Learn what you need to get a job at Lake Health

Applying for a new job can be intimidating.

For example, consider Lake Health. It's one of the biggest employers in the county; and you might be qualified to join them, even if you're not a doctor.

But you might be intimidated to apply there, especially if you don't already know someone who works at Lake Health.

Fortunately, you can get insight you need from Cathy Araps, a nurse recruiter at Lake Heath, during the next Career Coffee Talk on Feb. 20 at Mentor Public Library's Main Branch.

Araps has been with Lake Health since 1986.

During her Coffee Talk, she will explain how to go into Lake Health's online application system, look for a position and apply for it.

"We no longer take any paper applications," Araps said. "It's all done electronically."

Anyone who has considered working for Lake Health should come to her Career Coffee Talk.

The talk is free and open to the public. You can register for it on Mentor Public Library's web site.

Career Coffee Talks is a series of monthly informal talks designed to help people get the tools they need to help them find the career they want. The series is spearheaded by Ohio Means Jobs Lake County and hosted by Mentor Public Library.

Click here to see what tips Charlene Long offered on resume and interview preparation at last month's Career Coffee Talk. Long is the Talent Acquisition Specialist for Progressive Insurance.

Learn about computers by breaking one

Deconstruction isn’t just for postmodernists.

Sometimes, the best way to learn how something works is to take it apart and put it back together.

People can get to know computers and other electronic devices inside and out during Mentor Public Library’s first Make-It Monday at 6:30 p.m. on February 17 at the library’s Main Branch.

“For our first Maker Monday, we are going to take apart computers and show people what the insides of a computer, eReader, printer and keyboard look like,” said MPL Reference Librarian Mary Pelton.

Patrons will not just watch as Pelton and MPL Information Technology Manager Andy Gunsch take apart electronics. They will participate and assist in the deconstruction.

“This will give people hands-on experience with computers and hopefully make them a little less intimidating to the average person,” Pelton said.

People can register for Make-It Monday on Mentor Public Library’s website, www.mentorpl.org, or by calling (440) 255-8811 ext. 215.

Mentor Public Library will host five Make-It Mondays in 2014. Then next session will be in April when The Bicycle Hub will show people how to maintain their bikes after a winter of disrepair.

Later in the year, the library will host Make-It Mondays for interests as diverse as knitting and costuming.

Tips for staying fit while you sit

There's a good chance that you're sitting while reading this... most likely in an office at work. (Don't worry, we won't tell your boss.)

There's also a likelihood that you spend a lot of your day sitting. You sit at your desk for eight or so hours each weekday, sit in a car and then you spend part of your evening sitting on a couch.

You're not alone. Sedentary lifestyles are common. But they're also not healthy.

That's why Dr. Misty Morris came to Mentor Library's Main Branch Thursday to offer some tips on how to put as little stress on your body as possible while stuck at your desk.

(By the way, none of this is a replacement for a healthy diet and regular exercise—both of which are highly recommended.)

Morris's first recommendation involves your office setup. You don't want a desk too high, a seat too low or a computer screen to close.

She recommended a desk height between 23 and 32 inches, a seat height from 14 to 24 inches, a computer screen 13 to 24 inches away from your eyes and a computer screen 10 to 16 inches above the keyboard support surface.

Morris, who has her doctorate in chiropractic from Life University, also noted the importance of body positioning. She recommended people:

• take frequent change-of-position breaks
• keep elbows at 90-degree angles
• keep their head straight not tilted
• use a phone headset
• conduct meetings or hold conversations while standing
• shift their eye focus from time to time and even close their eyes periodically.

Finally, Morris recommended certain stretches that people can do at their desk. You're welcome to try any and all of them.

1. While sitting in your chair, lean forward putting your chest to your thighs.

2. Clasp your hands behind your head. Now pull your elbows back, pinching your shoulder blades.

3. Shrug your shoulders.

4. Place your hands under your desk and push up.

Morris will return to the Mentor Public Library on April 3 to talk about stress management.

Everyone's a Hero at our Comics Club

Ryan draws his ideal sidekick.

Is your kid a Batman fan? Wolverine? A Superman or a Spider-man? A Wonder Woman or a Rogue?

Do they watch reruns of Young Justice? Fill sketchpads with drawings of Finn and Jake? Snatch the comics section from the Sunday newspaper?

If so, we've got the club for them.

Our Comics Club is for any 8- through 12-year-old who likes to read, talk about or draw sequential art. (We're not just talking about superheroes either. We love everything from Amelia Rules to Bone.)

Abby draws a comic with characters she created.

Our Comic Club meets from 7 to 8 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month at our Main Branch.

