Learn How You Can Be ‘Strong for Life’ at the Palm Springs Library

On Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. Health and Fitness expert David Mesirow will present Strong For Life at the Palm Springs Public Library. During the course of his presentation David will examine how fitness and lifestyle choices affect aging.  He will share key factors that are important to maintaining your health which include Exercise and Physical Activity, Diet and Nutrition and Emotional/Spiritual Well-Being. You will learn easy, practical things you can do to increase your strength and gain a better understanding of the impact of the choices you make regarding your activities, diet and mental acuity.

The lecture is FREE and open to the public, but seating is limited. The lecture will be presented in The Learning Center at the Library.   

David Mesirow has held many prominent positions in his 30+ years in the Fitness industry. On a national level, he’s recognized as being an Assistant Director of Group Exercise programming for Bally Total Fitness, a Reebok Master Trainer and an Avia Select Athlete. He is the recipient of the 1994 Windy City Instructor of the year award and in 1992, 93,94,95,96 and 97 recipient for Windy City’s BEST program. He continues to be at the top of the field with his unique, exciting and innovative programs.

He is the founder of “MESIROBICS” an instructor training organization providing master classes and CEC approved workshops to instructors worldwide.  As a choreography specialist and Aquatic exercise expert, he has established himself as one of the leaders in the industry.

As a top educator, he is a member of the Global RAMPING master Training team, Resist-A-Ball Training team, a SPRI core team member, an AFAA Examiner and a popular presenter worldwide. He is certified with ACE AFAA and FITOUR, has starred in 9 videos, produced 5 and launched 3 successful signature CD’s with Muscle Mixes music company.

Tis the Season—Enjoy Fine Forgiveness in December at the Palm Springs Public Library

To celebrate the holiday season the Palm Springs Public Library has designated December as Fine Forgiveness month.

Beginning December 1^st and continuing through the end of the month, up to $50 of fines and fees will be forgiven (unless account is in the collection process). Anyone who wishes to participate must come into the Library in-person to have any fines or fees forgiven.  The fines must have been accumulated PRIOR to December 2011; new fines accumulated in December 2011 are not eligible.  Any lost items must still be returned or the replacement fee still applies. 

So go through your closets and cars, bring in the overdue materials, clear your account and re-activate your card!  Rediscover the Library!

Richard Brown to discuss the life of Cabot Abram Yerxa

On Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. the Palm Springs Public Library will welcome Richard E. Brown, editor of the book Cabot Abram Yerxa: On the Desert Since 1913.

This book chronicles the story of early homesteader Cabot A. Yerxa and observations about desert life, his discovery of the ‘miraculous’ hot water aquifer in Desert Hot Springs and his friendship with Hollywood celebrities at the nearby B-bar-H Ranch in the 1930’s and 40’s.

In the 1950s, Cabot A. Yerxa published 280 newspaper columns in the Desert Sentinel, the newspaper in Desert Hot Springs at the time, describing his struggles and joys as a Desert Hot Springs area homesteader from 1913 to 1918.  Offering generous selections from those columns, this book offers a chronology of Cabot’s early years, an interview covering his trips to the Alaska Gold Rush, a snapshot of his later life as a proprietor of Cabot’s Old Indian Pueblo Museum, and an obituary published at his death in 1965. It also contains over 50 family photos from his journeys to Alaska, Cuba, and the Southern California desert.

Richard E. Brown is a board member of the Cabot’s Pueblo Museum Foundation. As a volunteer docent at Cabot’s Old Indian Pueblo Museum for over two years, he conducted extensive historical research on Cabot Yerxa and his inspiring struggle to settle the land in Desert Hot Springs. Prior to retiring in 2005, he was an English professor at the University of Nevada, Reno for 32 years and was chairman of the university’s faculty senate.  He has published numerous scholarly articles in the fields of British and Irish literature and has an A.B. from Stanford University, as well as an M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell University.

Born in Kansas City, MO, Richard Brown has published two books of fiction based on memories of growing up in the Missouri farm country.  Upon discovering Cabot Yerxa’s extraordinary story and his remarkable Pueblo, Richard was inspired to research Cabot thoroughly.  He was moved by Cabot’s pioneering spirit which reminded Richard of his own childhood memories of his grandfather and old farmers in Missouri. In Cabot’s history, Richard discovered many parallels of that generation of American pioneers and farmers who were tough and incredibly hard-working salt of the earth. They also possessed a sly sense of humor, an understanding of nature, and a basic optimism which inspired their hopes and dreams. In Cabot Abram Yerxa: On the Desert Since 1913, he has masterfully edited a captivating compilation of Cabot’s articles that reflect the best of the American pioneering spirit.

Richard Brown spends his winters in the Palm Springs/Desert Hot Springs area and summers in his adopted hometown of Reno, Nevada.

The lecture is FREE and open to the public, but seating is limited.  The lecture will be presented in The Learning Center at the Library.  Books will be available for purchase and to autograph following the lecture.

