While their beloved Phillies may not have won this year’s World Series, the Dugan boys (Ryan, Christian & Michael)

Lisa Taylor and the Dugan family

were winners never-the-less Dec. 28 when the library presented each of them with a matted and framed baseball card of their favorite player, pitcher Cole Hamels.

There’s a back story to this presentation.

During the summer the three boys were in the library during “Snap Shot Day,” a time when libraries throughout the state recorded each branch’s daily business.  The data collected is used to help substantiate how valuable libraries are to their community.

The three Dugan boys, each sporting a Hamels shirt, were photographed in front of another Philly fan’s desk, librarian Lisa Taylor.

We sent the photos to Hamels via the Phillies, asking if he could autograph them.  Better yet, he sent back for each of the boys an autographed, over-sized baseball card.  We matted and framed the card, along with two of the photos of the boys in front of Lisa’s desk, and presented it to them Monday monring.

It was an exciting day for the boys, their grandparents, and their parents Christine and Ryan.

Cool, huh?

Director Natalie Altonjy and the Barnegat High School choir packed the house for their annual holiday concert at the library Dec. 10th. Along with the full range of songs from the high school singers, the performance featured several of Altonjy’s private students performing solo pieces, including instrumental work.  As  nice added surprise, several of Barnegat’s previous graduates returned to join in the performance.

On Tuesday, December 15, Point Pleasant Beach held a dedication ceremony for a new set of hand-crafted book-shelves made by students from Ocean County Vocational Technical School. Branch staff, Member’s of the Point Pleasant Beach branch Friends along with Staff & students from Ocean County Vocational Technical School gathered for a short ceremony & refreshments.

Point Pleasant Beach branch Manager, Michael Bobish, thanked everyone who made this project come to fruition.
• The Friends of the Point Pleasant Beach Library
• Point Pleasant Beach Library Association
• Tom Vogel
• Ocean County Vocational High School (Mr. Gonsalves & the students of the class of 2009)
• Bill Von Borstell (shelf installation)
• Garbrielle Nadeau
• Alexandre Tremblay

On Wednesday, December 16th at 4:00 at the Little Egg Harbor Library there was a crowd of excited children ready to decorate Gingerbread cookies.
Teen volunteers helped with the icing decorations. Each child received their own cup of icing to glue the candies onto the gingerbread cookies.
The festive program helped to spread holiday cheer on parents and children’s faces. The program was sponsored by the Friends of Little Egg Harbor Library.

The Beachwood staff brought the very popular book The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg to life featuring a winter bulletin board depicting scenes from the book.

Staff member Fred Lovinfosse added a working trolley to the display. He created a background village scene by taking pictures of his own Christmas village stores, enlarging the pictures and pasting them onto foam core.

Children and adults enjoy watching the trolley and Thomas the Train travel along the tracks.

Fred is a member of the Ocean County Society of Model Railroaders.  The model railroaders love the hobby and come together to share knowledge with others.   While promoting the hobby they have fun showcasing displays for  people to see all around the New Jersey area at various sites.

Waretown branch’s hall was decked with the yummy results of our “Holiday Cake Decorating” program.  Jennifer Richmond of Jennicakes, assisted by her mother Joanne Richmond, revealed her clever methods for adorning cakes.  Not only did our attendees leave the program with new and creative ideas (how to make dashing, edible bows and sparkling stars), but also left with a treat of cream-filled, red velvet cupcakes.

Ed Austin is our perennial, eagerly anticipated Holiday entertainer.  With guitar in hand and a number of spirited songs in his repertoire, Mr. Austin filled our Waretown  Annual Friends Tree Lighting Party with music, laughter, and a lively audience.  What an uplifting way to start the Season!

The Barnegat branch of the Ocean County Library is one of four winners in the state of the 2009 One Book New Jersey program contest. It is the second consecutive time the branch has won the award.

“The OBNJ Committee was impressed and inspired by your home-grown movie, “A Pet Like No Other,” and your commitment to collaborating and sharing with your community,” wrote committee chairperson Katherine Vasilik when she announced the award.

“The details you provided to illustrate the ease of which this program could be reproduced could be useful to libraries of all types and we will highlight some of these details in our public acknowledgement of the program contest winners on the OBNJ Web site, on Facebook, and in the NJLA newsletter,” she added.

Each year the One Book NJ organization, part of the New Jersey Library Association, selects four books that are appropriate for different age groups: preschoolers, children, teens, and adults. Libraries are encouraged to host programs that promote those books. The goal is to have all New Jerseyans read one of the books and discuss it.

Senior Librarian Lisa Taylor organized and submitted the video, “Your Pet: A Pet Like No Other,” to the One Book NJ judging panel. “Over a period of several weeks local children, teens and library staff brought in photos of their pets for inclusion in our movie,” Taylor said. “Each pet owner recorded a short tale about his pet.”

The video debuted on the branch’s silver screen and was viewed by local residents, staff from the Southern Ocean County Animal Shelter and Mickey, the library’s former “Tail Waggin’ Tutor,” a registered therapy dog. Mickey died shortly before the award was announced.

For their award-winning effort, the library will receive a complete set of the 2010 One Book NJ selections.

The titles for 2010 One Book NJ were recently announced. They include: the adult selection, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” by Mark Haddon; the teen selection, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” by Sherman Alexie; “The Tale of Despereaux,” by Kate DiCamillo for middle-graders; and “Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type,” by Doreen Cronin for preschoolers.

Upper Shores 2^nd annual “Fun, Food & You” was a great success. Children and their families enjoyed a story and decorating Gingerbread Houses.

On Saturday, December 5th the Navesink Brass Quintet presented a concert at the Little Egg Harbor branch. The music included holiday Christmas classics as well as a festive Hanukah arrangement. Refreshments were served by the Tuckerton Friends Association afterwards in the meeting room. The holiday music and cookies put everyone in a festive mood!