What's Happening at the Sayreville Free Public Library

Library News

February

February is...

Love Library

To celebrate, check out our "Blind Date with a Book" Display in the Adult Room and go on a blind date... with a book!

Each book is wrapped in wrapping paper, preventing you from knowing its true identity! Take one home and be surprised. If you don't like the book, stop reading and bring it back—you won't hurt the book's feelings.

Sayreville Public Library will be participating in the "Pennies for Peace" campaign now until March 28, 2010. How can a penny bring peace? It can buy a pencil, start an education, and transform a life! That pencil can empower a child to read, write, and learn! Those wishing to donate, please visit the donation center in the Children's Room. Every penny helps! For more info. call 732-727-0212 ext. 5

Interested in free eBooks? Check out our list of websites offering free eBooks for download to your PDA, iPod and eBook Readers!

Presley & Melody Rocket Ship Rock N Roll Concert: Children of all ages are invited to join library favorites Presley and Melody for an exciting, interactive music concert! Register online.

Yoga for ASD Families: Children ages 4-12 with ASD, along with their parents and siblings, are invited to join Nicole Calvano for 45 minutes of yoga fun and relaxation. Please wear comfortable clothes, bring a yoga mat or towel and a bottle of water. For more information, call Leah at 732-727-0212, ext. 5. Register online.

SNAP!: Introducing Special Needs Active Play! Children with special needs and their families are invited to play and socialize in an informal, fun-filled environment. Ages 3-7. Sundays in February from 1-2:30 PM. Visit the online calendar for more information.

Featured Cool Tool-ListenNJ: Browse hundreds of downloadable audiobooks! Check out and download best-selling and classic titles to your PC or Mac, then transfer to a portable device or burn many titles to CD to enjoy anytime, anywhere. Click here to begin!

Find the library on Facebook and Twitter! Click on the icons on the main page in the menu on the left to check us out!

New DVDs and CDs have been added to the New Items Page! Check out the newest releases, and place holds on these items from the comfort of your home:
New DVDs
New CDs

January

Book Donations Being Accepted as of 1/2/10: The Friends of the Library will be taking donations beginning Saturday, January 2nd until Saturday, January 9th. Please visit the Friends of the Library's blog to read about donation guidelines.

Book Sale: The Friends of the Library will be having a sale in the library meeting room on January 10th from 1:30 PM until 3:30 PM. A bag of books for $5.00! The Friends will be supplying the bags.

Find the library on Facebook and Twitter! Click on the icons in the menu on the left to check us out!

New DVDs and CDs have been added to the New Items Page! Check out the newest releases, and place holds on these items from the comfort of your home:
New DVDs
New CDs

Super Smash Brothers Brawl Tournaments! Calling all gamers to compete in this region-wide competition. Are you unbeatable at Super Smash Brothers Brawl? Then we need you to compete for Sayreville Public Library! The top scorers will move on to the 1st Annual Lib Cup Tournament to be held in April. At Lib Cup, you’ll compete for prizes for both yourself and your library! Register in the Children’s Room today!
January 15th at 3:00PM-Grades 6-8
January 29th at 3:00PM-Grades 9-12

Children's Winter Storytime Schedule: Begins the week of January 17th. Visit the online calendar to check out programs and dates!

Sing Along with Pat: Join Pat McKinley every Tuesday beginning January 5th for 30 minutes of lively music and song. All ages, accompanied by a parent.

Kwik Krafts! A New Children's Program: Join us on Saturday, January 23rd & 30th for an easy "make and take" craft. For ages 5 & up.

SNAP! February Children's Program Addition: Introducing Special Needs Active Play! Children with special needs and their families are invited to play and socialize in an informal, fun-filled environment. Ages 3-7. Sundays in February from 1-2:30 PM. Visit the online calendar for more information.

December

Books to Keep Book Drive: Since 1990, residents of Sayreville and throughout Middlesex County have made it possible for disadvantaged children to learn the joy of reading and book ownership through their contributions to Books to Keep. Over 140,000 donated books have been distributed by the Libraries of Middlesex over the years during the holiday season and in observance of National Library Week in cooperation with 30 day care and Head Start centers, public housing facilities, soup kitchens, shelters and other agencies and organizations serving those in need. We need your help again. The library will be collecting new children’s books beginning from now through December 15. Distributions will begin in late November, so bring books in as early as possible.

