EVERY HERO HAS A STORY!

2015 SUMMER READING HAS ARRIVED!
ARE YOU REGISTERED YET?

Every hero has a story. What's yours?
 Grab your cape and find out in our Summer Reading Program! Here's all you have to do:

1. Register at the library (or online through our website)

2. Complete reading goals

3. Enter to win prizes

THAT'S ALL!

You can register in our Youth, Teen, or Adult programs and win great fantastic prizes. Think you have what it takes to be a "super" reader? Register today!


Questions? Please call us at (513) 899-2588 and/or drop us a line on our Facebook page linked above. 
We'd love to hear from you!

Summer Reading Program

"It's a bird! It's a plane! 

It's...Summer Reading?!"

2015 SUMMER READING PROGRAM

COMING SOON

That's right. Our annual Summer Reading Program is just around the corner and it is is "super"-sized this year. We'll have magicians, artists, movies, games, prizes, snacks, and a whole lot more starting June 1st! Do you have what it takes to be a hero?

Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

February is just around the corner, 

which means it is Love Your Library Month! 

In order to celebrate we'll be offering a variety of programs, activities, and more...all to let you know how much we appreciate you appreciating us! We'll have two Crocheting workshops, our Winter's Treat Program, Blind Date with a Book, a Teen Movie Night, and so much more. So stop in and help us spread the love by letting us know what it is that you love the most about the library!

Little Readers!

Registration for 

Spring 2015 StoryTime

begins January 5th

First sessions begin:

Preschool - January 13th

Toddler - January 14th

Questions? Please call (513) 899-2588 or visit our Facebook page at the link above.

We Recommend...

SWEET

by Valerie Gordon

The holidays will be here before you know it. And who doesn't love getting something sweet as a gift? Valerie Gordon's new cookbook is brimming with decadent desserts and classic recipes! 

"With this comprehensive cookbook filled with Valerie Gordon's beloved recipes, now even more people can eat and bake the Valerie way. Favorite desserts like petits fours, cakes, truffles, and cookies have been perfected with the addition of candied rose petals, atomized chocolate, fleur de sel, matcha tea, and other special ingredients. Valerie re-creates desserts from Los Angeles’s lost restaurants such as Chasen’s and the Brown Derby; she simplifies the process of making jam; she provides an accessible way to mix and match components so readers can design their own luscious cakes and pies. Filled with helpful tricks, recipes for a range of tastes, and gorgeous full-color photographs, Sweet is destined to become every baker’s favorite cookbook." 

Summer Reading Program - Final Week - July 21-25

WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS WEEK?

MONDAY

PENDULUM PAINTING

6:30-7:30 PM

FAMILY PROGRAM

Get into the swing of pendulum painting! Take home your own unique painting! Wear old clothes---it will get messy!

TUESDAY

BUBBLE-OLOGY

11:00-11:30 AM

YOUTH PROGRAM

Immerse yourself in fun bubble science! Create the perfect bubble formula and experiment with different bubble frame and wands! Everyone will take home their own decorated bubble wand!

TEEN MOVIE NIGHT AFTER-HOURS

7:00-9:00 PM

TEEN PROGRAM

Join us for our most super-sized Teen Movie Night yet! There'll be a hit blockbuster film, pizza, ice-cream sundae bar, and more in this super-charged version of our most popular Teen Program!

WEDNESDAY

LITTLE EINSTEINS STORYTIME

11:00-11:30 AM

18 MONTHS - PRE-K

*REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED*

A special program for our littlest geniuses! Stories and crafts to included!

THURSDAY

MAD SCIENTISTS & MINIONS PARTY!

7:00-8:00 PM

EVERYONE'S INVITED!

*REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED*

Come dressed as a mad, wacky scientist or a "Despicable Me" Minion, if you dare...and you may just win a door prize! There will be Minion games and crafts for you to enjoy. Make sure you check out the cool display of recyclable robots made by our creative library families! And don't forget to visit our "Wacky Cookie Creation Station" where you task is to build, decorate, and eat an outrageous cookie. Save room for a scoop of brain-freezing ice-cream, fizzy drinks, and pure H20! Final prizes for the Summer Reading Program will also be awarded this night!

