A Novel Solution to the Reading Doldrums- Novelist

Have you read every book by your favorite author already? Maybe you have to read an epistolary, a bildungsroman, or a jeremiad for a class and you don't know where to start. Want a pot boiler with a good pot roast recipe? Novelist can help guide you to find just what you are looking for (...so long as you are looking for fiction)!

Just click on the Novelist link in the Resource Database section of our website to begin. From there you can find author read-alikes, lists of recommended genre fiction, and novels featuring just about anything you can imagine. Type in a title, author, or subject you like and start the search for your next favorite book.

If you find yourself needing any assistance, the folks at the 1st and 2nd floor information desks would be happy to help you.

FREE Tax Assistance at the Library

Starting Saturday, February 2nd, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) will be offering FREE tax assistance to members of the community, particularly those with low and limited income, individuals with disabilities, and non-English speaking and elderly taxpayers. If you would like to meet with a volunteer please come prepared with the following:
-current year’s tax package and/or label
-all forms (W-2, 1099s, etc.)
-information for other income
-information for all deductions/credits
-copy of last year’s tax return
-proof of account for direct deposit of refund (e.g., voided check)
-Social Security cards for you, your spouse, and/or dependents
-valid photo I.D. for yourself and/or your spouse.

This free service will be offered by VITA volunteers at the Santa Clara City Library’s Cedar Room, 2635 Homestead Road, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the following dates: February 2, 9, 23; March 1, 8, 22, 29; April 5, 12.

For other Santa Clara County locations, see
Santa Clara County VITA sites

For more information about this volunteer service, please contact the IRS at 1 (800) 829-1040, or visit the website at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly

City Grows Greener

It isn't just the rain that is making Santa Clara greener. The City's theme for 2008 is "sustainability." Read more here about City activities.

You can also learn more from books in the library. Try these:

The Sustainability Advantage: seven business case benefits of a triple bottom line by Bob Willard

The Hidden Connections: Integrating the Biological, Cognitive, and Social Dimensions of Life into a Science of Sustainability by Fritjof Capra

The Earth knows my name : food, culture, and sustainability in the gardens of ethnic Americans by Patricia Klindienst

Want to find out what an author is really like?

Read Off Mike : a radio memoir by Michael Krasny, the Bay Area's very own literary talk show host from Forum on KQED radio. He dishes on more than 50 authors in this well-written 2007 memoir.

Here's a sample. Gore Vidal shocked him with his ability to switch from "sour, condescending, inebriated and mean" before an interview to "sober, alive, animated and electric" when the public could hear him.

Michael Krasny shares his very personal story of young adulthood during the 1960's, his philosophy on life, his career and his relationship with his parents and friends. He also talks about both his career as talk show host and professor at San Francisco State University.

His work in Bay Area radio began in the late 1970's at KTIM in Marin County. He moved to KGO in Oakland, where he increased his listener audience for years only to be fired. He bounced back recapturing his fans at KQED 88.5 in San Francisco where he can be heard from 9 a.m to 11 a.m. five days a week.

Volunteer Tutors Needed!

Read Santa Clara needs volunteer tutors to help English speaking adults improve their reading, writing and Math skills. No prior teaching experience needed! Tutors meet with their learners two hours a week for a minimum period of six months. The literacy program offers 12.5 hours of tutor training. The first step to becoming a volunteer tutor is to attend an orientation. The next volunteer orientation will be at the Mission Library Family Reading Center, 1098 Lexington St, Santa Clara on Tuesday, January 29,6:30-8:00 p.m. Volunteers can then sign up for the next round of tutor training to be held on Saturdays, 9:30 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. on February 2 and 9 and March 15(9:30 a.m.- 12 noon.) To learn more, please call (408) 615-2956.

