Stargazing Storytime at the Almaden Branch Library and Community Center on Wednesday, November 16 from 5:30 pm - 8 pm.

Following a brief (5:30-6:00 pm) storytime about the planets and stars we will go outside to the staging area to enjoy a dramatic view of the night sky. Members of the San Jose Astronomical Society will help us view Jupiter, Saturn and other celestial bodies. Dress warmly for this outside program.

Are you working on an in-depth historical research project? Take the War of 1812 for example; it is a topic that the HathiTrust can provide invaluable research material. The HathiTrust is a huge repository of free digitized content (books, periodicals, historic documents) from numerous research libraries including works digitized via the massive Google Books project. HathiTrust was founded in October 2008 by the thirteen universities of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation and the University of California. The partnership includes over 50 research libraries across the United States and Europe, and is based on a shared governance structure. As of September 2011, HathiTrust comprises over 9.6 million volumes, over 2.6 million (27%) of which are in the public domain. HathiTrust provides a number of discovery and access services, notably, full-text search across the entire repository. For those with inquiring minds, Hathi is the Hindi word for elephant, an animal famed for its long-term memory. (source: Wikipedia).

It’s time to harvest some fun and thrills, so save this date! On Saturday, Oct. 22, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. the Almaden Community Center and Library will host its fifth annual Harvest Festival. Join us as we celebrate local artists, delicious food, prize drawings, and creative costumes. Children will enjoy picking from the Pumpkin Patch, getting spooked in the scream-inducing Haunted House, and being entertained by holiday story times and puppet shows (in the library at 11:30 a.m. and repeated at 2:30 p.m.). Children are encouraged to dress in their most creative outfits. At 1 p.m. in the library, there will be a magic show for the entire family presented by master magician, Magic Dan. His entertaining and mystifying show has been described as “40 minutes of straight happiness.” For additional fun, Conroy Cougar, San José Public Library’s official mascot, will be on hand to greet everybody. General admission is FREE, and the festival is funded, in part, by the Friends of the Almaden Library.

For those who are looking for award winning children's books in the San José Public Library collection, a great source is NoveList Plus. The following links will provide a comprehensive listing of the Caldecott and Newbery Medal winners. To see if a particular award winning book is part of our collection, please click on the title of the book you are interested in and then click on the "Check the Library Catalog" link. Please note, if you are accessing this resource from home, you do need a San José Public Library card.

• Caldecott Medal Winners
• Newbery Medal Winners

• Preschool Storytime (3-5 years-old) - Fridays from 11:15am -11:45am
 
• Inclusive Storytime - (2-8 years-old) Last Friday of the month from 12:30pm - 1:00pm with Stay & Play Activity

We invite kids and their families to enjoy these storytimes at Almaden Branch Library.

On Saturday, September 15, 12:00 - 12:45 p.m. the Almaden Branch Library is pleased have the Happy Birds to educate and entertain both young and old alike. Prepare to be amazed by trained parrots that talk, sing, ride bikes, perform flying tricks, and more! The Happy Birds Show has been bringing upbeat, family-friendly entertainment to the Greater San Jose area since 1989. These remarkable parrots have amazed more than 5,000 audiences with their fast-paced, interactive performances and will put on a show you'll never forget. This free program features over 25 amazing bird tricks and is tailored for all ages. The Friends of the Almaden Library helped make this program possible.