Lopez Library

Hot weather got you steaming? Come to the library to enjoy air-conditioned comfort and a great reading, listening and viewing collection. With our move from oil heating to electric heat pumps we now have cool air to share with islanders during our (hopefully) brief hot spells. In addition to a cool place to hang out you are sure to find cool things to read and watch as well!

The dryness on our island has put the fire danger level at high. Do your children know what to do in a fire emergency or do they want to learn more about our local heroes at the fire department? The library has recently acquired a series of DVD films produced for children from the Rainbow Valley Fire Department that can help educate our youth on the importance of fire safety and prevention in a fun way, including the following:

Home fire escape plan

What causes fire

911, home fire prevention tools

Fire trucks

Fire equipment

The fire station

Shelved in the children’s room, call # DVD J628.92 RAI. Let us know if you plan to use them for teaching purposes at school or church and we can arrange a longer checkout period.

Please help the library go greener by providing us with your email address for library correspondence. To avoid wasting paper and postage to send out overdue reminders, we are actively requesting emails from now on. We will only use them for these purposes so don’t worry about being spammed.

On another green note, you don’t have to photocopy articles out of Consumer Reports any longer. The library now subscribes to full text of Consumer Reports online (the extended version) that is accessible to entire community via library card number from your home computer. Just visit the library’s web page and use the link to consumer reports under “New arrivals at your library.” Thanks to everyone who provided feedback when we did the trial a few months ago. You spoke and we listened.

Speaking of green, we’d like your opinion on seating areas around the library grounds. Now that our wireless internet extends outside the building, we’d like to add more summer seating options for reading, lounging and computing. I was thinking Adirondack chairs with wide arms for propping up laptops and holding a drink. I’d be interested in hearing from local furniture builders who might be interested in working on this project.

Genealogists rise up! The popularity of genealogy in the United States has increased steadily alongside the Internet’s growth. Specialized search engines and newly digitized content has sparked the interest of many people of all ages who now want to learn more about their local and/or family history. Genealogy is considered by most to be the fastest-growing hobby in North America, with many surveys and media sources proclaiming that it has surpassed quilting, scrap-booking, stamp collecting and even gardening in popularity. With this in mind, the library is considering getting access to Ancestry.com. We have a trial until July 25 so call the library for more information at 468-2265.

San Juan Library

Whew! Summer sure is busy! But what fun it is. We are in the thick of our summer reading programs and having a great time. Friday Harbor Rotary Club was the first team to finish our 100 book challenge, but that doesn’t mean other teams can’t still finish and enter in the drawing for a pizza and bowling party! We currently know of 27 teams who are closing in on their 100 books.

Children’s summer reading programs still coming up include magic with Mad Science, juggling and other airplay with Thomas Arthur, and serious noise explosions with Charlie Williams. Teen programs still coming up include Henna art, book club meeting with a movie showing of Coraline, and a manga workshop. Over 300 children and teens have been reading during their summer and we couldn’t be happier. There is still time for folks of all ages to keep reading and continue to cash in on great prizes. We can’t wait to see how much reading gets done this summer.

Also coming up is our annual Friends of the Library summer book sale is Friday July 24 and Saturday 25 held at Friday Harbor Elementary School. Friday night is for members only but don’t worry: you can become a member on the spot. If you can’t make it Friday, there are always more than enough great books to pick through on Saturday. Be sure to put this sale on your calendar.

AND we are preparing our Library fair booth. We will have our traditional Library beads, but are planning a new way for you to earn them this year. We will again have a couple of laptops set up for anyone to quickly check emails or confirm the weight of the world’s largest pig. See you at the fair!