Paper or Plastic?

On Monday night, a co-worker and I were chatting about the iPad. For those of you who have been in a coma for the past few months, the iPad is Apple's "revolutionary" new technology. I put that in quotes since I believe Apple might be getting a little willy-nilly with throwing the word "revolutionary" around. "Neat-o." I would agree with neat-o. But as history has shown us, to start a revolution you need the masses to buy into the idea. So far, they've only pre-ordered the idea. It's a bit early to say you have revolutionized the way people do things when no one has had the opportunity to do anything just yet.

As you've probably guessed, I'm not the sort to get excited about slick new technology until it's been around for a while and has proven to be lasting and useful (as opposed to much of what tech turns out to be). The technologies that make me go all slack-jawed and product-lustful are generally of an older type. (Get it? Older type?... sigh, no one appreciates puns anymore.) Gramaphones, sextants, fire, etc. That being said, I do own an iPhone and like it quite a bit. Except for the times when I've tried to use it as an e-reader... one of the main focuses of the iPad it would seem.

I am still a fan of the book as a physical object. Kindles and Nooks and iPads (oh my!) hold no interest for me when it comes to the reading experience. While traveling in France, I thought I'd try using the iPhone as a reader to lessen my load in terms of packing (I once traveled to New York with a suitcase for books alone... not my best decision). I downloaded Margaret Atwood's Year of the Flood and got thirty pages into it before I hunted down Shakespeare and Company and bought a 900 page tome to lug about. I love Atwood's writing, but the "reading experience" was so annoying to me that I would prefer to add three pounds to an already shoulder-bruising bag than read on a computer screen for long stretches of time.

The funny thing is, most people consider the preference of computer over book a generational issue. Not true. I am almost a digital native (old enough to remember playing in the yard, young enough to know the Super Mario Brother's theme song by heart), yet here I am. At the same rate, considering how long I've been employed with the library, there is a strong chance I'm biased.
posted by jw

Reading is Sexy!

Over the weekend I became the 7th Facebook friend of someone in my neighborhood whom I have known for years. She wrote back her reasons for finally signing up (to follow her young adult daughter's postings) and told me a funny story. She and her husband walk around the neighborhood and near where I live, her husband noticed a truck with a bumper sticker that says, "Reading is Sexy." He is convinced it is on my vehicle since I'm a librarian and she is sure it isn't because it is parked too far away.

It is not my bumper sticker but my brother-in-law did give me a yellow button which says Reading is Sexy. Reading is sexy. Try these:

The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine
Find out what women want. Why are women more verbal than men? Why do women remember details of fights that men can't remember at all? Dr. Brizendine reveals all, in this readable book. Just to be fair she has recently written,

The Male Brain
Why can't boys sit still? Why does a teen boy's behavior change so dramatically? What about the brain and sexual orientation? Why are expressions of anger, facial expressions and spatial manipulation different for men and women? Brizendine explains all.

posted by mb

Resizing Many Digital Photos

If you take digital photos at high resolutions and want to email the pictures to family and friends it is best to resize them to less than 1 mb (megabyte). If you want to send more than 10 pictures, it is best to resize them to between 100-300 kb (kilobytes). Many email programs limit the number and size of attachments, so the smaller the size of the attachments the faster the program sends the email.

There are many programs that lets you resize pictures one at a time. Microsoft has a free program that lets you resize many pictures at the same time. It is called Image Resizer and it is part of the PowerToys for Windows XP.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/Downloads/powertoys/Xppowertoys.mspx



After installing the program, select all the picture files and right click to select Resize Pictures. You can select from the options or do a custom size. The process will make a duplicate of all the files selected, preserving the original files.

Let My People Go: The Jewish Holiday of Passover*

Each spring, Jews all around the world celebrate the holiday of Passover (Pesach in Hebrew), which commemorates the Jews' escape from enslavement in Egypt. Since Jewish holidays follow the Hebrew calendar, which follows the moon cycle, the exact English date changes from year to year, but Passover generally falls in March or April. This year, the first night of Passover is Monday, March 29th. The holiday is celebrated for either 7 or 8 days, based on geographical location and level of religiousness.

