A Pizza the Size of the Sun: Poems by Jack Prelutsky, Drawings by James Stevenson

National Poetry Month is still a month away, but it not too soon to indulge in a little poetry reading, especially if it is as much fun as A Pizza the Size of the Sun by Jack Prelutsky. While the poems are aimed at children, anyone can enjoy them. Here is a sample:

The Manatee

I'm partial to the manatee,
which emanates no vanity.
It swims amidst anemones
and hasn't any enemies.

Prelutsky loves to play with words, some of which I am sure are a challenge to youth. I can imagine that some slower readers will just say "huh?" when reading terms like "dromedary," "cranium," "fastidious," and "unmitigated rancor." Others will catch on and expand their vocabularies. How are they going to learn unless someone interesting uses good vocabulary?

Here is another short poem:

Chuck

I'm Chuck, the chore evader
and adept procrastinator.
I've got a lot of strategies-
I'll demonstrate them later.

Paretsky must have grown up reading Ogden Nash and Dr. Seuss. He uses quick rhyming, alliteration, and nonsense. He writes backwards, makes readers turn the pages in circles, and fills some poems with puns. The poems are best read aloud, if you can keep your tongue from twisting.

There is much to love and remember.

I think I have met Miss Misinformation on page 30.

Swami Gourami's ability to predict the past, described on pages 102-3, might be useful.

I wonder about cream of camel camembert soup, page 49.

We all know a teenage hippopotamus, page 99.

So put down your T.S. Eliot and John Milton for awhile and try one of Jack Prelutsky's books. You can't help but smile.

Prelutsky, Jack. A Pizza the Size of the Sun. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1996. ISBN 0688132359

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy began in 1978 as a radio comedy. Upon request, Douglas Adams turned it into a book that begot other books, and the BBC made a five episode television series. It was all tremendously successful and has been very lovingly remembered. In 2005 a new recording by Stephen Fry was probably not needed, but some one said "Hey, let's do it!" I am glad they did. Fry's reading is uproariously, laugh-out-loud funny. (Maybe that's how I got the hernia.)

Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. New York: Pocket Books, 1981. ISBN 0671746065

5 Compact discs. Santa Ana, CA : Books on Tape, p2005. ISBN 1415922551

The Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them

There are two kinds of people: those who know exactly which books changed their lives and those who do not know so they change the question. In The Book That Changed My Life, both groups are represented, and writers from both say remarkable things about books, reading, writing, and themselves.

Who would every guess that the Chinese author Da Chen would offer The Count of Monte Cristo as the book that led to his being a writer. The writer's village was very poor and the local communist council controlled reading very closely. When a ex-convict set up a rental library with stolen books, the title by Dumas was the first that Da Chen could rent with the penny he got for selling an empty toothpaste tube. I have put his memoirs Colors of the Mountain and Sounds of the River on my reading list.

Jack Prelutsky's story is similar to Da Chen's in that he chose the first book that he read, A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. Prelutsky grew up to write many books of poems for children, including A Pizza the Size of the Sun. That sounds like a book for me.

Anne Perry makes The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton sound like essential reading.

Richard Rhodes' case for reading Albert Schweitzer's Out of My Life and Thought and Hugh Lofting's Doctor Doolittle books interests me in his own A Hole in the World.

As I look over these statements and my other notes, I see a trend. I am mostly choosing the works by the contemporary writers over the books they themselves recommend.

The Book That Changed My Life was compiled and edited by Roxanne J Coady and Joy Johannessen of R. J. Julia Booksellers of Madison, Connecticut, who both add their own reading suggestions to the back of the book. Profits from the book go to Read to Grow, a nonprofit organization that gives books to babies and children in Connecticut. Buying and reading are in this case very positive acts.

The Book That Changed My Life. New York: Gotham Books, 2006. ISBN 1592402100

I'm in the Change the Question Group

I find the question "What book changed your life?" hard to answer.

1. I want to say Readers' Digest Condensed Books. I say this not because I read them, but I witnessed my mother and her friends in rural west Texas reading them. In the 1960s subscribers to RDCBs got four volumes per year, each holding three to five titles by contemporary authors. Mom read them, criticized them if they did not meet her standards, and loaned them to nonsubscribers. From RDCBs I got the notion that there was a book world somewhere far away.

2. I also want to say John Audubon, Boy Naturalist by Miriam Evangiline Mason. In fourth grade I read the entire book the day I checked it out from the library. I do not remember ever being so taken with a book before that day.

3. Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry is a book that I admire highly. I read it just three years ago. Knowing that such good stories are available, I never have to read anything inferior again.

