Come and play one of the world's most popular games with players of all ages! Chess sets are provided.

Join us 1-4 p.m., Sunday, June 8, at the Pittsfield Branch.

Taking the ACT or SAT soon? LearningExpressLibrary can help you get ready. Join us 7:00-8:30 p.m. in the Pittsfield Computer Training Center and take an e-practice test.

Do you know a three letter word for "the sound of water hitting a hot pan" or "what both Humpty Dumpty and Miss Muffet did?" If you're dying to find out the strategies of some of the most most adept and lovable crossword puzzle addicts, come to the Downtown branch tomorrow night, Tuesday, July 24 at 6:30 p.m. to watch Wordplay, the movie about the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament run by New York Times crossword master, Will Shortz. The film will be introduced by Firefly Club owner, jazz singer and fellow word lover, Susan Chastain who welcomes people to the club every Wednesday to play Scrabble.

Have your allowances or job earnings been adding up lately? Great! Now learn how to make your money grow. Financial advisor Amy Doyle will take you through the nuts and bolts of investing.

Join us Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. in the Malletts Creek meeting room.

Learn where to look for a job, how to create a resume and beef it up, and how to ace the job interview. Join us in the multipurpose room of the Downtown Library this Sunday, March 4 from Noon to 4 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

Register at the Downtown Youth desk or call 327-8301.

Don’t Waste Our Times Productions and the Adelia Cheever Program are sponsoring a Women’s History essay contest with cash prizes for the top essay writers in the following categories: Youth (grades 6-8); Young Adult (grades 9-12); and Adult (18 and up). Essays should be postmarked by Friday, March 9th, 2007.

Name a woman, not known to you personally (e.g. not a relative), whom you believe should be remembered for Women’s History Month. Explain your choice.

Include on the first page:
Entrant’s name
Age/Year in school
Address
Phone number or email address
Number of Pages
School affiliation (if any)

Include last name and page number on subsequent pages

Send entries via email to cheever@umich.edu or snail mail to DWOT Productions, PO Box 4315, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. DWOT & Cheever may reprint all or part of entered essays. Call (734) 763-6301 or email cheever@umich.edu with questions. Visit us at www.dwot.org

Learn Adobe Photoshop Elements 4, suitable for both Mac and Windows users, as you work on your own photos (bring a thumb drive or camera card with your saved images). Registration is required and limited to 12 participants. Register at any information desk or call the computer lab reservation number at 327-8367.

Thursday, March 1 1:00 – 4:00 pm Downtown Library Computer Lab

Hear Julie Orringer read from her short story collection, How to Breathe Underwater, a New York Times Notable Book and the winner of the Northern California Book Award. Julie is the Helen Herzog Zell Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan.

Copies of the book will be available for sale. The Neutral Zone is located at 310 E. Washington.

A few books are left for the Monday, Feb. 12 teen book group that will meet 6:30-8 pm at the Downtown library. Join the group by picking up a copy from the Youth Department at the downtown library. You’ll speed through this intriguing book of short stories. Each young female protagonist must face an event or a task that seems impossible. Each girl, teen or young woman must in author Julie Orringer’s own words:

“. . .re-create themselves as adults and learn to survive in a world that confronts them with difficult decisions or with awful truths about the fallibility of human beings. They must learn to hold onto the familial, romantic, and companionate love in their lives, even when that love involves significant emotional risk.”