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NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
Lillian Johnson
901-415-2846
johnsonli@memphislibrary.org

Job search help at the Library

Underemployed workers and lay-off casualties pay attention: the Library’s next Experience Series program offers guidance. Don Blaz, a volunteer leader for Career Transitions, conducts Career in Transitions on Tuesday, June 16, 7 p.m. at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, 3030 Poplar.

Blaz has 16 years in outplacement service. His credentials include former HR VP at Baptist and he was Kroger’s HR director. For Blaz’s talk next Tuesday, he’ll focus on three key areas of the job search: interviewing, networking and resumes. According to Blaz, big blunders can happen during the interview. “People can talk too much or not talk enough,” Blaz offers.

To make the most out of this free session, bring a current resume for critique. Registration isn’t required. However, if you have a Facebook account, you can RSVP at the Library’s Facebook page.

The Career in Transitions workshop is part of the Library’s Adult Experience Series. The recurring summer presentations, conducted by experts, offers diverse topics on select Tuesday evenings at 7pm in the 4th floor Memphis Room until August.

For more information, call 415-2700.

LIBRARY’S EXPERIENCE SERIES

Experience: Careers in Transition CANCELLED
Learn about the value of networking in your next job search. Presenter - Don Blaz, Memphis Area Career Transitions
June 16
Experience: Energy Efficient Living
MLGW and TVA offer tips to shave your bills while using less energy.
June 30
Experience: Smackdown: The History of Memphis Wresting
July 14
Experience: Geoff Calkins
Award-winning Commercial Appeal columnist Geoff Calkins dishes on Memphis sports.
July 28
Experience: Food Preservation 101
Save money. Eat well. Use canning, freezing and drying to enjoy your summer harvest all winter long.
August 11
Experience: Simple Security Solutions
Sgt. Deborah Peel, MPD Burglary, provides sound advice on how NOT to be a victim.
August 25

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JobLinc Career Fair

Join us at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, 3030 Poplar on Wednesday, July 29, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the JobLinc Career Fair. Premier employers will be brought face- to-face with jobseekers. Workshops on resume writing and effective job searches will be offered. For more information, call 415-2700.


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Bartlett Library seeks artists

The Friends of the Bartlett Public Library are seeking artists for a newly commissioned public art project to be installed by October 2009. Other than murals or other paintings directly on walls, artists are invited to submit sketches of artwork that will be housed in the Library’s children’s collection and storytime area. The submission deadline is June 30, 2009 and applications are available at the Library and online (http://www.memphislibrary.org/about/libraries/bartlett.htm).

The City of Bartlett opened the new 22,000 square foot facility in April of 2008. Located at 5584 Stage Road, the updated space (the municipal building was renovated to the tune of $3.7M dollars to accommodate an enlarged collection, 20 new computers and expanded shelving space) is inviting and the beautiful earth-toned décor greets customers. However, according to the Bartlett Friends of the Library president Carol Huff, the children’s collection area could use more personality. “We want the Library to be a special, welcoming place for the children - a place to have fun, a place to learn, and a place where memories are made,” Huff said.

The Friends of the Library provide financial and volunteer support. The organization holds fundraisers including successful book sales. Proceeds are used to purchase books and fund activities. “Much of the programming supported by Friends is for children,” explains Huff. For the Friends, spearheading the public art effort is another way the group can make the facility a great place for kids and families. Huff added, “Bartlett has always been a family-oriented city and children and their parents are among the most frequent visitors.”

For more information about the public art project, call 386-8968.


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Library’s Foreign Film Series
Summer Schedule

Need an escape? Try the Library’s Wider Angle Film series. For an hour or two, you can get a world-away. The summer schedule offers a variety of Spanish, French and Chinese movies—all award-winning and critically acclaimed. Enjoy a different culture and topography without ever leaving Memphis. Admission is free.

