Across the Ages: Music of the English Renaissance & Baroque

Soprano Ellen Pollack Wilson and guitarist Armin Harrison will perform and discuss music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Everyone is invited to attend on Saturday, January 5 at 2 p.m.

Holiday Hours

The Dorris Van Doren Regional Branch Library wishes everyone happy and safe holidays!

We will observe the following hours of operation:

Tuesday, December 25 Closed
Wednesday-Saturday, December 26-29 9:00 am-6:00 pm
Tuesday, January 1 Closed
Wednesday, January 2 Normal hours resume

Subscribe or keep checking our blog for upcoming events and new hours of operation in January.

Holiday Events!

The holidays may have come a little too quickly for some of us, but it's nice to know that you can always take a moment to relax at the library. The library has plenty of holiday books and programs to get everyone in the holiday spirit, beginning this weekend. Don't miss out!

Herald the Harp
Saturday, December 8 @ 2 pm
Enjoy holiday music performed by harpist Mardi Mahaffy.

Crafts & Cocoa for Teens
Tuesday, December 11 & 18 during Teen Hangout @ 5 pm
Teens are invited to make a holiday craft and drink hot cocoa.

'Tis the Season
Saturday, December 15 @ 12 pm
More holiday music with our very own library director and flutist Carol Brey-Casiano.

Santa's Coming!
Saturday, December 15 @ 1 pm
After hearing some holiday music, Santa Claus will be here!
Don't forget your camera!

Storytime featuring Little Angels
Thursday, December 20 @ 10 am
After hearing Christmas stories and making a craft, children from the Flying Colors Learning Center will be singing Christmas songs.

Have you been to the Bookmark?

The Friends of the Westside Libraries is a non-profit group that raises funds for all four Westside region public libraries, including the Dorris Van Doren Regional Branch library. Funds are raised through donations and sales from their bookstore, the Bookmark. If you haven't visited the Bookmark, the holidays mark the perfect time to go! The Bookmark is a gem of a used bookstore that offers used books, magazines, records, and more. Most of the books are in excellent condition, and are even recent bestsellers or popular titles.

The Bookmark is currently having a sale on children's books that ends Saturday, Dec. 8. Children's books up to the eighth grade level are on sale for only 25 cents!

They are located at 7348 Remcon Circle, across from the post office.
Phone#: 833-2342
Hours:
Wednesdays 3pm-6 pm
Thursdays 9am-3pm
Fridays 3pm-8pm
Saturdays 9am-3pm

Check out their great selection! Book and magazine donations are gratefully accepted. You can become a member for only $5 a year and receive 10% off all purchases.

All pimped out and no books to shelve

The MTV show Pimp My Ride has become so popular that it has now infiltrated the library world. Another blogsite called Unshelved came up with a funny idea that has now become a phenomenon. This year, we decided to enter the "Pimp My Bookcart" contest with a pirate theme. Unfortunately, we did not win, but staff member Conrad Orozco did a fantastic job! Come into the library and check it out in the display case in the lobby. Let us know if you have any comments or ideas for next year's contest.

You can also check out the winners and all other entries including ours at: www.unshelved.com/PimpMyBookcart/2007/

Tutoring/Sevice Hours

Attention all elementary and high school students!

High school students will be offering tutoring services and reading to elementary students this Saturday.

If you are a high school student and are in need of service hours, then come on by and participate!

If you are an elementary school student and need tutoring or want a reading buddy, then come on by and participate!

Tutoring/reading will take place this Saturday, Nov. 10 from 10am-12pm and 1pm-3pm.

Call or email Lisa at the library for more info.

Happy American Indian Heritage Month and Thanksgiving!

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush proclaimed November to be "National American Indian Heritage Month." El Paso is fortunate to have a rich American Indian heritage. We hope that you will join us in celebrating our city's diverse culture with the following events:

Kachina dolls will be on display all month.

