Book Discussion Groups for Adults

The afternoon and evening book discussion groups have chosen their titles for the first two months of 2009.

January 2009

Afternoon Group
Meets the fourth Thursday of the month (except Nov & Dec) from 1:00-2:30 pm in the small downstairs meeting room
January 22, 2009: The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards


Evening Group
Meets the fourth Thursday of the month (except Nov & Dec) from 6:30-7:45 pm in the Board Room on the 2nd floor
January 22, 2009: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
OR
I Feel Bad About My Neck: and other thoughts on being a woman by Nora Ephron

February 2009

Both groups will meet in the evening from 6:30-7:45 pm in the Board Room on the 2nd floor
February 26, 2009: Death on Parade and/or Kona Heat by Gregory and Patricia Kishel
Meet the Author: Patricia Kishel will be at this joint meeting to discuss her books and the writing process.



Check back later for a complete list of the titles for all of 2009.
New members are always welcome to join either or both of the book discussion groups.

Tax Resources

Tax Resources

Several federal tax forms and state of California tax forms will be available in the library starting on Saturday, January 10, 2009. Users in need of forms not found in the library may access the forms online--the resources are listed below.

Library Resources: On the Shelves
J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax
Easy Ways to Lower your Taxes
Stand up to the IRS

Online Resources
IRS-Internal Revenue Service : Forms and Publications
http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/
This forms and publications resource page is the official source of IRS tax products. Users may find links to tax forms and publications, search by topic, and find links to previous years' forms.

IRS-Small Business Tax Information
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html
This site from the IRS provides tax information for small business owners and those that are self employed.

State of California Franchise Tax Board : Forms and Publications
http://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/
This site has links to California tax forms and publications.

Organizations
AARP: Find a Tax-Aid Site near you--search by zipcode. AARP Tax-Aide is the nation's largest, free, volunteer run tax counseling and preparation service. Their AARP Tax-Aide sites are operational from February 1 through the middle of April. Information will be updated and available in January.
http://www.aarp.org/money/taxaide/

VITA/TCE: The California Franchise Tax Board's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) site search application will be available starting January 15, 2009.
http://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/vita/sites.asp

The Buena Park Senior Center has offered tax assistance for seniors in the past. Please check with them to see what they will be offering in 2009.
Buena Park Senior Center
8150 Knott Avenue
(on Knott just South of La Palma)
Buena Park, CA 90620-3159
(in the Walter D. Ehlers Community Recreation Center)
(714) 236-3870

The Center is open
Monday through Friday
8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Library Use Increases

There was an article in a recent L.A. Times talking about how libraries are seeing a rise in traffic as frugal book and movie fans are borrowing instead of buying.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles Public Library said that "Traditionally, in tough economic times, public libraries experience an upswing in use."

Here are some statistics from libraries around the country:

• The Los Angeles Public Library experienced a 10 percent increase in the number of books, DVDs, CDs and other items checked out.
• The San Francisco Public Library said about 12 percent more items were checked out in October than a year earlier.
• Libraries in Chicago experienced a 35 percent increase in circulation.
• The New York Public Library saw 11 percent more print items checked out.

The Buena Park Library District has also seen an increase in the number of checkouts and library users:

• Since the beginning of our fiscal year in July 2008 there has been a total of 224,280 items checked out, which is an increase of 7% over the same time period last year.
• The number of people signing up for library cards also increased by 9.6% for a total of 2,692 new card holders since the beginning of July 2008.

Welcome to all the new library card holders and to everyone -- we are happy to be a service to the community!!

Happy Belated Birthday

Yesterday, December 10, 2008 was the 157th anniversary of Melville Dewey's birth. Libraries and their users owe a great deal to Dewey and his Dewey Decimal System that has existed since 1876.

The Dewey Decimal System allows library users to browse the shelves and find related material on the same subject.

How to Use the Dewey Decimal System

The Dewey Decimal System organizes information into 10 broad areas, which are broken into smaller and smaller topics. Different topics are assigned numbers, known as "call numbers." For example, "Animals" are given the number 599. To see what books the library currently has in on animals, go to the nonfiction shelves and find the books that have a 599 as part of their call number. A list of some of the information you can find in the different Dewey Decimal areas, appears below.

Dewey Decimal System

* 000 General Knowledge
Almanacs, Computers, Encyclopedias, Libraries, Museums, Newspapers ...

* 100 Psychology and Philosophy
Death & Dying, Ethics, Feelings, Logic, Making Friends, Optical Illusions, Superstitions ...

* 200 Religions and Mythology
Amish, Bible Stories, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Quakers, and other world religions; Greek, Roman and other myths...

* 300 Social Sciences and Folklore
Careers, Customs, Environment, Families, Folktales, Government, Manners, Money ...

* 400 Languages and Grammar
Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Sign Language, Spanish. Includes dictionaries.

* 500 Math and Science
Animals, Biology, Chemistry, Dinosaurs, Fish, Geology, Insects, Physics, Planets, Plants ...

* 600 Medicine and Technology
Cookbooks, Engineering, Gardening, Health, Human Body, Inventions, Nutrition, Pets ...

* 700 Arts & Recreation
Architecture, Crafts, Drawing, Games, Music, Songbooks, Sports ...

