Credits

National Library Week Winners

Tiffany with her prize

Tiffany with her prize

Emily

Emily

Kat

Kat

During National Library Week 2010, five lucky people won gift baskets and sixteen people won gift certificates, but all 60,000 Waltham residents are winners every day when it comes to free library services! Congratulations to Shannon Eagan, Kat Pasek, Emily Montoya, Karen Vinciulla, and Tiffany Kurema, who each took home baskets brimming with books, certificates, and other goodies.

Thanks to City Councillor Kathleen McMenimen and to all the City Councillors for signing the National Library Week resolution, and for putting the library in the spotlight for a part of their meeting, calling attention to the great resources and services available to all at the library.

Several City Councillors were also present at a Tuesday evening reception at the library. They enjoyed desserts created by the High School Culinary Arts Program, heard moving stories from library users about the ways the library has made a difference in their lives, went on a behind-the-scenes tour, and had their photos taken with their favorite books by professional photographer Andrew Kubica. The photos will be featured in READ posters which will soon be on display in the Lecture Hall and Children’s Room.

The Friends of the Library signed up many new members over the opening weekend of National Library Week, thanks to the efforts of Board members who attended the membership drive table all weekend long. Even so, there are still a good number of people who haven’t renewed their memberships since 2009. If your membership has lapsed, it’s never too late to rejoin!

Downloadable Audiobooks!


Downloadable audiobook titles are available FREE to Waltham Public Library patrons from their home computers via the Internet!

Two different services provide access to approximately 2,500 titles for your listening pleasure. Titles may be transferred to many portable devices including iPods, MP3 players and other audio-capable devices for listening on the go.

The Minuteman Library Network provides OverDrive service to all Minuteman library card-holders. It’s a brand new collection with over 900 titles so far and will be growing in size in the near future, so check back frequently! These titles will also appear in the online catalog. Please visit the Minuteman Library Network website to try it out! Overdrive also has a mobile site for Windows Mobile or Android smartphone users.

The Waltham Public Library subscribes to the Recorded Books downloadable program. Patrons who live or work in Waltham can sign up for a free account online or with the library’s Audio-visual staff. This collection contains approximately 1,500 titles from the Recorded Books audio publishing company and more are added each quarter. Visit the Waltham Public Library website to check out Recorded Books.

Both services have “Getting Started” demos and Frequently Asked Questions sections to help you out. Feel free to contact the library at 781-314-3425 and press 5 for the Audio-visual Department if you’d like more information.

In addition, all MA residents are eligible to sign up for a Boston Public Library e-card. The e-card gives you access to BPL’s OverDrive collection, as well as any remote access databases. For information on the e-card, visit the BPL website. Already have one? Explore their OverDrive collection!

Happy Listening!
posted by Deb

April is Autism Awareness Month

Autism Speaks Logo
On the evening of April 1, in celebration of the third annual United Nations World Autism Awareness Day many prominent buildings across North American and the world including Fenway Park in Boston, the Empire State Building in New York City and the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada will be lit up blue to raise awareness for autism and to commemorate World Autism Awareness Day on Friday, April 2.

The month of April is designated Autism Awareness Month. Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex developmental brain disorders. Many parents and professionals refer to this group as Autism Spectrum Disorders. Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the U.S. There is no medical detection or cure for autism. 1 in 110 children are diagnosed with autism. 1 in 70 boys A new case is diagnosed almost every 20 minutes. Autism is more common than AIDS, diabetes and cancer combined. Autism occurs in all racial, ethnic, and social groups. Early intervention can make a huge difference in a child’s life. Please visit http://www.firstsigns.org or the Centers for Disease Control for more information.

Some other resources for help are Autism Speaks, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about autism and its effects on individuals families and society, Asperger’s Association of New England,
Autism Alliance of Metrowest, Inc., and the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism.

There are also many books and DVDs on the subject of autism. Several of these are available at our library or through Interlibrary Loan.

Books for Children and Teenagers

Books for Adults

DVDs

posted by Gerry C.

National Library Week: April 11 – 17, 2010

There are many ways to observe National Library Week!

Introduce a friend to the library

Become a Friend of the Library

Explore our online resources

Make use of the beautiful library building and all its treasures

Calculate how much the library mean$ to you

Tell us your library story

Enter raffles for gift baskets and gift certificates

  • 50 cents/ticket
  • One ticket free at checkout
  • Gift certificates from The Chateau, The Cafe on the Common, and The Tea Leaf – drawings daily
  • Gift baskets for book lovers of all ages – drawing Tuesday, April 20th:
    • Children’s Book Basket
    • Teen Basket
    • Multimedia Melange Basket
    • Wise Words Basket
    • Book Group Basket