Saturday, Nov. 10 @ 1 pm
The Ysleta del Sur dancers will perform

Saturday, Nov. 17 @ 1 pm
A musical journey for the entire family with Nancy Green

...and the Dorris Van Doren Library would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving! We are grateful for your support and patronage!

The El Paso Public Libraries will have the following hours of operation in observance of Thanksgiving:

Wednesday, Nov. 21 9 am-5:30 pm
Thursday, Nov. 22 Closed
Friday, Nov. 23 Closed

Halloween Party!

On Saturday Oct. 27, we will be having a Halloween party at 1 pm!

• Wear your costumes to compete in a costume contest
• Enjoy a spooky cupcake walk
• Play a round of hot pumpkin
• Trick-or-treat throughout the library

All ages are welcome. Come join us for a fun and safe Halloween for the entire family!

LOL! Teen Read Week October 14-20

We’re joining thousands of other libraries, schools and bookstores across the country to encourage teens to read. This year’s theme is "LOL (laugh out loud) @ your library," and we’ve got a week’s worth of events planned to celebrate!

Read any good books lately or have a favorite? Write a short review about it and you could win a prize! Details and entry forms are at the Dorris Van Doren Library.

Events for teens, ages 13-19:

Tuesday, Oct. 16 @ 5 p.m.: Teen Hangout

Wednesday, Oct. 17 @ 5 p.m.: Movie: Blades of Glory

Thursday, Oct. 18 @ 4:30 p.m.: Duct Tape Crafts

Friday, Oct. 19 @ 4:30 p.m.: Pizza Party! Book Review Contest Winners will be announced!

Saturday, Oct. 20 @ 3 p.m.: Anime Club

Banned Books Week Sept. 29-Oct. 6

Banned Books Week is observed during the last week of September each year. This annual American Library Association event has reminded Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted since 1982.

The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) received a total of 546 challenges last year. A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school, requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. Public libraries, schools and school libraries report the majority of challenges to OIF.

Here are some of the events that will take place during the week to celebrate our freedom to read:

Saturday, Sept. 29 @ 1 p.m.
Book Circle: Come discuss banned books or any of your current/favorite reads

Wednesday, Oct. 3 @ 5 p.m.
Movie: Beloved
This movie is based on the book that was challenged this year

Saturday, Oct. 6 @ 1 p.m.
Read Out!
Passages from several of this year's challenged books will be read

September

September is a very important month to us here at DVD, and we've planned some events to commemorate it.

National Library Card Sign-Up Month

If you don't have a library card yet, now's the perfect time to get one! You are never too young and never too old to get one. There's more than just books at the library. With a library card, you can checkout DVDs, videos, music CDs, audiobooks, graphic novels and manga, magazines, bestselling books, have access to electronic databases, and more! Also, effective Sept. 10, 2007, you will need a library card to use our computers. Our computers have free Internet access, Microsoft Applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.), and printing capabilities ($0.10 per copy). You will need a card because we will be acquiring a computer system that will assign computers.

Disaster Preparedness Month
A free public program offered by Texas Cooperative Extension on Sept. 14, 1-2 p.m.

Hispanic Heritage Month
Celebrate our rich Hispanic culture from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15!

We kick off the celebration by playing Loteria on Sept. 15 @ 2 p.m. Loteria is a Mexican version of bingo using images and words. Come have fun and learn a few Spanish words. All ages are welcome. 30 player limit. Horchata will be served.

The Library is...

The Wild Thing from the book Where the Wild Things Are, will be stopping by all of our libraries this September. There will be terrible roars, the gnashing of terrible teeth, the rolling of terrible eyes, and the showing of terrible claws. Join us as we have a wild rumpus!


Here at DVD: Saturday, Sept. 8 @ 1 p.m.

Click here for a complete listing of appearances.

Book Circle

We hope you'll join us this Saturday for our monthly Book Circle Meeting! You can discuss any book that you've read or been reading. It's from 1-2 p.m. in the quiet room.

