A workshop is being offered at 7 p.m. this evening at the library for those adults interested in making themselves or someone special a homemade gift! Join us as we create a beautiful beaded heart pin just in time for Valentine's Day!

Children of all ages will get their chance to create their own special somethings, as well, tomorrow from 11 a.m. to noon during a Valentine's Card Workshop!  

Also coming up at the Wallkill Public Library:

Friday - The Nintendo Club for ages 5-10 will meet at 4 p.m. Bring your DS and connect and play! And for you older gamers, Nintendo Gaming for ages 10 and up will be offered from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, beginning Feb. 22! 

Tuesday - Lego builders are invited at 4 p.m. to create with their friends!

Wednesday - The Art Club meets at 4 p.m. Ages 7-11 are invited to come in and paint, draw, and experiment with other ways of expressing themselves!

Also Wednesday, children ages 5 and up are invited at 6:30 p.m. to come and read to our "Tail-Waggin' Tutor," Millie the therapy dog.

Thursday - Ages 5-7 are welcome to enjoy experiments, art, games, and more during Imagination Playstation, from 4:30-5:15 p.m.

Friday - Please note, there will be no Toddler Story Time today!

And looking ahead, the Second Annual Lego Build-A-Thon is coming up Saturday, Feb. 25! All ages are welcome from 1-3 p.m. to bring their own Legos and build alongside other enthusiasts! Pick up a participation coupon at the library and submit it by Feb. 23 to take part - the first 50 registration forms will be accepted!

 Those patrons who have recently gotten phone calls or emails notifying them that their inter-library loans are in may have noticed that those loans are only being held for four days, now.

If patrons don't pick up the items they ordered within that time period, those materials will be sent back.

This shorter hold period was a decision made by a consortium of libraries in the RCLS system, the goal being to keep newer items in circulation (rather than sitting on a library's hold shelf for a week or more, waiting to be picked up).

We're happy to offer the inter-library loan service as a means of providing our patrons with a broader selection of materials, despite the fact that the service is an expensive one that entails the use of much time, money, and gas transporting items between libraries.

We understand that extenuating circumstances may at times prohibit patrons from picking up their items before their holds expire, and, as always, we encourage anyone with any issues to give us a call at 895-3707 so we can do our best to accommodate you. We appreciate your cooperation! 

 For those eBook fans still confused about the ins and outs of the library's digital supplier, OverDrive, the site is launching a new Help feature that should make things easier than ever!

OverDrive Help will be available starting Feb. 14, and will contain hundreds of newly-written articles covering everything users need to know to enjoy eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video from our digital collection.

Each section of OverDrive Help is designed to help users find information on a wide variety of topics, from checking digital items out, to getting started with whatever device is being used for a download (be it an iPad, Sony Reader, etc.), to installing apps, and more.

 Last week we took a look at a website's URL to glean some insight as to how reliable that site might be.

Once you decide to open a web page (but before you decide to trust it!), there are a few details you can check to ensure what you're reading is accurate:

• Objectivity - You should make sure the page isn't a mask for advertising (otherwise its information might be biased). Look at it as you would an infomercial and ask yourself, Why was this written and for whom?
• Currency - Make certain the page is current and updated regularly and that the provided links are also timely.
• Coverage - You should be able to view the page without special browser technology, software requirements, or fees.

If your website meets all of these criteria, then the chances are better that it's a site you can trust. A good rule of thumb, however, is to double- and triple-check your facts and rely more heavily on those websites whose publishers are reputable (i.e., The New York Times) when it comes to writing a paper or doing some other type of research.

Source: Kapoun, Jim. "Teaching undergrads WEB evaluation: A guide for library instruction." C&RL News

 It was back on Feb. 10, 1949 when Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman opened at New York's Morosco Theatre, and it was Nov. 18, 1950, when the show closed, 742 performances later.

Miller defined American theater in the 1950s with such plays as Salesman, which is perhaps his most famous, and The Crucible.
He died 56 years to the day after Salesman's Morosco opening,

on Feb. 10, 2005. By that time, Miller had written not only plays, but novels, short stories, nonfiction, screenplays, and an autobiography.