The Bible story is as follows:

Source

Over four thousand years ago, the Jewish people decided to leave their homeland and look for food in Egypt. All was well until the King of Egypt, Pharaoh (pronounced FA --like apple--row), forced them to become slaves. The Jews prayed that they would be set free, and the shepherd Moses arrived to convince Pharaoh to let the Jews out of slavery. Pharaoh wouldn't listen to his request. Each time he said "no," God sent a different plague to the land -- ten plagues in all, such as hail, frogs, blood, disease, and even killing each family's first-born son. So that the Jews would be spared this last horrible plague, they were told to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a lamb. This way, their homes would be passed over, hence the name "Passover." Pharoah's own son was killed due to this plague! And this is when he finally allowed the Jewish people to leave Egypt with Moses as their leader.

Source

The Jews had to leave Egypt so quickly that they didn't have enough time to prepare. They took what they could carry, which included unbaked loaves of bread. Since there was no time to add yeast for the bread to rise, the bread baked flat. Today, we call this bread "matzah." Later, Pharaoh changed his mind and sent soldiers to capture the Jews again. The Jews were about to cross the Red Sea when the Egyptian soldiers caught up with them. God parted the sea to allow the Jews to cross, then made the water crash on top of the soldiers just as they were crossing!

To celebrate their escape, the Jews had a feast.

Source

Today, Jews celebrate their freedom by observing Passover each year. To prepare, they clean their homes and begin the holiday by having a ritual service called a "seder" (pronounced SAY-der). In Hebrew, "seder" means "order," which means that the service has elements that happen in a certain order. Jews use a "haggadah" (hah-GAH-dah), which is a book that contains the story of the Jews' exodus from Egypt. There's also a ritual meal that has elements that represent the Jews' struggle, joy, and freedom:

• "matzah," flat bread that represents the Jews' bread that didn't have time to rise when they quickly escaped from Egypt
• four glasses of wine (or grape juice) to represent joy
• an apple/walnut/wine mixture called "charoset" (pronounced with a guttural CH as if you are clearing your throat) to represent the mortar the Jews used when building cities in Egypt
• salt water that represents tears
• horseradish to remember the bitter time
• a lamb shank to represent putting blood on the doorways of Jews' homes so that their first born sons were not killed
• a hard-boiled egg to represent spring
• a spring vegetable like parsley to represent spring
  

To learn more about Passover, visit the library and check out one of our Passover books.

*Some help for this posting comes from the Passover Wikipedia entry, as well as the Children's book Passover, by Alice K. Flanagan.

Posted by wk

Shoebox Dioramas on Steroids

Every once and a while you find yourself in situations that makes you reevaluate the shape of your life. Mine came last weekend when a friend and I were walking away from a flea market holding two deer jaws and a cow's rib while complaining about how expensive the horse skull we wanted was. This, I would imagine, is not typical behavior.

In my friend's defense, she is an artist who uses animal bones in her work. She was searching out materials. I, however, just wanted a horse skull because that's the sort of person I am. I am the type of person with a perfectly preserved scorpion in resin on my desk. I am the type of person who does not get many "yes" replies for dinner parties at my house.

Now I know what you are thinking, and you are wrong. It is not a morbid preoccupation that draws me to have deer antlers on my wall. It's a fascination with nature. As a child, trips to natural history museums were a huge deal for me. Given the chance, I'd sit at the foot of a dinosaur's skeleton naming all the bones I knew (and making up the names for the ones I didn't). Anyone who walked pass me was likely to receive an enthusiastic lecture about the triceratops the likes of which can only be mustered up by 6 year old boys and paleontologists.

But even more than the bones, I liked the diorama rooms. It was in those halls of fake (and often poorly painted) African savannas and rocky outcroppings that I became enamored with taxidermy animals. Being a suburban kid, these specimens were about the closest thing I could get to the real animal. I'd never seen a bear, bobcat, or even a raccoon. And here they all were without the added bonus of their ticks or their fleas or their high likelihood of mauling me.

Of course, nature shows were on television, but being seen on the 12 inch screen we had (which seems laughably small these days) just didn't do the animals justice. There is something sad about a giraffe dwarfed by the potted plant on top of the TV . Standing next to an enormous gorilla in a museum helps put reality into prospective.

And so, since I can't own the taxidermy polar bear from the American Museum of Natural History (and believe me, I asked), I settle with an occasional antler or scorpion or deer jaw. I must also note this is a practical matter. Should a Night at the Museum sort of situation occur, the damage my apartment sustains will be far less than if I bought that taxidermy hyena on Ebay a few years back.
posted by jw

ReferenceUSA Training Today

ReferenceUSA provides access to more than 14 million businesses and 100 million consumers with accurate, detailed, information. This is a service you get using your Santa Clara City library card from our website whether or not the library is open.

