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Amazon.com Bookstore is akin to finding buried treasure

mvlife — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:35:55 +0000

The Friends of the Mission Viejo Library made more than $2,300 in January to benefit the library from online sales of books on Amazon.com. The site has garnered some truly amazing finds.

In fact, Jean Rogers, a long-time library volunteer, recently found a paperback book entitled “The Whip My Homecoming” that was donated to the bookstore and is priced $1,800 on Amazon.com.

“It is not uncommon for Friends Bookstore volunteers to find books worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars,” said Valerie Maginnis, Director of Library Services. “The volunteers are trained to identify rare and unusual titles and price them for sale online.”

Volunteers also manage the sale and shipping of items purchased online. Along with the bookstore in the library, the non-profit organization has been operating its Amazon.com store for several years. Right now, the Friends have an online inventory of about 770 books valued at more than $23,000 and maintain a 100 percent positive customer feedback rating.

The Friends of the Mission Viejo Library donate more than $150,000 annually to the library. Funding is used to buy new materials, sponsor youth programs and support the upcoming Mission Viejo Readers’ Festival.

To view the Friends of the Mission Viejo Library’s Amazon.com inventory, visit http://www.amazon.com/shops/mission_viejo_library.

Family Place Parent/Child workshops begin April at Mission Viejo Library

mvlife — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:44:10 +0000

The Mission Viejo Library is now hosting the nationally acclaimed Family Place Library Program, a statewide initiative for young children, families and caregivers.

The library is offering a special free five-week Parent/Child Workshop for parents and caregivers and children age 12 to 36 months (siblings are also welcome). Each week, parents will have the opportunity to meet with experts and professionals who specialize in children’s speech development; hearing; physical fitness; nutrition; and child development.

Parents and caregivers will also have a chance to visit and connect with other parents. The workshops take place from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Thursdays starting April 22 in the Mission Viejo Library Friends Community Room, located at 100 Civic Center.

For more information, contact the library at 830-7100, extension 5107.

PAW Readathon offers youngsters a chance to help a furry friend

mvlife — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:17:36 +0000

Drop by the Mission Viejo Library on Saturday, and you’ll find young kids reading to a lovable dog, who’ll likely read aloud too. The library’s PAW Readathon invites children age 7 and up to read to Husker, a trained therapy dog.

On the first Saturday of the month, Husker and his human helper are on hand at 2 p.m. in the library’s Wickiup Room. The free program helps children practice their reading skills while learning about therapy dogs, and it helps Husker to feel at ease with young people.

For more information, visit the library’s Web site at www.cmvl.org. This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Mission Viejo Library.

High school students invited to take free college prep test at Mission Viejo Library

mvlife — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:52:20 +0000

High school students are invited to take a free practice college admissions test at the Mission Viejo Library on March 21. The practice SAT test is sponsored by Kaplan, a test preparation company that has helped students achieve academic excellence for more than 70 years.

The SAT test will be administered from noon to 4 p.m. in the Friends Community Room at 100 Civic Center. Participants should bring a #2 pencil and calculator. Register for the practice test at www.kaptest.com/practicetest and enter the event code: SKOC0039.

Students can evaluate their test results and learn how to improve their score by attending a follow-up Scoreback Night/Test Strategies Workshop on Thursday, March 25. The workshop is from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Saddleback Room at Mission Viejo City Hall, 200 Civic Center.

For more information visit the library’s Web site at www.cmvl.org.

Save the date, save your recyclables

mvlife — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:45:10 +0000

Saving up some extra recyclables to be collected during the month of April will help stock the Mission Viejo Library’s shelves with new children’s books, thanks to a program the City’s waste hauler launches each spring.

Waste Management of Orange County donates $5 for every ton of residential curbside recycled material collected in April to the Friends of the Mission Viejo Library, which uses the funding to buy new children’s books for the library’s collection. Last year, the month-long campaign netted $4,211 for the Friends of the Library.

Residents can do their part by saving up their recycle material – newspapers; old magazines; junk mail; plastic; glass; cans; bottles; and old telephone books – for weekly curbside pickups in April.
For more information, call 949-470-3076.

Children’s book sale slated for March 26

mvlife — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:48:36 +0000

If you are looking for a bargain on children’s books, then mark your calendar for the Friends of the Mission Viejo Library’s Children’s book sale on March 26.

Children’s books priced from 50 cents and up will be on sale from noon to 7 p.m. on Friday, March 26 in the Friends Community Room located at 100 Civic Center. Gently used picture books, videos, paperbacks, fiction and non-fiction titles will be sold, with all proceeds going toward the purchase of new books for the library’s collection.

For more information, call 949-470-3076 or e-mail vmaginnis@cityofmissionviejo.org.

