Zion-Benton Public Library

This is the first of a 5-part book discussion series to be held on Tuesday, August 24, at 6:00 p.m.  The Known World by Edward P. Jones won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2004, and examines issues regarding the ownership of black slaves by free black people as well as whites.

The discussion will be led by Professor Kupetz.  Kupetz has master’s degrees in journalism and American studies and has developed and taught college and high school classes in journalism, literature, film and popular culture. At CLC, his course load includes Twentieth Century American Literature as well as a humanities course, American Decades, which looks at the portrayal of the American dream and how race, class and gender influence its definition and its pursuit. He is also on the English department’s literature committee and has led film discussions in the college’s Discovery program for adults. His academic bias is social-intellectual history and viewing cultural products in their historical context.

Registration is requested.

Picturing America is a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities, distributed in cooperation with the American Library Association. The Institute of Museum and Library Services has provided major support for Picturing America programs in public libraries.

If you want to earn your GED, come to the library to take a free placement test and register for free classes.

The Families First program offers free GED classes for parents with children up to 6 years of age.  Parents and children come to class together.  Parents study for their GED while children receive free educational child care.

Wednesday, August 11, 9:00 a.m.-noon.

Classes meet Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  Free child care provided.

University of Illinois Master Gardeners will be available to help answer your lawn and garden questions.  They can also identify disease, insect and weed problems.  Bring any samples enclosed in sealed plastic bags or closed containers.  Samples should be fresh to obtain a good diagnosis.

Drop-in program, no registration required.

Wednesday, August 4, 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

If you have books (and magazines, CDs, DVDs and videos) left over when your garage sale is done, bring them to the ZB Library!  Those we can use will go into the collection.  The others will go into the ongoing book sale in the Book Nook to help us buy new books.  Paperbacks are needed to stock the Read & Ride racks at the Zion and Winthrop Harbor train stations.

Go to http://zblibrary.info/e-resources.  Then choose:

• Infohub for electronic databases, test preparation, newspaper and magazine articles, auto repair
  reference center and more.  With InfoHub you can search an individual resource, a combination of resources or all of our resources at once.
• My Media Mall to download free audio books, eBooks, and videos.  Titles can be enjoyed on PCs,
  laptops, PDAs, compatible MP3 players, and iPods.
  You can even burn select audio book titles to CD.
• Brainfuse for Online Tutoring and Homework Help. You can even upload papers, cover letters and resumes to the writing lab.

You will need your ZBPL card number and password to access e-Resources.  The default password is “patron”.

Since 1979, Zion Genealogical Society volunteers have helped others get started on tracing their family history.  Drop in for help with the library’s genealogy collection of over 950 books, many CD-ROM’s and e-resources, including Ancestry Library Edition and Heritage Quest Online.

Wednesdays, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

The library is collecting the following items for these non-profit organizations:

• Eyeglasses and hearing aids for the Zion Township Lions Club
• Tennis Shoes for SWALCO’s Reuse-A-Shoe program

These items may be dropped off in the lobby collection boxes.

You can shop for gently-used books, movies and music at the Book Nook in the lobby.  Proceeds from sales are used to purchase new library materials.

Donations are accepted year-round.  If you have books and movies left over from your garage sale this
summer, we’d love to have them.

Due to the state budget crisis, the North Suburban Library System will drastically reduce its services effective June 1, 2010.   That includes the interlibrary delivery service by which ZBPL receives and sends books and other materials to other libraries.   Alternatives to the NSLS delivery are being considered. Please bear with us as we work to find a solution that maintains delivery at no cost to you.

Nann Blaine Hilyard
Director