Mystery Readers Book Group

Mystery Readers Book Group

Sponsored by The Friends of the Library 

(559) 713-2709

 

For June: This month's theme is animals. Read any mystery featuring an animal!

Next Meeting
June 15 at 6:30pm

Come and bring a friend!!

Suggestions:

Lorna Barrett: Tricia Miles, running a mystery bookstore, and the cat Miss Marple, in fictional small-town Stoneham, New Hampshire, a town full of bookstores: Murder Is Binding (2008), Book Clubbed (2014), A Fatal Chapter (2015)

 

Laurien Berenson: Melanie Travis, a special education teacher who shows her standard poodles in dog shows, in Connecticut: A Pedigree To Die For (1995), Doggie Day Care Murder (2008), Death of a Dog Whisperer (2014)

 

Barbara Block: Robin Light, a pet store owner in Syracuse, New York:Chutes and Adders (1994), Salt City Blues (2005), No Good Deed (2007)

Todd Borg: Owen McKenna, an ex-San Francisco homicide inspector turned private investigator, and his Harlequin Great Dane, Spot, at Lake Tahoe, California, and Nevada: Tahoe Deathfall (2001), Tahoe Avalanche (2008), Tahoe Blue Fire (2015)

Blaize Clement: Dixie Hemingway, a former sheriff’s deputy, now a professional pet sitter, in Sarasota, Florida: Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter (2005), Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues (2008), The Cat Sitter’s Whiskers (2015)

Susan Conant: Holly Winter, a dog trainer and magazine columnist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the Dog Lovers mysteries: A New Leash on Death (1989), Gaits of Heaven (2006), Sire and Damn (2015)

Sue Henry: Maxine “Maxie” McNab, a 60-something Alaskan widow, exploring the USA in her Winnebago with her faithful companion, miniature dachshund Stretch: The Serpents Trail (2004), The Refuge (2007), The End of the Road (2009)

Linda O. Johnston: Kendra Ballantyne, an attorney and freelance pet sitter in Los Angeles, California: Sit, Stay, Slay (2005), The Fright of the Iguana (2007), Feline Fatale (2010)

David Rosenfelt: Few can rival attorney Andy Carpenter's affection for golden retrievers, especially his own beloved Tara: Open and Shut (2002), Hounded (2014), Who Let the Dog Out? (2015)

Clea Simon: Pru Marlowe, an animal psychic returning to her hometown in the Berkshires, New York: Dogs Don’t Lie (2011), Kittens Can Kill (2015), When Bunnies Go Bad (2016)

Fran Stewart: Biscuit McKee, a librarian, and her cat, Marmalade, in Martinsville, a small town in northern Georgia: Orange as Marmalade (2004), Green as a Garden Hose (2005), Gray as Ashes (2014)

Mystery Readers Book Group, May 18

Mystery Readers Book Group

Sponsored by The Friends of the Library 

(559) 713-2709

For May: This month's theme is academic mysteries. Read any mystery relating with teachers, graduation or schools!

Next Meeting
May 18 at 6:30pm

Come and bring a friend!!

Monthly Friends Meeting, April 14

The Friends of the Tulare County Library will meet on Thursday, April 14 at 7:00pm in the library's upstairs (blue) meeting room. Absolutely everyone is welcome to attend, including and especially current Friends, prospective Friends, and anyone who is interested in learning more!

Please contact the Visalia Reference Desk at 559-713-2703 for more information.

Independent Film Series, April 26

Join us at the Visalia Library on Tuesday, April 26 at 6:00pm to watch Glassland!

Synopsis: John (Jack Reynor) lives with his mother, Jean (Toni Collette), in a social housing suburb and ekes out a meager living as a nocturnal taxi driver. John returns home one morning to find his mother unconscious from an alcohol overdose; however this was not the first time. Jean violently rejects John's attempts to help as well as his intentions to unite the family. When Jean is offered an opportunity to recover, and with no savings or insurance, John is forced to offer his services to a petty criminal to help pay for his mother's costly rehab program. John is subsequently faced with a life-changing task that may change him and his family's lives forever.

Directed by Gerard Barrett | Ireland | 2014 | English | 93 min.

