Actually, Halloween has nothing to do with it... children's librarian Juley dresses like this all the time :-)

Send comments to: OBPL

Looking for good non-partisan election resources? Try these:

New York Times Election '08: Comprehensive presidential election information with some incredible interactive features on campaign finances, events, and issues.

C-Span Election Guide: C-SPAN looks at the electoral process in the United States and the candidates, issues & events shaping the 2008 presidential race.

CNN Election Center: Campaign Issues and candidate profiles make up this great presidential election resource.

Send comments to: OBPL

Arrghhh! I've been blinded... Blinded by the Pink, that is! Stop be the Library to check out the latest and greatest in Chick Lit!

Send comments to: OBPL

Breast Cancer Awareness Program At the Old Bridge Library

Do you or someone you love need information about Breast Cancer? Then please come to the Old Bridge Public Library, on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. Staff from the W.I.S.E. Center will present information about the prevention, detection, treatment and living with breast cancer. This program is FREE and open to the public. For further information about this and other library programs, call the Adult & Information Services Department, at: 732-721-5600, ext. 5033.

Send comments to: Dena

New Citizenship Test Workshop At The Old Bridge Library

Are you trying to become a United States citizen or need immigration help? Learn how to achieve that goal at a free workshop at the Old Bridge Public Library, on Monday, November 17, 2008 at 7:00p.m. Debby Alter, Director of Immigrant and Refugee Services at Jewish Family and Vocational Services of Middlesex County, will discuss:

• Citizenship eligibility and requirements
• Where, when and how much it costs to file your application
• Review of the citizenship application
• How to prepare for the new citizenship test
• What to expect at the interview
• What to do if your application is lost or delayed
• How to advocate for yourself at the Newark Service Center
• How to file petitions for family members abroad
• Helping your parents naturalize
• Answers to you immigration questions
• Representation at INS interviews

Attendees may bring a completed application for review. Applications and test preparation will be available at the workshop. This program is FREE and open to the public. This program is sponsored by NJ Bar & IOLTA Foundation. For further information about library programs, call the Adult & Information Services Department, at: 732-721-5600, ext. 5033.

Send comments to: Dena

A snapshot from Allan Kleiman's going away party. Allan will be leaving the Library to embark on a career as a library consultant and writer.

Send comments to: OBPL

Library Hosts Author Visit

On Sunday, November 16 at 1:30 p.m., the Central Branch of the Old Bridge Public Library will host a program with Deborah Carr, author of Making Up with Mom: Why Mothers and Daughters Disagree About Kids, Careers, and Casseroles (and What to Do About It). Focusing on dating, marriage, career, and child rearing, Carr explores a wide range of communication issues and how to resolve them, so mothers and daughters everywhere can reclaim their loving relationships. This program is free to the public, for more information please call (732) 721-5600 ext. 5033.

Send comments to: OBPL

On Sunday November 2nd 3:00 p.m., celebrate American Indian Heritage Month with the program American Indian Culture Yesterday and Today. Join Brenda Davis, a member of the Mohawk tribe and president of the Inter-Tribal American Indians of N. J. as she describes Lenape culture and tradition. Adults and families will be fascinated. For more information, please call (732) 721-5600 ext. 5033 or e-mail Lynn.

On Monday , November 3 at 7:30 p.m., the Central Library will present a program called Tools for Times of Financial Insecurity presented by financial expert Michael DiMaio. Mr. Demaio will be here to discuss plans to help you make decisions in uncertain financial times.

Send comments to: OBPL

On Friday, November 7 at 6:30 p.m., The Theater Gang will present a First Fridays performance at the Central Library. Marvelous local theater talent will present a night of songs and scenes from a variety of beloved plays, musicals and comedies. Prepare to be amazed! For more information, please call (732) 721-5600 ext. 5033 or e-mail Darren.

Send comments to: OBPL

On Saturday, November 8 at 1:30 p.m., the Library will present a program entitled Constance Merriweather Shares her Story of the First Thanksgiving in 1621. Kati Beddow Brower, in period dress, skillfully weaves together her pilgrim experiences in spoken word and song. The program will be held at the Old Bridge Central Library and is free to the public. For more information, please call 732 721 5600 x5033.

Send comments to: OBPL

On Saturday, November 15th at 1:30 p.m., 10 year old musical prodigy Arjun Ayyanger will perform a harp recital. Fore more information on this free program, please call (732) 721-5600 ext. 5033 or e-mail Diane.

Send comments to: OBPL

This Weekend at the Library

Friday, October 24

• Internet Basics Class, 10:30 a.m.
• Senior Fridays: Turn Your Hobby Into a Business, 1:30 p.m.
• Teens Breakdancing, 3:30 p.m.
• Teen Anime Club & Costume Contest, 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, October 25

• Pi Eaters Math Club (Grades 6-12), 10:00 a.m.
• Family Time, 11:00 a.m.
• Make-It-Take-It @ Laurence Harbor: Duct Tape Crafts, 2:00 p.m.

Need more info? Check out out web site, or call (732) 721-5600 ext. 5033.

Send comments to: OBPL

On Thursday, October 30 at 1:30 p.m., join the Hot Topics Women's Monthly Discussion Group for a fascination discussion entitled: Past Life Regression: Therapy or Hoax. For more information, please call (732) 721-5600 ext. 5033.

Then on Friday, October 31 at 1:30 p.m. Senior Fridays will present a program on Spooky Ghost Stories! Listen to ghost stories as we provide some light refreshments.

Send comments to: OBPL

Thanks to the Home News Tribune from naming us Best Library in their Best of Central New Jersey special section. And an even bigger thank you to the users of the Library, you are really the best!

