The Brick branch of the Ocean County Library will mark its reopening Oct. 27 with a community celebration. Beginning at 12 p.m. that day, there will be a ribbon cutting, speakers, tours, a performance by the Ocean County Library Puppet Show Players, activities for children and a visit from Sparks, the library mascot. There will also be entertainment by the Richard Reiter Swing Band and refreshments provided by the Ocean County Vocational Technical School's culinary arts program. The opening will also feature demonstrations of Playaways and E-readers. Many of the activities were provide …

The importance of the First Amendment and the concept of "intellectual freedom" might not always be readily apparent to most kids, but Banned Books Week is a great opportunity to make those lessons come alive for children—and adults. Banned Books Week is held annually during the last week of Sept. (Sept. 30-Oct. 6, 2012). The week is an occasion for libraries and bookstores across the U.S. to help folks realize just how real and ongoing a problem censorship is. Across several branches of the Ocean County Library, displays highlighting books that throughout the years were banned over up an …

Actors Elaine Bromka and Reathel Bean will examine that age-old question about life, “What does it all mean?” in two performances at the Ocean County Library in July. They will weave together writings by modern wits Neil Simon, Garrison Keillor, Erma Bombeck, George Carlin, Nora Ephron, Thorton Wilder, Judith Viorst, Alfred Uhry, Herb Gardner, Pete Seeger and others in pursuit of the answer. Like all good quests the pathways are marked with both humor and serious rumination. Characters created by the writers are brought together, interacting and questioning each other. Will their answers be …

July proves to be a good time to use the library for more than just borrowing books. The Ocean County Library also houses several artist galleries, and new exhibits are debuting this month at the Toms River branch. In what library staff said are "a pair of exciting exhibits which capture the creative visions of two very individual artists," the new installations feature the mediums of batik and of miniature photography. “The Batik Story” is on display in the Toms River Branch’s McConnell Gallery. Florence Zdanowitz, a local artist whose work has won awards in both county and state art …

"But most of the barriers were not down, and the steerage passengers who sensed danger and aimed for the boats were strictly on their own resources." - from "A Night To Remember," by Walter Lord When the strange little man dressed all in black approached Delia McDermott several days before she was to board the RMS Titanic, she thought he was a beggar and tried to give him a few coins. But he didn't want her money. He had a message for her. "He tapped her on the shoulder," said James Curley, a first-generation Irish American who lost a distant relative on the Titanic. "He told her he was going…