County Public Library

Fiction At First Sight By Nicolas Sparks Blue Smoke By Nora Roberts Camel Club By David Baldacci Predator By Patricia Cornwell A Wedding in December By Anita Shreve Nonfiction The City of Falling Angels By John Berendt Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Physical and Spiritual Well-Being By Andrew Weil A Million Little Pieces By James Frey Teacher Man By Frank McCourt The Year of Magical Thinking By Joan Didion Now in Paperback ...

Jim Fish had a knack for management from a young age, former colleagues say - and in his 43 years as a professional librarian, he never worked as anything but a library director. The longtime administrator of the Baltimore County Public Library stepped down last month, having witnessed many changes in library technology - and in American society itself. When he began his adult career more than four decades ago, people still used card catalogs. There were no Kindles or other e-readers.

A medieval castle with arched windows, turrets and a majestic entrance is under construction at the Towson branch of the Baltimore County Public Library. The structure, located in the library's children's area, isn't intended to protect precious tomes, but to entice children and their parents to spend more time browsing for literary classics such as "Charlotte's Web" and "Curious George." "We want to create a completely different world here," said library Manager Jennifer Haire, who expects the castle project to be finished by mid-June.

Christine Crawford, vice president of the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce, was recently named to the board for the The Foundation for Baltimore County Public Library. The foundation provides funding for projects that encourage children and young adults to cultivate enthusiasm for reading and learning -- such as Storyville, My First Library Card and Summer Reading Club - and raises funds for programs or projects that enhance systemwide library goals and objectives. Crawford joined the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce in July 2005 as director of membership.

When Sykesville resident Craig Teuber was looking for a quick, inexpensive way to get family news to relatives around the nation, he turned to the Carroll County public library.Already one of the state's best Internet bargains -- unlimited Internet access for $50 a year -- the library sweetened the deal Dec. 13 by allowing its customers to publish personal pages on the World Wide Web, the multimedia portion of the Internet.The new feature has never been advertised, yet two of the library's 1,992 Internet subscribers put personal pages on the Web within hours of the service becoming available.

All branches and administrative offices of the Baltimore County Public Library will be closed Oct. 12 for Staff Day.

In Baltimore CountyInformation sought on woman missing since mid-JanuaryREISTERSTOWN -- Police are asking the public's help to find an 18-year-old woman who has been missing for three weeks.Hae Min Lee, who lived with family members in the 7300 block of Rockridge Road, was last seen about 3 p.m. Jan. 13 at Woodlawn Senior High School, where she was a student. After school she was supposed to pick up her 6-year-old niece and go to work, police said, but she did not do either.Police described Lee as an Asian, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 110 pounds with shoulder-length black hair.

|TC Astronomer David Leisawitz will present a program about modern astronomy for children ages 6 and older from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. March 5 at the central Howard County public library.The library will accept registration starting tomorrow.Information: 313-7880.

Harford County government offices will be closed tomorrow for Veterans Day. The Harford County Waste Disposal Center will be closed, but Waste to Energy will be open. Harford transit will operate on a limited schedule. Harford County Public Library and senior centers are closed. Public schools are open.

IN LIGHT of recent events that have renewed public concern over the spread of AIDS, the deadly disease has become the main topic of conversation in many schools and households. Children are turning to their parents and teachers for answers on AIDS; and adults, in turn, are looking for reliable information on AIDS prevention to share with young people.The following list of reading material is designed as a suggested guide -- as a source of information on AIDS for young readers as well as a springboard for healthy discussions among children and adults.

"Growing up, I would play librarian,” says Mary Hastler.  “I would line my stuffed animals up, and they would check out books.” So maybe it's no surprise that during Hastler's first career in health-care administration, she began volunteering with Bel Air Friends of the Library, helping organize fundraisers. Soon enough, she was working nine hours a week at the library, which snowballed into a new career. In 2010, she became director of the Harford County Public Library. Hastler's mission is to reinvent the library continually to maintain its relevance to the public.

Little Leapers was unveiled to an excited crowd of children and caregivers along with program sponsors and library staff on March 27 at the Bel Air library. More than 80 people were in attendance, including 30 children, to see the new kits and have the opportunity to participate in several experiments put on by local scientists. Little Leapers is Harford County Public Library's newest early literacy initiative which consists of pre- and early-literacy kits that focus on fostering and developing pre- and early literacy skills through STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)

The Harford County Public Library system has announced the launch of its newest early literacy initiative, Little Leapers, pre- and early-literacy kits that focus on fostering and developing pre- and early literacy skills through STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) topics. Targeted for children up to 5 years, the kits will be unveiled at the Bel Air Library on March 27. "Little Leapers will aid with reading readiness, preparing our county's children for school and introducing STEM at an early age to nurture life-long interest," Mary Hastler, library director, said in a press release.

Renowned for unique auction items at its annual Gala, the Harford County Public Library Foundation recently added a catered lunch for six with New York Times bestselling author Jeff Shaara to its live auction. The auction will take place at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, at the Abingdon Library during the Library's Gala, Once Upon a Time - an Evening in the Stacks. Shaara has written 11 historical war novels that have made the New York Times bestseller list and will also be the feature author for the Foundation's annual Night Out @ the Library on April 19, 2013.

Summer can be a young mind's enemy. Not only are kids discouraged from tackling new concepts during lazy days of pool time and backyard play, but the long break from school, if not reinforced with summer learning, erodes knowledge gained from the previous school year. The Boston-based Family Education Network says that summer can be a "brain drain." It points to a University of Missouri study suggesting that when kids return to school after summer vacation, they've lost one month to three months of learning.

Dressed in purple T-shirts printed with "Express yourself," 11-year-old Victoria Oji and her sister Mercy, 13, manned a desk in the children's area of the White Marsh library. They helped children fill out applications for the library's popular reading program, suggested reading-related activities and demonstrated craft projects. "I like helping other kids be creative about reading," said Mercy, sporting a pipe-cleaner headband she had made. The sisters, who volunteer at their neighborhood library about four hours a week, are among more than 500 middle- and high-school students helping to make the annual Summer Reading Program at the Baltimore County Public Library a success.

Faced with a 10 percent cut in its operational budget, the Harford County Public Library Board of Trustees has recommended Sunday closings, staff and program reductions and a 20 percent decrease in new materials. All 11 branches in the system, which has seen a 9 percent growth in circulation this year, will remain open but each will eliminate four hours from their six-day schedules. The board had considered closing the Fallston Library, until the neighboring community expressed strong opposition.

Don't forget using the library to help save a little money Maryland libraries rank among the best in the country. You pay for them. Now get your money's worth. The movies you rent. The books you buy for $25 and $35 apiece. The video games costing $50 and more. Barney DVDs. They're often at the library, in most cases for free. The Baltimore County Public Library might be exaggerating when it estimates you can save $2,432 a year by using your library card instead of your VISA card. (It figures adults spend $450 a year just on books.