The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival performs free Shakespeare plays around the Bay Area during the summer.  This coming summer they will be performing HenryV.  They also offer Shakespeare Camps for kids in different locations, and tour schools presenting Shakespeare and providing lesson plans for teachers.  Check their website www.sfshakes.org for  more information about these educational programs. 

We thank the Alameda County Library Foundation for their generous funding which helped the Alameda County Library provide this wonderful opportunity for young people in the Fremont area!

The Library Support Staff Certification Program (LSSC), a national certification program that allows library support staff and volunteers who have reached the one year of experience mark (1820 hours) to demonstrate competencies and be certified by the American Library Association.

Several Webinars are available to tell you about the courses and programs, the ways to satisfy classes, and how to proceed with your application and certification.

On average the cost for admission to this program is $350.00, with  the estimated cost of $2,000.00 to complete the certification process.  In this day of raising college expenses and the MLA program in the $30,000 range after you have completed your BS degree, this may be the foot in the door you need. Several courses from several colleges can be accepted by the certification board. See their website for all the necessary information.

Webinars will explain the value of this certification to library support staff, employers and library users.  Attendees will also have the opportunity to have their questions answered by program staff members.

 For more information on LSSC please visit their website.

Come join us at the Library, it’s a great place to work and show your support.

Barbara Hamze, LA II, Fremont Main Library

For further info contact:

Ian Lashbrook – ilashbrook@ala.org

Research Associate

American Library Association-Allied Professional Association

50 E Huron St

Chicago IL 60611-2795

http://ala-apa.org

312.280.2424

800.545.2433 ext 2424

fax 312-280-3256

http://guides.aclibrary.org/content.php?pid=124482&sid=1752472

For more information about the Bookleggers:

http://guides.aclibrary.org/content.php?pid=124482&sid=1147013

So, I need a replacement and soon. I’m using my husband’s computer; however, he has said, “How long am I expected to be generous? My offer is not open-ended.”

Fortunately, my hard drive survived the assault and so my data can be transferred when I have a new computer. I also have a recent back-up, thanks to Norton.

I can look at this event as an opportunity – a new computer!  I started my quest, using Consumer Reports, a long-time trusted resource. Its full text articles were available through the Alameda County Library’s website and my library card.

Their July 2011 article begins by succinctly stating, “Desktop computers can give you more computing-power bang for the buck than laptops and netbooks. The latest desktops generally have faster processors than portable models, with at least 4 to8 gigabytes of memory and a terabyte or more of hard-disk storage, enough to hold thousands of photos or hundreds of movies.”  (Source: Consumer Reports, July 2011, “Best desktop computers.”

That’s good enough for me. It’s one less decision to make but there are more to come. How much memory and data storage do I need? How much money do I want to spend? Do I need the fastest of everything? Whose desktop – HP, Dell, Gateway, and even Apple?

Stay tuned. I’ll update you on my quest next month.

Onomastician (someone who studies the origin, history, tradition and usage of proper names) and historian George R. Stewart Jr. wrote down some general rules for naming people from various places.  Stewart, a University of California Berkeley professor was also one of the founders of the American Name Society (who knew?) and according to Dickson; Stewart’s rules run something like this:

if the name of the place ends in –a  or –ia, an –n should be added
if it ends in –on, add ­–ian
if it ends in ­–i, add –an
if it ends in –o, add –an;
and if it ends in  -y, change the –y to an –i and add –an
if, however, the place ends in a sounded –e, -an is added
if it ends in –olis, it becomes –olitan;
and if it ends with a consonant or a silent –e, either –ite or –er is added.

These rules work relatively well, so someone from New York is a New Yorker and if you’re from Cuba, you’re a Cuban.  But tradition, culture and history still take precedence in many instances and what really wins out is what the majority of the people want to call themselves.  That’s why people from San Francisco are San Franciscans not San Fransicoans and someone from Schenectady, New York is a Dorpian (seriously), people from Indiana are Hoosiers and people from earth are called earthlings.  BTW, if you’re wondering, most people from Massachusetts go by the name Bay Staters and many people from Connecticut choose to call themselves Nutmeggers.

If you find this topic interesting check out some of books at the library on the subject of toponyms (the study of place names) and while you’re at it feel free to tell us where you’re from and what people from your city, state, country or planet have decided to name themselves.