Sleepytime Stories—Wednesdays in December: Children ages 3 & up, accompanied by a parent, are invited to join us for stories, songs and fingerplays. Wear your jammies and bring your favorite blanket and stuffed animal! No registration is required, but you must present a Sayreville Public Library card to attend.

No Computer Classes this month: Computer classes will return in January!

Database of the Month: In the spirit of the holiday season, this database was chosen to be featured because of its tie to families and their history. As you gather with your loved ones for the season, why not discuss your family trees and your family history? Heritagequest Online is where your online quest for genealogoical information starts!

November

Children's Programming Changes: Please note that Book Babies has now been combined with Toddler Time on Fridays at 11:00 AM starting in November. In addition to this, Yoga Kids has been cancelled indefinitely. See the online calendar for complete programming details!

November Database of the Month: Need to improve your SAT score? Want to prepare for the U.S. Citizenship test? LearningExpress Library will help prepare you for the most important exams and certifications of your lives!

October

Chilifresh Reviews Now in the Catalog!: Read about Chilifresh, the latest feature just added to the catalog where you can read and write reviews of books, movies and music. LMxAC Libraries are the first libraries in New Jersey to offer this feature to their patrons!

Member libraries of LMxAC are encouraging readers to add their personal reviews to the online iBistro catalog. Have you ever searched an online bookseller and read the user reviews? If so, you will enjoy this newest enhancement that adds an element of social interaction to the online library catalog. Reader reviews are moderated by the library automation system so that there is no risk of inappropriate content being displayed. Most importantly, ChiliFresh won’t slow your computer down.

ChiliFresh Reviews has library patrons reading and writing reviews through library online public access catalogs in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Once you search for a title, author or subject in the iBistro catalog you will be given the opportunity to either write a review or read posted reviews. As with other types of review sources, each review is ranked by the number of stars. Reviews can be sorted by most useful (based on reader’s reactions to the reviews), newest, oldest, highest-ranking and lowest-ranking review. Those browsing the online catalog can even read reviews of other titles by the same reviewer.

ChiliFresh gives library customers an easy way to interact with the online iBistro catalog and collaborate with each other. If you want to write a review, LMxAC requests that you limit your comments to the title you are reviewing and that you do not use what are commonly referred to as 'swear' words. LMxAC staff moderates the reviews and if your review does not meet the above conditions they will return it to you via email. Reviewers will be asked for their email address, but that is ONLY collected to maintain a unique record for each reviewer. The privacy and security of reviewers will not be in jeopardy.

So if your library is an LMxAC member and you are looking for a book that you can’t put down, just finished a selection that you absolutely loved, or want to warn others that a new release is not all you expected it to be, simply go to your library’s online catalog and join our readers’ forum. Book lovers are looking forward to reading your reviews!

LMxAC membership includes libraries in Carteret, Dunellen, Edison, Jamesburg, Kenilworth, Long Branch, Manville, Matawan-Aberdeen, Metuchen, Middlesex, Middlesex County College, Milltown, Monroe, New Brunswick, North Brunswick, Old Bridge, Perth Amboy, Piscataway, Plainfield, Plainsboro, Red Bank, Roselle, Roselle Park, Sayreville, Somerville, South Brunswick, South River and Spotswood.

Fall Children's Programming Schedule: Beginning September 21st, the fall storytime schedule and programming will begin again in the Children's Department! No registration is required. See the online calendar for program details! Also note that Yoga Kids has been cancelled indefinitely.

October Database of the Month: Need to improve your SAT score? Want to prepare for the U.S. Citizenship test? LearningExpress Library will help prepare you for the most important exams and certifications of your lives!

September

Get the Smartest Card @ Your Library: Help celebrate Library Card Sign-up Month by making sure you and your family have library cards!

