Sometimes library books fall apart, and we have to buy new copies. That was the case at my library with Material World: A Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel, an important book about the disparity in material wealth. The author's project was to visit families around the world and photograph all their possessions. Every item that a family owned was taken out of the house and assembled outdoors for a picture with the family. The resulting book shows the wealth and poverty of people of many nations. For a good look at third world families, look at pages 14 (Mali), 28 (Ethiopia), 40 (Mongolia), 96 (Uzbekistan), and 155 (Haiti). Though these families own little, many of them are smiling. Maybe what you own is not what makes you happy.
Though the book is now twelve years old, it is still relevant. Some of these families may have more today, but the disparity is probably the same in most cases. It still circulates. Readers may also want to see Women in the Material World.
Menzel, Peter. Material World: A Global Family Portrait. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1994. ISBN 0871564378
Friday, April 28, 2006
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Aaron Schmidt @ your library
Aaron and I did not make the National Library Week deadline, but we did finally make some READ posters. I made a set of him, which you can see by clicking this poster and scrolling through the set. You can find Aaron's set of me at his Flickr site. Vote for the posters you like best by leaving comments.
At a future date, maybe next year for National Library Week, we want to get READ posters from our readers. We know some libraries did this year, even getting their local government officials involved. In the near future, we are pushing our Thommy Ford Abroad photos. We hope to get lots of these this summer. We will post them in the library and on the library's Flickr site.
At a future date, maybe next year for National Library Week, we want to get READ posters from our readers. We know some libraries did this year, even getting their local government officials involved. In the near future, we are pushing our Thommy Ford Abroad photos. We hope to get lots of these this summer. We will post them in the library and on the library's Flickr site.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Use of Library Thing by Small Special Library
Six or eight weeks ago an energentic young intern working for SCARCE (School and Community Assistance for Recycling & Composting Education) came up to the reference desk to ask for information on organizing small libraries. We looked at some materials on small libraries and discussed how she could organize the books, including a collection of children's books on environmental topics. She particularly wanted to create a catalog so staff, volunteers, and members of the community could identify their books. We wondered how she could do that inexpensively. I then remembered Library Thing, which several librarians use for their personal collections. I told her how it was easy to start and inexpensive, and I demonstrated how to enter a book with an ISBN number. She seemed impressed.
I found today that the intern took my advice and created the SCARCELibrary, with 414 items so far. The top tags for the collection is "crafts/trash to treasures" and "waste/garbage." There are even 10 items on worms. Here is a view of the library's cloud tag.
Library Thing pulls information about books from Amazon as a default, though the Library of Congress is an optional source. Being a special library, SCARCE has some unusual items that were not found at the online bookstore. Cataloguing for 337 items came from Amazon, 38 items were found at the Library of Congress, and the intern had to hand catalogue 39 items.
The result looks good. I think Library Thing could be used by many small nonprofit and church libraries easily. In fact, I see 18 church libraries signed up. Most have not entered much yet, but the Zion Lutheran Library has nearly 1400 items. Next time some one asks you at the reference desk for small library setup help, offer the Library Thing option.
I found today that the intern took my advice and created the SCARCELibrary, with 414 items so far. The top tags for the collection is "crafts/trash to treasures" and "waste/garbage." There are even 10 items on worms. Here is a view of the library's cloud tag.
Library Thing pulls information about books from Amazon as a default, though the Library of Congress is an optional source. Being a special library, SCARCE has some unusual items that were not found at the online bookstore. Cataloguing for 337 items came from Amazon, 38 items were found at the Library of Congress, and the intern had to hand catalogue 39 items.
The result looks good. I think Library Thing could be used by many small nonprofit and church libraries easily. In fact, I see 18 church libraries signed up. Most have not entered much yet, but the Zion Lutheran Library has nearly 1400 items. Next time some one asks you at the reference desk for small library setup help, offer the Library Thing option.
Monday, April 24, 2006
An Evening at the Opera from the Thomas Ford Memorial Library
Our next big program is a really big program. It is so big we can not actually have it in the library. Our tenth annual An Evening at the Opera will be held May 7 at the First Congregational Church several blocks west of the library.
We usually have 200 people attend An Evening at the Opera, at which four members of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Chorus sing selections from the upcoming Lyric season. It is stupendous every year. Did I mention it is free?
We are able to have this wonderful program because it is sponsored by the Family of Pauline and Elmer Kennedy, who support the library in many ways in memory of their parents.
Janet Reynolds, a member of the chorus, makes the artistic arrangements, and the library makes the financial arrangements and publicity. It takes a lot of hands (and voices) to put together our biggest program of the year.
If you are in the Western Springs area on May 7, you should come to An Evening at the Opera.
We usually have 200 people attend An Evening at the Opera, at which four members of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Chorus sing selections from the upcoming Lyric season. It is stupendous every year. Did I mention it is free?
We are able to have this wonderful program because it is sponsored by the Family of Pauline and Elmer Kennedy, who support the library in many ways in memory of their parents.
Janet Reynolds, a member of the chorus, makes the artistic arrangements, and the library makes the financial arrangements and publicity. It takes a lot of hands (and voices) to put together our biggest program of the year.
If you are in the Western Springs area on May 7, you should come to An Evening at the Opera.
Poetry Speaks: Hear Great Poets Read Their Work from Tennyson to Plath
Who would have known that there are recordings of Tennyson, Browning, and Whitman reading their own poems? There are, and they are included in the book with CD set Poetry Speaks. In the 1890s inventor Thomas Edison chose very famous and popular poets for some of his early recordings. Listening to their florid presentations, I appreciate the modern poets with their more intimate readings on discs two and three. The large book profiles forty-two poets, includes the poems read on the CDs, and adds analyses by other poets. Charles Osgood narrates the entertaining CDs. Most libraries should have Poetry Speaks.
Poetry Speaks: Hear Great Poets Read Their Work from Tennyson to Plath. Naperville, IL: SourceBooks MediaFusion, 2001. ISBN 1570717206
Poetry Speaks: Hear Great Poets Read Their Work from Tennyson to Plath. Naperville, IL: SourceBooks MediaFusion, 2001. ISBN 1570717206
Sunday, April 23, 2006
An Innocent Soldier by Josef Holub
Like Bilbo Baggings in The Hobbit, Adam the farmhand in An Innocent Soldier by Josef Holub involuntarily takes a long and dangerous journey to the east with a large party intent on plunder. Also like Bilbo he becomes a thief reluctantly, but he must to survive. There are no riddles, rings, or magical creatures, but he gets lost in the woods, crosses difficult rivers, and meets villains so evil they might as well be trolls. Unlike in The Hobbit, the way home is more dangerous than the outbound trip, and Adam is given no reward for his service.
