New Early Literacy Computer Stations

We are so happy to announce the arrival of 3 brand new early literacy learning stations funded by grants from the local community. The Lawrence Livermore National Security (LLNS) community gift program contributed $3,500 which was combined with a Target store grant of $5,000 to make it possible to buy not just one, but three new computer learning stations from AWE,  Inc. With a large, bright, color monitor, and touch screen navigation, little hands have been delighting in exploring the over 50 different educational programs specially chosen to foster a love of reading, math and science. This current version boasts 12 new educational programs from the previous version, enhanced graphics and more multimedia. These software titles are carefully chosen to support school readiness, motivate children to learn to read, and cultivate a love of learning. All programs are top-rated by Children’s Technology Review and include Reader Rabbit, Dora’s World Adventure, Space and the Universe, Math Blaster, My Amazing Human Body, Sammy’s Science House and so many more. The programs are suitable for children ages 2 to 8 years old. We thank both the Lawrence Livermore National Lab, LLC and Target for their generous donations which will benefit so many young children in the Dublin community.

 

JhankarLive Performs an Afternoon of Bollywood Music

JhankarLive, a local Indian music group, was formed in 2006 by a group of passionate music enthusiasts. JhankarLive focuses on the music of Bollywood and excels in presenting soft, melodious songs as well as fast-paced numbers. This free program will be held in the Dublin Library Community Room on Saturday, January 28th, 2012, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.

 

Books 24x7IT™ New Tech EBook Service

Books 24x7IT™ Pro is our new tech ebook service. Books 24×7 will replace Safari Tech as our main technology ebook source. 

It offers the complete, unabridged contents of thousands of books, documents and other reference materials that span the spectrum of technology topics, including:

• Business & Culture
• Certification & Compliance
• Computer Science
• Databases
• Desktop & Office Applications
• Enterprise Computing
• Graphic Design & Multimedia
• Hardware 
• Networks & Protocols
• Operating Systems
• Programming Languages
• Security
• Software Engineering
• Telecommunications
• Internet & Web Development

Books 24x7IT™ Pro also offers books on well-being, including: 

• Being Green
• Daily Living
• Family & Caregiving
• Health & Wellness
• Live Healthy
• Nutrition & Weight Loss
• Working Smarter 

The ebooks are read on your computer.

You can create notes quickly and easily without leaving the page. To make notes, click on the notes tool and enter text into the popover window that appears on the page. When viewing a content page, you can attach notes to the page at the paragraph level by selecting any of the anchors shown at the beginning of every paragraph or line.

Books24x7 offers the ability to easily cite resources. On each content page, you will notice a citation link near the title information. Simply click and select a citation style to generate the reference, then copy and paste it into your document. Individuals with a RefWorks account can also export a citation by clicking the “Export to RefWorks” link.

As you type into the search box, the Books24x7 search engine anticipates what you’re typing and offers suggestions in real time. You can choose one of the suggestions offered, or simply continue typing your search terms.

 A virtual tour is available for Books 24x7IT™ Pro so you can familiarize yourself with this new service.  

 

 

 

 

 

FREE TAX ASSISTANCE @THE DUBLIN LIBRARY

Free Tax Assistance will be available at the Dublin Library every Saturday, beginning February 4, 2012 through April 14, 2012 from 10:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. in the Group Study Room.

This program is jointly sponsored by the IRS and AARP. Trained volunteers assist with U.S. Federal and California State income tax and e-filing.

Appointments will be available for morning sessions. The Library will begin accepting appointments on January 23, 2012. You may call the Library at 925-803-7275 during normal open hours or sign up in person at the Reference Desk. Drop-ins with no appointment are welcome at any time, from 10:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. and will be served on a first come, first served basis, subject to availability of volunteer staff. 

There will be no Tax Assistance offered on Saturday, March 17, 2012, due to the St. Patrick’s Day Festival at Civic Center.

