Día de los Niños / Día de los Libros

On display at the Corte Madera library are materials from our Spanish language collection for children and adults. Celebrate Día de los Niños / Día de los Libros by checking out a book!

¡Celebremos el Día de los Niños / Día de los Libros en la Biblioteca Corte Madera!

Explore Marin's History...online!

From the comfort of your home or office, you can explore the history of Marin County. The Library's California Room Digital Archive provides a wealth of information about this beautiful county.

• Play with an interactive map showing all of the original ranchos in the county
• Explore our huge collection of Frank Lloyd Wright resources
• Read and listen to clips from dozens of oral histories from the county's historical figures
• Explore the photo album of the Golden Gate Bridge's construction
• View turn-of-the-century photographs of Mt. Tamalpais & Muir Woods
• See San Quentin photographs from the early 1900s
• and much much more!

Join us for "Worm Composting 101 Gardening Session" at the South Novato Library on Thursday, May 5th at 6:30 pm! We all know how to recycle glass bottles and aluminum cans, but did you know that fruit and vegetable scraps can be recycled too by feeding them to red worms? It's easy and the worms create a nutrient-rich fertilizer that plants LOVE. It's a great way to recycle kitchen waste that would otherwise go into our landfills. Participants will learn how to set up and maintain a worm bin, and how to use worm castings as a garden and houseplant fertilizer. For more information, please call (415) 506-3168.

Looking for answers?

Librarians at the Marin County Free Library have sifted through the myriad of web sites out there and assembled a variety of web resources we think can help answer your questions. This list is updated regularly with new additions. Take a look at the Recommended Web Resources page on our web site-- you'll find everything from Answers.com to Which Phone Book?, a guide to California telephone directories.

Join the Club!

The South Novato Library Book Club meets the last Thursday of each month from 6:30-8 p.m. to discuss interesting novels. This month, the South Novato Book Club is meeting on April 28th to discuss "The Forest Lover" by Susan Vreeland. For more information about this book club, call 506-3168. New members are always welcome!

For information about other Marin County Free Library book clubs, check out our Library Events and Classes webpage or Readers Corner webpage!

Día de los Niños / Día de los Libros

Saturday, April 30th is Día de los Niños / Día de los Libros--a day for families of all cultures to celebrate children and reading, sponsored by ALA and Reforma. For more information about Día de los Niños / Día de los Libros, see Reforma's website: http://reforma.org/resources/ninos/dia.html.

Celebrate the Día de los Niños / Día de los Libros with a show in Spanish and English with COLIBRI!

Saturday, April 30th at 11:00 amat the Novato Library (1720 Novato Blvd. / 897-1143)

and

Saturday, April 30th at 2:00 pmat the South Novato Library (6 Hamilton Landing / 506-3168)

Beautiful songs for the whole family (bilingual)!

Pull up a chair in the Reader's Corner

Check out the Library's Readers Corner, a one stop shop for all those bibliophiles out there!

• Get recommended reads for adults, teens, and kids!
• Find out about our libraries' book clubs!
• Explore our online literature & book databases (including NoveList--which helps you find new books to read based on your old favorites)!
• Check out some e-books, including downloadable audio e-books from Digital Books!
• Get links to some recommended book-related websites!
• And you can even suggest a book for the library purchase!

Enjoy :)

Pulitzer Prizes Announced

The 2005 Pulitzer Prizes were announced Monday, April 4, 2005. A complete list of the winners can be found at the Pulitzer Prizes web site. Here is a short list of some of the winners in the Letters, Drama & Music category: Just click on the titles to access the library's catalog.

Fiction Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

History Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer

Biography or Autobiography de Kooning: an American master by Mark Stevens & Annalyn Swan

Poetry Delights & Shadows by Ted Kooser

General Non-Fiction Ghost Wars by Steve Coll

Hope is a rainbow

Local author Barbara Meislin will be featured tonight in a free program at the Marin City Library. Barabra wrote "No one can ever steal your rainbow", a wonderful children's book about hope and a very special rainbow. She will speak, sing and share her message of hope at this evening's program which begins at 7pm. For more information, please call 332-6157.

Become a Friend of the Library!

Do you like the library? Would you like to find a way to support the library? Join the Friends of the Marin County Free Library! The Friends are a nonprofit group of volunteers who create awareness and appreciation of library services in the community and provide monetary support for programs and materials. We at the Library truly appreciate all the wonderful work done by our Friends!

You can join the main Friends group, or you can join the chapter group for your local library.

Finding your shui

How does your garden grow? Better yet, how can it grow even more beautiful? Learn how to create a magical garden from Master Gardener and Feng Shui Consultant Terumi Leinow at Fairfax Library tonight! Co-author of the book "Tuning In", Terumi Leinow was recognized as "best speaker" for her presentation to a California Garden Clubs annual convention. Our program this evening is free and begins at 7:30pm so don't miss this opportunity to learn how to apply the art of Feng Shui to your garden.

