Self-Defense for Women
Saturday, October 7 from 9:30 a.m to 11:30 a.m. in the Stow/Munroe Falls Room. This special program designed for teens and adult women is presented by Hickey Karate Center. Participants will learn how to recognize potentially violent circumstances, diffuse a potentially violent encounter, how to escape or evade an attack, and fight back. Participants are asked to wear comfortable clothing that allows range of motion. Shirts should have sleeves that can be tugged or pulled without damage or exposure.

This program is for teens and adult women, age 13 and up. Teens under 17 must be accompanied by a participating adult female. A minimum of eight students are required for the class. Please call the Adult Information Desk at 330-688-3295 to reserve a spot. To read more about Hickey Karate Center, please go to www.hickeykaratecenter.com.

Health Series

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Annual Pet Show
The Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library's Annual Pet Show held August 9 was a huge success with over 195 people attending. Thirty pets were entered in the show, including a goat, parrot, two snakes, and various dogs, cats, and other creatures. A chinchilla received the "Best in Show" award. Thank you to Chrissy Braun, Children's Librarian, for coordinating this special event.

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New titles are arriving daily at Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library. Some of the new titles this month are:

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Summer Reading Program
Thank you to all who participated in the 2006 Adult Summer Reading Program "Claws, Paws, Scales, and Tales." 1,524 adult readers filled out entry forms for every book read or listened to to be eligible for fabulous weekly prizes and a grand prize drawing.

Winners for the sixth week of the Adult Summer Reading program were Mary Beesing, Cleveland Botanical Garden passes, Charlotte Davis, Cleveland Zoo tickets, and Carol Osgood, Cleveland Museum of Natural History tickets. Seventh week winners were Pam Godshalk, Cinema on the Square Playhouse Square passes, Karen Flory, Inventor's Hall of Fame family pass, and Roxanne Toth, Akron Aeros tickets. Eighth week winners were Kathy Francini, Cinemark movie passes, Noreen Ashley, Cuyahoga Valley Railroad passes, and Joy Bajenski, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tickets.

Grand prize winner was Suzie Lancaster who received a $50 gift certificate to the Crooked River Grill.

In addition to the Friends of the Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library, prizes have been donated by the following businesses: E.J. Thomas Hall/Akron Civic Theatre, City of Cuyahoga Falls Parks and Recreation Department, Fun Stop Comedy Club, COSI Columbus, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland Botanical Gardens, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Cinemark, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland Playhouse Square, Porthouse Theatre/Kent State University, Ohio Outdoor Historical Drama Association/Schoenbrunn Amphitheatre, The Pro Football Hall of Fame, The Akron Aeros, National Inventor's Hall of Fame, Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, The Akron Racers, Weathervane Community Playhouse, The Cleveland Orchestra, and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Evening Book Discussions
The evening book discussion group with Amy Garrett meets the fourth Thursday of the month September through April at 7:00 p.m. except in November and December. Due to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, these discussions will be the second Thursday of the month at 7:00 p.m. Books for the September discussion are now available.

Daytime Book Discussions
The fall book discussions with Chris Caccamo will resume in October. They are held the second Friday of the month through May.

Computer Training
The library offers classes for beginning computer users and more advanced users. They include Introduction to Computers, Introduction to the Internet, and training in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. Classes are offered both day and evening at no charge. The class calendar can be viewed at www.smfpl.org/calendar.htm. Sign up for October classes begins Tuesday, September 26 at 9:00 a.m. Please call 330-688-3295 if you have any questions.

Teen Summer Reading Winners
Thank you to all teens who participated in the Teen Summer Reading Program "Reading Rocks". 120 teens read 900 books over the summer! Week seven winners include Anna Bose, Jessie Bose, Lynne Busic, Megan Hapanowicz, Lindsay Johnson, Ryan Nord, Jeremy Quay, Emily Rusnak, Anita Salley, Emily Triplett, and Chris Wilson. Jessie Bose, pictured at right, was the grand prize winner.

The Teen Department wishes to thank the following sponsors: Arabica Coffee House, Gifts by the Basket, Strickland's, East Coast Custard, The Friends of the Library, Sherry Gaj, Avon representative, and Sound Board Music.

The Teen Summer Reading program ended on August 5 with a big outdoor rock concert! An enthusiastic audience of 87 enjoyed the music of bands Project 9 (below left) and Wiretapped (below right).

Please go to the Teen Services web page at www.smfpl.org./TS.htm for information about current Teen activities. To see photos of Teen events go to www.smfpl.org/tsphotos.htm.

Congratulations to all participants in the Children's Department Summer Reading Program. Children read over 18,000 hours this summer! Registration for Fall Storytimes has begun. Please call 330-688-3295 or go to the Children's Department web page at www.smfpl.org/CS.htm for further information about Children's activities and programs.

Pick 5 Bestsellers Club
How would you like to automatically be placed on the reserve list for five of your favorite popular authors? Join our Bestsellers Club and that's exactly what will happen! Just pick up a form at the Circulation Desk and join over 300 satisfied members. Are you already a member, but would like to change an author or two? Ask for an "add/delete" form at the circulation desk. It's just that easy!