* 800 Literature
Plays, Poetry, Shakespeare, Writing ...

* 900 Geography and History
Countries, Native Americans, States, Travel, Wars ...

December Book Displays in the Library

Stop by and check out our two new book displays!!!!

"Check Out the Red Hot Titles"

"It May Not Be Cold Out, But It's That Time of Year Again!"

Displays by Heather
Photos by Marcia

End of the Year Book Lists

This time of year is when all the year's "best lists" start to be published. Here are a few of the early contributors:

The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2008
The 10 Best Books of 2008 by the New York Times
The Best Books of 2008 by Amazon.com
The Los Angeles Times: Favorite Books of 2008

December Program: Job Interviewing and Resume Writing Skills

The Job Interviewing and Resume Writing Skills program will be held at the Library on Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at 6:00 pm. It will be held in the 2nd floor Board Room.

Michelle Lawrence with American First Credit Union will conduct a program teaching job interviewing skills and resume writing techniques in one session.

Mock interviews will be demonstrated with an emphasis on eye contact and making the experience feel like a real interview. Resume writing skills will also be demonstrated, with sample resumes and handouts provided.

Please bring information about yourself and job experience that can be included in a resume.

No reservations are necessary.

December Book Sale: Holiday "Members Only" Double Discount Sale

The Volunteer Guild of the Buena Park Library will be having their Holiday Members Only Double Discount Sale. The sale will be in the Volunteer Guild Bookstore on the second floor of the Library on Saturday, December 13, 2008 from 10 am to 2:30 pm.

They will be adding an extra 10% off the double discount to give all members 50% off their total purchase. Please note that all memberships will be verified. However, you may renew your membership on that day or sign up for a new membership to qualify for the discount.

Be sure to stop by to take advantage of the super savings!!

If you have any questions, please call the Volunteer Guild Bookstore at 714-826-4100 x123.

December Display: Movie Action Figures and Memorabilia Now on Display at the Library

The extensive movie figurine and memorabilia collection of Jeff and Rose Kruger is now on display at the Buena Park Library District. The collection spans a broad range of classic horror and science fiction movies such as Frankenstein, The Wolfman, and The Phantom of the Opera to modern classics like The Planet of the Apes and the movies of director Tim Burton.

The figurines are very detailed... the Bride of Frankenstein has bandages underneath her gown and a very recognizable Peter Boyle and Mary Feldman are together again as their Young Frankenstein characters. In addition to the figures, there is a wide variety of memorabilia including books, posters, and cast photos. Jeff Kruger said he has been collecting memorabilia all his life. Some of Kruger's favorite items are the prosthetics made from the same molds used to make Roddy MacDowell's makeup in the original Planet of the Apes.

The treasures in the Kruger's collection can evoke memories of Saturday afternoons at the movies or evenings in front of the television. A Mork and Mindy lunchbox recalls a young and zany Robin Williams in a red jumpsuit exclaiming "nanoo, nanoo!"

So, come to the Buena Park Library, check out the Rocky Horror collectibles, and Let's do the Time Warp Again!

What the Buena Park Library Staff is reading RIGHT NOW!!

Here is the list of current staff picks and it appears to be divided fairly evenly between fiction and non-fiction titles. Stephenie Meyers tops the list as the most popular author (with 4 books listed). Do you see anything that you'd like to add to your reading list?

Dewey : The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter. (being read by Louise Mazerov, Director)
Louise didn't mention if she was enjoying the book or not --- but I read the book --- and loved it!! It's rather like a Marley and Me, but for cats. You find out all about Dewey (the cat) as well as a lot about small town life in Spencer, Iowa.

Paula R. is reading 2 books right now:
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein & Save Me From Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs and Lived To Tell my Story by Brian "Head" Welch.

Lynn P. is reading The 731 Legacy : a Cotten Stone Mystery by Lynn Sholes and Joe Moore.

Mary I. is reading Ethics, Evil, and Fiction by Colin McGinn & The Oxford History of the Roman World by John Boardman.

Phyllis N. (our Teen Librarian) is reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. (We have quite a few holds for this title -- so, don't worry Phyllis is not taking one of our copies out of circulation -- she borrowed the book from her daughter.) Maribel M. is also reading this.

Patricia R. is reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer. She says: "Read it! It's good!" and gives it 5 stars. She is also reading another teen/young adult novel: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and gives it 4 stars.

More books by Stephenie Meyers: Ashley P. is reading Breaking Dawn. Katrina L. is reading Eclipse.

Bruce P. is reading Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles. He says that: "This is an entertaining book about L.A.s attempt to overcome air pollution dating back to 1943 and continuing to the present."

Jose B. is reading Testimony by Anita Shreve. Josie says: "I love all her books."

Caroline E. is reading The Thieves of Faith by Richard Doetsch.

Cynthia F. is reading Keith Richards : A Biography by Victor Bockris.

Tony D. is reading Library and Information Center Management (this 'fascinating' title is for school -- Tony is going to "Library School"!!!) & he's also managing to squeeze in a little light reading for fun: Foundation by Isaac Asimov.

Heather M. just finished the last book of The Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, The Confusion, The System of the World.) by Neil Stephenson.

Daniel M. is reading I'm With the Band by Pamela Des Barres.

Please feel free to post your comments about what you are reading now.