An Innocent Soldier is a historical novel written for teens about Napoleon's disastrous campaign against Russia in 1812. Readers get the account of a teen swept into Le Grand Armee against his will, and see the cruelty, corruption, and mismanagement of the venture through his eyes. Uniforms that do not fit, pointless duties, near starvation, and lots of snow are part of the epic story, as are friendship and the generosity of strangers.
Thanks to Maggie at Maggie Reads for recommending this book, which was written by an author who was himself a teenage soldier in World War II. It should be in every public library.
Holub, Josef. An Innocent Soldier. Translated by Michael Hofmann. New York: Alfred A. Levine Books, 2005. ISBN 0439627710
An Innocent Soldier is a historical novel written for teens about Napoleon's disastrous campaign against Russia in 1812. Readers get the account of a teen swept into Le Grand Armee against his will, and see the cruelty, corruption, and mismanagement of the venture through his eyes. Uniforms that do not fit, pointless duties, near starvation, and lots of snow are part of the epic story, as are friendship and the generosity of strangers.
Thanks to Maggie at Maggie Reads for recommending this book, which was written by an author who was himself a teenage soldier in World War II. It should be in every public library.
Holub, Josef. An Innocent Soldier. Translated by Michael Hofmann. New York: Alfred A. Levine Books, 2005. ISBN 0439627710
Saturday, April 22, 2006
The Whole Library Handbook 4
Remember back in the 1970s when The People's Almanac and The Book of Lists were popular? Of course, many of you don't. You are too young to know that these books had a wealth of entertaining and sometimes useful information sqeezed into them. There is something about The Whole Library Handbook 4 that reminds me of those books, which spawned a series of sequels. For years librarians bought and checked those books when they got offbeat or trivial questions. (They did not have the Internet.)
The Whole Library Handbook 4 has a more serious intent than the People's Almanac family of books, but it still has whimsy, like the Whole Earth Catalog from 1969. After all the useful listings of organizations, tables of library statistics, lists of recommended books, glossaries full of useful definitions, and articles about library issues, there is a final section called "Librariana." It starts with the word "library" in 131 languages. Quotations from famous people about libraries, favorite books of famous librarians, and a bibliography of detective fiction set in academic and research libraries follow. The best part may be "Libraries and Librarians in Film, 1999-2005," which takes twelve pages. Want to make a haunted library tour across the U. S.? The handbook has your destinations. I enjoyed browsing this section.
Seriously, the handbook can help you select materials, manage personnel, and plan your library's future. Every library can use a copy.
The Whole Library Handbook 4 edited by George M. Eberhart. Chicago: American Library Association, 2006. ISBN 0838909159
The Whole Library Handbook 4 has a more serious intent than the People's Almanac family of books, but it still has whimsy, like the Whole Earth Catalog from 1969. After all the useful listings of organizations, tables of library statistics, lists of recommended books, glossaries full of useful definitions, and articles about library issues, there is a final section called "Librariana." It starts with the word "library" in 131 languages. Quotations from famous people about libraries, favorite books of famous librarians, and a bibliography of detective fiction set in academic and research libraries follow. The best part may be "Libraries and Librarians in Film, 1999-2005," which takes twelve pages. Want to make a haunted library tour across the U. S.? The handbook has your destinations. I enjoyed browsing this section.
Seriously, the handbook can help you select materials, manage personnel, and plan your library's future. Every library can use a copy.
The Whole Library Handbook 4 edited by George M. Eberhart. Chicago: American Library Association, 2006. ISBN 0838909159
Friday, April 21, 2006
Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic by John de Graaf
When my daughter looked at Affluenza: The All Consuming Epidemic, she shook her head. "More for you to rant about!" she said. She had already heard my mini-lectures about how we did not need so many things. She had good reason to worry that I might start again, as I agreed with much of what I read in this book about American consumer habits. Many of us have too many things. Our credit cards are maxed out, and still we are not happy. John de Graaf and the coauthors of this book tell us how to modify our lives to work less, buy less, and be happier. It is now in a second edition. It sounds good to me.
De Graaf, John and others. Affluenza:The All-Consuming Epidemic. San Francisco, California: Berrett-Koehler, 2005. ISBN 1576753573
De Graaf, John and others. Affluenza:The All-Consuming Epidemic. San Francisco, California: Berrett-Koehler, 2005. ISBN 1576753573
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Poetry Books, Loan Periods, and Customer Service Models in the Public Library
Sometimes we have the technology to change but have not realized that we can.
I have been thinking about how poetry should be read and how library loan periods discourage the poetry reader. April is National Poetry Month, and I have been reading poetry books, but I have not been whipping through them the way I intended. Even though they are small, they still take days or weeks to read thoughtfully.
The nature of poetry is different from fiction and narrative nonfiction. It is often published one poem at a time in periodicals, and poetry books reflect the work of years or decades. Writing and reading should be unhurried. "Couldn't put it down" is not something you often hear about a poetry collection. Putting the book down after each poem is normal for a thoughtful poetry reader. Reading a poem in the morning and another before bed is a nice way to read. The reader with a 120-page poetry collection may need more than two or three weeks, but libraries have "one size fits all" policies that work against the poetry reader.
Some might say poetry books do not really fit in the library well, since they do not fit the loan model well. Maybe they are intended as personal items, not public property. I would disagree. There are poetry collections that I want to read, but I do not want to own them. I want to check them out, read them, return them, and recommend them to other readers. In this way, they are no different from novels and other books and belong in the community collection.
I would like to see loan periods for poetry books change. In fact, I would like to change loan periods for other books that are handicapped by inflexible loan policies. Big family saga novels can be hard for some readers to finish in the allotted time. 800-page definitive biographies are also problematic. I have had readers tell me they bought a book instead of borrowing it from the library because they would need it for "too long." I tell readers that books can be renewed and most know this, but some feel reluctant to ask for the favor. Meanwhile the poetry books and the huge novels and definitive biographies sit on the library shelves. I think it is time for some new ideas.
Our current way of assigning loan periods in many of our public libraries seems to me procedures-based. We put every item into a standardized slot, as we did when we were sticking pre-stamped date due cards into every book. We have not yet realized that our computerized library systems can be more flexible.
