November 30, 2007

Off the Shelf

December is a month to celebrate Dewey at the library

By Tim Collins
Adult Services Librarian

We all know that Dec. 25 marks Christmas, followed one week later by Jan. 1, New Year’s Day. But as a librarian, it behooves me to point out Dec. 10, the birth anniversary of Melvil Dewey, (1851-1931), American librarian, inventor of the Dewey decimal book classification system and advocate of phonetic spelling (hence “Melvil” rather than his birth name of “Melville”.) Every time you find a nonfiction book at your local public library, whether it’s for school, business or simply your own reading pleasure, you pay homage to Mr. Dewey’s organizing skill. How’s that for a legacy?

Whether you are planning the Christmas menu (cookbooks = Dewey 641), investigating the religious aspects of the holiday (religion = Dewey 200’s), researching the history of Christmas and other winter solstice celebrations (folklore = Dewey 390’s), or possibly looking up information when planning your Dickens Christmas Fair (English history = Dewey 941 and British literature = Dewey 820’s), you too honor the memory of our hero, Melvil Dewey.
Come to your local San José Public Library and celebrate Mr. Dewey today!

Santa Claus is coming
Ho! Ho! Ho! Yes, Virginia…and Raul and Thuy…there is a Santa Claus, and he’s coming to Tully Library on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2-4 p.m. If you find yourself in another part of town at that time, well, Saint Nick will be visiting our Seventrees, Hillview, Educational Park and Dr. Roberto Cruz – Alum Rock libraries that same afternoon as well. How can Mr. Claus be in multiple places at the same time? It’s a secret!

So enjoy a festive day at the library. Santa and Friends are visiting with special gifts for good boys and girls while supplies last. Children must be present to receive a gift. Take a picture with Santa. Don’t forget your camera!

Many people have worked long and hard to arrange Santa’s visit, and here we want to especially acknowledge the San Jose Mercury News, RAFT, the Marine Corps Toys for Tots campaign, and the Friends of the Tully Library. This is a very popular program, and we expect many, many people will be attending.

Books and More! Bilingual Bags
Families can now check out special bilingual bags at Tully, Alum Rock and Hillview libraries. Enjoy the books, the parenting DVD, the music CD, toy and suggested activities. Read, learn and have fun with your family at home. Help your child succeed in school. This project is made possible through funding from Business Objects Foundation, and Target.

Homework Center
Tully’s Homework Center operates five days a week, Monday through Friday, from 2:30 to 5:30 pm. Often the Homework Center is very lightly attended on Fridays. So if you have made arrangements with one of our three tutors ahead of time, a student can have up to a half-hour of individualized tutoring on Fridays, rather than simply working on given homework.

Kindergarten Readiness Workshops
Offered on Tuesday evenings, 6 to 8 p.m., Dec. 4 and Dec. 11, this continuing parenting series focuses on providing parents with parenting skills to prepare their children for kindergarten. Workshops include the following topics: Kindergarten Readiness, Developmental Profile, K Basics, Nutrition and Pre-Reading/Math. Workshops will be presented by Choices for Children in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. Please pre-register to let us know if you plan to attend.

Teen Social Night
On the third Wednesday of the month, Dec. 19, this month, enjoy the Teen Social Night from 7 to 7:45 p.m., with refreshments, games, books, karaoke, and generally having fun and good times with friends. This program is designed for youths age 13 to 18, and is funded by Tully teensReach and Friends groups.

Focus on Databases
Some of the most valuable information tools the library has are its databases, which provide easy subject access to thousands of articles published in magazines, newspapers and other reference materials. Let them be some of your valuable tools as well. To get to any of our databases, open up our website www.sjlibrary.org, click on the words you see on the left “Articles and Databases.” If you are a San José Public Library customer (as opposed to a San Jose State customer), then click on the words you see on the top right “SJPL Remote and Branch Users.” Here’s a couple that I have used today in helping customers:

Opposing Viewpoints
If you are trying to find information on social issues, especially controversial issues with two or more basic points of view associated with them, the Opposing Viewpoints database is just what you need. Here you can often find hundreds of articles on a given subject. Opposing Viewpoints covers almost any social issue you can think of, including abortion, global warming, capital punishment, terrorism, Iraq, the Patriot Act and gun control. With the Opposing Viewpoints database, you can access viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles. Usually articles obtained here are more up-to-date than most books at any given moment in time.

History Resource Center
Whether the topic you’re interested in is democracy in ancient Greece, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, or various policies of the Bush Administration – ‘W’ or ‘H.W.’ – the History Resource Center can be useful to you. There is both a “World” version and a “U.S.” version of this database. When you do a search for a historical topic, you will come up with articles from reference books, periodicals, primary sources (diary extracts, speeches, court rulings, laws, treaties and the like) and maps and multimedia. If you are investigating a time period, the databases have a timeline feature that allow you to read up on various and sundry news stories and happenings of the era.

City-Wide Activities / Calendar of Events
For a listing of all upcoming Tully events pick up a calendar in English or Spanish next time you visit us. For library events citywide, including the Dr. King library downtown, check the Events section of the SJPL website www.sjlibrary.org. For other activities, classes, programs and services citywide, pick up a Winter 2008 Citywide Activity Guide, put out by the Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services, or go online to www. sanjoseca.gov/prns.

Tim Collins is the Adult Services Librarian at the Tully Community Branch Library, 880 Tully Road, between McLaughlin and Senter. The Library’s phone number is 808-3030. For more information about events and services provided by San José Public Library visit sjlibrary.org.