September is Library Card Sign-up Month, and the Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium wants to make sure that residents of all ages in their communities have the smartest card of all – a library card.

Studies show that children who are read to in the home and who use the library perform better in school and are more likely to continue to use the library as a source of lifetime learning.

“A library card has always been the most important school supply of all,” says James Keehbler, Director at Piscataway Public Library. “Kids can come to the library to get homework help and check out books, but they can also check out free music and movies and use the Internet to make afterschool life a little more fun.” There’s a lot happening at LMxAC member public libraries in Middlesex, Monmouth, Somerset and Union counties and the best part for both kids and parents is that most of it is free with a library card.

Of course, library cards aren’t just for kids. A recent poll by the American Library Association shows that adults agree; libraries continued to experience a dramatic increase in library card registration last year. In fact, 68 percent of American adults have a library card. Now more than ever, people of all ages are turning to their libraries for reliable financial information, free computer access, and of course, books, movies, audiobooks, CDs, and downloadable media. In July, LMxAC libraries collectively registered over 6,000 new library card holders!

LMxAC currently consists of public libraries in Dunellen, Edison, Jamesburg, Kenilworth, Long Branch, Manville, Matawan-Aberdeen, Metuchen, Middlesex, Milltown, Monroe, New Brunswick, North Brunswick, Old Bridge, Perth Amboy, Piscataway, Plainfield, Plainsboro, Red Bank, Roselle, Roselle Park, Sayreville, Somerville, South Brunswick, South River and Spotswood and Middlesex County College. Carteret Public Library has recently joined LMxAC and will be online this fall.

Find their websites at: www.lmxac.org/lmx/member.html

Libraries Invite People To “Listen up!”: Read below about ListenNJ, a free service for library users to download audiobooks online!

Andrea Londensky, of the South River Library, describes it as “a way of life.” Other users apply terms like “convenient,” “easy” and “addictive.” And for library patrons throughout the 28 members of the Libraries of Middlesex Automation Consortium (LMxAC) it’s free.

It is the online access to audiobooks, ListenNJ.com, which brings free audiobook downloads directly to the reader (or listener) via any Internet connection. Launched in 2003 as a project of INFOLINK and the Central Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, ListenNJ offers over 4800 audio selections, including the latest from Janet Evanovich, Finger Lickin’ Fifteen, as well as Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain and Nora Roberts’ Black Hills.

53 libraries in central NJ are participants in ListenNJ. LMxAC member libraries were charter members of ListenNJ and have added all ListenNJ titles to their shared online library catalog. So finding an audiobook to download is as easy as searching for a book on the shelves.

Joan Henry, director of the Dunellen Library, which joined LMxAC in 2007, reflects, “As a small library in a small community, we could never have afforded ListenNJ on our own. But membership in the consortium has the additional perk of giving our users access to ListenNJ, and they are really enjoying it.” Usage at Dunellen has increased 65% over the past year. That might be impressive, but Keith McCoy, director at Roselle Public Library, reports the even more astounding fact that usage had increased 255% at his library!

From January to July 2008, 6241 titles were checked out by LMxAC libraries using ListenNJ; in the same time in 2009, activity increased by over 47%, to 9176 titles. Some of this spike in use can be attributed to the introduction of iPod-compatible downloads. Cheryl O’Connor, Executive Director of INFOLINK, explains, “This is what our customers have been waiting for – the ability to transfer audiobook downloads to iPods, iPhones, and other smart phones, as well as to the standard mp3 player.”

Listeners can play the downloaded audiobooks on their iPod, iPhone, or mp3 player and the ListenNJ audiobooks can also be burned to discs, copied to a computer or a laptop hard drive for ten days. When using ListenNJ, listeners are required to agree to specific terms of use and once the lending period expires, the expired title is deleted from the PC. “ListenNJ titles circulate for 10 days at a time and may not be renewed’ noted Eileen Palmer, Executive Director of LMxAC. “Once you become addicted, like I am, you listen all the time in your car.”

And to make listening in the car use even easier, Palmer now accesses her downloaded audiobooks via her mp3 player and a digital FM transmitter. “My audioLbooks play out of my car radio,” she confirms. Digital FM transmitters for MP3 players are available at most electronic stores for a modest price and are easy to install and use.

