Reference@TBML

FRIENDS OF BRANIGAN LIBRARY ANNUAL BOOKSALE

The Friends of Thomas Branigan Memorial Library will sponsor a book sale on Saturday, April 16, 2011 from 10 AM –4 PM in the Branigan Library Roadrunner Room. This is a major fundraiser for Friends of the Library and all proceeds help to support the library. For great selections, come early!

For more information call Nancy Phillips at 575-649-5591. Thank you for your support of the Friends of the Library.

YA Teen Read Week WrestleMania 27 Reading Challenge

 
  

BEGINS Monday, October 18 through Monday, October 25, 2010

DATE: Tuesday, October 19 Work on Your Competitive Project Work Night

TIME: 7-8 pm

PLACE:   Roadrunner Room  

GRADES:   Students in Grades 5-12

DESCRIPTION OF EVENT:   Students pledge to read 5 books or graphic novels between Teen Read Week and WrestleMania 27 on April 3, 2011.  Pick up a WrestleMania Reading Challenge Pledge Form at the Young Adult Department.  Complete the pledge form by writing in the titles of five books or graphic novels they pledge to read.  As students read each of their five books, they can pick up a TOPPS card at the Young Adult Department - one card for each book read.  When they've read the five pledged books they receive a WrestleMania Reading Challenge mini poster.

 

To be eligible to win a trip to WrestleMania, students must fill out the pledge form and compete in a competitive project during Teen Read Week.  Participating students will receive a project sheet to complete their competitive project:  Grades 5-6 will design a bookmark and Grades 7-12 will design a poster.  Students turn in their project and parent-signed competitive project form to Young Adult Department by October 25.  We will choose a winner for Grades 5-6, Grades 7-8 and Grades 9-12.  The winners will receive a certificate and a WWE Shop Gift Card.  YALSA will receive the winning entries to be judged as part of the national competition.  The students chosen as Grand Prize Winners will represent their libraries at the WrestleMania Reading Challenge World Finals in Atlanta on April 3, 2011 and win their library $2,000 in grants and other prizes. 

 

The Young Adult Department will have a Work on Your Competitive Project Work Night Tuesday, October 19 from 7-8 in the Roadrunner Room.  Students are welcome to bring their own materials or they can use materials we provide.

 

October Computer Classes

Registration begins at 8 A.M. on Friday, October 1, 2010.

Registration will be IN PERSON ONLY from 8-9 A.M. After 9 A.M. telephone and online registration will be accepted. Call 528-4005 to register or visit our online Events Calendar.

Class size is limited to 5 or 6 participants. Registration is required to attend all classes.

 

Know Your PC- Group 1

A Three Part Class

Tuesdays

October 5, 12 and 19

2-4 PM

Know Your PC- Group 2

A Three Part Class

Fridays

October 15, 22 and 29

9-11 AM

Internet for Beginners

A Three Part Class

Wednesdays

October 13, 20 and 27

9-11 AM

Email for Beginners

A Two Part Class

Thursdays

October 14 and 21

2-4 PM

Word 2007

A Three Part Class

Mondays

October 4, 18 and 25 * Note: the library is closed on October 11^th.

2-4 PM

FRIENDS OF BRANIGAN LIBRARY FUNDS DOWNLOADABLE AUDIO AND MUCH MORE!

Sometimes community members believe that library support comes from either grants or tax-based funding alone.  We want people to know that a vital organism exists beyond tax funding. The staff wants to sincerely thank Friends of the Branigan Library for their ongoing commitment to the library.  Friends was started in 1976.  From the year 1998 through December 2009, a sum of $256,630. 00 has been raised through book sales, cookbook sales and various other fundraisers.  In thirty-four years they have been able to sponsor many library events directly through their own networking and financing as well as indirectly supporting the library’s many staff programs financially. 

 

Moreover, since the inception of the Summer Reading Program, Friends has generously supported many aspects of Summer Reading Club with children’s, young adult and adult funding.  The staff relies heavily on the Friends for contemporary equipment needs such as the display end panels on the shelving.  Friends has secured many kinds of equipment and materials over the years and most recently has paid for the prestigious Downloadable Audio through Netlibrary’s Database.  This new format medium has been a highly successful boon and moved us forward with severely needed contemporary technology, plentiful access and ease of use. 

 

Thanks for your considerate, fair, open-handed and thoughtful support of the library and its services.  Our staff looks forward to working with you in the future.

 

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Unraveler's Knitting Guild on World-Wide-Knit-in-Public Day

Left to Right:  Linda Kitchel, Karen Lace, Tina Skillen and Kym Hretz (picture courtesy of LeeAnn Meadows)

Unraveler's Knitting Guild appeared at Branigan on Saturday June 19th as part of World-Wide-Knit-in-Public Day.  The event resulted in two new members enlisting in the Guild and, while great fun really was had by all, the day is hosted in order to show people the camaradarie of knitting and of course the variety and complexity of the ancient art.  We look forward to hosting the group next year and enjoyed their jovial presence in the library! 

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June is Audio Book Month so Help Us Celebrate!

Place your check-out receipt or a piece a paper with your name and phone number into the box at the circulation desk.

The winner will be announced at the end of the month.

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Watch for the "We the People" Display and Win Your Reading Metal

 
 
  

We the People

A More Perfect Union 

Thomas Branigan Memorial Library is one of 4,000 libraries across the country selected by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA) to receive free hardcover editions of 17 classic books as part of the We the People Bookshelf grant program. The theme of this year’s Bookshelf is “A More Perfect Union.” 