4. I am still seeking the book that changes my life. It is still out there.

5. As several of the writers in The Book That Changed My Life say, every book changes me.

Directory of Health and Human Services in Metropolitan Chicago, 2007-2008

The Thomas Ford Memorial Library just received its 2007-2008 edition of Directory of Health and Human Services in Metropolitan Chicago. The reason I mention this is that the publication of this useful source has been somewhat erratic and not well-publicized in recent years, due to funding. We did not get one of the editions because we ordered too late and copies were all gone.

An online version is also available for $175. The print version is $100 plus $5 shipping. All the information is available at the Community Resource Network website. Use the drop-down menu to specifiy the edition you want.

New York Botanical Garden

I want to go!

The New York Botanical Garden is a big, beautiful book full of dazzling photographs of colorful plants and gardens that contrast sharply with the bare trees, dead grass, and remains of snow outside my windows. As I look through its pages, I want to go to New York, a place I've never been, and wander though the 250 acres of gardens and woods along the Bronx River. It also makes me think of the great gardens and arboretums that I have seen. Some are near me in the Chicago area. Is it still February? I should bundle up and go out any way.

The text of The New York Botanical Gardens tells of the park's history, describes the many special gardens, advises visitors where to find spectacular plants, describes the library and herbarium collections, and tells of international research supported by the organization. The photos, however, are the real emphasis of the book. On page 48 is a photo of late-flowering Korean chrysanthemums that is dazzling. Pages 72 through 81 show the world famous Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. Page 144 shows the double row of huge autumn gold tulip trees approaching the brick, limestone, and terra-cotta library. Pages 171 and 172 show pink magnolias in bloom. Nearly every page of the book impresses.

The New York Botanical Garden is a large book that is a little heavy to hold. Settle onto a comfortable couch or sit at a table. Take your time. Pretend you are there.

The New York Botanical Garden. New York: Abrams, 2006. ISBN 0810957442

Stirring the Mud: On Swamps, Bogs, and Human Imagination by Barbara Hurd

Sometimes I find great books by accident. I was helping a client gather books on global warming, kneeling to the right of some real estate books in the Dewey 333 area, when I spotted Stirring in the Mud by Barbara Hurd. The cover photo of a swamp with a dragonfly drawn on to it, the intriguing title, and the compact size of the book caught my eye. Jane Brox wrote one of the blurbs on the back. It just looked like a book I would want to read.

Barbara Hurd is an English teacher and poet who has loved swamps since her childhood. She has traipsed them on her own and with naturalists all her life, getting wet and muddy in an effort to see what is under surface and behind the bush. In Stirring the Mud, she visits wetlands in her native Maryland, Louisiana, and Alaska. She also tells about a trip to Tibet.

Hurd is a keen observer and thinker, and her book is full of passages that should be read and reread and sent to friends.

"There is no escaping the universal drama here: Isis lies down in the swamp with the dead, becomes mystery herself, and gives birth to silence. Haven't we all done the same? Slept with the past, courted dead ideas, been born into muck, found ourselves draped in a fine sheen of the worn and silky sediment of surrounding mountains, our hands slicked with the debris of the world? We raise our fingers to our eyes, wipe away mud, lift our heads and look around. For miles, for continents, for eons, the world seems to battle and blaze. We hunger for its glory. Then, singing and swinging my arms one day, I learned that what I approach in the swamp deflates its throat, withdraws its song. The question is how we can keep crashing about, proclamatory and crass, once we know that so much of the world grows silent in the face of our loutishness? Why don't we spend our whole lives, like Isis and her son, veiled and silent?"

I found the book with this passage next to the real estate books. The Library of Congress recommended the Dewey number 333.91'8'01. This is so wrong. The book is about nature, philosophy, the human spirit, and poetry. It should be with Walden and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.

Stirring the Mud should be in libraries everywhere.

Hurd, Barbara. Stirring the Mud: On Swamps, Bogs, and Human Imagination. Boston: Beacon Press, 2001. ISBN 0807085448

Libraries, the Retail Customer Service Model, and Feel Good Marketing: Updated

Sometimes a pattern only appears when it is broken.

When I shop at retail stores, clerks usually smile and sometimes comment about the weather, but they do not say very much. Until recently they have rarely said anything about what I buy. Occasionally a clerk at a clothing store might say "I like that color" or a grocery clerk might say "That's on sale. I should get a couple." These comments seemed mostly undirected.

I had not realized until this weekend that there is a new pattern. At both the big supermarket and the friendly speciality grocery, I have heard many comments recently about what I brought up to the register.

"I really like these apples. They are so crisp."

"Ghirardelli brownies! I bet they're good."

"You'll like those enchiladas."

"That's my favorite nut mix. That little bit of coconut makes it so good!"

"You found the Thai mixes. My favorite is the satay. Have you tried it?"

I have not heard so much from clerks since I had a toddler in the shopping cart. Could it be the few gray hairs at my temples that makes me more approachable?