If you missed the computer training this morning in our Technology Center from Dan Erker of ReferenceUSA, you might want to watch a video found on the site. Just follow the links from the library's website, Research/Resources, Electronic Resources then alphabetically to ReferenceUSA or under the Business subject heading.

ReferenceUSA is helpful to job seekers trying to identify companies geographically and by type in order to focus a job search. Sales reps can identify types of companies based on number of employees, sales volume as well as product or brand. Lists can be generated and downloaded to a spreadsheet or other types of files. The information is updated regularly and checked for accuracy.

Get help with your ReferenceUSA questions in the library, by calling (408) 615-2900 during open hours or using the ReferenceUSA Patron Support phone: 1-800-808-1113 from 7-7 Central time daily.

posted by mb

March is Women's History Month

The National Women's History Project is celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year! This year's theme is "Writing Women Back into History," since women's contributions are often overlooked in history books.

Test your knowledge of famous women throughout history. Answers are at the bottom of this blog post.

1. Why is Rosa Parks famous?

1. During the time of segregation, she (an African-American woman) refused to give up her bus seat to make room for a white person, which helped start the Civil Rights Movement
2. She holds the world record for eating the most McDonald's hambugers at one time.
3. She earned the title of "Fastest Woman in the World" after completing a marathon in a little over 2 hours.
   
4. All of the above
5. None of the above
   

2. Amelia Earhart was _____________.

1. the first woman to ride in a submarine for longer than 1 week
2. the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean
3. the first woman to drive a train across the United States
4. All of the above
5. None of the above

3. Hillary Rodham Clinton _____________.

1. was First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 since she is married to to President Bill Clinton, who was president at that time
2. became the first female who was a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States of America
3. was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009 before becoming the 67th United States Secretary of State under President Barack Obama
   
4. All of the above
5. None of the above

4. Jane Goodall is famous for studying what type of animal?

1. chimpanzees
2. monkeys
3. gorillas
4. All of the above
5. None of the above

5. Marie Curie was a scientist who _____________.

1. created the polio vaccine
2. invented the X-Ray
3. won two Nobel Prizes, the first in physics, the second in chemistry
4. All of the above
5. None of the above

Visit the Youth Services section of the library to find biographies about these and other famous women in history.

• Rosa Parks
• Amelia Earhart
• Hillary Rodham Clinton
• Jane Goodall
• Marie Curie
  

Try these other resources, too:

• Biography Collection Complete
• Women's History Month Features on Infoplease.com
• List of Women Biographies on Gale
  

Don't forget that the Youth Services Librarians are available to help. Just stop by the Youth Services desk on the first floor!


Answers: 1. a; 2. b; 3. d; 4. a; 5. c

Posted by wk. All images from Wikipedia.org.

Blackberry App for Overdrive digital books

Overdrive has expanded on-the-go access for library patrons with the beta release of an audio book app (mobile version of OverDrive Media Console) for BlackBerry. Popular devices like the BlackBerry Storm and BlackBerry Curve can now be used to download MP3 audio books from Santa Clara City library's digital collection anytime, anywhere.

The audio book app for BlackBerry joins the mobile suite of apps that are already available for Windows Mobile and Android devices. To download an audio book app, users can visit the Overdrive software website.

posted by mb for mjb

Quilting Computer Class Links

Amish Quilts and Quilting Resources was held today March 18, in the Technology Center. Here are some of the computer links from the class.

Try these library books:

200 Quilting Tips by Susan Briscoe

Fusing Fun! : fast fearless art quilts by Laura Wasilowski

Fool's Puzzle by Earlene Fowler

The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini

Learn to quilt, improve your skills and make quilting friends by attending classes at local adult education programs:

Santa Clara Adult Education 1840 Benton St. Santa Clara (408) 423-3500

Mountain View-Los Altos Adult Education 333 Moffett Blvd. Mountain View (650)940-1333

Join a Guild or Association

Santa Clara Valley Quilting Association

Peninsula Quilting Guild

Visit a local quilting store:

The Granary 1326 S. Mary Ave. Sunnyvale (408) 735-9830

Eddie's Quilting Bee 480 S. Mathilda Ave. Sunnyvale (408) 830-9505

Prairie Queens Quilt Shop 14922 Camden Ave. San Jose (408) 559-6735

The Quilter's Nest 1375 Blossom Hill Rd. #57 San Jose (408) 723-4133

Try these quilt websites:

