Congratulations to our award-winning ESL teachers!

Last night, at the Pines Manor in Edison, Michele Meany and Mary Kissane, the founders of our ESL conversation courses, were honored with certificates of appreciation at the LMx Awards Reception. 

Several years ago, Michele and Mary saw a need in our community and have been offering free ESL conversation courses to our patrons since 2009 to fill that need. The course is held for eight weeks in the spring, and eight weeks in the fall and community members from all different backgrounds, ages, and levels of English fluency have benefited from them. The ladies are both retired teachers with Master degrees in English and Education, and they have recruited other teachers along the way to assist them. Michele and Mary are known for going above and beyond, and outside of classes, they have helped people study for citizenship exams, they helped a doctor pass his English proficiency test so that he could enter a U.S. medical residency program, and they even taught at a church so that parishioners would have easier access. These two ladies are such an asset to our library, to our Friends group (in which they are also active), and to the wider community. We wanted to honor them with these certificates to let them know just how much all that they do is appreciated.

Michele, Mary and I were joined by Ruth Prata, another ESL teacher volunteer, and MAPL staff members Laura Beyer and Jill Stafford at the Awards Reception.

Happy National Friends of Libraries Week!

Friends of Libraries groups have their very own national week of celebration! United for Libraries are coordinating the ninth annual National Friends of Libraries Week Oct. 19-25, 2014. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to recognize all that our Friends do for us here at MAPL and to send them a huge THANK YOU!  

In these tough times of budget cuts and increased expenses, our public library (like most others in New Jersey) is struggling to maintain the level of resources and services that our community has come to expect and depend upon.  The Friends, through their book sales and other fundraising efforts, support the library by supplementing our operating budget.  We are so fortunate to have this very dedicated group working hard to provide us with things like the Museum Pass Program, refreshments and tee shirts and prizes for summer reading, and even program sponsorship.  On December 12th at 7pm, we will be hosting a string trio from Rutgers for an After-Hours Holiday Music Event.  The Friends are very graciously providing funding to support this performance, and light refreshments, as well.

The Friends are currently trying out a new fundraiser - they will soon be selling 2015 Book Lover's Page-A-Day calendars.  The cost of each calendar is just $7 and they will be available for purchase at the library's circulation desk.  The calendar is a great holiday gift idea for the book lover in your life!

Many thanks, again, to our fabulous Friends!  If you are interested in joining, applications are available in the library next to the Circ desk, and more information can be found at http://friendsofmapl.wordpress.com/.

Summer Reading is Almost Over!

I hope that you've all had a wonderful summer so far and that you've had the opportunity to attend some of our fantastic programs, and read all of those summer reading books in between trips to the pool or the beach or the backyard sprinkler!

Our summer reading program is coming to a close this Friday, but don't miss out on Finisher's Day -- there will be lots of last-chance prizes up for grabs, and Brian Richards will be here to amaze you with his magic! Bring the whole family -- this Friday, 8/8, from 6:30-8:30pm.  I hope to see you then!

Hope you enjoy the last few weeks of summer!

Are You Signed Up For the Summer Reading Club? It's not too late!

While it is true that we are nearing the half-way point of our summer reading program, it is not too late to sign up, read, read, read and win some prizes!  There are also fantastic events coming up for kids, teens and adults!

In the children's room, the FIZZ, BOOM, READ! summer program is in full swing with more than 400 kids already participating.  There is still space for this Sunday's puppet show: No More Litter in Oz which is being sponsored by the Aberdeen Recycling Department -- why not join us?  Registration is easy; just go to our website with your library card handy or give us a call!

Tonight we are featuring a wonderful Argentinian singer, Danisa Fagan, at our After-Hours Music event for adults and families.  Just give us a quick call to register: 732-583-9100. 

Were you wishing there were more chances to get raffle tickets for our fantastic gift baskets for adults this summer?  Now you can earn more tickets by completing the quizzes located next to the weekly raffle prizes.  Make sure you turn them in by 5pm on Sundays!

Our Halfway Mark event is coming up on Friday, July 18th from 6:30-8:30pm.  It's a great night out for families featuring balloon hats, ice cream, a fun craft, and a family robot construction project!  Best of all -- it's all FREE!

Teens: don't think we've forgotten about you!  We have a Teen Lock-in scheduled for Friday, August 1st -- there are still spaces available, but make sure to register soon!   We'll be making edible pancake art and marshmallow catapults, playing Wii and making crafts - don't miss it!

I hope to see you here at MAPL this summer!

Friends of the Library Win NJLA Library Service Award!

