Winter holidays

It is a busy time of year, but not too busy, we hope, to enjoy a few holiday stories.

There are many books, audio tapes, videos or DVD with a Christmas theme. Books and stories about Christmas for children and adults; books on Christmas crafts for all ages. Something for everyone.

Hanukkah begins on December 4 this year, and the libraries have many items on this tradition.

Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 25 to January 1. There are many items for those that celebrate this tradition.

Children's Book Week

November 12-18, 2007 is Children’s Book Week, and people across the country will be celebrating in schools, libraries, bookstores, and homes. The libraries encourage you to spend time reading with your child during this very special week.

Here are some ideas for celebrating Children’s Book Week at home.
· During dinner, each family member can share their current favorite book by naming the title, author and illustrator, and giving a brief description of the book and why it’s a favorite.
· Go to the library as a family and help each other pick out new books to bring home.
· After dinner, instead of watching television, read aloud from a book (or books) to each other.
If you haven’t been read to in a while, you’ll be surprised how much fun it is.

Parents, librarians, teachers, booksellers and anyone interested in good books for children have been celebrating Children’s Book Week since 1919.

The need for promoting good children’s literature was a collaborative
effort between the Boy Scouts, publishers and a librarian from the New York Public Library.

The goal of publisher Frederic Melcher in 1919 was to create a "Book Week (that) brings us together to talk about books and reading and, out of our knowledge and love of books, to put the cause of children's reading squarely before the whole community and, community by community, across the whole nation. For a great nation is a reading nation."

A worthy goal and still true toady.

A few pictures....

A few pictures of the new Bradford Co. Public Library.

A great event...

I went to a wonderful event last Friday...the opening of the Bradford Co. Public Library. The new building, much needed, is 20,000 sq.ft. What a difference from the 4,000 sq.ft. building that the county had. This new building is a great asset to the Bradford County community.

The building is beautiful. Plenty of room for books, magazines, videos and their new DVD collection. It has an expanded children's area with computers for little fingers, and a room where programs can be held.

There are additional computers for public use and a classroom that will be used by Santa Fe Community College. That will be a nice partnership.

Pictures as soon as I get some.

Floridians Value Their Public Libraries

Florida residents really enjoy reading...102 million items were borrowed from public libraries in fiscal year 2005-2006. Fifty one percent of Florida residents have library cards; that's more than 9.2 million people.

Library staff can help you find what you are looking for. Over 24 million questions were asked and answered by library staff. These are questions about finding information that you need, such as information on health or jobs, or information for student reports. Over one half million of those questions were answered online, either by email or through Ask a Librarian, an online chat service with a librarian available Sunday through Thursday 10am to midnight, and Friday and Saturday 10 to 5pm.

What is your library worth to you?

How much monetary benefit do you get from the library? How much money do you save by borrowing a book from the library instead of buying it?

The State Library of Florida has provided us with on online calculator that helps you calculate the value of library items that you borrow. It is based on one devised by the State of Maine and modified a bit for Florida use.

Plug in some numbers and see how much the library is worth to you.

Did you know...?

There are other things that you might not know about libraries.

• Florida's public libraries return $6.54 for every $1.00 invested. Florida's libraries contribute to the state's economy through jobs created and a positive impact on Florida's gross regional product. (From Taxpayer Return on Investment Report, January 2005)