Library Card

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.

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.

Editor's note: Once Edward has learned to read,books and his vivid imagination take him on great adventures.Next to home, the library was Edward's favorite place. He had his own library card and could borrow all the books he could carry. One day Edward found a book lying on a shelf behind some other books.The book was old and covered with dust.Edward blew away the dust and read the title:Lost Pirate Treasure.He sat down and began to read: ``Some pirate treasure has never been found ...''Edward was still reading when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.

In Baltimore CountyChildren get extras with first library cardESSEX -- The county's Essex library has its own version of Welcome Wagon for young readers embarking on book adventures by getting their first library card.Children up to age 9 signing up for their first card -- who must be accompanied by a parent with proper identification -- will receive a bag containing a book, pencil, activity sheet, book lists, bookmark, and the library's calendar of events.Whenever possible, the greeting includes a visit to the information desk and a tour of the children's fiction section, highlighting appropriate material.

Baltimore might call itself "the city that reads," but only one in four city public elementary schoolchildren are estimated to have library cards -- a rate that is below other suburban areas'.The schools and the Enoch Pratt Free Library are trying to change that statistic and entice more children into the city's 26 public library branches."Our goal is to issue 10,000 new cards to Baltimore city schoolchildren," said Vanessa Pyatt, a spokeswoman for the school system. "We hope to exceed that goal."

SOMETIMES IT'S THE little things. Like getting a library card.Mamie Barnett showed up at the Greater Homewood Adult Literacy Program 28 months ago not knowing "where to start" on a printed page. The other day she got her library card from the Waverly branch of Enoch Pratt Free Library. She checked out a book and read it.Little things to most of us, but at once intimidating and thrilling to Barnett, 58, who is now reading at the third-grade level. Who knows what could be next. The Bible, perhaps.

The Wheel Deal"So You Want to Make a Car" examines the auto industry inside out, giving you a glimpse into the world of cars, from the Ford Model T to the Porsche 911. Shift into high gear and head to http://www.ipl.org/autou/ where you'll join Eddie and Cathie on a tour of the Chrysler Sterling Heights Plant in Michigan. You'll watch welders, glass installers and body shop experts ply their trades on the assembly line. The site also provides cool movie clips, photos and links to sites dedicated to racecars, solar cars, antique cars and more.

The bartender poured champagne under a sign that said "Register Here for Library Card."Piles of old books ("The Scarlet Letter," among them) and literary quotations on cards served as centerpieces.The cake was a trompe l'oeil masterpiece, a haphazard tower of six classic tomes, including "Lust for Life" and "Love in the Time of Cholera," which, from a distance, passed for the real thing.Newlyweds Linda Drury -- in 40 yards of creamy tulle and Chantilly lace -- and David McBride -- in a tux and gold vest -- radiantly greeted 160 friends and relatives Saturday night in the grand, pillared lobby of the Enoch Pratt Central Library on Cathedral Street.

They look like bank machines, and the idea -- speeding a transaction -- is similar. But the beige devices that will appear in Baltimore County's three busiest libraries late this week instead will speed book borrowers on their way.The automatic book checkout machines being installed in Cockeysville, Catonsville and Towson are intended to cut checkout lines, increase circulation and free library workers to help in other ways, said Jim Fish, director of...

Ever struck by the midnight urge to remember who starred in your favorite 1970s movie?Fear not. If you own a computer with access to the Internet -- and have a Baltimore County library card -- the answer is just a few keystrokes away.In a month-old service that county officials say is a first for tTC Maryland public libraries, users can query the Baltimore County library by e-mail through the library's World Wide Web site and get an answer within 48 hours.Homework questions, sports trivia -- it's all there for the asking, at least for those with county library cards.