County libraries offer E-books

Greetings from the library world. Welcome to the second installment of Check This Out!

For two weeks in December, Yuma County Libraries offered the 20th Annual Food for Fines, giving people a chance to pay off overdue fines with canned foods. As I watched boxes and bags of canned fruits and vegetables pile up in the Main Library’s circulation office (ultimately totaling 1547 cans!), I was inspired to offer a reminder to those avid readers who may not be so good about returning library materials on time: the library has e-books and e-audiobooks!

E-books are digital versions of books you can download and read on your computer, while e-audiobooks are digital audiobooks that you can download and listen to on your computer, iPod, or MP3 player. The best thing about e-books and e-audiobooks is that when the loan period is up, the files simply expire. There’s nothing to return!

The library subscribes to two databases that offer this service: NetLibrary and OverDrive. We also offer TumbleBooks, animated, talking picture books, and TumbleReadables, a collection of read-along books, for kids. To find out more, visit www.yumalibrary.org, mouse over Library Resource at the top of the homepage, and click on Digital Media.

New Branch Hours

Over the past few months, the libraries have been conducting in-house and online surveys about our hours of operation. We received several hundred responses, and the general consensus was to offer more evening hours.

Effective Tuesday, Jan. 5, branch libraries in the Yuma County Library District will be open the following hours:

• The Heritage, Foothills, Wellton, and Somerton Libraries will be open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

• The San Luis Library will be open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, and
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

• Hours at the Main, Dateland, and Roll libraries will remain the same at this time.

The Main Library is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

The Dateland Library is open 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, and 8:30 to 5 p.m. Thursday.

The Roll Library is open 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday.

Are your eyes crossing yet? Don’t worry—there won’t be a quiz! All library hours can be found on our Website, www.YumaLibrary.org.

Upcoming Events at the Main Library

• Jan. 6 at 2:30 p.m. Tweens ages 10, 11, and 12 can kick off 2010 at the “New Year, New You” makeover program. Registration required. Call (928) 373-6468.

• Jan. 6 at 6 p.m. Learn about NASA’s Constellation Program with guest speaker Jenny Knotts and touch a 3 billion-year-old moonrock!

• Jan 15 at 3 p.m. Laugh out loud with children’s author, illustrator, comedian, and sound imitation expert Charlie Williams, otherwise known as “The Noise Guy.”

• Jan 16 at 2 p.m. Mr. Ed’s Fun-Time Magic Show! Enjoy family-friendly magical mayhem.

Upcoming Events at Branch Libraries

Beginning in January, various computer classes will be offered at the Main, Heritage, and Foothills libraries. (928) 782-1871

• Learn “Survival Spanish” Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. at the Heritage Library. (928) 783-5415

• Master your chess, sewing, quilting or computer skills at a Foothills Library hobby club or class - (928) 342-1640

• Learn how to prepare your child for school at the Bright and Healthy Start Program Saturdays at the Wellton Library (Spanish, 9:00-10:30 a.m.; English 10:30-12:00 p.m.) - (928) 785-9575.

• Ensure your child is ready to read by attending Baby Time, story times with an emphasis on early literacy, Wednesdays at 10:30am at the Somerton Library - (928) 627-2149. Registration required.
…and more! See what’s happening at your local library at www.YumaLibrary.org under Favorites/Calendar of Events.

Sarah Wisdom serves as the community relations manager for the Yuma County Library District.