Take a hike!

Come hike with me, come hike away! Jane Huber, author of 60 Hikes within 60 Miles of San Francisco and creator of the Bay Area Hiker Web site (bahiker.com), shows slides and shares tips on some of the best spring hikes in Marin on April 13th at 7:00 pm at the Novato Library. For more information, call 897-1142.

Railroads In Our Backyards

"Railroads in our Backyards" will be the subject of a slide show to be presented at the Corte Madera Library tonight at 7:00 p.m. The slide show by Richard Torney features historic photos taken along the path of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad’s Electric Interurban Route from the 1870’s through the 1960’s. Photos of many of the same locations taken in 2003 are also included. Richard Torney is an amateur historian and railroad fan. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Marin History Museum. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, please call the Library at 924-6444.

Watch out for Pie-Rats!

Celebrating National Library Week has never been more fun, especially when the Pie-Rats of Penn's Aunt sail into town! Several Marin County Free Library branches will be hosting the Pie-Rats presented by P & P Puppet Theater throughout the week. Don't miss the Pie-Rats as they swash and buckle their way to a MCFL branch near you! Come dressed as a pirate (but please leave your cutlass and blunderbuss at home, aarrgh)!

Art @ the Library

Many of our libraries have galleries or exhibit areas for local artists to display their work. Currently, we have the following exhibits up for your artistic pleasure:

• Bolinas Library: artwork by William Saroyan
• Civic Center Library: Michael Goldberg photography exhibit “Everybody’s Children,” and
  Helen Canin's popular ceramic children’s storybook characters.
• Fairfax Library: acrylic paintings by Rory Phoenix
• Inverness Library: wildflower paintings
• Point Reyes Station Library: Celeste Woo & John Kaufman photography exhibit "Reading in Yangshuo, China" and sea creatures made by West Main School 6th, 7th and 8th grade students
• Stinson Beach Library: paintings, photographs, and sculpture created by couples who are local artists

Guide to National Library Week

Come celebrate with us!

Next week is National Library Week (April 10-16). First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week celebrates the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians.

The Marin County Free Library joins in this celebration and offers you special webpage devoted to National Library Week. On that page, you'll find links to the history of our library system, songs about libraries and librarians, the International Edible Book Festival, a ton of events held by the libraries to commemorate this week, and much more!

Happy Birthday, Maya!

Maya Angelou, perhaps best known for her autobiographical work I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, was born Marguerite Johnson on this day in 1928. Read about Angelou in our Literature Resource Center database, check out one (or more!) of her books, and view a film she directed, Down in the Delta.

And if you are interested in other works by women directores, take a look at Films by Women Directors at the Civic Center Library, one of the many lists of recommended materials in our Reader's Corner.

Civic Center Library Photography Exhibit

Images of teens and twentysomethings grace the Civic Center Library's Dome Gallery in Michael Goldberg’s photography exhibit, “Everybody’s Children,” a selection of casual portraits taken by Mr. Goldberg at a Petaluma coffee shop in the winter of 2004 - 2005. “Everybody’s Children” runs through May 31.

Russian Language Collection - Gala Opening

The Civic Center Library and the Friends of the Civic Center Library are proud to host the gala opening of the Russian Collection on Friday April 15th at 1:00pm at the Civic Center Library. The Friends of the Civic Center Library recently purchased over $1000 worth of books written in Russian. The collection contains recent fiction, classics, biography and nonfiction titles. Food and drink will be provided.

Rebloom That Beautiful Orchid!

On April 14, from 12-1 at the Civic Center Library, Master Gardener Glenn Smith will discuss the key cultural requirements necessary to bring about orchid blooming in a home environment. He’ll also demonstrate repotting, an intimidating step for most home growers. Attendees will receive take-home materials on orchid culture!

Read Local!

In celebration of National Poetry Month, take home a book by a local poet. Joanne Kyger, Tom Clark, and James Broughton are only a few of the many poets connected with Marin County. For more local writers, see our list of Marin authors who “were born or have lived in the County.” Enjoy!

Frankly speaking

Curious about how a comic strip is created? Come to Fairfax Library on Monday, April 11th from 7:30-8:30pm and meet Phil Frank, creator of the "Farley" comic strip and author of many books including "Don't Parade on my Reign!" and "Fur and Loafing in Yosemite." Phil Frank has created laughter and fans while commenting on major issues in his comic strip for almost 30 years. During this program, he will talk about the trials, tribulations and challenges of finding humor in the daily news. Enjoy this free event while celebrating National Library Week, April 10-16, at your local library!