Job Hunting Help! returns

We offered our first ever, Job Hunting Help computer class on January 22. Those of you who missed it can come to the Library's Technology Center on Tuesday, March 3 or Tuesday, April 7 from 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. for additional sessions. The class will cover local walk-in resources for finding jobs, helpful resume-writing and interviewing books and a few of the most useful, accurate, and up-to-date websites, including job hunting specifically for South Bay Area jobs on craigslist. Formatting resumes and uploading them via email will be demonstrated. Bring yours along for personal assistance. Students will have time for hands-on practice in this special two-hour class.

av

Read Across America

The Cat in the Hat promises to be the most popular book that will be read on Monday, March 2 as children and adults celebrate the 12th annual Read Across America event, sponsored by the National Education Association.

Some children will be wearing P.J.s to school and curling up with cuddly stuffed animals and favorite stories. Other classes will be enlisting adults in the community to spend time in the classroom reading to the children. There will be sports figures and politicians reading Green Eggs and Ham and other favorites by Dr. Seuss, the beloved children's author who was born on March 2, 1904.

The NEA chose Seuss' birthday as the date for the Annual Read Across America celebration that is designed to motivate children to read and to encourage adults to share books with the younger members of the community.

You'll find picture books and easy readers by Dr. Seuss in the Youth Services Department of the Santa Clara City Library.
posted by jtb

Anthony Bourdain Would Not Approve

Tonight is the season finale of Top Chef (Go Carla!). Like many other people, I will watch the show and criticize what the chefs are making as if I had any idea of how to cook. I do not. Moreover, I will be especially tough on their protein dishes, which is ironic seeing as I have an aversion to cooking meat. It grosses me out. Not eating it mind you, just cooking it.

I am a special type of hypocrite: the reluctant non-vegetarian vegetarian. Morningstar Farm products pack my freezer, steakhouses burden my wallet. I try not to eat meat, but an FLT (fake bacon or “facon,” lettuce, and tomato) tastes nothing like a real BLT. It’s not even close. So to avoid these disappointments, I have decided to either start cooking with meat again or give it up entirely. No more half-measures. And as with so many things in life, squeamishness will make the choice for me. Goodbye beef, hello beets. Sigh. I’ll miss you bacon.

But perhaps it’s for the best. This way I can assuage my uncomfortable feelings and boost my punk points at the same time. Plus, I hear there are cupcakes involved, so sign me up.

But somewhere out there is a tri-tip waiting to lure me back to my old ways. I imagine defeat will smell like hickory smoke and marinade.

posted by jw

Native Plants Event February 28-March 1

"Hope for A Green Future: Restoring your Local Ecology One Garden at a Time" takes place from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m -4 p.m. Sunday at Middlebrook Gardens 76 Race Street in San Jose organized by The California Native Garden Foundation. The cost is $35 per family. For more information visit the California Native Garden Foundation's website (www.cngf.org) follow the link above or call (408) 292-9993.

Your ticket gets you seven free lectures on native gardening, birding, growing your own food, discounts at the only native plant nursery in San Jose, garden tours and free food and music. There's even a scavenger hunt and and a cooking contest. Register here.

Alrie Middlebrook, of Middlebrook Gardens, spoke at the Library last summer. Her book, Designing California Native Gardens can be requested at the library. Need help? Call (408) 615-2900.

posted by mb

Woman's Day Seeks Library Stories

Woman's Day magazine has announced a call for entries on a timely topic: using the library to help save money. From February 17 through May 18, 2009, women ages 18 and up are invited to send in stories in 700 words or less for a chance to be profiled in the March 2010 issue. Consult the official rules website for more information.

Continuing an eight-year partnership with the American Library Association's Campaign for America's Libraries that has generated millions of dollars worth of editorial coverage for libraries, the March 2009 issue of Woman's Day profiles four women (PDF file) who use the library to improve their health. Copies of Woman's Day are available in the library.

Entries may be submitted on or after 12:00 Noon ET on February 17, 2009 and must be submitted no later than 12:00 Noon ET on May 18, 2009. Please send all entries to womansday@ala.org. If you need assistance with submitting your story using email, ask your local library staff.

posted by mb

Digital TV Conversion

February 17 was the original date for converting from analog to digital TV but Congress has allowed some flexibility in the conversion. Stations now have till June 12, 2009, to implement the change. KQED Television Station has useful information and a video. It says that most Bay Area stations are delaying the conversion but KOFY TV20 CABLE 13 has converted. Read more at the KOFY website. Other local stations ceasing analog broadcasts are KCNS TV38, KICU TV36 (scroll to the bottom), KFTY TV 50 and KTVU TV2 (scroll to the bottom).

If you don't have a cable subscription or a newer television you may be in the market for a digital tuner to upgrade your older television. Coupons for reducing the cost of a digital tuner will still be available for those applying before July 31, 2009. Consumer Reports information on tuners is available at the Consumer Table at the top of the stairs on the second floor of Central Park Library.

For additional information, visit the FCC site for Digital Television Conversion.

posted by Reference

New Kid on the Block

Susan and the Pigeon say "Hello."

Hello, blog readers! I’m Susan Baier, the new Library Division Manager of Youth and Extension Services. My husband and I recently relocated to the Bay Area from Los Angeles.

Previously I served as the Youth Services Supervisor for the Torrance Public Library in southwestern Los Angeles County. Despite living in California for the last seven years, I’m still a Midwestern girl at heart. I grew up a coal miner's daughter in a village in Southern Illinois with a whopping population of 400. (I joke that the population is now 399 since I’m gone.) My grandparents spent their entire lives in Southern Illinois, and my parents still haven’t quite forgiven me that I left.

My husband, a St. Louis native, is excited about adopting the Sharks as his new favorite hockey team (but for baseball, he’s a Cardinal fan forever and always.) I am looking forward to scouting out the best places to shop and eat in the South Bay. Have any suggestions? Stop by the youth services desk and tell me!

I consider myself very fortunate to join the staff of this city and this library, and am eager to continue the tradition of superior public service in Santa Clara. The staff is top-notch, and I am thrilled to be a part of such a dedicated, talented team. The library division I supervise includes youth services, Mission Branch, extension services such as homebound delivery, and our adult literacy program Read Santa Clara. You’ll find me performing storytimes and children’s programs, staffing the youth services desk, and discovering ways to even better serve children and their families. I'll also be a frequent visitor to the Mission Branch and participating in their many literacy activities. Wherever you see me (I'm hard to miss because of my red hair, the bane of my existence or my best attribute depending on my mood), please come up and say hello!

posted by spb