Honorees
Arabica gift certificates have been awarded to the following patrons visiting Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library recently: Amy Allbaugh, the 450,000th checkout of 2006, Mary Bickler, the 500,000th checkout, Carolyn Hudia, the 17,000th window checkout, Anne Riede, the 18,000th window checkout, and Catherine Phillips, the 3,000th new registration of 2006. Congratulations!

Cardholders have their privileges at Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library!

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Corner Gallery
The photography of local resident Anthony Soo will be on exhibit in the Corner Gallery from August 30 to October 2.

The needlework of Hetty Smith (a recent Needlework Show award winner), will be featured in the display cases in the Corner Gallery.

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The Stow-Munroe Falls Library Foundation is a nonprofit organization which encourages voluntary financial support for the Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library. This support is used to help meet both the present and future needs of the patrons of the library. The purposes of the corporation include focusing public attention on library services, facilities, and needs in the Stow-Munroe Falls area; to stimulate and encourage the gifts of funds, books, desirable collections, endowments, and bequests to the library; and to receive, hold, manage, use, and dispose of funds and properties of all kinds, whether given absolutely or in trust, for the benefit of the Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library. Donors may make an online contribution to the Foundation by credit card or PayPal. Click www.smfpl.org/paypal.htm to donate online.

The Stow-Munroe Falls Library Foundation is having its first major fundraiser. On Saturday, September 9 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Over 20 restaurants will participate in a Dessert Extravaganza. Blue Canyon, Pancho & Lefty's, The Inn at Turner's Mill, Moe's, Osman's Pies, West Point Market, DeVitis, Lannings, Nick Anthe's, Silver Lake Country Club, The Melting Pot, Linda's Kitchen, Downtown 140 and Bistro on Main are among the restaurants who will join together in a sampling feast of desserts. Appetizers will also be served. The event will be held at the Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library.

There will be a silent auction featuring ten of the library's most popular authors, including Barbara Delinsky, Debbie Macomber, Dean Koontz, Maeve Binchy, Janet Evanovich, Barbara Taylor Bradford and Sandra Brown who have sent signed books for us to award to the highest bidders. In addition, businesses from Stow and Munroe Falls have generously donated items for the silent auction. There will also be a raffle of a beautifully crafted necklace, courtesy of Abshire & Haylan.

Tickets will be available for $25.00 each and will be available for purchase at the library Circulation Desk beginning August 1. For more information, please call Ann Malthaner or Cheryl Nelson at 330-688-3295.

For further information about the Foundation please contact Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library Executive Director Doug Dotterer at 330-688-3295.

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The Friends of the Library is a citizen support group for Library services and activities. They sponsor booksales as well as the annual Needlework Show and other activities. Friends meet the third Tuesday of every month (except December and July) at 2:00 p.m. in the upstairs meeting room.

If you are interested in joining Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library Friends of the Library you may call the library at 330-688-3295 for further information, or you may go to the Friends page on the library website (www.smfpl.org/friends.htm) for an online application.

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    With the addition of some new databases, Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library is ready to assist students of all ages with their assignments. Databases include Tumblebook Library for children, and World Atlas and World Conflicts Today for older students. Also new is Science Resource Center from Thomson Gale's Infotrac. These databases and others are available on the Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library website (www.smfpl.org), accessible from home if you have a Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library card.

     World Atlas is a great source for country reports. It contains maps of states, countries, and regions, including geographic and thematic maps. "At-a-glance" information, such as a state's motto, population, and square land miles, is found just by clicking on the location on a map. Compare/Rank allows side-by-side comparisons of states and countries on such statistics as unemployment rate, military expenditures, and life expectancy. World Conflicts Today addresses international issues currently in the news. Click on a link to a conflict to learn more about it. The history of the confict, recent events, a timeline, key groups, and regional and global implications are all areas covered by this database. Classroom ideas are provided for teachers.

    Science Resource Center allows the user to select a topic from an alphabeltical list or search for a science topic. Anatomy, biotechnology, magnetism, natural disasters, and zoology are some of the subjects covered. By selecting a topic the user is then able to read reference materials, magazine, journal and newspaper articles, as well as view multimedia and websites. Parents and students can even view their state's science standards for grade levels. Don't forget Learning Express Library, another popular database for students and adult learners. Learning Express Library provides practice tests and tutorials, with complete scoring and complete answer explanations.

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September's staff pick is Pirates! The True and Remarkable Adventures of Minerva Sharpe and Nancy Kington, Female Pirates by Celia Rees, recommended by Reference Associate Elizabeth Frisinia. With all of the attention being paid to pirates these days, the title alone should spark anyone's interest. There is an exciting twist in this story - the main character is female. Nancy is an aristocratic sixteen-year-old who escapes from an arranged marriage, taking her slave friend Minerva with her. They embark on a totally unexpected journey into life on a pirate ship and begin to master the trade themselves. This is a great adventure story with strong female characters.

Place a hold on this book by going to the library's online catalog at http://www.smfpl.org/catalog.htm.

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Website for the month of September is Stow-Munroe Falls City Schools at www.stow.summit.k12.oh.us. Take a look at this website to find out what is happening in our local school system. Follow the links to each school or look at the district map and the district calendar. Cafeteria menus, athletic schedules, testing dates, and class reunions are some of the items covered on this very helpful website.

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