Library Card

I have a library card signed by Jerry Lewis, which he gave to me in 1941 when we attended the same school. Also, how can I find out the value of a Shaker chair with the number 13 on the back?A library card that Jerry signed before he became "Jerry Lewis" is indeed priceless. You may want to donate the card to Jerry's next muscular dystrophy telethon, asking that it be auctioned off to the highest bidder with the proceeds benefiting the cause. Or anyone interested in obtaining the card can write me to contact you.To check out the value of your Shaker chair, or to auction it, write Skinner Inc., 357 Main St., Bolton, Mass.

While on vacation last week, I stumbled on one of the most pleasant library settings imaginable: Bryant Park , swath of green behind the main branch of the New York Public Library . Among the trees on the northern end of the park are book carts and tables, creating the perfect setting for a day of reading -- even when temperatures were in the mid-90s. If I hadn't been on a tight sight-seeing schedule, I would have loved to sit down with a book or magazine for an hour in the Bryant Park Reading Room.

Autumn Griffiths and Amber O'Connor stared transfixed at the video camera and delivered a barely audible cheer. Throughout two practice runs, Hilltop Elementary School's media specialist tugged on her earlobe, signaling that she needed the two third-graders to speak louder. Finally, Jane Anders reassured them that no one would know if they made a mistake. Then she peered into the camera's viewfinder. "You look absolutely dynamite," Anders said. Though still nervous, the girls recited "Go read!

Regarding your recent editorial on the Harford County Public Library's decision not to purchase the book "Fifty Shades of Grey," the library did not ban the book as you claimed ("Banned in Bel Air," June 2). We strongly oppose censorship of any type and are ardent supporters of intellectual freedom - a critical and essential role for a public library in any community. The Harford County Public Library does not purchase every book that is published, and it follows our library board of trustees' materials selection policy.

Louise Cummings Dorcas got a glimpse more than a century into the city's past yesterday when she saw an enlarged image of her late father's library card - the first issued to an African-American in Maryland. Dorcas, an art teacher at Frederick Douglass High School for about 40 years, does not remember her father, Harry S. Cummings, who died in 1917. But she has been told many times that he was one of the first two black graduates of the University of Maryland Law School and the first black member of the City Council.

Preschoolers Holly Gephardt and Ashley Murph are part of an elite club in Essex -- and they have shiny new membership cards to prove it.Holly and Ashley -- ages 4 and 3 respectively -- are some of the youngest members of the Essex branch of the Baltimore County library system, under an unusual program that aims to put library cards in the hands of very young children to get them interested in reading.Community support librarians at the Essex Library decided to focus on young readers -- 9 years old and younger, some of whom barely know the alphabet -- last year as a means to introduce children to the library.

A LIBRARY card is a ticket to the infinite variety of life experiences to be enjoyed in the theater of the mind. Today, that ticket is wallet-size, with your name on it and what is known as a "zebra label" (those funny parallel stripes that "speak" to a computer). When you borrow a book at the Pratt, the librarian whisks a "light" pen over the stripes on your card to record the transaction for the library, and then stamps the book's due date on a sticker affixed to the back.Which brings up the question asked by Baltimoreans of a certain age: What happened to the old library card?

AS A CHILD, I was given one of the greatest gifts I ever could have received - a library card. The role of libraries in the community has changed drastically since I was exposed to their wonderful opportunities. Paper slips have been replaced by bar codes and card catalogs by extensive online databases. But libraries are still magical and in some instances life-saving places for children and adults. September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month. While many establishments now require you to have a card for discounts or special club benefits, your library card provides free access to a world of resources in print and online, along with the expert assistance of librarians and other library staff.

Hey, what's that beep? Cell phone? Pager? Watch alarm? No, it's your wallet -- you left your Visa card back at the store.Yes, the beeping wallet, technology's latest effort to save us from ourselves. It works like this: Remove a credit card from your wallet, it beeps. One beep, like when the microwave has the Lean Cuisine ready. If the card isn't back in the wallet within 20 seconds, it beeps again, three times.This beeping continues intermittently until your card is safely back in the wallet or until five minutes have passed, whichever comes first.

