Long Hill Summer Reading Club is a Success!

It’s hard to believe that there are only 2 more weeks left of our 2010 Summer Reading Club at the Long Hill Township Library!

“The 250 kids who have joined have done an incredible amount of reading. In fact, 27 kids have already finished, reaching their goal of 560 minutes. That’s a total of 15,260 minutes read! I have no doubt that over the next two weeks, we will see many kids coming in to log in the last 140 minutes to finish” says Children’s Librarian Meredith McGuire. “Parents and kids should be proud when they see all the participants’ names displayed on the mural in the Children’s Department.”

“This year’s Summer Reading Club has been a fantastic experience,” remarked mom Tracy Koller of Gillette. “My daughter Madeline has been excited about reading all summer, and the programs based on the splash theme have been enriching as well as fun!”

The last day to log in minutes and collect prizes is Saturday, August 14. The library is open from 10 to 5 that day, and if you come between 11 and 12 you can visit the animals in our petting zoo!

Looking for a good read? Look no further!

Long Hill Library now has a Reader's Corner set up at our front desk. We have several books devoted to answering the question "What should I read next?" and reviewing books that book clubs (or anyone) might enjoy reading.

These books can be checked out by anyone who is interested. We encourage you to browse these books in the library or take them home!

We also subscribe to a bimonthly book review magazine called Bookmarks. Our current copy doesn't circulate but back issues do, and it's a great source for people who are looking for something good to read.

If you're looking to keep up with the latest reads, we suggest you check out our email newsletters. You can receive the New York Times Bestseller lists, monthly newsletters on genres from Armchair Travel to mystery to thrillers to DIY books, and more. Go to www.longhilllibrary.org and click on NextReads Newsletters to subscribe.

Finally, don't forget to ask us for a good book recommendation the next time you're at the library. We love to read and we love to recommend books!

Mary Martin, Library Director

New Video Games at Long Hill Library!

School's out, and we hope you are having fun on your summer vacation. We have seen a lot of Long Hill residents stopping by to pick up recommended summer reading - we have all the reading lists from elementary school and high school here at the library.

To celebrate the start of summer, we have also purchased some new video games! Stop by the library to check out our Wii games, including the new Lego Harry Potter, Toy Story 3, Star Wars: Clone Wars Lightsaber Duels, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and more.

Video games may be checked out for 2 weeks. So that all Long Hill residents can enjoy the games, we ask families to check out only two games at a time during the summer months.

Happy gaming!

Get Ready to Read! Long Hill Summer Reading Kickoff is June 26th!

All Long Hill residents ages 2 through grade 5 are invited to join this year’s summer reading club. “Our June 26 Summer Reading Kickoff festivities include a strolling juggler, refreshments, face painting, crafts and balloons from 11:00-1:00. If your family can’t make kickoff day, stop by the library to register and receive your summer reading packet during regular business hours anytime through July 10,” explains Meredith McGuire, Children’s Librarian.

This summer’s theme includes everything fun found in the sea and at the beach! The program runs from June 26 - August 14th and includes art, science, music, nature, and magic programs. “We hope to see many familiar faces as well as new participants this summer,” says Miss Meredith. Participants in the summer reading club can win prizes for reading, attend fun programs, and, if they wish, they can even participate in a readathon to raise money to purchase children’s books in their name.

Long Hill teens and adults need not feel left out of the fun, since the library will also run “Beach Reads” summer reading clubs for them. Library Director Mary Martin explains, “Every time you read or listen to a book, just drop a raffle ticket into the jar at the desk. Each week someone will win a prize. At the end of the summer we will pick a grand prize winner who’ll get a $25 gift card to a bookstore!”

Kids and parents, be sure to stop by the library on Saturday, June 26th or any time until July 10th to register for the Summer Reading Club. Happy Reading!

Celebrate National Library Week at Long Hill Library!

April 11 through 17 is National Library Week. There are several events going on at Long Hill Library - come help us celebrate! For more information about any of these programs check out our Event Calendar. To register for any of these events please call us at 908-647-2088 ext. 0 (or stop by the library.)

Saturday April 10 - Yoga for Adults (age 15 and up), 11 am

Sunday April 11 - Selling on Ebay (limited to 75 attendees), 2 pm. Registration required.

Saturday April 17 - Join us in celebrating Five Years in our New Building! In the morning we'll have Singing Stories with the always popular Lou Gallo (registration required), then we have an afternoon concert at 2 pm with the rollicking Long Hill String Band (registration required) followed by an old fashioned ice cream social.

New Acquisitions at Long Hill Library

We've compiled a partial list of some of the great new reads we've purchased for your reading pleasure this month, at Long Hill Township Library. We publish this New Acquisitions list every month. To automatically receive the newsletter via email, click the "Newsletter Daily" link at the top of the newsletter to subscribe.

Some of the hot new titles this month include thrillers by Linwood Barclay, William Bernhardt, Harlan Coben, Linda Fairstein, Jesse Kellerman and Lisa Scottoline, as well as good reads from Karen Kingsbury, Lisa Lutz, Richard Paul Evans, and Susan Wiggs.

This list also includes The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag, the second Flavia De Luce mystery by Alan Bradley. The first one, A Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, is a great read about a quirky (and somewhat cranky) 12-year-old girl who solves crimes. I am looking forward to reading the second one.

I also just finished Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson, another book on this list. This debut novel was a pleasure to read. Anyone who was a fan of The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society (one of my favorites) will likely enjoy this charming book.

Happy reading!
Mary Martin, Library Director

Favorite Book Club Discussion Books from 2009

For all of us who are in book clubs, there are lots of great web sites out there that we can use to help us select books to read and discuss. One of them is Reading Group Choices, which just published their Top 10 Discussible Books from 2009 (based on a survey from readers). The list includes two of my favorite reads from last year, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Still Alice by Lisa Genova.

For those of you who prefer a more traditional approach to picking out book club books, I highly recommend Bookmarks Magazine, which Long Hill Library subscribes to. It comes six times a year and is chock full of book reviews, profiles of book clubs around the country, and more great information for bibliophiles. Stop by the library and check out an issue today!

Happy Reading,

Mary Martin
Library Director