Showing Wednesday, June 10 at 7 p.m.: The Pope’s Toilet. Set in a Uruguayan town, the film follows humble residents as they prepare for a visit from the Pope. With an expected tourist influx hoping to get a glimpse of the Pope, villagers conjure up get-rich-quick schemes.

Subsequent Wider Angle screenings are held monthly on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, 3030 Poplar. Movies are intended for mature audiences—children younger than 17 admitted with a parent or guardian.

For more information about the films, go to filmmovement.com. For information about the series, call 415-2726.

Summer 2009 Wider Angle Film Series

Wednesday, June 10
The Pope’s Toilet directed by Cesar Charlone and Enrique Fernandez
(Spanish with English subtitles) Synopsis: It’s 1988 and Melo, a Uruguayan town on the Brazilian border, awaits the visit from Pope John Paul II. 50,000 people are expected to attend and the locals believe selling food and drink to the locals will just about make them rich. Petty smuggler Beto thinks he has the greatest idea of all—a pay-per-use water closet. His efforts yield unexpected results.
Wednesday, July 8
In Love We Trust by Wang Xiaoshuai (Chinese with English subtitles)
Synopsis: A divorced couple learns that the only way to save their little daughter Hehe, who suffers from a blood disease, is to have another child. Now both remarried, Mei Zhu and Xiao Lu are forced to test their love and their commitment to one another by putting their current relationships in danger.
Wednesday, August 12, 7:00 p.m.
Eldorado by Bouli Tanners (in French with English subtitles)
Synopsis: Yvan and Elie are two loners who wander aimlessly through their lives. Yvan is a quick-tempered 40-year-old vintage car dealer while Elie is a young burglar and ex-junkie. One day Yvan catches Elie trying to rob him. Instead of beating him up, he becomes strangely attached to him and agrees to drive him home to his parents in his old Chevrolet. Yvan and Elie are both nostalgic about lost relationships, which is what leads them to undertake a bizarre journey through a region that is as spectacular as it is crazy. Both are trying to find the pieces of a puzzle that they want to put back together, but it might be too late.
Wednesday, September 9, 7:00 p.m.
Lake Tahoe directed by Fernando Eimbcke (Spanish with English Subtitles)
Synopsis: Teenage Juan crashes his family's car on the outskirts of town and then scours the streets searching for someone to help him fix it. His quest will bring him to an old paranoid mechanic, a young mother who is convinced that her real place in life is as a lead singer in a punk band, and to "The One who Knows," a teenage mechanic obsessed with martial arts and Kung Fu philosophy. The absurd and bewildering worlds of these characters drag Juan into a one day journey in which he will come to accept what he was escaping from in the first place.

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General Book Sales:

  • August 21 & 22

Second Editions Book Store Sales:

June 20 -27
Overstock clearance - 4 Books for $1
July 11-18
Media Sale
August 8-22
Education/Children’s sale
September 12-19
Romance Sale
Entire Month of October
Banned Books and More
October 10-24
Mystery and Sci-Fi Sale
November 14-21
Religion Sale
December 26-31
Holiday Sale

More information about Second Editions.


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Library Staff Share Their Top Picks

Librarians, are by profession, well read. Often offering advice on what to read next based upon a customer’s personal preferences. But, what do Memphis Public Library & Information Center staff (librarians and other library professionals) consider their personal favorites…
--MORE->


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Volunteer Award Winners

Volunteer Award Opening Ceremony

Alcy-Whitehave String Orchestra provided entertainment at the celebration. Click on picture for larger version.

Dressed in black and seated in a round near the stage, the teens that make-up the Alcy-Whitehaven String Orchestra energetically played Revelations Edge to open the Memphis Public Library & Information Center’s annual Volunteer Recognition Program held in the meeting rooms of the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library. -- more -->


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Summer Reading Club @ the Library

Join the fun at your local library. Sign-up for the Summer Reading Club beginning June 1, 2009. You can earn rewards for reading.


