Los Altos Library News

What is big and brown and weighs 400-600 pounds? The answer is: a grizzly bear! Although there are no more grizzlies in California. There are grizzly bears roaming in Alaska and the national parks. Currently the “Bear in Mind” exhibition at Los Altos History Museum is about California grizzlies. But we can learn more about Grizzly Bears from these books and DVD: Grizzly Bears Grizzly . . . more »

Young Children and Electronic Media Should babies and toddlers be exposed to television and other screens? TV programs, DVDs, computer games, and Web-based programming are certainly marketed as entertaining and educational for young children. Children are often exposed to secondhand media as well. But the American Academy of Pediatrics, www.healthychildren.org, in their policy statement released in October, 2011, http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2011/10/12/peds.2011-1753, "discourages media use by children . . . more »

Woodland Library has just formed a new Adult Book Club, with our first meeting taking place next Tuesday (December 11th) from 2-3pm... and there is still room for more adults who are interested! If you can't make it this month, we are planning to continue meeting on the second Tuesday of every month. The book for this session is Tatiana de Rosnay's Sarah's Key, which . . . more »

The American English word "cookie" comes from the Dutch "koekje," which means little cake. Many other English speaking countries call them "biscuits" instead. Whatever you choose to call them, you can celebrate this sweet start to the holiday season by baking a batch of your favorites on Tues., Dec. 4th. Looking for a recipe? Check out these books from the Los Altos Library: Cool Cookies . . . more »

Play-Well TEKnologies will be coming to Los Altos Library with colorful LEGO especially designed for a program using them for fun-filled engineering and architectural projects, activities that both the children and the instructors enjoy! This will take place on Wednesday, December 5th at 3:30 pm for school-age children in K and Up. Play-Well encourages inquisitiveness, self-reliance, and self-confidence in children by helping them: . . . more »

Los Altos Library has a great collection of Easy Reader Non-Fiction books for Kindergarten through 3rd grade with short sentences and great illustrations. Animals, nature, countries and more, look for them on display in the Children's Room. . . . more »

Name: Laura Pasternack Job Title: Librarian, Adult & Teen services at Woodland Branch How long at the library: Just over four months! Hobbies & Interests: Caring for my pets (dog, cats & snakes), playing viola with local orchestras, shopping, photography, and taking road trips. Favorite thing about working here: Since Woodland is like a small-town branch, I enjoy getting to know our regular patrons... I . . . more »

Los Altos is very proud to have two winners in "We Are America" art contest. Phillip Baek won the first place of the 3-5 grade category and Kimberly Fong took second place. Phillip wrote:"We all stand to hold and support our country. Even though we have different backgrounds, the country we are holding forms one, therefore is great America." Kimberly made it clear by saying: . . . more »

It’s time to get your home ready for cold weather before winter.Take a few steps to prepare. When it rains, your gutters need to be clean.Check your furnace and ducts. Before you use your fireplace, be sure to have it inspected. Time to check your automatic sprinkler/irrigation systems. Some books that might help you are: The Complete Photo Guide to Home Improvement Ultimate Guide:Home Repair . . . more »

The Woodland Library was recently honored to receive a Thinker replica sculpture, a generous donation from Don and Susan Watters of Los Altos. The sculpture is a bronze metal casting with walls nearly ½” thick, standing just over seven feet tall and weighing approximately six hundred pounds. The color is described as “Verdi” green, which is how copper/bronze appears once it has weathered. Despite spending . . . more »