We do assign some loan periods based on the nature of items. While most items go out for a standard period, we give new items, periodicals, videos and DVDs shorter loan periods. Perhaps we could go farther with this idea of item-based loan periods. Loan periods for novels could be graduated according to size, so a 600-page novel would get twice the check out time as a 300-page novel. Philosophy, physics, and other difficult subjects would be granted longer loan periods. A couple of months could be given for The Poetry of Robert Frost (a complete collection) or the 703-page Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.
Perhaps there is a simpler way to improve our loaning of books. We can try a reader-based model, asking each person who comes to the checkout desk with a book to borrow "How long would you like to have this book?" Can you imagine how nice that would sound? Our circulation software already allows the choosing of any date on the fly. We will surprise a lot of readers if we let them choose.
I can hear some objections to this idea and admit there will have to be exceptions. Hot bestsellers will still have to be given shorter loan periods to get them to all the readers who want them. The demand for children's picture books and books on homework topics might rule out flexible loan periods for much of the children's collection, as well. Still, I think a reader-based model will be a good starting point with some benefits.
Readers will be pleased to have more time with the books they want to read. They will be encouraged to try some "harder stuff."
Circulation staff, empowered to provide a reader-friendly service, will be good guys in the eyes of readers. The enforcers of fines could use a few more smiles.
Books will stay off the shelves longer, easing the work of the pages and lessening some of the need to weed. We have many books that spend most of their lives on our shelves when they could be out in the community, informing, entertaining, and enriching our readers.
Think about it. Often we discuss customer service-based models at conferences, in our journals, and at board meetings. Here is an easy chance to do something. What is more basic in the library than the loaning of books and other materials? Let's give the readers more choice.
I will take The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats for eight weeks.
I have been thinking about how poetry should be read and how library loan periods discourage the poetry reader. April is National Poetry Month, and I have been reading poetry books, but I have not been whipping through them the way I intended. Even though they are small, they still take days or weeks to read thoughtfully.
The nature of poetry is different from fiction and narrative nonfiction. It is often published one poem at a time in periodicals, and poetry books reflect the work of years or decades. Writing and reading should be unhurried. "Couldn't put it down" is not something you often hear about a poetry collection. Putting the book down after each poem is normal for a thoughtful poetry reader. Reading a poem in the morning and another before bed is a nice way to read. The reader with a 120-page poetry collection may need more than two or three weeks, but libraries have "one size fits all" policies that work against the poetry reader.
Some might say poetry books do not really fit in the library well, since they do not fit the loan model well. Maybe they are intended as personal items, not public property. I would disagree. There are poetry collections that I want to read, but I do not want to own them. I want to check them out, read them, return them, and recommend them to other readers. In this way, they are no different from novels and other books and belong in the community collection.
I would like to see loan periods for poetry books change. In fact, I would like to change loan periods for other books that are handicapped by inflexible loan policies. Big family saga novels can be hard for some readers to finish in the allotted time. 800-page definitive biographies are also problematic. I have had readers tell me they bought a book instead of borrowing it from the library because they would need it for "too long." I tell readers that books can be renewed and most know this, but some feel reluctant to ask for the favor. Meanwhile the poetry books and the huge novels and definitive biographies sit on the library shelves. I think it is time for some new ideas.
Our current way of assigning loan periods in many of our public libraries seems to me procedures-based. We put every item into a standardized slot, as we did when we were sticking pre-stamped date due cards into every book. We have not yet realized that our computerized library systems can be more flexible.
We do assign some loan periods based on the nature of items. While most items go out for a standard period, we give new items, periodicals, videos and DVDs shorter loan periods. Perhaps we could go farther with this idea of item-based loan periods. Loan periods for novels could be graduated according to size, so a 600-page novel would get twice the check out time as a 300-page novel. Philosophy, physics, and other difficult subjects would be granted longer loan periods. A couple of months could be given for The Poetry of Robert Frost (a complete collection) or the 703-page Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.
Perhaps there is a simpler way to improve our loaning of books. We can try a reader-based model, asking each person who comes to the checkout desk with a book to borrow "How long would you like to have this book?" Can you imagine how nice that would sound? Our circulation software already allows the choosing of any date on the fly. We will surprise a lot of readers if we let them choose.
I can hear some objections to this idea and admit there will have to be exceptions. Hot bestsellers will still have to be given shorter loan periods to get them to all the readers who want them. The demand for children's picture books and books on homework topics might rule out flexible loan periods for much of the children's collection, as well. Still, I think a reader-based model will be a good starting point with some benefits.
Readers will be pleased to have more time with the books they want to read. They will be encouraged to try some "harder stuff."
Circulation staff, empowered to provide a reader-friendly service, will be good guys in the eyes of readers. The enforcers of fines could use a few more smiles.
Books will stay off the shelves longer, easing the work of the pages and lessening some of the need to weed. We have many books that spend most of their lives on our shelves when they could be out in the community, informing, entertaining, and enriching our readers.
Think about it. Often we discuss customer service-based models at conferences, in our journals, and at board meetings. Here is an easy chance to do something. What is more basic in the library than the loaning of books and other materials? Let's give the readers more choice.
I will take The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats for eight weeks.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty: A Review with a Lengthy List of Characters
I just finished listening to Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty, read by actress Sally Darling, which I enjoyed very much. In this novel about a plantation owning family in 1920s
Welty does not openly criticize the status quo, but she does hint that great change is coming. Shelley Fairchild says in her diary that she will never marry and live the life her parents wish; she pleads that her mother stop having children. Uncle George is unhappy with the plantation life; he is living in
Listening to the story, I was reminded of the movies of Robert Altman. There are so many characters and they all seem very busy. Sorting out the storyline is a pleasant puzzle for the listener. To get the characters straight, I listened to disc one twice and got a print copy of the novel to consult before proceeding. Here are the characters that I identified.
