Alpine Public Library News

Many of our patrons enjoy our honor system paperback books.  They have stayed in the same general area, but have migrated slightly over time.  The Science Fiction books and the Paperback books traded locations at one time.  The size of the Paperback collection has increased and decreased over time.

But, where is the Paperback collection now?  It takes up two shelves next to the Science Fiction books.  The size of the collection may be smaller, but you can still take as many of these books as you’d like for as long as you’d like.

If you are looking for more books, feel free to go to Re-Reads used bookstore.  It is the small, metal building next to the library.  Books on various subjects can be found there, for very reasonable prices.  Go by on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday through Saturday.

It is probably safe to say that a fair number of the residents of the Big Bend area are into conservation of one form or another. At the very least, we do our personal best not to pollute. But, you may wonder, how can you help the Alpine Public Library recycle and conserve?

The obvious answer is by donating used materials in excellent to good condition. But, have you considered these methods:

• Bring your own paper to the library for copies (through the internet printers and the copy machine). You will also save 10 (ten) cents per page on your copies by doing this.
• Bring your used, small ink cartridges to the library. Drop them off at the circulation desk or in the box next to the new fiction books. We then forward them to a location that can recycle the cartridges.
• Drop off your empty, hole-free, plastic grocery bags. We will use them so that patrons can carry the materials they have checked.

Thanks for your current and future support. The Big Bend thanks you also.

We had great fun at the library today. We made wind parrots and colored picture of pirate parrots.

 Wind Parrots

Sande Pedro read us a great book “The Old Pirate of Central Park” by Robert Priest. There are 38 children in our summer reading program which is a little over half of the school population. We will be closed on July 4th but the program will be the following Wednesday July 11th. Everyone is welcome. Please come and have a great time with us.

Carol Townsend MPL

The short time that I have been writing this blog has been a pleasure.  For some of you new to this site, I would like to welcome you.  Also, I would love to hear from you.  Sometimes it can be difficult to find something about which to be passionate, so here is something to get you going.

What was your favorite childhood book?

I will respond to get things going.  The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin, was one of my favorite books during childhood.  This book probably began my love for mystery fiction.  It was about an eccentric millionaire who decided to give his will an interesting twist.  All of the heirs were divided into teams of two and were given clues.  Whoever solved the mystery hidden in the will would be the winner of the Westing Game and Sam Westing’s fortune.  Many twists and turns took place in this book and would keep a person of any age guessing.

There was another reason why this book was one of my favorites.  This book was read to me in installments during fifth grade.  The teacher would read each chapter aloud, which was something different, yet rewarding. (By the way, I think that is something sorely missing in schools today.)  I would anticipate hearing another portion of the book with each passing week.

The best part is that multiple copies are available at the Alpine Public Library.  No matter what age you may be, I highly recommend this book.

Now, it is your turn.  You are cordially invited to talk about your favorite childhood book.  Include the title, author and a brief summary of the book.  Also, please say why this book was so enjoyable for you.  You may reply at the bottom of this blog entry.  I look forward to hearing from you.

This is a great site….thanks for all of your hard work! Liz

The current generation almost seems to have been born with a mouse in its hand.  They are naturals at surfing the web.  Research for reports and homework assignments are now completed, in part, thanks to the internet.  There are even websites where youths can meet, greet and hang out.  But, are youths the only ones using the internet?

Absolutely not!  I have been happy to observe that there are many retired patrons who visit the Alpine Public Library to use the internet.  Many are easily able to reach the sites they need.  The ones who need a little more help are not disheartened, but press forward.  There have even been retired patrons who have brought their laptops to take advantage of our free wireless internet service!

So, what if you or someone you know is a retired patron who would like to get internet savvy?  First, you are more than welcome to use the computers at the library.  Two people are allowed to use the internet at once, so if you know someone who can help you, by all means bring them.  If you get stuck while using the internet at the library, feel free to ask a staff member for brief assistance.  Finally, we do have a book or two that would be able to assist you in finding information on the internet.  One is called Grandma Online, by Kathleen Shaputis. It starts off showing you how to get an email account, absolutely free.  Then, it describes the basic rules of internet etiquette, also known as “netiquette.”  The succeeding chapters describe common activities you may like to pursue on the internet.  It mentions specific websites that can help.  I have personally found this book to be quite helpful, although I am a fair distance from retirement age.  The internet is a great tool.  Do not view age as an insurmountable obstacle.  Happy surfing!

Are you one of those people who loves reading, but your schedule makes it difficult to find the time?  At one point or another, most of us have had to face this dilemma.  We at the Alpine Public Library have materials that can help.

The next time you come to browse, feel free to look at our healthy audio book collection.  These books are like the traditional, hard cover books most people are used to reading.  The difference is that someone else is reading the book to you so that you are free to take care of other business.

The genres we have for audio books are similar to the ones for the traditional books.  We have:  Fiction; Mystery Fiction; Science Fiction; Western Fiction and Non-Fiction.  The potential of finding something to which you would like to listen is great.  The audio books come on cassette and on compact disc.

So, if you are busy doing chores and are tired of having the television as background noise, you might want to an audio book.  If you are going on a road trip and know that the conversation is going to run out long before the road does, you might want an audio book.  If you’ve had a long hard day and just want to unwind, you might want an audio book.  Come on down and try an audio book.