Pember Library

As a result of economic conditions, the Pember Library finds it necessary to reduce hours.  We have adjusted hours to serve the maximum number of library patrons. Beginning the week after Christmas and through the winter months, we will be closed on Thursdays.

We thank you for your understanding and hope you are not inconvenienced by the reduction in hours.

Due to tomorrow’s forecast of ice in the morning, we have postponed the eReader class until Monday morning at 10:00 AM at the library.

We have basic NYS tax forms available at the library free of charge. We also have a binder with additional NYS forms that you can photocopy at $.15 per scan. (Forms and binder are located on the bottom shelf near the new and 7-day books.) Or you can go to http://www.tax.ny.gov/forms/ to get all NYS forms ($.25 per page if you use our printers and ink).

We do not have Federal tax forms but you can download them from the internet, ($.25 per page if you use our printers and ink). Go to http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/  where you can access and acquire both electronic and print media.

Changes for 2011 NYS taxpayers include:

The NYS tax form IT 150 Resident Income Tax Return (short form) has been discontinued. All full-year New York State residents must now use Form IT-201 to file and pay their taxes.

NYS taxpayers now have three ways to receive their NYS tax refund: debit card (new option), paper check and direct deposit to the person’s bank account. There is a brochure with information on the new debit card near the NYS forms.

We recently got a contribution of Blue & Gold Yearbooks. There were several that covered years we were missing. There are still a couple of gaps. If anyone has 1954, 2001 and/or 2004 they would complete our collection. It can be fun to look back and see the fashions from days gone by…

Inside page from 1952 Blue & Gold yearbook

The book club’s choice for February is  Gorgeous East by Robert Girardi.

Kirkus Reviews says:

“[A]n entertaining 21st-century variant on the classic adventure tale. Characterizations are brisk and vivid, as the story whips along toward a violent climax with a nice surprise twist…. Girardi pits the French Foreign Legion against Muslim fanatics. Since Louis Philippe founded the Legion in 1831, its lost-soul volunteers fight in the most desolate corners of the globe mostly because they have nothing better to do with their lives. American musical comedy actor John Smith winds up in the Legion after a disastrous trip to Istanbul that results in the murder of the girlfriend who jilted him for a wealthy Turk. Sous-lieutenant Evariste Pinard, a French Canadian drug dealer and enforcer for a Russian loan shark in France, chose the Legion over prison and deportation. And they’re two of the more savory recruits in Girardi’s nastily realistic rogues’ gallery. Yet it’s such an honor to whip lost souls like these into military shape that only the best of France’s aristocratic officer class, like Colonel Philippe de Noyer, are deemed worthy to serve in the Legion. Unfortunately, Noyer is also possessed of a hereditary tendency toward madness, sparked in his case by a particularly ugly encounter with a fundamentalist Islamic insurgency in the Western Sahara. The creepy Marabouts, who decapitate their enemies and initiate members with bee stings, are mostly an excuse for lots of action sequences featuring vastly outnumbered Legionnaires grimly holding strongholds soon to be overrun by bloodthirsty savages, or charging into hordes of similar savages crying “à moi la Legion!”–

Some entries from last year's contest

Love Chocolate and have a recipe that you consider a winner? Do you serve a dessert that makes all your friends rave as they ask for seconds and thirds? Then this is your opportunity to enter your special creation in The Friends of the Pember Library’s Second Annual Chocolate Lovers’ Contest.

The contest will be held at the Pember Library, 33 West Main Street, in Granville on Friday, February 10 at 7:00 PM.  Prizes will be awarded in the following categories: cookies, candies, cakes, pies, and miscellaneous.   The criteria for judging are as follows: taste (20 points), chocolateness (15 points), presentation (10 points), and creativity (5 points).  Winners will be determined by total points awarded.

Contestants are strongly encouraged to pre-register at the library or may register on the night of the contest.  All entries will be accepted.  There is no fee to enter the contest.  Entries should be dropped off at the library between 5:00 and 6:00 PM.  Judging will begin at 7:00.   Please note that there are no provisions for heating or cooling of entries.

If you love all things chocolate but don’t want to enter the competition, you are welcome to come and join in the fun of seeing all of the fabulous selections and watching the judges determine the contest winners.  You can test your knowledge of chocolate in the Trivia Contest and win prizes for correct answers.  Door prizes will also be awarded. Beverages will be available to audience members.

After the judging, all entries will be sold.  Take advantage of this opportunity to purchase and enjoy some of these mouthwatering confections.  Deciding what to bring home will be a difficult decision.  You won’t go wrong with any of the selections available!

In case of bad weather conditions or for additional information about the contest, please call the Pember Library at 642-2525.