Send comments to: OBPL

Librarian Tim Recommends: Every Last Drop by Charlie Huston (F Huston, New Books)

There's another world in New York City, one that's its citizens know nothing about. Vampyres, those infected with The Vyrus live in clans scattered throughout Manhattan. They need to feed on human blood to survive. And vampyre Joe Pitt has been exiled to The Bronx. Might as well be in Siberia. But the island has an inexorable pull, and after getting roughed up by a Bronx clan and losing an eye (making him more like Andrew Vachss' character Burke than ever) Joe heads back home and into into a horrorshow beyond his wildest imaginings. If there is a better writer of pure pulp fiction at the moment, I don't know who it is. Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt novels seamlessly meld noir crime and horror fiction into a blend that is simply intoxicating. His prose is cut to the bone, echoing masters like Davis Mamet and James Ellroy, and his stories are unique and fascinating. This book is very highly recommended. Charlie Huston is the anti Stephanie Meyer - His books are nasty, brutish, short and absolutely wonderful. Just a note: while this novel could probably be read as a stand alone, it does assume knowledge of the previous three books in the series. So you may want to read those first. Don't worry, they are equally good.

Send comments to: OBPL

The Home News Tribune had some nice coverage of the program with psychic Barbara Lee that the Library hosted over the weekend.

Send comments to: OBPL

Free your inner cookie! The competition is neck and neck in the Library's second annual staff cookie baking contest!

Send comments to: OBPL

Book Discussions for Adults

On Thursday, Oct. 16 at 7:00 p.m. Original Book Discussion Group will review The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Banks. The book "Follows the life lessons of Jane, from defiant teenager to reluctant career girl, as she makes her way through love, sex, relationships, and workplace perils, prompted by dubious advice from a pop-psych guide to life." Thursday, Oct. 23, at 7:00 p.m. Science Fiction Book Discussion Group will discuss three short stories by H.P. Lovecraft: "The Colour Out of Space", "At the Mountains of Madness" and "The Shadow Out of Time" these are included in Tales by H.P. Lovecraft. Copies of these two books are available at the Library's Circulation Desk.

During the month of November the Old Bridge Public Library will hold two book discussion programs for adults. On Tuesday, November 11 at 1:30 p.m. the Daytime Book Discussion Group will review Ballad of Frankie Silver by Sharyn McCrumb. On Thursday, November 20 at 7:00 p.m., a combined meeting with the Original Book Discussion Group and the Science Fiction Book Discussion Group will be held to review the Fatherland by Robert Harris. These groups are open to all and more information can be found by calling (732) 721-5600 ext. 5033 or visiting www.oldbridgelibrary.org.

Send comments to: OBPL

Showtime!

The Movie Club, presented by Senior Spaces, showing New Releases & Foreign Films, will screen 21 on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 1:00 p.m. 21 is the fact-based story about six MIT students who were trained to become experts in card counting and subsequently took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings. Rated PG-13 for some violence, and sexual content including partial nudity.

Read the Movie! On Thursday, Oct. 16 at 3:00 p.m. This month’s Read the Movie is Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix. We’ll watch the movie and talk about which was better - the book or the movie? With their warning about Lord Voldemort's return scoffed at, Harry and Dumbledore are targeted by the Wizard authorities as an authoritarian bureaucrat slowly seizes power at Hogwarts. Rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images.

Send comments to: OBPL

Upcoming at the Library...

How To Talk to a Psychic 

Central Branch at Saturday, Oct. 18, at 1:30 p.m. Old Bridge Psychic Barbara Lee will tell you how to get the most out of a psychic reading.

Interested attendees may bring a photograph of a deceased loved one...

The World of Wine

Central Branch on Monday, Oct. 20, 7:30 p.m. by The Grape Beginnings Hands-on Winery.  Become a Wine Connoisseur! Learn about wine making and selecting.

Send comments to: OBPL

Sharon Yeskel presents a program on Reiki and Integrated Energy Therapy at the Library.

Send comments to: OBPL

Librarian Tim Recommends Anathem by Neal Stephenson

Wow. What can you really say about a 900+ page coming of age drama/space opera/metaphysical epic that draws from science, philosophy and religion and throws in everything but the kitchen sink? Erasmus is a secular monk on the planet Arbe, where the scientists are kept in monasteries away from the general population that is obsessed with shallow pop culture. But when a worldwide threat emerges, Erasmus has to leave the monastery and embark on an adventure beyond his wildest dreams. Stephenson is a maddeningly detail oriented writer, and the first third of the book moves rather slowly, with the real meat of the story emerging only gradually. As things progress, the narrative picks up speed exponentially, to the point where the story becomes a barreling freight train leaving you slack jawed in its wake. The sheer number of ideas that Stephenson packs in are amazing - quantum mechanics, multiverse theory, advanced philosophy, computer science, physics and chemistry all play a role. Yes, it is daunting, and slow in the early going. But it is more than made up for by a final half of the novel that moves with blazing speed and is rife with well drawn characters. Frustrating and intimidating as it can at times be, this book gets the highest possible recommendation. It will blow your mind. (SF Stephenson, New Books)

Send comments to: OBPL

It is not to late to register to vote for the November election. The deadline for registration is October 14, and the Adult Services Desk at the Central Library and the Information Desk of the Laurence Harbor Branch have registration forms and absentee ballot applications.

Send comments to: OBPL

Don't miss an exciting program on Reiki and Energy Healing at the Central Branch on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 1:30 p.m. Sharon Yeskel introduces Reiki, which can provide relaxation, energy, relief from anxiety and promote health and release of emotion. This program is made possible through funding provided by the Friends of the Old Bridge Public Library.

Send comments to: OBPL

Members of the Molly Pitcher Stitchers are displaying are quilts in the Reading Room display cases.

Send comments to: OBPL