Musical Storytime comes to Mission Viejo Saturday

mvlife — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:16:35 +0000

Children ages 4-7 will learn the joy of making music with renowned musicians as part of a distinctive Musical Storytime series the City is hosting with Orange County’s Pacific Symphony.

An early childhood educator and musicians from Pacific Symphony and the Pacific Symphony Youth Ensembles will engage and delight youngsters and their parents Saturday afternoons in memorable musical events at the Norman P. Murray and Community and Senior Center, 24932 Veterans Way.

On Saturday, children will enjoy singing, dancing and playing along to the story of “The Three Bears.”

The program starts at 3:30 p.m. Tickets are $15.

For tickets and more information, call 714-755-5799.

Love Your Friends of the Mission Viejo Library

mvlife — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:49:28 +0000

February is “Love Your Library Month” and there’s no better group to adore than the Friends of the Mission Viejo Library.

The Friends of the Mission Viejo Library is a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for and promoting the library along with making the community aware of its programs, services and materials.

Since 1998, the organization has donated $1,104,700 to the Mission Viejo Library. The Friends have made significant contributions to improving the library for the community including bringing WiFi in 2004; funding special materials collections in reference; children’s picture books; and the popular audiobooks, ebooks and DVDs. Library patrons also reap the benefits of the Friends’ used bookstore located in the library.

The Friends also support the annual SummerREAD program, the special children’s literature programs, and Writers Present author series. The signature Mission Viejo Readers’ Festival would not have been such a success without the Friends’ generosity and support.

Members of the 2009/2010 Board of Directors include Beth McConaughy, President; Bari Russell, Vice President; Tom O’Connor, Treasurer, Stacey Haferl, Secretary; Ginny Aitkens; Hugh Armstrong; Robert David Breton; Regina Collins; Liz Duran-Smetana; Patricia Griggs (Emeritus); Barbara Harris; James Holmes; Reuben Kershaw (Emeritus); Marvis Kushnick (Emeritus); Mary Ellen Lewis; Nancy Livingston; John Maginnis; Suzi Scallon; Bev Stonebarger; Larry Maurer; and Randy Smith.

The Board of Directors meets the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Friends Community Room at the Mission Viejo Library. For more information, call Valerie Maginnis, Director of Library Services, at 470-3076.

Free E-waste event Saturday

mvlife — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:15:49 +0000

The public on Saturday, Feb. 20 will have the opportunity to recycle old computer monitors, televisions, cell phones and more in a free electronic waste recycling drive meant to benefit the environment.

The City of Mission Viejo and the Friends of the Mission Viejo Library are teaming up with All Green Electronics Recycling to host the E-waste Recycle Drive from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Mission Viejo Civic Center parking lot at 200 Civic Center.

The event is designed to give residents and businesses the opportunity to properly dispose of E-waste, which includes computers; laptops; monitors; keyboards; copiers; VCR’s; fax machines; cell phones; printers; scanners; hard drives; stereo equipment; cables and cords; shredders; microwaves; and more.

Most electronic goods contain materials that if put into a landfill could potentially affect the surrounding area. The free event will also help the City to remove the maximum amount of hazardous electronic waste from Mission Viejo. Recycling saves valuable landfill space and promotes a safer environment.

For more information, call 949 830-7100, extension 5130.

Library volunteers honored Friday

mvlife — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:09:32 +0000

Volunteers are the lifeblood of the Mission Viejo Library and on Friday more than 90 volunteers were recognized for their contributions during a special brunch.

In the past fiscal year, volunteers donated 19,376 hours of service to the library, translating into more than $392,000 in cost savings to the City of Mission Viejo.

Department of Library Services volunteers handle an array of duties including working as Friends Bookstore cashiers and daily managers; tutoring and homework help providers; Amazon.com online book sales; passport photos; shelving; and assembling children’s crafts. Volunteers also serve on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Mission Viejo Library and as docents with the South Orange County California Genealogy Society. Dedicated volunteers act as advocates for the library, promoting services and programs and the importance of literacy and life-long learning.

The first annual Mission Viejo Readers’ Festival was successful in large part due to the volunteers who donated their time and talents. Several look forward to a command performance at this year’s Sept. 25 festival.

During Friday’s brunch, several volunteers who have dedicated their time to the library since it opened in 1997 were on hand. They included Marvis Kushnick; Mary Ellen Lewis; Hugh and Joanne Armstrong; Mae and Anthony Cimino; Evelyn Vocila; June Moyer; June Perry; Mary Jo McQueen; Pat Morgan; Reuben Kershaw; Patricia Griggs; Septene McKinney; Ziggy Wilczynski; Bette Lindsey; and Jan McDonald.

For information about volunteer opportunities, call the library at 949-830-7100.