New site for Almaden seniors.

Check out the new website for Almaden Seniors, at http://almadenseniors.org/, designed and operated by the Almaden Senior Association. This site has the most up-to-date information on programs and activities.

Welcome, PLA!

The Public Library Association (PLA) is holding its national symposium in San Jose on March 2 through March 4. This is the first time it has been held outside of Chicago. Daily tours of the library will be provided to attendees. In addition, a podcast tour of the art will soon be available for download for everyone, at http://www.sjlibrary.org/mlkArt/index.htm.

“Reading to Children” sessions at Almaden Branch.

Come hear stories read by our "Reading to Children" volunteers! Leela reads on Wednesdays from 11 AM to 12 PM, and Gill reads on Thursdays from 12 PM to 1 PM. Just drop by the children's library area for a special reading.

Upcoming events at the King Library.

Tuesday, February 20, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Rooms 225 & 229, 2nd Floor
Silicon Valley Reads: Invisible Mexicans of Deer Canyon Film Showing & Discussion

Join us for a film showing followed by a discussion of John Carlos Frey's documentary, Invisible Mexicans of Deer Canyon. Producer and Director Frey, a native of Mexico, spent over a year visiting and living amongst the migrants of Deer Canyon, traveling alone and carrying all of his sound, camera and lighting equipment. Many of the migrants were initially reluctant to talk to Mr. Frey. As his trips to the canyon became more frequent, the migrants began to trust and invite him into their homes for a personal look at their lives. Mr. Frey made his directorial debut in The Gatekeeper which garnered ten national and international film festival awards, including Best Film or Best Director at nine different festivals. He has just completed the feature film script for The Lone Star, the true-life story of the first Mexican-American to play college football in Texas - Inez Perez in 1963. Mr. Frey's work has also been recognized by Amnesty International, The Anti-Defamation League, Human Rights Watch, National Immigration Forum, National Center for Farmworker Health, The League of United Latin American Citizens, The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), The Joan B. Kroc Institute of Peace and Justice, and the Hispanic Congressional Caucus in Washington D.C. For more information call (408) 808-2397.

Wednesday, February 21 , 6:45 PM - 8: 30 PM
Rooms 225 & 229, 2nd Floor
A Day of Rememberance: Artistic Reflections

Commemorating the Japanese American Internment
Remarks by Congressman Mike Honda; a book signing featuring Felicia Hoshino, illustrator of "A Place Where Sunflowers Grow" and storytelling by Megumi form the cornerstone of this special remembrance. Doors open at 6:15 PM and light refreshments will be available, along with resources for educators. A limited number of free copies of "A Place Where Sunflowers Grow" will be available for those who RSVP to CBPintern@childrensbookpress.org (or call 415.821.3080 x 10). Come early or stay late to view displays honoring "Day of Remembrance" throughout the King Library and art from "A Place Where Sunflowers Grow" exhibited in the Cultural Heritage Center, 5th floor.

Upcoming holiday closures.

All branch libraries will be closed this coming Sunday and Monday, 2/18 and 2/19, for Presidents' Day.

Did you miss the Silicon Valley Reads event at Almaden?

We had a great discussion last Tuesday after viewing a video-taped interview with T.C.Boyle, author of this year's Silicon Valley Reads selection, "The Tortilla Curtain". If you missed it at Almaden, you can still catch other book clubs that are discussing the book - just check out this calendar.

Library site and network will be down this weekend.

The Library network will be shutdown for scheduled maintenance on Saturday, February 3, 2007 at 6:00 PM until approximately 10:00 AM on Sunday, February 4, 2007. During this time all Library resources will be unavailable until our network is back online. Be sure to renew your books NOW!

Staff picks at Almaden Branch.

We're asking all staff to pick and choose their favorite books for display! You can find these books in the Marketplace area, near the new fiction and new non-fiction. Look inside each book for a bookmark with reasons why we love that book.

Upcoming events on global warming.

Our City Forest & Eco-Silicon Valley present Jay McGowan, one of Al Gore's first climate change messengers. Jay will be speaking on global warming and how we can work to stop it. The event is FREE and will be held at Our City Forest's office in San José. Event Details: Date: Thursday, February 15th Time: 6:15 PM Location: OCF Offices at 595 Park Ave. Suite 100, San Jose, CA 95110. Call (408) 998-7337 for more info.

