Closed New Year's Day

In celebration of New Year's, the Library closed at 5 PM New Year's Eve and will remain closed New Year's day, Wednesday, January 1.
Regular hours will resume at 9:30 AM Thursday, January 2. We hope to see you then!

Don't forget, our digital services are available even when we're closed! With your Library card number and account password, you can download audio books, eBooks, music, language lessons and so much more. You can even renew materials from home!

We wish you a safe and happy New Year!

Making a list . . .

Thinking about gifts for the book-lovers in your life?  The New York Times recently released its editors’ picks for the 100 Notable, Ten Best, and Notable Children’s Books of 2013.  If you don’t find an idea there, try Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2013 or Forbes' Best Books of 2013 for top-notch nonfiction with a business slant.

And, remember, even Santa deserves a break! This holiday season, be sure to kick off your boots, relax, and read a good book from the Library.  I recommend The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (on the ALA’s list of notable books for 2013.)

Fitness DVD Binder

Did you know that your library has over 300 fitness DVDs?  With all of these to choose from, It can be confusing to find the ones that are right for you.  But, we have a tool to help you.  It is our Fitness DVD Collection binder pictured above.  You can find this resource on the shelf by the DVDs.  

This binder organizes our DVDs into nine categories:

Browse the DVDs by their call number

Find a workout by its Title

If you like a certain type of workout, you can find them here

 
Do you have a favorite instructor?  We have Kari Anderson to Violet Zaki

Do you want to learn how to use a particular exercise tool?  We have DVDs that use bands, balls, kettle bells and even chairs.

What is your fitness level?  You no longer have to guess if a DVD is appropriate for you. This binder has the DVDs separated into five fitness levels.  

  Are you interested in toning, and want to know what part of the body a specific DVD works?  In this section,we have our toning workouts divided from head to toe.

Do you have two left feet, or, are you made to dance?  Find the right cardio workout for you by choosing from simple, moderate or complex choreography.  

Lastly, we have the cardiovascular exercises categorized by the level of intensity: Low, Mixed, High or Intervals.               

Now that this information is available, you will have to find another excuse for skipping your workout.

Home for the Holidays Holiday Stroll: A Library tradition!

Holiday cheer filled the air this weekend at the Holiday Stroll, which is one of our favorite holiday traditions here at the Library!  We celebrated “Home for the Holidays” this year with live music, the Spoon Man Show, a train generously provided by Watts Train Shop, crafts and games around the library and so much more.  
We must send out a great big thank you to the Friends of the Library and the Library Foundation who make this event possible each year.  We also could not put on this event without volunteers from the community!  Thanks to everyone who shared in our “Home for the Holidays” Holiday Stroll.  
We were curious about your family’s favorite holiday traditions; here are some favorite family traditions you mentioned…

Sharing smiles, hugs and saying “Merry Christmas” to each other!
Advent Calendar
Decorating the tree
Family time
Coming to Christmas in the Village…5 years and counting!
Opening a different activity for the 25 days of Christmas
Putting up the Nativity set
Spending time together
Decorating the house for Christmas
Watching Charlie Brown Christmas every year
Making Christmas cookies every year
Listening to Christmas Music
Every year our family comes to the Holiday Stroll!
Wearing Christmas PJs!
Driving around and looking at Christmas lights.
Having a sleepover under our Christmas tree
Eating candy canes from the tree

Happy Holidays!

Remembering Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day commemorates the devastating attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor.  On Sunday, December 7, 1941, in less than two hours, twenty-one ships of the U.S. Pacific fleet were sunk or damaged by Japanese war planes, six airfields were bombed, and 188 U.S. planes destroyed.  More than 2,400 Americans perished as a result of the surprise attack.  The next day, Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed Congress and the Nation declaring December 7 a "date which will live in infamy." 

Pearl Harbor:  America’s Darkest Day by Susan Wels and Pearl Harbor: The Day of Infamy—An Illustrated History by Dan van der Vat are pictorial tributes to the courage and patriotism demonstrated on December 7, 1941.  An overview of the historic raid and archival images and links to comprehensive coverage can be found at the Naval History & Heritage Command.

Interactive Musical Perfomance Saturday, December 7

Come and get “SPOONED” at the Hussey Mayfield Memorial Public Library, which is a lot better than getting forked or knifed. Stop sitting around the house getting all tarnished up and come out and have some clean fun.  The “Spoon Man” is a Published Author who offers a hilarious interactive comedy program for all ages. He gives a real stirring performance. Everyone will really eat him up. No bibs required. The “Spoon Man” has a totally clean act. He never uses dirty silverware. The “Spoon Man” will leave a lasting impression after playing on you (literally). It’s a spoonful of family fun.
See Spoonman at the Library Saturday, December 7 at 11:00 AM.