Good Reads

This month's selection, Defending Jacob (William Landay), comes from Fay: 

"It's a terrific, psychological courtroom drama. A fascinating read!"

Andy Barber has been a respected and admired assistant district attorney in the courtroom for two decades. Happy at home with the loves of his life (his wife, Laurie, and their teenage son, Jacob), Andy’s quiet suburb is stunned by a shocking crime: a young boy is stabbed to death in a nearby park. And an even greater shock: the accused is Andy’s own son—shy, awkward, mysterious Jacob. Andy believes in Jacob’s innocence. Any parent would. But as the pressure mounts and damning evidence comes to light, doubt begins to set in. A marriage begins to falter. The neighbors’ contempt sets in. A murder trial that threatens to obliterate Andy’s family looms.

 It is the ultimate test for any parent: how far would you go to protect your child? For Andy Barber, a man with an iron will and a dark secret, it is a test of guilt and innocence in the deepest sense. How far would you go?

New Releases!

Look for these and other great new releases, available for check out today!

 

Warm Bodies

 

 

"An unlikely romance between a beautiful human teen

and a sensitive undead slacker sets off a chain of events

with the power to transform the world."

 

Falling Skies

 

 

"The season two premiere begins three months after Tom Mason agreed

to go with the alien invaders. Weaver is still in command of the 2nd Mass,

while Anne continues to serve as medic."

 

 

Struck by Lightning

 

 

 "From Tribeca Film. GLEE's Chris Colfer and Pitch Perfect's Rebel Wilson star in this hilarious comedy about surviving high school when your classmates don't get you, your parents are crazy, and all you have are your dreams."

 

This Is How You Lose Her

by Junot Díaz

 

 "On a beach in the Dominican Republic, a doomed relationship flounders. In the heat of a hospital laundry room in New Jersey, a woman does her lover’s washing and thinks about his wife. In Boston, a man buys his love child, his only son, a first baseball bat and glove. At the heart of these stories is the irrepressible, irresistible Yunior, a young hardhead whose longing for love is equaled only by his recklessness--and by the extraordinary women he loves and loses: artistic Alma; the aging Miss Lora; Magdalena, who thinks all Dominican men are cheaters; and the love of his life, whose heartbreak ultimately becomes his own."

 

Please Don't Tell

by Elizabeth Adler

 

 

 "Fen Dexter’s quiet life on the idyllic California coast is interrupted one stormy night when a blood-covered man shows up on her doorstep, claiming to have had a car accident. He tells her that he is on his way to San Francisco to help the police solve the murder of his fiancé. Unable to make it to the hospital because of the storm, he stays the night at Fen’s, and the attraction between them is obvious. The next morning he heads to the hospital where Fen’s niece, Vivi, is an ER doctor. Vivi is treating the most recent target of a serial killer whose signature move is to leave a note saying “Please Don’t Tell” taped across his victims’ mouths. When Fen’s mysterious stranger comes to Vivi to have his wounds stitched she agrees to set him up to talk with the police about his fiancé. Who is this man, really? What does he want with Fen and her family? And will they live long enough to uncover the truth?"

 

The English Girl

by Daniel Silva

 

 

"Daniel Silva delivers another spectacular thriller starring Gabriel Allon. When a beautiful young British woman vanishes on the island of Corsica, a prime minister's career is threatened with destruction. Allon, the wayward son of Israeli intelligence, is thrust into a game of shadows where nothing is what it seems...and where the only thing more dangerous than his enemies might be the truth."

Summer Reading Program Finale!

 

 

Another year of summer reading fun has come and gone as our "Dig Into Reading" and "Beneath the Surface" programs come to a close. We hope that you uncovered some valuable stories and buried treasures as you went on your reading journey to the center of the earth and back. We know we sure enjoyed seeing all of your smiling faces at all of our programs and activities!

