Spotlight on the Magazine Index: An Online Subscription from Your Library

Need to do some research but can't get to the library? No problem! The San Marino Public Library subscribes to eleven different services that you can use through our Web page with your library card at any time of day or night.

The crown jewel of this collection is the Magazine Index. This database, also known as MasterFile Elite from EBSCOhost Web(tm), lets users search through a database that reaches back to the early 1990s and covers over 1200 magazines and journals ranging from People to the Journal of Interamerican Studies & World Affairs. Many entries contain the entire text of articles just as they appeared in print!

Students love this database because it means that they don't have to physically go to the library, find the correct edition of the magazine that they seek, and then photocopy it. Parents find this collection useful when they want to read articles about home repair or appliance reviews. This service can also help busy businesspeople to find quality information right from their desks at work.

How do you reach this information treasure? Grab your library card, point your browser to http://sanmarinopl.org, and then click on "Online Reference Resources". On the next screen, choose "Magazine Index". The login screen will ask for a "Patron ID". This is your 14-digit library card number typed in with no spaces. On the following page, choose the service called "EBSCOhost Web". Once you do that, you will be free to explore the world of magazine and journal articles online--all with a strong guarantee of quality, courtesy of the San Marino Public Library.

The San Marino Library home page is your gateway to quality information online.

Three New Faces Come to the San Marino Public Library

The San Marino Public Library is pleased to announce the arrival of three new additions to our staff: Yvonne Cheng, Jessica Keating, and Crystal Yu.

Yvonne Cheng has returned to our library as an accredited reference librarian. She last worked for us as a library assistant in 2002. Cheng brings many talents to the reference desk including a fine arts background and an understanding of the Chinese language. Cheng earned her Masters of Library and Information Science at UCLA in 2003. She lives in San Gabriel with her husband.

Project Coordinator Jessica Keating comes to us from City Hall. She will oversee the implementation of various library administrative tasks. In addition to her work with us, Keating is studying for a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Leadership from Azusa Pacific University. Keating has worked for the City of San Marino since 1996. She lives in Arcadia with her husband and dog.

Crystal Yu will manage the administrative details for the Library Capital Campaign. At the same time, she is writing her Masters thesis for the Industrial/Organizational Psychology Program at San Jose State University. Yu received her undergraduate degree in Psychology at U.C. Irvine. She currently resides in Monterey Park.

Please join us in welcoming these professionals to our team!

Rose Pruning Workshop 2005

For you do-it-yourselfers and nature lovers, it is time to plan your schedule for a beautiful rose display in the spring. The free Rose Pruning workshop that Ron Serven, of the San Marino Parks Department, has given annually in the Library's auditorium will be held on Saturday, January 22, 2005 at 9:00 AM. Ron always does a great job of explaining and demonstrating the philosophy and technique of rose pruning. Some people attend year after year as a refresher course. He is great about answering questions and readying people to go out and spend a couple of hours in the garden.

This year there will be a new twist. The session at the Library, which runs from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM, will be followed by a hands-on pruning demonstration at Lacy Park (1485 Virginia Road) from 11:30 to 1:00 PM. Lacy Park has plenty of roses to practice on and this part of the program gives those attending the opportunity to get immediate feedback and answers to questions from Ron. He will give some instruction, but the emphasis will be on the doing. Bring your pair of pruners. Also on hand will be volunteers from the Lacy Park Rose Garden Deadheaders, a group of knowledgeable and helpful people who help the Parks Department keep up with the massive amount of rose pruning in Lacy Park. Anyone who wants to join this group is encouraged to attend and find out more about what they do. This segment will give participants more exposure to different types of rose plants, including climbing roses. Please enter at the Virginia Road entrance and sign in there.

There is no need to make a reservation for either part of the program, but call (626) 300-0777 for information on the Library segment, or (626) 304-9648 for information about the hands-on segment. Everyone is welcome to attend either or both sessions.

Audio Update

The library's collection of unabridged audio books continues to grow, with over a dozen new titles being added in October and November. Clive Cussler is back with a new thriller, Lost City, the fifth installment in his popular NUMA files series. The Darling, Russell Banks's latest book, is described in Publishers Weekly as "A rich and complex look at the searing connections between the personal and the political, and one of Banks's most powerful novels yet."

New non-fiction offerings include Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts and Jon Meachem's Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship. Meachem is managing editor of Newsweek and his well researched book examines the unique friendship forged between two vital figures of the 20th century, FDR and Winston Churchill.