love of reading and stories.  It builds their imagination and as they begin school, they will already have a remarkable vocabulary and the foundation set in place for reading.  Here are 6 skill areas that will help your child begin that journey towards reading.

1. Print motivation means interest in and enjoyment of books. Tip: Begin reading books early-even when your child is a baby.

2. Vocabulary means knowing the names of things. Tip: Read to your children in your first language.  After reading the story through once, go back and pick out different objects to talk about.

3. Letter knowledge is learning that letters look different, and have different names and sounds. Tip: Name different shapes - the ball is round, the box is square, the line is straight.  Letters are built on shapes.  Read ABC Books or books where Letter Sounds are repeated and clear.

4. Print Awareness means learning that in English we read from left to right, and from top to bottom. Tip: If there are only a few words on the page, point to each word as you say it.  Some books are very helpful at showing print or word awareness.

5. Phonological awareness means the ability to hear and manipulate the smaller sounds in words. Tip: Make up your own silly songs and rhymes.  Check out Rhymes & Mother Goose books.

6. Narrative skills means a child’s ability to understand and tell stories. Tip: Talk to your child about the every day things you are doing.  Stories without Words also help your child tell what is happening in a book.

These are just a few ideas for you to think about as you read aloud to your child.  Remember, Library Cards are free.  So if you don’t have one, now is the time to visit us and get one.  When you come into the children’s area find out where we keep all our great books for babies, and make it a point to meet the Children’s Librarian.  She is here to help you and is the best resource you could possibly ask for.

Happy reading!

Nancy

I was taking a walk during my lunch break today and because the weather has gotten brisker and the leaves were blowing all over the place, I started to think way, way back to my days of trick-or-treating and when my kids did as well.   When I was growing up, a day or two before Halloween, my parents would lay out lots of newspaper on our kitchen table.  My father would then proceed to cut out our jack-o-lanterns, one for each of us.  My brothers and I got the fun part of scooping out all the icky, gooey, insides of the pumpkin.  My mom would clean up the seeds and make the most delicious roasted pumpkin seeds ever.  We would take handfuls of them as we ran in and out of the house, playing, during the next couple of days.  Oh they were good.  My kids never liked them but now that they’re on their own and out of the house I think I’ll make up a batch of them for my husband and me. 

It would take weeks for my brothers and me to come up with great costumes.  My mom would take us to the library to check out books to get ideas on costumes , we didn’t have the luxury of just checking on the Internet for them, but we always seemed to come up with some great homemade ones.   Even my kids loved to make their own instead of buying them.  We also never got to have a haunted house,  a couple of neighbors might do something a little spooky out on their front stoop but nothing compared to today’s standards.  My son would go out to our backyard shed every year and put together something scary to scare all of my daughters friends. It was always so much fun. I of course loved to trick or treat, I even went out when I was in college, but that’s because I LOVED candy so much.  We would get popcorn balls and candy corn and Hersey bars, yum!! I would really fill up my pillowcase and eat and eat candy for weeks.  My kids had a nice trick-or treat tradition as well.  A friend of mine lived about 1/2 mile away from us and every year she used to make the best Halloween fudge you could imagine.  We would trick or treat down to her house where she would have a special area just for friends to enter.  There would be a huge bowl of homemade fudge for us to take a few.  My kids still talk about it.  Of course the best part of this for me was that her husband would then drive us back home where an exhausted mother (me) helped her kids sort through their candy!

Halloween is great fun and the library has lots and lots of great books on costumes, and pumpkin decorating, and haunted houses……and as you can see by my links the Internet also has some fun and interesting places to look.  One more I wanted to mention though, a green site, green is in now so you might want to check this one out as well.

Well, I’ve really gotten myself into that Halloween excitment mode and I hope I’ve peaked a couple of your own favorite, when you were young, Halloween memories.  Happy Halloween everyone.

Nancy