Donate to Toys for Tots at the Palm Springs Public Library

Beginning on Friday, November 18th and for the next 4 weeks the Palm Springs Public Library is pleased to be a drop-off location for the Toys For Tots toy collection this season. Everyone is encouraged to bring in a new and unwrapped toy that will be given to a child during the holidays. The drop off box will be located inside the front entrance to the Library.

“We are proud and happy to be part of the Toys for Tots program, said Barbara Roberts, Director of Library Services. As an organization that serves children we understand the joy something like this can bring to a child’s life, especially during these challenging economic times.”

Healthier Living From Head to Toe, a Special Health and Wellness Series presented at the Palm Springs Public Library

On Tuesday, October 18th, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. the Palm Springs Public Library, in partnership with the Eisenhower Medical Center, will present Healthier Living From Head to Toe: Brain Fitness—Peak Performance with Sheda Heidarian, M.D. This is this first in a series of special lectures focused on health and wellness that will be presented this season. Dr. Heidarian will provide some insight on this important concept and then we will watch a film.

Neuroscience has shown that our brains are plastic, constantly seeking new challenges and new stimuli. Our daily choices can drive this plasticity in either positive or negative direction, making our later years rich and enjoyable or predictable and limited. Keeping ourselves sharp, engaged, and on the ball is critical to our emotional and physical well-being. In the film Brain Fitness—Peak Performance, host Peter Coyote leads a journey to explore the extraordinary levels of skill and ability involved in music, sports, and language and how we can apply these lessons of experts in these fields to our own lives.

The event is FREE and open to the public, but seating is limited so   ADVANCED REGISTRATION IS REQUESTED. Please call an Eisenhower Representative at 760-969-7770 ext. 7560 to reserve your seat at the Library. The lecture and film will be presented in The Learning Center at the Library. 

Dr. Sheda Heidarian is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Dr. Heidarian then received her Doctor of Medicine degree from Ross University School of Medicine in Edison, New Jersey before completing her residency in internal medicine at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. Dr. Heidarian then finished a fellowship in geriatric medicine at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center/North Shore Health System in Long Island, New York.

While attending medical school, Dr. Heidarian earned honors in internal medicine, family practice, pediatrics, psychiatry, emergency medicine, neurology and endocrinology. In 2008, Dr. Heidarian developed a teaching module on delirium, for interns and medical residents at Long Island Jewish Medical Center/North Shore Health System; she also developed a geriatrics curriculum for medical students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

As the valley’s only not-for-profit hospital, Eisenhower Medical Center has provided high quality, compassionate care for nearly 40 years through a full range of state-of-the-art diagnostic, treatment and emergency facilities. Situated on a 130-acre campus in the heart of the Coachella Valley, Eisenhower Medical Center is a dynamic, progressive health care complex comprised of a 542-bed hospital, the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower, the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center at Eisenhower and the Betty Ford Center on the Eisenhower campus. Eisenhower not only offers the highest quality health care for residents and visitors, but additionally provides a broad range of educational programs for the public, and for health care professionals.

Desert Tales, Legends and Lies with Walter Feller

On Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. the Palm Springs Public Library, in partnership with the Desert Institute at Joshua Tree National Park, presents Walter Feller as he explores the tall tales and myths of the desert.

The Mojave is an amazing place, and even more so if you believe everything you hear! Lost gold, lost people, crazed animals, geologic calamities, and just about anything else that can be imagined goes on out in the desert, supposedly. Find out what these stories are, how they started and when and why they came to be. Is there a reality behind these wild-eyed claims and tales; or are the origins of these less than factual accounts merely the ramblings of possibly sun-stroked, good-natured campfire liars?

Walter Feller has lived in Hesperia, CA, in the high desert for the last 26 years. He first worked as a civil engineering technician, later, as a real estate photographer, and over the last fifteen years, as editor and photographer for the Digital-Desert.com and Mojave Desert.net websites and historian. Walter has traveled the Mojave Desert extensively, his award-winning photography has appeared in many publications about the Mojave Desert.

The event is FREE and open to the public, but seating is limited. The lecture will be presented in The Learning Center at the Library. 

 

Kindle Owners Can Now Borrow from the Library!

ATTENTION KINDLE OWNERS: You can now borrow Kindle books to read from the Palm Springs Public Library on any generation Kindle device, free Kindle app, or in your browser with Kindle Cloud Reader. Just go to www.palmspringslibrary.org and click on ‘Downloadable Audio books & eBooks’ on the left nav bar. You will be directed to the page where you select the books you would like to borrow.

Simply check out a Kindle book (library card required) and click on “Get for Kindle.” You will then be directed to Amazon.com to redeem your public library loan. You may be required to login to your Amazon.com account — or create a new account — if you’re not already logged in. Then, make the choice to read the book on your Kindle device, free reading app, or Kindle Cloud Reader.  Public library books for Kindle provide the same unique features as Kindle and Kindle books, including Whispersync technology that synchronizes your notes, highlights and last page read, real page numbers, and more.