The American Quilter's Society

The National Quilting Association

The Alliance for American Quilts

Pacific Rim Quilt Company: Your Hawaiian Quilt & Applique Specialists

Quilter's Cache

Quilter's Review

Visit these shopping sites:

Connecting Threads

Shop Hops

JoAnn Fabrics

Hancock's of Paducah

Repro Depot

Art Quilting websites

David Walker

Artfabrik

Mary Mashuta

Attend a quilt exhibition:

DeYoung Museum's Amish Quilts through June 2010

San Jose Quilt Museum

37th Annual Show

Quilters' of Contra Costa County March 20-21 at Centre Concord, 5298 Clayton Rd. Concord

Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 10-4 $6 for one day, $10 for two days

posted by mb

The Alchemist in the Kitchen

[editor's note: Hey, you know what would have been appropriate today? A post about St. Patrick's Day. You know who forgot it was St. Patrick's Day? Me.- jw]

"They are made by mixing clouds and magic together, right?"

While I'm pretty sure that is incorrect, this was the answer I gave when asked if I knew how a marshmallow was made. In truth, I'd never given it a lot of thought. I was asked this question while eating an excellent homemade (horchata flavored!) marshmallow. Previous to this, I had no idea there was such a thing as a "homemade marshmallow."

Growing up, our "baked goods" (or in the case of the marshmallow: confections) generally came from a factory, not a kitchen. I never saw what went into making them. These processed treats (i.e. marshmallows, cookies, cupcakes, and the nutritional black hole called a "Home Run Pie") were not thought of as things which had component parts or ingredients. Foods that came out of bags or boxes were not made, they just existed. As far as I was concerned, marshmallows grew on marshmallow trees which were harvested by unicorns in the Great Candyland forest. I still believe that actually.

With that (highly flawed) conceptual framework in mind, it should come as no surprise that baking has always struck me as a fairly magical process. Take a few grainy, mushy, or liquidy ingredients, mix them up, stick them under some heat, and ta-da! Cookies! Cupcakes! Muffins! Unknown burnt things I forgot in the oven for an hour and a half that are kind of on fire! Perhaps if I payed more attention to chemistry (or Alton Brown) I'd see it less as a magic wand process and more of a molecular bond process.

Currently, I'm trying to overcome my ignorance by learning how to bake. I'm coming at this as a novice so I'm focusing my attention on the humble cookie first. (Okay, perhaps it's a humble yet self-righteous cookie.) After that: cupcakes. This one scares me since it will require decoration skills of a caliber higher than a preschool craft project. The ultimate aim in this baking kick (outside of making my apartment perpetually smell like a patisserie) is to get to a level of bread self-sufficiency. I eat a lot of bread. You can't even understand how happy I would be if I could make my own. We all have goals... mine just happen to be doughy and wheat-y. Don't judge.
posted by jw

Try these books for St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is March 17. Celebrate by reading:

How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
"A dreadful title but an outstanding book," according to outstanding author of Irish books, Frank Delaney.

W.B. Yeats by R.F. Foster W.B. Yeats : a life. I, The apprentice mage, 1865-1914
W.B. Yeats : a life. II, The arch-poet 1915-1939
In two mighty volumes, the poet William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), who helped form the new nation. This biography gives us the life of a working poet in his own artistic and intellectual society.

If you want to travel there beyond the literature, try these:

Ireland, the Lonely Planet, 2010
Fodor's 2010 Ireland
Frommer's Ireland 2010


posted by mb

New Overdrive Download Station

Want to download an audiobook using the library's computer? Now you can!

The Santa Clara City Library has dedicated 1 public computer system for downloading of electronic media (audiobooks and music) from Northern California Digital Library .

Just bring a compatible device (mp3 player, ipod) and plug it in the system. Next browse through the selection, check out items and enter the Library location and your bar code number. Follow the prompts to begin downloading and transferring the files to your device. It usually takes 10-15 minutes for most downloads. Enjoy!

Whodunnit? Mysteries for Kids

Calling all kid detectives! Do you enjoy putting together clues to solve mysteries? Are you in 4th through 6th grade? If so, challenge yourself by picking books from our Mysteries booklist:

Some examples include the following:

The Calder Game by Blue Balliet - When seventh-grader Calder Pillay disappears from a remote English village -- along with an Alexander Calder sculpture to which he has felt strangely drawn -- his friends Petra and Tommy fly from Chicago to help his father find him.

Half-Moon Investigations by Erin Coifer - Twleve-year-old private investigator Fletcher Moon, nicknamed "Half Moon" because of his shortness, must track down a conspiracy or be framed for a crime he did not commit.

