Guaranteed Quality Information at the Office and at Home-Through Your Library

Are you worried about the quality of the information that you find on the Internet? Wouldn't it be nice to have Web-based facts at your fingertips that you could be sure were reliable? Now you can, through your San Marino Public Library.

The Library has subscribed to eleven different products that you can get into through our Web page with your library card. These include a magnificent magazine database that lets you search through over 1200 well-known periodicals, many of which will serve up entire articles just as they appeared in print. Forget about a copy machine! Just mark the articles you need and have them sent to your e-mail inbox.

Need an old article from the Los Angeles Times? From our Web page, you can pull up every story that appeared in the paper going all the way back to 1985. Students, visit Facts on File to find science experiment suggestions or CQ Researcher to get the pros and cons of modern societal dilemmas. High schoolers can browse College Catalogs online.

Book group members can find reviews and recommendations for modern fiction in Novelist, and background information about older authors in Gale's Writers' Lives and even Current Biography, a database that has articles about the famous reaching back to 1940.

Finally, everyone can use online articles from Encyclopedia Americana (the U.S. answer to Encyclopedia Britannica) and the unabridged Oxford English Dictionary. How do you reach these gems? Grab your library card and point your browser to http://smpl.us. Most of these products require users outside library walls to type in their 14-digit library card number, with no spaces. Once you do that, you can explore the world of subscription information-all with a strong guarantee of quality, courtesy of the San Marino Public Library.

Food for Thought

Beginning October 9th, 2004, the San Marino Public Library will participate in the In-N-Out "Food for Thought" Reading Program for children aged 2 to 12. A child visiting the San Marino Public Library may register at the Children's Reference Desk and receive a "Food for Thought" reading log. The Children's Services staff will validate the log with a program stamp for each book a child reads at his/her reading level. When the child has five stamps on the log, he/she will receive a "Food for Thought" Achievement Award certificate good for a free cheeseburger or a hamburger at any In-N-Out Burger. For children too young to read, parents can read to the child. The "Food for Thought" reading program will end on November 20, 2004

Research Workshop at the San Marino Public Library

Do you have an assignment due that requires you to do research? Don't know where to turn? Then come to the San Marino Public Library on Wednesday, October 20th at 6:30 p.m. We are holding a hands-on workshop that will introduce students to research procedures and the electronic resources available to assist them in completing their assignments. Discussion topics include the Newspaper and Magazine Databases, Science and History homework helper and Current Biography Illustrated. This workshop is specifically geared toward 5th - 6th graders, but anyone with an interest in Research and Electronic Resources is invited to attend.

Halloween Hunt

Looking for something safe and fun to do for Halloween? Well, look no further!! Magician David Skale will be at the San Marino Public Library to present his "Vampire Magic Show", Saturday, October 30th at 2:00 p. m. You will be thrilled with fantastic feats of magic along with creepy, crawly tales of past Halloweens. Don't miss an opportunity to scream with glee and laugh with delight as Magician David promotes the importance of books and reading. Come join us for an evening of fun, interactive comedy, and lots of magic. All children are welcome and are encouraged to dress as their favorite Halloween character.

This free event sponsored by the Friends of the San Marino Public Library.

Digging Underground

Have you heard that the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and Caltrans are exploring the possibility of tunneling underground to complete the missing segment of the Long Beach Freeway between Alhambra and Pasadena? It may sound far-fetched, but Paris and several other European have undertaken such projects with apparent success. For those who are interested in the subject, the MTA has just provided a videotape of a public presentation on the subject that was given last April. Entitled “Tunneling in the Urban Environments,” this presentation describes the current plans to study the feasibility of such a project here and gives you a glimpse of how it would work.

Internet for Beginners and Intermediates

The Internet is not going away! If you are yet to get a handle on it, and are still wondering what it is and how it works, here is an opportunity for you. "Internet for Beginners" is a free hour and a half workshop on Saturday, October 23 in the Library's free 1 1/2 hour session. The workshop is for you even if you haven't used computers before. It starts at 9 AM and runs until about 10:30 AM. It is a hands-on session and those in the class will explore some web sites, take a quick look at Google, for finding appropriate web sites, and perhaps have time to look at the basics of email and even set up a free email account! This is a great chance to ask questions and learn from the instructor and your fellow students. Please register in advance so that we will know the size of the class.

The Library will offer another class a month later, called "Internet: Beyond the Basics". You might think of it as a follow-up to "Internet for Beginners", though it is open to anyone who has worked with the Internet, but feels they still have a ways to go before they really understand it. In this class, we'll assume that you already have a basic understanding of how to navigate the World Wide Web. You will be introduced to some basic shortcuts and strategies that will make your Internet sessions go more smoothly. This class will be held on Saturday, November 20 at 9:00 AM, and once again, you will need to register in advance. Please call (626) 300-0777 to register for one or both of these sessions.

Mandolin Music in the Library

Save the date, Saturday, November 6 at 3:00 PM for a concert of mandolin music for the whole family. Evan Marshall is a fantastic mandolin player who plays solo, but it immediately becomes apparent that he’s playing many parts simultaneously. The mandolin is a small, stringed instrument with a wonderful, distinctive sound and requires great dexterity and speed. In earlier times, there were mandolin orchestras that played classical music. Evan, too will concentrate on classical music, but there will likely be a “bluegrass moment,” as well as other styles. It will be a lot of fun and definitely a family event in the library’s auditorium. Don’t miss it!