Lots Of Things Happening at the Hazlet Library

The Hazlet branch of the Monmouth County Library is going to be a very busy place this fall with events galore and plenty of great new books. 

In particular, Reference Librarian Beth Henderson is looking forward to JK Rowling’s A Casual Vacancy, her first book for adults. Ms. Henderson thinks it would be interesting to see what Rowling does with that. She’s also looking forward to Light Between Oceans by ML Steadman, which is about a lighthouse keeper and his wife who find a baby and deal with the repercussions of their decision to raise it.

Some other books she recommended include Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, which she said started a little slow but picked up and was a fantastic read; The Tombs by Clive Cussler about the grave of Attila the Hun; Debbie Macomber’s first book in her new series, Rose Harbor set in Cedar Cove, a familiar location for her readers; and Herman Wouk’s The Law Giver about Moses and a code of law.

The library will be getting all of these new books and has a special “Lucky Day” collection for popular movies and books. Since these are the most requested items, library patrons can take out two books per visit and 1 DVD per family from this collection for a week only so they can circulate to other readers. Some of the most popular genres to read this fall at the library include women’s erotica, due to the phenomenal success of 50 Shades of Grey, and “gentle reads,” which are books without the sex and bad language.

One of the big events happening in October at the Hazlet Library is the official unveiling of the mural that depicts Hazlet’s history on Saturday, October 13, at 1 p.m. with refreshments and speakers followed by a 2 p.m. showing of “The Avengers.”

October will be a major month for the entire library system with “KaPow! Comic-Con: A Celebration of Comic Books and Superheroes.” This will be launched on September 24 at the headquarters in Manalapan and will have different events at each branch, including four at the Hazlet branch.

The Hazlet branch will have a craft for grade schoolers to make stained glass shields on October 4. An artist will come in to draw famous comic book superheroes on October 26. There will be a Justice League of America trivia event on October 23. Two comic book artists will speak on October 20 at 2  p.m. about creating comic books, about comic books as a genre of creative expression, why they do it, and how they do it.

What should definitely be mentioned for library patrons is that September is National Library Card Month. The resources that are available for card holders include Library on the Go, where members can download e-books for free onto their e-readers with new books constantly being added;  databases  on the library homepage including Lynda.com for computer training classes; Transparent Language, a multisensory language program featuring 40 languages and ESL; Universal Class, which are free online classes  such as writing and history classes that you can sign up for and take up to 6 months to finish; and Muzzy, a children’s language program.

Ms. Henderson mentioned how the library card can provide lots of resources for school projects and that the library will have a table at Hazlet Day, September 29, where residents can sign up for library cards, learn more about the programs at the library, and ask questions about the website.