Just wanted to share with you some of the great feedback we received from some of our patrons who were adventurous enough to be setup on a blind date with a book a few weeks back. Not sure what we’re talking about? Well, the library gift wrapped and displayed a variety of books for patrons to check out. The patrons did not know what book they were taking out because it was gift wrapped. Ergo, the blind date. Then, we asked for feedback on their “date”. This is some of what we received:

“I enjoyed the folksy tale. Looking forward to my next blind date! I like the library choices. Lets do it again!” Ellie Sitrin talking about her date with By a Slow River by Philippe Claudel.

“I chose not to read about a torturer and victims at this time. However, I think the blind date idea was a great idea! Thank you.” Samantha Monheit talking about her date with The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticut.

“This book was awesome. We tried a couple of the recipes and they were great. The instructions were clear and simple and the taste was delicious! Would highly recommend the cookbook!!”  Sheila Suryainanshi talking about her date with Blanchard’s Table, A Trip to the Beach Cook Book by Melinda Blanchard, Robert Blanchard, and Ben Fink.

“I loved the idea but the book was not for me – It was however worth a try.”  Carol Stack talking about her date with The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro.

“I enjoyed this book. It reminds me of Great Expectations. I recommend it. The blind date idea was real fun . I hope you’ll do it again.” Jill Whaley talking about her date with The Good Thief by Hanna Tinti

As you can see, as with life, some dates were a perfect match and some… well, not so much. But we would certainly like to thank all our curious and risk taking patrons who participated in Blind Date with a Book. We are working on a similar event for kids and teens so be on the look-out for a new groups of secretly wrapped books coming soon!

Christopher Boone is a 15 year-old boy who has been living with his working-class father for the past two years since his mother, he’s been told, died of a heart attack.  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time begins with Christopher’s discovery of Wellington, his neighbor’s dog, dead, impaled by a pitchfork.  He decides he must solve the mystery of the dog’s death, in part because he has come under suspicion of the crime, but mostly because the situation has presented the ultimate puzzle to solve.  Although never fully explained in the text of the novel, Christopher is Autistic, and logic and puzzles are the tools he uses to make the world around him make sense.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon’s debut novel, is written in first person from Christopher’s point of view.  In this manner, Haddon takes us along this young man’s journey with unmatched empathy and insight into the Autistic mind.  Christopher’s adventure is by turns heart-wrenching, hilarious, tragic, and at times, even shocking.  Through his narrative, however, the storytelling is detached, almost simplistically matter-of-fact.  But therein lies the magic of this masterfully crafted book.  Haddon allows the reader to experience life as Christopher has learned how to deal with it; sharing the literal-minded observations and self-imposed patterns that he relies on to filter the overwhelming world around him.

Christopher Boone warns the reader from the start:  “This will not be a funny book.  I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them.”  It may be true that the “funny” that most people find in jokes is lost to Christopher’s unique logical processes. But it’s the furthest thing from the truth that the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time doesn’t overflow with not only unmatched humor, but great poignancy and warmth.  This is a novel that will appeal to anyone who enjoys a well-honed mystery, wishes to gain insight into the mind of a person with Autism, or is simply a fan of engaging, smartly-written literature.

The library is pleased to announce the availability of EbscoHost Mobile. Ebscohost, provided by the library through state funding, is a suite of databases that you can use to research newspapers, magazines, journals, textbooks, images and more. As one of the major electronic resource providers to libraries, Ebsco continues to make attempts to meet their users where they use the Internet.

With the introduction of EbscoHost Mobile, you can now do research within their thousands of indexed periodicals and resources from your smartphone of handheld mobile device. They have created an optimized viewing and user experience for handhelds that is a great addition to the continuing mobile resources the library is able to offer you.

Just visit the Cranbury Public Library (http://www.cranburypubliclibrary.org) on your handheld device to access our mobile webpage and using the menu arrow, select “Research Databases” to give it a try. Let us know what you think!

Hi all,

I am pleased to let you know about two new additions to our website, both located on the sidebar (the the left). The first is a chat module provided by Meebo. This module will allow you, our patrons, to have real-time conversations via instant message with library staff. A message will appear to let you know if a staff member is available to chat with you. We look forward to chatting with you (Note: If you are logged in on your Facebook account and we are online, you can chat with us there too!)

The second addition is a listing of the newest books at the library. Located near the chat widget, this addition will allow you to browse our newest books in the collection and find out more information about them by clicking on them.

You can always use these two new resources together if, say, you find a new book and send a chat message asking us to put it on hold for you…

Let us know what you think?

Here are the new games for the month of Febraury……

Glory of Heracles   DS

Scribblenauts   DS

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom   Wii

Darkvoid    XBOX 360

Come in and try out the new games.  And as always, if you have a request for a new game or one that we do not own…please let us know!!

“Mango Languages is excited to announce that on Feb. 1st, Mango launched our new voice comparison feature.

This feature is automatically included in your current subscription at absolutely no charge!

Voice comparison helps users improve their speaking skills.  It’s completely integrated within each Mango Basic Lesson (currently not in the Complete version).  All you need is a microphone and a passion for perfectly proper pronunciation!

This is how it works:  after a user completes a slide, the voice compare button will appear.  They can then record their voice and play it back to hear themselves speak.  In addition, they can align a visual representation of their recording with the native speaker’s version for comparison.  Users may adjust their pronunciation until it lines up with ours-they’ll be speaking like a native in no time!”

Join us for a special Fairy Tea Party to be held at the Cranbury Historical Museum, 4 Park Place East, on Saturday, February 20 from 2-3 p.m. There will be fairy stories and a real tea party. Kathy Burke, from A Cutting Garden, will help children create a “garden in a tea cup” to take home. For children in grades 1-4. Registration is limited to 12. Please call the library at 655-0555 to reserve a space. This program is sponsored by the Cranbury Public Library.

The NJ State Library, in conjunction with the Meadowlands, is sponsoring a reading contest wher you can win 4 tickets to various events held at the Izod Center including Nets and Harlem Globetrotter games, Monster Jam (monster truck show), Urban Cowboyz motocross, Smuckers Stars on Ice and more!!

To enter to win,  visit the official contest homepage and follow the link for the tickets you would like to enter to win for.  You will be asked to talk about a book you read.. is that so hard.. didn’t think so

Article from News from the NJLA President

Doug Baldwin is the Systems Administrator at the Cranbury Public Library, where he maintains the library’s automated systems, teaches computer classes, runs one of their two book discussions, and leads their video game programming. Currently, Doug is serving the second year of his two-year term as Member-At-Large for the NJLA-IT section, as well as being a member of Infolink’s Gaming Task Force and Technology Committee. He is also currently serving as a member of the NJLA PAC committee, where he looks forward to working with his fellow committee members to address the personnel concerns of librarians throughout the state.

Doug received his MLIS degree from Rutgers University in May 2007, after completing a 2 year librarian trainee program with the New York Public Library. His current interests include technology related outreach services, gaming, web development, and digital literacy. He is currently working with Infolink on a multi-county library video game tournament. He is married and has two cats, of which the younger, Molly, has been declared legally incorrigible.