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Bike to Work Day
The Rose Garden team met on Bike to Work Day at the "Breath the Air" bike station on Park Avenue for water and fruit, then on to Starbucks for a coffee before starting our day. The Rose Garden Library team are saving the air and going green byriding, not driving, to work.
Scavenger Hunt at the King Library
Summer Reading Celebration
You're Invited!
Sunday, June 3 from 1-4 p.m
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
The kickoff event invites people of all ages to participate in a scavenger hunt inside the King Library (Lower Level-4th Floor).
The scavenger hunt will be divided into three groups: families with small children, teens and adults. Each group will have their own set of clues and will have to search for hidden treasures inside the library to be eligible to win a prize.
Prizes include tickets to ...
- Great America
- Tech Museum
- Laser Quest
- Happy Hollow Park and Zoo
- Children’s Museum
- San Jose Giants
The kickoff event will also feature a community resource fair and plenty of live entertainment.
Downtown Parking:
Free parking in the street and the 4th and San Fernando Street Garage located across from the King Library
Book Trailer Contest - June 1 - July 31, 2012
Teens: want to do something more imaginative than just writing a review for Summer Reading books that you have read? Create and submit a book trailer review for Summer Reading, and you could win a Kindle Fire! Upload a short clip, no longer than 4 minutes, to YouTube, providing your review of the book. Be creative! The contest is open to all participants in the Teen Summer Reading Celebration.
How to enter:
- Create your own book trailer, reviewing a book that you read for Summer Reading. You can submit more than one video, but each video has to be for a separate book.
- Post the video on YouTube using the tag: SJPL2012SRC
- Sign up for Summer Reading here, starting in a few weeks.
- When you log the book you read on the Summer Reading website, make sure to include a link to your video in the review field.
Entries will be judged on creativity and content by a panel of library staff.
Need some examples? Check out the winning entry from last year's Book Trailer Contest, created by Nathan Verdonk.
Here are links to some professional book trailers:
- Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
- The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
Teens who submit links to their Book Trailer will automatically be entered in the contest. The top 3 winners will receive:
- 1st place: Kindle Fire
- 2nd place: $50 gift card for iTunes
- 3rd place: $25 gift card for Jamba Juice
Entries for the contest must be submitted between June 1 and July 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in August.
Graphic Novel Making Contest - June 1 - July 31, 2012
If you have a talent for creating comic/manga style illustrated short stories, you are invited to enter San José Public Library’s Graphic Novel Making Contest for all ages as part of our Summer Reading Celebration, 2012. This contest is sponsored by San José Public Library, Hijinx Comics, San José Museum of Art and TRY Japan Culture Group.
Here’s how to enter …
- Create your own comic book with a maximum length of 8 pages, including the cover page.
- Use letter-size paper (8.5 x 11) with black-and-white drawings and text on one side only
- Each submission must be the creative and original work of a single individual—the author/illustrator.
- Computer generated images are acceptable as long as they are your original work (no clip art)
- Consider submitting a photocopy that is an accurate reflection of the original (as submissions are non-returnable).
- San José Public Library reserves the right to reproduce your work. You can reuse all your work after the contest
- Be sure to print and complete the creative works release form. Include your Name, Age, Contact Information and Signature.
- Entries can be submitted to any San José Public Library location no later than 8p.m. on Tuesday, July 31, 2012. There is a limit of one entry per contestant.
Entries will be judged on content and illustrations by a panel of library staff and comic industry professionals. All cash prizes will be awarded as gift cards.
- Children (up to age 6): first place will receive Art Supplies
- Children (7-12): first place $40, second place $20
- Teens (ages 13-17): first place $100; second place $70; third place $50
- Adults (age 18 and above): first place $100; second place $70; third place $50
Winners will be announced and prizes awarded at a reception to be held at the Berryessa Branch Library on Saturday, August 25th at 2:00 p.m.in the Community Room. Author Oliver Chin will be the keynote speaker.
Check out the award winning entries from 2011 and 2010.
Learn how to make your own comic book, graphic novel or manga! Oliver Chin will be teaching this free workshop for teens at some San José Public Library branches.
San José Public Library staff members are ineligible to participate.
San José Public Library reserves the right to refuse submissions that are not appropriate for a general audience.
We need your suggestions for the IMPAC Dublin award
Have you read 1Q84, 11/22/63, The Leftovers, The Marriage Plot, State of Wonder, Swamplandia, The Tiger’s Wife?