Teen Update

We now have a myspace page just for teens. So, if you're between the ages of 13-16, add us as a friend already! You can keep up to date with teen events, books, graphic novels, anime, etc. at
www.myspace.com/dvdteens

If you don't want to be our myspace friend, you should still come hang out with us this month. We will start an Anime Club on Wed. Aug. 22 @ 6 p.m. We will watch a few episodes of Innocent Venus and Air TV, fill out a survey, and discuss what we want to do for our next meeting. Popcorn and refreshments will be served.


School may be starting soon, but there's still time to have fun. On Sat. Aug. 25, we'll be having a lock-in from 7-11 p.m. The theme is gocks. Gocks are goth sock puppets, and everyone will get to make one. It doesn't have to be goth, and if you don't want to make one, you can play games, watch a movie, or just hang out. We'll provide the socks, accessories, food, drinks, and more.

August Movies

Summer Matinee Movies @ 2 p.m. on Thursdays in the auditorium continues with:

This Week's Events

Congratulations to all who participated in this year's Summer Reading Club! If you turned in a completed log and didn't get to come to the wrap-up parties, drop on by and pick up your certificate and goody bag. We'll hold them for the next couple of weeks. Now that the Summer Reading Club has ended, we're going to take a break from storytime. There will be no storytime on July 25, 26, and 28.

Just because we're taking a break, does not give you an excuse to not come to the library. New books are coming in almost daily and we've still got lots going on. Here's an overview:

On Thursday, July 26 @ 2 p.m.: Summer Movie Matinee continues with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. See it before you see the new movie! I'll post the list of August movies soon.
(in the auditorium)

On Saturday, July 28:

1 p.m. Our first Book Circle Meeting! Bring your current or favorite read to discuss. Any and all literature genres welcome! Refreshments provided. (in the quiet room)

3 p.m. The Scrapbooking Group meets again to bring together croppers for an afternoon of scrapbooking. Be sure to bring your materials. (in the auditorium)

Celebrate the Arts

On Saturday, July 14, the El Paso Writer's League will be sponsoring a dynamic event from 1-5 p.m. There'll be lots to see, hear, and buy! Local authors, artists, and artisans will be present. The event promises mystery, poetry, children's fiction, adult fiction, creative and southwest nonfiction, CD's, vegetarian cookbooks, photography, porcelain jewelery, paintings, and used books.

Here are some of the authors and artists that will be present:

Luanne Hunt, Leon Metz, Marian Haddad, Betty Marcus-Randle, Deen Underwood, L.C. Hayden, Patsy King, John Middagh, Paul Geneson, Ken Hudnall, Donna Munch, and Mary Fimbel.

Candy Mayer, Betty Pippin, Don Beene, Don Woollard, Bernice Shutes, Melinda Etzel, and Marge Gianelli.

Remember, it begins at 1 p.m in the auditorium, and historian Leon Metz will also be here to lead a discussion.. At 2 p.m., Californian country singer-songwriter Luanne Harris will perform inside the library. So, come and celebrate the arts with us!

All Muggles Are Invited to Attend

Alright, I have a feeling that a lot of you have already made plans to celebrate the book's release elsewhere, but let me try to change your mind. We plan on throwing our own Deathly Hallows bash, complete with crafts, games, a costume contest, prizes, and the raffling of the book itself! It will be on Friday, July 20 from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. We will have two separate raffles. One will be a raffle to win giftcards to purchase the book, and the other will be to check out library copies.

Also, don't forget we're showing all of the Harry Potter movies this month on Thursdays at 2 p.m. We showed the first one last week (7/5). So, before you go out to see the newest movie, refresh your memory by watching the others here. The last film will also be shown at our pre-release party.

July 12 Chamber of Secrets, 2 p.m.

July 19 Prisoner of Azkaban, 2 p.m.

July 20 Deathly Hallows Pre-Release Party, 10 p.m.-12 a.m.

July 26 Goblet of Fire, 2 p.m.

New Book Circle!

Beginning this month, we will no longer pick a book to discuss at the book club meetings. Instead, we are inviting you to select a book to discuss with others who share your passion for literature. The book can be one that you are currently reading and/or it could be your favorite book from any and all genres. If you still have questions or need help choosing what to read next, feel free to stop by and chat with a librarian at DVD.