Children's Book Awards Announced

The American Library Association announced the winners of the Caldecott Award for best illustrated children’s book, the Newbery Award for the author of the most distinguished contribution to American Literature for children, the Pura Belpré Award and many others on January 14th.
Winner of the Randolph Caldecott Medal for best illustrations:
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.
Caldecott Honor Books:
Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Ellen Levine.
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger.
Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems.
Winner of the John Newbery Medal for most distinguished contribution:
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz.
Newbery Honor Books:
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt.
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson.
Pura Belpré Author Award for Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience:
The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Sean Qualls.
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for most distinguished book for beginning readers:
There Is a Bird on Your Head! by Mo Willems.
Sibert Medal for best informational book:
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtin by Peter Sís.

Keep Current

Expired library card?

Library cards have a two-year expiration date, at which time you will be asked to verify/update your contact information. You may do so in person or by calling 408 615-2970 and speaking with Circulation staff. Your library card expiration date is listed below your name on your My Account page.

New e-mail address?

Keep your e-mail address up to date by logging in to your library account. Click on the Modify Personal Info button, and enter your new e-mail address.

Vote for U.S. President

February 5 will be your opportunity to express your choice for a presidential candidate. Register to vote before Monday, January 21, with a free mail-in postcard found on the 2nd floor of the library behind the Information Desk or by printing out the mail-in form from the web. More voting information can be found on the Registrar of Voters' web site, including finding out if you are registered to vote.

Read more about elections and the candidates with materials from the nonfiction display, Selecting the next U. S. President, on the 1st floor. The free Easy Voter Guides on the display have short, easy to understand candidate statements, proposition and referendum information. Take them home and give them to your friends.

Easyvoter.org, a voter education web site, has information on the 7 propositions included in the Presidential primary. There is also a link for Indian Gaming referendums. City of Santa Clara's Measures A & B are listed at SmartVoter.org, a nonpartisan source of election information. These measures relate to the future of public land near Winchester Blvd. and Stevens Creek Blvd. in Santa Clara, called BAREC. There will be a pro and con discussion of Measures A & B in the library's Cedar Room, Wednesday, January 16th, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, January 15th, at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, the Santa Clara City Council and the public will hear the results of the City's feasibility study regarding the 49er's proposal for a stadium in the city. Read the report here.

Parent Education @ Your Library

The Santa Clara Library Youth Services department will offer two FREE parent education programs in January:
Monday, January 14, 7:00 p.m., Redwood Room
Jean Wilson, Santa Clara Unified School District instructor, will present a program, "Emotional Readiness for Kindergarten," that will help parents determine whether or not their children are physically and emotionally ready to attend kindergarten.
Monday, January 28, 7:00 p.m., Redwood Room
Local preschool directors will discuss their school philophies and curricula in the annual "Preschool Explorations" program. Parents will have opportunities to ask questions and to meet individually with the school representatives. Parents will learn "how" the individual schools educate their young students and "why" each school has a different approach to learning.
Please call 408-615-2916 to register for these FREE programs.

Subscribe Now

To help keep track of your account transactions, the library offers My Record Feeds, which provides a personalized RSS feed of timely patron record information such as "Materials ready for pickup on hold shelf" or "Materials due soon."

You may subscribe to this RSS feed by clicking on the My Record Feeds button located on your library account page. For more information, please visit Catalog help: My Record Feeds.

On this date in 1847

On January 7, 1847, a formal treaty was signed to end the Battle of Santa Clara, which was the only campaign in the Northern District between the Californios and United States forces during the Mexican War, 1846-1848. The treaty was signed at Civic Center Park. Read more about the treaty signing on our Community Information Network.

This bayonet was discovered on the former Neves Ranch while digging to build the Central Library in 1965 and 1966. A serial number on the bayonet was used to date it and it is thought that it might have been used in the 1847 Battle of Santa Clara. For more information about the Santa Clara Campaign, read the book The Battle of Santa Clara by Dorothy Regnery or the history essay written by Lorie Garcia on the City's website.