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Swine-flu Information

Swine Flu Info U.S. Info Things You Can Do Plan & Prepare International Info CDC.gov HHS.gov

The recent headlines about Swine-flu have caused concern and alarm. Get the facts.

Swine-flu
- information from the National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Health

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Teen Tech Camp 2009

Teens: learn about emerging technology and have fun in the process at this week long camp (July 20 – July 25). Topics include creating your own game animation and editing music, photos and more using Scratch, ArtRage, Gimp and Picasa. Apply to attend this Free technology exploration program, sponsored by the Society for Information Management. Hurry, there are a limited number of slots and the application deadline is May 22.

Cover letter
Requirements and deadline information (in Microsoft Word format*.)
Application
Print, fill in and return to any Memphis Public Library. (Microsoft Word format*)

* A free viewer for Microsoft Word documents is available here.


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JobLab @ the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library

The Commercial Appeal recently reported that unemployment in the Memphis area hit 8.8% in March. To help jobseekers, the library is offering resume and online application assistance. The service is first-come, first-served. Unlike computers on the public floors, computers are available for the entire three-hour period.

JobLab is an open-door lab providing in-depth assistance to jobseekers, particularly with:

  • Job-Related Searches
  • Resume Writing & Formatting
  • Online Applications

JobLab is held twice a month on the following days:

2nd Monday
9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
4th Thursday
5:30 p.m. -8:30 p.m.

Participants should be prepared and bring all pertinent information, such as job history, dates of employment, contact information, etc. Participants are required to provide their own storage media.


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Property Appraisal Resources

2009 is a reappraisal year for Shelby County property. The assessor’s office is anticipating appeals from homeowners over their appraisal.

According to the Assessor, comparable sales serve as the foundation of the reappraisal program but they do not include foreclosed properties or sales between family members. To assist customers with appeals, the Business & Sciences Department has compiled a list of resources.

Shelby County Assessor’s website,
http://assessor.shelby.tn.us,
provides Market Sales by Location. You can search for all qualified sales over the past two years, (sales from 2007 and 2008), within the selected property’s neighborhood. Enter an address in the “Search by address” text box. Then, choose “view qualified neighborhood sales”.
Chandler Reports
is a quarterly and yearly listing of Shelby County residential sales. It is arranged by zip code and includes square footage, number of baths, bedrooms, stories, and selling price. Copies are available at Cordova, Bartlett and Central (3rd floor).

Since the assessment is based on sales over the past 4 years, customers should use 2005-2008. Chandler < http://chandlerreports.com> website offers personalized reports
Realquest Database
Available at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library in the Business & Sciences department on the third floor, Realquest provides property detail and comparable sales.

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Join a book club

Being a part of a book club can be a fun and rewarding way to enjoy reading and socializing with others. Any avid reader has read books that they would love to discuss. Getting other people’s thoughts and opinions can provide new insights and/or validate your own impressions of a book. To find a club at a location near you, click here


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Go Green: Recycle your books today!
Donate your books to the Friends of the Library.

Bring your gently used books to the nearest Memphis Public Library & Information Center location. (No outdated textbooks or manuals please.)::

Your donation is tax-deductible AND environmentally-friendly.

For information on sites and donation acceptance times, call 415-2700.

Proceeds from Friends of the Library book sales benefit the Memphis Public Library & Information Center.


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Second Editions

Second Editions, located next to Java Coast, off the Central Library's vestibule, is the place to find library post cards or gently used books for sale at great bargain prices.

Second Editions Hours
Tuesday through Friday - Noon to 6:00 pm
Saturday - Noon to 5:00 pm
Closed Sunday and Monday

For more information about Second Editions, or to volunteer, call  415-2836.


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COMPUTER CLASS

Computer classes

The current Computer Classes schedule is available here as an Adobe PDF file. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is available here for free. More information about the classes can be found on the Computer Classes page.

 

 

 

Library Locations and Phone Numbers:

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