Laura McCraven, a nine year old, who travels alone by train to attend her cousin's wedding
Annie Laurie Fairchild McCraven, her mother, who died the previous January
her father, who stays in
Battle Fairchild, the current head of Shellmound
Ellen Fairchild, his wife, who is a native of
Shelley, the oldest daughter, who is about to take a European trip
Dabney, the daughter who is getting married
Orrin, the oldest son
Ranny
Bluet, the baby
Maureen Fairchild, nine year old, who is living at Shellmound because her father is dead and her mother insane
Denis Fairchild, father of Maureen, brother of
Virgie Lee Fairchild, insane mother, on the loose
George Fairchild, brother of
Robbie Reid Fairchild, his wife, who no one (other than George) forgives for having been a Fairchild employee
Tempe Fairchild Summers, sister of
Pinck Summers, her husband
Mary Denis Summers Buchanan, their daughter who can not come because she just had a baby
Lady Clare Buchanan, Mary Denis's daughter, who comes down with chicken pox
Primrose Fairchild, sister of
"Aunt Jim Allen," sister of
Laura Allen, deceased daughter of Aunt Jim Allen
Rowena Fairchild, deceased sister of
Great-Aunt Shannon, who raised
Great-Aunt Mac, who shared the child rearing with Great-Aunt Shannon
The dead ancestors to whom Great-Aunt Shannon is always talking:
Aunt Mashula
Uncle George
Uncle Battle
Uncle Gordon
Aunt Shannon
Blacks who work for the Fairchilds:
Bitsy
Roxie
Little Uncle
Vi'let
Partheny
Sylvanus
Mary Lamar Mackey, friend of Dabney, plays piano
Troy Flavin, the overseer and prospective groom
Dickie Boy Featherstone, Dabney's rejected suitor
Dr. Murdoch, who brought many of the Fairchilds into the world
Mr. Rondo, the minister at the wedding
Junie, a horse
Isabelle, another horse
Most of those names appear in chapter one.
In addition to many characters, Delta Wedding is filled with details of 1920s plantation life. The food at meals, the wedding dinner, and a post-wedding picnic is fully described, as is the sewing, house cleaning, dressing of the bride, work in the fields, and contents of the general store. During Laura's initial train ride and a canoe trip on the
Delta Wedding is a rich novel that merits reading.
Welty, Eudora. Delta Wedding. New York, Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1946.
10 compact discs. Prince
Monday, April 17, 2006
Maggie Reads: A Blog About Books
I found a new blog on books that I like, Maggie Reads, which is written by an enthusiastic librarian from Mississippi, Maggie Moran. Her mission is "MAKE MISSISSIPPI READ."
Maggie Reads is an attractive blog, with lots of book covers and other photos. Maggie reviews quite a variety of books. In the past few weeks she has recommended books for Earth Day, reviewed a novel about nineteenth century Libya, written about a new Eudora Welty book, and posted Ranganathan's The Five Laws of Library Science. To my great interest, she has written about The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, expressing ideas that did not occur to me. If you go back to February, you find that she recommended books about New Orleans for Mardi Gras.
The best thing about Maggie Reads is that it makes me want to read more books!
Maggie Reads is an attractive blog, with lots of book covers and other photos. Maggie reviews quite a variety of books. In the past few weeks she has recommended books for Earth Day, reviewed a novel about nineteenth century Libya, written about a new Eudora Welty book, and posted Ranganathan's The Five Laws of Library Science. To my great interest, she has written about The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, expressing ideas that did not occur to me. If you go back to February, you find that she recommended books about New Orleans for Mardi Gras.
The best thing about Maggie Reads is that it makes me want to read more books!
Saturday, April 15, 2006
WorldCat Reviews Now Available Through Firstsearch
You can now read WorldCat reviews and write your own reviews or notes about books and media through FirstSearch. I got the long-awaited announcement from OCLC through email on Thursday. The image to the right shows how the reviews look on FirstSearch.
Writing reviews or notes requires going through a series of pages and a log in process. To log in one has to set up a free account. The writer leaves FirstSearch and writes on the same web pages that WorldCat has offered since last October.
Click here to see a Flickr slideshow of all the screens in the writing process.
Now we have to see if libraries can interest their staffs and their readers into writing reviews for WorldCat instead of Amazon.
Writing reviews or notes requires going through a series of pages and a log in process. To log in one has to set up a free account. The writer leaves FirstSearch and writes on the same web pages that WorldCat has offered since last October.
Click here to see a Flickr slideshow of all the screens in the writing process.
Now we have to see if libraries can interest their staffs and their readers into writing reviews for WorldCat instead of Amazon.
Friday, April 14, 2006
A Fib for Darfur
I learned today about the Fib, a special kind of poem, thanks to a link from LISNews. So I wrote one of my own.
No
Food
Today.
Our church is
Fasting for Darfur.
When will the world wake up to this?
You may also want to go to the websites Save Darfur and Darfur: A Genocide We Can Stop.
No
Food
Today.
Our church is
Fasting for Darfur.
When will the world wake up to this?
You may also want to go to the websites Save Darfur and Darfur: A Genocide We Can Stop.
New Orleans, Mon Amour: Twenty Years of Writing from the City by Andrei Codrescu
Andrea Codrescu says in
Much of the content of
If you enjoy listening to Codrescu on the radio, you will hear his voice while you read. If you have never heard him, you may be baffled at first by his sharp-tongued style.
Codrescu, Andrei.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Selecting Books for the Public Library in a Connected World
Relying on traditional book review sources does not cut it for us any more. It never has been a totally successful way to identify the books that the readers in our libraries want and need. Now that they are on the Internet and watching cable television, it is less than adequate. We can not limit ourselves to reading three journals and looking at publishers' catalogs. Now that our readers surf the web, listen to talk radio, and watch book programs on C-SPAN, they are requesting books that they would not have known about in the past. Their recreational interests are expanding, too. As a book selector for a medium small public library, not having the budget to buy indiscriminately, I need to identify the books with a buzz. I need to notice the books that our readers will notice, and I want to do it before they do if possible.
Here are my current sources of book news and reviews.
Publishers catalogs
We get many catalogs, but I only look at a few from publishers like Nolo Press, Human Kinetics, or Krause Publications. I know these publishers put out practical "how-to" books that are popular with our readers. Often these titles are not reviewed in the journals. I only select titles that will fit our recurring requests for legal, fitness, or collectibles information from these catalogs.
I recycle most catalogs immediately. I do keep those from major reference book publishers out of habit, but I rarely have funds to actually purchase expensive reference books any more.
Pre-publication reviews
I still select many of the books that I order from these sources because they identify books before the public becomes aware of them. In a perfect world I would read all the journals thoroughly, but I haven't the time. As a compromise, I always read Booking Ahead and Booklist and then read the other when I can.
* Booking Ahead from Baker and Taylor - I get an email alert for this each month. It links me to a web page with the reviews for upcoming books.
* Publishers Weekly
* Booklist
* Library Journal
New publication reviews
I read these to see if I did a good job of pre-publication selection. Invariably a book I skipped buying gets a great review and readers start requesting it.
* Newspaper book sections – A good review in the New York Times seems to mean more than a good review in the Chicago Tribune to my library's readers, even here in the Chicago suburbs. Both papers sometimes praise thousand page academic books that would just sit on our shelves if we bought them, so I select with care. You can follow the New York Times reviews through Bloglines.
