Happy New Year Fireworks From Around the World!

San Francisco




Disney California Adventure




New York




London, England




Shanghai, China




Dubai, United Arab Emirates




Moscow, Russia




Taipei, Taiwan




Sydney, Australia




Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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FUSD Got Talent!!

Come and watch FUSD students compete for $1000 and the FUSS (Fremont Unified Student Store) trophy for their school!  You and your families are invited to attend the 1st Annual FUSD’s Got Talent Show.  This show is hosted by FUSS to raise money for homeless FUSD students and their families for the holidays.  All proceeds will be given to homeless FUSD students to help with the holidays.

 Location: Fremont Adult School Multi-Purpose Room, 4700 Calaveras Avenue

Date:  November 17, 2012, Saturday

Time: 12 pm – 5:00 pm

Register Online:  http://www.fuss4schools.org/activities/registration/ 

Ticket: $2 online, or $5 at the door (*Deadline to buy tickets by credit card is November 14)

Purchase Video: $20 online (* No pictures or videotaping will be allowed)

Here are the schools who have registered.  Elementary, junior high and high schools will compete separately.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Ardenwood
Azevada
Blacow
Brier
Forest Park
Green
Grimmer
Leitch
Mattos
Mission San Jose
Nile

Parkmont

Warm Springs
Weibel

JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS

Centerville
Hopkins
Horner
Thornton

HIGH SCHOOLS

Irvington
Kennedy
Mission San Jose High School
Washing

To learn more about FUSS, please click here.   

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Identity Theft Matters

I recently found myself in a perplexing situation. 

Three weeks after submitting paper enrollment forms for an employer-sponsored program, I sent an email inquiring after the status of my registration.  The response that came back was disheartening: my documents were missing. Dark thoughts immediately crossed my mind, all swirling around the personal information those papers contained–names, birth dates, social security numbers.  Anyone with intent could use the material to harm the individuals the forms required me to name.  I quickly warned my family members and advised them to request free credit reports that are available to consumers and to watch out for any suspicious credit card or bank account activity.  After I had sent in replacement forms, I received word, to my great relief, that the original packet had been found.

Identity theft is an unfortunate fact of life nowadays.  We may take all the right precautions, and carefully-guarded personal information can still fall into the wrong hands.  Then what can we do?  The library has available for lending items on identity theft and its prevention.  Also, the Federal Trade Commission has released new material on what we should know about identity theft and what we can do when it happens, including these three short videos:

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CSI Toronto–1890s Style

If you’re a fan of police procedurals on TV such as the CSI franchises, there’s one that provides a refreshing change of pace.  Here criminals are apprehended and mysteries solved when the lead character uses his skills of deduction, detection and innovation, solid police work without the help of  the high-tech tools  his counterparts enjoy today, at least on TV.

“Murdoch Mysteries” is a Canadian TV series that features characters created by novelist Maureen Jennings.  Set in the 1890s, Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) of the Toronto Constabulary applies his scientific knowledge and improvises with available materials to devise gadgets to further crime solving.  Murdoch makes collecting “finger marks” and trace evidence, not commonly done then, routine procedures at his crime scenes.  He sets up a “scrutiny camera” to capture nefarious deeds as they happen, prompting his loyal assistant, eager learner Constable George Crabtree (Jonny Harris), to observe that he would “hate to be a copper of the future, just drinking tea and exuding intestinal vapors.”

Also assisting Murdoch as he untangles his cases is Dr. Julia Ogden (Helene Joy), a female pathologist with progressive ideas of her own.  She and the detective obviously (for the viewer) share feelings for one another,  and their future as a couple is an unresolved subplot in the series so far.  Murdoch’s supervisor, Inspector Brackenreid (Thomas Craig), often is impatient with Murdoch’s explanations of some contraption or method of analysis Murdoch is using, but Brackenreid supports Murdoch’s unusual ways and is proud of Murdoch’s successful sleuthing.

The plots suggest events and developments that we know came later in history.  Story lines also show real-life personalities of the period in fictitious situations.  In early episodes, Arthur Conan Doyle visits to observe Murdoch at work, H.G. Wells headlines a conference on eugenics, and Murdoch marvels at Nikola Tesla’s experiments.  Harry Houdini becomes a suspect in one episode.  When he exiles himself to the remote Klondike region, Murdoch befriends a young Jack London.

