Need to improve your skills in Microsoft Word or Excel? Perhaps you are interested in the resources the Library offers to you via your home computer? Maybe you are ready to dive into social network sites? If the answer is YES, then the Troy Public LIbrary has a computer class for you.

Registeration is now open for the Library's February classes in Beginning Word, Beginning Excel, Intermediate Excel, Finding Friends on Facebook, and troyilibrary -- A World of Resources on the Web.

Each month, the Library offers free, hands-on, public computer classes taught by Library staff. For information, email the Technology Department, or phone 248.524.3542.

September 11, 2001, changed the world as we know it. In addition to the destruction, there were many heros that emerged from the events of that day.

The Troy Public Library is featuring an exhibit in remembrance of the fallen heroes of the 2001 attack on New York City's World Trade Center. The exhibit, sponsored by the Troy Fire Department, is a diplay of a steel I-beam from one of the destroyed towers at Ground Zero. Also featured is a flag flown over the United States Capitol on the 10-year anniversary of the event, donated by Joe and Diana McKay.

The display is set up in the magazine area at the front of Library's Adult Information area. It runs through the end of February.

Andy, a pure-bred labrador retriever, and Jane Alkon are part of the nationally recognized Canine READ Program(Reading Education Assistance Dogs). Andy has worked for 3 1/2 years as a therapy dog, inspiring children and adults, listening to children read, and making friends.

Andy and Jane will be at the Troy Public Library on Saturday, February 18, at 11 am. Jane will read from her newest book on his work The Remarkable Mr. Boy.

Troybery 2012 is underway! All middle school students in the Troy School District can participate in this popular reading program. Students should register at their school and read a minimum of three selected titles. Readers then have the opportunity to vote for the winner in April. 

Once again, the Troy Public Library is happy to be a partner in Troybery 2012. The Library has all the titles selected for the program. In order to make the books available to as many students as possible, individuals may check out only two Troybery titles at a time. Books are checked out for seven days and cannot be renewed.

If you have any questions or would like assistance placing holds for these Troybery 2012 books, please contact a Youth Services librarian at ysref@troymi.gov or 248.524.3541.

Forty years ago, in May 1971, the Troy Public Library at 510 West Big Beaver opened its doors to the public.

To honor that occasion, then-Troy children's librarian Marguerite Hart wrote to dozens of actors, authors, artists, musicians, playwrights, librarians, and politicians of the day. She asked them to write a letter to the children of Troy about their memories of reading and of books, and the importance of libraries.

Hart received 97 Letters to the Children of Troy from individuals who spanned the arts, sciences, and politics across the 50 states, Canada, and several other countries. Those replying included First Lady Pat Nixon; Michigan Governor William Milliken; Governor of California (and future president) Ronald Reagan; first-man-on-the-moon Neil Armstrong; Cosmopolitan editor Helen Gurley Brown; authors Isaac Asimov, Hardie Gramatky, Dr. Seuss, Dr. Ben Spock, and E.B. White; and actors Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Vincent Price, and Dan Rowan and Dick Martin.

In collecting these letters, Marguerite Hart created a snapshot of the cultural and political landscape of the early 1970s. She accumulated a diverse anthology of letters that enriches the Troy Public Library’s remarkable history, and one that is a lasting tribute to the children of Troy – past, present, and future.

Several Letters to the Children of Troy are currently on display in the Troy Public Library's lobby. Visit the Library and take a look at these pieces of Troy history.

To view all the letters, visit troylibrary.info/letterstothechildrenoftroy.