Children’s Books:

Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers by Dav Pilkey (Aug 28, 2012)

The Serpent’s Shadow (The Kane Chronicles, Book Three) by Rick Riordan (May 1, 2012)

The Heroes of Olympus: The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan (Aug 14, 2012)

Magic Tree House #48: A Perfect Time for Pandas by Mary Pope Osborne and Sal Murdocca (Jul 24, 2012)

The Dead of Night (The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers, Book 3) by Peter Lerangis (Mar 6, 2012)

The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers: Book 4 by Roland Smith (Aug 1, 2012)

Babymouse #16: Babymouse for President by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm (Jul 10, 2012)

Dork Diaries 4: Tales from a Not-So-Graceful Ice Princess by Rachel Renee Russell (Jun 5, 2012)

Troubletwisters Book 2: The Monster by Garth Nix and Sean Williams (Jun 1, 2012)

Teen Books:

Delirium by Lauren Oliver (Feb 7, 2012)

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Jan 10, 2012)

City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare (May 8, 2012)

Bitterblue (Graceling) by Kristin Cashore (May 1, 2012)

The Savage Grace: A Dark Divine Novel by Bree Despain (Mar 13, 2012)

I have made the resolution to eat healthier every year for the past few years. Somewhere along the line I would always give up thinking it was too difficult because of junk food cravings and too time-consuming to prepare meals at home. However this year I was serious about this change and found that tackling the first item on my list was actually much easier and more enjoyable than I had anticipated.

I already started putting the first of my resolutions into practice a couple of months before the New Year began, so I’m committed to it now.  I started slowly by first keeping track of what I was eating in a normal day and then thinking about what changes I could make to my diet. I realized I was eating way too much fast food, and drinking too much soda. My next step was to reduce the amount of fast food and soda in my diet. I decided to start cooking more meals at home and start taking a packed lunch to work. Preparing my meals at home help me eat healthy and save money! I dumped the soda for water and incorporated more fruit and veggie snacks into my diet in place of chips, cookies and other unhealthy junk food I was eating before.

One of the things that has really helped me keep my junk food cravings under control is finding healthier alternative recipes for foods I love, like pizza and brownies. Here are a couple of links to blogs with recipes I have been using to help quash those cravings:

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Black Bean Brownies

Another thing I have been doing is allowing myself some of those junk food items, but in moderation. The point isn’t to deny myself completely, but to train myself to eat better on a regular basis. I find that since I started working on eating better I don’t really crave those items as much, and when I do allow myself to eat or drink them they do feel like a special treat instead of a regular part of my diet.

Here are a few cookbooks that I have been using to find ways to make healthier meals at home:

Click on the books to see their availability at the Library and to place them on hold.

Here are a couple of new cookbooks that I currently have holds on and am eagerly awaiting their arrival:

If you are interested in the Happy Herbivore cookbook there is also a website with a blog by the author and a list of recipes for you to take a look at:

Happy Herbivore Recipes

You can also check out the Taste of Home website to find great recipes.

The Alameda County Library has a wonderful collection of cookbooks here. You can refine the search by adding terms like any of the following:

healthy, low-carb, gluten-free, diabetic, vegetarian and vegan, .

If losing weight or eating healthier is on your resolution list keep in mind that it’s extremely important to make sure you are eating the right amount of calories and getting the proper nutrition when making any changes to your daily diet. Also, remember that making some small changes initially will help you transition into better eating habits long term.

So far the first of my resolutions is sticking, now it’s time to start working on resolution number 2: exercising more. Wish me luck, and good luck to all of you who are setting out to accomplish new goals this year!

Huston Smith’s books @ library

Huston Smith’s Writings Online

The Bookleggers at a Monthly Meeting

Enjoy working with kids? Love reading kids’ books? You might like to become a Booklegger. The Bookleggers are volunteers from our community that visit students in grades K-8 in the Fremont Unified School District, presenting book programs.  There will be an orientation at the Fremont Main Library on Tuesday, January 24, 2:00-3:00 pm, 2012  in Conference Room A. Training will be at the Fremont Main Library on Tuesdays, January 31-March 27, 9:15-11:45 am, also in Conference Room A. For more information about the training, please visit our Booklegger link:

http://guides.aclibrary.org/content.php?pid=124482&sid=1752472

For more information about the Bookleggers:

http://guides.aclibrary.org/content.php?pid=124482&sid=1147013