Reconsidering Hip Hop

This Saturday will be your last chance to catch the “Reconsidering Hip Hop” series at the library. The El Paso Public Library hosted three programs featuring lectures, performances, and movies. At Dorris Van Doren, there will be a live breakdance exhibition and a screening of Wild Style. Wild Style is a classic hip hop movie, starring Grandmaster Flash, Fab 5 Freddy, and others.

Justin De Senso and Lecroy Rhyanes, both NMSU grads, founded the Hip Hop Alumni (HHA) in 2008. HHA is an online resource that documents hip hop’s continued impact on society, education, history, art, and culture. For more info, check out their website: www.hiphopalumni.com/

Hop Alumni makes its last stop here at DVD on Saturday, May 14 from 3-5:30 p.m.

Check out these news articles about the program:

• New Library Project Digs Deep Into Hip-Hop's Roots (from What's Up)
  
• El Paso Public Library Salutes Hip Hop (from The Prospector)
  

The talented staff @ DVD tries their hand at graffiti art.

New (De) Contsruction

Have you noticed that there are a few shelves missing from our middle area near the bestsellers? The shelves have have been removed and are now being used as storage shelves for equipment and games. Both staff and patrons are liking the new "construction." There's more room to browse books, access requested items, and a clear walkway to the courtyard and family room.

What do you think? Should we have left them as they were?

TeenFest T-Shirt Contest!

Tax Season

This tax season has brought about heightened anxiety for many tax filers that have had to wait for tax form changes. The good news is that the deadline to file tax returns has been extended to April 18, 2011. The IRS needed time to implement changes when President Obama signed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Act into law back in December. You can read more about the act here.

We finally received the following forms and booklets yesterday:

• 1040
• 1040A
• 1040EZ

Find and print other forms at http://www.irs.gov/index.html, or stop in the library and ask someone to print the forms out for you, free of charge (limit 10 copies).

Other Resources:

• A list of free tax help locations provided by AARP and VITA have been compiled by our Government Documents Departments. View them here.
• Free help with electronically filing your taxes will be available at the Main Library this Saturday, February 19 from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. You can also visit their website at www.myfreetaxes.com/ep
• Get the latest scoop by following the IRS on Twitter: @IRSnews
  

Morganville Comes to El Paso!

The El Paso Public Libraries are so excited to be able to bring another bestselling author to town! Rachel Caine is the author of several series, including The Morganville Vampires, Weather Warden, and The Outcast Season. She will be in El Paso from January 26-29, stopping at several libraries across town.

Best of all, she'll be here at Dorris Van Doren on the 28th from 5-9 p.m. for a Vampire Ball! So, make sure to come dressed as a vampire, character out of the book, or just as you are. We'll have a photo booth set up so that you can take pictures! It's free and open to all ages.

In the meantime, you can...

• Check out The Morganville Vampires books @ the library>>
• Read sample chapters from Rachel's site>>
• Visit Rachel's site>>
• Visit Morganville>>

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for the latest updates!

Morganville in El Paso 2011
The official Twitter hashtag for this event is #mvep11

Happy Holidays!

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. We have plenty of holiday books and programs to help get the whole family in the holiday spirit. Click here for our holiday hours.

Festival of Lights Storytime

Saturday, December 4 @ 1 p.m.

Crafts & Cocoa

Tuesdays, during Teen Hangout @ 4 p.m.

Teens are invited to make a holiday craft & drink hot cocoa.

Santa's Coming!

Saturday, December 11 @ 1 p.m.

Santa Claus will be here! Don't forget your camera & wish list!

Pajama Storytime

Thursday, December 16 @ 6 p.m.

Children can come in their comfy PJ's to hear stories.

Movie Matinee

Saturday, December 18 @ 3 p.m.

(Call 875-0700 for movie title)

Holiday Movie

Thursday, December 23 @ 3 p.m.

(Call 875-0700 for movie title)

Chalk the Walk

MCAD's third annual event, Chalk the Block is taking place this weekend! To celebrate this event, teens got to make homemade sidewalk chalk last Tuesday during Teen Hangout. Not everyone will be able to make it out to Chalk the Block, so we held our own "Chalk the Walk" event this past Tuesday. Everyone was invited to chalk up the courtyard area near the family room and enjoy popcorn. We have plenty of chalk left, so we are definitely going to do this again!

More info:

• Chalk the Block is this weekend, click here to visit their site for the schedule.
• Teen Hangout (ages 13-19) is on Tuesdays here @ DVD from 4-6 p.m.
• The next Chalk the Walk @ DVD will be announced soon.
  

Pictures from Chalk the Walk: