Valentine Boutique to Benefit Bernardsville Library

On Friday, February 10 from 1:00 to 5:00 pm, Bernardsville Public Library will host a Valentine Boutique in the library’s Community Room featuring the artistic work of several talented local crafters. A percentage of the boutique sales will benefit the library. “This boutique is one of several fundraising efforts mounted on behalf of the library, and we hope the timing is right for people to buy their Valentine gifts and benefit the library at the same time,” said Donald Burset, President of the Board of Trustees, “With our budget as tight as it is, if we cannot raise enough money to cover expected shortfalls, it will be inevitable that some library services would have to be discontinued and our hours reduced.”

The participating crafters are Barbara Marchio who will show her totes and travel bags, including scout bags and travel accessories to compliment a spring and summer wardrobe; Christine Pane who designs and crafts original handbags, scarves and other fashion accessories for Flower Basket Ladybug located in Bedminster; Daisy Schimoler of Majolica House in Peapack who makes hand-crafted custom Majolica ceramics; jeweler Jackie Skarzynski of Chelsea Market Designs; and Susan Sletteland of Stanton Sweets in Bedminster.

For further information, please call the library at 908-766-0118.

Movie Screening of “Gasland”

Bernardsville Public Library is pleased to present a free screening of the documentary “Gasland” on Sunday, February 12 at 2:00 pm in the library’s Community Room. The screening is sponsored by Bernardsville’s Green Team.

In 2009, filmmaker Josh Fox learned that his home in the Delaware River Basin was on top of the Marcellus Shale, a rock formation containing natural gas that stretches across New York, Pennsylvania and huge stretches of the Northeast. “Gasland” recounts how, when he was asked to lease his land for drilling, he embarked on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination, and a 34-state drilling campaign. Part verité travelogue, part exposé, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown, “Gasland” documents Mr. Fox’s cross-country odyssey to find out if the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing or fracking, is actually safe. The 103-minute movie premiered on HBO last June.

There will be a question and answer period after the film. [The film is not recommended for young children.] There is no charge to attend, but advance registration is requested. Register online at http://www.bernardsvillelibrary.org/, and follow the link under Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

“Faces & Blossoms” - February Exhibition at Bernardsville Library

Bernardsville Library is pleased to present “Faces and Blossoms,” an exhibition of paintings by Linda Lam. The exhibition will be on view during the month of February with an opening reception for the public on Sunday, February 5 from 2:00 to 4:00. There is no charge to attend and no sign-up is needed.

Ms. Lam’s oil portraits are painted directly from live models and only use five colors – titanium white, cadmium yellow, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue and burnt sienna. Her floral paintings are also painted in front of real flowers. “I like to paint directly from live models and real flowers,” said the artist, “The personal stories and life experiences of models touch me. Painting is my voice to celebrate life and beauty.”

Ms. Lam, a resident of Bridgewater, received a BA/MA in Economics from Hunter College. She has been painting full time since 2007 after spending eighteen years doing business analysis for AT&T and HSBC. Her work received honorable mention at the Contemporary Art Juried Member shows and was recognized as the Community Favorite at the Raritan Valley Art Association Member Exhibit.

The show will be on view in the library’s Community Room during regular library hours unless a meeting is in progress. For further information, please call the library at 908-766-0118.

Pictured: "Two Apples," a portrait by Linda Lam

Saturday Samplers Book Group to Meet

Bernardsville Library’s book discussion group, Saturday Samplers, will meet on Saturday, February 4 at 3:30 pm to discuss Still Alice (2009) by Lisa Genova. [The author will not be present.]

Still Alice is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph. D in neuroscience from Harvard University. The book tells the story of Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children and a house on the Cape, a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career who notices a forgetfulness creeping into her life. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer's disease. Fiercely independent, Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live in the moment, even as her sense of self is being stripped away.

Lisa Genova is an online columnist for the National Alzheimer’s Association. She lives in Massachusetts.

Led by Readers’ Services Assistant, Evelyn Fischel, Saturday Samplers is a book discussion group dedicated to sampling various kinds of literature, including short stories, nonfiction, new and old novels, and even teen fiction. Its goal is to search out interesting, noteworthy, and sometimes overlooked books. Readers can find information about the group and about the books and authors on the reading list at http://saturdaysamplers.blogspot.com/. No sign-up is needed to join the discussion. Call the library at 766-0118 for more information.

Keeping up with eBooks & eReaders

One of the goals at Bernardsville Library is to help introduce community members to new technologies and how to use them effectively in conjunction with library services. With that in mind and with the popularity of eBooks on the rise, Bernardsville Public Library will offer a series of classes to give help and guidance with downloading books -- a process that is not always straightforward. “We know that people need help downloading books onto the variety of digital devices available on the market because people ask us for help every day,” said Library Director Karen Brodsky.