Chet Gecko Mysteries by Bruce Hale - Follow this elementary school lizard detective while he solves various mysteries.

Canned by Alex Shearer - Fergal Banfield, an eccentric lad who collects cans, is surprised to find some unexpected things in a few of his treasures, and when he meets Charlotte, another collector, they begin an investigation that leads them to danger.

And don't forget the very popular series Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon and Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene! Both come in chapter book and graphic novel formats.

Many of our mysteries are located in our mysteries section in Youth Services, and they have a "mystery" sticker on the spine. Look for the train car on top of the bookshelf! (It's there to represent the series Boxcar Children.)

Are you in 1st or 2nd grade? We have mysteries for you, too!

Young Cam Jansen (found in our Beginning Reader section) and Cam Jansen Adventure by David A. Adler - Cam, short for "Camera," has a photographic memory that helps her solve lots of mysteries. See if you can figure out the solution before she does.

Jigsaw Jones Mysteries by James Preller - Help Jigsaw Jones, first grade detective, and his friend Mila put together all the puzzle pieces to solve mysteries.

A to Z Mysteries by Ron Roy - A mystery for every letter of the alphabet!

As always, please ask a Youth Services librarian for more suggestions.

Posted by wk

Who Do You Think You Are?

Who Do You Think You Are? : the essential guide to tracing your family history written by Megan Smolenyak is an easy-to-read introduction to family history research with lots of up-to-date websites and tips on how to find the answer to the question of your own ancestory. Don't forget that Santa Clara's Central Park Library's Heritage Pavilion has books, genealogy subscription databases, city directories and helpful staff and volunteer consultants who can assist you in your research to answer the question of who you are.


Who Do You Think You Are? is just one of the books on the Staff Favorites list found on our website. You can get to the lists, which change monthly, by choosing Research/Resources, Readers' Links, Featured Lists, Staff Favorites or follow the above link and make it a Favorite link on your computer.


Who Do You Think You Are? is a companion to the NBC television series now showing on Friday nights at 8 p.m. The first show, shown Friday March 5, featured the family history of actress Sarah Jessica Parker. The show follows her family history trail from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Gold Rush country in California, and to Boston and Essex County, Massachusetts. She was astonished to discover one of her ancestors was accused of witchcraft in 1692.


Next up, on Friday, March 12, will be football great Emmitt Smith. Later shows will feature Susan Sarandon, Spike Lee, Brooke Shields, Matthew Broderick. and Lisa Kudrow.

posted by mb

Help with PDF Documents and Filling Out Forms

If you are applying for a job or need to fill-out an application and you don't have the software that will let you enter information into a pdf document or form, there are websites that will allow you to upload the form and fill it out online.

To try it, I went to the Santa Clara City's Website and downloaded the SCC Employment application and saved it to the computer's hard drive.

Then I went to the website pdffiller.com and uploaded the form. You can then complete the form, click Done and then register for an account. Then you will be able to Print, Fax, Email, Export the form or complete it at a later time.

There are other websites such as pdfescape or fillanypdf.com

Also, if you want to split or combine pdf's, checkout ilovepdf

Here are some instructions and reviews.

http://www.demomarks.com/2007/04/26/pdf-filler-edit-forms-in-pdf-files-online-finally/#more-105

An application form will just look very professional and readable if it's typed versus handwritten!

Healthy Choices for Healthy Kids

Did you know that March is officially National Nutrition Month? While it’s always appropriate to think about good nutrition, this seems like a great time to tackle some tips that will help your young child develop healthy eating habits so that he or she continues to grow into a healthy adult. Eating right helps him or her learn new words and skills, as well as fuel all of that youthful energy. Here’s what mypyramid.gov/preschoolers suggests:

• Your preschooler needs fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products and protein every day, so that his growing body will have plenty of fuel.
• Set a good example. Let your child see you enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables at snack time. Eat together as a family as often as you can, so that your preschooler will learn that healthy meals are important for the whole family.
• Plan three healthy meals, plus one or two healthy snacks every day. Everything your child eats should be nutritious and healthful for his growing body.
• Let kids pick produce at the supermarket. When they’re more invested in their food, they will be more willing to eat it!
  

In addition, by visiting mypyramid.gov/preschoolers, you’ll be able to enter your child’s age, weight and level of physical activity. Then you will be able to view customized lists of menus and snacks that will provide your child with a healthy diet. Take a look at these examples:

For instance, a healthy breakfast for a three-year-old boy, who weighs 35 pounds and is physically active, would be the following:

• ½ cup cooked oatmeal
• ½ cup milk
• 1 scrambled egg

He should be consuming 1,400 calories per day, and everything he eats and drinks should contribute to his nutritional needs.

