Brown Bag Book Club – January Selection

The Brown Bag Book Club at the Civic Center Library begins the new year with a discussion of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure tale, Treasure Island. The club meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month, from 12-1, in the library. Don't forget to bring your lunch! For more information, email Livia Lewin at llewin@co.marin.ca.us, or phone (415) 499-6059.

Closed for New Year's

All branches of the Library will be closed at 1pm on Saturday, December 31st and all day January 1st and 2nd for the new year. Happy Holidays!

Find something good to read

Looking for something good to read this winter? Take a look at the New York Times Best-Seller Lists and the San Francisco Chronicle Best-Seller Lists!

We link to these lists from our For Readers webpage, which also offers:

• information about our book clubs
• recommended reading from your local librarians
• book and literature resources online from the library (things you can't find in Google!)
• downloadable audio and text eBooks
• recommended book-oriented websites
• and more!
  

Let the library be your guide to finding a good book to cuddle up with during the rainy season!

Classes & Events @ Your Library

All of the branches of the Marin County Free Library have an amazing array of events every week. You can see a calendar of all events at the library, or choose your local branch and see just those events. Are you just looking for storytimes, or events for adults, or book clubs? Narrow down your search even more on our Library Events and Classes page! See you @ the Library!

Storytime

Looking to escape the rain? Come to the library and listen to a story. Times and locations can be found on our Storytimes web page. Or if you don't want to go out, you can listen to Dial-A-Story, by calling 415-499-6051. New stories are recorded each week!

Looking for something good to read?

Check out our lists of Recommended Reading (and viewing, and listening...), a part of our Reader’s Corner. Here you can find annotated lists of fiction, mysteries, nonfiction, DVDs, and more. We’ve just added a new list -- Gay & Lesbian Fiction -- a selection of fiction with Gay, Lesbian and Transgender themes from the Civic Center Library. Enjoy!

Library buildings closed for the holidays, but the e-branch is always open

All branches of the Marin County Free Library will be closed on Sunday, December 25th and Monday, December 26th for the holidays. All branches with hours on Saturdays will also be closing at 1pm on Saturday, December 24th.

But never fear! There is much that the library can do for you, even when our physical buildings are closed!

• We can answer your reference questions on AskNow, the live chat reference service available 24/7, 365 days a year!
• Explore Marin history online through the photographs and oral histories in the California Room Digital Archive!
  
• You can renew your materials or place holds any time online!
• Make a list of all the cool stuff you want to read in 2006 using our Recommended Reading Lists!
• Read popular magazines and newspapers online from the comfort of your home using the library's databases!
• Download audio books to listen to on your portable device or on CD in your car using our Digital Books collection!

Happy Holidays from the Marin County Free Library!

Marin County’s Original Ranchos on the California Room Digital Archive

When California was under Mexican rule, land grants were made to the early settlers in the state, who were known as Californios. Some of these Californios discovered today’s Marin County, just across the bay from San Francisco, and petitioned the Mexican government for land grants in the area, attracted by the abundant natural resources.

To explore this early chapter of our County’s history, visit the interactive Marin County Rancho map on the California Room Digital Archive. Just click on each rancho to display the original rancho name, the owner, and the number of acres it comprised. A new feature links you to brief biographies of the original grantees and background information on the ranchos.

Our new biographies were written by intern, Eric Ward, and have been edited by the California Room staff. The map was graciously created for us by local artist, Leila Joslyn.

"He's making a list..."

As we near the end of the year, the urge to make lists seems to motivate reviewers everywhere. Here are a few of the "Best of 2005" lists we've found:

The New York Times 10 Best Books of 2005
Fiction
KAFKA ON THE SHORE By Haruki Murakami.
ON BEAUTY By Zadie Smith.
PREP By Curtis Sittenfeld.
SATURDAY By Ian McEwan.
VERONICA By Mary Gaitskill.

Nonfiction
THE ASSASSINS' GATE: America in Iraq By George Packer.
DE KOONING: An American Master By Mark Stevens & Annalyn Swan.
THE LOST PAINTING By Jonathan Harr.
POSTWAR A History of Europe Since 1945 By Tony Judt.
THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING By Joan Didion.

Best of 2005 Editor's Picks from Amazon.com
Best of 2005 Customer's Picks from Amazon.com
San Francisco Chronicle Best Books
Favorite Books of 2005: Nonfiction from the LA Times
Favorite Books of 2005: Fiction from the LA Times
Top 10 Literary Works of 2005 from About.com
ALA Best Books for Young Adults
Kirkus Review Top 25 Books of 2005
Books of the Year from National Book Awards
Best Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Mercury News Top Fiction Books of 2005
Books of the Year from the Washington Post
100 Noteworthy Books of 2005 from the Kansas City Star
Books of the Year 2005 from the Economist

For more lists, take a look at Fimoculous.com

Join the club!

Did you know that the only thing better than reading a great book is sharing it with others?
You can start enjoying books in a whole new way if you make a New Year's resolution to join a book club at your local library! To find out when a library book club is meeting near you, just click on our Book Club link under Library Events and Classes ! Participation is fun, free and certain to be a great way to share wonderful books with others all year long.