On Tuesday, January 31 at 7:00 pm, Doug Baldwin, MLIS, will take listeners through the steps of downloading content to an iPad. He’ll answer basic questions about using an iPad and specifically address downloading eBooks and show which apps to use to do this. He will also demonstrate some of the general features and settings of the iPad and recommend some of the top ten free apps available. Mr. Baldwin is the System Administrator for the Cranbury Public Library and is also the current President of the New Jersey Library Association IT Section. At Cranbury Public Library, he maintains the library’s automated systems, teaches computer classes, runs one of their two book discussions, and leads their video game programming.

On Wednesday, February 1 at 7:00 pm, Pat Kennedy-Grant, Readers’ Services Coordinator at Bernardsville Library and an early adopter of eBook readers, will demonstrate how to use library resources such as OverDrive to download books to digital devices. Listeners are encouraged to bring their own devices with them and ask questions. The same class will be offered again on Tuesday, February 7 at 11:00 am.

There is no charge to attend these programs, but advance sign-up is requested. Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link under Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

Movie Screening: “Doomed Tower At Sea”

Bernardsville Public Library is pleased to present a screening of the documentary, “Doomed Tower at Sea,” on Sunday, January 29 at 2:00 pm in the library’s Community Room. The film was produced by Paul G. Sanderson III of Bernardsville in 2003 and is being shown again now to commemorate the 51th anniversary of the collapse a Cold War-era observation tower that served the Eastern Seaboard as an early-warning system against Soviet air strikes. The wreck, which rivals that of the Titanic in size, lies ninety miles off the coast of New Jersey.

The initial plan called for five radar towers to be built along the Eastern Seaboard during the 1950s, but only three were actually constructed, and the one off the coast of New Jersey fell victim to the sea in 1961, claiming the lives of all the workers on board. This tower, TT4 (Tower 4), was furthest from the coast and was constructed on the Continental Shelf, a poor choice of location due to the quick drop-off of the seafloor from 200 feet to 2,000 feet, a geographic anomaly which often produces strong waves and poor surface conditions.

The towers were called the “Texas Towers,” due to their resemblance to oil rigs off the coast of Texas, but were in fact radar towers outfitted with elaborate computer systems and the latest technology designed to scan the skies for Russian bombers. The information kept aboard the towers was classified and designated top secret. Though the towers were regarded as engineering marvels for their time, veterans who served on TT4 recalled how it shook in even moderate seas, earning it the nickname “Old Shaky.” Though the tower rose 90 feet out of the water, which was considered a safe enough distance from rough surfaces to weather any storm, on January 15, 1961, pounding waves from a nor’easter toppled TT4, bringing the tower and its crew crashing into the sea.

While the incident initially appeared in the media, President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address five days later quickly usurped the nation’s attention, and the fall of TT4 was mostly forgotten. The tower’s remnants remain one of the largest underwater wrecks in the world, according to Sanderson. “It’s like a small city,” he said.

“It was great to work on,” Sanderson said of the film. “Part of the story involved taking a closer look at the wreck, which made it pretty exciting.” To get up-close footage of the tower’s wreckage, Sanderson employed the help of Al Giddings, a noted underwater cinematographer who shot footage for “Titanic” and worked on several “James Bond” films. With analyses from engineering experts, interviews with the commanders involved and Giddings himself, film clips of life aboard TT4 during the 1950s, and extraordinary documentation of the crumbling remains, Sanderson’s film sheds some much-needed light on an overlooked aspect of the Cold War and of our nation’s history during that turbulent time.

There is no charge to attend this film screening, but advance registration is requested. Register online at http://www.bernardsvillelibrary.org/, and follow the link under Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

The University of "Can-Do" - Workshop with Andrea Mastrobattista

Inspirational speaker Andrea Mastrobattista will begin a new series of workshops at Bernardsville Public Library titled "The University of Can-Do" beginning Wednesday, January 25 at 7:00 pm. "Do you have a goal that you think you can't make happen?" asks Ms. Mastrobattista, "Well, you can, because you have what it takes to accomplish it."

This new workshop will run through the year, and each month participants will discover how to cultivate and maintain the "can-do" determination to make a dream come true. During the first meeting, attendees will create their own vision boards. On February 29, they will practice positive self-talk, and on March 28, they will discuss how to overcome challenges they face in making their dream or vision become a reality.

There is no charge to attend the library workshop, but advance registration is requested. Register online at http://www.bernardsvillelibrary.org/, and follow the link under Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up. (Note: Materials will be provided for the vision board workshop, but participants are invited to bring old magazines, catalogs and any art supplies they like to create their personal visions.)

