Thursday, September 16th @ 6pm

We’ll show you an easy way to decorate a composition notebook that can be used for schoolwork, journaling, or doodling!  A variety of designs and decorations will be available.  Participants will be able to design their notebook to fit their style!
Registration is required; Program for students in 4th-8th grade;  class limited to 15 participants.

City hall Commission Room (104)

More than a third of Kansas residents are of German ancestry. This presentation explores the major German immigrant groups and their impact on Kansas agriculture, education and Midwestern culture.
Presented by Bill Keel who has researched many German settlements in Kansas.

Brought to you by the Kansas Humanities Council.

Free and Open to the Public

Pageturner’s Book Club

A very inspiring story of how one man really is changing the world – one school at a time.  Recount the journey that led Mortenson from a failed 1993 attempt to climb K2, the second largest mountain in the world,  to successfully establishing schools in some of the most remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Anyone can join Pageturner’s ! To reserve a copy of Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, please ask at the Circ desk, our book set will be here after Aug. 23rd and books will be ready to check out.  Copies can also be found using our NExpress library sharing system or if needed we will search for them using ILL (Interlibrary Loan) If ILL is needed, please allow 2 weeks for the book to arrive.  You may search for the book here on our website: Go to Your Account, search and put a hold on the next available copy.  Questions? Ask Lisa Slavin of adult programs.

Audiobooks are books you can download and listen to on your computer, or transfer them to portable devices such as mp3 players, ipods, or a variety of smart cellphones. Devices can vary widely in the formats they are able to support. Audiobook formats include mp3, wma and more. Sources: Provided by Kansas through Audiobooks, music and more. Check to see if your portable device is compatible. To access this resource you will need to download the OverDrive Media Console to your computer and you will need a Kansas Library card. Free public domain audiobooks can be found at LibriVox.

Listen….You can also download music to your computer, and transfer it to a portable device to take with you. Some music is available at Audiobooks, music and more. Music formats include mp3, wav and more.

Listen and Learn…In addition to listening to books, there are many podcasts, or audio files available for free to download to your computer. They can be transferred to your portable device to listen to as you walk, exercise, cook, or clean house. Just one example is the podcast of Car Talk from NPR…these guys are very funny and informative if you haven’t heard them.

Watch and Learn…No doubt you’ve heard of Youtube, a website where videos live.These vary from music videos of Josh Turner to videos on how to improve your posture.  If you haven’t heard of TED Talks, you can view people speaking on ideas from Steve Jobs on how to live before you die to Dan Pink on the suprising science of motivation.

Explore the multitude of ways to read, listen, and watch the many available resources!

Q. Who are my elected officials?

A. There are so many districts, it can be a bit complicated to find the answer to this question  as it depends on where you live. For example, there are three different state house district lines running through Ottawa. The best way to answer this question is to enter your address at http://www.ipsr.ku.edu/ksdata/vote/. This website will tell you information about congressional, state board of education, and state officials. For maps of districts, check out http://koufax.kgs.ku.edu/demograph/ims/myelect.cfm and http://skyways.lib.ks.us/ksleg/KLRD/LegisDist.htm. There is a map of the county commission districts at http://www.franklincoks.org/commission/commission_page.htm.

Q. Who is running for office?

A. Once you know your districts you can find out who is running for office in your districts with the Secretary of State’s candidate list at: http://www.kssos.org/elections/elections_upcoming.html

Find more information on voting at www.voteks.org, and access your personal voter registration information at https://myvoteinfo.voteks.org/

Franklin County Republicans have a website at http://www.franklincountyrepublican.com, and the Kansas Democratic Party at http://www.ksdp.org/

For information on voting records at the local level, minutes from the county commissioner meetings are on the county website.  Find voting records at the state level at www.kansasvotes.org, and at the federal level at www.votesmart.org.

For contact information for your elected officials, see our government page, or there is an online Kansas Legislative Directory(pdf) and a Directory of Kansas Public Officials.

The case has simple instructions to show you how to operate them, and the librarians will be glad to give you a few pointers. Each Playaway will come in its own case with one AAA battery. You only need to provide your own headphones. You can slip them in your pocket or hang them off your neck.

New Playaways (pdf)

From Learning Express Library:

• Job and Career Accelerator
• Learning Centers — Fourth grade through college
• Microsoft, Adobe, Corel and Windows/Mac online classes
• Occupation practice tests — air traffic controller to teacher

Kansas job seekers will find helpful new tools with the Learning Express Library. The State Library of Kansas just inked a three-month trial deal that will offer extensive online resources including occupational and scholastic practice tests, skill-building courses and a segment of the service titled “Job and Career Accelerator.”

“This is a fabulous addition to the research databases that we already offer to all Kansans,” State Librarian Jo Budler said in a news release. “It’s an amazing collection of individual exercises, full-blown courses and practice tests ranging from third-grade math problems, to middle school grammar questions, to preparing for the ACT, GED and even the test for U.S. citizenship.”

During the trial period (May–July), Kansas library users will access the LearningExpress Library by clicking on the link found on the State Library homepage, http://www.kslib.info.

Alternately, users also can click on the LearningExpress Library graphic on the Blue Skyways homepage, http://www.skyways.org. All users will need to create a unique account within LearningExpress to view course offerings, practice tests or career and training information and to save any created files, like a new resume.

Regardless of an individual’s goal, LearningExpress Library’s resources promote success. Twelve different Learning Centers from elementary through college levels plus computer skills, GED and new workplace skills training offers the exercises, the courses, the practice tests and the information needed to be successful at school, at work, or in life.

Looking to land a job? The Job and Career Accelerator will identify strengths and weaknesses, help with resume writing and even monitor postings on job boards.

Check out:

• Practice tests for such careers as electrician, plumber, air traffic controller and military aviation
• eBooks that assist in preparation for careers in such civil service jobs as EMT and police or healthcare occupations like a paramedic or nurse’s aide
• Extensive list of flash-based computer skill tutorials to learn Microsoft programs such as Power Point, Excel, Word or Outlook Express and Adobe.
• U.S. citizenship test practice, including hundreds of questions, all taken from the official naturalization test and geared toward achievement of the best possible scores.
• GED materials with study strategies, pretests, lessons and exam practice questions.

Founded in 1995, LearningExpress has statewide library contracts with 16 states, making the database available through more than 4,000 libraries and 5,000 academic sites. Last year, about 1.5 million users accessed LearningExpress’ online resources.