A book is defined as a collection of pages covered in writing, bound within protective covers—but the Sunnyvale Public Library might beg to differ with that definition.

For the past two years, the library has offered more than 7,000 e-books, which are books stored on the Internet and accessible from home computers. According to supervising librarian Marsha Pollak, the books augment the city's library of real books.

"This service is great for us, because it's an additional resource that people have access to," Pollak said.

While the Sunnyvale library has been offering e-books since April 2002, the San Jose library has only recently begun offering this service.

Pollak said that last year there were 7,500 individual uses of the e-book service at Sunnyvale, and this year, the library is already averaging almost 1,000 books checked out each month.

Although the e-book library is currently composed primarily of books on computer programming, business and managerial practices, there are also best-selling novels and other popular reading materials available for single-day checkouts. Anyone with a valid library card can check the e-books out, which are then made available to the user on the user's computer for 24 hours.

The e-book service is provided by an online consortium called netLibrary, which decides which books to make available electronically. Pollak said netLibrary could expand its selection of popular books, as well as make its library available to PDA users.

"The formats in this kind of field are constantly changing, so it's a challenge to keep up," Pollak said.

Nominations for outstanding citizens

The city of Sunnyvale is now accepting nominations for citizens to be recognized at the mayor's annual State of the City event on July 4.

There are six categories being recognized at the citywide event: Distinguished Citizen of the Year, Outstanding High School Senior of the Year, Outstanding Community Volunteer, Outstanding Environmental Achievement, Outstanding Businessperson of the Year and Outstanding Contribution to the Arts.

The nomination period began at the end of March and runs until May 14. Nomination forms for individuals are available on the city's website at www.sunnyvale.ca.gov. After the nomination period ends, a committee appointed by Mayor John Howe—the committee members are usually selected from community leaders and spouses of the council members—will review the submissions and select recipients.

"We are honored to be able to pay tribute to these outstanding members of our Sunnyvale community," Howe said. "They have been instrumental in making Sunnyvale a great place to live and work."

The State of the City event is scheduled for July 4, 2004, beginning at 11 a.m. at Washington Park, 840 W. Washington Ave. The event is free and open to the public and will include the traditional State of the City address and awards presentation. For more information or to download nomination forms, visit www.sunnyvale.ca.gov or call the communications division at 408.730.7535.

Community working
to keep money

California cities like Sunnyvale use tax money generated locally to pay for city services ranging from police and fire protection to street sweeping and garbage pickup.

However, these taxes must be filtered through the state first and at times never returns to the city at all or doesn't return in time to fund vital or mandated local services.

And now, residents and leaders from more than 400 cities in California—including Sunnyvale—are working to make sure that the residents who generate those taxes have a say in how they are spent.

The Local Taxpayers and Public Safety Protection Act, currently in the signature-collecting phase, would require a vote of the population before the state takes or uses local government funding. It would also provide for timely reimbursement of funds for cities to carry out state-mandated programs.

For more information, visit www.protectlocalservices.com.

Symphony looking for young talent

Young music buffs now have the opportunity to ensure that their next "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" essays have a bit of excitement.

The El Camino Youth Symphony is accepting applications for its Summer Music Program. Orchestra, percussion and wind ensemble workshops will be open to young musicians of all skill levels from July 12 to 23 in Palo Alto.

The symphony is also holding auditions for its yearlong music education program. All musicians between the ages of 6 and 18 are invited to schedule an audition. The Senior Symphony goes on tour every two years to locations such as France and Scotland.

For more information on both programs, call 650.327.2611 or visit www.ecys.org.