“We often have children who visit our department looking for books about their favorite superheroes and cartoon characters. Many enjoy cartoons and comic books so we thought that we would start a club to bring together children who read graphic novels and comic books and enjoy drawing,” said Judy Schulz, who runs our Comics Club with Marilyn Weiss.

At a typical meeting, the kids talk about a special theme. For February, it was sidekicks. Then Weiss and Schulz introduce the kids to graphic novels and comics that can be found in the library’s collection.

They close out each meeting with free time for the kids to draw.

“Their favorite part of the night is drawing time,” Schulz said. “We use templates that resemble comic strips and comic-book pages, so the kids can do short 3-panel or longer stories. Some have created their own characters that they revisit every month while others draw something new every time.”

The next Comics Club meeting will be at 7 p.m. on March 4 at the Mentor Public Library’s Main Branch. The theme will be “the funnies.”

To register a child for the Comics Club, call the library at (440) 255-8811 ext. 221.

For more photos from our Comics Club, visit our Facebook page.

Rachele Alpine, 'Canary' writer, offers tips to teen writers.

Rachele Alpine—the author of the Young Adult novel, Canary—hosted a writers workshop especially for teens Saturday at our Main Branch.

Everyone who came to the workshop also got a free copy of Canary.

Alpine’s book tells the story of Kate Franklin, a teenage girl who is sexually assaulted by a popular student-athlete and then told by her father to keep it a secret.

In this video, Alpine talks about Canary and what advice she would give to young writers.

If Canary piques your interest, you should consider joining our 20/30 Book Club for their March meeting.

They'll be discussing Canary and Alpine is coming to the meeting, as well.

Our 20/30 Book Club will be meeting at 6:30 p.m. on March 26 at the Don Tequila in Mentor. Click here or call (440) 255-8811 ext. 215 for more information on how you can join the fun.

Meet your next blind date at the library

Need something to keep you spellbound, enthralled or maybe just entertained on those cold winter evenings?

May I suggest a book?

From Feb. 1 through Feb. 28, you can check out one of Mentor Public Library's "Blind Date" books; and, if you rate them, you could win dinner and a movie for two.

And how will you recognize one of our Blind Date books?

They're not subtle. They're wrapped so you can't see the title—they are Blind Date books, after all—but you can see a short description.

They'll be shelved on one of the main displays when you first walk into our Main Branch.

Check them out, rip them open and give them a good reading.

Inside each Blind Date book is a Rate Your Date card.

They look like this.

Fill out the card and drop it off at our Main Branch.

At the end of the month, we'll pick one rating card at random, and that person will win dinner and a movie for two.

By the way, you can enter more than one rating card; so check out as many blind dates as you like.

Who knows? You might just fall in love with a book you just met.

Tax forms available at Mentor Public Library

Mentor Public Library has several tax forms for your convenience and will be receiving more as tax season progresses.

Other forms are available online.

Here are a list of forms we've received and another list of forms we're expecting.

Even if you see the form you need listed here, you might want to call the library branch before you go there to pick it up. Because we only have a finite amount of each forms, and you will want to confirm that we haven't run out of what you need first.

The phone number for the Main Branch is (440) 255-8811 ext. 215; for the Lake Branch, (440) 257-2512; for Headlands Branch, (440) 257-2000.

Without further preamble, here are the forms we already have:

• Form 1040
• Form 1040 A
• Instruction 1040 A
• Form 1040 EZ
• Form 1040 SCH A
• Form 1040 SCH B
• Form 1040 SCH C
• Form 1040 SCH C-EZ
• Form 1040 SCH D
• Form 1040 SCH E
• Form 1040 SCH EIC
• Form 1040 SCH R
• Form 1040 SCH SE
• Form 1040-V
• RITA forms

Here are the forms we expect to receive sometime in February:

• Instruction 1040-ALL
• Instruction 1040 EZ
• Form 1040 SCH 8812
• Instruction 1040 SCH 8812
• Form 1040 ES (2014)
• Form 1040 NR
• Instruction 1040 NR

Here are tax forms that you can find online and print yourself:

• Internal Revenue Service Tax Forms
• RITA / Regional Income Tax Agency
• Ohio Department of Taxation Tax Forms
• Central Collection Agency Tax Forms

If you are 60 years or older and a middle- or low-income taxpayer, you can get help from an AARP tax aide volunteer at Mentor Public Library on Tuesday afternoons in February, March or April.

Call the library at (440) 255-8811 ext. 215 to schedule an appointment.

You'll need to bring your completed tax forms from last year and a valid ID to your appointment.