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Join us at the Shirlington Branch Library on Sunday, Dec. 12 at 2:00 p.m. for a screening of The Oath.

Part of our Real Life Reels film series, “The Oath” presents the story of two men whose fates become linked to Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden, 9/11, Guantanamo, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Abu Jandal, now a taxi driver in Yemen, was bin Laden’s former bodyguardand Salim Hamdan. His brother-in-law Salim Hamdan is a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay Prison, and the first man to face the controversial military tribunals.
2010; directed by Laura Poitras.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFWx63ubuHE?fs=1]

On Tuesday, Nov. 30, the Aurora Hills Library celebrates the birthday of author Samuel Clemens (better known as Mark Twain).

And what a year to celebrate! This year marks the 100th anniversary of his death and the year that he set his autobiography The Autobiography of Mark Twain to be released.

There has been enormous demand for this unusual work, and it has been flying off shelves all across the nation. It is still currently on order in Arlington County, so if you want to read this unusual autobiography, put your name on the hold list today!

As part of the Westover community’s holiday open house on Saturday, Dec. 4, the Westover Branch Library will feature a special 3:30 p.m. storytime called “Mitten, Mitten, Who’s Got the Mitten?”

Come in for stories, and bring a pair of new mittens to decorate our mitten tree. Mittens will be donated to a local charity.

For more information, call 703-228-5260.

On Monday, November 29th the Aurora Hills Library celebrates the birthday of author Madeleine L’Engle.

L’Engle is well known for her works of fiction for young adult readers – her most famous, A Wrinkle in Time won a Newbery Award in 1963 and has become a staple for English teachers in classrooms around the nation.

But did you know that A Wrinkle in Time is just the first in a series? She published four other titles following the adventures of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin; A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time. Try checking one of them out today!

Please join bilingual educator, children’s author, and recording artist, Jose Luis Orozco, for a free concert Saturday, Dec. 11 at 2:00 pm in the Central Library auditorium.

Read more on From Tots to Tweens:

Thinking about starting your own business? Attend this free seminar on Thursday, Dec. 9 at Central Library, from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m., and learn everything you need to know to start a business in Arlington.

Knowledgeable staff from Arlington Economic Development will explain how to get a business license, a certificate of occupancy, and state registration, plus marketing and financing options – all the fundamentals you’ll need to do business successfully in Northern Virginia.

This seminar is free, but registration is required.

Sponsored by Arlington Economic Development and Arlington County Public Library. For more information phone 703-228-0808, or visit the BizLaunch Web site.

Warren Moore has been volunteering at Central Library 2-3 times a week since 2009.

A former Marine who is retired from a long career with the Federal Government, Moore works for over six hours each day that he volunteers, and treats his time at Central as a serious commitment.  He helps out with a variety of jobs in circulation, and you can often find him shelving in the fiction section, or putting out new hold items.

“I like to stay busy, and I am learning from my work here,” he says. “Not only that, I like the people at the Library.”

In 2010, during an unexpected power outage, that included calming and talking through the elevator door to a gentleman who was briefly stuck in the second floor elevator, until Library staff were able to open the door manually.

 

Would you like to become a Library volunteer?

Visit the Library’s volunteer page to see our current openings, and fill out an online application.

Discoveries in the Stacks is the Westover Branch Library’s occasional exploration of our collection, delving into areas that you may not have visited.

Who says you can’t have your cake and read it too?

With the holidays just around the corner, we indulge in a little fictitious food…before the real meals are on the table. For gourmet mysteries, sample a few of the following:

• Batter off Dead, the 17th entry in this cheeky Pennsylvania Dutch series by Tamar Myers, begins at an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast at the Beechy Grove Mennonite Brotherhood Church when Minerva Jay keels over after eating 26 pancakes. Smart-mouth sleuth Magdalena Yoder investigates…and provides a slew of recipes for, hopefully, non-fatal flapjacks. D MYERS
• G.A. McKevett’s Savannah Reid is a PI with an attitude towards food: she likes it. In Wicked Craving, her 15th sun-drenched adventure in San Carmelita, California, the hefty investigator is mixed up in the death of Maria Wellman, the wife of a wildly successful weight-loss doctor. Is it fraud…or something more fiendish? D MCKEV
• Ever wondered what it would be like to be a food critic…or almost as good, to be married to one? Follow Lt. Capucine Le Tellier of the Paris Judicial Police as she solves her debut mystery in The Grave Gourmet, by Alexander Campion. It is the case of the president-directeur general of Renault automakers whose body is found in the refrigerator of a three-star restaurant. D CAMPI
• Forbidden Fruit, by Kerry Greenwood, features a troupe of singing vegans and a donkey who loves muffins. This Australian adventure about Corinna Chapman, owner of the Earthly Delights Bakery, gets off to a fast start as she chases a couple of run-away kids, and …yes…a luscious hunk. D GREEN

Enjoy this season’s bounty – and we’ll see you next time in another part of the stacks!

edible vehicles!

On Tuesday, Nov. 16, over 95 Pre-K and Kindergarten students from Patrick Henry Elementary School (along with their families and teachers) played with food at the Columbia Pike Branch Library.

They also learned about the Library, listened to yummy stories and then made edible crafts from fruits and vegetables.

More photos of kids having fun with delicious crafts can be viewed on our flickr page. Check out these cool banana, radish and asparagus cars!

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

On November 29th, the Aurora Hills Library celebrates the birthday of author C. S. Lewis.

Lewis may be most famous among children and parents for his series The Chronicles of Narnia but the fictional world beyond the wardrobe doors is only one of the many he envisioned in his career as a writer.

As a child he and his brother developed a world that they called Boxen, with its own exciting and endearing characters and adventures. Try checking out our copy today!