July 29, 2005

Off the Shelf

By Tim Collins
Special to the Times

August, renowned for its hot sultry “dog days,” also doubles as Happiness Happens Month, National Inventors’ Month, Win With Civility Month, and, of course, May Your Reading Be a Haven Month.

Readers do tend to be happier, more inventive, and, of course, civil, don’t you think? Get a good book from your local library today and test the theory out.

Tully Library’s Calendar
During August we will be taking a break from our normal weekly children’s story times. They will resume in September. In the meantime, Summer Reading winds up on Aug. 13. Here’s a recap of upcoming activities.

For Children and Families
- Fridays, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Arts and crafts activities for children five and older; supplies are limited, first-come, first-serve.

- Aug. 5 Thermostat crafts

- Aug. 12 Bobble frogs

- Aug. 19 Animal candy holders

- Wednesday, Aug. 3, 3 p.m. – Super Hero Bingo

- Wednesday, Aug. 10, 3 p.m. – Super Reader Party

- Saturday, Aug. 13 – Last Day of Summer Reading—claim your prizes!

For Young Adults and Adults
- Mondays at 4 p.m. and Saturdays at 10 a.m. – Computer tutoring

- Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m., and Wednesdays at noon – Conversation groups

- Wednesdays, 6 p.m. – Beginning Internet classes in Vietnamese

- Tuesday, Aug. 2, 4:30 p.m. – Citizenship information session

- Saturday, Aug. 6, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Big book sale

- Monday, Aug. 8, 6:30 p.m. – Friends of the Tully Library meeting

- Wednesday, Aug. 17, 6 p.m. – TeensReach end-of-summer party

- Wednesday, Sept. 7, 7 p.m. – “Common Sense” book discussion

Monday hours change Aug. 1
Starting Aug. 1, Tully and all other San Jose Public Library branches will be open on Mondays from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Book sales
Our Tully Friends of the Library group seems to be garnering just as many book donations as the Evergreen Friends did. Do you want to take something to read on the plane or at the beach, but you’re afraid to bring a library book in case it gets lost or damaged?

Buy a book from our Tully Friends book sale, cheap! You win and the Friends win; when the Friends win, your library wins, too. Friends of the Library groups support the library in many and various ways. The most obvious way is they provide funding for special programs.

But besides money, Friends groups advocate on behalf of library causes to our elected leaders, decision-makers and the community at large. Join the Friends! They meet on the second Monday of the month here at Tully, at 6:30 pm.
The ongoing Friends book sale in our library is located on the east adult side, near the Family Learning Center. If you wish to donate books to the Friends, please bring them in during library open hours.

Make sure that the books or other materials are in good condition and that they are the sort of materials that there’s a reasonable chance that a member of the public might be willing to purchase. No one wants to buy 15-year-old computer books or 30-year-old college textbooks. Yes, you did shed blood, sweat and tears over that economics book, but there comes a time to say goodbye!

In addition to the ongoing book sale, on the first Saturday of the month, the teensReach group will bring out the inventory of donated books from the back rooms, and they will host a big blowout book sale from 10 a.m. to 2 pm. Proceeds of these Saturday book sales are split 50-50 between the teensReach group and the Friends.

“Common Sense” book discussion, Sept. 7
On Sept. 7 at 7 p.m., our ongoing book discussion group will be tackling that classic that helped ignite the American Revolution: Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense.” Although Paine’s pamphlet was certainly a document of its time and place, his ideas speak to us today. Some of the more famous quotes from Common Sense follow:

“These are the times that try men’s souls. …”

“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly. …”

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”

Normally, Tully’s book discussion group meets on the last Wednesday of the month. This time we shifted it one week, and chose the book that we did, to fall in with San Jose Public Library’s system-wide observance of Patriot Day, Sept. 11. Events and films will be shown throughout the system, both on the day itself, and the week preceding it.

Come participate. It should be a good, thoughtful discussion. It will be all the better if we get to share your thoughts as well.

Tim Collins is the Adult Services Librarian at the Tully Community Branch Library, 880 Tully Road, between McLaughlin and Senter roads. It is one of the branches of the San Jose Public Library. The library’s phone number is (408) 808-3030. For more information about the library, visit the Web site at www.sjlibrary.org.