The film will be shown at 6:00pm in the upstairs "blue" meeting room at the Visalia Branch Library. This event is free and open to the public. Absolutely everyone is welcome.

For more information, visit the Reference Desk or call (559) 713-2723. You can also join the event on Facebook.

Friends of the Library Present Wild Child Adventures, April 23

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The Friends of the Library presents Wild Child Adventures, a Free family program, Saturday April 23 at 7:00 pm at the Visalia Library.

Children of all ages have always been fascinated with bubbles!  So what is it about bubbles that makes them so intriguing? Take a journey with Wild Child Adventures, as we explore the fun and science that are bubbles!

For more information, contact Tulare County Library's Visalia Branch at 713-2703, visit us online at www.tularecountylibrary.org, or drop by in person at 200 W. Oak Avenue in Visalia. 

Popular Adult Coloring Returns to Tulare County Library, March 15

So many grownups enjoyed great kid fun in January at the Visalia Branch Library's first Adult Coloring activity that additional fun is planned for this month and in April.

Join us Tuesday evening, March 15, at 6 pm, for another Adult Coloring program and again on Tuesday, April 19, also at 6 pm.

In addition to the play factor, adult coloring is known to provide stress relief, relaxation, a creative experience, and a way to make new friends in a cheerful atmosphere. A niche activity for a couple of years, the benefits make it a current favorite adult hobby, with adult coloring books accounting for nearly half of Amazon's top sellers.

The Library provides crayons, colored pencils and a variety of coloring pages for the activity, or participants can bring their own works in progress! Coloring enthusiasts recommend colored pencils to blend or shade colors, and add highlights and lowlights. For the true experience of childhood, crayons provide a nostalgic reminder.

For more information about the Adult Coloring activity, please visit the Visalia Branch Library at 200 W. Oak Street, or call (559) 713-2703.

The Tulare County Library serves all the citizens of Tulare County with locations in fifteen communities, four book machines, and online at www.tularecountylibrary.org.  Like the Library on Facebook www.facebook.com/tularecountylibrary or follow us on Twitter twitter.com/TulareCountyLib.

Visalia Garden Festival, March 18 & 19

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Trees are blooming, grass is growing, and kids are playing outside! 

The Tulare County Library and the University of California Tulare/Kings Master Gardeners are ready to welcome Spring at the Visalia Garden Festival on Saturday, March 19, 2016, from 9 am to 1 pm. Please join us for this fun and informative event on the south lawn of the Visalia Branch Library at 200 W. Oak Avenue.

Come by on Friday, March 18, for a “Preview Day” from 12 noon to 2 pm, featuring the Master Gardeners’ information/diagnosis/FAQ booth inside the Visalia Branch Library. Do you have a garden related problem or question? Bring it to the experts!

For the main Festival event on Saturday, the UC Master Gardeners staff the informational booths on a wide variety of subjects. One area covers edible gardening, where experts offer advice about vegetable gardens, citrus trees, and other fruit trees. This booth also includes details about planting, fertilizing and integrated pest management. A second area covers landscape maintenance with discussions on drought tolerant landscape design, turf choices, irrigation systems, and general yard maintenance issues. A third booth contains information on ornamentals including succulents, annual, and perennial plants. This area focuses on California natives and drought tolerant selections. The fourth booth, on landscape pillars, features experts offering advice and information on tree, shrub and vine selection suitable to the Central Valley’s climate and drought situation. The City of Visalia’s Natural Resource Conservation Division representative offers information on low-water use landscapes and other water conservation practices.

Bring the kids for a scavenger hunt during the Festival!  They visit the different booths and ask questions of the Master Gardeners to get the scavenger answers. They can learn so much about the gardening world and win a cool prize upon completion of the hunt!

In conjunction with the Garden Festival, the Visalia Friends of the Tulare County Library hosts their “Spring Cleaning” Book Sale, scheduled from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm inside the Library. The sale features a variety of books, including fiction, mystery, history, biography, art, and cookbooks, with prices starting at $ .50 each. Special sets and coffee table books are priced at $5.00 each. In addition to this selection, the Friends gathered gardening related books for this joint event. Come and find gardening and outdoor treasures, so you can be inspired to start a garden of your own!  Proceeds from the Friends of the Tulare County Library sale benefit the Tulare County Library Summer Reading Programs at all our branches.

