Happy Friends of the Westside Libraries Week!

On November 29, the Mayor officially declared the first week of December as Friends of the Westside Libraries Week! A Friends group is a group of individuals who work together to raise money for their neighborhood library. Money that is collected through book sales and other fundraising events is used to purchase books and provide funding for library programs. Most of our library branches here in El Paso have a Friends group that you can join or support. Visit this page to view a listing of local groups and contact information.

If you have ever attended a music, children, or teen program at the Dorris Van Doren or Westside Branches, it was most likely funded by our Friends group. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be able to provide refreshments, craft programs, and concerts for free to the public. Our annual Summer Reading Club is also partly funded by the Friends. The City provides us with a very small book and materials budget, but the Friends are able to help supplement that budget.

We are very grateful to our Friends group for all of their hard work, and hope that you'll join us in celebrating them by thanking them, becoming a member, and purchasing items from The Bookmark. The Bookmark is their used bookstore, located near the Westside Post Office at 7348 Remcon Circle. The store also accepts book and magazine donations.

Friends of the Westside Libraries Week Celebration Sale! 

50% off sale happening from Wednesday, November 30 through Saturday, December 3.

The Bookmark's Hours of Operation:
Closed Sunday-Tuesday
Wednesday 3-6 pm
Thursday 9 am-3 pm
Friday 3-8 pm
Saturday  9 am-3 pm

Blissful Bites @ DVD!

Happy Teen Read Week!

Teen Read Week was started by a library association (YALSA) as a way to celebrate and encourage teens to read. Teen Read Week is also when the Teens' Top Ten list is announced. Teens nominate and vote for the titles on the list. View this year's winners with links to their availability in our catalog here.


The El Paso Public Library System participates every year by hosting fun activities, book giveaways, and more. Don't worry if you missed this year's events, because each library branch hosts a Teen Hangout program where teens can come meet other teens, play games, video games, watch movies, enjoy snacks, make crafts, do homework, and more! Teen Hangout is every Thursday @ 4:30 pm. 


To wrap up Teen Read Week, we asked staff members to help us celebrate by telling us about their teen reads, as well as past and current favorites. A list of the books mentioned with links to our catalog can be found below. What are you favorite young adult/teen books?


Susan: I just read "Glow" and "Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy." Both were very different. Glow, I couldn't put down! My absolute favorite YA book is "The Hunger Games." I love Katniss!


Mary Helen: Jane Eyre! My mom didn't really approve of all the gothic paperback romances in my cousin's basement, but I got away with reading that one, in public, because it was a classic. Woo-woo...stormy moors and forbidden love-I'm there! Who needs vampires?


Aracelli: My favorite YA book is Killing Mr. Griffin. I just reread it last month. All these years later, it's still a great read!


Sandra: I just finished reading 'Thirteen reasons why' by Jay Asher and I liked it. It has a different flow than other YA fiction I've read. It plays more like a movie in my head than a novel. Of course, I LOVED the Hunger Games Series. Each book is totally one of those books I couldn't put down until I finished it. My favorite of the 3 I think had to be Catching Fire. This is the second of the 3 and it's the one most involved with the characters.
Other YA books I enjoyed:
Loose Girl by Kerry Cohen
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Fallen by Lauren Kate


Elvia: I have 2 books that come to mind: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and On The Road by Jack Kerouac.


Aimee: My favorite book is The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. Harry (her real name is truly horrible, so she prefers Harry) is a young girl that gets caught up in a life she never expected and has inner talents that can change the world.  I read this book about once a year and have since I was 12.


Laura: My favorite book as a teen was "The Diary of Anne Frank" - Spanish "Diario de Ana Frank", and right now my favorite book is "The Freedom Writers Diary".  It's funny, I just found out that the story in these 2 books are somehow related! 


Lizett: Silence (third book in series) by Becca Fitzpatick was awesome! Also Abandon by Meg Cabot.


Lisa: On the Road by Jack Kerouac was my favorite as a teen. Looking for Alaska by John Green is my current YA favorite. It was the first YA book I read as a librarian, and I LOVED it. I also really liked Freak Show by James St. James. 


Juanita: One of my favorite YA Books that I have recently read is Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King author of Please Ignore Vera Dietz. The main character Lucky Linderman has been bullied since he was 7 and now he is in high school. His experiences of bullying has effected him tremendously that he at time escapes from reality through his dreams. This is a very powerful book, I strongly recommend it to teens. 


