Westside Library - El Paso Public Library

American Radical: Inside the World of an Undercover Muslim FBI Agent by Tamer Elnoury with Kevin Maurer This book invites you into the world of undercover work. The book opens with Elnoury working on drug cases with the police. We also find out more about his personal life and why he wanted to work for the FBI Once Elnoury does start working with the FBI, he becomes involved with taking down a would-be Al-Qaeda terrorist in Canada. One of the most interesting things to me was getting to see inside of both undercover work and inside the mind of a faithful Muslim. Elnoury is often distressed at how his religion is perverted by terrorists. Elnoury is a faithful Muslim and proud of his faith and heritage. Reconciling his true feelings with the undercover work he has to do isn't easy. Check out American Radical from the library today!

On May the 4th, we had a huge celebration at the library! We gave away free comics provided by www.freecomicbookday.com . There were so many excellent titles to choose from. Everyone visiting the library was able to take some home. We also celebrated Star Wars. At Storytime, kids made Princess Leia hair buns or Yoda ears to wear. Later in the day, we made lightsabers out of pool noodles and duct tape. Of course, we watched a Star Wars movie, played themed games and gave away some cool Star Wars books. Next time, see you we will!

Did you know that you can get free garden seeds at the library? The Westside Library has vegetable, herb and flower seeds so that you can work on your "green thumb." If you're not sure how to get started gardening, make sure you ask to see some of books about gardening! Some new books that we just got might interest you. A few new ones are listed below. Countertop Gardens  by Shelley Levis How to Grow Mushrooms From Scratch   by Magdalena & Herbert Wurth Starting & Saving Seeds   by Julie Thompson-Adolf

The Disasters by M.K. England The Disasters is a truly refreshing story. It's a space adventure, a story about unlikely friendships and saving the world. The main characters have all washed out of the elite space academy at Ellis Station. They're all on their way home, about to board a shuttle back to Earth when disaster strikes. They escape and become the only witnesses to the act of terrorism on the station. And now the four washouts are on the lam from very dangerous people. All of the characters are vibrant and different from the usual young adult heroes. The story is narrated by Pakastani-American, Nax, who grew up on a farm in Iowa (echoes of Captain Kirk?). The action starts right away as Nax meets his fellow washouts and then they are all working together to escape from the terrorists. I really came to like Nax and enjoyed his story arc throughout the book. The book is written for teens, but adults will also enjoy this excellent and fun adventure story. Find ...

Get ready for some fun Spring Storytimes at the Westside Library! Sing, dance and, of course, listen to stories. Storytime is every Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday from 11 am to 12 pm.

On the day before Easter, Saturday April 20, the Westside Library had TWO Easter Egg Hunts! We hid over 400 Easter Eggs and between around 120 participants, they found most of them! (One was still waiting for us at the library on Monday.) We also had activities like a "Bunny Hop," ring toss and egg shell stacking. We wish you were here!

Egg hunting is a fun part of Easter. But egg hunting real birds' eggs can land a person in prison. Did you know that the there is an ongoing nationwide police initiative in the United Kingdom called "Operation Easter?" The program, created in 1997 tracks wildlife crimes, specifically egg collecting, which can be illegal if the animals are endangered. Operation Easter is headquartered an hour north of London and run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). RSPB was created by women in 1889, when they were not allowed to join the British Ornithologists' Union. Because Britain doesn't have a central government agency to enforce wildlife crimes, the RSPB is important to preventing "bird crimes." Operation Easter makes up 25% of their work. They "crack down" on egg collecting. RSPB has found that the egg collectors still working aren't "interested in selling or even trading eggs, only in possessing them." One egg co...