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Have You Visited the East Palo Alto Library Lately?

Have You Visited the East Palo Alto Library Lately?

Community Reports @ EPA.net Posted on 2/23/06 Have you visited the East Palo Alto Library lately? By Michael Lambert Library Branch Manager East Palo Alto Library In addition to sticking to your diet and exercise regimen, being nicer to your family and friends, and better budgeting of your personal finances, the East Palo Alto Library would like you to add frequent visits to your local library to your list of New Year’s resolutions for 2006. Library cards are free and they allow registered card-holders to have full access to the library’s collections and high-speed Internet terminals. The East Palo Alto Library even has a wireless network offering owners of laptop computers a convenient hot spot with “WiFi” connectivity. Classic fictional works and new best-sellers by Terry McMillan, Julia Alvarez, Eric Jerome Dickey, Isabel Allende and many other authors are arriving every week. The library’s collection also boasts a great selection of biographies, poetry, legal books from Nolo Press, cookbooks, self-help and other titles on a multitude of subjects and interests. Our CD collection is a goldmine for jazz lovers as well as others who enjoy pop, hip-hop, reggae, Latin or gospel music. Do you commute to work or take vacations that require lengthy car trips? The library has books-on-tape, books-on-CD and downloadable audio books that can be enjoyed in cars, planes or on personal MP3 players. The library also has an impressive selection of feature films on DVD with new arrivals every week. Our periodicals collection includes magazines, area newspapers, popular titles like Sports Illustrated and Newsweek and many titles in Spanish. Are you interested in learning a foreign language or improving your English ability? The East Palo Alto Library has instructional books, CDs, tapes and videos that can assist you with a plethora of languages. The library also boasts an impressive collection of books, videos and DVDs in Spanish for both children and adults. Library staff recently returned from a book fair in Guadalajara, Mexico with a large acquisition of new Spanish language materials so be on the look out for new materials trickling into the branch in the coming weeks and months. Friendly library staff is always available to assist you in conducting research or in finding a good book to read. The library’s website is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for users to search the library’s catalog or to access our online research tools. Library card holders enjoy the added benefit of being able to reserve items from any of the other 34 libraries that make up the Peninsula Library System which includes libraries in Redwood City and San Mateo. The East Palo Alto Library hosts a wide variety of programs throughout the year for users of all ages. Black History Month will feature a visit by South African Storyteller Baba Shibambo and just in time to cure any post-Valentine’s Day blues, Dr. John Gray, best-selling relationships author of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, will visit East Palo Alto to promote his latest book The Mars-Venus Diet Solution. The library also offers regular storytimes for children and families to enjoy on Mondays, Tuesday, Wednesdays and Saturdays including a bilingual storytime in Spanish on Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m. In addition to ongoing early literacy programs like storytime, the East Palo Alto Library promotes literacy through its operation of the Quest Learning Center inside the library and also through its collaboration with the adult literacy program San Mateo County Reads. The Quest Learning Center team of tutors works closely with students everyday after-school to improve their mastery of all school subjects, especially English and Math, and to build students' self-esteem and self-confidence. San Mateo County Reads is located on the 2nd floor at 2415 University Avenue and matches adult learners and volunteers to meet 2 to 3 hours a week to work on a student's literacy goals. So if you haven’t visited the library lately, if you can’t find your library card or even if you have never signed up for a free library account at East Palo Alto Library, stop by 2415 University Ave. and start taking advantage of the tremendous resource you have in the community, your East Palo Alto Library. The East Palo Alto Library’s mission is to provide excellent, innovative library services that will - Ensure access to information in a variety of formats on a broad array of topics that support personal growth   and individual enrichment; - Build skills that assist in finding, evaluating and using information effectively; - Promote basic literacy for all ages; - Support current and continuing educational goals; - Offer current materials of popular and recreational interest. The East Palo Alto Library is located at 2415 University Ave and it is open Monday through Thursday 10 AM to 8 PM, Friday 10 AM to 6 PM, and Saturday 10 AM to 5 PM. For more information visit our website.

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