Sites for Commuters

Looking for up-to-the-minute reports on traffic? Our friendly team of reference librarians recommends two sites for Bay Area commuters. Be sure to check em out before hittin the road!

Patriot Act

Do you have any questions about the USA Patriotic Act and your privacy as a
library patron? Take a look at our USA Patriot Act FAQ for answers.

Marin’s Original Ranchos

The Anne T. Kent California Room, located in the Civic Center Library, has added an interactive map of Marin County’s original ranchos, granted by Mexico between 1834 and 1846. Click on a rancho and learn the name of the original grantee, and number of acres.

Writing from the Soul...

Want to explore your hidden talents as an author? Come to a writing workshop at the Corte Madera Library--Writing from the Soul. Led by Susanne West, this workshop offers opportunities to develop an authentic writing voice and to explore writing for creative expression and spiritual growth. Best of all, this program is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is required. Enrollment is limited. To register, please call 924-6444. Susanne West, M.A., is a writer, teacher and consultant. She is on the core faculty at John F. Kennedy University. Susanne has developed numerous writing exercises and techniques for working through writing blocks. She teaches seminars on writing and creative development at the Psychosynthesis Institute and other Bay Area community organizations and colleges.

Dig Into California's Past

May is California Archaeology Month. The Society for California Archaeology has a list of resources available on their web site that includes museums and parks with exhibits and information about California's past. You can also explore California's past through resources in the library. Click here for a link to our catalog keyword search.

Lest we forget

Visit the website for the new National WWII Memorial which will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29th, in Washington, D.C. and joins the Vietnam War Memorial and Korean War Memorial as sites honoring our war veterans. For information on how to observe the National Moment of Rememberance on Memorial Day, visit the "One Nation, One Moment" website

Libraries closed on Memorial Day

All branches of the Marin County Free Library will be closed for Memorial Day--Monday, May 31st. But we're always open on the web! You can renew books, use our full-text article databases, and browse the California Room Digital Archive. See? Our libraries are never really closed!

AuditMyPC

AuditMyPC.com will (for free) do a firewall test, a spyware removal test, and a pop-up blocker test on your PC. It's quick and it's easy--a good way to find out how secure your PC is!

Literary Explorations

Want to expand your literary horizons on the web? Read about authors and where they lived and traveled at Literary Traveler, a web site "dedicated to the exploration of the literary imagination." For the latest from the Bay Area literary scene, check out the online version of McSweeney's. If you're interested in "the interconnectivity of books to pop culture, politics, art, and music" take a look at the web site for the Believer magazine. If you're passionate about reading or writing, the library has the resources to help you on your journey!

Latest Oprah Pick- Heart is a Lonely Hunter

The latest classic pick of Oprah's book club is Carson McCuller's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. For more information on this author and her work, check out the Literature Resource Center on our databases page.

Free Tutoring at the Civic Center Library

The Civic Center Library offers free, one-on-one tutoring on Microsoft Word, searching the Internet, using the library catalog, and any of the library's databases. Basic computer skills -- familiarity with using a mouse and keyboard -- required. For more information, or to schedule a session, call (415)507-4049.

History of the Marin County Free Library

Did you know that MCFL was the first library west of the Mississippi to have an automated catalog? And as of 1999, MCFL had the most on-site parking spaces (1,081) of any library system in the country? Learn more, and check out some nifty phots from 1926 to the present, at our History of the Marin County Free Library.

Fifty years ago today

On this 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, visit the National Historic Site for this landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision where you will find links to legal documents related to this case and background information on Monroe Elementary School, one of the schools involved in Topeka. Don’t forget to check out books available in our collection under the case itself or broader subject headings such as “Segregation in Education.” You can also access an indepth report on this topic in our new online database “CQ Researcher” by clicking on the “School Desegregation” link in the “Recent Reports” section.

Update on the South Novato Library's Move to Hamilton

Construction at the new Hamilton location is right on schedule. Our Technical Services staff (those great people who keep our shelves filled with the books you love to read) and the MARINet staff (they're the folks who keep our County wide catalog running so well) are planning to move in the first week of May. The South Novato Library will close at 8 p.m. on Thursday May 20th and will reopen in Hangar Six with grand opening festivities on Saturday June 5th at 11 a.m. Stop by the South Novato Library and pick up a bookmark with a map and driving directions - they're available now. Staff will be happy to answer any questions and show you the floor plan of the new location.

In early May we'll begin checking out our South Novato books for six weeks - we'd love for as many as possible of them to find a temporary place in some book lover's home - it will make moving so much easier. So, c'mon down and load up with kids books and grown up books to enjoy for an extra long time. Of course you can always return materials to any branch in the County system, but make it easy on yourself! We've planned lots of festivities for opening day June 5th - please mark your calendar to join us at 11 a.m. for a brief ceremony, some great entertainment by local school groups, snacks and look at our fabulous new space.