Library customers also love the fact that ListenNJ is available 24/7 via any Internet connection. “Our commuters are big users,” explains Ingrid Bruck, director of the Long Branch Public Library. “And they don’t need to worry about getting to the library before we close. ListenNJ selections can be downloaded anytime they want from our library’s website plus they don’t need to be returned to the library as they are automatically deleted after 10 days.”

Other big users are students covering required reading. “Somehow students find Shakespeare a little easier to digest when they can listen to Hamlet on an iPod,” jokes YA librarian, Mary Piekarski from Piscataway Public Library. And ListenNJ has the goods on required reading, everything from Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451 to In Cold Blood and classical literature such as Wuthering Heights. But there are also titles that teens and ‘tweens lap up, like the Gossip Girls series and the Gallagher Girls series.

What are the most popular titles for patrons of LMxAC libraries? A surprising mix of fiction and nonfiction including: The Four hour work week, 25 things to say to the interviewer to get the job you want; Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, and Stephanie Meyer’s New Moon and Eclipse.

“Traffic jams are a little more tolerable now,” admits McCoy, from Roselle Library. And Londensky from South River says “I couldn’t live without it!”

All you need is a library card so stop by your local library and pick one up! ListenNJ has 4800 books you might like to listen to.

LMxAC member libraries include: Dunellen, Edison, Jamesburg, Kenilworth, Long Branch, Manville, Matawan-Aberdeen, Metuchen, Middlesex, Middlesex County Community College, Milltown, Monroe, New Brunswick, North Brunswick, Old Bridge, Perth Amboy, Piscataway, Plainfield, Plainsboro, Red Bank, Roselle, Roselle Park, Sayreville, Somerville, South Brunswick, South River and Spotswood. Find their websites at: www.lmxac.org/lmx/member.html. Carteret Public Library has recently joined LMxAC and will be online this fall.

Want to get started? Explore ListenNJ now! Contact a librarian to help you set up an account and begin downloading some great audiobooks...for free!

Sayreville Day at Kennedy Park: Come visit us at the Sayreville Public Library booth at Sayreville Day on Sunday, September 13th, from 10:00 AM-4:00 PM. Ask a staff member at the booth how you can win a prize by visiting the library anytime in September! We also will have cool giveaways and temporary tattoos for everyone that visits us!

Friends of the Library Book Donations & Sale: The Friends will accept donations for our book sale starting August 30th until September 11th. Please see the Friends of the Library web page for our donation guidelines. We do not give letters for tax deductions. The sale will be at the Friends of the Library booth at Sayreville Day on Sunday, September 13th, from 10:00 AM-4:00 PM in Kennedy Park. Fill a bag of books for $5.00! SALE IS NOW OVER. The next sale is January 10, 2010 from 1:30PM-3:30PM.

August

NJCH Award: We are pleased to announce that the Sayreville Public Library has been awarded a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, in support of a family program entitled, Abe Lincoln in Person. This educational offering, which takes place on Saturday, October 10th at 11:00 AM will give children and their families insight into the personality and life of our 16th president. Registration begins September 7th. PROGRAM IS NOW CLOSED.

Friends of the Library Book Donations: The Friends will accept donations for our book sale starting August 30th until September 11th. Please see the Friendsof the Library web page for our donation guidelines. We do not give letters for tax deductions.
DONATION DRIVE IS NOW OVER. Donations will begin to be accepted again January 2nd until Jnauary 9th of 2010.

Adopt-a-Book to memorialize a loved one or honor an important event in someone's life! Find out more by reading the online brochure.

Creative Writing Contest: Attention students in grades 4-8! If you enjoy creative writing, this is the contest for you! Read the contest rules and print out an entry form here! CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Database of the Summer: Novelist! Find the best beach reads!

June/July

Congratulations to Madeline Tanchingco, the winner of the "Design the New Children's Library Card" Contest! Check out the new card!

Check out our NEW Event Calendar and Event Page featuring online program registration!

New Database Available!: Consumer Reports