 

Don't worry though: the library fun isn't over --- in fact, it never ends! We have programs all year around for all ages and are always looking to make your reading experience more enjoyable.

Hey, Check This Out!

 

"A Week in Winter"

by Maeve Binchy

 

Maeve Binchy, "the grand story teller," returns with a cast of characters you will never forget. Stoneyville is a small town on the coast of Ireland where all the families know each other. When Chicky decides to take an old decaying mansion, Stone House, and turn it into a restful place for a holiday by the sea, the town thinks she is crazy. She is helped by Rigger, a bad boy turned good who is handy around the place, and her niece Orla, who is a whiz at business.

 

Finally the first week of paying guests arrive: John, the American movie star thinks he has arrived incognito; Nuala and Henry, husband and wife, both doctors who have been shaken by seeing too much death; Miss Nell Howe, a retired school teacher, who criticizes everything and leaves a day early; the Walls who have entered in 200 contests (and won everything from a microwave oven to velvet curtains, including the week at Stone House); and Freda, the psychic who is afraid of her own visions.

 

 You will laugh and cry as you spend the week with this odd group who share their secrets and might even have some of their dreams come true!

 

Check it out today!

Celebrate the Dream

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY

 

This year will mark the 84th birthday of one of our nation's most influential, beloved, and remembered icons: Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. In the week leading up to the national holiday, we invite you to help us celebrate and honor his memory and legacy by stopping in to check out our display on the Civil Rights leader and activist, located near our Adult Fiction section.

Materials include biographies, speeches, non-fiction, and more!

*Please be aware that the library will be closed on January 21st in observance*

Hey, Check This Out!

THE HOBBIT

J.R.R. TOLKIEN

 

 J.R.R. Tolkien's enchanting prelude to his Lord of the Rings trilogy centers around Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum.

 

Check it out today! And make sure to look for other Tolkien
works as well, including The Silmarillion and The Book of Lost Tales.

Give Thanks for Books!

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we here at the library have decided to put together a collection of the books we're most thankful for: our favorites! Read on to find out what we've enjoyed the most and then drop us a comment and let us know what YOUR favorite books are!

Heidi

Johanna Spyri

Gone With the Wind

Margaret Mitchell 

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

C.S. Lewis

Harry Potter

J.K. Rowling

Lad: A Dog

Albert Payson Terhune

The Pillars of the Earth

Ken Follett

The Good Earth

Pearl S. Buck

READER BEWARE!

 

 

What do the books The Great Gatsby, Gone With the Wind,

and The Lord of the Rings have in common?

THEY HAVE ALL BEEN BANNED

 

Next week, libraries across the nation will be observing the 30th Anniversary of National Banned Book Week (September 30th - October 6th, 2012). Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the value of free and open access to information. Bringing together the entire book community – librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types – in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular, Banned Book Week focuses on the efforts made across the country to remove or restrict access to books, and draws national attention to the harms of censorship.

 

Want to know what other books have been banned?

You may be surprised. Check out the link below to find out more!

 

http://www.ala.org/bbooks

What We're Reading!

Finished that summer reading? Have you found yourself at the end of your booklist? Looking for something to fill that literary void? Read on to find out what we here at the Salem Township Public Library are reading! Check them out today!

Summerland

Elin Hilderbrand

"This novel was very well written. Having read some of Hilderbrand's previous novels, I found this one to have a more in-depth construction of the characters, of the people involved. The author seemed to have a greater emotional insight into the characters, which in turn made them seem far more vivid than in her previous works."