* Powell’s Review of the Day - I read a review a day picked by the staff at Powells.com through my Bloglines account. The reviews come from a mix of publications, like the Christian Science Monitor and Atlantic Monthly. They often identify literary fiction that is not hitting best seller lists but is sneaking into public conscience.
Lists
* Lists from other libraries – I get email from Downers Grove Public Library weekly. One of the features is a list with every book added to its collection that week. Downers Grove has more selectors than we do at my library, and they often seem to find useful books that I missed. Last week I ordered Countdown to Your Perfect Wedding and Fast & Fun Machine Quilting after reading my DGPL email.
* Annual best book lists from the review sources - I always find a few gems this way, but I am careful. I first check whether the books are circulating at our neighboring consortium libraries. Many books that are enjoyed by reviewers seem to be going nowhere with the reading public.
* Topical articles with book reviews - Special topical sections appear in Library Journal and Booklist fairly regularly. If 30 titles are recommended, I may buy 2 or 3.
* Book store newsletters - I am a member of Anderson's Bookshop in Downers Grove and Naperville. The book store sends me a newsletter quarterly from which I often learn of a couple of good titles.
* Independent bookseller web sites - Some of the venerable book stores are pretty savvy. The King's English in Salt Lake City and the Elliot Bay Book Company in Seattle have a good sense of what readers want.
Books in the news
* What’s on bestseller lists – If a book makes the newspaper best seller lists, I almost always buy it. If it makesthe first page of the Amazon's top 100, I consider it carefully, knowing that some flash-in-the-pan daily variations can occur in the Amazon list.
* Books in news stories - When books appear in the top news stories, we usually need to buy them. Recently books by both the husband and the parent of Terry Schiavo appear in a news story in the Chicago Tribune. I ordered both. I learned about the book concerning Barry Bonds and steroids through news stories, too.
* Blogs and Websites - The Litblog Co-op told me about Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, and I learned about the Jane Brox books from Bookslut. I am watching Likely Stories, the new blog from Booklist, to see if it helps me stay on top of books with a buzz.
Reader Requests
* "What We Did Not Have" spreadsheet – We keep a spreadsheet at our reference desk on which we note requested books and subjects that we lacked. We will consider acquiring items if we think they will used by other future readers.
* Direct patron purchase requests - If someone goes to the trouble of asking us to buy an item, we usually will, if it is reasonably priced and fits our collection.
As you can guess from reading this list of sources, selecting books for the library is not a simple "Oh, I will do it on Friday" task. Selectors have to set aside some time for reading reviews, and they also have to be always ready to jot down a title. You might find important book news anywhere.
Here are my current sources of book news and reviews.
Publishers catalogs
We get many catalogs, but I only look at a few from publishers like Nolo Press, Human Kinetics, or Krause Publications. I know these publishers put out practical "how-to" books that are popular with our readers. Often these titles are not reviewed in the journals. I only select titles that will fit our recurring requests for legal, fitness, or collectibles information from these catalogs.
I recycle most catalogs immediately. I do keep those from major reference book publishers out of habit, but I rarely have funds to actually purchase expensive reference books any more.
Pre-publication reviews
I still select many of the books that I order from these sources because they identify books before the public becomes aware of them. In a perfect world I would read all the journals thoroughly, but I haven't the time. As a compromise, I always read Booking Ahead and Booklist and then read the other when I can.
* Booking Ahead from Baker and Taylor - I get an email alert for this each month. It links me to a web page with the reviews for upcoming books.
* Publishers Weekly
* Booklist
* Library Journal
New publication reviews
I read these to see if I did a good job of pre-publication selection. Invariably a book I skipped buying gets a great review and readers start requesting it.
* Newspaper book sections – A good review in the New York Times seems to mean more than a good review in the Chicago Tribune to my library's readers, even here in the Chicago suburbs. Both papers sometimes praise thousand page academic books that would just sit on our shelves if we bought them, so I select with care. You can follow the New York Times reviews through Bloglines.
* Powell’s Review of the Day - I read a review a day picked by the staff at Powells.com through my Bloglines account. The reviews come from a mix of publications, like the Christian Science Monitor and Atlantic Monthly. They often identify literary fiction that is not hitting best seller lists but is sneaking into public conscience.
Lists
* Lists from other libraries – I get email from Downers Grove Public Library weekly. One of the features is a list with every book added to its collection that week. Downers Grove has more selectors than we do at my library, and they often seem to find useful books that I missed. Last week I ordered Countdown to Your Perfect Wedding and Fast & Fun Machine Quilting after reading my DGPL email.
* Annual best book lists from the review sources - I always find a few gems this way, but I am careful. I first check whether the books are circulating at our neighboring consortium libraries. Many books that are enjoyed by reviewers seem to be going nowhere with the reading public.
* Topical articles with book reviews - Special topical sections appear in Library Journal and Booklist fairly regularly. If 30 titles are recommended, I may buy 2 or 3.
* Book store newsletters - I am a member of Anderson's Bookshop in Downers Grove and Naperville. The book store sends me a newsletter quarterly from which I often learn of a couple of good titles.
* Independent bookseller web sites - Some of the venerable book stores are pretty savvy. The King's English in Salt Lake City and the Elliot Bay Book Company in Seattle have a good sense of what readers want.
Books in the news
* What’s on bestseller lists – If a book makes the newspaper best seller lists, I almost always buy it. If it makesthe first page of the Amazon's top 100, I consider it carefully, knowing that some flash-in-the-pan daily variations can occur in the Amazon list.
* Books in news stories - When books appear in the top news stories, we usually need to buy them. Recently books by both the husband and the parent of Terry Schiavo appear in a news story in the Chicago Tribune. I ordered both. I learned about the book concerning Barry Bonds and steroids through news stories, too.
* Blogs and Websites - The Litblog Co-op told me about Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, and I learned about the Jane Brox books from Bookslut. I am watching Likely Stories, the new blog from Booklist, to see if it helps me stay on top of books with a buzz.
Reader Requests
* "What We Did Not Have" spreadsheet – We keep a spreadsheet at our reference desk on which we note requested books and subjects that we lacked. We will consider acquiring items if we think they will used by other future readers.
* Direct patron purchase requests - If someone goes to the trouble of asking us to buy an item, we usually will, if it is reasonably priced and fits our collection.
As you can guess from reading this list of sources, selecting books for the library is not a simple "Oh, I will do it on Friday" task. Selectors have to set aside some time for reading reviews, and they also have to be always ready to jot down a title. You might find important book news anywhere.
