Published by the Wethersfield Library                                             Volume V   Issue 5           May   2008

Some Dates to Remember

B.J Smith will return this summer to lead “Hidden Selves / Public Selves,” a four week book discussion series. All the sessions are on Thursday evenings from 7 pm to 9 pm. 

Details will be in the June newsletter and signup begins June 15.  The dates and titles are:

July 10^th – The Great Gatsby,

               F. Scott Fitzgerald

July 17^th – Double Bind,

               Chris Bohjalian

July 24^th – Peony in Love,

               Lisa See

July 31^st – Open Secrets,

               Alice Munro

Holiday Closings

Memorial Day Weekend

Saturday, May 24^th

Sunday, May 25^th

Monday, May 26^th

We are Your Friend in Hard Times

“Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.”

Anne Herbert, The Whole Earth Catalog

You have seen the headlines: Gasoline prices at an all time high.

Foreclosures up 100%. Home sales down again. Food prices up 40%. Tuitions rising. Vacations are downsized. Subscriptions are cancelled.

Borrow a book from us and save yourself the $18.95 it would cost.  Read new magazines on a wide array of topics.  Just a book a month borrowed not bought will save $227.00 a year.

Plan a frugal vacation right here in southern New England using our museum passes.  Borrow the pass and take a trip to Mystic Seaport with 2 adults and 3 children and you will save as much as $76.00.

Find the best buys for big ticket items. If your refrigerator dies and you have to replace it, our consumer information will help you discover the best buy to replace it and which one will cost the least to run.

Find scholarships with our databases (see p.3) and practice for educational entrance exams and employment exams either here in the library or online from home.

Come to us to learn how to hold onto the money you have. As retirement and savings accounts face downward pressures - stock, financial and general economic information is what you need.  Get smart using our business and financial information.

Come to us for help finding work. Job seekers can turn to the library for employment information and resume suggestions as well as internet access.

Save gas -- visit electronically at www.wethersfieldlibrary.org.  Renew your library card or your books, place reserves, practice for exams, use our databases, find good reading suggestions, do your research for school.

The Wethersfield Library has a host of ways to help you weather the storm of a weakened economy. Use the resources and services we have for you to increase your well being without breaking the bank. You and your neighbors have prepaid with your taxes.  Thank you.

Children’s Department

Storytime Program - No Registration Required

Drop-In Playtime/Storytime for all ages.  A librarian will be on hand

at each session to share a story and a song at 11:00 a.m.

Meets: Fridays, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. 

School-age Programs - Registration is Ongoing:

Muncha Buncha Books for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd graders.  Stories, riddles,

games, crafts, munchies and lots of fun!

Meets:  May 1^st at 3:30 p.m.

Pizza and Pages  for 3^rd - 6^th graders. Join our group and discuss

Eager by Helen Fox. Part of the Nutmeg Award Book Discussion

Series. Enjoy a light supper and dessert.

Meets: Tuesday, June 10^th, 6 p.m.- 8 p.m.

To register or for more information call the Children’s Department

at 257-2801.

Children’s storytimes and programs are NOT held when Wethersfield

Public Schools are canceled or open late due to weather.

Thank You

This month we thank:

Astrid Lebron for her donation in honor of the check out desk staff.

Thanks to the Friends of the Library

Thanks to a donation by the Friends of the Library the museum pass program has been funded for another year.  This popular program which serves residents of all ages would not be possible without the continued generous support of the Friends.

Twain and Stowe House Museum Passes

Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe.  Both are icons of American literature and culture, and their Hartford homes are now museums.  If you haven’t visited them yourself or if you want to treat guests to a fascinating day, borrow our museum passes.

The Mark Twain House, a National Historic Landmark, is full of variety and unpredictability.   New technologies include a gravity flow heat system, seven bathrooms with flush toilets, and a telephone, which Twain was both proud of, and flummoxed by. As the 21^st century "new wing" to The Mark Twain House, the Museum center is a portal to American history and 19th century life based on one of its most original, indestructible interpreters. The Mark Twain House and Museum pass admits one adult or two children free with the purchase of one adult pass.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin was read throughout the entire English-speaking world. According to legend, when Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1862 he said, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this Great War!"  In 1873, she moved to her last home, the Victorian Gothic which is part of the Stowe Center.  The Center’s collections illustrate important themes in 19^th century U.S. history: women's suffrage; abolition; African American history; the activist Beecher family; decorative arts and architecture. The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center pass admits two adults free. 

