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April...Library Week...Poetry Month

April 11-17 is National Library Week and the Osterhout has something to do every day. Check our website for a listing of events and plan to attend as many as you can. Show your support for the free institution that makes a difference in your community!

April is National Poetry Month and the Osterhout has several events to celebrate poetry. Check the website or stop in the library to make rhyme and reason of our word-related events!

LOCAL HISTORY DVDs

Check out one of these locally-produced DVDs dealing with our area's history.
(If the disc you want is checked out, you can put a hold on it at the Information Services desk.)

Frances Slocum: Child of Two Americas. (2007) 40 minutes. A historically-accurate renactment of the saga of Frances Slocum / Maconaquah, filmed on location in Wilkes-Barre and Indiana.

The Battle of Wyoming (2005). On July 3rd 1778...two forces clashed in one of the bloodiest battles of the American frontier...

Stories from the Mines (2004). 60 minutes. "A compelling dramatized documentary that recounts the epic human rights conflict between immigrant anthracite coal miners, turn-of-the-century industrialists and the United States Government."

Classic Films

While the library is always your source for the hottest new DVDs, we have also added some classic films to our collection.

Check out one of the 14 films available in the Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection:
Saboteur
Rear Window
Shadow of a Doubt
Rope
The Trouble with Harry
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Vertigo
Torn Curtain
Topaz
Frenzy
Family Plot
Psycho
The Birds

We also have films from the Criterion Collection:

Grey Gardens (1976)See the original documentary on which the Jessica Lange / Drew Barrymore film is based.
The Devil & Daniel Webster Americana. B&W. (1941)
Wise Blood Based on Flannery O'Connor's first novel (1979)
The Tales of Hoffman A visual extravaganza based on the Offenbach opera. In English. Color. (1951)
Henry V Laurence Olivier portrays the king in this timeless Shakespeare play (1944)
The River The story of a British family in India. Color. (1951)
The Red Balloon / White Mane (1956/1953, in French)
Days of Heaven (1978)
The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

Fans of Japanese animation may enjoy the highly-regarded
Grave of the Fireflies originally released in 1988.

Local Author of Battle Book to Speak at Library

The event is free and open to the public! Please join us this Saturday.

Trivia Question: April

Check back next week for the correct answer!
William Shakespeare was the correct answer. Way to go, voters!

Weekly Poll

How to Download Audiobooks

Did you know that your Luzerne County library card gives you access to thousands of audiobook titles that can be downloaded --for FREE-- onto your home computer or portable MP3 player? It only takes a few easy steps to get started. Visit the Osterhout Free Library webpage and click

the Getting Started link under the icon shown above. Or ask for a pamphlet at the Information Services desk.
OR
If you want to be shown how it is done, stop by the library's public computer lab on Saturday, April 18th, between 10am & 1 pm. You will learn everything you need to know about downloading books to your computer or MP3 player. Don't forget to bring your library card and MP3 player, and you will leave with a downloaded audiobook.

Art Display at the Osterhout Free Library

Hank Curtis is the Book Nook artist for February. His multi-media art addresses issues including: homelessness, poverty, healthcare, media, culture, humanity, technology, gender, and semiotics. Some elements of his art intone a bit of satiric humor i.e. “What if Barbie was homeless?”

Diabets Digital Photo Frame

Osterhout Free Library has recently received a digital photo frame from Luzerne County Diabetes Task Force. It displays the information to increase diabetes awareness; it's prevention, treatment and management. The information is provided in easy to understand format. Please come and check it out. The frame is kept on the microfilm cabinets, right behind the Information Services Desk. You are most welcome to take home the booklets and brochures on the same topic donated by the Luzerne County Diabetes Task Force.

Tax Assistance

The area agency on aging for Luzerne/Wyoming counties is pleased to announce that the RSVP volunteers will be available to help seniors and low income individuals with income under $40,000 with simple federal and state income taxes,PACE and Rebate Forms. There is no charge for this service. You must schedule an appointment for assistance. All federal and state income tax forms will be e-filed.

To schedule an appointment please call the number followed by the location:

Kingston Senior Center, Kingston - 287-1102 - (Mondays )
CEO, Wilkes-Barre - 826-0510 ext. 264 - (Mondays)
Osterhout Free Library, Wilkes-Barre - 822-1159 ext. 3309- ( Tuesdays)
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Pittston - 822-1159 ext. 3309 - (Tuesdays)
Luzerne County Community College, Nanticoke - 822-1159 ext. 3309 - (Wednesday)
Greater Wilkes Barre Association for the Blind, Exeter - 822-1159 ext. 3309 - (Wednesday)

You must bring all W-2's, 1099's, social security information and any other forms showing income and copies of last years' tax return and property/rent rebate.

How to Save on almost everything?

The Sunday Voice of January 18th has published an answer to this question and the answer is by using your PUBLIC LIBRARY. You can...

1. borrow free CDs and DVDs instead of renting
   
2. borrow free books and audiobooks instead of buying
3. attend free programs such as Movie Nights, poetry workshops, book discussions and philosophical discussions instead of going to the movie theater
   
4. download audiobooks and access information from online databases instead of driving to the library
5. free access to local newspapers
   
6. free assistance with job search and homework
   
7. free computer, foreign language and ESL classes

In addition, many people looking for jobs are coming to the libraries to check out the information on job outlooks, different careers, resume writing and job openings in the area.

