Story Time for Winter

Winter is here and the snow has covered the earth like a blanket. The library is a great place to go and find great books to read this winter season. The library will be presenting a Winter Wonderland Story time starting in February 1, 2010. Story time will be Monday 11:00 am, Tuesday 11:00 am and Tuesday 6:00pm. Please call and sign up 724-684-4750

How Libraries Help in Tough Economic Times

** PALA Session**

presented by Carol Sepesky & Tara Manderino

Tuesday October 20 at 11:00-12:00pm

The presenters will discuss workshops offered at Monessen Public Library & District Center to increase patron employability. These workshops include resume preparation and conduction on line job search, Internet classes, Microsoft Word 97-2003/2007 and Microsoft Publisher 2003/2007. Course materials will be given to participants so they may replicate the programs in their own libraries.

Read Across America "links" Libraries

**Poster Session for PALA conference will highlight libraries in Monessen Public Library & District Center.

Monday Oct 19 at 10:30-11:30 Jenise Sileo

This year, we joined together to create a paper chain with thousands of links representing the number of books children had read. The highlight for the participating libraries was a special visit from the Cat in the Hat at their story Time.

Here is the Poster:

Book Sale begins on October 12, 2009

The Monessen Public Library and District Center will hold a book sale of used books, videotapes and other materials beginning on October 12, 2009 during the library's regular hours. The library opens at 10:00 a.m. and closes at 7:30 p.m. from Monday to Thursday, and it's open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday; closed Friday and Sunday. The book sale will run until November 20, 2009.

Trick or Treat Costume Party

Thursday October 29th- all the SPOOKS and MONSTERS will be at the children's area in the library. Come dressed in your Halloween Costume! Stay for awhile and listen to a GHOST story, eat a cookie or two and get your trick or a treat! This event is a Family Fun night for all ages. Register at the front desk!

Toddler Story Time Starts September 28

Fall is coming and with that a NEW Toddler Story Time. Story Time at the library will begin the week of September 28 and run until week of December 7. Story times will be every Monday and Tuesday morning at 11:00 a.m. and Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m. Each story time your child will get a chance to listen to wonderful children stories, participate in musical activities and engage in social skills. They are FREE to all patrons and the activities are age appropriate for children 3-5 years old (2 years and babies are always welcome)

Please register your child by calling the library at (724) 684-4750 or contact Jenise by email at jisileo@yahoo.com or jsileo@monpldc.org. Can't wait to work with you this Fall.

Golf Outing

Would you like to reign as the King or Queen of Golf in the Mon Valley? If so, come to the library and register for the Golf Tournament to be held on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at the Riverview Golf Course in Elizabeth, PA. Price per golfer is $100 which includes a steak dinner and hot dog and beverage at the turn. Each team will consist of 2 men or 2 women and scoring is best ball scramble. For more information, contact Dave Zilka at 724-684-4750. The tournament is sponsored by the Greater Monessen Chamber of Commerce.

Schwann Truck Load Fundraiser

The Monessen Public Library and District Center is hosting a fundraiser with Schwann's Foods on Friday, August 21, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The library has books available to choose what Schwann products you would like to buy. You can pre-order the products and pay when you pick them up on August 21 at the library. Stop in and pick up an order blank and assist the library while you get to sample some great food products.

District Wide "Choir for Peace" Event

Sorry this District Wide Event has been Cancelled!

"Choir for Peace" at the Monessen Public Library & District Center

Our district library will be celebrating International Day of Peace by inviting the district High School Choirs to come and participate in a "Choir for Peace" concert. Choirs will be able to present two songs of their choice as well as join in a grand finale piece. The grand finale will be conducted by Charles M Owens from Francis M. Parker School, Chicago IL. He will be guest conductor for the grand finale. This event will be very exciting.

Date: September 19

Time: 6:00pm

Location: to be determined..Monessen High School Auditorium or High School Football

Free to the community!

Come join us for a Night at the Races co-sponsored by the Monessen Public Library and District Center and the Knights of Columbus. The Night at the Races will be held on Sunday, June 28, 2009 at the K of C Hall on Grand Boulevard, Monessen, PA (across from the City Park entrance). Admission is $5.00 and food will be served.

To Watch TV or Not to Watch TV

I sometimes think that children need a break so let them do nothing but watch TV. Then after working on this years summer reading programs, I realized I want them to come to the library!

