Friends of the Library Seeks Book Donations

Time to clean off those bookshelves. The Friends of the San Marino Public Library seeks donations of your unwanted books to sell in their Book Shoppe. The Shoppe, located in the Library auditorium, sells used books at laughably low prices. The proceeds from these sales buy new books for the Library.

Once you empty your shelves, stop in to the Book Shoppe for a refill. It is open every afternoon except Tuesdays and Sundays. Additionally, the Friends will hold their semi-annual massive book blowout on Saturday May 21. Pick up an entire bag of books for $3 or two for $5.

Firefighters at the Library!

Some 60 children and 40 adults braved the rain to attend a special firefighter storytime at the San Marino Public library Saturday, February 19. Captain Keith Eddie and firemen Russell Wilcox, Chris Evans and Dwayne Carlton, from the San Marino Fire Department read stories and answered kid's questions about fighting fires. Following the reading, the sun came out just long enough to allow the children to climb the fire engine and to get a first hand look at some of the tools fire fighters use that help them put out fires.

San Marino Fire Captain Keith Eddie reads about fire fighting.

Library Kicks Off Community Campaign

This March marks the beginning of the community phase of the San Marino Public Library’s Capital Campaign. This phase of the fundraising project provides individuals in the community the opportunity to be a part of San Marino’s brand new library.

Donations from corporations, foundations and others have helped the campaign reach $9 million to date.

Now’s your chance to complete the task! Look for the letter coming soon in the mail, or you can stop by the library or visit our special website, www.brandnewlibrary.org to see how you can help. Years from now, you’ll be able to look back at the new library with pride, knowing you were part of its success.

Spotlight on the Los Angeles Times Database: 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.

One very useful subscription we offer is the Los Angeles Times online. This database contains the entire text of articles in the Times going back almost twenty years, to 1985. Search by words in the title, the lead paragraph, or buried in the full text. Narrow your search by specifying the year you want, or even an exact date. Articles from The Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Diego Union-Tribune can also be searched from this site.

Students love this database because it means that they don't have to physically go to the library and spool through yards of microfilm to find the information they need. Parents find this collection useful when they want to find an obituary or remember that cookie recipe from two Christmases ago. This service can also help busy businesspeople to find local and regional information right from their desks at work.

How do you reach this information treasure? Point your browser to http://sanmarinopl.org, and then click on "LA Times". On the next screen, type in the first five digits of your library card number for both the username and password. On the following page, choose the service called "Los Angeles Times". Now you are ready to explore the last two decades of our major metropolitan newspaper online--all with a strong guarantee of quality, courtesy of the San Marino Public Library.

Firefighter Program Coming to the San Marino Public Library

The Children's Department of the San Marino Public Library will present a special firefighter program in the Girls & Boys room on Saturday February 19, 2005 at 2:00 p.m. Children of all ages are invited to attend.

Fire captains from the San Marino Fire Department will read a special story and answer children's questions about being a fire fighter. Children will have the opportunity to get up close and personal with a San Marino fire engine. In addition, special fire helmets will be given to all children in attendance.

This program is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Please call 626-300-0777 to reserve a space today. The San Marino Public Library is located at 1890 Huntington Drive in San Marino, California.

Internet Evaluation Workshop for Students

Did you know that everything published on the Internet isn't true? The Internet can be both a dream and a nightmare for students learning how to do research. Web sites can be a terrific way for students to get facts and information. But at the same time this largely unmonitored resource can be full of inaccurate material, hoaxes, scams and misinformation.

So how can a student decipher fact from fiction? Join us at the San Marino Public Library as we show you how to evaluation information found on the Internet. This interactive workshop will be held on Wednesday, January 19th at 6:30 p.m. at the San Marino Public Library. Call (626) 300-0777 to reserve your spot, as space is limited. This workshop is perfect for students in the 3rd- 6th grade.

Last Call for Rose Pruning

Here is another reminder about the free Rose Pruning Workshop on Saturday, January 22 at 9:00 a.m. Ron Serven, of the San Marino Parks Department, will demonstrate how to prune your own roses in the San Marino Public Library's auditorium. For the first time, this year there will be a hands-on session following the demonstration at Lacy Park (1485 Virginia Road) from 11:30 to 1:00 PM. Everybody is welcome to attend either one or both of these sessions.

The Library session is for those who want to sit back and be shown exactly how to do it and be given a chance to ask questions. The Lacy Park session is for those who want to learn by doing, with help and advice from Ron and the "Deadheaders", a group of volunteers who help keep up with maintaining Lacy Park's rose garden. Bring your pruners if you come to this one.

No need to reserve, but those who arrive early get closest to the action for the Library session. For more information, call (626) 300-0777.