Also, on Thursday, February 15, the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology in Kansas City, Missouri, and the Johnson County (Kansas) Library will co-sponsor an online presentation and discussion about land use and climate change. Everyone is welcome to attend and participate. There is no need to register, and no registration fee. Details are at: http://67.19.231.218/v4/login.asp?r=67955673&p=0 ; visit http://www.opal-online.org/progschrono.htm for details.

Free access to "Black History Month" primary sources for students and libraries.

AwesomeStories - a subscription-based web site (with 125,000 links to primary sources at national archives, libraries, government and academic websites worldwide) and freely used in more than 25,000 schools and libraries - has extended its holiday-season waiver of subscription fees ($9.95 a year) to assist students and library-patrons as they search for "Black History Month" topics and primary materials.

With a password, people can access the primary-source database from any computer connected to the Internet. Through mid-February, individuals can receive free access to the site by simply requesting it with this form.

Get ready for tax season: Free tax assistance from V.I.T.A. for those qualifying.

The web page that lists VITA income tax assistance sites and meeting times in the local area is now set up for interested income-earning patrons.

It's easy to get to: 1. Select the link to Tax Forms & Information on the home page, 2. On the resulting page, select the link to Free Help With Your Taxes, 3. On this page, select the link to VITA Tax Help... (i.e., the first link). If only filing our income taxes were this easy! To get there more quickly use this link: http://www.sjlibrary.org/research/web/vita.htm.

Luis Valdez appearing at King Library.

Celebrate San Jose State University’s 150 Anniversary with Luis Valdez!
The General Collections Department of King Library is proud to present playwright and SJSU alumnus Luis Valdez on January 31st. He will be speaking from 7-8:30 p.m. in Room 229 at King Library.

Tonight is another Spare the Air night.

Help reduce air pollution!

- Do NOT burn wood tonight.
- If you must burn wood, burn less and use only dry, clean, seasoned wood, and nonglossy white paper. Moist, or "green" wood smolders more, producing greater amounts of harmful air pollutants.
- Check the chimney. Where there's smoke, there's a bad fire. Excess smoke means that the fire isn't burning properly.

Silicon Valley Reads starts today!

This year's Silicon Valley Reads community program is "The Tortilla Curtain" by T.C. Boyle. The author will make an appearance to discuss the book tonight, at the Campbell Heritage Theatre. It's a free program. Hope to see you there!

The importance of reading aloud to children of all ages...

I attended a workshop last night at the Santa Clara City Library on the importance of reading aloud to children, led by led by Jim Trelease. The program was geared towards parents, promoting the need to read aloud to children through all grade levels and the importance of eliminating television sets from children’s bedrooms. Did you know that two-thirds of school-aged children in the U.S. have television sets in their bedrooms? He also had some good recommended read-aloud books. These included: the series "Deltora Quest" by Radda; "My father’s Dragon" by Gannett; "James and the Giant Peach" by Dahl; "The Neighborhood Mother Goose" by Crews; "The Day the Babies Crawled Away" by Rathmann. All of these titles are available at SJPL.

Spare the Air Tonight! Yes, another one...

The air quality tonight is forecast to be unhealthy. The Bay Area Air District is asking residents to refrain from burning wood in their fireplaces and woodstoves, and to drive less.

New e-book series: Missions of California.

We have a subscription to "Missions of California" in ebook format. You can only access is through catalog records; there is no home page for this series. We also have audio books for learning languages, ebooks for legal topics, and much more. Check out our digital library page for details.

Recommended link: choosing a wireless provider.

Here is a good consumer information page on wireless phones: http://tinyurl.com/yk9vl2. This site contains many objective, useful articles on various technology issues. Check it out!

A CalTrans highway closure is planned.

Beginning late Friday night Jan 12, and continuing through early Monday morning, Jan 15, Caltrans will be alternately closing the connecting ramps from both north- and southbound I-280 to southbound Route 87 to complete a critical roadway paving stage of the Route 87 HOV (South) project.

The library catalog will be down on January 9, 2007.

The library catalog will be down for a scheduled upgraded the morning of Tuesday, January 9, 2007 from 7:00 - 11:00 AM. This also includes My Account features - such as renewing items, placing hold requests, and paying fines online. Please make sure to log in over the weekend to take care of any account-related tasks.