At this year's New Jersey Library Association Conference held earlier this month, a very special group was honored with an NJLA Library Service Award -- our very own Friends of the Matawan Aberdeen Public Library!

The Friends do so many things for our library, including, but certainly not limited to: holding book drives and book sales, providing funding for furniture, museum passes, and staff development, supporting our summer reading programs, and SO much more!  This award was incredibly deserved and we are so appreciative of all that the Friends are able to accomplish for us.

Since none of the Friends members were able to travel to the conference to accept the award, we had an award presentation and a reception for them last night before our Board meeting.  Staff members, Board members and Friends came together to celebrate.  My thanks to all who attended, and many special thanks to our wonderful Friends!

3rd Annual MAMS Student Art Show Highlights

Last night, nearly 80 people -- students, family members, friends -- attended our 3rd Annual MAMS Student Art Show.  It was a fantastic event featuring artwork from 21 students in grades 6, 7 and 8, and there was also live music performed by another group of talented middle school students!  Many thanks must go to art teachers Mr. Rod Stevens and Ms. Valerie Gawron, and music teacher Mr. Justin Shepard who helped us make the evening possible. And we can't forget to thank library staff member, Ruby Thompson, who was instrumental in organizing the show, and the Friends of the Library who provided light refreshments.  

The artwork will be on display throughout the summer in the balcony area and we invite you to come by and take a look at the impressive offerings from these talented young people.

MAPL Wins a Mini-Grant from the State Library!

In early April, our Youth Services Department Head, Chrissie, applied for a mini-grant through the Best Practices in Early Literacy Contest sponsored by the New Jersey State Library. Chrissie highlighted the Science Fun programming that our youth services department carried out in late 2013 and she got word recently that MAPL was chosen as one of the four award recipients.  Our youth services department will receive a $500 grant (presented at the New Jersey Library Association conference in June) and the State Library will also publish a booklet highlighting all the early literacy award winning programs and distribute it at the conference.  The money will be used to help restore youth services materials/programming budgets that were cut this year.

Congratulations to Chrissie and the Youth Services staff for their great work!

So much for keeping up with my blog...

My apologies to those of you who look for new postings from me (Dad) -- my hopes to do a better job keeping this blog updated seem to have flown out the window.  I think I can safely blame it on the weather this time.

As was outlined in my last post, the library has seen some budget cuts for this year, so in between storms, I have been very busy speaking to community groups, building relationships with local businesses, and seeking out donations and grant opportunities.  At the same time, I have been trying to promote all of the exceptional resources and services we offer here at MAPL.  

Did you know that MAPL offers...

...downloadable music, ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines?

...small group and one-on-one computer classes, and an eReader Hour?

...volunteer opportunities for teens in the summer?

...wonderful storytimes for babies through 5 year-olds and programs for kids of all ages?

...a fantastic selection of books, magazines, DVDs, audiobooks, CDs, Playaways, and MP3s?

...a long list of business resources available through our website?

...movie showings and regular club meetings for every interest (books, genealogy, knitting, pinochle, scrabble, mahjong, etc.)?

... online language learning and in-person ESL classes?

...After-Hours music programs?

And of course, much, much more.  AND it's all free with your library card!!!

Help me to spread the word -- tell everyone you know how great your local library is, and encourage your friends and family to get a library card.  

Here's hoping that spring comes soon -- and decides to stay for awhile!

Happy New Year! Announcing some changes at MAPL...

I hope that you all enjoyed the holiday season and weathered last week's storm without too much trouble. 2014 has already started out as an adventure!

Here at MAPL, we are weathering our own storm -- at the center of which is a reduced budget for this calendar year.  For several years now, we have had to tighten up our belt, cut back where we can, while always trying to maintain excellent service and resources for our patrons.  Unfortunately, this year, the cuts (on top of previous years' cuts) were too deep, and we've had to take more drastic measures.

Starting on January 1, our fines have increased.  The general fines that were 5 cents previously have risen to 10 cents, and our 10 cent fines have risen to 20 cents.  We will maintain Rapid Reads fines at 25 cents and DVD fines at $1.00.

Starting this Wednesday, on January 8th, the library will close at 6pm - instead of 9pm as was our schedule in the past.  Please keep in mind that we are still open every weekday at 9am,  we are open on Monday and Thursday evenings until 9pm, and we are open on weekends as well: Saturdays, 9-5, and Sundays, 12-5.

Unfortunately, the above are necessary changes so that we can provide the level of service that our patrons expect.  If you would like to assist us by making a donation to the library, please don't hesitate to contact me at (732) 583-9100 or kpaone@lmxac.org.