Hello, Holly! This gentle seven-year-old greyhound is quiet and sweet-natured. She loves people and other dogs. She is happy indoors, but she also likes to go camping. Holly is a brindle color, which means her fur is a kind of speckled blend of browns, reds, and black. She was never used for dog racing. Sherrlyn works for a greyhound rescue organization, and it was her job to find Holly a home. It turns out the perfect home was her own. Sherrlyn adopted Holly and they are both living happily ever after, right here in Willow Glen. Holly’s big brother, another greyhound named Gromit, lives with them. Holly loves people, so she and Sherrlyn are volunteers with Furry Friends pet-assisted therapy. Twice a month, Furry Friends come to visit the Library on Minnesota Avenue so kids can practice reading to the dogs. 

If you want to meet Holly and her friends, come to visit Willow Glen Branch Library at 4pm on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month. For the next scheduled Furry Friends visit, as well as other events, see our calendar. See you at WG!

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.

Have you been frustrated in trying to download books and other items from the San Jose Public Library collection of free materials?  The solution: Willow Glen Branch Library has an informative e-Book and eReader tutorial on most Thursdays at 2:00 p.m.  Reservations are required.  To make a reservation please call the Willow Glen Branch Library at 408-808-3045. 

Willow Glen Branch Library is graced with a very supportive community, including some wonderful volunteers. Nearly every month, well over 100 hours’ labor is donated by volunteers, more than half of that by the Friends of the Willow Glen Library. Some FWGL volunteers pull double duty, like Helena Martiyan. Not only does she sort donations and restock the Friends’ book sale nook, she also comes in weekly just to help the Library staff in the Marketplace area, shelving hundreds of DVDs, CDs, Audio Books, and New and Reserved materials. Helena stared volunteering at Willow Glen shortly after the branch re-opened in 2008.

Helena loved her local public library when she was growing up in Manhattan after having moved from Europe at age 7. To a shy child, the library was a welcoming refuge full of her best friends: books. She continued to love books her whole life and made her career teaching writing and literature, including classes for non-native-English speakers. She also worked in several bookstores. In 2005, she moved to California to be near her son and two grandchildren. Now, she makes the time to volunteer in her neighborhood library. That happens to be Willow Glen. Lucky us! Helena was chosen by the branch leadership team to be the 2012 Volunteer of the Year. Congratulations, Helena!