Master Gardeners are members of communities trained by the University of California Cooperative Extension in different aspects of plant science. These volunteers completed a 17-week training program and passed the certifying exam. To remain certified, they complete annual educational and volunteer requirements. Founded in 1972 in Washington State, Master Gardener programs have spread to over 45 states and 4 Canadian provinces, with more than 45,000 volunteers. In California, Sacramento and Riverside led the way with pilot programs in 1980 with many of those original graduates still active today. Programs now thrive in more than 50 counties across the state and are a significant resource of gardening information. They are the official "formal volunteers" of the University of California Cooperative Extension.

All Visalia Garden Festival events are FREE. No registration required. For more information, contact Tulare County Library's Visalia Branch at 713-2703, visit us online at www.tularecountylibrary.org, or drop by in person at 200 W. Oak Avenue in Visalia. 

Independent Film Series, March 22

Join us at the Visalia Library on Tuesday, March 22 at 6:00pm to watch 2 Autumns, 3 Winters!

Synopsis: Arman is 33 and ready to make a change, starting with a run in the park. When he literally bumps into Amélie - slightly cynical but nevertheless lovely - on the jogging path, he's dead-set on making a connection with her. As a bit of contrived fate brings them together, Arman's best friend Benjamin suffers an unexpected stroke, relegating him to the hospital for weeks where he falls for his doting young physical therapist. Over the course of two autumns and three winters, Arman, Amélie and Benjamin share the incidental moments, unexpected accidents, unconventional love stories and unforgettable memories that will define who they are.

Directed by Sébastien Betbeder | France | 2013 | French with English subtitles | 93 min.

The film will be shown at 6:00pm in the upstairs "blue" meeting room at the Visalia Branch Library. This event is free and open to the public. Absolutely everyone is welcome.

For more information, visit the Reference Desk or call (559) 713-2723. You can also join the event on Facebook.

First Tuesday Book Club, April 5

For April, we're reading On the Beach by Nevil Shute.

Summary: After a nuclear World War III has destroyed most of the globe, the few remaining survivors in southern Australia await the radioactive cloud that is heading their way and bringing certain death to everyone in its path. Among them is an American submarine captain struggling to resist the knowledge that his wife and children in the United States must be dead. Then a faint Morse code signal is picked up, transmitting from somewhere near Seattle, and Captain Towers must lead his submarine crew on a bleak tour of the ruined world in a desperate search for signs of life. Both terrifying and intensely moving, On the Beach is a remarkably convincing portrait of how ordinary people might face the most unimaginable nightmare.

We are meeting in the Visalia Branch Blue Room to discuss this book on April 5 from 6:30 pm - 7:45 pm.

The Library Talks With Marissa Meyer at Visalia Library, March 1

Tulare County Library's Visalia Branch is proud to welcome New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer for a live streaming visit on Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at 6:30 PM. Marissa will join us via live video chat for a conversation about her bestselling YA fantasy series, The Lunar Chronicles. There will also be an opportunity for a Q&A from the audience. 

Marissa Meyer is the USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of The Lunar Chronicles: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Fairest, a Lunar Chronicles Tale. Winter is the latest book in these science fantasy retellings. At fourteen she discovered fanfiction, writing over forty Sailor Moon fanfics under the penname Alicia Blade. She earned a Bachelor's degree in Creative Writing and Children's Literature from Pacific Lutheran University. Knowing she wanted a career in books, she went on to receive a Master's degree in Publishing from Pace University. She lives in Tacoma, Washington with her family.

The Visalia Branch is located at 200 W. Oak Street in Visalia. The Tulare County Library serves all the citizens of Tulare County with locations in fifteen communities, four book machines, and an online presence at www.tularecountylibrary.org.

The Library Talks is a grant funded project open to all California libraries, with funding provided by the Pacific Library Partnership and proudly sponsored by the Santa Clara City Library.  

Mystery Readers Book Group, March 16

 Mystery Readers Book Group

Sponsored by The Friends of the Library 

(559) 713-2709

For March: Read your all time favorite mystery. It's hard to choose, but bring your favorite to the March meeting!

Next Meeting
March 16 at 6:30pm

Come and bring a friend!!