What begins as a local tradition is torn asunder when Nantucket High student Penny Alistair is tragically killed in a car accident, an accident that leaves her twin brother in a coma. The other passengers, Penny's boyfriend Jake and her friend Demeter, are physically unhurt - but the emotional damage is overwhelming. As summer unfolds, startling truths are revealed about the survivors and their parents - secrets kept, promises broken, hearts betrayed. Elin Hilderbrand explores the power of community, family, and honesty, and proves that even from the ashes of sorrow, new love can still take flight.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

by Erik Larson

"I like how the author juxtaposes the lives of the architect and the murderer. They share a lot of the same characteristics: they're both very charming, very intelligent, and passionate with their respective works. It's just very interesting because about half of what the author's writing is from actual letters and correspondances: words that were said, ideas that were real. For example, he mentions that a lot of people have forgotten that there was ever a World's Fair in Chicago, which is true. Its very interesting."

Erik Larson—author of #1 bestseller In the Garden of Beasts—intertwines the true tale of the 1893 World's Fair and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death. Combining meticulous research with nail-biting storytelling, Erik Larson has crafted a narrative with all the wonder of newly discovered history and the thrills of the best fiction.

Insomnia

by Stephen King

"As anyone who has extensively read Stephen King knows, Derry is a town with a wickedness beneath its surface. Having just finished It, I was very excited to return to Derry, and this novel does not disappoint. It is not as emotionally engaging as some of his other works, but it definitely more complex and far more intruiging. At times it can feel as if you're lost within the plot, but its important to remember that this is as much an entry into King's Dark Tower series as it is a standalone novel. The spook level? Somewhere inbetween Bag of Bones and Tommyknockers."

Ralph Roberts can't get to sleep. Literally. Ever since the death of his wife, he has been up all night, and its beginning to affect his sanity.  He's seeing some pretty strange things, things no-one else is seeing: colors, auruas, and strange little bald men with scalpels. No wonder he can't get back to sleep. But what Ralph discovers is far more terrifying than anything he could ever dream. You see, Derry is a town that is not at all what it seems and what Ralph discovers about his beloved home will leave him at the center of an apocalyptic war between the forces of good and evil.

What We've Enjoyed!

Looking for an entertaining read for your little one(s)?

Something to keep you turning the pages late into the night?

Here are a few reccomendations from staff and fellow patrons!

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

 Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems

"When Trixie, Daddy, and Knuffle Bunny take a trip to the neighborhood Laundromat, an exciting adventure takes ensues as Trixie realizes 'somebunny' was left behind. Using a combination of muted black-and-white photographs and expressive illustrations, this stunning book tells a brilliantly true-to-life tale about what happens when Daddy's in charge and things go terribly, hilariously wrong."

ADULT FICTION

"Three Pines Mystery" Series by Louise Penny

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. So begins Still Life, the introduction to what is not only an engaging protagonist in Inspector Gamache, who commands his forces--and this series--with integrity and quiet courage, but also a winning and talented new writer of traditional mysteries in the person of Louise Penny.

2012 Summer Reading Program Finale!



Another year of summer reading has come and gone and it was more than jam-packed full of fun activities, exciting programs, amazing prizes, and lots and lots of books! We hope that you enjoyed participating in 2012's "Dream Big" Summer Reading Program and will join us again next year. We would also like to say thank everyone who did participate and made the program so much fun!

Congratulations to our prizes winners! The luck of the draw was on your side this year as you won one of our many amazing prizes, including Kindle Fires, Nook Tablets, Kings Island tickets, Cincinnati Reds tickets, and more! If you were one of the lucky winners, please stop by the Circulation Desk as soon as possible to pick up your prize.

Still haven't earned that 2012 Summer Reading t-shirt yet? Don't worry -- you have until this Friday, July 27th, to enjoy your remaining materials and earn yours!

Make sure to stop in just as frequently throughout the rest of the year, as we will be having even more fun programs, activities, and prizes to give away this fall and winter!

Summer Reading - Night Night

The 2012 Summer Reading Program has officially begun and what a start it has been! Dozens and dozens of you have registered to participate and many more of you have already begun to take full advantage of all of the programs, activities, and crafts that we have to offer. Interested in what is going on this week? Read on!