Norah Pollard, Poet
April is National Poetry Month, and I had the good fortune to meet a poet. Norah Pollard came to our western suburbs of Chicago to read some of her poetry as the final event of The Big Read . This year's book was Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand, and the connection is that Norah is the jockey Red Pollard's daughter. Some of her poems are about her father. You can find a sampling at this web page about her book Leaning In.
Several of us from the eight libraries that participated in The Big Read had lunch with Norah at the Morton Arboretum the day after her poetry reading at the Lisle Public Library. We talked about topics anyone would discuss - food, travel, children, tattoos. It was not at all hard talking to a poet. We also talked about poetry and the readability of poetry. Norah said that a poet has the obligation of clarity, even when their poetry is personal. It is the personal aspect that makes it interesting and with which we identify. She thought the New Yorker and college professors lose sight of this idea, with the result (my interpretation of what she said) that the public thinks poetry has to be difficult to read.
Personal taste is important for poetry readers. I have started reading several poetry collections in the last two weeks that I just did not appeal to me. I read about 10 pages in each and returned them to the library. That is really no different from my fiction reading. I find very few novels that I like. This morning I started an old collection of Ogden Nash poems. It had sat on my bookshelf for a couple of weeks unopened, as I thought it might be a little old-fashioned. To my surprise, I found it is still amusing and relevant. Now I am enjoying myself.
Go to a poetry reading. Check out a poetry book. Take a poet to lunch. Enjoy yourself, too.
Several of us from the eight libraries that participated in The Big Read had lunch with Norah at the Morton Arboretum the day after her poetry reading at the Lisle Public Library. We talked about topics anyone would discuss - food, travel, children, tattoos. It was not at all hard talking to a poet. We also talked about poetry and the readability of poetry. Norah said that a poet has the obligation of clarity, even when their poetry is personal. It is the personal aspect that makes it interesting and with which we identify. She thought the New Yorker and college professors lose sight of this idea, with the result (my interpretation of what she said) that the public thinks poetry has to be difficult to read.
Personal taste is important for poetry readers. I have started reading several poetry collections in the last two weeks that I just did not appeal to me. I read about 10 pages in each and returned them to the library. That is really no different from my fiction reading. I find very few novels that I like. This morning I started an old collection of Ogden Nash poems. It had sat on my bookshelf for a couple of weeks unopened, as I thought it might be a little old-fashioned. To my surprise, I found it is still amusing and relevant. Now I am enjoying myself.
Go to a poetry reading. Check out a poetry book. Take a poet to lunch. Enjoy yourself, too.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
New Orleans Update from Leonard Kniffel
Leonard Kniffel, the editor-in-chief of American Libraries went to New Orleans in March and wrote a lengthy report on conditions for residents and libraries. It is called You Have to See It Yourself.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
A New Blog on Books: Likely Stories by Keir Graff
A new blog debuted along with Booklist Online as April started. The blog is called Likely Stories and is written by Keir Graff, who posts almost daily. I particularly liked Time the Avenger , which tells about writing book reviews for Booklist. In fact, most of the entries have something to do with writing book reviews or trying to write book reviews but having to deal with life as well. I also see suggestions of books for our library.
Booklist Online will require a subscription and I am not sure I want to subscribe. It appears that the blog can be accessed for free. I hope so.
Booklist Online will require a subscription and I am not sure I want to subscribe. It appears that the blog can be accessed for free. I hope so.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Yesterday: A Film About AIDS from South Africa
Yesterday is a young woman nearly alone in her husband's Zulu village. Having no friends or relatives, she spends most of her time alone with her young daughter Beauty, while her husband is away with most of the men, working in the mines near Johannesburg. At the beginning of the film, we see Yesterday and her daughter walking to a distant village to visit a weekly medical clinic. When they arrive, the line to see the doctor is too long and they are sent away by the only man we see in first 15 or 20 minutes of the film.
Filmed in the Bergville region of Kwa-Natal, Yesterday is a starkly beautiful film. The landscape is broad and nearly barren. The hills of Zululand stand behind Yesterday and Beauty as they till dry land and carry water from the village well. It is difficult to imagine the troubles of the industrial world in such an isolated spot, but the men bring back more than stories from their months near the city. Yesterday is feeling weak and coughs uncontrollably. Who will help her?
Darrell Roodt, who made Cry, the Beloved Country and Sarafina, wrote and directed Yesterday. Leleti Khumalo plays Yesterday, and Kenneth Kambule plays her tragic husband. Viewer will be left remembering little Lihle Mvelase as Beauty, who is so happy to get a dress for school.
Yesterday was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005 in the category of best foreign film. According to the South African Embassy, it is the first feature-length isiZulu film and was sponsored by the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Now that it is available in DVD, it should be added to library collections everywhere.
Yesterday. New York: Home Box Office, 2006. ISBN 078313357x
Filmed in the Bergville region of Kwa-Natal, Yesterday is a starkly beautiful film. The landscape is broad and nearly barren. The hills of Zululand stand behind Yesterday and Beauty as they till dry land and carry water from the village well. It is difficult to imagine the troubles of the industrial world in such an isolated spot, but the men bring back more than stories from their months near the city. Yesterday is feeling weak and coughs uncontrollably. Who will help her?
Darrell Roodt, who made Cry, the Beloved Country and Sarafina, wrote and directed Yesterday. Leleti Khumalo plays Yesterday, and Kenneth Kambule plays her tragic husband. Viewer will be left remembering little Lihle Mvelase as Beauty, who is so happy to get a dress for school.
Yesterday was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005 in the category of best foreign film. According to the South African Embassy, it is the first feature-length isiZulu film and was sponsored by the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Now that it is available in DVD, it should be added to library collections everywhere.
Yesterday. New York: Home Box Office, 2006. ISBN 078313357x
Friday, April 07, 2006
New Orleans Recovery Stories
Leslie Burger just got back from a trip to New Orleans to assess the situation and has posted a report on her blog that should be read by all librarians.
Having read Lesie's report, you may want to do some further research. There are plenty of stories daily. This is what I found this morning:
Zephers Return to New Orleans - April 6 story from the Associated Press about minor league baseball returning to the city. Repairs are still being made to the Zepher's stadium, but it was ready for opening night.
Council Asks Nagin to Abandon Landfill - April 7 story from the Times-Picayune about struggles over hurricane debris. Environmentalists and the residents of eastern New Orleans argue against the current landfill proposal.
Katrina Curriculum - April 7 story from the Times-Picuyune about Lake Harbor Middle School using computers to develop an environmental protection plan to protect New Orleans from future hurricanes. The article also lists other ways schools have incorporated Hurrinca Katrina in curriculum.
