The Friends of the Library will be holding a used book sale this fall, starting September 28^th. There will be a large selection of books this year, so you won't want to miss it! [Photo gallery.]

In honor of the release of the final book in the Lemony Snicket's series, the library presents a program for grades 3-6 on Saturday, September 23^rd, 2-4pm. Awful Activities, Creepy Crafts, Revolting Refreshments, and Paltry Prizes await you. This party is free, but you must sign up in the Children's Room. It would be unfortunate if you were to miss this eerie event.

We've scheduled our fall computer classes. We're running mostly basic introductory classes, but we do have a variety of topics: the internet, Windows, photo editing, word processing, and even spreadsheets. Classes are $2 per person for each class and are held in the evenings from 6pm to 8:30. Sign up sheets are at the main desk.

These matinees are free and open to the public. Join us in the Community Room at 1pm on the following Saturdays:

• September 16^th — RV starring Robin Williams – PG
• November 4^th — Mission Impossible 3 starring Tom Cruise – PG-13
• December 2^nd — Polar Express with the voice of Tom Hanks – G

Peter Fletcher will be here one night only and will play a full concert on September 18^th at 7pm in our Community Room. Last year his concert was standing room only, so please get here early.

Come in to the library for a game or two of chess! Teens in grades 6-12, come show off your best strategies. Instruction is available for new players. All chess nights are from 6:30-8:15 on select Thursday nights: September 21^st, October 5^th, October 26^th, November 2^nd, November 16^th, November 30^th, December 14^th, and December 21^st.

You won't want to miss being a part of these lively book discussions. The group meets on the first Thursday of the month at the Off Center café at 6:30. So why don't you stop by, have some coffee and discuss a great book. All are welcome.

• September 14^th — The Mapmaker's Wife by Robert Whitaker
• October 5^th — Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards Cancelled
• November 2^nd — My Invented Country by Isabel Allende Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
• December 7^th — A Covington Christmas by Joan Medlicott

There is also an informal book chat on the last Friday each month at 10am in the Community Room (although it will not be held this September due to the book sale).

Fans of the highly popular Japanese animated films can join us for four hours of films, some of them new releases. We'll have a special guest speaker as well. Teens who draw in the Manga style can bring in their drawings to show off their talents and meet teens with similar interests. This program may turn into a monthly Anime/Manga club if enough interest is shown. Saturday, October 14^th, 1-5pm.

Do you want to learn how to take better pictures with your digital camera? Do you want to be more artistic? This month-long class will be held every Thursday in October from 6:30 - 7:30. Registration is required.

Cheryl Welch, Ph.D. from the Sylvan Learning Center will present an overview of how to raise your SAT and ACT test scores. You'll find out whether and when it is wise to leave questions blank, how to best guess, how to ace hard reading problems evenwhen you are stuck in a difficult passage, and how to turn a tricky algebra problem into simple arithmetic. Find out what the differences are in between the SAT and the ACT and how to decide which test you should take. Parents are encouraged to attend with their high school students. Monday, October 16^th, 6-7pm.

Take on a character, become a suspect, and solve the mystery before someone accuses you of the crime! Refreshments will be served; door prizes will be awarded. This is a very popular program that fills up fast every year, so sign up soon! Saturday, October 21^st, 7-10pm. [Photo Gallery]

Order forms for the Friends of the Library Soup & Sub Sale will be available starting October 1^st. Available soup flavours include Vegetable, Broccoli Cheese, Unstuffed Pepper, and Bean. All orders must be placed by November 10^th. Track down a Friends member and order yours today!

Saturday, November 25^th, 2-4pm. Ask in the Children's Room for more information.

Read for the fun of it! Teen Read Week is a national program dedicated to showing teens the wide selection of materials available to them in libraries. It's a week-long celebration of teens and how the library can meet their needs.

This year's theme is Get Active @ Your Library. Whatever your interests — sports, hobbies, the search for the right college, volunteering in your community — the library is the perfect springboard to get started and Get Active!

We have a wide variety of programs for all kinds of interests. These programs are designed for teens in grades 7-12 and are free, but registration is required.

All week long we'll have contests, raffles, and many surprises in store for teens in the Teen Corner of the library.

The Friends of the Library fall newsletter is available. Thanks to our Friends for all the volunteer work they do.

We're now starting to do email notification. If you sign up for this, you get an email message when one of your holds comes in for you, or when your items are overdue. If you are too busy to answer the phone most of the time, maybe this service is for you. To kick off the program, we are offering a coupon to anyone who signs up between now and the end of October. The coupon is just a small token to thank you for trying out this new service; it is worth $1 off overdue fines and may be redeemed any time before the middle of next year. Thanks for signing up!

The Friends of the Library will be raffling off a baker's dozen of items this year. Tickets go on sale November 1^st.

Do you want to make the perfect bow for your wreath or centerpiece? This class will teach you the technique to create your own holiday bows. Everyone in the class will make their own to take home. November 6^th at 7pm. Registration is required.

Celebrate the holiday season with a great night out at your library. We will have refreshments, a trivia game, a special Christmas storytime, crafts, and a special Christmas concert from the Prestige Trio, an instrumental group from Columbus. Christmas cheer is at your library, so please mark your calendar and join us on December 12^th.

The photos are in. Be sure to check out the photo gallery!

As some of you may have noticed, we've officially launched our library discussion forum. On the forum, we can all share our thoughts about issues related to the library. The rest of the website is pretty one-way: we put it up, and you read it. The forum is different in that it allows you to answer. All you need to sign onto the forum and share your thoughts is the number printed on the back of your library card (under the barcode).