Be sure to check the South Novato website for pictures and updated information.

Summertime, and cycling is easy...

Come visit the exhibit by the Marin County Bicycle Coalition in the display case at the Civic Center Library during the month of May. And remember, Thursday, May 20, is Bay Area Bike to Work Day!

Civic Center Library's Brown Bag Bookclub

On Wednesday, May 26, 12 noon to 1 p.m., the Book Club will discuss The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton. New members are always welcome! The Civic Center Library's Brown Bag Book Club meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month. For more information, call Becky or Livia at 499.6058 or e-mail to ldimare@mcflmail.org.

Insight into the Golden Gate

The Golden Gate Bridge was recently featured in a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
American Experience documentary about "the construction of what was then [1937] the longest suspension bridge in the world, built hundreds of feet above the dangerously churning waters of the entrance to San Francisco Bay." Take a look at the companion web site to the documentary (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldengate/, which features a timeline, photos of bridge construction, information about people and events, and a discussion of mathematical principles. The web site also includes video clips, a teacher's guide, and related material.

For more photos of the bridge, take a look at the Golden Gate Bridge Photo Album featured in the Marin County Free Library's Anne T. Kent California Room Image Collection. The Anne T. Kent California History Room is an archive dedicated to collecting and preserving information on local, regional, and state history with a strong emphasis on the history and culture of Marin County. Resources include books, maps, photographs, oral histories, biography files, early Marin County voter registers, clippings and ephemera.

Local Author Talk Tonight!

True Blue: Local authors talk about their work as police officers Tonight (May 11th) at 7:00 PM at the Corte Madera Library Stan Damas and Phil Dunnigan, both long-term residents of Marin and retired police Lieutenants from the San Francisco Police Department, are featured authors in the recently published book, True Blue: Police stories by those who have lived them. True Blue is a collection of 53 stories by police officers from all over the country. It was conceived as a way to honor the work of the nation’s police. In addition, proceeds from the sale of the book support the families of officers who were lost in the World Trade Center tragedy.

Come to a concert at the Fairfax Library

Classical guitarist Joseph Bacon will perform a free concert at Fairfax Library on Tuesday, May 11th, from 7:30-8:30 pm. Come and enjoy this special program of classic musical compositions that span the 16th-20th centuries, including pieces from South America.

Plant Pictures

CalPhotos: Plants contains 40,000 images of plants (mostly) from California,
including over 1,200 plants from Marin. You may search for photos by
common and scientific name, geographic location, and other characteristics.
Got something mysterious growing in your backyard that you can't
identify? Try CalPhotos!

Go Places. Read.

Some branches of the Marin County Free Library (such as the Civic Center Branch Library) have partnered with Mervyn's department stores for their "Go Places, Read" reading club which runs from April 1 - June 30, 2004. Children 11 (5th grade) and under may visit either the library or their local Mervyn's store to receive a blue reading passport. The children must check out and read six LIBRARY books each month and enter the titles in their passport. The passport is then stamped and initialed at the library and taken back to Mervyn's. Three terrific monthly prizes are awarded: April: a lunch cooler, May: sports binoculars, and June: juggling balls. Stop by the library to get a shiny new library card if you don't already have one, a blank reading passport, and six books and you're on your way!

Reviews of Online Mortgage Companies

Consumer Reports has reviews of 6 online mortgage loan services. Issues of privacy, service levels, and cost are covered. To sum up, the online mortgage services are roughly equivalent to traditional brick & mortar mortgage solutions, but you still need to be wary of salespeople trying to sell you more than you want to buy...

Corte Madera Library Hosts Children's Art Display

Artistic creations from Marin Montessori School students are the current exhibit at the Corte Madera Library. Come enjoy the drawings, paintings, sculptures and mixed-media artworks on display. If you'd like to learn to draw or paint or sculpt, the library has many resources to get you started. Browse the online catalog under the subjects "drawing technique" or "painting technique" or "sculpture technique" for suggestions.

Venice, Italy's Carnevale comes to the Civic Center Library's Dome Gallery

Award-winning local photographer, Sandy Chandler, exhibits photographs in brilliant color from her Carnevale Magic series in the Civic Center's Dome Gallery. Sandy, an active member of the Marin Photography Club, captured these vibrant images at Carnevale in Venice, Italy in 2003.

Sandy's exhibit runs from May 3 through June 18.

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo

Find out more about Cinco de Mayo by checking our online catalog for books and our online information resources such as the World Book Encyclopedia and EBSCO for articles. The Librarian's Index to the Internet also features websites with historical background, recipes and bilingual information about this important holiday.