Now that the IRS and California Franchise Tax Board have stopped mailing out tax forms to households, what are we suppose to do?  You need to look no further than the Dublin Library.  The Dublin Library carries the basic federal and California state instructions and forms.  If we do not carry a particular one, you can download them directly at:

• Internal Revenue Service 
• California Franchise Tax Board 

*Please make a note that the Instructions 1040, 1040(a), 1040ez, and the California State forms and instruction booklets all have not arrived as of yet.  These forms and instruction booklets are scheduled to arrive in late January, or early February*

 

New Database for Job Seekers – Cypress Resume

If you are currently looking for a new job, you will be pleased to know that your Alameda County Library has added Cypress Resume to its list of databases. World Trade Press, which also produces Global Road Warrior, A-Z USA and Maps Online, produces Cypress Resume.

Cypress Resume enables you to create your resume in 3 steps. You need only:

1. Enter your name, contact information, work history and education.

2. Choose the title of your desired job or simply the skill set you wish to highlight.

3. Finally, choose from a collection of concise and professional job statements to ensure your resume will stand out. In a few minutes you will have a great-looking, well-written resume that will give you the edge in today’s ultra-competitive job market.

Remote access is provided. Internet Explorer version 7 or later is required. For all browsers JavaScript and cookies need to be enabled. Cypress Resume is regularly updated. Over 100,000 professions are represented in Cypress Resume by over 1,100 core task groups. There are no limits to the number of concurrent users who access this database. Cypress Resumes database is listed under “Jobs” in Library Research/Subject Guides and alphabetically in A-Z Resources.

 

Downloadable eBooks from Your Library

Many people will be buying or receiving e-Book readers this holiday season.  Did you know that the Library has downloadable eBooks you can borrow for free?  Your Alameda County Library currently supplies digital media from Overdrive, EBSCO, and other providers as well as links to sites offering free access to eBooks.  These eBooks are downloadable to Nook, Kindle, iPads, tablets and many other e-Readers.  

You can get started by going to the eBooks guide   to peruse the various eBook offerings provided by the library. 

Your initial startup depends on which e-Reader device you own.

 With the exception of Kindle, you will need to install Adobe Digital Editions  e-Reading software so the e-Book can display on your device.  Look for software downloads in the eBook provider’s help section for this free software.

 Download Adobe Digital Editions and authorize it.  Overdrive users will also want to download Overdrive Media Console for its easy-to-use interface. 

 Check out your book and download it to your computer.   You may have a choice of 7-, 14-, or 21-day checkout periods.  

 The last step is to transfer the eBook from your computer to your device.  Note that if your device has an Internet connection, you can download the book directly to your e-Reader.

Need help deciding which e-Reader device to buy?  The December 2011 issue of  Consumer Reports reviews electronic book (e-book) reading devices including the Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch Reader, the Amazon Kindle Keyboard 3G, and the Sony Reader Wi-Fi PRS-T1.

 Accessing free e-Books through the library does require some initial setup procedures, but once you have mastered those, it is easy and convenient.  Note that some titles do have waiting lists, so do not hesitate to get on a list.  The e-Book content offered by the library is constantly improving, as we add products and enlarge the collections of existing products.   If you need assistance, just click on the Ask Us! link on the library’s home page.

 

Clean Up Your Library Fines and Help the Less Fortunate with the Food for Fines Program!

On Monday, December 5^th, ABC KGO-TV in San Francisco interviewed spokesperson Marion Oldenhage at Castro Valley Library about the Food for Fines program at your Alameda County Libraries.   KGO-TV reporter Lyanne Melendez also wrote an article on the television station’s website about this program: 

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=8455883

 The Food for Fines program runs from December 17^th through December 31^st, 2011.    Under this program:  

For each food item brought to the Library—$1.00 will be subtracted from overdue fines—up to a maximum of $10.

 Only non-perishable, unexpired, store-sealed items will be accepted. 

All food brought to the Library will be donated to the Alameda County Community Food Bank. 