Monthly Friends Meeting, February 11

The Friends of the Tulare County Library will meet on Thursday, February 11 at 7:00pm in the library's upstairs (blue) meeting room. Absolutely everyone is welcome to attend, including and especially current Friends, prospective Friends, and anyone who is interested in learning more!

Please contact the Visalia Reference Desk at 559-713-2703 for more information.

First Tuesday Book Club, March 1

For March, we're reading The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.

Summary: Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver.

Through Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn't simply about going fast. On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through.

A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life...as only a dog could tell it.

We are meeting in the Visalia Branch Blue Room to discuss this book on March 1 from 6:30pm - 7:45pm.

Pamper Yourself at the Tulare County Library TOMORROW!

Relax, release, and decompress with the Tulare County Library at our "Do-It-Yourself Spa Day" adult program event on Wednesday, February 3, 2016, at 3:00 pm at the Visalia Branch Library.

Learn how to make Fizzy Peppermint Bath Salts and Orange and Coconut Whipped Body Butter from ingredients you can find at home. Delight in laughs and smiles from others just like you who could use some quality self time or me time. The event is open to adults; however families are more than welcome to attend.

For more information contact the Visalia Branch Library at (559) 713-2703, view us online at www.tularecountylibrary.org, or check us out on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/tularecountylibrary.

The Tulare County Library serves all the citizens of Tulare County with locations in fifteen communities, four book machines, and online.

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Visalia Branch Children's Events, February 2016

Are you looking for something fun to do with your wee ones this month? Join us for all these fun happenings in Visalia in the month of February!

Call the Children’s Desk at 559-713-2731 for more information!

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Mystery Readers Book Group, February 17

Mystery Readers Book Group  

Sponsored by The Friends of the Library 

(559) 713-2709

For February: Read a book you got for the holidays!

Next Meeting
February 17 at 6:30pm

Come and bring a friend!!

Life-Size Candyland at Visalia Library, February 13

The Visalia Library's Homework Center will be transformed into Candyland for Valentine's Day! Children ages 3 to 12 are invited to play through the game as life-size pieces to win treats and prizes.

The event is free and no registration is required. Sessions last about 20 minutes each. Drop in anytime between 1:00 - 4:00pm on Saturday, February 13 to play.

For more information, call the Visalia Children's Desk at 559-713-2731.

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Independent Film Series, February 23

Join us at the Visalia Library on Tuesday, February 23 at 6:00pm to watch Secrets of War!

Synopsis: Tuur and Lambert are best friends in a Nazi-occupied Dutch village who pass their days playing soldiers and exploring local caves, mimicking a war that seems far removed from their everyday life. When Maartje joins their class, the young girl immediately stands out as different from her classmates. Yet the boys embrace their new friend, forming a unique bond based on shared adventures, secrets and mischief. Ultimately, the realities of war find even them - Lambert's father, a Nazi sympathizer, is named mayor of their town and Tuur discovers his own father and brother have joined the resistance, instantly putting the two boys at odds. Meanwhile, Maartje is hiding a secret of her own, one that not only threatens to tear the new friends apart, but could lead to devastating consequences for anyone involved in keeping it. Secrets Of War puts both the danger and the humanity of wartime friendships squarely on the shoulders of three children who must face extraordinary circumstances with a maturity far beyond their years.

Directed by Dennis Bots | Netherlands | 2014 | Dutch with English subtitles | 95 min.

The film will be shown at 6:00pm in the upstairs "blue" meeting room at the Visalia Branch Library. This event is free and open to the public. Absolutely everyone is welcome.

For more information, visit the Reference Desk or call (559) 713-2723. You can also join the event on Facebook.

Adult Coloring at Visalia Branch Library, Tuesday January 19

Join us for some stress relief after the holidays. What could be better than coloring?

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Please contact the Visalia Reference Desk at 559-713-2703 for more information. We're also on Facebook!

Monthly Friends Meeting, January 14

The Friends of the Tulare County Library will hold their monthly meeting on Thursday, January 14, at 7:00pm in the library's upstairs (blue) meeting room. Absolutely everyone is welcome to attend, including and especially current Friends, prospective Friends, and anyone who is interested in learning more!

Please contact the Visalia Reference Desk at 559-713-2703 for more information.