This is where you’ll list all the exciting new reads on the shelves. — Jeff

This is where you’ll add links that might be of interest to teenagers.  –Jeff

You may delete this review once you’ve replaced it with an actual, real, live book review.  Be sure to check the Teen Book Reviews category to get this to show up on the right page. –Jeff

This page will be udated soon.

Please be patient with this transition.  A new outgoing message will be forthcoming.  Our phone numbers have remained the same. As we become familiar with the recently installed system, we will provide better assistance to our patrons and guests.

Book Sale Room NEW WINTER HOURS

Please take notice the Book Sale Room will only be open on Saturdays 10-2 from January through April 14, 2012.

Centennial Celebration DVD now available

Preview a shortened version of the DVD here: www.legacyvideoportraits.com

To order the full length version for a donation of $20.00 (an additional $1.00 for shipping and handling) please send a check and your request to:

Bixby Memorial Free Library/ 258 Main Street / Vergennes, Vermont 05491

Atten: Bixby DVD

Third Thursday

Thursday, February 16th at 7pm

Presents: Peter Langrock: 1970 Tales of lawyering in Addison County

In the decade that included the passing of Vermont’s Act 250 and the first Vermont Green up Day, Peter Langrock had been in practice about 10 years as Addison County State’s Attorney.  To supplement the salary of this part-time position, Langrock established a privat practice which has grown to a 25 lawyer office in Middlebury and Burlington.  He has woven his unique perspective of 40+ years as a trial lawyer into two books written in the 1990′s, Addison County Justice and Beyond the Courthouse.  Condensed from cases he’s handled, Langrock will speak of the 70′s int he courtroom and beyond.

Interviewed for University of Chicago Magazine, (October. 2003), Lanrock shared that in the 1970′s {he} defended a rural marijuana grower charged with dealing drugs.  His defense, which he dubs" the zuchini defense," could only have been persuasive in a rural community.  He argued that like any good farmer, the defendant had germinated a lot of marijuana seeds to ensure that he’d have a few plants for himself.  But so many sprouted, and what gardener can throw out a healthy plant?  When the 25 plants matured, there was too much marijuana for him, so he gave away some to friends just the way Vermont farmers give away zuchini every August.  Langrock quoted the old Vermont saw that "you only lock your car in the summer beacuse if you don’t, one of your neighbors is liable to fill it with zuchini."

 Universal Class is here!

Universal Class is a new on-line service offered to our registered Bixby patrons. Over 500 courses on a wide variety of subjects will be available for free.  A sampling of available subjects include: Interview skills, Nutrition 101, Stress Management 101, Caring for Seniors, Microsoft Office 2007 and Photography Basics.

LEARN SOMETHING NEW TODAY!   

Students can:

enroll in up to 5 courses

6 months to finish each course

access courses 24/7 via internet

attend class, do assignments on your personal schedule

each course has real instructors who can communicate with students by e-mail

these are non-credit courses and provided for personal enrichment

courses are not intended as substitute for any state, government, licensing, or educational requirements.

If you are interested in enrolling in Universal class, please visit the Bixby and sign up.  You may then register for classes at the Universal Class registration page live link below:

http://vermontstate.universalclass.com/register.htm

Go to Vermont state library and enter your number.

This Service is brought to you by Recorded Books, Vt. Dept. of Libraries and Institute of Museum and Library Services.                   

    Listen Up Vermont! Free Audiobooks & eBooks at the Bixby

 After much anticipation and building excitement, the Bixby is proud to offer a new service to our registered patrons. The Bixby Library is a new member of the Green Mountain Library Consortium.  Our patrons are invited to download Audiobooks and eBooks from our website at no cost.

 Before you begin 1) you must be a current registered Bixby borrower.  2)  You will need a special Listen Up  card in addition to your standard library card in order to access this service.  This card has a separate ID #.  Please stop in the Bixby and apply for the new ListenUp card.

Visit the ListenUp site www.listenupvermont.org and take the time to read the instructions. Click on Getting Started to access the Quick Start Guide, to see a list of compatible devices: Click on Supported Audio or eBook devices. 

 To checkout and download you need… 

• A valid library card
• Internet access
• A computer or device that meets the system requirements for the type(s) of materials you wish to download
• Free software for the computer or device on which you wish to use the materials available at link listed above
•  Children and Teens may sign up as well.  Plenty of titles for them to choose from.
• Downloading Audiobooks and eBooks is fun, convenient, and portable~ anywhere, any time!  Enjoy!  If you experience any difficulties visit the Overdrive site for additional support. 

  Tax Preparation Help at the Bixby

RSVP is offering AARP free Tax Aide- a service that prepares income tax returns and answers tax questions for residents of Addison County.    Trained tax preparers will be available, by appointment only  on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  This service is available through April 12th.

 Please call 877-7044 to make an appointment

RSVP volunteers will prepare state and federal tax forms for low amd middle-income taxpayers, paying special attention to those age 60 and older.