Please Note: Public library books require an active Wi-Fi connection for wireless delivery to a Kindle device. Library books will not be delivered via your Kindle’s 3G connection. If trying to send to a Kindle device and do not have an active Wi-Fi connection, you may instead choose to load your library book via USB. Both Mac and Windows users can manage Kindle content through a USB connection.

The Library awards iPads, a LeapFrog Laptop and Gift Cards to the Summer Reading Fun Fest Grand Prize and Photography Contest Winners!

Over fifty people attended the finale celebration of the Palm Springs Public Library’s Summer Reading Fun Fest 2011 on Saturday, July 30, 2011. Special guest performer Georgette Baker presented a program highlighting her travels around the world. The interactive program included singing, dancing and exploring other cultures through artifacts and treasures she brought back from her travels. Following her performance she assisted Library staff in awarding the grand prizes to those that completed their program.

Ms. Baker drew the winning entries for the pre-school Read-To-Me program from the completed entries; three year old Josecalixto Becerra was the lucky winner of the LeapFrog My Own LeapTop prize.

Then Ms. Baker drew the winning entries for the three 16 MB Wi-Fi iPad2s generously donated as the grand prizes from the Friends of the Palm Springs Library (FOPSL). The winners were, for Youth, Kaleese Smith, age seven, for the teens, Monica Seguna, age seventeen, and for the adults Laura Miller.

At the finale celebration, the winners for the Novel Destinations Adult Amateur Photography contest were also announced. The three winners were: Glen Noteboom, winning the $100–1st Place gift card, Sally Songy, winning the $50–2nd Place gift card and Joleene Wendell, winning the $25–3rd Place gift card. Their winning photos, along with all the other photos submitted are on display in the Library until next week.

Our panel of three judges for the photography contest had to decide from a selection of 29 photos. All judges are local residents and professionals in the art field; they were retired professional photographer Roy Hankey, Angela Valente Romeo who is a commissioner on the City of Palm Springs Public Art Commission and Dana Swanson Patel owner of Daytura Art Studios.

The Summer Reading Fun Fest began on June 7th and ended on July 30th with over 400 youth, teens and adults participating.

The Palm Springs Public Library to Open at 1:00 p.m. on August 10th

To better serve the Palm Springs community, and based on public input, on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 the Palm Springs Public Library will be introducing a new public computer management system.  To prepare for the launch, the library will need to be closed that morning to train staff and ensure the new system and software are working properly. This means that the Library will open at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 10^th.

This new management system, which requires users to have a library card to log in, will make it easier to monitor computer time and to print on the FREE-ACCESS public computers in the Library.  As an added bonus, users will be able to extend their computer session time if no one is waiting; a request expressed by many of the Library’s computer users.  The new system will be familiar to people who use computers at any of the local Riverside County Library Branches or the Rancho Mirage Public Library because it is the same system. The purchase of this new public computer system was made possible by the generous donation of the Friends of the Palm Springs Public Library (FOPSL). 

For tourists, visitors, or those who choose not to get a Library Card, the Library will have a set number of EXPRESS Computers available to use for 15 minute sessions that do not require logging in with a Library Card.

In anticipation of this system change, the Palm Springs Public Library encourages everyone who uses the public computers at the library to come in and get a Library Card or make sure their current Library card is still active BEFORE August 10^th.

The Palm Springs Public Library to award iPads at the 2011 Summer Reading Fun Fest Finale!

On Saturday, July 30, 2011 at 10:30 a.m., the Palm Springs Public Library’s will have the finale celebration for the 2011 Summer Reading Fun Fest (SRFF).  The finale will feature special guest and story teller Georgette Baker and at the conclusion of the program the Grand Prizes, three iPad2s and one LeapFrog My Own LeapTop, will be awarded and the photography contest winners will be announced.

The 2011 Summer Reading Fun Fest began on June 7th and was eight weeks of reading, special programs, events and story times. This year’s overall theme was ‘One World—Many Stories’, which showcased other cultures, travel and exploration. 

To be eligible for the iPad2 grand prizes, each program participant needed to complete a combination of tasks, including reading, attending programs and coming to the Library.  This year the Friends of the Palm Springs Public Library generously agreed to sponsor the Grand Prizes which are a 16 MB Wi-Fi iPad2 for each of our Youth, Teen and Adult programs.  There will be one lucky winner from each program, drawn from the names of those who have completed all the requirements for their particular program.

Pre-school age children, who have been participating in the separate Read-To-Me program and complete all their requirements, will be entered to win a grand prize just for them–a LeapFrog My Own LeapTop. One lucky winner will enjoy this durable and user-friendly play laptop which has six modes of pretend computer play  introducing children to animals, shapes, letters, music, and more.

 There is only one entry per person for all our programs, and participants do not need to be present to win.

As part of this summer’s programs, adult (ages 18 +) amateur photographers were invited to submit their best/favorite vacation photo for the Novel Destinations Photography Contest. Prize winners will be selected by a panel of three judges, members of the community with a photography and/or art background.  Winners will be announced at the finale; the first prize winner will receive a gift card for $100, the second prize winner will receive a gift card for $50 and the third prize winner will receive a gift card for $25. Photos have been on display in the Library for the month of July.