Category: EBRPL Cool

Wireless for Hope

Representatives from the federally-funded Wireless for Hope foundation will be at library locations this February 1st -14th, providing free cell phones with 100 free minutes each month.

To qualify, a person must be on some form of government assistance. Then all you need is to fill out an application form and bring a picture ID and proof of address (application forms are available at library branches.) There is a limit of one phone per household.  For more information see www.wirelessforhope.org

Here is the schedule for when Wireless for Hope representatives will be giving out phones. At each location they will be there from 9am-5pm:

Wednesday, February 2: Delmont Gardens Branch & Baker Branch
Thursday, February 3: Scotlandville Branch & Jones Creek Regional Branch
Friday, February 4: Main Library & Greenwell Springs Regional Branch
Saturday, February 5: Main Library & Central Branch
Monday, February 7: Eden Park Branch, Greenwell Springs Regional Branch & Carver Branch
Tuesday, February 8: Central Branch & Baker Branch
Wednesday, February 9: Delmont Gardens Branch & Bluebonnet Regional Branch
Thursday, February 10: Zachary Branch & Scotlandville Branch
Friday, February 11: Greenwell Springs Road Regional & Jones Creek Regional Branch
Saturday, February 12: River Center Branch & Bluebonnet Regional Branch
Monday, February 14: Eden Park Branch & Carver Branch

New additional dates:

Thursday, February 17: Baker Branch and Eden Park Branch
Friday, February 18: Carver Branch and Eden Park Branch
Saturday, February 19: Main Library
Monday, February 21: Carver Branch and Eden Park Branch

Do You Text a Librarian?

If you need information on the run, we have the perfect service for you:
Text a Librarian! (standard message rates apply)

Text us at 66746 and start your question with “eref.”

For example:

“eref What is the population of Australia?”  Or
“eref What is the phone number for the Perkins Rowe movie theater?” Or
“eref What year was Clint Eastwood born?”

African-American Read-In 2011

This is a great community event in which volunteer readers share excerpts from their favorite African-American literature in a celebration of Black History Month. All are welcome to attend!

Tuesday, February 1, 10:00am Greenwell Springs Road Regional Branch Greenbriar Elementary School third grade classes read poems and book passages.

Wednesday, February 2, 4:00pm Carver Branch Participants will read two-minute exerts from books by African-American authors. All ages are invited to participate.

Saturday, February 5, 10:00am Scotlandville Branch Participants can select readings in advance to read to the group. To register to read call 354-7560.

Saturday, February 12, 2:30pm Main Library Open to everyone ages 4 and up. Call 231-3760 to register.

Sunday, February 13, 3:00pm Eden Park Branch Children ages 7-11 will read selections. Call 231-3260 to register.

Saturday, February 19, 2:30pm Jones Creek Regional Branch Staff will read The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy. Then participants can join in with paper quilt craft. Call 756-1160 to register.

Waive it Wednesday

**The Final Waive It Wednesday is March 30 2011**

Don’t worry, Waive it Wednesday is still going! No more waking up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night worrying about overdue library books. No more anxiously looking over your shoulder for librarians every day. You can clear your conscience painlessly!

On the last Wednesday of each month you can return your overdue books, CDs and DVDs, fine free, no questions asked! YES!

Top InfoGuides of 2010

Here is a breakdown of the InfoGuides that got the most visits last year. These guides contain books, websites, videos, RSS Feeds, Podcasts and more. Check out the InfoGuides homepage or the complete A-Z list.

1. Great Reads for Teens 9203 visits

2. Sights and Sounds: DVDs, Music, Audiobooks & More 6171 visits

3. Computer Education 4870 visits

4. People Connection 4763 visits

5. Genealogy 4229 visits

6. Get Started With Overdrive 3491 visits

7. Arts & Culture 3195 visits

8. News Resources 1954 visits

9. Baton Rouge Room 1883 visits

10. Find a Good Book 1520 visits

Huge Selection of Language Courses!

Here are all the language courses, both basic and complete, that you can take online for free through the library’s Mango Database. All you need is a library card. To find out more, visit Mango or our Language Learning InfoGuide.

Arabic (Levantine), Chinese (Cantonese), Chinese (Mandarin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dari, Dutch, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Pashto, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Slovak, Spanish (Latin America), Tagalog, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese.

Wow! That’s a lot of languages!

Music Online Christmas Playlist For You

Here is a great playlist to get you into the holiday spirit. You don’t need to login with your library card to listen, just click the link!

“A Very Jazzy Christmas” includes:

*God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen performed by Marian McPartland
*Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful) performed by David McKenna
*Christmas Time Is Here [Instrumental] performed by Vince Guaraldi
*Ole Santa performed by Dinah Washington
*Christmas In New Orleans performed by Louis Armstrong
*Christmas Island performed by Ella Fitzgerald
*And many more!

You can use your QR code scanner on your iPhone, or on your Android OS phone, and send the playlist to your device
(unfortunately it will not work on the Blackberry system).

Click here to listen right now

Want more music? Check out our Music Guide or login to our Music Online and Freegal databases!

Give the Gift of the Library for Christmas

Looking for the perfect Christmas gift?  Why not give your loved ones the gift of the Library?  E-book readers offer 24/7 access to the Library’s collection of online books and, with some e-reader brands, access to audiobooks too — no mp3 player necessary!  They are a great gift for the book-lover on your list — easy to use and very cool.

If you need help deciding just what reader to get, check out our Overdrive Compatible Gift Guide. We’ve included reviews from respected sources, so you’ll know you’re getting the right reader — and you can be sure that your choice will work with our Overdrive service.

So give the gift of the Library this year — it’s a gift that lasts a lifetime.

Christmas Movies and Music

We have lots of festive movies and music to get you and your family in the Christmas spirit. Here is a selection of titles, check the library catalog for many more!

DVDs:
A Christmas Story, A Christmas Carol, Christmas with the Kranks, Deck the Halls, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Elf, Four Christmases, Frosty the Snowman, It’s a Very Muppet Christmas Movie, The Nightmare Befo
re Christmas, Nothing Like the Holidays, The Santa Clause.

CDs:
Christmas with the Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra), December (Chris Botti), Greatest Christmas Songs (Julie Andrews), Have a Crazy Cool Christmas (Kermit Ruffins), Harry for the Holidays (Harry Connick, Jr.)
Noel (Josh Groban), A Sesame Street Christmas, Sing the Cold Winter Away, The Three Tenors at Christmas

Photo by David Singleton Some Rights Reserved