Spare the Air

The Bay Area Air District has issued a Winter Spare the Air Alert for Tuesday, November 25, 2008, which bans wood burning both indoors and outdoors through noon tomorrow.

Air quality in the Bay Area is forecast to be unhealthy. It is illegal for Bay Area residents and businesses to burn wood or manufactured firelogs in fireplaces, wood stoves and inserts, pellet stoves, and outdoor fire-pits. This wood-burning ban will be in effect for Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, southern Sonoma and southwestern Solano Counties.

You will receive an AirAlert email each day that a Winter Spare the Air Alert is in effect.

Winter air pollution is mainly caused by small particle pollution or particulate matter (PM) from wood smoke. Smoke from wood-burning fires is linked to illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis and lung disease, and is especially harmful for children and the elderly.

For more information about the wood burning rule, or to check before you burn, visit www.sparetheair.org or call 1-877-4-NO-BURN.

There is NO free transit program during the winter Spare the Air season.

To see the current air quality forecast, visit www.sparetheair.org

Thank you for doing your part to Spare the Air!

This AirAlert is provided by your Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

ESL Conversation Club will take a break

The ESL Conversation Club at Almaden Library will be taking a break, from December 24th-January 14th. We will meet again on January 21st. At our last meeting before the holiday (December 17th), we will have a potluck. Bring a dish to share, and celebrate with us! All ESL learners are welcome.

ESL Book Club reads A Christmas Carol

The ESL Book Club will be discussing one of the most famous Christmas classics of all time, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, on Thursday, December 18th, 1-2 p.m. in the Program Room. The writing is challenging, but the book is very short, less than ½" thick! Also, you probably know the story already, which will make it even more enjoyable. You may want to read the book, and then watch one of the many versions of the movie. Two fun versions are The Muppet Christmas Carol (starring the Muppets!), or Scrooged, which is set in the 1980’s and stars comedian Bill Murray. Also, on Wednesday, December 3rd, at 4 p.m., the Traveling Lantern Production company will be performing A Christmas Carol in the Community Room of the Almaden Branch Library and Community Center. That event is open to the entire family!

Almaden Book Buddies--Tuesday, December 2nd, 1:30

The Almaden Book Buddies will discuss one of Bill Bryson's funniest travelogues, In a Sunburned Country, which is about traveling through Australia. One of the most memorable chapters is dedicated to all of the things that are lethal in that great country! Bill Bryson manages to deliver a lot of laughs while also sharing the beauty of the landscape. Join us to discuss his work in the Program Room of the Almaden Library on Tuesday, December 2nd, at 1:30.

Baby Sign Language--Learn to "Talk" to your Baby

This event takes place at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library 150 E. San Fernando St., in the Children’s Room, 1st Floor, on Sunday, November 16th, 3:30-5:00 p.m. Call (408) 808-2183 for more information.
Learn to "talk" to your baby with teacher William P. White. (Babies are most welcome, though not required.) If your baby is napping or cranky, it is perfectly fine to come without your baby because we are teaching you, the parents, baby sign language. This workshop introduces basic baby signs that are based on American Sign Language (ASL) and is designed for parents with hearing babies who range in age from birth to 18 months old. You will learn about the latest research and all the tricks on how to teach your baby to sign. Fun activities and songs will show you how easy it can be to integrate simple signs into your everyday.

Interested in genealogy?

Saturday, November 15, 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Computer Lab 125, 1st Floor, King Library
Genealogy on the Internet
This class will introduce you to websites and databases to allow you to fill out those family tree limbs! Prerequisite: Must have basic computer skills. Hosted by General Collections.
Co-sponsored by Friends of the King Library. For more information, call (408) 808-2397.

Get out and vote!

Today is Election Day, and there are a lot of hot issues on the ballot for San Jose, and for the state of California, in addition to voting for the next president of the United States. To learn more about the issues, or to find out where your polling place is, visit smartvoter.org.