Awesome Box

Awesome Box is a collaboration with the Harvard Library Innovation Lab. It allows the community to see what books, movies, and music others have found particularly entertaining, helpful, or eye-opening. Check it out and don't forget to leave your own recommendations at our 'Awesome Box' located next to the reference desk. Need more awesome suggestions? A librarian can help you find even more suggestions at the Somers Library. Don't see an item you just recommended? Sometimes we may get quite a few awesome recommendations in a day. If we're overwhelmed by awesome recommendations, the specific item you returned might be pushed off the front page fairly quickly, so you might not always see it. If it really was incredibly awesome though, we suggest you recommend it to your friends to check out - if an item gets enough Awesome recommendations it will eventually show up in the Most Awesome section!  Check out what is awesome at our library at http://somerslibrary.awesomebox.io/

Teen Summer Reading Challenge

Participants in the Teen Summer Reading Challenge were asked to read as many books as they can over the summer.  Those reading 10 or more books were eligible to participate in a raffle to win Amazon gift cards.  This summer there were 12 ambitious teens who met that goal.

The Somers Library would like to congratulate the raffle winners of the Teen Summer Reading Challenge 2014:

Anthony C. - First Prize Winner

First Prize – $100 gift card to Amazon - Anthony C.

Second Prize – $25 gift card to Amazon - Peter H.

Third Prize -- $15 gift card to Amazon – Natalie M.

Honorable mentions go to the following readers who read 10+ books:

11 books:  Catherine G. & Natalie M.

12 books:  Francesca F.

14 books:  Matthew K.

Geocaching at the Library

Geocaching has been described as a "high tech treasure hunt," in which players use handheld GPS receivers or smartphone apps to find hidden containers. Typically, geocaches are hidden along hiking trails, in community parks or even at downtown street corners. Atypically, a cache has been hidden in the Somers Library! The library cache is an example of a mystery cache. Geocachers first have to find a conventional cache, then decipher the information they find there to figure out how to locate the cache hidden in the library. (In fact, they also have to determine that the cache is in the library, so you already know something they don't.) We can't give you any more information without spoiling the game for others. But skilled library users should be able to find the cache without the help of Global Positioning System satellites. If you find it, you will find space to record your discovery. All we ask is that you keep the location to yourself so the game remains a fun challenge. To learn more about geocaching, and get clues for caches in our area, visit http://www.geocaching.com and enter ours, or any zip code.

Career Resources

Looking for a job or to make a career change? The library has many resources to assist you. Brainfuse Job Now is an innovative online services that provides expert resume help, real-time interview coaching and career advice. There are services to help every step of a job search. Job and Career Accelerator is a comprehensive, online job search system. Glassdoor helps you find a job and company you love. You can read reviews, salaries, and benefits from employees; and what interview questions were asked of candidates. Learn more about finding a job, interviewing techniques, and more by visiting Look For a Job. Additionally, the library frequently adds new titles to our 'Job Resources' section in the library. Some of the newest titles include:


►Before and after resumes: how to turn a good resume into a great one: includes over 500 careers, keywords and phrases, sample designs, online resumes 


►Ace your teacher interview: 149 fantastic answers to tough interview questions 


►Competency-based interviews: How to master the tough interview style used by the Fortune 500s


►Job savvy: how to be a success at work


►Entrepreneurship quizzes: 12 easy tests to help you become successfully self-employed


►AARP great jobs for everyone 50+: Finding work that keeps you happy and healthy and pays the bills


►150 best jobs for the military-to-civilian transition


►Before and after resumes: How to turn a good resume into a great one; includes over 500 careers, key words and phrases, sample designs, online resumes


►The $100 start-up: Reinvent the way you make a living, do what you love, and make a new future


►The two hour job search: Using technology to get the right job faster


You may place a hold for these, or check the online catalog for similar titles by clicking here. 