LIBRARIES County Library howa.lib.md.us Central Library -- 10375 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. 410-313-7800. East Columbia branch -- 6600 Cradlerock Way, Columbia. 410-313-7700. Elkridge branch -- 6540 Washington Blvd., Elkridge. 410-313-5077. Glenwood branch -- 2350 Route 97, Cooksville. 410-313-5577. Miller branch -- 9421 Frederick Road, Ellicott City. 410-313-1950. Savage branch -- 9525 Durness Lane, Laurel. 410-880-5979. Policies Borrowing library materials -- Howard County library cards entitle cardholders to borrow up to 30 items at a time.

After Crystal Langdon checks out 22 books from her library on Reisterstown Road on Wednesday, she plans to carry them home on the Metro in her purse. And preteen boys enrolled at St. Ignatius Loyola Academy may soon be able to leave their book bags at home, because their reading lists for the entire year will fit into their back pockets. For the past three years, library patrons have been able to download virtual books onto some electronic readers, such as Barnes & Noble's Nook, or the Sony Reader, for the three-week loan period that is standard for hardcover and paperback volumes.

I just returned from voting. After I gave the poll workers my name and address, I was given a form to sign and an electronic voting card. After I took the card, I asked if they were going to ask me for identification. They replied "No. " When I asked how they could be sure that I was who I said I was, they replied that they had to "trust" me. They said they were not allowed to ask for identification. When I replied that this was nuts, they agreed but said it was the law. I need identification to get a library card, but none to vote?

The $4.3 million Arbutus branch of Baltimore County's library system is winning rave reviews from its youngest to oldest patrons after officially reopening at a new location. While her mother watched from a cozy window seat, Emily Riesett celebrated her fifth birthday Monday playing at cake-baking in the children's area of the Sulphur Spring Road library. "It is the only thing she wanted to do for her birthday," Karen Riesett said of her daughter. "We just love how family-friendly it is here.

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.

Kindergartner Madi Costigan stood on her tiptoes at the desk of the Miller Branch library, reaching up to hand the librarian a picture book and her library card. Regular patrons waited in line while Madi and her Worthington Elementary kindergarten class checked out books, many of the children doing so for the first time. The students were visiting Miller as part of a partnership between the Howard County Library and public school kindergartens. The field trips draw children and their families to the library, but also teach students map reading and literacy skills.

Autumn Griffiths and Amber O'Connor stared transfixed at the video camera and delivered a barely audible cheer. Throughout two practice runs, Hilltop Elementary School's media specialist tugged on her earlobe, signaling that she needed the two third-graders to speak louder. Finally, Jane Anders reassured them that no one would know if they made a mistake. Then she peered into the camera's viewfinder. "You look absolutely dynamite," Anders said. Though still nervous, the girls recited "Go read!

Internet users at Baltimore County's public libraries may notice something different on the computers: a new program designed to filter pornography. In the past few weeks, the county library system has installed the filters on its 350 public computers. The system is doing this in response to a Supreme Court ruling last year that tied some federal funding for libraries to the use of the filters. The ruling was widely criticized by free speech advocates and library directors, who say the problem of library patrons visiting obscene Web pages is overstated.

While on vacation last week, I stumbled on one of the most pleasant library settings imaginable: Bryant Park , swath of green behind the main branch of the New York Public Library . Among the trees on the northern end of the park are book carts and tables, creating the perfect setting for a day of reading -- even when temperatures were in the mid-90s. If I hadn't been on a tight sight-seeing schedule, I would have loved to sit down with a book or magazine for an hour in the Bryant Park Reading Room.

The audio version of the historical novel Master and Commander lists for $49.95 in its unabridged form. But last week Bob Hammond of Manhattan Beach, Calif., downloaded it off the Internet free. Hammond is no hacker or identity thief. He simply has a library card. Public libraries have long offered audio books on cassette tapes and CDs that can be checked out, but now they can be downloaded directly to home computers. In Maryland, anyone with a public library card from the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore or the public library systems of surrounding suburban counties can download audio books by entering the patron's name and library card number on the Web site of the Maryland Digital eLibrary Consortium and then selecting the desired books.