Sing a Song of Recovery - April 7 story from Times-Picayune about hurricane recovery songs being considered by Louisiana Legislature. Which will be chosen the official song? The story includes lots of lyrics and websites to hear the songs.
Builders Give New Orleans' Homeless a Helping Hand - HGTV story about New Orleans Rescue Mission reopening its single women's dorm.
New Orleans May Face Internet Showdown - April 3 story about cable and telephone company opposition to free wireless in New Orleans.
I used Technorati and Google News to find these items. Another good source is Everything New Orleans . It does not matter how you find article, but please take time to read a little on what is happening in the city.
Having read Lesie's report, you may want to do some further research. There are plenty of stories daily. This is what I found this morning:
Zephers Return to New Orleans - April 6 story from the Associated Press about minor league baseball returning to the city. Repairs are still being made to the Zepher's stadium, but it was ready for opening night.
Council Asks Nagin to Abandon Landfill - April 7 story from the Times-Picayune about struggles over hurricane debris. Environmentalists and the residents of eastern New Orleans argue against the current landfill proposal.
Katrina Curriculum - April 7 story from the Times-Picuyune about Lake Harbor Middle School using computers to develop an environmental protection plan to protect New Orleans from future hurricanes. The article also lists other ways schools have incorporated Hurrinca Katrina in curriculum.
Sing a Song of Recovery - April 7 story from Times-Picayune about hurricane recovery songs being considered by Louisiana Legislature. Which will be chosen the official song? The story includes lots of lyrics and websites to hear the songs.
Goodbye Joe, me gotta go, me oh my oh,
'Cause the whole subdivision's now a bayou
N. O. Postmark Returns Today - April 3 story from the Times-Picayune about U. S. Postal Service reopening a distribution center, restoring local service to 95 percent. Soon people in New Orleans will be able to receive magazines again.
Builders Give New Orleans' Homeless a Helping Hand - HGTV story about New Orleans Rescue Mission reopening its single women's dorm.
New Orleans May Face Internet Showdown - April 3 story about cable and telephone company opposition to free wireless in New Orleans.
I used Technorati and Google News to find these items. Another good source is Everything New Orleans . It does not matter how you find article, but please take time to read a little on what is happening in the city.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Wilkie Collin's The Dead Alive: The Novel, the Case, and the Wrongful Convictions by Rob Warden
Scott Turow notes in his introduction to Wilkie Collin's The Dead Alive, that Collins is wrongly credited as the inventor of the mystery novel, when Edgar Allan Poe had written Murders in the Rue Morgue twenty-five years before Collin's The Moonstone. Still Turow acclaims that Collins was one of the "progenitors of the popular novel" and was the "first author of a legal thriller" with the short novel The Dead Alive.
This new edition of The Dead Alive from Northwestern University Press is an uncommon book. The first part of the book is fiction, being a republication of Collin's classic tale about the wrongful conviction of two brothers for the murder of a man they have disliked and threatened publicly. The second part is an essay by Rob Warden, who is the executive director of the Center on Wrongful Conviction at Northwestern University School of Law. He tells the story of the true case from which Collins drew his inspiration and the the history of other wrongful conviction cases in the United States. What is troubling is how many times law enforcement officials forced confessions from the accused when no body was ever found. Warden goes on to cite cases where the supposed victims later were found alive, sometimes after the accused were found guilty and executed. Two appendices on wrongful convictions are included.
Libraries have a difficult decision. Do they put the book in fiction with the other Collins novels or in the true crime area? We have it in the true crime area because we think the purpose of the book is exposing the history of wrongful conviction. Other libraries may decide differently.
The decision to read the book is easy. The novel is modern and compelling and relatively short. The Dead Alive could be an interesting discussion book.
Warden, Rob. Wilkie Collin's The Dead Alive: The Novel, the Case, and Wrongful Convictions. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2005. ISBN 0810122944
This new edition of The Dead Alive from Northwestern University Press is an uncommon book. The first part of the book is fiction, being a republication of Collin's classic tale about the wrongful conviction of two brothers for the murder of a man they have disliked and threatened publicly. The second part is an essay by Rob Warden, who is the executive director of the Center on Wrongful Conviction at Northwestern University School of Law. He tells the story of the true case from which Collins drew his inspiration and the the history of other wrongful conviction cases in the United States. What is troubling is how many times law enforcement officials forced confessions from the accused when no body was ever found. Warden goes on to cite cases where the supposed victims later were found alive, sometimes after the accused were found guilty and executed. Two appendices on wrongful convictions are included.
Libraries have a difficult decision. Do they put the book in fiction with the other Collins novels or in the true crime area? We have it in the true crime area because we think the purpose of the book is exposing the history of wrongful conviction. Other libraries may decide differently.
The decision to read the book is easy. The novel is modern and compelling and relatively short. The Dead Alive could be an interesting discussion book.
Warden, Rob. Wilkie Collin's The Dead Alive: The Novel, the Case, and Wrongful Convictions. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2005. ISBN 0810122944
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
I really loved this book. I do not want to review it in any academic way at all. I mostly want to say that I loved this book and recommend that everyone read it.
I have to thank Bonnie for bringing home The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. She keeps up with what is designated as children's literature better than I do, and I often benefit from her vigilence. I am very glad to have read this book. In fact, I have now heard the audiobook and read the hardbound book.
At 198 pages The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is actually fairly long for a children's book, but the print is big and the story only takes a couple of hours to read. It can be described as a chapter book about a toy rabbit who learns how to love and be loved, but I think it is much more than that. The one-thing-after-another story remindes me of great classic tales, like Vanity Fair or Homer's Odyssey, but it is much easier to read.
I suspect that The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane would be a great gift to someone (young or old) who has experience the loss of friends or relatives by death or divorce or other circumstances. I am sure that many readers will identify with Edward, who loses so many friends. Edward is honest about his feelings, and the story is not sappy, as it could be if it were not so well written.
I am glad that I checked out the hardbound edition after hearing the story on CD. The illustrations by Bagram Ibatoulline are superb.
Head to your library today. Ask for Kate DiCamillo's latest book.
DiCamillo, Kate. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Cambridge: Candlewick Press, 2006. ISBN 0763625892
On two compact discs: New York: Random House/Listening Library, 2006. ISBN 0307245950
I have to thank Bonnie for bringing home The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. She keeps up with what is designated as children's literature better than I do, and I often benefit from her vigilence. I am very glad to have read this book. In fact, I have now heard the audiobook and read the hardbound book.