The Friends of the Wethersfield Public Library fund our collection of museum passes so that we can loan them to you just like any other item.  Each will give you free or reduced rate entrance. You can pick up our brochure, which describes in full the hours and various rules for each institution. You can also find full information online at www.wethersfieldlibrary.org/museumpasses.htm, or we will be happy to send you one.  The passes may be reserved in advance either online with your library card, or by calling the Library.

Looking for a college or career program?

 Need to prepare for a test?

Go to the Library - online -- and use the

Testing & Education Reference Center

What is it?

Study guides and practice tests for exams such as GED, SAT, AP, college and graduate school entrance, employment and licensing and more. Guides and exams are both online and downloadable as e-books.  Find lots of additional information about educational opportunities and scholarships too!

What can the Testing & Education Reference Center do for me?

With Testing & Education Reference Center, you can:

     •   Find information about

         » colleges, or programs for international students

         » thousands of graduate, law, and M.B.A. opportunities

         » private secondary schools, vocational schools, career colleges, IT programs, and executive education programs

         » online distance learning opportunities

         » scholarships

    •    Practice online for

         » ACT, SAT, AP exams and more

         » college and graduate school and secondary school admissions exams

         » licensing and employment tests for law enforcement, real estate, postal service, or civil service

         » military entrance exams

          •  Practice for these same tests using the downloadable e-books available on the site.       

   •  Create a “Personalized Toolbox” and save your information so you can return to it  later. Log off and come back whenever you like!

How do I find and use the Testing & Education Reference Center?

      •   Go to wethersfieldlibrary.org and click on “Internet Resources.”

      •    Find the box that says Testing & Education Reference Center

*    Click on “Access from Library” if you are using our computers in the library                 *    Click on “Access from Home” if you are using any other computer anywhere in the world

      •     Enter your Wethersfield Library card barcode on the next screen and click ‘proceed’

•     Choose from the categories offered until you find the information you want

Is that all I need to know? Yes, but here are 3 more things it’s good to know.

     •    You’ll need to register to use a few features, such as creating a personalized toolbox or taking practice tests or using the ‘get recruited’ feature, but it is free and it is easy to do following the online directions.

    •       If you decide to use an e-book version you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader, but if you have not yet downloaded Acrobat Reader, a link is provided so you can download this free software.

    •       If you have questions or problems, call the Adult Services Information desk at 257- 2811 during Library hours.

&  Book Discussions  &

The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett -1^st Tuesday Book Group. 

Meets: Tuesday, May. 6^th, at 7:00 p.m., in the Library Program Room.

The Human Stain, by Philip Roth  - Wethersfield Senior Book Club. (2001 Pen/Faulkner Award winner)  Coleman Silk, a professor at a small college, embodies all the ambition, paradox, and futility of the American dream. Roth roars through a literary landscape full of the politics of race and sex, the Vietnam War,  political correctness, the dumbing down of the academy, and President Clinton’s impeachment.  Roth shakes his head in sorrow and wonder at the “inevitably stained creatures that we are.”

Meets: Monday, May 19^th, at 1:00 p.m. in the Pitkin Community Center,

30 Greenfield St., Wethersfield.

The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher, by Debby Applegate - 1^st Tuesday Book Group.(2007 Pulitzer for Biography) Henry Ward Beecher was a fascinating, flawed man, from an illustrious family, whose life was both influential and revered by the public.  His career suffered irretrievably when charges of adultery were brought against him.  After a six month trial, eight days of debate and 52 jury ballots, the jury could not reach a verdict.  Applegate is a masterful guide to the complex life of a flawed man who made lasting contributions to public and religious life in his time.

Meets: Tuesday, June. 3^rd, at 7:00 p.m., in the Library Program Room.

Registration is not required for our regular monthly book discussions, and new members are always welcome.  The Library has extra copies of the title available several weeks before each session. 

May Computer Classes

8 Introduction to the Internet

        Learn how to access and search the Internet.

        Meets: Tuesday, May 13^th at 1:30 p.m.  

8  All You Need to Know About Email

        How to open an account and how to send and receive mail.                   

        Meets: Tuesday, May 13^th at 3:00 p.m.  

8 Digital Photography - How It Works

        Introduction to the basic tools of photo editing. 

        Meets: Wednesday, May 14^th at 10:15 a.m.       

8 Where Did I Put That?

       How to save, where to save and how to find what you save.

       Meets: Wednesday, May 14^th at 11:30 a.m.

Classes are free and open to the public.  To register, call the Adult Services Department at 257-2811 or 529-2665. 

Classes will be held in the Library Program Room.

Wethersfield residents may register beginning May 1^st, 2008.