Fireside Story Time

Join us on Saturday mornings for Fireside Story Time.  Pat O, MaryLou O, and Robyn L will each host one of the story times in June & July. Anyone else who would like to volunteer some time to read to the children, please give a call to the library and we will work you in to our schedule.

Stories will be read near the fireplace in the main room with plenty of room for children and their caregivers to sit on the floor nearby.  We look forward to you joining us!

Audio Books

In working on May book orders, I came across twelve titles that I thought people here at the Pember might enjoy on audio. The hardcover versions will probably end up on some best-seller lists.

Of those twelve titles, I discovered that four of them are available through SALON, our downloadable audio book service.

If you want to listen to these books, click on eAudioBooks on the left panel. If you don’t already have an Overdrive account, it’s fairly easy to set up. Let us know if you need help…

The four May titles available through SALON are:

8th Confession by James Patterson
Brimstone by Robert Parker
First Family by David Baldacci
Summer on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber

Book Club

We are reading any book by John Updike. Those available at the Pember are:

The Best American short stories of the century. New York : Houghton Mifflin, c1999.
Updike, John. A child’s calendar. New York : Holiday House, 1999.
Updike, John. A helpful alphabet of friendly objects : poems. New York : A. Knopf, 1995, c1994.
Updike, John. Licks of love : short stories and a sequel. New York : Alfred Knopf, 2000.
Updike, John. Odd jobs : essays and criticism. New York : Knopf, 1991.
Updike, John. Seek my face. New York : Knopf, 2002.
Updike, John. Terrorist. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.

We can order other books through interlibrary loan if the title you are looking for is not available here.

We the People

Pember Library awarded We the People Bookshelf Collection from National Endowment for the Humanities

Granville, NY – The Pember Library is one of 3,000 libraries across the country selected by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA) to received free hardcover editions of 17 classic books from the first We the People Bookshelf. The theme of this year’s bookshelf is “Created Equal.”

The We the People Bookshelf on “Created Equal” contains the following books:

  • Grades K-3: “The Ugly Duckling” by Hans Christian Anderson, “The Gettysburg Address” by Abraham Lincoln, and “Pink and Say” by Patricia Polacco.
  • Grades 4-6: “Elijah of Buxton” by Christopher Paul Curtis, “Give Me Liberty! The Story of the Declaration of Independence” by Russell Freedman, “Lincoln: A Photobiography” By Russell Freedman, “Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom” by Virginia Hamilton, and “Lyddie” by Katherine Paterson.
  • Grades 7-8: “Saturnalia” by Paul Fleishman, “Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott” by Russell Freedman, “Abraham Lincoln the Writer: A Treasury of His Greatest Speeches and Letters” edited by Harold Holzer, and “Breaking Through” by Francisco Jiménez.
  • Grades 9-12: “Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution” by Natalie S. Bober, “That All People May Be One People, Send Rain to Wash the Face of the Earth” by Nez Perce Chief Joseph, “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, “Lincoln’s Virtues: An Ethical Biography” by William Lee Miller, and “Amistad: A Novel” by David Pesci.

The award is part of the NEH’s We the People initiative, which supports projects that strengthen the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture. Selected public and school libraries in all 50 states each will receive a set of the 21 books (including Spanish translations of four of the titles), posters, bookmarks, bookplates from the NEH and the ALA, “History in a Box” resource materials on Abraham Lincoln from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and access to online planning and promotional materials.  Participating libraries will present programs on the theme of “Created Equal” for their students or library patrons.  The Pember Library will present story hours using stories to help children understand those searching for their place in society. We will also have stories and book displays about the search for equality in several segments of our American history. Discrimination has been based on gender, religion, race, sexual orientation.

For more information about We the People Bookshelf programs at the Pember Library contact Ardyce Bresett, (518) 642-2525, Pember.library@gmail.com. For more information about the We the People Bookshelf project, please visit http://publicprograms.ala.org/bookshelf.

Download Audiobooks Anytime, Anywhere

Download Audiobooks Anytime, Anywhere

Enjoy popular titles from the comfort of home

Pember Library is proud to offer you popular downloadable audiobooks, accessible 24/7 starting today, April 8, 2009. Joining top rated libraries like Boston, Denver, New York, and Cleveland, we are excited to announce this at-home service for a new way to enjoy your library.