Memoirs & Coffee Book Group to Meet

The next meeting of Bernardsville Library’s book discussion group, Memoirs and Coffee, will be held on Tuesday, January 24 at 10:30 am in the library’s Community Room. Pat Kennedy-Grant, Readers’ Services Manager for the library, will lead the discussion of “The Memory Palace: A Memoir” (2011) by Mira Bartók. [The author will not be present.]

The book details the relationship between Mira, her sister, and their mentally ill mother, a schizophrenic. Eventually, because of harassment from their mother, Ms. Bartók and her sister severed all contact with her in order to stay safe. But the situation changed when Ms. Bartók suffered a traumatic brain injury in a debilitating car accident. In her search to recover, she found her mother in a homeless shelter in Cleveland, and mothers and daughters reconciled. Furthermore, her mother’s memorabilia brought back a flood of previous memories that Ms. Bartók had thought were lost to her forever.

“The Memory Palace” is a breathtaking literary memoir about the complex meaning of love, truth, and the capacity for forgiveness among family. The book explores the connections between mother and daughter that cannot be broken no matter how much exists—or is lost—between them.

There is no charge and no sign-up is needed to join the discussion. Call the library at 766-0118 for more information.

Get Help with Back Pain Management

There are many ways to manage chronic back pain, and these are the subject of a talk by Dr. John Z. Shumko, Chairman of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Barnabas Medical Center, on Tuesday, January 24 at 7:00 pm at Bernardsville Public Library. Dr. Shumko will discuss an interdisciplinary approach to back pain relief which includes pain rehabilitation, pharmacological management, interventional pain procedures, and integrative medicine therapies.

Dr. Shumko is a board-certified physiatrist, specializing in Sports and Physical Medicine. He provides diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal and neuromuscular disorders including acute athletic injuries. He advocates an interdisciplinary approach to care, considering options based on a patient's lifestyle, age and overall health. Over the past 10 years, Dr. Shumko has served as Medical Director of several Barnabas Health Ambulatory Care Center departments including the Sports & Physical Medicine Institute, Matthew J. Morahan III Health Assessment Center for Athletes, Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Center and the Center for Health and Wellness.

He has received many honors including a "Top Doctors" award in New Jersey Monthly Magazine from 2006 to 2010. Dr. Shumko received his medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry - New Jersey Medical School as well as a
Doctorate degree in Anatomy.

There is no charge to attend the program, but advance sign-up is requested. Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link under Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

Free Concert by Electric Violinist @ Bernardsville Library

Bernardsville Public Library is pleased to announce a free concert by Caryn Lin, an “electric violinist full of voltage,” on Sunday, January 22 at 3:00 pm—the first of this year’s Sundays at Three concerts funded by the Friends of the Bernardsville Public Library. Doors open at 2:45 pm. No sign-up is needed to attend.

“Caryn Lin does not simply play the violin, she has electrified and reinvented it and then continually takes it where no human has ever dared. In a nutshell, Caryn Lin is to violin is what Bela Fleck is to Banjo, Miles Davis to trumpet, Zappa to guitar, Coltrane to sax, and, well, you get the idea,” wrote Bruce Ranes of the Sellersville Theater.

A classically trained violinist who went on to become an electric violin and education innovator, Lin is influenced by everything from baroque to rock. And although she thinks of her music as solo electric violin/virtual orchestra, her music isn't easy to categorize, even for her. The Cherry Hill, New Jersey native started violin lessons at age 9, and soon began studies with the Philadelphia Orchestra's Larry Grika. She earned a degree in violin performance from Northwestern University, but even then she took a unique approach to the violin. When she got home from class, all she wanted to do was jam to her Jackson Browne and Bob Dylan records.

After graduation, Lin moved to Germany to study under virtuoso Susanne Lautenbacher. But staying true to her love of innovation, she also jammed with street musicians and played in several bands. During a show on her last night in Germany, a guitarist wondered what would happen if they plugged an echo box into the pick-up on her acoustic violin. Lin listened as the sound of her violin filled the room, accompanying itself, and creating a fantastic soundscape unlike anything else she'd ever heard. The classical musician who had always felt like a misfit had found her place.

After years of experimenting with sound, Lin puts on a live show that is truly unique. Sometimes as a solo artist and sometimes with a backing band, she plays her four, five and six string electric violins and uses a jam man to make short on-the-spot recordings of her voice, percussion instruments, and other sounds. As she plays the violin, the recorded snippets play back in a continuous loop adding layer upon layer of sound over deceptively simple melodies. The result is music that is both otherworldly and totally catchy. In recent years, she has become a strong lyricist, sometimes adding her crystalline voice to the mix.

Lin has played everywhere from Lincoln Center to Six Flags, the Kimmel Center to the Crayola Crayon factory, to the 800th anniversary of a monastery in the French Alps. Her music has been featured on MTV's The Real World and on 150 radio stations across the county, and she (and her music) appeared in the movie "Philadelphia." She has just released her fifth studio album, "The Call."

