By the book

I do believe my lifelong love of reading (and writing) and my career as a word nerd are due to all the time I spent in the public library when I was a child. I was a heavy user, a voracious reader who read everything I could put my hands on. :-)

I still like to visit the library (and so does my daughter) although I have to admit that neither of us uses it as effectively as we could. Look at all the possibilities -- these days the library has much more than books to lend out. There are movies on DVD, music CDs, books on tape or CD ... even games. I need to start using it more, especially since it's so easy to browse for and borrow items through the Mid-Hudson Library System Web site.

I am thinking about libraries because this coming week (April 13-19) is National Library Week and you can support the libraries in the Mid-Hudson Library System when you shop at participating Barnes & Noble stores in our region (Poughkeepsie, Kingston, Mohegan Lake, Albany, Danbury & Newburgh). During the week, B&N will donate 10% of your purchase to MHLS libraries.

More details and a voucher that you can bring to the store are here. At the same site are other promotional materials you can download -- activities for kids and a list of National Library Week events at participating libraries.

Speaking of events, I know that my local library has a full week of special events planned and it's likely that yours does too. There are links to our area libraries at the MHLS Web site.

So -- happy reading!

Fun in the bookstore

My daughter and I were part of the crowd who showed up last Saturday to see Peter Yarrow at Barnes & Noble in Kingston in celebration of his Puff the Magic Dragon book with CD and Puff and & Other Family Classics CD. We heard his wonderful musical performance while we had hot chocolate (her) and cappuccino (me) in the store’s café. (Maybe it’s because I am literally a child of the 60s -- my daughter knew almost every one of the songs he sang.) Then we joined the line of folks who waited almost two hours to meet the singer/author. I have to commend the store’s staff for having so well organized what could have been a crush of people waiting to see the singer. (As we entered the store, we were assigned to one of eight groups, each with its own time to line up to meet Yarrow.) Even though we were near the end of the last line (which wound around much of the store), Yarrow was still gracious and friendly when he signed the book and CD we’d brought. Here he is in a video, singing Puff at another event in Fairfield, Connecticut.

While we were waiting, I happened to see a sign announcing that Dan Leader (owner of local artisan bread company Bread Alone) will be in the store at 3 p.m. this coming Saturday (Jan. 26) to talk about and sign his book, Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers. We featured Leader’s wonderful baked products in the August 2007 issue of Hudson Valley Connoisseur magazine. If you go Saturday, you can ask if the latest Hudson Valley Connoisseur magazine has arrived yet – I promise that we’ve got some great stuff in store for you in the February-March issue!
Barnes & Noble, 1177 Ulster Avenue, Kingston 845-336-0590 or barnesandnoble.com