The award is part of the NEH’s We the People initiative, which supports projects that strengthen the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture. Selected public and school libraries in all fifty states each will receive a set of the seventeen books, bonus materials, including a DVD edition of “The Civil War,” the award-winning documentary by Ken Burns, posters, bookmarks, bookplates, and finally, access to online planning and promotional materials.  Since 2003, NEH and ALA have distributed 17,000 We the People Bookshelf grants to school and public libraries across the country.

The books are on display in the Children’s and Young Adult sections of the library. This summer, children grades K-12 who read all the books in their age category will receive a reading medal.

 

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Sharing the Love from Library Lover's Month Contest

Staff was overwhelmed at the number of entries we received for our contest and it became clear that patrons were less interested in winning a contest than expressing gratitude for our existence, staff and services. 

Choosing just a few quotations as best was a difficult process and, in the end, we chose based on the ability of the quotation to market our unique library. Consequently, we chose one adult and one child entree as most representing the values of the community as well as helping us verbalize our value.  While we earnestly desire our community to see us as a primary educational institution, we also honor the emotional connection that the library helps build between families while creating a successful path to a better future for all young people. 

WINNING ADULT ENTRY

"My love for the library began at a very early age when my mother would take me to the Branigan Library while my older brother and sister were in school.  Sometimes she would raise me up and let me walk on the wide solid wall that surrounded the library.  I remember listening to the librarian read stories while my mother picked out books for both of us to take home. 

As I grew older my mother continued taking me to the library.  She would check out so many books it was hard for us to carry them all.  I was a little more selective than her.  Every day after school, there she was reading a new book.  I would brag to my friends that my mother could read a book a day.  I had the privilege of living with my mother in California the last two years of her life.  There wasn’t a week that went by that we did not visit the library.  All the librarians knew her by first name and thanked her for the desserts she brought on special occasions.  My fondest memories of my mother are the times we spent together at the library."

Quotation released with permission of Merissa Castro

 

WINNING CHILD ENTRY

 

"What I love about the library is that it helps me with school.  I can come do research for a project or just read a book.  The library helps me keep my grades up and keeps me from doing bad things I shouldn’t be doing."

Quotation released with permission of Rebecca Pena

 

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March Computer Classes

Do you need to learn how to use the computer? Branigan Public Library is offering free computer classes in March!

Registration begins at 8 A.M. on Monday, March 1, 2010.

Registration will be IN PERSON ONLY from 8-9 A.M.

After 9 A.M. telephone and online registration will be accepted. Call 528-4005 to register or visit our online Events Calendar at: http://library.las-cruces.org.

Class size is limited to 5 or 6 participants. Registration is required to attend all classes.

 

Know Your PC

A Three-Part Class

Mondays

March 8, 15 and 22

2 – 4 PM

 

Internet for Beginners- Group 1

A Three-Part Class

Thursdays

March 4, 11 and 18

2 – 4 PM

 

Internet for Beginners- Group 2

A Three-Part Class

Wednesdays

March 17, 24 and 31

2 – 4 PM

 

Email for Beginners

A Two-Part Class

Tuesdays

March 16 and 23

2 – 4 PM

 

Word 2007

A Three-Part Class

Thursdays

March 11, 18 and 25

9 – 11 AM

 

Excel 2007

A Three-Part Class

Tuesdays

March 9, 16 and 23

6:30- 8:30 PM

LAS CRUCES BANS CELL PHONES WHILE DRIVING

Today marks the beginning of the City’s ban on cell phone use while driving. Las Cruces isn’t the only city in New Mexico to enact such a ban. Both Albuquerque and Santa Fe have made it illegal. Outside New Mexico, other cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit also ban cell phone use while driving. But such bans don’t stop at the municipal level.

 

Currently, six states: California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington ban hand-held cell phones while driving, as does the District of Columbia. Other states, such as Illinois, Idaho and Texas have laws that either ban cell phone use while driving in certain areas, such as school zones, or have bans on distracted driving that include cell phone use. And if you’re caught texting while driving in Rhode Island, Tennessee, Oregon or sixteen other states and the District of Columbia, you’re going to get a ticket or worse.

 

Lawmakers are clearly concerned about the effect of cell phone use and texting while driving. The United States Department of Transportation even has a website devoted to information about distracted driving, which has some interesting facts about the dangers of cell phone use while driving. Some of the highlights:

* Using a cell phone use while driving, whether it’s hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of zero eight percent. (Source: University of Utah)

* Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by thirty-seven percent. (Source: Carnegie Mellon)

* The worst offenders are the youngest and least-experienced drivers: men and women under twenty years of age. (NHTSA)

* Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)

As for Las Cruces, the new ordinance bans talking on the cell phone and driving while the vehicle in is motion on any road or highway. The ordinance, which also bans texting while driving, goes into effect February 5, 2010.

 

City of Las Cruces Ordinance 2548 prohibits:

* Sending or receiving calls

* Sending or reading a text message

* Reading, selecting or entering a number or name

* Sending or receiving e-mails

Exceptions include:

* Communication with certain offices or departments in an emergency

* Use by law enforcement and emergency personnel while performing their duties during an emergency

* Hands-free use

Fines for talking or texting on a cell phone while driving can be up to $500 and/or ninety days in jail.

-Margaret Neill

 

Sources:

 

Las Cruces Cell Phone Ban

http://www.lccellphoneban.com

 

Governors Highway Safety Association

http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html#1

 

United States Department of Transportation: Driving Distracted

http://www.distraction.gov/

 

City of Las Cruces

http://www.las-cruces.org/NEWS/news_item.asp?NewsID=2195

 

Driving Laws

http://www.drivinglaws.org/states.php