MPL Connect
                                February 2024

Edited By: Sean Wrinkle, Claudia Villarreal-Quiroz and Arturo Benavides 

 Speaking Volumes – Director's Column – February 2024
 
We are so fortunate to live, work and play in the great City of McAllen, where we can celebrate our ever-expanding diversity. Here at MPL, we celebrate by offering a variety of materials in English, Spanish, Tagalog, Hindi, and Korean. In 2019, we began a book materials collection in these languages, with the aim to bring attention to it through a festival for all ages. This idea grew into the World Languages Festival, a free, family-friendly event where visitors enjoy international taste testing, crafts, demonstrations, and performances. This year, our 4th year of the World Languages Festival, we will focus more on bringing different cultures alive through music, dance, storytelling, and – of course! – delicious international foods. I am so excited to know that we will welcome to the stage the Thigpen-Zavala Folklorico Dance Group, the Irish Hearts, and the Akshaya Dance Academy, as well as some surprise storytellers. There will also be an interactive exhibit to encourager festival-goers to share their favorite memories from their cultures! Please mark your calendars for Saturday, March 23rd. Check us out on our website for more information:  www.mcallenlibrary.net.
 
 
Last month, MPL hosted a Job Fair in partnership with Workforce Solutions. Excitement filled the air as people queued up to visit with any of the 44 employers present.  In all, more than 680 people received employment service, with nearly half receiving immediate employment. MPL is so grateful to Workforce Solutions for this opportunity to serve our community. If you, or someone you know, needs to brush up their employment resume, contact our adult services department to find out about our services and resources to employment-seekers.
 
The public is invited to view a temporary exhibit, “Discovering Fort Brown: The First Military Border Post in Texas,” located in the adult section of the Main Library, near the Quiet Reading Room. This fascinating exhibit, which was the project of UTRGV-Brownsville Anthropology and History students, features 20 standing banners with graphics, photos, and information panels about Fort Brown. Panels are in Spanish and English. The exhibit will be at MPL Main through May 2024. MPL is grateful to UTRGV’s Roseann Bacha-Garza, M.A., CHAPS Program Manager, for offering this exhibit for our patrons and students to view.
 
 
Kate P. Horan, MLS
Library Director
 
Current Hours of Operation 
 
Main Library
Monday - Thursday
9 AM - 9 PM
 
Friday - Saturday
9 AM - 6 PM
 
Sunday
1 PM - 9 PM
 
Lark & Palm View Branches
Monday - Thursday
10 AM - 9 PM
 
Friday - Saturday
10 AM - 5 PM
 
Sunday
1 PM - 9 PM 
  


 

Children's Programs
 
For more information on children events, visit the MPLKids Facebook!
  
  
Program Highlight:
Lit4Mom 
February 22nd at 9:30 AM
Moms are welcome to this book club. Children are welcome while moms discuss.  Please call  956-524-2019 or email amandathompson@fit4mom.com for more details. 
 
  
Children's Programs
 
Make and Take
Lunar New Year Craft
February 4th while supplies last 
 
Toddler Time 
February 5th and 19th at 10 AM
 
Toddler Sensory Time 
February 9th & 23rd at 10 AM 
 
Sweet Treats to Eat 
February 11th at 2 PM 
 
Baby Storytime 
February 13th & 27th at 1 PM
 
Grab and Go
Valentine's Day Craft 
February 16th 
while supplies last
 
Movie Night 
February 21st at 6 PM
 
STEAM Sunday 
February 25th at 2 PM
 
Once Upon a Storytime
(Lark) 
Mondays & Wednesdays
at 11 AM
 
Family Storytime 
(Lark) 
Tuesdays at  6:30 PM
 
Bilingual Storytime 
la hora de cuentos 
(Palm View) 
Tuesdays at 11 AM 
 
Toddler Time 
(Palm View) 
Thursdays at 11 AM
 
In-B-Tween Club 
(Palm View) 
February 8th at 6 PM
 
 
 
________________________________________________________________________________________

Teen Programs
 
For more information on teen events, visit MPLTeenFacebook!
 
 
Program Highlight:
 
Virtual Reality 
February 28th at 6 PM 
 
Dive into new worlds, solve puzzles, and create 3D art with Virtual Reality! Join us to explore the future of entertainment, learning, and technology! For ages 16 and up
 
 
 
Teen Programs
 
TAC meeting 
February 3rd & 17th at 3 PM  
 
Paint Night 
February 8th at 6 PM
 
Craft Corner:
Friendship Bracelets 
February 10th at 2 PM 
 
Tween Takeover 
Karaoke Night 
February 11th at 6 PM
 
Beat 4 Beat 
February 18 at 6 PM
 
Teen Tech Camp
February 21st at 6 PM 
 
For Teens by Teens 
Perfume Science 
February 24th at 2 PM
 
Beginner Sign Language
(Lark)
February 10th at 2 PM 
 
Tote Bag Painting 
(Lark) 
February 17th at 2 PM 
 
Spider-Verse
Black History 
Celebration 
(Lark)
February 13th at 6 PM 
 
 
 Level Up Club 
(Palm View) 
February 5th & 19th at 4:30 PM 
 
Sketching Night 
(Palm View) 
February 7th at 4:30 PM
 
Gamers Unplugged 
(Palm View)
February 12th & 26th at 4:30 PM 
 
MakerSpace 
Friendship Bracelets 
(Palm View) 
February 14th at 4:30 PM 
 
 
 

Adult Programs
 
For more information on adult events, visit the MPL Adults Facebook!
  