The Reading Genie

Paul Adams

Monday, June 18th 6:30-7:15pm

Family Program

This family program has comedy, music, storytelling, puppets and more!

The Reading Genie encourages young readers and their families to check out

bedtime stories, books about stargazing, the moon, dreamcatchers,

and even creepy crawlers and things that go bump in the night!

Jumbo Crickets!

Tuesday, June 19th, 11:00-11:30am

Grades K-5

Listen to a nighttime story and make a jumbo-sized cricket to take home!

Fortunately, this cricket won't keep your little one awake at night!

Clifford's Stuffed

Animal Sleepover

Wednesday, June 20th, 4:00-6:00pm

*Recommended ages 3-7 years*

(Drop-off)

Have you ever wondered what happens in the library after we're closed for the night?

We will share our secret world with your stuffed animal friend during this "stuffed animal sleepover". When you drop off one of your stuffed animal friends at the library, you will:

1.) Create a name tag for your stuffed animal

2.) Listen to a story with your stuffed animal

3.) Tuck your animal in for the night

Thursday, June 21st, 12:00-6:00pm

(Pick-up)

You will then pick up your stuffed animal and receive a picture of your friend's sleepover adventure! You will find out what fun mischief your stuffed friend got into during their overnight stay at the library!

Lego Build Your Dream

Friday, June 22nd, 3:00-4:00pm

Family Program

Sixty seconds on the clock! Get ready for fast-paced,

crazy building challenges using LEGO bricks!

There will be free-building fun, too! Stop in and

dream up some great creations!

What We're Reading

Staff Member: Stacy


I Would Recommend: "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides


"It's an epic of a novel that spans 50+ years and follows three generations of a Greek-American family. Our narrator, Calliope (or Cal), takes us on a journey, spilling family secrets long-ado hidden from everyone. Remarkably funny for the subject matter; gut-wrenching at times. Whether or not you agree with Cal's decisions, you can't help but root for him. A book you can set down and pick back up time and again, you won't be able to forget what happen no matter how long you've been away from it. You'll want to read it straight through!"

"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974. . . My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen Stephanides. My most recent driver’s license...records my first name simply as Cal."

So begins the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Prohibition-era Detroit, witnessing its glory days as the Motor City, and the race riots of 1967, before they move out to the tree-lined streets of suburban Grosse Pointe, Michigan. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, Middlesex is an exhilarating reinvention of the American epic.

Middlesex is the winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

What We're Reading

Staff Member: Fay

I Would Recommend: "In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin" by Erik Larson 

"A tremendously well told story! This is about William E. Dodd, America's first ambassador to Hitler's regime in 1933, and his family: his scandalous daughter, Martha, and his wife and son. This book tells vividly the story of the rise of Nazi Germany and their obsession for absolute power and the effect it had on Germany and the Dodd family. Very informative with an insight into the war before it began, with an insider's view of how Hitler came to power."

The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history. 

A mild-mannered professor from Chicago, Dodd brings along his wife, son, and flamboyant daughter, Martha. Enamored of the “New Germany,” Martha has one affair after another, including with the surprisingly honorable first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels. But as evidence of Jewish persecution mounts, her father telegraphs his concerns to a largely indifferent State Department back home. Dodd watches with alarm as Jews are attacked, the press is censored, and drafts of frightening new laws begin to circulate. As that first year unfolds and the shadows deepen, the Dodds experience days full of excitement, intrigue, romance—and ultimately, horror, when a climactic spasm of violence and murder reveals Hitler’s true character and ruthless ambition.

Suffused with the tense atmosphere of the period, and with unforgettable portraits of the bizarre Göring and the expectedly charming--yet wholly sinister--Goebbels, In the Garden of Beasts lends a stunning, eyewitness perspective on events as they unfold in real time, revealing an era of surprising nuance and complexity. The result is a dazzling, addictively readable work that speaks volumes about why the world did not recognize the grave threat posed by Hitler until Berlin, and Europe, were awash in blood and terror.