At 198 pages The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is actually fairly long for a children's book, but the print is big and the story only takes a couple of hours to read. It can be described as a chapter book about a toy rabbit who learns how to love and be loved, but I think it is much more than that. The one-thing-after-another story remindes me of great classic tales, like Vanity Fair or Homer's Odyssey, but it is much easier to read.
I suspect that The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane would be a great gift to someone (young or old) who has experience the loss of friends or relatives by death or divorce or other circumstances. I am sure that many readers will identify with Edward, who loses so many friends. Edward is honest about his feelings, and the story is not sappy, as it could be if it were not so well written.
I am glad that I checked out the hardbound edition after hearing the story on CD. The illustrations by Bagram Ibatoulline are superb.
Head to your library today. Ask for Kate DiCamillo's latest book.
DiCamillo, Kate. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Cambridge: Candlewick Press, 2006. ISBN 0763625892
On two compact discs: New York: Random House/Listening Library, 2006. ISBN 0307245950
Monday, April 03, 2006
Great Poets of World War I: Poetry from the Great War by Jon Stallworthy
All the poets included in Great Poets of World War I were British soldiers. While seven of the twelve died in military service, they did not all die in battle. Dysentery, blood poisoning, and stray shells away from the front took some of these poets' lives. Sadly one of the survivors spent fifteen years after the war in an asylum. All survivors were forever changed by the "war to end all wars."
For each of the twelve poets, a chapter includes facts about their lives, sample poems, photos, manuscripts, and excerpts of letters. Readers will notice that their poems written at the beginning of the war tend to be patriotic, while later works (if the poet survived the opening months of the war) tend to illustrate the horrors of battle. Some wrote their verse to the end. After Charles Hamilton Sorley died on the Western Front in October 1915, a sonnet was found in his kit, including these lines:
Give them not praise. For deaf, how should they know,
It is not curses heaped on each gashed head?
Not tears. Their blind eyes see not your tears flow.
Not honour. It is easy to be dead.
Other poets in this collection include Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon, and Robert Graves. With the variety of styles and messages, this collection could spark interesting discussions.
Stallworthy, Jon. Great Poets of World War I: Poetry from the Great War. New York: Carroll and Graf, 2002. ISBN 0786710985
For each of the twelve poets, a chapter includes facts about their lives, sample poems, photos, manuscripts, and excerpts of letters. Readers will notice that their poems written at the beginning of the war tend to be patriotic, while later works (if the poet survived the opening months of the war) tend to illustrate the horrors of battle. Some wrote their verse to the end. After Charles Hamilton Sorley died on the Western Front in October 1915, a sonnet was found in his kit, including these lines:
Give them not praise. For deaf, how should they know,
It is not curses heaped on each gashed head?
Not tears. Their blind eyes see not your tears flow.
Not honour. It is easy to be dead.
Other poets in this collection include Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon, and Robert Graves. With the variety of styles and messages, this collection could spark interesting discussions.
Stallworthy, Jon. Great Poets of World War I: Poetry from the Great War. New York: Carroll and Graf, 2002. ISBN 0786710985
Sunday, April 02, 2006
My Confederate Kin by Thulani Davis
When Georgia Campbell Neal died in 1971, she left her granddaughter Thulani Davis a 1920s silver dollar in a hand-sewn cotton sack. Nothing more. In anger, the grandmother had mostly written the young woman out of her will. Wanting her more included in the legacy, the author’s sisters gave her two old leather bound albums filled with photos and keepsakes collected by her great grandparents, Chloe Tarrant Curry and William Argyle Campbell. They later gave her their grandmother’s manuscript, “Chloe’s White Child.” With these items, Davis began to piece together My Confederate Kin , the story of two Southern families, the landed white Campbells and the Tarrants, their slaves.
The author dug into documents and histories of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas to follow the many members of the families. She found census record, cotton plantation records, slave rolls, letters, and another manuscript. Her original intention was to write a novel inspired by the stories, but she found nonfiction more compelling. The result is a fascinating book documenting southern life from before the Civil War into the opening decades of the twentieth century.
The 1870s were the worst of times for blacks in the former Confederate states. Davis tells how the Ku Klux Klan and its allies restored the old order as the Northern whites grew tired of the efforts to extend voting rights and equality under the law. She charges her white cousins with abetting robbery, murder, and terrorism, for the sake of cotton profits and selling land. She also tells how her great grandmother survived and eventually thrived. Her experience as a slave made her resourceful and cunning and able to send all her children, nieces, and nephews to school.
My Confederate Kin is a good example of the state of African American genealogy. With digital access to official records, the increased sharing of research and DNA testing, Davis says that blacks can now reclaim some of the history that slavery stole from them.
David. Thulani. My Confederate Kinfolk. New York: Basic Books, 2006. ISBN 0465015557Saturday, April 01, 2006
Poetry Month Has Started: A Challenge to Readers and Library Bloggers
It is now officially National Poetry Month, time to read and recommend poems. The world of verse is vast and varied, so there is something for virtually everyone.
I am going to go one step farther and challenge everyone to write a little verse. Add it as a comment to this page or post it on your own blog. You do not have to be Byron, Keats, or Shelley, or even Brian, Sheets, and Kelly. Here is my modest submission, free verse that does not even rhyme:
I wore a wrinkled shirt today.
I noticed at midmorning
the tracks of laundry gremlins
trailing from my chest,
minature pleats scattered
like tiny pickup sticks.
The irony is I had rejected a shirt
with a collar that needed to be ironed.
Look at my Googlepage for poetry to find more poetry recommendations. I look forward to seeing your poems.
I am going to go one step farther and challenge everyone to write a little verse. Add it as a comment to this page or post it on your own blog. You do not have to be Byron, Keats, or Shelley, or even Brian, Sheets, and Kelly. Here is my modest submission, free verse that does not even rhyme:
I wore a wrinkled shirt today.
I noticed at midmorning
the tracks of laundry gremlins
trailing from my chest,
minature pleats scattered
like tiny pickup sticks.
The irony is I had rejected a shirt
with a collar that needed to be ironed.
Look at my Googlepage for poetry to find more poetry recommendations. I look forward to seeing your poems.
Rock and Roll Library for National Library Week
Teresa Koltzenburg has found Rock and Roll Library, a mini-video produced for National Library Week by University of Pittsburgh library student Rick Samuelson. Her full report can be found at the ALA Techsource Blog.
To view the video, you will need QuickTime 6. Find the video here.
About half way through the five minute video the image will seem to pause. Do not worry - special effects are coming.
To view the video, you will need QuickTime 6. Find the video here.
About half way through the five minute video the image will seem to pause. Do not worry - special effects are coming.
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