With hundreds of popular and classic titles to select from, our digital collection is guaranteed to have something for everyone. Offering popular fiction and non-fiction, our “Virtual Branch” spans nearly every genre. You can download best-selling books, literary classics, self-improvement guides, and more.

Getting started is easy! Visit our website, http://salon.sals.edu, install the free software, browse the collection, and add titles to your cart. Check out with a valid library card and download titles to a personal computer or laptop. When the download process is complete, you can enjoy titles on your Windows or Mac computer or transfer to supported devices, like an MP3 player or Apple iPod. Many audio titles can be burned to CD to listen in the car.

So what’s the catch? There is none. Digital downloads are easy to check out and download, and the best part is- there are never any late fees because your titles are automatically returned at the end of the lending period.

For more information and help resources, visit http://salon.sals.edu.

Three Different Styles

The first book is for dog owners and/or dog lovers.  The story of Chet and Bernie is at times funny, other times sad, and still other times endearing.  Chet and Bernie are investigating the disappearance of a teen-age girl, either a runaway or the victim of a kidnapping.  The story moves along quickly, going from the dark tunnels of a mine, to a biker’s bar, to the hot desert.  Of course, what makes this more interesting is the fact that Chet is a dog, who is also the narrator of the story.  Great descriptions from a dog’s eye view.  A truly fun read.  The book is Dog Gone It by Spencer Quinn.  Well written, light mystery.

The second book, Married in Seattle, by Debbie Macomber, is about Janine, whose grandfather decided that she should marry his young partner.  Neither Janine or Zack, the to-be groom, thought much of the idea, but grandfather plotted many ways to get the two of them together.  Even though the two confronted grandfather,  telling him that it wouldn’t work, he continued to try.  Naturally, the more he tried, the more they resisted.  Finally, because Janine liked the way she felt when Zack kissed her, and Zach thought it would be good based on practical and financial advantages, they got married.  The marriage started off on the wrong foot, and it didn’t become a real one until Zack thought he had lost Janine.  She had gone for lunch with her grandfather, and didn’t return home until late, leaving Zack wondering what had happened to her, realizing he was in love with her.

For you hockey fans, we have a book about a hockey coach whose snowmobile went through the ice and was never found, nor was the coach’s body.  Gus Carpenter, goalie on the coach’s team, had left town, in disgrace, only to return some ten years later.  Now a reporter for the local paper he investigates the finding of coach’s snowmobile in a different lake from where it was supposed to have been lost.  As he digs further into evidence, he fears that some of his friends may have been involved in what has now been termed murder.  The background of the mystery is built by alternating between past and present events.  As the truth is revealed, Gus finds not only friends, but family are also involved, in the worst possible way!  Bryan Gruley puts you right into Starvation Lake, with fantastic descriptions of people and events, in his debut novel.

Your turn: what great book have you read lately?

Spring Book Sale

The Friends of the Pember Library will host a spring paperback book sale Saturday, April 25 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM in the main room of the Pember Library. All paperback books will be $.25. Paperbacks for adults and children will be available.

Donate your gently used paperbacks to the library. Now is the time to clean out your paperback shelves so you will have room for all the books you will find at our sale!

Donations are accepted at any time the library is open. If you have large amounts of books to donate, it would be best to call ahead so we can have someone on hand to help unload your vehicle. For information, call 642-2525.

Thursday Tall Tales

We will have an early evening Thursday Tall Tales program as well as our new Fireside Story Time on Saturdays.

The scouts from Girl Scout Troop 3218 will be the hosts for four Story Times in April and May. Jo-ann will be reading for  the other Thursday Tall Tales programs.

Look forward to stories using a flannel board and puppets. We also have one program planned which will be a sing-a-long.

It isn’t necessary to register for the programs. For additional information, call the library (642-2525) or ask at the desk.

Fireside Story Time

Join us on Saturday mornings for Fireside Story Time.  Pat O, MaryLou O, and Robyn L will each host one of the story times in March. Anyone else who would like to volunteer some time to read to the children, please give a call to the library and we will work you in to our schedule.

Stories will be read near the fireplace in the main room with plenty of room for children and their caregivers to sit on the floor nearby.  We look forward to you joining us!