Richard Burges Library Blog

Home, Sweet, Home

richardburges — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:54:13 +0000

Our children’s story time hours this week were all about houses. We learned that houses come in lots of shapes and sizes. A home can be made out of a ice, trees, bricks, and even shoes! We read The House that Jack Built by Simms Taback, If the Shoe Fits by Alison Jackson, Bunny Bungalow by Cynthia Rylant, El pandita viene a mi casa by Liu Qian, and Mi Casa by Richard Scarry. You can find more books about homes at the Library. After our stories, we made a house using a paperbag.

There really is no place like home….

Click to view slideshow.

MLK Canned Food Drive

richardburges — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:20:17 +0000

Last week, the El Paso Public Libraries collected canned foods as part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. canned food drive. Community citizens donated generously yielding an estimated two tons of canned goods.

The food will be distributed to the following area agencies:

The Center Against Family Violence, La Fe Montana Vista Community Center, The El Paso Rescue Mission, El Paso Villa Maria, La Familia of El Paso, La Posada Home, The Opportunity Center for the Homeless, The Reynolds Home, and The Salvation Army.

Thank you Library Patrons for making a difference in your community!

Hi-Tech Storytime

richardburges — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:48:54 +0000

Wednesday’s preschool story time hour went hi-tech! Representatives from the El Paso Community College Northwest Campus visited our library to show children how to use the latest version of Apple’s iPad. After reading books about vegetables, our story time children were eager to try out the iPad 2. The children (and parents) used to the iPad to play educational games such as solving animal puzzles, practicing the alphabet, “coloring” pages, and playing music. It was fun for all!

Click to view slideshow.

2011 Blog Review

richardburges — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:17:21 +0000

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 9,900 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Christmas at the Library.

richardburges — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 00:58:55 +0000

Click to view slideshow.The holidays are always a special time at the Richard Burges Library. During our storytime hours, children not only listen to holiday-themed stories, they also make the decorations that will go on our tree. Santa Claus always makes sure to stop by the library before Christmas Eve to listen to boys and girls wishes and of course, take a picture.

Merry Christmas!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road….

richardburges — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 23:17:05 +0000

Did you follow the yellow brick road to Richard Burges’ Halloween Party this year? RB’s Wizard of Oz Halloween Party was held on October 29. The Wicked Witch, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, Toto, and even a Yellow Brick attended the party along with over 200 children and their parents. We made witch hats, got tattoos, played games, and watched the Wizard of Oz. Thanks to the generous support of our Friends of the Northeast Library group, the party was a huge success.

There’s no place like the Richard Burges Library for Halloween…..

Click to view slideshow.

Mrs. Meyer’s Beautiful Head

richardburges — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:45:16 +0000

Children’s storytime hour on Tuesday, October 11 was very special. Mrs. Zita Meyer was our guest reader. Mrs. Meyer read the book, Mrs. Meyer’s Beautiful Head. The book is about a teacher who loses all of her hair because she has cancer. Mrs. Meyer wrote the book because she is a kindergarden teacher who lost all of her hair when she had cancer. Her book, filled with colorful illustrations, delicately explains what Mrs. Meyer faced when she had cancer. Thankfully, Mrs. Meyer is now cancer-free! Mrs. Meyer enjoys reading her book to children of all ages, and our storytime children certainly enjoyed this book. Thank you, Mrs. Meyer, for sharing your story with us!!!

Copies of Mrs. Meyer’s Beautiful Head can be purchased directly from Mrs. Meyer at:

Zita Meyer, PO Box 973256, El Paso, TX, 79997

American Library Association Birthday!

richardburges — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:42:15 +0000

The American Library Association (ALA) is turning 135 on October 6th!

To celebrate, think about the ways that your favorite library has helped you in your life! Did your library give you a love of reading as a child? Was it a safe place for you to hang out as a teen? Did you use our computers to print out a boarding pass for flying or pay an important bill? Did the library help you find a job? Or did we just help you find the perfect book to read?

Libraries are here for YOU! Celebrate ALA day your own way, remember your library and keep us in your heart.

Celebrate Banned Book Week

richardburges — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:27:32 +0000

This week many libraries celebrate “Banned Books Week.” This week is remind all of us to exercise our freedom to choose and read what we want to read–not what others want us to read.

From the American Library Association’s (ALA) website:

Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

The Richard Burges Library is showcasing many books that have been banned in other states and cities. We have a display near the check out desk with these books. Some of the banned titles might surprise you!

For more information, go to the ALA website!

Authors talk about love of books, libraries

richardburges — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:37:21 +0000

You can see many of your favorite authors talk about their love of libraries online! The American Library Association (ALA) website, Our Authors, Our Advocates, features many writers of all kinds of books. Favorite authors such as Judy Blume, Kathy Reichs, David Baldacci and more discuss why libraries remain so important to everyone in America. Check out what your favorite authors think about our libraries!