Dealing With Depression

Robin Williams has died. That is so sad. How could a man, who had dedicated his life to making people laugh, been so depressed and despondent that he would commit suicide? When I was on the Internet last evening trying to make sense of Robin Williams’ death, I came across an article by Linda Carroll on the NBC News website (http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/robin-williams-death/robin-williams-effect-could-suicides-follow-stars-death-n178961). In it, Carroll explains about the precedence of copycat suicides when celebrities take their own lives. For example, there were increases in suicides after the deaths of Kurt Cobain and Marilyn Monroe in people of similar demographics (e.g. race, gender, location, etc.). But, more importantly, this article acknowledges that many depressed people do not seek help because they do not feel they have reason to see a professional about symptoms such as theirs. Wow, can this very sad news story get any worse? What good should we try to find in this tragedy? Maybe the fact that since the nation and the world are talking about depression and suicide, it can actually help individuals and their families who are suffering with mental illness. Maybe in some small way, the nation will come a little closer to realizing how important mental health is and how to find doctors and therapists that can help. Addiction, also something Robin Williams was struggling with, is another issue brought to the foreground by his tragic death. Countless individuals and their friends and families from all walks of life are touched by the debilitating struggles of addiction. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Robin Williams were the last celebrity to succumb to depression or addiction? Wouldn’t it be just great if mental illness no longer had a stigma attached to it and people took care of their mental health just as actively as their physical health? What a wonderful world it would be if we were all just a little nicer to each other because everyone is struggling with something in their lives. As librarians, we look to books to find solutions and learn ways to make our lives better. Here is a list of good books on mental illness, depression and addiction:

• Change Your Brain, Change Your Life by D. Amen
• Understanding Depression by J. R. DePaulo
• Helping Someone with Mental Illness by R. Carter
• Fifty Signs of Mental Illness by J. W. Hicks
• Danger to Self by P. R. Linde
• Family Intervention Guide to Mental Illness by B. Morey
• Adolescent Depression by F. M. Mondimore
• Overcoming Addictions by D. Chopra
• Understanding Addiction by E. C. Henderson

Somers Library Foundation to Hold 5K Trail Race and 1-Mile Family Fun Run

On Sunday, September14, 2014, the Somers Library Foundation will  hold a 5K Trail Race and 1-Mile Family Fun Run. Proceeds of the event will be used to enhance the Somers Library. The 5K Trail Race will begin in Reis Park at 9:00 a.m. and the Fun Run will begin in Reis Park at 9:30 a.m. The race course will cover cross country trails and fields located throughout Reis Park, Reis Homestead, Van Tassel Memorial Park, Primrose Elementary School and Somers High School. Refreshments will be provided in the Park.

Participants can register on-line at www.somerslibraryfoundation.org. The Trail Race registration fee is $20; and the Fun Run registration fee is $10 per person or $35 per family. T-shirts are free for the first 100 registered participants. All fees increase by $5 after September 3, 2014. Race day registration is allowed and begins at 8:00 a.m. in Reis Park. The Somers Library Foundation is an independent fundraising organization that partners with the Somers Library in order to enhance library services. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization and all donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Further information is available at http://somerslibraryfoundation.org/. For further details contact: Matt Parisi at slf@wlsmail.org.

Sandy's System

Often when at the circulation or information desk  here at Somers Library, we hear patrons say something like, “I should find a system to keep track of what I read and what I want to read!” Well, our patron Sandy has created a meticulous way of doing just that, which she manages in her trusty blue binder. And although, at first glance, it seems like a lot of work, it is a labor of love (of reading) that keeps Sandy motivated!

Recently, I had a chance to chat with Sandy and I asked her about her famous blue binder and she was happy to share her system. She said there are a few keys to her reading record success. First, her husband Jay gets the New York Times bestseller list online, and Sandy looks through it to circle books by her authors. She brings the list to the library to put holds on the books she would like to read. The next part of her system is the creation and maintenance of the lists of books written by her authors which is kept in alphabetical order in her blue binder. 

In her binder, Sandy records the new books she is waiting for. Then, when Sandy is in between books because her holds have not yet come in, she looks through her list of her authors and finds older books she hasn’t read. At this point I wondered how an author would become a “Sandy author” and Sandy was happy to explain. She gets recommendations from friends and if, after reading a few of their books, Sandy likes the author, she then creates a spot in her blue binder for a list of all the author’s books. 

Obviously, Sandy has put a great deal of thought and effort into her system and I realize this may not be for everyone. I get a real kick out of seeing Sandy’s system in action, but I am not sure I could keep up with such a system personally. I am just not that organized. There are some great online tools like Shelfari and Goodreads that have ways to track books and these sites really work well for some people. But whatever works (or doesn’t work), the point is we all recognize what a joy it is to find a really good book to read!