Program Highlight:  Heathly Heart, Healthy Cooking
February 3rd, 10th, & 17th at 2 PM
 
Celebrate American Heart Month with our 3 part program by Dr. Andrea Valdez and Texas A&M Agrilife Extension. Discover heart-healthy choices, get nutritious recipes and learn to make flavorful low-sodium meals. 
 
Adult Programs
 
MPL Gaming Club 
Febraury 6th & 20th at 5:30 PM
 
Basic Computer class 
February 7th & 14th at  3 PM 
 
MPL Anime/Manga Club 
February 8th at  7 PM 
  
Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge: Pollinators & Birds
February 18 at 4 PM
 
 Between the Pixels 
February 29th at 7 PM 
 
Knitting Group 
(Lark) 
Tuesdays at 2 PM 
 
Sketching Class 
(Lark) 
February 6th & 20th at 6 PM
 
Virtual Painting Class 
(Lark) 
February 23rd at 2 PM 
 
Adult Painting Class 
(Lark) 
February 24th at 1:30 PM
 
Adult Coloring 
(Lark) 
February 28th at 6 PM
 
Computer Classes 
(Palm View)
Wednesdays at 10 AM
 
Clase de Computacion Bascia 
(Palm View)
Fridays at 10 AM
 
Sweet Treat 
(Palm View) 
Febraury 15th at 12 PM
 
Painting with Miss Suzzy 
(Palm View) 
February 19th at 12 PM 
 
 


 
 
 
When her grandmother’s will wrenches Sara back to her small hometown of
Sweet Bay, Alabama,  she must face family secrets and difficult choices.
In the South, family is always more complicated than it seems."
--Publisher Thomas Nelson
  
Registration is required.
Please call Lark Branch at 956-681-3100
 
 
“Marjan Kamali weaves a powerful, heartbreaking story of star-crossed lovers
and Iran's political upheavals...The Stationery Shop is at once a layered historical saga
of a country struggling toward democracy and an intimate meditation on
"a love from which we never recover.”
―  Shelf Awareness 
 
Register online at https://mcallenlibrary.libnet.info/events 
 
 
 
“In her thrilling new novel Horse, Geraldine Brooks moves back and forth between
the 19th century and the near present with the same practiced ease she displayed
in her 2008 epic People of the Book . . . Brooks [has an] almost clairvoyant ability to
conjure up the textures of the past and of each character’s inner life . . .
Her felicitous, economical style and flawless pacing carries us briskly yet unhurriedly
along. And the novel’s alternating narratives, by suspending time, also intensify suspense.”
—Wall Street Journal 
 
Thousands of books at your fingertips.
Overdrive and Libby have got your reading handled.
 
Check out items from the comfort of your home. We have e-books, e-audiobooks, and reads for all ages and tastes, all available with a McAllen Public Library card.
 
Download the Libby app or visit mcallen.overdrive.com!
Thousands of e-books and e-audio books. 
Cloud Library
 
Check out items from the comfort of your home. We have e-books, e-audiobooks, and reads for all ages and tastes, all available with a McAllen Public Library card.

Login to the site here with your McAllen Public Library card!
Unlimited e-books selection for kids.
AR testing at home? Need books?
 
TumbleBooks is a service full of picture books, beginning readers, read alongs, and chapter books. The books are always available and have AR testing information included.
 
Login to the site here with your McAllen Public Library card!
Free online tutoring and more!
Free online tutoring and more. 

Tutor.com combines online tutoring, homework help, test preparation, and career support with a variety of self-study resources to provide a well-balanced and flexible educational environment.
 
Login to the site here with your McAllen Public Library card!
Collection of guides listed by topic. 
Library Subject Guides
 
A wide variety of guides organized by subject featuring library and internet resources on topics of cultural, historical, literary, and local interest. 
 
 
Access the page here!
Stream unlimited hit movies and series now!
 
 
 
Unlimited streaming shows and movies.
 
Get ready for endless entertainment with biblio+!
 
Discover more at https://ebook.yourcloudlibrary.com/library
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Make the most of McAllen Public Library by following the Facebook pages that you're most interested in. All pages contain age-appropriate virtual content. It's one way MPL is keeping you connected!
  • For information about all library services and events: McAllen Public Library
  • For the parents of children birth up to 5th grade: MPL Kids
  • For teens from 6th grade through 12th grade and their parents: MPL Teens
  • For adults: MPL Adults
________________________________________________________________________________________
McAllen Public Library                                                        
4001 N. 23rd Street
McAllen, Texas 78504
Phone: (956) 681-3000E-mail: referencelibrarian@mcallen.netWebsite: www.mcallenlibrary.net

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