Library News

Did You Know?

• Among our latest additions to our online resources: LearningExpress Library is a comprehensive, interactive online learning platform of practice tests and tutorial course series designed to help both students and adult learners succeed on academic or licensing tests. We also offer resources that can help you do your homework, learn a foreign language, repair your car, price your antiques, introduce you to new music, watch videos on demand, and help you research your family history. Find out more about our resources -- available for free use to library card holders -- at our Articles & Databases page.
   
• Linebaugh Library System is pleased to announce the winners in its recent essay contest, in which library patrons were asked "What Does My Public Library Mean to Me?" The finalists range in age from 9 to 75 and include students, adult learners, and mothers. "I was overwhelmed by the response we received in the essay contest," said LPLS Director Laurel Best. "Linebaugh Library System is very important to the people of this community, and they were willing to take the time to write about their feelings. It's been a very affirming experience for all of us who work here."
   
• BookFlix is an interactive literary resource that builds a love of reading and learning in a fun, online environment. BookFlix pairs classic video storybooks with nonfiction eBooks to reinforce reading skills and develop essential real-world knowledge and understanding. This resource also has educational games, author profiles, vocabulary, and more. Requires Flash and audio. (Check to see if your computer meets the requirements.) For grades PreK-3. You will need to enter your library card number to use this service.
   
• Linebaugh Public Library, in partnership with the League for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, now offers services for the deaf and hard of hearing. A sign language interpreter is available at Linebaugh Public Library each Wednesday from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. to assist with: interpreting phone calls, help interpreting documents, help on computers, help finding information in the library, help finding local resources. Other services provided by the library include: access to IP-Relay on public Internet computers and captioned movies and other DVD video recordings. These additional services are available during all normal library hours. For more information, please contact the Linebaugh Library Reference Department.
   
• MyLibraryDV now offers episodes from some of your favorite PBS children's programs: Caillou, Boohbah, and Liberty's Kids. Also coming soon: Cyberchase. You can download these programs for free to your home PC with just your library card! For more information about system requirements and how to use this service, read the MyLibraryDV FAQ.
   

• Check out our new children's computers! These computers feature 34 educational software packages targeting seven curricular areas, designed for toddlers through second graders. The computers have color-coded keyboards and a small mouse, designed for little hands. The interface is designed to encourage exploration; the games are so fun that children may not even realize they are learning! Among the programs offered on these computers are:

  • Interactive storybooks including Stellaluna, The Cat in the Hat, and Green Eggs and Ham, plus several games featuring characters from PBS’s Between the Lions.
  • Reader Rabbit Toddler – Helps toddlers discover numbers, letters, shapes, sounds, and songs, while becoming familiar with using a keyboard and mouse.
  • Sammy’s Science House – Introduces early science and thinking skills, with five fun-filled activities.
  • JumpStart 1^st Grade – Young children learn about math, reading, science and more.
  • SpongeBob SquarePants Typing – A typing tutorial with multiple levels and modes of play.
  • USA Explorer – Teaches US geography by visiting locations and landmarks, with historical facts.
  • Kidspiration – Helps students see, organize, and develop ideas, using proven visual learning principles.
  • My Amazing Human Body – Four fun activities led by a humorous skeleton teach about skeletons, organs, body systems, and how each works.

  Purchased with funds from a Library Services and Technology Grant, administered by the Tennessee State Library and Archives, these computers are available for our young patrons to use at any of our four library branches.
   

• Stay up-to-date with the latest news about LPLS by subscribing to our monthly email newsletter: What's New @ Linebaugh Library System will have information about upcoming events at all our library branches and other library news. To sign up, please visit our Book List Newsletters page. While you're there, check out the other newsletters we have to offer, which include recommended reading book lists featuring information about upcoming books and author profiles. Recent additions include Linebaugh Book Club Picks, with information about the books being read by our book discussion groups each month, plus BookLetters Daily, Chapter A Day, and Lifestyles.
   

• Linebaugh Public Library now offers a R.E.A.D.S. download kiosk for library patrons who want to download free audiobooks to their MP3 or WMA audio player, but who have a slow Internet connection at home or who need help learning how to use the service. R.E.A.D.S. offers popular fiction titles, consumer nonfiction, and selections for children and young adults. Linebaugh Library is the only library in the Highland Rim region of Middle Tennessee offering a download kiosk; the kiosk is available for card holders from any of the 17 public librarys in the region. For more information on R.E.A.D.S., visit our Find Books page. 
   

• LPLS's new online bookstore, MyLibraryBookstore, carries about 1 million book titles, plus all the latest DVDs and CDs from dozens of genres, just like other online bookstores. The benefit to using MyLibraryBookstore is that proceeds from your purchases directly benefit the Linebaugh Library System.

   

• Have you seen our zines? Linebaugh Library is bringing zines to Murfreesboro! Our new collection can be found on the second floor, near the Periodicals. Zines can be checked out for 2 weeks. Available zines can be found in iBistro, our online catalog. For more information about what zines are or about the library's zine collection, please visit our Zine Collection page.
   

• Thanks to Rutherford Books from Birth, your preschool age children can receive free, age-appropriate books every month! You can now register your children online; you can also register for this program at any of the Linebaugh Library System branches. The simple act of reading books to your children on a regular basis gives them a big boost toward a successful education. Rutherford Books from Birth, in partnership with the Governor's Books from Birth Foundation and Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, want to give you free books to read to your children. Visit the Rutherford Books from Birth website to find out more!
   

• Linebaugh Public Library System offers an email notification option that allows you to receive email messages when: a reserved item is available for pick up, an item is due in two days (as a reminder), or when an item is overdue. If you would like to receive email notifications, please make sure we have your current e-mail address by calling or visiting your local branch library. You can also submit your current email address using the Change My Address form. You will need your library card number.
   

• Give us your ideas! In 2006, Dubberly Garcia Associates of Atlanta developed a Master Facilities Plan for the Linebaugh Library System. As of October 2005, the Linebaugh Library System was 72,000 square feet shy of the state minimum standards for Tennessee. This plan calls for adding several new facilities, including constructing a new main library. The Executive Summary of the Facilities Plan, as well as a PDF of the full Plan, are available for public review and comment. The Library System has now contracted with Dubberly Garcia to develop a Building Plan for the new main library and branch libraries. We hope you'll join Project 72,000: Building Better Libraries, and that you'll be a part of planning the future of libraries in Rutherford County.
   

• Linebaugh Library System now offers adaptive technology services to the disabled, elderly, and visually impaired. As the result of a federal grant, Linebaugh Public Library has added an adaptive computer, which includes software to magnify text and images and verbally communicate to the user. The computer is equipped with a large-print keyboard, trackball mouse, large screen, scanner, and adjustable table and chair to make it accessible for patrons with physical impairments. A similar computer will soon be available at Smyrna Public Library. Both libraries also offer the InSight magnifier, which magnifies materials using a large video screen. For more information or assistance in using these machines, please visit the Reference Desk at either library or read our Adaptive Technology brochure (PDF).
   

• Check out the Linebaugh Library System's Bookmobile!
   

• Linebaugh Library has Wireless Internet access. Find out more!