2013 Holiday Stroll "Home for the Holidays"

Ring in the holiday season at the Library during the annual Holiday Stroll on the first Saturday of December. Hop onto the festive red trolley and make your way to the Library to enjoy beautifully decorated trees with free corresponding crafts for kids on both floors. Adults, enter a raffle at each tree, and Teens, enter a raffle at the tree in the newly redesigned Teen Area. On the First Floor, check out the model train display generously provided by Watts Trains, and listen to the melody of bells when the ZUMC Handbell Choir performs from 10-11:30am. Don't miss The Spoon Man at 11am --registration is required, so register your spot today!

Play family holiday bingo from 1-2pm in the Hussey Room, and also on the First Floor a little later in the day, the ZMS Strolling Strings will share their holiday cheer from 2-3pm. Upstairs, harpist Tom Duncan will perform songs from 2-4pm on a harp that he built. Complete your shopping list at the Holiday Gift Boutique in the Mayfield Rooms (100% of proceeds go to the Friends of the Library), and drop by the Holly Day Cafe in the Hoffman Room to refuel with cookies and water.

We're looking for friendly people to assist at the craft stations and greet visitors, and what better way to celebrate the start of the holidays than to volunteer with friends and neighbors at the Holiday Stroll? As a bonus, for each volunteer shift completed, you'll get a raffle ticket for a prize package!

We'll see you at the Holiday Stroll on Saturday, December 7th!

New Magazine: mindful

"Mindful" is a new magazine about taking time for what matters and taking life to heart. It covers all aspects of life through many different sorts of articles, such as an inspiring story about Eileen Fisher, a clothing designer who brought her ideas and ideals into focus and became very successful --not only as she designs, but also in the way she runs her business.

Another article considers the impoverishment of attention, examining whether there is a lack of true feeling in people today due to constant attention to electronic devices. It discusses how a lack of "true inner focus" breaks our ability to be attuned to guiding values and real intuition, which is something to give some thought to.

It even has some great information on "Minding Your Money," taking into consideration the many factors that determine how we visualize money, what we do with it, and if and how we fear the absence of it. The article encourages us to "take the time to know your beliefs and values about money and make them matter."

"Mindful," the new magazine about taking time for what matters. Take some time to look it over.

Recycle Your Cell Phone for Soldiers at the Library!

The Hussey-Mayfield Public Library sent 450+ donated cell phones to Cell Phones for Soldiers this year!!!! That is about 1,125 free hours of talk time for our soldiers- each phone donation warrants 2.5 hours of talk time!


Cell Phones for Soldiers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides communication services to active duty military members and veterans.  

• Since 2004, Cell Phones for Soldiers has provided troops with 192 million minutes of free talk time and distributed more than 2.7 million international calling cards.
• Since 2004, more than 11 million cell phones have been recycled, reducing the impact on landfills.
• Thus far in 2013, Cell Phones for Soldiers has distributed more than 11 million minutes of free talk time and more than 185,000 calling cards.
• In 2012, Cell Phones for Soldiers shared more than 515,000 communication tools with military families, providing 31 million minutes of talk time.

Here's how it works:  Cell Phones for Soldiers sells the donated cell phones to their recycling partner, ReCellular, and the money is used to purchase calling cards for our US military to call home.  Approximately 12,000 calling cards are mailed each week to our troops.   

Donated phones are sent to Michigan-based ReCellular for recycling. For every donated phone valued at just $5, Cell Phones for Soldiers is able to provide two and a half hours of free talk time to deployed troops. 

What does this mean for you?  If you recently got a new cell phone, please consider donating* your old one at the Library!   Since Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library joined forces with Cell Phones for Soldiers in March 2010, our customers have donated over 1,250 phones!  Your generosity has helped connect our overseas troops to their families and helped protect our environment!

*Before donating your cell phone, please make sure your personal information and contacts have been removed!

So, the next time you're in the library, drop your old cell phone in the Cell Phones for Soldiers donation bin located by the elevator on the 1st floor.

It's a Mystery Book Club selection

  For its December 5^th meeting, It’s a Mystery Book club has selected the Dagger Award winning “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie” by Alan Bradley.  This 1^st in the Canadian author’s series features the precocious 11 year old Flavia de Luce, chemist and sleuth in training.  She has such a forceful personality her as yet unnamed character hijacked the story in another novel Bradley had been writing and thus a new book and series was born.

  “The Sweetness …” begins in the summer of 1950 with  a series of inexplicable , yet intriguing events which have struck Buckshaw, the decaying English mansion that Flavia’s family calls home. A dead bird  is found on the doorstep with a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak and,hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him take his dying breath. For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. ‘I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”

   If you have not been an audio book reader/listener before, hearing Jayne Entwistle  narrate the 5 book series is a treat.  She sounds exactly as you might imagine the 11 year Flavia with great inflection, humor and, of course, an English accent.   Entwistle has won multiple AudioFile  Earphones awards for her delightful performance and will continue in “The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches” to be released January 14, 2014.