There is no charge to attend the concert and advance sign-up is not necessary. For further information, call the Library at 908-766-0118.

Fifty Book Challenge Group to Meet

Reading fifty books in fifty-two weeks may seem daunting, but share the goal with a supportive group and it can be a lot of fun. Community members are invited to come to the next meeting of the 50 Book Challenge, which is led, prodded and encouraged by Reference Librarian Karen Vaias. The meeting, which will include snacks, a free book, reading logs and more, will take place on Saturday, January 21at 3:00 pm in the library’s Community Room. There, ambitious readers will trade notes on their progress and get book recommendations as well as instructions on how to set up their own online reading logs and post reviews to the library’s “Book News and More” blog. New members are welcome at any time during the year and will be invited to additional events in the coming months.

The fifty books in fifty weeks are suggested, not required, for participation in the program. Each reader will choose which reading “counts” as part of the total. There are no limitations as to which formats can be read: downloaded books, audio books, e-books and graphic novels are all acceptable.

For more information and resources for the 50 Book Challenge, go to the library's homepage, www.bernardsvillelibrary.org, and click on 50 Book Challenge. You can sign up from this webpage or by calling the library at 908-766-0118. If you are unable to attend the January meeting, but would like to enroll in the 50 Book Challenge, contact Karen Vaias at kvaias@bernardsvillelibrary.org or 908-766-0118 for more details.

Chess Lessons for Children @ Bernardsville Library

A new session of chess lessons for children, taught by Martin Sobin of Jersey Chess, will begin on Wednesday, January 18 and run through Wednesday, March 7. Beginners' classes will be held at 4:15 pm, and lessons for players with some experience will begin at 5:30 pm. There is no charge to attend the chess lessons, but advance sign-up is required. Register online at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/V73GYFG, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

Cinderella, Cinderella: Interactive Theater

An enchanted adventure awaits with this production of the intereactive play, "Cinderella, Cinderella," by Trilogy Repertory Company. Saturday, January 14 at 1:00 pm. Ages 4-10. Free. There is no charge to attend, but advance sign-up is required. Register online at http://www.bernardsvillelibrary.org/ and follow the link under Kid Stuff, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

Craft Group to Meet @ Bernardsville Library

Saturday Crafters, a monthly craft group organized by Bernardsville Public Library, will meet on Saturday, January 14 at 3:00 pm. Individuals are invited to bring their own handwork projects to the Library and work together in a comfortable, communal setting while enjoying the benefits of shared tips and conversation.

Readers’ Services Assistant Evelyn Fischel will showcase different project ideas and books at each meeting. A long-time crafter, Ms. Fischel will encourage such interests as knitting, crocheting, paper arts, hand sewing, embroidery and other needlework, as well as any other craft the group wishes to cover.

There is no charge to attend the meeting, and no sign-up is needed. For more information, call the library at 908-766-0118.

The Impact of Technology on the Future of Employment

Technology has been and continues to grow at an exponential rate. At its core is ‘Moore’s Law’ which forecasts that processors (the computer chips that run personal computers) will double in power every 18-20 months. This has been occurring reliably for the last several decades and is expected to continue well into the 21st century. As computers become more powerful at an increasing rate, what they can do and how they can process ‘work’ makes them formidable competitors for filling jobs. Mike Landau, CEO of SetFocus, a technology school, will discuss how will these changes impact you and what can you do about it at Bernardsville Public Library on Wednesday, January 18 at 7:00 pm.

Mr. Landau has started a number of successful small businesses since 1987, prior to which he was the Director of Strategic Planning at AT&T. SetFocus is a technology school that has selected, trained, and placed over 2,500 IT professionals since 1997. Mr. Landau has an undergraduate degree in Economics and an MBA from New York University.

There is no charge to attend the program, but advance sign-up is requested. Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link under Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

Free English Classes Offered @ Bernardsville Library

Bernardsville Public Library’s next session of English-As-A-Second-Language (ESL) classes will begin on Monday, January 16. Classes will be offered on Mondays and Thursdays at both 3:00 pm and 7:15 pm and will run for fourteen sessions (till April 26). There is no charge to attend and students may sign up for more than one timeslot if they wish. Limited childcare for children aged three and up is available during the evening sessions.

At the first session, students will be divided into small groups based on their native language and their facility with English. On Mondays, they will practice conversation and role play daily tasks that have to be executed in English. On Thursdays, the format will be based on lessons and practice. Trained community volunteers teach the classes. Community members who would like to volunteer as teachers are encouraged to call the library at 908-766-0118.

There is no charge to attend the program, but advance sign-up is requested. Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link under Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.