Tulare County Library Seeks Youth Volunteers to Lead Teen Advisory Group

The Tulare County Library is seeking youth volunteers to participate in the Teen Advisory Group, or TAG. The TAG will be responsible for:

-    Planning programs for the Teen Summer Reading Program.
-    Planning programming for sixth- through twelfth-grade students year around.
-    Writing book, movie, and music reviews for the Tulare County Teens website, www.tclteens.org
-    Participate in the Mobile Teen Media Lab, a section in the library that gives teen*s access to computers, equipment and software they may not have at home to make movies, write a novel or screen play, take pictures or drawing and painting.

In addition, the TAG will meet (weekly, monthly?) to discuss books, movies, television shows, music, websites, and anything pop culture related. Meetings will be held at the Visalia Branch Library located at 200 W. Oak St. in Visalia.

For more information about how to join, please contact Tulare County Deputy Librarian Jeff Scott at 559/713-2721.

The Tulare County Library strives to provide an access point for digital creativity. Imagination is the greatest tool for young adults and this project will be a conduit for teens in the area. The grant was provided by the California State Library. Join us for the kick-off for this great program.

March Movie Titles for Family Fun Fridays @ the Visalia Library!!!

Family Fun @ the Visalia Library!!!
Join us every Friday for free Kinect gaming, movies and over 15 board games that families can enjoy playing together!
When: Every Friday 2pm-5pm

Movie times are 2pm and 4pm.
Calendar of March Movies:
March 2nd-Hugo
March 9th- Puss in Boots
March 16th- Adventures of TINTIN
March 23rd- The Muppet Movie
March 30th- Hop

(children might want to bring pillows or something comfortable to rest on during the movie.)

Kinect Sports! 3-5pm
(Kinect is for ages 6-13)
Board Games available to play in Children's Wing:
Candy Land, Chess, Checkers and Backgammon, Chutes and Ladders, Clue, Connect 4, Dominoes, Go Fish card game, Hi Ho Cherry-O, Memory, Regular playing cards, Scrabble, Sorry!, Uno
Cost: Free!!!
Where: The Children's Wing of the Tulare County Library Visalia Branch
Who: Children, teens and parents (adults must be with a child in order to attend this program)
*Parents must stay with children under the age of 14. *No group or daycare visits are allowed during our program times.Please call in advance to schedule a group visit.For further information or to schedule a group visit, call the Children's Dept. 713.2731

Literacy Advocate Award Recipient Honored

From left to right: Ines Elizondo, Sue Gillison, Denise Felix, Irene Rubio, Jessica Duran, Advocate Award Winner Doris Flores, Alma Landeros, Jackie Whitney and Donna Ortiz.

Doris Flores, Self Sufficiency Counselor III for HHSA’s Visalia’s District Office, received the Literacy Advocate award today. Sue Gillison, Tulare County Literacy Program Manager, presented the quarterly award on behalf of the Library’s Read to Succeed Literacy program. In making the award, Ms. Gillison said, “Doris has been active and supportive in encouraging her clients to take advantage of the literacy program’s services. Her efforts show that she cares about those she serves and is committed to making a difference in their lives.”

Donna Ortiz, TulareWORKS Division Manager, expressed her appreciation to Doris for the hard work and dedicated efforts she makes in serving her clients.

The honor was designed for HHSA counselors and specialists who have referred their clients to a joint program developed by HHSA and the Library Literacy Center. The program is designed to better equip HHSA clients in finding and keeping employment. It is unique in its focus. The Literacy Center provides one-on-one tutoring, which is particularly successful with individuals who do poorly in a classroom setting. At the same time, HHSA counselors like Ms. Flores make sure clients have the practical necessities, such as child care or bus tokens, to ensure their participation.

In addition to Ms Gillison and Ms Ortiz, the presentation today was attended by HHSA administration representatives Jackie Whitney, HHSA Visalia Office Unit Manager, Program Specialist Irene Rubio, and Win Doyle, HHSA/Literacy Program Coordinator. The staff of Ms. Flores’ unit also attending the ceremony were Supervisor Jessica Duran and Self Sufficiency Counselors Ines Elizondo, Denis Felix, and Alma Landeros.

More than 250 referrals have been made to the program by HHSA staff from the five TulareWORKS offices in Tulare County.

Mystery Readers Meeting, February 15

The next Mystery Readers meeting will be held on February 15th at 6:30pm in the Visalia Library's upstairs "blue" meeting room. 


For this month's meeting, read any mystery that takes place in a cold climate
 
Some author suggestions:

J.S. Borthwick - Maine

JoAnna Carl - Michegan

Joanne Fluke - Minnesota

Sue Henry - Alaska

Louise Penny - Canada

Dana Stabenow - Alaska

First Tuesday Book Club, March 3

Date: 3/6/2012

Start Time: 6:30 PM

End Time: 7:45 PM

This month's book: The book thief / by Markus Zusak.

Summary: Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.

Location: Visalia Branch Blue Room

ELF Club Meets March 2

The next ELF (Early Learning For Families) Club will be held on March 2. We will read Aliens Love Underpants. For more information on ELF, please visit the Literacy Program page.

Romance Novels For Sale

The Friends of the Library are selling sets of romance novels, at the great price of $1, just in time for Valentine's Day. Each set contains 3 novels bound in colorful ribbon with candies attached. Please look for them on display in front of the circulation desk.

Socrates Cafe, February 14

Every second Tuesday of every month, the Visalia library hosts a Socrates Cafe* at 6:30pm in the library's "blue" meeting room.

February's topic:  They say love makes the world go round: I wonder about that...

 Please join us for this free and fun event!

*Socrates Cafe is a gathering of people who--with the help of a facilitator--engage in lively conversation about philosophical questions, posing questions, listening to others, raising challenges, and considering alternative answers.