Congratulations to our holiday memories winning writers!

Congratulations to the winners of the West Room Writer’s “Holiday Memories” Creative Writing Contest! The Junior Division winner of the contest is William Bonila, and the Senior Division winner is Keegan Starkey. Both William and Keegan won a $25 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble, sponsored by Town and Country Paving of DeMotte. Second place winner in the Senior Division is Alice Santell, who won a $15 gift card to Barnes and Noble, sponsored by the Jasper County 4-H Creative Writing Project.

The West Room Writers, a group of teens in grades 4-12 who love to write creatively, will meet again on Thursday, January 20 from 5:30-6:30 pm at the Demotte Library, where rules for the upcoming “Valentine Poetry Contest” will be announced, and other fun writing activities will be the order of the meeting.

Join us, and find out more about the West Room Writers or register to attend by logging onto the library’s website at www.myjcpl.org or calling the DeMotte Library at 987-2221.

JCPL Extends Thanks for Gifts and Donations

At the Jasper County Public Library we strive to be a leader in our community, to provide information, recreation, cultural offerings, and lifelong learning opportunities for our citizens.

Our goal is to offer traditional library services while keeping pace with new methods of storing and transferring information and knowledge. We strive to provide the programs and services that are most needed in our community.

Indiana public libraries are funded primarily by county property taxes, but in addition to that revenue, we often receive monetary gifts from you. Those gifts are deposited into the Library Gift Fund of your choice; DeMotte, Rensselaer, or Wheatfield, and are used to purchase books, AV materials, magazine subscriptions, furniture and equipment, as well as program prizes and refreshments. Your gifts also support adult and children’s programs.

In addition, many of you support the library with your time as you actively volunteer or become a member of one of our Friends of the Library groups. We greatly appreciate your monetary gifts and the other wonderful ways you support your library. We couldn’t do all the things we do without your support!

As we wrap up 2010 we want to take this time to thank you for supporting your library with your gifts; your gifts of time and money. You make it possible for us to inform, enrich, and empower our diverse community, and we are grateful!

Pop Culture Universe...A Great Resource for Everyone!

It is hard to believe that school has been in session for two and a half months! At this point in the school year, things are definitely in full swing. Perhaps you or someone you know has a history term paper or a creative writing assignment to complete before semester’s end. If so, Pop Culture may be for you!

Pop Culture Universe is an authoritative digital library of information on American and world idols and ideas that we can all relate to. New technology, movies, TV, radio, music, comics, graphic novels, sports, pastimes, fads, fashions, fast food; you can find it all in Pop Culture Universe! One-stop, informative, at-a-glance overviews of pop culture from the 1920’s to the present are available.

Teachers will appreciate the lesson plans and professional reading that will help them to use pop culture in the classroom. Hundreds of photos are included that illustrate various aspects of pop culture. Not only is it fun and irresistible, it’s also a great way to engage students in reading, writing, and research!

You don’t have to be a teacher or student to enjoy the benefits of Pop Culture Universe. History buffs, playwrights, writers, set designers, and costume designers will find a treasure trove of information that will be useful in their crafts. There truly is something for everyone!

Pop Culture Universe can be accessed via our library website, www.myjcpl.org. Click on the link for Research Resources and then scroll through your options until you find the link for Pop Culture Universe. It’s another way JCPL strives to inform, enrich, and empower our diverse community!

Check Out LS2PAC at JCPL!

At JCPL, we are always reviewing and evaluating current technologies, implementing technologies that will help patrons access what they need quickly and conveniently. With that in mind, we have recently launched LS2PAC, a new interface for our online catalog that has numerous helpful features:

* Tagging
* List Making
* User Reviews
* RSS feeds to selected news media           
* Predictive Results
* Faceted Results
* Genre Browsing
* A Book River, an eye catching representation of book jackets in the library’s collection

What does this mean for you? This means that you may add a small comment to an item such as your initials to  remind yourself that you have read a particular book or the word movie to indicate that a book has been made into a movie; create an electronic list of books you have read or wish to read; write a user review; access selected news media which may be helpful for students needing a current event item on a related topic. In addition, the search box completes search terms as you type, and while searching for a book on a particular topic, you will be pointed to other types of library materials on the same topic.

We think you will enjoy using our new LS2PAC, which can be accessed from designated computers in the library and/or via our library homepage, www.myjcpl.org. Click on library catalog and then select LS2PAC. For those who prefer to use it, our Classic PAC is also available. If you have questions about either of our PACs or need to establish a PIN number (which is required to use some PAC features), please call or visit the library. Staff are trained and interested in helping you find the information you need as we strive to inform, enrich, and empower our diverse community.

Put Your Nose In A Book

You may have a nose for news or you may want to keep your nose to the grindstone, or you may even find what you’re looking for right under your nose, but on Friday, October 1 from 10-10:15 am, the Jasper County Public Library invites everyone in our community to stop in the library and put their nose in a book to celebrate the joy of the written word as we all “Take Time Out for Reading.”

Take Time Out for Reading began in 2003, and was designed to heighten awareness for literacy across Northwest Indiana. Held in conjunction with Northwest Indiana’s “Books to Bridge the Region” reading initiative, Take Time Out for Reading is a fun way for people of all ages and from all walks of life to share their love for books and reading.

For more information, visit or call the Rensselaer Library at 866-5881, the Wheatfield Library at 956-3774 or the DeMotte Library at 987-2221. You can also check out the Northwest Indiana Literacy Coalition's site.

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Oct. 1 is also Follow a Library Day.

Use your favorite social networking place to share your love of your favorite library -- just let your friends know why you love us! -- and if you haven't added your library to your friends list or follow list, this is the day to start!

You can find JCPL on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/myjcpl. While you're there, mention what book you're reading for Take Time Out For Reading!

September is National Library Card Month

September is National Library Card Month, and it is also a busy month here at the library as so many new patrons are getting their first library card ever! If you've been meaning to get a card, this is the month to do it. We're giving out free items for new sign-ups. If you haven't stopped in for a while, come see us too. Every time you use your card this month you can enter into a special drawing for prizes.

Library of Congress and Public Libraries

In 1814 (during the War of 1812) the British army burned down the U.S. Capitol and the first Library of Congress, about 3,000 volumes.

Thomas Jefferson had the largest private collection of books in the United States and Congress asked to buy his books as replacement. Jefferson's private library was three times larger than the one that was lost, about 9-10,000 volumes, and included many books on topics not related to law or government. Because of his collection, the Library of Congress changed to become a library of the people, not just the government. He also promoted the idea that libraries should be about all the subjects people might need to become more educated about their lives and the world.

What you can do at a library today is limited only by your imagination: Come learn a new craft or a new language, discover your family history, meet people, journey to new or impossible places, or more...

Check out 52 ways you can use your library card (one for each week of the year) and stop in to give them a try!

Meet George Cuddy

On Saturday afternoon around 2 p.m., the Rensselaer Library will be hosting George Cuddy, who is spending his summer biking solo across the country from Boston, Mass. to Portland, Ore.

Cuddy is using the trek to build support and raise funds for a rowing program in his home community of Brighton, Mass. to benefit physically and mentally challenged athletes.

You can learn about the rowing program through a short online video. You can also follow Cuddy's trip online, via his Cross Country trip blog.

Cuddy contacted the library several weeks ago to see whether we would be interested in having him come talk about the program and about cross country cycling.

We hope if you are interested in either topic, you can find some time to duck out of the heat and stop by.

Note: He is leaving from Denver, Ind. and coming 65 miles before stopping in Rensselaer. That's definitely a day's work.