The Carmel Clay Public Library (CCPL) has many events planned for September. Hope Baugh, the Young Adult (YA) Services Manager said, “There are a lot of things going on. It is going to be a busy fall for us.”

During this week, students here can participate in a drawing for a free copy of Brisingr by Christopher Paolini by completing puzzles related to the Eragon series and then returning them to the YA desk. The puzzles are available in the YA department. All entries must be turned in by Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. Baugh said, “Anybody can finish (the puzzles) and turn (them) in and then there will be a raffle and you may win a free copy of the third book as soon as it comes out. Like I am going to be at the store at midnight waiting to buy the book for the winner.”

Junior Emily Patterson, who goes to CCPL to check out books from the high school section about twice a month said, “I plan to take my brother to the library during the first week of September to get the Eragon-themed puzzles to try to win a free copy of Brisingr. My little brother has read the first two books of the series and will be really excited if he wins.”

This Monday, there will be the first of a series of talks, called Chess “U,” given by experienced chess players to chess enthusiasts. This first of a series of talks will feature Sycamore School student Josh Segaran, who has been playing chess since an early age.

Baugh said, “Segaran is very articulate, and he was teaching me some things about chess. I think he is a good speaker even though he is so young. I think people will be interested in what he has to say.”

For any students who are interested in submitting their writing to the Second Annual The Gilded Leaf Writing Contest, the deadline has been extended to Sept. 29 at 5 p.m.

According to Baugh, the topic is no longer limited to something library-related and the word limit is 1,500 words. The instructions and entry form are available on the CCPL website.

Baugh said the library has a seminar this Wednesday about scholarships for college funding. As for her goal for CCPL this year she said, “We are always continuing to improve. We are always trying to get more people excited about reading and more people aware of what the library has to offer.” By Michael Wang