Holiday Puppet Shows all over Marin County!

Celebrate the winter holidays with Nick Barone and his puppet friends @ your local library! We have three upcoming shows, all over Marin County on Tuesday, December 20th!

• 11:00 am, Fairfax Library
• 2:00 pm, Novato Library
• 6:30 pm, South Novato Library
  

Ages 2 and up only, please. Sponsored by the Marin County Friends of the Library.

Crafting with Teens and Kids

Come craft with us @ the Library!

Members of the Novato Teen Library Officers will be leading a fun day of holiday craftmaking for kids in grades K-5 and their parents! Join us Thursday, December 22nd, from 2-4 pm at the Novato Library. For more information, contact the Reference Desk at (415) 897-1143.

Directions to the Library are available here.

Cub Scouts Say Thanks

Corte Madera Cub Scouts, Den 12 Pack 43, visited the Corte Madera Library on Monday, Dec.12, and presented staff with holiday cookies and a creative card! The cub scouts wanted to thank the library for all the support they receive throughout the year, finding books, writing reports, and helping them use all the library resources.

A highly recommended place to start!

Check out our Recommended Web Resources for great reference links compiled by our reference librarians! We've gathered some of the best web resources on hot topics such as the Medicare Prescription Drug plan, Hurricane Katrina relief and much more! From Arts & Entertainment to Local History to Senior Services, you'll find a variety of informative and helpful websites that our reference staff recommend and use everyday!

Puppet Show Extraordinaire!

Celebrate the winter holidays with Nick Barone and his puppet friends Tuesday, December 13th at 7:00 pm at the Civic Center Library!

Ages 2 and up. Please respect our age limits (no infants or strollers in the performance area). Sponsored by the Marin County Friends of the Library.

Directions to the Library are available here.

Geri Digiorno speaks @ the Stinson Beach Library

Hear Geri Digiorno speak at the Stinson Beach Library on Monday, December 12th @ 7:30 pm.
Digiorno is a poet, author of White Lipstick, organizer of the yearly Petaluma Poetry Walk, and current Poet Laureate of Sonoma County. Read more about Digiorno in this article from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Directions to the Library are available here

Reference Books at Your Fingertips

Now you can access the Virtual Reference Library, a collection of popular reference books in eBook format, from the library's databases page. This collection includes:

• Arts and Humanities Through the Eras
• Dictionary of American History
• Gale Encyclopedia of Science
• Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia
• West's Encyclopedia of American Law

What can these eBooks do for you? If you have questions about life in ancient cultures, American history, the sciences, obscure animals, and American law, then the Virtual Reference Library can help. For example, it can help provide information for questions like:

1. What was daily life like in ancient Egypt?
2. I need information about wombats.
3. What were some of the causes of World War I?

Anyone can access these resources inside the library, and anyone with a card from any of the public libraries in Marin can access the Virtual Reference Library from home, work, or school via the Internet. Just go to the Library's Databases and eBooks webpage, click on the Virtual Reference Library, and log in with your library card number and PIN. If you have questions about this resource (how to access it, how to use it), please ask a friendly librarian!

Finding Holiday Cheer and Cheering at our Holiday Open House!

Celebrate the holidays with your family and friends at the Fairfax Library 7th Annual Holiday Open House on Saturday, December 17th from 2-4pm. Local singer/songwriter Corrine West will appear with Joshua Zucker on bass and Peter Kaukonen on guitar. Corrine tours nationally and internationally, drawing enthusiastic audiences with her blend of folk, country and bluegrass. Her CD, Bound for the Living, received great reviews and, in the words of Wavy Gravy, "She burns the paint off the walls!" with her amazing music. In addition to a great concert, we're serving up some delicious holiday cookies and apple juice as refreshments. Don't miss this wonderful holiday event, sponsored by the generous support of the Friends of the Marin County Free Library! Attendance is free but the memories will be priceless!

Brown Bag Book Club – December Selection

The Brown Bag Book Club at the Civic Center Library has announced its December selecton - World’s Fair, by E.L. Doctorow. The club meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month, from 12-1, in the library. Remember – it is ok to bring your lunch! For more information, email Livia Lewin at llewin@co.marin.ca.us, or phone (415) 499-6059.

Get a good book recommendation--online!

The Library subscribes to a fabulous online resource called NoveList. NoveList can help you find new fiction books and authors based on your old favorites. For adults' and kids' books!

• Click on the "For Readers" tab and explore the Author Read-alikes (authors who write similarly to authors you already like).
• Click on the "Browse Lists" tab and get award lists and explore books by age group and topic (e.g., books about dinosaurs for children 8-12, or cyberpunk science fiction for adults)
• Click on the "Search our Database" tab and enter words describing a book you remember (e.g., dolls lost in space) and find the books that match that description. A great way to re-discover books from childhood that you've forgotten the titles of!

To access NoveList, just go to the Books & Literature section of our online resources page (where you can find dozens of other great databases and eBook collections) and click on the link to NoveList. If you're not in one of our libraries, you will be asked to enter your library card number to get access.

Any questions? Ask a Librarian!