These are among the best fiction for 2011 as nominated by NPR, the New York Times, Salon, Publishers Weekly and Library Journal.
If you have read any of these, vote for the novel that you think San Jose Public Library should submit for the 2013 IMPAC Dublin Literary award.
Other titles (novels, not short stories) welcome for submission if published in 2011.
Click on Add new comment below and let us know the title. Our deadline is April 25th.
You Belong @ Your Library
Hey everyone its National Library Week, April 8-14!
Celebrate National Library Week with a fun Scavenger Hunt at your local library. All participants will receive a prize. This program is designed for children ages 6 and up.
While at the library visit the information desk and pick up a heart and tell us why you love your library.
All Reads Lead to Rome
It all started with my sister-in-law. She’s a self-proclaimed Romaphile, and she gave me a paperback copy of Silver Pigs, a mystery novel set in ancient Rome. It’s the first in the Marcus Didius Falco series by Lindsey Davis, and it’s great. Private informer Falco tries to be a first-century tough guy, but he falls hard for a smart young lady of a noble Roman family and finds his life becoming more complicated. The author uses tension and humor deftly to keep the reader hurtling through the complicated storylines.
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Younger readers will enjoy the Roman Mysteries series by Caroline Lawrence. I was lucky enough years ago to hear the author in person at the King Library, and I knew immediately if she wrote as well as she lectured, I would enjoy her books. I was hooked from the first title, The Thieves of Ostia. Twelve-year-old Flavia Gemina and her friends Jonathan, Nubia, and Lupus solve mysteries during the reign of Vespasian. The books are not for the very young, due to some scary situations, and life in ancient Rome is portrayed pretty accurately, blood and all. In the first book, the mystery involves dogs being killed in the port town of Ostia. I recommend this series for middle-school ages and up, including young-at-heart adults. The series has just recently concluded, but Lawrence is starting two new series, a Roman spin-off for younger readers and one set in the Old West.
It looks like Lindsey Davis is still going strong, but inbetween Falco books, I'll probably start reading the Gordianus the Finder series by Steven Saylor, now that my appetite has been whetted for Roman mystery novels. As my “must read” list of authors and series keeps growing, I guess it’s inevitable that I fall behind a bit, but I have added my favorite authors to my account's Saved Searches / New Item Alerts, added the newer series titles to My Lists, and I hope to catch up eventually. Luckily, all three of these series are available through the SJPL Library, saving me tons of money and bookshelf space!
Check out the Winners of the Music Video Contest
Did you follow Battle of the Bands this year? Did you vote for your favorite bands?
All the bands had an additional chance at winning a prize this year:
our teensReach members voted for the best videos and here are the winners:
First place:
Second place:
Third place:
Honorable Mention:
Let us know what you think of the videos in the comments!
Perfect Your SAT Essay!
Are you planning on taking the SAT this spring or summer? San José Public Library will be offering 5 SAT essay writing workshops to help learn how to write a great essay for the SAT test. In these workshops (presented by Kaplan) you will get advice about what essay graders are looking for, as well as strategies on writing effective essays. These workshops will include practice essay writing and evaluation. All high school students are welcome to participate.
Thursday, March 8, 2012 - 4:00pm
Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - 6:30pm
Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 4:30pm
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - 4:00pm
In addition, you can check out a variety of new study books for the SAT at your local San Jose Public Library Branch.
Lastly, you may also want to look at the LearningExpress Library Tutorials, Tests, eBooks which are accessible with you library card, and have great College Preparation materials, including tools and tips for the SAT.
Story time is a big draw for customers of the San Jose Public Library
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In a recent article by Mary Gottschalk published in the MercuryNews.com web site, story times at the Willow Glen, Rose Garden, Cambrian and Almaden branches were highlighted. Librarians Lucia Farnham-Hudson, Mary Cage, Nancy Donnell and Ed Koetitz, were interviewed for the article. In addition to information on the regular story times, a brief history and overview of the Inclusive Story Times was presented. For a comprehensive listing of Inclusive Story Times offered by the San Jose Public Library, please consult the online calendar of events.
At an inclusive story time you will find stories, songs, fingerplays, rhymes and activities that are tailored for our youngest audience with special needs. To make the story time more accessable, there are also carpet squares, fidget toys, a story time schedule, big books and other visual props designed to engage the child.
For more information and advice for parents with children who have special needs, Parents Helping Parents is a remarkable resource. In addition, the Inclusion Collaborative, (part of the Santa Clara County Office of Education), is a valuable resource for parents and teachers alike.
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