The City of Monterey is currently promoting a “Buy Local” campaign to encourage residents to make their purchases in Monterey this holiday season. Buying locally not only boosts tax revenue for the City, which translates into services for you, such as police protection, fire prevention and suppression, tree trimming, clean streets and public restrooms, beautiful parks, recreation activities for all ages, a library that’s open on weekends and evenings.  Spending your money close to home also helps support local businesses which struggle just like the rest of this during times of economic uncertainly, yet continue to bring goods and services to us and keep our many shopping districts viable and vibrant.  And don’t forget that many non-profit organizations, museums, historic sites, and (ahem) libraries have gift shops, too, where you’ll find special delights for everyone on your gift list. Happy shopping, and keep it close to home!

You can now pay overdue fines and other Library charges when it is convenient for you using a Visa, MasterCard, or American Express credit card:

• Sign in to your account and click on the "unpaid fines and bills" link. The list of charges outstanding on your account will display
• Click on the "Pay Now" button.
• A payment form will open. Enter your billing and credit card information, then click on the "Submit" button.
• A confirmation window will open. Verify that the information is correct, then click on the "Submit" button.
• Once the payment is confirmed by the processor, a receipt will be displayed. Click on the "Print" button to make a copy for your records.
• A receipt will also be e-mailed to you if you have an e-mail address set in your account or you entered an email address in the payment form.

Your credit card information is encrypted using an industry-standard SSL Web Server Certificate. This information is immediately forwarded to the Payflow Pro secure payment gateway to complete your transaction. No credit card information is stored in the Library computer.

Charges will appear on your credit card statement as CITY OF MONTEREY LIBRA. Overdue fines and other charges for Monterey Public Library books and other items are received by Monterey Public Library. Fines and charges for Pacific Grove Public Library items are received by Pacific Grove Public Library.

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín begins in the early 1950s in a small Irish village, where we meet Eilis Lacey, a young woman on the brink of adulthood, living with her widowed mother and her older sister, Rose.  Contented, unassuming, and compliant, Eilis expects to live her life among her friends and family in the small village. But her well-meaning and high spirited sister is ambitious for her younger sister, so with the help of a former parish priest who has emigrated to the U.S., Rose arranges for Eilias to resettle in Brooklyn, New York. There she takes a room in a boarding house run by an Irishwoman with links to the old village. The priest lines up a job for Eilias as a sales girl in a department store, and helps her enroll in a business college, so that she can eventually get a more lucrative job as a bookkeeper.

  On Halloween weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the annual California Library Association (CLA) conference in scenic Pasadena. Public, school and academic library staff from around the state gather each fall to learn about new library trends, upcoming book releases, and customer service techniques.

But, for me, one of the best moments of this year's conference was the inauguration of Kim Bui-Burton, Monterey Public Library's director, as CLA President. Among her duties for the next year are planning the annual conference and working with statewide committees to advocate for a variety of library services, resources and scholarships. Kim has worked in local libraries since she was a teenager, and for her hard work, she deserves the honor of leading the California association for one year.  

After she received the gavel (see above, Kim is on the right), she spoke excitedly about her hopes for the future of libraries and the need for librarians and community residents to work together in strengthening library services at every level. She also read one of her own poems about her Vietnamese heritage.

The Monterey Bay region and California are lucky to have such an energetic and creative library leader. Congratulations and good luck!

If you like to play games, consider coming out Sunday, November 15th, to play games in the Library. National Gaming Day in Libraries is a American Library Association annual event that began in 2008, with Libraries across the country hosting games and game-players for a day of sharing and connecting with your peers.

This year, Monterey Public Library is celebrating with a Games Fair featuring board games, card games, and video games! Our volunteer experts will bring their favorites to share with you, and the Library will provide information about the latest trends and news in the world of gaming. This event is for beginners and experts, families and individuals, young and old alike. If you would like to volunteer to teach a game for our Games Fair, please contact Ben (gomberg@ci.monterey.ca.us), or call the reference desk for more information at 831.646.3933