No time to browse the shelves....

No time to browse the library shelves during normal business hours? No problem, take a look at NextReads. Finding the books that interests you couldn't be easier. Sign up for the Newsletters on the topic of your interests to get great book suggestions by e-mail. Each book title links directly to the Access Pennsylvania Database where you can find libraries that own the books. NextReads is available through the POWER Library. To access the POWER Library from any remote location, you will need a valid Luzerne County Library Card. If you need further information please contact us @ 821-1959.

Bollywood Movies

If you are a Bollywood movie fan check out the Osterhout Free Library's collection for the latest additions. Recently we have added following movies:

This drama from India explores the troubled relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and his oldest son, Harilal. This is tragedy of a man who transformed the soul of a nation, but could not provide salvation for his own flesh and blood. Mahatma Gandhi was known in life as "The Great Soul" -- the "Father of a Nation." But while Gandhi's peaceful form of civil disobedience led India to independence and inspired civil rights movements across the globe, his eldest son, Harilal, was wandering the streets of India destitute and conflicted.

Jodhaa Akbar is the story of the greatest Mughal emperor that ruled Hindustan (now India), Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar, and the fiery young Rajput princess, Jodhaa. Set in the sixteenth century, this epic romance begins as a marriage of alliance between two cultures and religions, for political gain, with the Hindu King Bharmal of Amer giving his daughter's hand to a Muslim Emperor, Akbar. When Akbar accepts the marriage proposal, little does he know that in his efforts to strengthen his relations with the Rajputs, he would in turn be embarking on a new journey - the journey of true love.

In the 1970s, small-time actor Om (Shah Rukh Khan) falls in love with superstar Shanti (Deepika Padukone), but the two of them are later killed in a suspicious on-set fire. When he's reincarnated 30 years later, Om is determined to punish the person who ignited the blaze. In his former life, he swears he saw Shanti's secret husband (Arjun Rampal) set fire to the set … which means his only chance to expose the truth is to have the movie remade.


The movie is set in the Victorian period of the British Raj, and revolves around the peasants from a barren village who are oppressed by high taxes imposed by the British. When the peasants attempt to persuade the officers to reduce the taxes, the officers put forth a proposition to the peasants. One senior officer offers them to cancel their taxes for three years if their village team beats them at cricket. After accepting this proposition, the villagers face the arduous task of learning the game and playing for a result that will change their village's destiny.

You can put a hold on the movies if those movies are checked out.

Presidential Inauguration

Only 7 days until January 20, 2009, the Presidential Inauguration day. If you want to know how the presidential inauguration works or want to learn more about pomp and presidents visit:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/pihtml/pihome.html.
This site provides access to a collection of approximately 400 items from each of the 62 inaugurations from George Washington's in 1789 to William Jefferson Clinton's in 1997, and will include items from the 63rd inauguration of 2001. This presentation includes diaries and letters of presidents and of those who witnessed inaugurations, handwritten drafts of inaugural addresses, broadsides, inaugural tickets and programs, prints, photographs, and sheet music." (LIBRARY OF CONGRESS) The site may be searched by keyword, subject or inauguration.

To plan your trip to the Washington D.C. to attend the inauguration ceremony, please visit:http://inaugural.senate.gov/2009/ for more information.

Holiday Closing

Osterhout Free Library

will be closed on

Wednesday, December 24th & Thursday, December 25th.

Library will be open from 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. on

Friday, December 26th & Saturday, December 27th.

The Library will close at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, December 29th and Tuesday, December 30 th and will be closed on Wednesday, December 31st and Thursday, January 1st.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Colleges and Careers database...

Are you looking into colleges? Are you considering a career change? Try Testing and Education Reference Center w/Careers. Osterhout Free Library would like to get your opinion about this resource before adding it to our collection. This is a single source solution for testing, education and careers. It includes information on private high schools, undergraduate and graduate programs and executive education programs, searchable by location, major, tuition, sports programs and more. It also includes Holland Career Assessments tests, occupation requirement data, and resume writing tools and tips.

You can access this database by going to our homepage at http://www.osterhout.lib.pa.us/ and then by clicking on Testing and Education Reference Center link on the right hand side.

This free trial is open to all and is available till December 5, 2008. Please try it yourself, tell your friends and let us know what you think about it by taking a survey. We value your opinion. Please feel free to contact us for more information @ 821-1959.

Swordplay

Halloween Party at our North Branch

EBSCO adds Research Starters-Business

Research Starters - Business offer students a starting point for their research. By providing comprehensive summaries of discipline-specific topics, they help students grasp the broad outlines of a subject, realize its real world applications, critically engage it, and locate sources for researching it in greater detail. Most articles are around 3,000 words, making them more in-depth than the average text book or encyclopedia entry, yet short enough to be easily digestible.

Each Research Starters -Business article contains: Abstract, keywords, overview, further insights/applications, viewpoints/issues/discourse, terms/concepts, bibliography and suggested reading.

As usuall, if you are tryig to access it from home, go to our library's webpage @ http://www.osterhout.lib.pa.us/,
click on

then click on

and then scroll all the way down to the Research Starters - Business.

If you have any questions please give us a call @ 821-1959