The Murdoch Mysteries series is not shown in the U.S.  I became acquainted with Detective Murdoch in a serendipitous moment, while browsing through the library’s DVD collection, and started following the exploits of this fascinating character, awaiting my turn on the holds list for the later DVDs.  I enjoy seeing how each episode captures the social attitudes of the time and provides reminders of how things have changed, how much of what we take for granted today in all aspects of daily living was unthinkable or totally unacceptable in the 1890s.  See for yourself; the library has all four seasons of Murdoch Mysteries in DVD format.  I can’t wait for the Season 5 DVD to become available.

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Art IS Education Art Project at Centerville Library

Our Art IS Education project is finally completed and on display for our patrons to enjoy!  Stop by to look at all the amazing artwork our creative children made!

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Yuri Gagarin / Yuri’s Night

In Russia April 12th is Cosmonautics Day. This holiday celebrates the first manned flight into space. This year marks the 51st anniversary of that space flight. Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet Cosmonaut, became the first man in space by orbiting around the Earth in a Vostok 1 spacecraft. His trip around the Earth lasted a total of 108 minutes. Exactly twenty years later NASA launched the first orbital flight of the space shuttles program. The Columbia went into space on April 12th, 1981 and orbited the Earth 37 times during the trip. Around the world April 12th is known as Yuri’s Night in commemoration of Yuri Gagarin’s first manned flight  and the collective space exploration milestones reached since. If you would like to learn more about space and space travel you might enjoy a trip to the Chabot Space & Science Center. There is a multimedia exhibit called NASA’s Destination Station at The Tech Museum through this Sunday, April 15th.

If you would like to know more about space travel you can take a look at space.com or take a look at what materials we have at the library here. We also have biographies about Yuri Gagarin here.

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The Beatles on Ed Sullivan

The American television premiere of The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show happened on February 9th, 1964. There was a big build up of excitement about the Beatles coming across the pond to the United States. Radio stations had been playing Beatles music and newspapers and magazines ran stories about the musical group before their first live appearance on American television. There were only 728 audience members present in the studio, but over 73 million Americans in more than 22 million homes tuned in that evening to get their first glimpse of the mop-haired quartet performing. So many people watched the Sullivan Show that night that it was rumored that crime rates fell across the country from 8pm to 9pm. It was a defining moment in many viewers memories and a milestone moment in pop culture. The “youngsters” as Sullivan referred to them were an immediate sensation and ushered in the British invasion on the American music scene. Of course they went on to be incredibly successfull and have remained one of the most popular and beloved musical groups in the world. Watch their American premiere below:

Check out beatlesbible.com to learn all about the beatles and if you want to read more about their premiere on the Ed Sullivan Show, including quotes from the band members on their experience, click here.

Alameda County Library has a very nice collection of Beatles music, DVDs and books here.

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Highlights of 2011 at Centerville Library

Another year has gone by.  I’d like to share a video of the major events at our library in 2011.  It was another busy year with many fun and/or educational family activities.  The happy faces in this video make me feel rewarded and look forward to the coming year.  Enjoy the video and have a wonderful 2012!

*Video quality can be adjusted to HD but the playback may lag on some computers.

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book trailers

You’ve  heard about a  book and it sounds interesting , but you  still aren’t  sure – you  just  want  a little  more information . Have  you  looked for a  book  trailer?  Book  trailer  are like commercials  for  books.  Sometimes  they  are made  by the author of  the book, but many  times  they are made by fans

here is  an excellent  trailer  for  the  book Graceling :

Or maybe you are waiting for Alexander McQueen : savage beauty and just want a little hint of what is inside:

The easiest way to find a book trailer is to go to you tube and put in an author’s name or a book title , but there are also site on the internet , such as book trailers for all that has lots of book trailers for kid and teen books . Have fun looking for book trailers and maybe even make your own.

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science and inventions

When I worked part-time,  I tried to time my car trips so I could listen to Science Friday. I don’t get to listen to it as often anymore – in fact, I have to go to the website to listen to what I  have  missed. So much is going on in the world, we haven’t found everything yet. Or invented everything. watch what the teens did .

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