Here's the list!
Glow
Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy
The Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Mockinjay
Jane Eyre
Killing Mr. Griffin
Thirteen Reasons Why
Loose Girl
Speak
Fallen
On the Road
The Blue Sword
The Diary of Anne Frank
Diaro de Ana Frank 
The Freedom Writers Diary
Silence (not available yet) Hush, Hush & Crescendo
Abandon
Looking For Alaska
Freak Show
Please Ignore Vera Dietz
Everybody Sees the Ants

Friends Newsletter, September 2011

Check out the September issue of the Friends of the Westside Branches Newsletter! Read about the Westside Library's new construction, volunteer profiles, and more.

You can become a member for only $5 a year. Your membership helps fund programs and book purchases for the libraries, and you get a 10% discount at The Bookmark Used Bookstore (7348 Remcon)!

Friends Newsletter September 2011

Teen Events for September 2011

Beginning today, our hours of operation and weekly Teen Hangout time will change. You can view our new hours and programs on the left of this page or in the previous blog post.

New Weekly Teen Progams:
Teen Club on Tuesdays from 4:30-6:30 pm
Snacks, video games, board games, etc.

Teen Hangout on Thursdays from 4:30-6:30 pm
Snacks, crafts, etc.

We also have a couple of big events in September, beginning with this week!

Friday, September 9 @ 4 pm (all ages)
Our branch was chosen as one of the hosting sites for Unofficial EPCON Day!!! Phi3 Comics, Terry McChesney (author of Dog Tacos), and Anthony Guajardo (actor from The Walking Dead) will be here for a meet and greet! There will also be other special guests at several branches across town, but the event takes place at the same time. So...choose wisely or just come to the Dorris Van Doren Library! : )

Tuesday, September 20 @ 4 pm
Read the book. Meet the author. Keep the book.
J.L. Powers will be visiting our branch to discuss her new book, This Thing Called the Future. J.L Powers is originally from El Paso, and her previous book, The Confessional, also takes place in El Paso!

If you would like to read her new book before her visit and keep it, send an email to martinezlx@elpasotexas.gov.

For more info on J.L. Powers and the books she writes, visit her website.

Click on the calendar to save or print out, so that you can keep track of what's going on this month:

New Library Hours & Program Schedule

Have you heard the news yet? Our hours are changing and we'll be open on Mondays! The branches haven't opened on Mondays in over 30 years! In order to unify our public library system and better serve the community, hours of operation and programs will be the same at all branches. Please feel free to let us know what you like or dislike about all of the new changes.

Beginning September 6th (the day after Labor Day), the library will begin observing a new schedule that will be effective for all the El Paso Public Library Branches. The Main Library downtown will still be open 7 days a week, but all the other branches will be open Monday through Saturday.

Although the new schedule goes into effect soon, ALL of the libraries will be CLOSED on Monday, September 5th in observance of Labor Day. The first Monday that we will be open is Monday, September 12th.

Here is the new schedule, effective September 6th:
Monday: 10am – 6pm (CLOSED September 5th for Labor Day)
Tuesday: 10am – 7pm
Wednesday: 10am – 7pm
Thursday: 10am – 7pm
Friday: 1pm – 6pm
Saturday: 10am – 6pm
Sunday CLOSED

Here's what's happening at the Dorris Van Doren Branch every week:
Tuesdays
Toddler Storytime @ 11 am
Teen Club @ 4:30 pm
Citizenship Class @ 5 pm

Wednesdays
Preschool Storytime @ 11 am
Computer Class @ 5:30 pm

Thursdays
Computer Class @ 10 am
Teen Hangout @ 4:30 pm

Saturdays
Family Storytime @ 11 am

We'll keep you update on all other upcoming progams. You can also download a PDF of the current quarterly calendar of events for the El Paso Public Library System here or view it below:

2011_Sep-Nov_Cal

Summer Reading Club Results!

Over 750 children and teens registered for the summer reading club, enabling us to surpass our reading goal of 6,500 books this year! A total of 6,819 books were read! Last year, we had 600 participants read 4,917 books.

Congratulations to Luz Garcia and Iljana Boyer who won Barnes & Noble gift cards in the teen reading raffle! For those that missed the wrap up parties, don’t forget to pick up your certificate and goody bag at the information desk. Children can also look for their name on the bulletin board in the children’s section of the library. Teens can continue reading to win prizes up until August 22, 2011 (more info in the Young Adult area of the library).

We would like to thank our partners and sponsors who made our programs and prizes possible. The Friends of the Westside Library, the Loan Star Grant, and the YALSA/Dollar General grant generously provided funding for programs and materials. Sponsors included, Adventure Zone, Carl’s Jr., Cici’s Pizza, McDonald’s, Peter Piper Pizza, Whataburger, and Sonic.

We would also like to thank you for participating and attending our programs!