Here are a few titles that are hot right now at DVD (If we don't have them, we can request them for you:




Join us for our first discussion on July 28th at 1 p.m.

Babysitter Classes

DVD will be offering Red Cross Babysitting classes from June through August. The classes are open to youth ages 11-15, and are conducted by instructors certified by the American Red Cross. Pre-registration is required and can be done at the information desk. If registration for a class is below 8, the class will be canceled, so don't waste time and sign up!

Cost: $10 due the day of the class
Time: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
What to bring: A baby doll or teddy bear and a sack lunch
Dates: June 23, July 14, August 4, August 18

June's Book Club Selection

This month we will be discussing The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold on Wednesday, June 27th at 6 p.m.

Consumer Health Information Training

The Internet and the TexShare electronic databases can be overwhelming and difficult to determine what information is credible. This hands-on training session focuses on health information made available on the web. You will learn how to research and access the most reliable and authoritative health information available on the web. The class will explore sites available in both English and Spanish on heatlth issues that are relevant to women, children, senior citizens, and all ages in between. All sessions are free and open to the public.

Join us on June 19th from 6-7 p.m.

Upcoming sessions:
July 10th and 17th

Storytimes

Even though we are offering additional programming for the Summer Reading Club, the storytime schedule will remain the same. Saturdays at 1 p.m. will feature Summer Reading Club events instead of storytime.


Toddler Time Storytime:

Wednesdays at 1 p.m.

Thursdays at 10 a.m.

Thursday Movie Matinee begins next week!

The Dorris Van Doren Library presents a series of family movies every Thursday at 2 p.m in the auditorium. Free popcorn and refreshments will be provided. All movies are rated PG. No registration is required.

The following movies will be shown in June:

Nacho Libre

June 14

After spending his childhood in a Mexican monastery, Ignacio (Jack Black) decides to remain there and work as a cook, mostly to be close to beautiful Sister Encarnación (Ana de la Reguera). So it's natural that when he learns the orphanage is in financial trouble, he pitches in to help -- by disguising himself and joining the professional wrestling circuit as a luchador named Nacho. But there will be hell to pay if the church elders find out!

Flushed Away

June 21

In this lively comedy from DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Features (Wallace & Gromit), London high-society mouse Roddy (voiced by Hugh Jackman) is flushed down the toilet by Syd, a common sewer rat. Hang on for a madcap adventure deep in the bowels of Ratropolis, where Roddy meets the resourceful Rita (Kate Winslet), the rodent-hating Toad (Ian McKellen) and his faithful thugs Spike and Whitey (Andy Serkis and Bill Nighy).

Sky High

June 28

Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) -- the son of married superheroes known as the Commander (Kurt Russell) and Josie Jetstream (Kelly Preston) -- is faced with an intimidating family legacy. And the kids at the elite Sky High School don't make him feel any better about his lack of superpowers. Surrounded by classmates including a self-replicating cheerleader and a jock who can stretch himself silly, Will is beginning to look awfully normal.

July's line up will feature all four Harry Potter movies in celebration of the new book and movie. We'll keep you posted on any Harry Potter festivities.

The Westside Library on 125 Belvidere will also be screening movies on Wednesdays at 2 p.m.

June and July Schedule:

June 13- Happy Feet

June 20- Charlotte's Web

June 27- A Night at the Museum

July 11- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

July 25- Freedom Writers

Summer Reading Club for Children and Teens

This past Saturday (June 2nd) kicked off the beginning of the Summer Reading Club with registration and a magic show. Registration is still open and will continue until July 8th. Stop by the information desk to register, pick up reading logs, rules, and a program of events scheduled throughout the summer. The children’s summer reading club is for infants, on up to those who have completed the 8th grade. The teen summer reading club is for teens ages 13-19.

Events for children are scheduled every Saturday at 1 p.m. and Wednesday at 6 p.m. We’ll keep you posted on the exact programming on a weekly basis.

This week’s events:

Wednesday, June 6 at 6 p.m................ZZ the Clown
Saturday, June 9, 1 p.m........................Party Animals
Saturday, June 9, 7-11 p.m..................Teen lock in (a night of funny movies, games, and food)

Haiku Contest Winners

It took a while, but here are our Haiku contest winners...

Annette Brinson
Susannah Scuderi
Mathew Livingston

We had so many entries and so many great ones! It was difficult to decide on just three winners.

Thanks to all that participated.

May's Book Club Selection

I hope that you can join us for our month's book discussion of "The Memory Keeper's Daughter".

We have a special display in our bestseller's area featuring the books we have chosen each month. In our display, we have additional copies of the book that aren't in our catalog.

Please check it out.

We will be meeting May 30th from 7-8.

Haiku contest winners

We got a great response from our patrons in the Haiku contest. We are still deciding the winners, so keep checking the blog. We'll give the winners a call.

Have a great weekend!

Haiku contest

Well, National Poetry Month is winding down. We will be selecting our winners of the Haiku contest late next week.

Thank you to all of you that participated. So far, I've really enjoyed the entries. We have a lot of talented library patrons. It will be difficult picking the winners.

Good luck to our participants!

University of Arizona Pianist on Tour

Join us on Friday afternoon (May 4th) for a Classical piano performance by Astrid Chan and El Paso's own Thomas Shibley Azar. These students of the University of Arizona are currently touring the southwest.

The concert begins at 4:00 in our auditorium. We hope to see you there!

The Road

I just finished the Cormac McCarthy book, "The Road".

It's our book club selection of the month. I have never read Cormac McCarthy before and I am extremely impressed with his writing style and his imagery. This was a really difficult book to read, but worth it.

Please come to our book discussion group this upcoming Wednesday (4/25) at 7:00. I'm sure we will have a great discussion of this Pulitzer Prize winning novel.

Scrapbooking anyone?

From 3:00-5:30 this Saturday, we are beginning our scrapbooking group. Bring all of your supplies and get together with other croppers.

Please call 875-0700 for more information.

Our Book Club

We are starting a book club here at DVD. Our first selection is "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. It's also Oprah's Pick of the Month, but I chose it because of McCarthy's El Paso history. He used to live in the area. I would think that our landscape was inspiration to his writings, especially his "Border Triology".

Not to mention, he is considered to be one of the greatest living American novelists.

I was also intrigued by the story. To oversimplify the plot, it's a story about a man and his son after a nuclear attack.

I like stories where life as we know it permanently changes.

How does anyone deal with the end of the world or the end of their world? It could be a divorce, death, or other great loss. Our lives can change so drastically in the matter of minutes and change who we are profoundly.

Our book club will meet April 25th at 7:00.

I'm sure it will be a thought provoking read.

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month. I always love the opportunity to celebrate poetry whenever I can. I think that poetry is such an amazing art form.

Speaking of form, we are having an all ages Haiku contest during the month of April.
Come to the Information Desk for a form or write your haiku and include your name and phone number. Drop it off at the Information Desk or the entry boxes around the library.

There will be winners in the adult contest, as well as the under 18 contest. The prizes are Barnes and Noble gift certificates, so give it a try! We'll announce the winners the first week of May.

Happy writing!

Laura Ingalls Wilder and her Legacy

My favorite children's books are the Little House series from Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read and re-read them again and again for years.

So, I'm excited about our presentation this Tuesday at 6:00.

Ms. Alice Davenport M.S., CFLE, will be speaking about the author herself and the role her daughter, Rose, had in the writing of the Little House books. She will also be discussing the great impact the books had on literature and the world. Join us on Tuesday!

Welcome to our blog

Welcome to our new blog. We will be posting events and happenings here at our library. We have a busy month and even more events planned for the summer.

The blog will be updated every few days. So, keep checking up on us!

Please feel free to leave comments. We depend on you to let us know how to better serve you. Have a great weekend.