Welcome to National Flag Week, Meet a Mate Week, and National E-Mail Week. If you’re more of a loner, you might prefer National Hermit Week. Today is National Taco Day, celebrating one of our tastiest and most versatile meals.

Thursday is Family History Day and Flag Day, which honors the anniversary of the day in 1777 when the "Stars and Stripes" began the official flag of the United States of America. Everyone across the country is asked to pause for a patriotic moment at 7 p.m., EDT, and say the Pledge of Allegiance.

Saturday is Join Hands Day, a day to unite older and younger people on neighborhood volunteer projects. Sunday is Father’s Day and Family Awareness Day, and Monday is National Splurge Day, so go out and indulge yourself!

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

Wednesday’s 10:00 a.m. story time features Southwest Wildlife with Ben Hanson of the New Mexico Game and Fish Department. Wednesday afternoon’s 3:30 story time focuses on Father’s Day stories and activities. Saturday morning’s 10:00 story time features beach party stories and crafts.

June 21 is Terrific Teen Thursday, with a "Memories" program beginning at 2:00 p.m. in the Bondurant Room. You’ll make a miniature memory book pendant as a way to preserve special photos or small items for yourself or as a gift.

June 22, at 9:00 a.m., the library will offer a Microsoft Word class to help you learn to use word processing for letters, flyers, and resumes. The class is limited to five, so reserve your place now!

BOOK TALK

Librarian Barbara Harris provides this week's book information. The word "essay" may bring uncomfortable memories of high school English assignments, but a perusal of several recent "best of the century" anthologies of this literary form may convince you to make essays a regular item on your reading menu.

The first piece in "The Norton Book of Personal Essays" is Mark Twain's hilarious account of his attempt to master the Italian language via the daily newspaper. The last is Amy Tan's tribute to her mother's distinctive spoken English. In between are forty-eight other essays from some of the twentieth century's finest writers of English prose, including many better known for their fiction. Willa Cather describes her friendship with Flaubert's elegant, energetic ninety-year-old niece, and Eudora Welty remembers childhood errands at "The Little Store" near her family home in Jackson, Mississippi.

"The Best American Essays of the Century" also begins with Mark Twain and includes writers from the many cultures that made twentieth-century American literature so rich. African-American writers, beginning with W. E. B. Du Bois, are especially well represented. Joyce Carol Oates, the editor, has selected excerpts from nonfiction books as well as separately-published essays, so you may discover or rediscover even more good reading.

Other anthologies to try include "The Book of Twentieth-Century Essays," "The Bread Loaf Anthology of Contemporary Essays," and the annual volumes of "The Best American Essays." "In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction" is a delightful anthology of pieces, each of which is no more than two or three pages long.

DID YOU KNOW?

Vacation time is here, and you might want to check out these websites for help as you plan for your summer fun. If you’re looking for good places to eat, check out the critiques of more than 20,000 restaurants nationwide at www.zagat.com. You just type in the city and then search by type of cuisine or neighborhood. Air travelers will want to check out www.expedia.com/daily/airports for information on transportation, shopping, restaurants, and services at US and foreign airports.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: "I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." (unknown)