The Alameda County Community Food Bank serves 49,000 people each week—from Berkeley to Fremont, Oakland to Livermore.  With demand for emergency food at all-time high, your support is needed to ensure our neighbors have the food they need this holiday season. 

 If you do not have fines to pay, you can also contribute to the Alameda County Community Food Bank by putting non-perishable, unexpired, store-sealed items directly into barrels in the library through January 31, 2012, or contributing to the Virtual Food Drive through January 31, 2012.    The online website for the Virtual Food Drive is:  https://www.vfd-accfb.org/home.aspx 

 

Book Review: “Here Comes Trouble” by Michael Moore

The size of Michael Moore’s latest book, “Here Comes Trouble : Stories from My Life, ” may discourage readers, but the book is composed of several engaging stories about different periods of his life and people who have influenced him.

The book’s  introduction, “Epilogue: The Execution of Michael Moore,” sets the stage for the other stories in this book, wherein Moore describes the fallout from his questioning the justification for the  Invasion of Iraq on the night of March 23, 2003, after winning the Oscar for Best Documentary for his film, “Bowling for Columbine.”  He notes, with no little sense of humor, that he was offered champagne,  a breath mint, and an insult from a stagehand,  in that order. 

Moore continues to tell of what it was like to have to hire ex-Navy SEALs to protect himself, and how the Bush Administration did everything in its power to prevent distribution of Moore’s subsequent film, “Fahrenheit 9/11”.   The introduction ends with Moore describing another chance encounter years later, with the same stagehand who had shouted an insult in his ear on the night of the Oscars in 2003.  The stagehand apologized for his insult and said:  “I thought you were attacking the president – but you were right.  He did lie to us.” 

I found myself chuckling often when reading this book – Moore learned to crawl backwards before he decided to move forwards, he learned to read actual words before learning the ABCs, his mother refused to let him skip a grade in elementary school despite his advanced reading skills – which led to him becoming the class troublemaker.  Moore also writes about social events and tragedies such as the story of the persecution of a Gay young man in his neighborhood in the mid 1960s, or the story of an African-American teacher who prepared her students for a social outing and taught her students proper restaurant etiquette and then disappeared after the death of her soldier husband in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who has seen Michael Moore’s films and even to those who may not particularly like him, since this book is often amusing reading and reveals the motivations behind this controversial filmmaker and author.

 

Just a Small Token of Giving

 

In this time of holiday joy and happiness, there are many people in Alameda County that cannot afford well balanced meals for themselves and their families.  Due to the economic downturn, many never imagined they would be struggling to put food on their tables.  Many are desperate and calling for our help to put food in empty cupboards across Alameda County.

 

What can we do?                         

The employees of Alameda County Library would like to invite the public to join us in our fight against hunger by donating to the Alameda County Community Food Bank.  By going to 2011 Alameda County Holiday Food Drive ,  you will be directed to food barrels located through out the county.  Your donations will help provide low-income families and individuals with emergency food assistance and the most invaluable resource of all, hope.

The Dublin Library has teamed up with the Alameda County Community Food Bank to have two donation barrels on our lobby.

More information on can be found at:

• www.accfb.org
• www.openheartkitchen.org

 

Internet Safety: A Presentation for Parents in Dublin Library Program Room

95 percent of teens between the ages of 12-17 are now online—and one in five of them say they’ve been bullied in the last year, either in person, online, by text, or by phone, says a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. 

Many children who are victims of cyberbullying do not inform their parents that this is going on.  What can a parent do? 

Val Ridad, Community Safety Assistant for the Dublin Police Services, will present  “Internet Safety  - A Presentation for Parents,” a program on protecting your children from Internet predators, cyberbullying, sexting and digital reputation problems on Saturday, November 19^th, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. in the Dublin Library Program Room.  This free program will be held in the Dublin Library Program Room.  There will be time for a question-and-answer session at the end of the program.