Prospect Heights Public Library News & Announcements

Volunteer @ Your Library!

If you're interested in volunteering at the Library, we'd love to have you on our team! We have volunteer opportunities for all ages. Our current corps of volunteers donated over 500 hours of their time last year and we're extremely grateful to them. We have volunteer opportunities for all ages:

Our Junior Library Volunteers are middle school aged or younger.  They help us with our youth programs by helping set up the rooms and put together craft kits among other things. 

Marvelous Math Tutors are high schoolers who want to help younger students with their homework. It's usually math related, but sometimes other subjects come up as well!

Our PHPLD Volunteers are adults who help us with a wide variety of tasks. They make reminder calls for our programs; pull books from our shelves that we send to other libraries; teach some of our computer classes; and help with many other projects around the Library. Other volunteers help patrons improve their English skills by having conversations with them on a regualr basis - nothing formal, just a nice chat so their patron can practice speaking and understanding English. 

If you're interested in volunteering, please fill out a JLV, Tutor, or Adult volunteer application and let us know about your skills and interests.

Why Some eBooks Aren't Available at the Library - Full Article

You may have heard on the news or simiply noticed that you can't get many of the latest best selling eBooks through MyMediaMall. In either case, you're probably wondering why. Currently, five of the seven largest publishers will not sell their eBook content to libraries. The other two only do so at exorbitant prices or through severe lending restrictions. The titles we've purchesed up 'til now, those that are in our catalog, largely won't be affected. But going forward, we won't be able to provide Macmillan titles such as Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan, or Simon & Schuster blockbuster Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. You won't have access to new titles from David Baldacci, Lisa Scottoline or Clive Cussler because Hatchette Book Group, MacMillan and Penguin Group won't sell eBooks to libraries.  Scholastic won't sell us The Hunger Games. Click on the link below for more information about this unfortunate situation. We'll continue to work with these publishers towards a compromise that will address their concerns as well as providing you with access to these best selling titles and more. In the meantime, please don't forget that we do carry these titles in print and often on CD and as downloadable audiobooks.  

EBook Publisher Restrictions

Use Your Kindle with MyMediaMall!

You can now download Library books to your Kindle using MyMediaMall! To use this service, follow these steps:

• Select MyMediaMall from the Library's homepage (under Catalog in the left menu), or go directly to www.mymediamall.net. Sign in using your Prospect Heights library card.

• Search or browse for the Kindle title you would like to check out.

• Add the title to your cart, and checkout.

• After checkout, click Get for Kindle. This opens the Amazon.com website. You may be required to sign in with your Amazon.com account if you are not already logged in.

• Select a Kindle device or Kindle reading app. Click the Get Library Book button and sync your device or app to download the book, or choose to send it to your device via USB.

An active Wi-Fi connection is required for wireless delivery to a Kindle device.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Library.

Food for Fines - Thanksgiving thru January 31, 2012

Computer Upgrade at the Library!

The Library will be replacing all staff and public PCs beginning in June. Our last hardware upgrade was in 2006. The new public PCs are ENERGY STAR^® 5.0 qualified, using up to 75% less electricity than PCs without enabled power management features. All of the new PCs will be much more powerful than the older models, and have the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system installed. Microsoft Office 2010 and internet access will continue to be offered on every computer.

July @ Your Library

Library Pictures on Flickr
View Summer Reading, Hero Letters to Soldiers and More Pictures on our Flickr account.

New Public PCs Installed
>>  Read More

Download Music For Free With Freegal
>>  Watch the Video to learn how to use it.

Online Library Catalog
Finding Titles, Placing Holds and Monitoring Your Library Account just got easier!
>> Find Out How

Large Print Keyboard Available For Public PCs
Read More about our Keys-U-See keyboard.

Library Closings
-Closed on Sundays for the summer.

Programs and Events eNewsletters
Keep up to date with all of the programs happening at the Library via eNewsletters sent directly to your email!  Read More about Library programs and eNewsletters, or  Sign Up Now

Safety First
The Library's Board of Trustees has approved the installion of an emergency electric generator at the Library. Read More.

Fireworks, Museums and More!

The Fourth of July is fast approaching. The Library will be closed on Sunday, July 3 and Monday, July 4--but don't worry, we're here to help you do some advanced planning to ensure this weekend is full of fun and sun!  

You may have heard that Chicago is not sponsoring a fireworks show this year. Don't fret, though - several suburbs are stepping up and giving us some great alternatives. The Daily Herald has a comprehensive list of which towns are having shows and when.

Fireworks are great, but they're only at night. How do you keep your over-energized kids (or spouse) active during the day? Check out a Museum Adventure Pass for discounts to local museums. Participating museums include Cantigny Park, Cuneo Museum and Gardens, and the Arlington Heights Historical Museum. Our passes are restricted to Prospect Heights cardholders only, but most area libraries also participate so call and ask! Also, passes for each museum are limited, so call early.

If you're taking the show on the road to Wisconsin, check out our Wisconsin Travel Kit. This nifty bag is stuffed full of travel guides and brochures to help make sure your trip is a huge success. 

Make sure to set aside some "me" time to read by the beach or pool or under the AC vent. Look over our book lists if you want to find that next great read. And don't forget you can download audiobooks and eBooks as well through MyMediaMall.

Microsoft Office 2010 Now Installed!

Public and staff computers at the Prospect Heights Library have been upgraded to offer Microsoft Office Professional 2010.

 

Pay Fines and Fees by Credit Card

Overdue fines, and lost materials and processing fees may be paid by credit card using Illinois e-Pay. You can access e-Pay via the LIbrary's homepage at www.phpl.info under the My Account tab on the left menu. View e-Pay Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's).

September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month!