Knitting & Crocheting Group

Have you heard about our Crocheting & Knitting Group?

We meet every other Friday from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm in the Library. Upcoming meetings are September 9 and 23 and October 7 and 21. All skill levels are welcome!

Take a look at the group having a great time:

Our group supports Civic and Social Literacy of the Pennsylvania Forward initiative. To learn more about moving Pennsylvania Forward, take a look at this site: http://www.paforward.org/Home/PoweringProgress/WhatisPAForward.aspx

The Library is partnering with the University of Scranton which is collecting coats, gloves, hats, and scarves for their annual coat drive.

Here are photos of just some of the items that our group has made to donate!

 Call the library to sign up today!

Summer Reading Club Comes to an End

The Children's Summer Reading Club has come to an end. Miss Lisa and Miss Karen are so proud of all the children who participated in the program and read throughout the summer!

Nathan holding his $100 gift card to Toys R Us.

Nathan won a $100 gift card to Toys R Us for reading more than 1,000 minutes for our Summer Reading Club. 225 children earned gift baskets by reading 900 minutes each. Nathan beat out 200 other eligible readers who also qualified to win the gift card. Thank you to all who donated for our gift baskets and all of those who read! We had a record number of minutes and completions!

Don't forget that the Adult Summer Reading Club is ending tomorrow, Friday, August 12. Make sure to hand in your filled-out brochure to get a ticket for each book read!

New Cookbook Club

WARNING: THIS BLOG POST MAY MAKE YOU HUNGRY!!!

We have an awesome new program for you! On September 7, 2016 at 6:00 pm, the library is starting its very first Cookbook Club. Meetings will be held on the first Wednesday of each month.

Here's what you need to know about this club:

Who can join?

Everyone! Members don't have to be serious, experienced cooks; enthusiasm for cooking is more important!

Where and when will the meeting take place?

The meeting will be held at the Valley Community Library on the first Wednesday of the month at 6:00 pm. The first meeting is on September 7 at 6:00 pm.

What is a Cookbook Club?

Like with a book club, members meet to discuss a specific book, in this case a cookbook, and enjoy each other's company along with some great food. Unlike with a book club, where the host is often in charge of providing much of the food and drink, meetings are a potluck meal; the dishes come from the cookbook in question.

How does it work?

There will be a copy of the month’s chosen cookbook located at the circulation desk at the Valley Community Library. Members can come in at any time during the month to choose their recipe and receive a copy to take home. The members will make the recipe at home, and present their creation on the at the meeting. Two people cannot make the same recipe. You are also welcome to share any notes or suggestions about the recipe you create to the meeting!

_______________________________________________

So, there you have it! If you or someone you know is interested, sign up at the library's Circulation Desk during our normal business hours. 

If you have any questions, email Kristen at  kwallo@albright.org or call the library at 570-489-1765.


This program is part of Pennsylvania Forward's Civic and Social Literacy

 

Pokémon Go!

Have you heard about the Pokémon Go craze yet? You probably have unless you've been hiding under a rock! ;)

The library has set up a special display for you all of you Pokémon lovers out there!

Also, if you'd like to take a break from catching them all, stop by our library and see if you can find the Pokéballs hidden throughout our stacks.

PA Forward

You may or may not have seen the PA Forward initiative in the library via our website, newsletters, or in the library itself. So what is PA Forward anyway? The Pennsylvania Library Association (PLA) wanted to show everyone in the community what libraries do for people. Libraries are no longer just book repositories, they are community centers that serve real-life needs of the people in their service areas. PA Forward strives to show citizens of Pennsylvania that libraries are major components in fueling the types of knowledge essential to success: Basic Literacy, Information Literacy, Civic and Social Literacy, Health Literacy, and Financial Literacy.

Click here to learn more: www.paforward.org/






With the right support, libraries are ideally positioned to become the community centers of information, technology, and learning that will fuel educational and economic opportunity for all of our citizens.

I like BIG BOOKS and I cannot lie!

Check out our new display at the library:

These are just some of our "Q" books. The "Q" stands for Quarto which is a term to describe oversized books. We put these books in a separate section since they're too large to put in with the regular collection. This section of books has a large variety of subjects including cooking, art, World War II, travel, movies, biographies, and more!

Come in today to browse this section of the library!

Wow! It's been two whole months since the last blog post! What have we been doing around here???

Well, for one, we've been pretty busy making the library shelves more accessible for all of our lovely patrons. It took a lot of shifting and energy, but the library staff is thrilled to have made browsing easier on our patrons and shelving easier on us! Win win!

We've also been taking a lot of time to weed. What exactly is weeding? Many of our patrons don't think about a library as just a space (because really we're so much more than that!). However, we do have limited space when it comes to physical items like books. What would happen if we just kept buying more and more books without ever getting rid of any? (I really don't want to ever find out.) This is why we weed.

Our computer system allows us to run reports telling us the last time an item has been checked out. We can set the report to only list items that haven't been checked out of the library in two years or more. Then, we take a cart and look for those items on the shelves. Librarians will look at the items pulled from the shelves and make a decision as to whether they should stay or go. When the library gets rid of books, they must be removed from the computer system and then they go into our book sale where you (the patron) get an excellent deal!

So now you know a little more about the inner-workings of your local library.

Buffalo Wild Wings Fundraiser

Ready to get wild at our Buffalo Wild Wings Fundraiser!?

