Do you have enough things in your life? Do you have too many things, or do you need more? How do you know when you have too much? During this season of giving and any time, it might be interesting to consider reducing the amount of stuff you have and consume, and giving it to others. The Power of Half by the father/daughter team of Kevin and Hannah Salwen describes their family's journey from having a lot of stuff that they thought they really needed to their group decision to get rid of a lot of it. They chose as a family to downsize by half and give the proceeds to charity.

The Salwens changed many things about the way the live when one day co-author Hannah Salwen noticed a homeless man looking for food and other help at a busy city intersection and the expensive luxury car that was stopped in front of them. She asked her dad what would happen if the driver in front of them didn't have such a nice car. Would the homeless man then be able to eat? As a result, the family started having weekly, in-depth discussions about what they needed to live comfortably as opposed to what they wanted. Soon the discussions turned to whether they should sell their large house and get rid of a lot of the things in it that they had collected. They soon discovered that much of the stuff that they had invested in was holding them back. They barely missed it at all.

This award-winning video from Hannah's brother, Joseph shows what they gave up and what they gained. It describes the family's desire to help people in a small village in Africa while keeping in mind the homeless man they had seen at the intersection.

It's a very interesting story. While you're reading it, you might want to think about how you could make a significant difference, or even a small difference, by giving back to your community. You don't have to sell your house to help others. Each chapter ends with suggestions from Hannah about activities that families can do together to give back.

Come and join other teens for a monthly meeting at 6:00 PM on the third Wednesday of the month to assist with Tully Community Branch Library programs. Bring your creativity to enhance the library's outreach to the community. All teens in middle and high school are invited to attend. Newcomers please fill out the teensReach application available at the information desk. Right after the monthly meeting, new teensReach volunteers will be provided an orientation and training from 7:00 to 8:00 PM.

On every First Tuesday of the month, Tully Community Branch is offering an open interview and orientation for new volunteers from 6-7 PM. Have a talent to share or time to donate? Come and join us for this orientation. If your skills and availability meet the need of our library you can start almost right away. For more information, please don't hesitate to email Chieu Nguyen at chieu.nguyen@sjlibrary.org

To check out other volunteering opportunities available please check Volunteer at the San José Public Library webpage. Let's use your talents, provide valuable service to the community, learn new skills and meet great people.

For teens in middle or high school who are interested to volunteer, please check out teensReach volunteering opportunities.

Have a blast at Tully Community Library with our Friday Fun. Every Friday at 4 PM, our library is offering different family fun activities such as Movie Afternoon, Wii Tournament, Board Games, Contests, and Crafts. No Sign-Up necessary.

Feb. 25 – Movie Day. Popcorn and Refreshments will be served.

March 4 – Wii Tournament at 4:00 PM for Children and 5:00 PM for Teens

March 11 – TTW St. Patrick Online Game Tournament  

March 18 – Movie Day. Popcorn and Refreshments will be served.

March 25 – Game Day. Play board games.

For future Friday Fun activities, please check out our event page.

For teens who are looking for opportunities to complete your community services requirements, hope you can join teensReach. teensReach provides a key way for young adults to build their leadership skills by developing and participating in library activities, as well as becoming library advisors and advocates. Tully Library's teensReach group meets the third Wednesday of every month. All teens ages 13-18 are invited to attend. We are also looking for teensReach participants between 13-17 years old to read to children in our Reading Buddies program on Thursdays from 4-5 PM.

For more information contact Chieu Nguyen at (408) 808-3030.

We’re looking for an enthusiastic and self-starter to help Tully Library staff search for materials on Tuesdays (10-12 Noon) or Fridays (9:30-11:30 AM). The job will develop your researching skill in using our library catalog and provide you with experience working independently in a library environment. Your commitment of 6 months or more is required. If you are interested, please contact Chieu at chieu.nguyen@sjlibrary.org or 408-977-1441.

Thư viện cần tìm một nhân viên thiện nguyện để làm mỗi buổi sáng. Nhân viên thiện nguyện này sẽ đi tìm kiếm những món hàng trong thư viện để gởi đến các thư viện khác. Thư viện sẽ huấn luyện cho nhân viên thiện nguyện nầy cách truy tìm món hàng nhưng nhân viên thiện nguyện phải làm mỗi thứ Sáu (9:30-11:30 AM) hay thứ Ba (10-12 Noon) cho sáu tháng. Xin vui lòng liên lạc Chiêu tại email chieu.nguyen@sjlibrary.org  hay số phôn 408-977-1441.

Estamos buscando a voluntarios entusiastas y dinámicosque puedan ayudar al personal de la biblioteca durante los  martes o el viernes por la mañana. Esta oportunidad le proporcionará  habilidad de enriquecer su experiencia de investigación en la biblioteca de. Se requiere su compromiso de 6 meses o más. Si está interesado, póngase en contacto con Chieu al chieu.nguyen@sjlibrary.org o llame al 408-977-1441.

We are seeking teen volunteers to read to children grades 1st-3rd during our Reading Buddies time. If you are interested, please attend our Reading Buddies volunteer training to learn how to read aloud to children. Join teensReach by filling out the application and bring it to the training. For a teensReach coordinator to contact you, please fill out the Interest Form online.

Qualifications

• Enjoy working with children
• Enthusiastic about reading and books
• Proficient in reading
• Reliable and punctual
• 13-17 years old

Benefits

• FUN!
• Help young readers enhance literacy skills
• Direct involvement in building our community
• Fulfill community service hours
• Receive a Reading Program Completion Certificate (when eight-week block is completed)

Commitment

• Tully Community Branch requires 1 hour orientation and 1 hour hand-on reading practice on the Third  Thursday of the month from 3:00-5:00 PM. After the training you can start to assist children from 1^st -3^rd grade to read for 1 hour on Thursdays from 4:00-5:00 PM.

Hear other volunteers' testimonies about their volunteering services.