MPL Connect
                              December 2022
 
From the Director:
 
This year, MPL is one of seven different drop-off sites to collect new, unwrapped toys for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots. This nationally recognized toy drive will deliver toys to children in the Rio Grande Valley this holiday season. The drive will run now through December 16, 2022 at MPL and other City of McAllen locations, including the Lark Branch and Palm View Branch Libraries. In this season of giving, please consider donating a toy at one of our locations. Toys will be distributed at MPL’s Holly Jolly Party on Saturday, December 10th at 10:00 am. Bring the family and enjoy hot cocoa, festive crafts, and a free photo with Santa.
Need some new holiday recipes or project ideas? Check out the MPL catalog for digital (e-book) and print cookbooks and craft books. Whatever your dietary needs, we have a book for you! You can search for fat-free, keto, or low-carb holiday recipes, diabetic recipes for the holidays, Chinese holiday recipes, healthy Jewish cooking for special occasions, and so much more! If you don’t see a title or topic you’re looking for, let us know by going to our website, www.mcallenlibrary.net, and clicking on “Suggest A Purchase” under the “Books and More” tab at the top of the page, or just click here: https://mcallenlibrary.net/books-more/suggest-a-purchase/
On behalf of the MPL team, we wish you and your families a safe and blessed holiday season. We are so grateful to you, our patrons, for your continued input and support.
                                                               
Kate P. Horan, MLS
Library Director
 
 
 
 
 
Visit our new photography exhibition, “Gracias por la Vida,” by photographer Celia Roberts, in the Main Library’s Lobby Gallery, December  7, 2022 – March 15, 2023.  Celia Roberts was a professional photographer and artist whose work reveals her sensitivity to nature, as well as to cultures in developing countries and in the U.S.  Ms. Roberts was an honored recipient of a 2006 Plate of Bounty Award from the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association for making a difference in the lives of migrant and seasonal farmworker children and families. She also received a national Migrant Education Harvest of Hope Award in 2010 for her contribution to the farmworker community.
 
“Photography to me is a means of capturing a certain light that speaks to the heart as well as the eye.  My vision is to unite this light with color, texture, form and feeling in a way that the viewer will discover newly their own relationship with nature and with one another, as a global community.  Thus, my images place emphasis on the beauty and delicacy found in the natural world as well as the grace and dignity which I experience among people of other cultures.” – Celia Roberts
 
                                
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 
 
 
 
McAllen Public Library will be closed on the following days in observance
of the Christmas & New Year Holidays:
 
December 23, 24, 25 & 26 (Christmas)
December 31 and January 1 (New Year)
 
  


 

 
 
 

 

 

Children's Programs
 
For more information on children events, visit the MPLKids Facebook!
  
Program Highlight: Tiny Tots Winter Finale
December 19th at 10AM
 
Toddlers and babies are invited to get cozy with our Tiny Tots Winter Finale! Hear songs, sing songs, and come take a picture with a special guest!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                   
 
Programs
 
Once Upon A Time (Lark)
December 1st, 5th,6th,7th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 27th & 28th at 11am
 
Family Storytime (Palm View) 
Mondays at 6pm
 
Bilingual Storytime
(Palm View) 
Wednesdays at 6pm
 
Toddler Time 
December 1st, 8th & 15th at 10am
 
Baby Storytime 
December 4th at 4pm
 
Baby Storytime (Palm View) 
December 8th, 15th, & 22nd at 6pm
 
Family Storytime (Lark) 
Tuesdays at 6pm
 
 Crafty Kids (Lark)
December 7th & 14th at 6pm 
 
 Family Puzzle & Game Day (Lark) 
December 8th at 5pm
 
Coloring Day (Lark) 
December 12th at 6pm 
 
S.T.E.M Sunday 
December 8th at 2pm
 
Tiny Tots Winter Finale
December 19th at 10am
 
Kids Lego Club (Lark)
December 19th at 6pm
 
 Holiday Scavenger Hunt 
December 22nd All Day 
 
 Hanukkah Make-n-Take Craft
December 28th All Day 
 
Happy Noon Year 
December 30th at 11am
 
Teen Programs
 
For more information on teen events, visit MPLTeenFacebook!
  
Program Highlight: Holiday Crafts Around the World 
December 17th at 12PM
 
Our Teen Advisory Committee is inviting families for an afternoon of craft-making! Celebrate the holidays around the world with a cup of hot chocolate! While supplies last.
 
