Packing for Mars: A Book Discussion

Wednesday, September 21

6:30 pm

Join us for a lively discussion of the One City One Book selection "Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void" by Mary Roach. Refreshments will be served.

Teen Program: Wreck this Journal

Wreck This Journal

Thursday, September 8 at 3:30pm
Thursday, October 13 at 3:30 pm
Thursday, November 10 at 3:30 pm

At this workshop, teens will get a \\\"Wreck this Journal\\\" to keep. Use the journal like a scrapbook, art journal or writing journal. Not sure where to start? Every page has an activity: do it or ignore it. Express brain clutter, a new idea, life noise, a bad day, or whatever you want -- with pictures, words, or just scribbles. Why? Because creativity and literacy come in all flavors.

All materials provided. Ages 13-18 welcomed. Space is limited. For information or to RSVP, contact: Marla at mbergman@sfpl.org or 415-355-2858.

Women & Wealth Workshop

Women and Wealth Workshop: Leading the Family's Finances
Wednesday, September 7th
6:30 pm

Renée Richard, mother of three, community leader and Financial Adviser with Merrill Lynch presents a discussion on managing an entire household and ensuring that plans for children, parents and your retirement are in place.

This Seminar has been designed to help you:

• Understand how to live for today while being prepared for tomorrow
• Understand your investment portfolio and the right mix of stocks, bonds and cash
• Consider your tolerance, both financial and emotional, for investment risk
• Position your investments to meet your financial objectives in the long term.

Library closed, Monday, September 5 for Labor Day

All San Francisco Public Libraries will be closed on , Monday, September 5 for Labor Day. The Glen Park Library will reopen at 10:00am on Tuesday, September 6th.

Back-to-School Tools for Educators

With school starting soon, I wanted to draw attention to a page on our website that can be used as resource for Educators.

The page is called, "Cool Back-to-school tools for educators." It highlights what the library has to offer in assisting educators like what databases we have to local history items.

Docent Lecture : Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris

August 10

6:30 pm

By turns shocking and serene, Pablo Picasso's paintings and sculpture are both highly personal and deeply emblematic of the era in which he lived. This lecture is designed to complement the de Young Museum exhibition, which includes more than 150 objects.

The exhibition will be at the de Young through October 9, 2011.

Looking for a good book to read?

The Library’s website offers several tools to help you find books you’ll enjoy.

On the Library main page (sfpl.org) you’ll find the Books & Materials tab. Click on this and then on Reader’s Corner for lots of ideas on what to read next.

The book icon labeled On the Same Page provides a description of a featured title. These books are selected bi-monthly for their wide appeal and good reviews. The books are almost always out in paperback and there are usually lots of brand new copies available. If the current selection is not of interest, click on the Previous Selections link on the right of the screen to see On the Same Page titles for the current and previous years.

If you’ve enjoyed an On the Same Page title view the Read Alikes, also on the right side of the screen, to find books that are similar in theme or tone.

Click on the One City One Book icon to learn all about the annually selected title and about programs related to the book, such as author visits.

The Lit Databases icon will take you to all of the Library’s subscription databases that deal with Books and Literature. To access these databases from outside the Library you’ll need your Library card number and your Library PIN. If you don’t have a PIN just stop by any of the service desks at any San Francisco Library. It only takes a few seconds to create a PIN.

The first database listed, BookBrowse, provides recommendations for fiction and non-fiction titles, reading guides and advice for book clubs and previews of soon to be released items. You can also use this database to search for recommendations based on setting, theme or time period. The read-alikes feature allows you to search for books similar to titles you’ve enjoyed in the past. BookBrowse also offers subscription e-mail newsletters so you can stay up to date on new books and all the great BookBrowse recommendations.

Further down the list of databases you’ll find Fiction Connection and Non-fiction Connection. Using this database you can search by topic, genre, setting, time period and type of character. You can also enter a favorite title, search for read-alikes and then limit the results by various aspects of the book, such as setting and genre.

The fourth book icon links to lists of items recently acquired by the Library. New lists appear at the beginning of each month.

For more recommendations check out the box labeled Next Reads. Here you can select newsletters by genre or non-fiction topic and have recommendations delivered straight to your e-mail address.

Finally, visit our new SF Bay Reads blog with recommendations and reviews by Library staff. From the Library’s home page click on the last tab, About, and then on Blogs. SF Bay Reads is the first blog listed.