Please bring the following to your appointment:

Either a photo ID or a Social Security card

Last year’s tax returns

Any tax forms that you have received (such as W2 forms)

Landlord’s statement or renter’s rebate letter

V-script. lifline, etc.

Other income statements such as pension, unemployment, social security, interest dividends, unreimbursed medical bills or mortgage statement

Property tax bill (if tax payments are collected more than once a year, please bring last year’s property tax bill too)

In addition, United Way of Addison County has loaned the library a laptop for those who would like to prepare their own taxes.  Turbotax is provided for incomes under $31,000 and Taxslayer for Adults 25 and under.  The laptop is only available from 10 am to 3 pm while the tax preparers are in the library.

by Deborah Lawrenson 

Book description from jacket:

 "A modern gothic novel of love, secrets, and murder—set against the lush backdrop of Provence

Meeting Dom was the most incredible thing that had ever happened to me. When Eve falls for the secretive, charming Dom in Switzerland, their whirlwind relationship leads them to Les GenÉvriers, an abandoned house set among the fragrant lavender fields of the South of France. Each enchanting day delivers happy discoveries: hidden chambers, secret vaults, a beautiful wrought-iron lantern. Deeply in love and surrounded by music, books, and the heady summer scents of the French countryside, Eve has never felt more alive.

But with autumn’s arrival the days begin to cool, and so, too, does Dom. Though Eve knows he bears the emotional scars of a failed marriage—one he refuses to talk about—his silence arouses suspicion and uncertainty. The more reticent Dom is to explain, the more Eve becomes obsessed with finding answers—and with unraveling the mystery of his absent, beautiful ex-wife, Rachel.

Like its owner, Les GenÉvriers is also changing. Bright, warm rooms have turned cold and uninviting; shadows now fall unexpectedly; and Eve senses a presence moving through the garden. Is it a ghost from the past or a manifestation of her current troubles with Dom? Can she trust Dom, or could her life be in danger?

Eve does not know that Les GenÉvriers has been haunted before. BÉnÉdicte Lincel, the house’s former owner, thrived as a young girl within the rich elements of the landscape: the violets hidden in the woodland, the warm wind through the almond trees. She knew the bitter taste of heartbreak and tragedy—long-buried family secrets and evil deeds that, once unearthed, will hold shocking and unexpected consequences for Eve."

by P. D. James

Product info:   "A rare meeting of literary genius: P. D. James, long among the most admired mystery writers of our time, draws the characters of Jane Austen’s beloved novel Pride and Prejudice into a tale of murder and emotional mayhem.
 
It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy’s magnificent estate. Their peaceful, orderly world seems almost unassailable. Elizabeth has found her footing as the chatelaine of the great house. They have two fine sons, Fitzwilliam and Charles. Elizabeth’s sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby; her father visits often; there is optimistic talk about the prospects of marriage for Darcy’s sister Georgiana. And preparations are under way for their much-anticipated annual autumn ball.
 
Then, on the eve of the ball, the patrician idyll is shattered. A coach careens up the drive carrying Lydia, Elizabeth’s disgraced sister, who with her husband, the very dubious Wickham, has been banned from Pemberley. She stumbles out of the carriage, hysterical, shrieking that Wickham has been murdered. With shocking suddenness, Pemberley is plunged into a frightening mystery.
 
Inspired by a lifelong passion for Austen, P. D. James masterfully re-creates the world of Pride and Prejudice, electrifying it with the excitement and suspense of a brilliantly crafted crime story, as only she can write it."

by Neal Stephenseon

From book jacket:  

"Neal Stephenson, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Anathem, returns to the terrain of his groundbreaking novels Snow Crash, The Diamond Age, and Cryptonomicon to deliver a high-intensity, high-stakes, action-packed adventure thriller in which a tech entrepreneur gets caught in the very real crossfire of his own online war game.

In 1972, Richard Forthrast, the black sheep of an Iowa farming clan, fled to the mountains of British Columbia to avoid the draft. A skilled hunting guide, he eventually amassed a fortune by smuggling marijuana across the border between Canada and Idaho. As the years passed, Richard went straight and returned to the States after the U.S. government granted amnesty to draft dodgers. He parlayed his wealth into an empire and developed a remote resort in which he lives. He also created T’Rain, a multibillion-dollar, massively multiplayer online role-playing game with millions of fans around the world.

But T’Rain’s success has also made it a target. Hackers have struck gold by unleashing REAMDE, a virus that encrypts all of a player’s electronic files and holds them for ransom. They have also unwittingly triggered a deadly war beyond the boundaries of the game’s virtual universe—and Richard is at ground zero.

Racing around the globe from the Pacific Northwest to China to the wilds of northern Idaho and points in between, Reamde is a swift-paced thriller that traverses worlds virtual and real. Filled with unexpected twists and turns in which unforgettable villains and unlikely heroes face off in a battle for survival, it is a brilliant refraction of the twenty-first century, from the global war on terror to social media, computer hackers to mobsters, entrepreneurs to religious fundamentalists. Above all, Reamde is an enthralling human story—an entertaining and epic page-turner from the extraordinary Neal Stephenson."