From the Collection
Looking to add some mystery to your summer? We have lots of great mystery novels available, including Terminal City. Part of Linda Fairstein's Alexandra Cooper series, the book focuses on the history of New York's iconic Grand Central Station.
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Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.
-Mary Schmich
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Library Closed
All MCPL locations will be closed July 3, 4, and 5 in observance of Independence Day.
Financially Independent Teens
For teens ages 13-17, Financially Independent Teens Boot Camp programs will be held at Bethesda, Marilyn Praisner, Rockville Memorial, and Gaithersburg libraries in July. These workshops are held two and a half hours per day for four days and provide age-appropriate financial tips to help teens mature into financially secure and economically independent young adults. Registration is required for these programs.
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Independence Day
Montgomery County will again host two Independence Day fireworks displays on July 4: Germantown Glory at the Maryland SoccerPlex and Mid-County Sparkles at Albert Einstein High School. (Download the flyer as a PDF.)
Family Resource Fair
Department of Health and Human Services, Infants and Toddlers Program features the first Family Resource Fair: connecting families to resources within the community, on Saturday, July 18, at Silver Spring Civic Building.
County Executive's Award for Excellence in the Arts & Humanities
County Executive Leggett is seeking nominations for this year's Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Awards to be presented on October 26. For more information, or to nominate an individual or organization, visit the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County website. Deadline: July 31, 2015.
Getting Social with Legislation
The Council has partnered with Madison, a collaborative government public policy online tool, which opens up the lawmaking process to residents. This new tool brings the law-making process straight to you. Learn more.
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From the Director
Summer is off to an exciting start at MCPL!
Online registration for the Summer Reading program opened on June 1. In the first thirty days, 10,244 children and teens - ages birth to 17 - have signed up to participate and logged over 27,000 books read! Participants earn online badges, through the new Beanstack portal, and are also eligible for incentives, such as tickets for the Frederick Keys or Bowie Baysox. The Beanstack service also provides readers' advisory, sending weekly e-mails with age-appropriate book suggestions based on your child's interests - which will continue throughout the year!
 Registration for Summer Reading will remain open through August 9, and registered participants can continue logging books through August 31. By signing your children up for Summer Reading, you can promote reading and help prevent summer slide. You also can find great Summer Reading events featuring science, music, magic, or animals!
In addition to the Summer Reading program, branches are also hosting exciting programs for book lovers of all ages all summer long. For children grades K-2, our Grandreaders program will be returning to 6 branches. At these events, children practice reading to a senior volunteer. The programs do not require registration, and children may bring a book from home or select one from the library. Read to a Dog programs also continue throughout the summer at multiple branches. Teens are invited to participate in teen writing clubs across the County and explore and develop their own writing skills.
 For adults, MCPL offers a number of book clubs throughout the County. Whether you are looking for a favorite genre, a cultural or ethnic group, or a specific time of day, you may be surprised at the variety of options you will find. July 18 we are holding Meetup-Readup-Speakup, an event for book lovers in their 20s and 30s to meet-up with other readers and discuss books. Not sure what to read next? Try our new online readers' advisory service, What Do I Check Out Next?, and get personalized reading suggestions from our expert librarians.
B. Parker Hamilton, Director
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 Linda Curvey-Brown is the Assistant Branch Manager at the new Silver Spring Library. Linda has been with MCPL for over two years. Before joining MCPL, she worked for the Detroit Public Libraries for 12 years. Linda's interests include reading, writing, health, cooking - she is an avid foodie! - and helping teens succeed, which she will definitely be doing in the teen space and Digital Media Lab at the new library!
 Barbara McClayton started as the Manager of Olney Library in March of 2015, but she first arrived at MCPL as a part-time children's librarian at Olney more than 20 years ago! Since then, Barbara has served in a variety of capacities, most recently as the Manager at Chevy Chase. She became a librarian because she loves to answer questions, and she is excited to continue that tradition as she returns to serving the Olney Library community.
 Mark Simon, Specialist - Data & Statistics, is our "Excel Whisperer." He came to MCPL from the New York Public Library in 2013 having entered the World of Libraries in 2010. Over 30+ years in 5 different industries, he has worked with so many spreadsheet versions, makes, and models (from Visicalc to Excel) that even HE can't keep count. At MCPL, he works to keep all of our reporting consistent from measure to measure and tool to tool and invents new reporting tools in his spare time.
 Leon Walters, Information Technology Technician II, started at MCPL in late 2014. He has over twenty years of experience in server management, enterprise design, networking, and desktop support as a contractor. At MCPL, he helps manage our active directory domain and supports and troubleshoots special applications. Outside of the Library, Leon enjoys working out and the performing arts, especially playing and listening to jazz.
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Montgomery County Public Libraries Selected to Manage Maryland's Deaf Culture Digital Library
"This is a true honor for Montgomery County Public Libraries. It is a well-deserved recognition of our library system's long tradition of helping to identify and address the needs of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community for resources, collections, programs and technologies." -- Isiah Leggett, County Executive
 The Silver Spring community provided overwhelming support for the opening and the positive response to the new building has been wonderful. Customers filled the building during its first weekend of operations. Many came to check out the new Digital Media Lab and Early Literacy Center, but they also registered for over 1,000 new library cards on Saturday and over 400 on Sunday and checked out materials, including books and Go! Kits. See more social media from the Grand Opening.
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Ever wonder how you can support libraries and meet other people who love them? Friends of the Library, Montgomery County (FOLMC) is currently seeking volunteers for its parent organization and its 17 chapter affiliates. There are many positions available, including leadership opportunities. You could serve on the FOLMC Board of Trustees, help run local book sales at your branch, or volunteer in our two used bookstores. Give back to libraries that have given so much to you! Visit the FOLMC website or e-mail FOLMC staff for more information.
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"My Favorite Book/Character" Contest Award Ceremony
 For over 20 years, the Poolesville Library Advisory Committee has sponsored the "My Favorite Book or Character" Multimedia Contest to promote student reading. The contest is open to all Poolesville and Western Montgomery elementary school students (K-5). The students can create posters, videos, poems, songs, etc. Students must create the submissions on their own without parental assistance.
Some of the 2015 submissions included a dragon sculpture (Magic Tree House #2: The Knight at Dawn), a diorama (Mr. Popper's Penguins), a poem (Mallory series), and posters of The Scrambled States of America and Harry Potter.
The award ceremony honoring the 2015 participants was held on May 30, 2015. The awards were presented to the winners by Poolesville Town Commissioner Jerry Klubokowski.
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