Help out the Valley Community Library by visiting Buffalo Wild Wings on Friday, February 19th for lunch, dinner, or a late night snack! Just show them this ticket and we'll get a donation.

(Click to enlarge) 

  It's going to be a great time! See you there!

March Madness!

Are you ready for March Madness!? I'm sure many of you are aware of Cabin Fever, our winter reading club. Well, this year we decided to switch things up and make it even easier for you! Beginning March 1st, you can get these handouts from your local library:

(front)

 (back)

Simply:

 1. Read 3 books.

 2. Check off which categories those books belong in.

 3. Fill in your personal information.

 4. Turn in your form.

 5. Voila! You're entered for prizes! 

It really is that easy! This is a great way for you to try reading something different than you normally might. And, the added bonus of a chance to win prizes simply by doing what you already love to do: READ!

Color Me Calm

Do you find yourself stressed out and not giving yourself the time to be creative? If you're human, that the answer is probably "yes!" Set aside an hour every third Tuesday of the month from 6:30-7:30pm to color yourself calm. If you enjoy meeting new people and light conversation, this program is definitely for you!

Our first meeting is on Tuesday, February 16th from 6:30-7:30pm. The library will have coloring utensils and pages to color. However, you are encouraged to bring your own coloring supplies.

Friends of the Valley Community Library

What does it mean to be a "Friend" of the library?

Perhaps some of you received an invitation in the mail to become a Friend of the Valley Community Library. Friends groups are mainly responsibly for fundraising on behalf of the library. They work closely with the Board of Trustees and the Director of the library to get the word out about all the great things we do! Friends are walking advocates of the library. They attend meetings regularly to share new ideas and learn from other members.

Are you interested in being a Friend of the Valley Community Library?

If you are interested in being an active member, please contact us at friendsofthevcl@gmail.com.
 

T & L Pierogie Shop Fundraiser

It's that time again! We're having our annual Pierogi Fundraiser with help from T & L Pierogie Shop!

Money is due at the time of order. Orders are due by Wednesday, March 16.

Pick up orders on Wednesday, March 23 between 12:00 - 5:00pm

See more details below!

Blind Date With A Book

 

Do you often judge a book by its cover? (It's okay - I think we all do). If you do, consider going on a blind date with a book! We've wrapped up some books in our collection and each one has its own personal ad to tell you what it's looking for in a reader. 

 

Once you've found "the one," take it to the front desk and check it out! Don't unwrap the book until you bring it home. And don't forget to take a Rate Your Date form. Was it a total disaster? Or love at first read? Just tell us how your date was and you'll be entered to win a small prize!

 

And hey, if the date was a total disaster - no worries! Bring your date back to the library and peruse the personal ads again! Sometimes it takes going through a lot of duds before finding that stud! ;) 

McNaughton Collection

Do you know about our McNaughton Collection?

These books are found right near our new books on the round shelf. All books have a green label on the spine. Here you will find extra copies of the newest best sellers including fiction and nonfiction. McNaughton allows us to rent books we may not necessarily want to buy multiple copies of. For example, when Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James was extremely popular, McNaughton allowed us to rent multiple copies so we didn't have to buy them and have too many copies after the popularity waned. We just send them back and get different titles!

McNaughton allows US to serve YOU better! WIN!

Because these books are very popular, they can only be checked out for 2 weeks. They cannot be renewed or placed on hold. 

Eat & Give!

We have got the BEST kind of fundraiser:

You've got to eat, right? And we all deserve a night out! So grab yourself a delicious burrito, quesadilla, enchilada, or other delicious food from Chipotle in Dickson City on Tuesday, January 26th between 4:00pm and 8:00pm and just mention the Valley Community Library! It's THAT easy!

See ya there!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

This is just a friendly reminder that the library will be closed on Monday, January 18, 2016 in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

 Click here for a link directly to MLK resources!

  

New Year, New You!

We're almost in the middle of January already! How have you been doing with your New Year resolution if you made one? 

We know that many of you have probably committed to eating healthier, exercise more, or start a new diet. Well, here at the library we have the resources to get you started with your New Year resolution! Check out our display to your left when you first walk through our front doors. Want to learn Pilates? Want to finally take the step to quit smoking? How about learning to cook some new healthy recipes? We've got all the titles you need to make yourself an even better you!

 

What the Dewey?

OK, so most of our lovely patrons have probably heard of this Dewey guy and know that he has some kind of Dewey Decimal System that the library uses. But how does it work? What does it mean? 

First of all, we must understand that libraries needed a way to be organized in a way that simply makes sense. The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system uses universally recognized Arabic numerals, well-defined categories, and hierarchies. The DDC begins by organizing information into 10 broad areas, which are broken into smaller and smaller topics. Each topic is assigned a number known as a "call number." 

This solves what would have been a huge problem; each item has a specific call number in order to easily find the information you need. The DDC allows all similar topics to be shelved near each other. Want to browse cookbooks? Look no further than 641. Need information on World War II? Take a look at 940.53.

Take a look at this fantastic PowerPoint put together by OCLC to better understand the DDC:
https://www.oclc.org/content/dam/oclc/dewey/resources/tutorial/adults_tutorial_0606.ppt

Happy Hunting!


References:
https://www.oclc.org/dewey/features/summaries.en.html
https://www.oclc.org/dewey/resources/public.en.html