April 8, 2005

April is National Humor, Poetry and ‘Become a Yard Nerd’ month

By Tim Collins
Special to the Times

Tend to your garden in April! It’s “Become a Yard Nerd” month. Get your gardening books here, in our Home and Garden section.

Need a laugh? Who doesn’t? Get your guffaws in April, National Humor Month. Visit the Dewey 814 and 818 area for books by Dave Barry, Erma Bombeck, Art Buchwald, George Carlin and other contemporary American humorists.

Need a bit of poetry to stir the soul? Celebrate April, National Poetry Month! Poetry books abound in the library, particularly in the Dewey areas 811 (American poetry) and 821 (British poetry).

Whatever April you’re celebrating, we have the resources here for you at the library.

Tully Library’s Calendar

For children, families
- Tuesdays at 11:30 a.m.—Fun for Ones, children 12 to 23 months old
- Tuesdays at 6:45 p.m. and Saturdays at 11:30 a.m.—Family Story time

- Thursdays at 10:30 a.m.—Toddler Time (children 2 to 3 years old)

- Fridays at 10:30 a.m.—Preschool Story Time, followed by Stay and Play
- Fridays at 4 p.m.—Fun for Youth (fun activities for elementary school-aged children)

For adults, young adults
- Mondays at 4 p.m. and Saturdays at 10 a.m.—Beginning computer classes

- Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. and Wednesdays at noon—Conversation Groups

- Wednesdays at 6 p.m.—Beginning Internet classes in Vietnamese

- Saturday, April 9—First Time Home Buyers Seminar, 10 a.m. – noon

- Friday, April 15 at 11 a.m.—Parenting Workshop hosted by KTEH

- Monday, April 18 at 6:30 p.m.—Friends of the Tully Library meeting

- Wednesday, April 20 at 6 p.m.—TeensReach meeting
- Wednesday, April 27 at 6:30 p.m.— “The Woman Warrior” book discussion
- Wednesday, May 2 at 4:30 p.m.—Citizenship information for Vietnamese speakers

Upcoming book discussions
About 15 people attended our March book discussion on “The Great Gatsby.” For upcoming book discussions, the group decided on “The Woman Warrior” by Maxine Hong Kingston for April 27 and “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad for May 25.

If you are only generally familiar with the book in question, but are interested, come to book discussions anyway. It’s not absolutely necessary that you have recently read the book cover to cover, but you probably will get more out of the discussion if you have.

We plan to have regular discussions the fourth Wednesday of the month. I welcome input from the general public as to what books to explore in the future. Contact me at timothy.collins@sjlibrary.org. Or better yet, come to “The Woman Warrior” discussion and let me know then.

Safety at the Library
We strive to make the library a welcoming, safe place. But everyone needs to take basic precautions at the library. Please do not leave valuables like your purse, wallet or keys unattended, even for a moment.

Recently a customer left his keys lying beside the computer where he was working. He stepped away briefly. When he came back, the keys were gone and so was his brand-new car.

Also, please do not leave young children unattended at the library or in any public place for that matter. Library staff tries to look out for the safety of our customers, but they are no substitute for a parent’s watchful eye.

Programs for Vietnamese speaking customers
The Tully Library is in the midst of a large Vietnamese-speaking community. We are offering two programs specially geared to the needs of these customers:

In the citizenship information workshop, the organization SIREN presents necessary information for those pursuing U.S. citizenship. These workshops/ classes/information seminars take place on the first Monday of the month at 4:30 p.m. The next one is May 2. SIREN stands for “Services, Immigrant Rights and Edu-cation Network.

We have two Vietnamese-speaking librarians at the Tully branch. They will be providing beginning Internet classes for Vietnamese speakers on Wednesday eve-nings at 6 p.m. If possible, let us know in advance if you plan to attend by calling (408) 808-3030.

Family Learning Center
Tully has a special area concentrating on the needs of new immigrants and others for whom English is not a first language. Such needs include ESL, citizenship and literacy.

Our collection includes videos, DVDs, cassette tapes, multimedia and books. The instructional technology includes four computers with extra software loaded on them, including Type to Learn, Pronunciation Power, English Grammar Interactive, Simon Sounds It Out, Ultimate Phonics and Strategies for Older Students. The Family Learn-ing Center also has audio and visual equipment.

The center is associated with the San Jose Public Library’s Partners in Reading program. Partners in Reading provides free one-to-one tutoring for adults whose reading or writing skills are below a ninth grade level. To qualify, an adult needs to speak and understand English at a conversational level.

Both tutors and learners are required to make a six-month commitment to meet two hours per week. Tutoring is provided by trained volunteers at the King Library, a San Jose Public Library system branch (including Tully) or another public site in San Jose.

Tim Collins is the Adult Services Librarian at the Tully Community Branch Library, 880 Tully Road, between McLaughlin and Senter. For more information about the library, call (408) 808-3030 or visit the Web site at sjlibrary.org.