A two-year-old girl, who weighs 30 pounds and is also physically active, should be consuming 1,000 calories per day. A healthy dinner for her would be the following:

• 1 oz. serving of chicken breast
• ¼ cup mashed potatoes
• ¼ cup green peas
• ½ small whole wheat roll
• ½ cup milk

“On the Path to Good Health” is supported by Kaiser Permanente and the Santa Clara City Library Foundation and Friends.

Posted by wk

Cute and Cuddly Fluff Balls of Destructive Fury

Considering I work in a library, it should come as no surprise that I own a cat. Perhaps the shocker comes from the fact that I only own a cat and not cats, plural. Much like when eating Lay's Potato Chips (tm), few library employees can stop at just one. As it turns out, the stereotype of the cat loving librarian is scary accurate on the whole. I've heard rumors of some people in the library business that are without cats (or worse... they own dogs), but like leprechauns and friendly TSA agents, I don't believe they exist.

I should note that I am not a pet owner because of some innate need for an animal companion. I don't think I even liked animals at the time. I am an accidental pet owner. Somewhere about 6 years ago, my roommate moved out with half of my possessions but not her cat. I guess there wasn't room in the car with all my pots and pans taking up valuable real estate. So now I find myself coming home at night to a destroyed apartment and looking into my cat's face while saying with all sincerity as if she could understand, "We do not teach books to swim in this house!" Over the years there has been a long list of things we don't do in my house: lick the eyes of sleeping people, jump from the top of bookshelves onto passerbys, leave rat heads as gifts on pillows, etc.

Like all those stories of the rambunctious animal that causes its owner to despair yet ultimately learn the "amazing power of animal companionship and unconditional love" (otherwise known as Marley-istic literature or "instant best-seller"), I have a fondness for that little tornado of hedonistic wholesale destruction. If it wasn't for her, I'd be able to keep furniture for longer than a year. Now I get to redecorate constantly. It helps keep things fresh. Plus, when she gets the "zoomies" (a behavior that typically occurs in the wee hours of the morning when cats go temporarily insane for no good reason), I get to experience the joy of waking up at 3 AM. And let me tell you, the day is much more interesting when you are hallucinating from sleep deprivation.

A vet friend of mine recently informed me that cats can live over 20 years. And since mine is in excellent health, possibly longer. I cried a little when I heard this. I can't be certain that they were tears of joy.
posted by jw

Cool Cuisine: Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming

Santa Clara City Library and the Silicon Valley Reads program present a book talk: Cool Cuisine: Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming, by Laura Stec and Eugene Cordero, PhD, on Wednesday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m. in the Central Park Library Redwood Room. Ms. Stec is a Bay Area chef, caterer, and author with over 25 years experience in the food industry. Currently she is Culinary Health Educator for Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers. Dr. Cordero is an associate professor in the Meteorology Department at San Jose State University, where he teaches a course in climate change.

Cool Cuisine:Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming combines scientific fact and culinary art. It shows new ways of looking at the climate crisis, and how global warming and the agrochemical food system affect each other. Full of inspiring, healthy, global-cooling recipes, the book is divided into three parts: background to the global-warming problem, solutions, and culinary tips and techniques.

Enjoy this evening with Stec and Cordero and discover that food choices can reduce global warming, learn that what we eat does have an impact on the planet, and find out how to create a more sustainable world. Copies of Cool Cuisine: Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming will be available for purchase; the program will be followed by a book signing. This Silicon Valley Reads event is co-sponsored by the Foundation & Friends of Santa Clara City Library. To reserve a place at this free Cool Cuisine book talk, stop by the Reference Desk or call (408) 615-2900.

posted by mb for jb

Celebrate Consumer Protection Week!

On Monday, March 8 at 7:00 p.m. in the Central Park Library Redwood Room. Joaquin Murphy from the California Department of Consumer Affairs will talk about consumer protection for citizens.

Learn how to protect your privacy, avoid identity theft, steer clear of frauds and scams, understand credit and mortgages, and how to manage money and debt. Discover the steps to take to resolve consumer problems and complaints, and find out what free resources are available from the Department of Consumer Affairs. If you wish to attend this informative free program on consumer protection, sign up at the Reference Desk or call (408) 615-2900.

posted by mb for jb