 
 
 
 
 
                   
 
 
         
Programs
 
Holiday DIY Decoupage Balloon (Lark)
December 1st at 6pm
 
Nintendo Switch Play
(Palm View) 
December 1st, 15th, and 29th 
at 4pm
 
TAC Meeting 
December 3rd at 2pm
 
Holiday 3D Printing 
December 4th at 6pm
 
Frosty Slime (Palm View)
December 5th at 4pm
 
Homeschool Hangout 
December 6th at 2pm
 
Local Author Showcase 
December 8th at 6pm 
 
Mason Jar Snow Globes (Lark)
December 8th at 6pm 
 
Holly Jolly Party 
December 10th at 10am 
 
Board Game Cafe 
December 13th at 6pm
 
Mazes and Monsters Club 
December 15th and 29th at 6pm
 
Holiday Crafts Around the World 
December 17th at 12pm
 
Ugly T-shirt Party (Lark)
December 17th at 2pm
 
LibFlix 
December 20th at 4pm
 
Family Movie Night 
December 21st at 6pm  
 

Adult Programs
 
For more information on adult events, visit the MPL Adults Facebook!
  
Program Highlight: Holiday Card Craft 
December 10th at 2PM 
 
The Holidays are here! Relax by making a beautiful Holiday card craft! Join us and give a card to anyone you love. While supplies last.
 
 
 
 
 
                
                    
Programs
 
Mocktail Hour: Farmhouse Holidays
(Palm View)
Month of December
 
Tech Help 
(Lark)
Saturdays at 10 AM & 2pm 
 
Knitting Group
(Lark)
Tuesdays at 2pm
 
Painting Class (Lark)
December 3rd at 1:30pm 
 
DIY Sock Snowman 
December 4th at 2pm
 
Cine Y Cafe
(Palm View)
December 6th at 10am
 
DIY Heating Pad
(Palm View)
December 8th at 10am
 
Sketching Class (Lark) 
December 13th  at 6pm
 
Cricut Workshop
(Palm View)
December 15th at 10am
  
Virtual Painting Class (Lark) 
December 16th at 2pm
 
Tech Help
(Palm View)
December 18th at 2pm
 
MPL Gaming Club 
December 20th at 5:30pm 
  



Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy 
 
"Julie Murphy delivers a fresh and glorious love story that addresses all the complexities of one’s heart. Ramona Blue’s discovery of limitless love is total beauty.”
— Adam Silvera, New York Times bestselling author of More Happy Than Not
 
Registration is required for new members.
Contact reference at 956-681-3000 to register.
 
 
 Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriaty 
 
 "From Liane Moriarty, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Little Lies
and Nine Perfect Strangers, comes Apples Never Fall a novel, that looks at marriage, siblings,
and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest."   
 
Registration required. Please call 681-3100 to register
 
 
Children of the Land by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo
 
"In this courageous memoir, Castillo lays bare his emotional truths with remarkable intimacy and insight.
Ever the poet, Castillo can’t resist a lyrical stroke here and there, like when he describes arriving in
Mexico 'the same way as the light entered the rosary, and when we departed the corridors of its prisms,
we did so no longer wholly intact either, a little broken.' The same outcome awaits the reader who
encounters this book." — Los Angeles Times
 
Registration required. Please call 681-3000 to register 
 
 
 The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Haig’s latest (after the nonfiction collection Notes on a Nervous Planet, 2019) is a stunning
contemporary story that explores the choices that make up a life, and the regrets that can stifle it.
A compelling novel  that will resonate with readers.” — Booklist (starred review)
 
 
Registration required. Please call 681-3000 to register
 
 
NovelTea Book Club: Book and Tea Tasting!
 
Sample a book from multiple genres, along with trying different flavors of tea and snacks. Discuss the book you liked the best and what tea you think would pair well with it! 
 
Registration is required and limited seating is available. For more information, please call the Palm View Branch Library at 956-681-3110 and ask for the Reference Department.
 
Stream hit movies and series.
 
 
 
 
Meet Biblio+, a library of entertainment at your fingertips.

Stream unlimited movies and series on any device, ad-free. All you need is a library card to get started. 
 
Login to the site here with your McAllen Public Library card!
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!
Free streaming shows with your library card.
 
 
 
Unlimited streaming shows and movies.
 
Educational, enriching, entertaining!
Stream hundreds of videos for free, brought to you by your library. 
 
Download the Kanopy app or visit mcallenlibrary.kanopy.com!
Find us on Facebook!
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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