This year's theme is Be Creative @ the Library which opens the door for art, music and theater.

The first thing I got excited about was:

1. ART> I am going to introduce three major masters and their style and the children get to try their hand at creating their own masterpieces.
2. MUSIC>I have several band students coming to the library and put on a little program about their instruments. Then the children will be make their own music using recycled materials.
3. THEATER>This is my favorite because I am really a DIVA! The children will making their own puppets and put on a puppet show! cute :)

So, if you have children grades 1-3rd and you want them off the coach this Summer-bring them to the library! Fridays 10:30-11:30am.

Watch them have fun being creative and maybe they will want to check out a book!

I hope to see you this Summer.. sorry TV you'll have to wait until the Fall!

The best English-language novels of the 20th century

A few years ago Modern Library picked the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. As with all "best-of" lists, much controversy was generated over the titles selected.

The top ten novels are as follows:

1. Ulysses, James Joyce
2. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce
4. Lolita, Vladimir Nabakov
5. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
6. The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner
7. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
8. Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler
9. Sons and Lovers, D.H. Lawrence
10. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

Come visit the Monessen Public Library & District Center to see the rest of the list and to check out some of these "classics"!!

Donation to Food Bank

DSCF0211
Originally uploaded by monlib22

Throughout the months of January and February, the Monessen Library and District Center collected soup to be donated to the Food Bank. Mary Jo Smith came to the library to collect the soup and is assisted by library volunteer Jeff Oblak.

Cat in the Hat is on a Road trip

First stop was Carnegie Free Library in Connellsville, PA...Miss Judy had 15 children and 11 adults.. it was wonderful and it was on TV! They read 111 books for Read Across America

Second stop was Mt. Pleasant Public Library.. Miss Mary Lou had 36 children and 22 adults.. it was fun! They read 933 books for Read Across America

Third was Rostraver Public Library.. Miss Carol had @11 children and 13 adults .. It is cute with 2 year olds. They are still reading for Read Across America

Cat in the Hat For Read Across America

The Monessen Public Library & District Center had 16 libraries join the Read Across America project. Each library created colorful paper linked chain of book titles. These paper chain's are one long continuous paper chain. As of 3/31/2009 there are 4165 chains.

Cat in Hat Was a success!

Carnegie Free Library-Connellsville- March 4 at 11:00am
Mt. Pleasant Free Public Library- March 4 at 1:30pm

Rostraver Public Library-March 7 at 10:30am, March 16 at 6:00pm , March 19&20 at 10 +12pm

Jeannette Public Library-March 11 at 11:00am

Uniontown Public Library-March 18 at 11:00am

Delmont Public Library-March 23 at 6:30pm

Sewickley Township Public Library-March 25 at 1:00pm

Penn Area Library- March 30 at 10 +11:00am

German- Masontown Public Library-April 2 at 12:30pm

Scottdale Public Library- April 2 at 6:00pm

Smithton Public Library- March 28, 2009 10:00am

Other libraries that participating:
Belle Vernon Public Library

Ligonier Valley Library

Peoples Library

Websites for your perusal!

If you are looking for information about movies or TV shows, check out: www.imdb.com

If you are looking for information about music, check out www.allmusic.com

If you want to find out the latest book by your favorite author or any other information about authors, check out www.fantasticfiction.com

For your medical questions, check out www.webmd.com

The kids will enjoy www.seussville.com

Take a look around the world at www.earthcam.com (this website will require Adobe Flash Player 10)

For a roundup of the political atmosphere in Pennsylvania, go to www.politicspa.com

If you have any favorite websites, share them with us!

The Monessen Public Library and District Center is conducting a Winter Reading Club that began on January 7, 2008. This program is designed for adults who enjoy reading and winning prizes. The club encourages readers to select books from four categories: Fiction, Mystery, Non-Fiction, and Biography and read three books from each category. After completing each category, bring the form to the library and have the librarian initial it and you will be given a chance on a $100 gift certificate from La Eda’s Restaurant in Monessen. Also, after completing the sheet, a prize will be given to each participant. To be eligible, adults are asked to pick up a form at the library. The Club will end on March 31, 2009 and the gift certificate drawing will be done on April 3, 2009. This program is made possible by a grant from the Westmoreland County Library System