I only thought about this about after shopping at an office supply store. A young clerk was being trained by a manager. As she checked me out, she said cautiously, "That's a really nice binder."

I walked back to my car wondering why she said that. It was just a plain blue plastic binder. Then it struck me. She is being taught to compliment the customer's selections. The idea is to make the customer feel good about buying something from her store. She hadn't gotten the hang of it yet.

Of course, this made me think about the library.

The idea of marketing a good feeling is not a bad idea. We may want to do it in libraries, too, but our comments have to be honest and natural. Any falsehood is quickly spotted.

Also, complimenting someone every time you see will rouse suspicions. People will wonder if we are trying to manipulate them or secretly make fun of them.

There has been much emulation of retail models of customer service in libraries in recent years. It does not always work. I hope I never see a library consultant pressing "feel good comments about what people borrow" onto our public service staff. We should stay honest and friendly and only say "I liked that book" if it is true.

As long as we stay friendly and helpful and real, we will cultivate good feeling.

Update: This is getting more comments than most of my blog posts, and a variety of viewpoints are being expressed. The discussion has brought up several ideas that I was not connecting.

For clarification about my viewpoint, let me say I see nothing wrong with honest, unforced comments by service staff at retail or in the library. I like talking with people and enjoy some of these little convesations, so long as they are tactful. Having clerks forced to comment or being kept from commenting both seem wrong to me. Also, I do not like the idea of being subliminally marketed.

Elephant by Steve Bloom

When I first saw the cover on Elephant by Steve Bloom, with all the birds flying around the lead elephant in a group (look around the back), I knew I would dive in. Having twice gone on camera safari in Tanzania and Kenya, where we had close encounters with elephants, I am always ready to relive our experiences. Bloom's great photographs deliver what I need to go back. I am awash in memories.

Bloom either has big zoom lenses or gets very close to the elephants. You can see the bristles on the elephants' hides. He captures motion, too. Dust flies, mud splatters, and water splashes. There seems to be a shock wave coming from the elephant on page 116. He also captures the spiritual mystique of elephants. On pages 176-177 an elephant stands in a shaft of sunlight in a dense woods.

Bloom spent much of his time at Chobe in Botswana, but he also visited other African countries. The latter part of the book focuses on Asian elephants. He includes a series of cool underwater photographs of a Thai elephany named Rajan and another series of elephants brightly painted for the Jaipur Elephant Festival.

You can see some of Bloom's elephant photos at his website.

There is no animal more impressive than the elephant. Seeing herds of elephants is awesome, as they move with agility and grace, young and old, with purpose and resolve. The next best thing to being in Africa or on the Indian subcontinent to see the elephants is looking through a book like Elephant. Libraries should get this book.

Bloom, Steve. Elephant. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2006. ISBN 0811857271

Elephants in the Serengeti

Elephants in the Serengeti
Originally uploaded by ricklibrarian.

I can not resist posting one of our own elephant photos to go along with the review of the book by Steve Bloom. There are lots of elephants in Tanzania and they are photogenic. You should go see for yourself.

Letters from New Orleans by Rob Walker

I reviewed four books about New Orleans last year preparing for the ALA annual conference in the city. The Garrett County Press noticed and asked if I would accept a free copy of the second edition of Letters from New Orleans by Rob Walker. There were no strings attached, though the publisher hoped that I would like and review the book. I said yes and received it in the mail a couple of weeks ago.

Walker and his girlfriend E moved to the Crescent City late in 1999 and were surprised by the local tradition of firing of guns in the air on New Years Eve. He wrote a letter about the random injuries that resulted and government efforts to curb the gun play. In the letter he also wrote about unpacking, buying paint, listening to New Orleans music, and the theft of the rental car. He sent the letter to friends by email, who shared it with strangers.

In the next three years he wrote thirteen more letters and sent them to an increasing number of people. They also found their way to Slate.com, the New Republic, and other websites and magazines. In 2005, just before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the book was published.

Walker wrote lovingly about what he saw everyday riding his bike around the city. He told about street life, housing projects, musicians, and the annual Carnival, which is capped off by Mardi Gras. He spoke to lots of people and described intersections, vacant lots, pillars under the Interstate, and old buildings.

The second edition is little changed from the first. An introduction and two postscripts have been added and one chapter has been updated. Walker admits that the stories now reflect a life that is past. He also mentions the great interest in the tragedy from outside the city. He suggests that many of those criticizing New Orleans refuse to see that their lives are in as much danger from forces beyond their control as the citizens living below sea level.
Letters from New Orleans is an interesting book that should find more readers.

Walker, Rob. Letters from New Orleans. Garrett County Press, 2006. ISBN 1891053019

ricklibrarian's Second Anniversary

Two years ago today, I started this blog with a review of Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry. According to Google Analytics, that review is still occassionally read - four visitors so far in February, three of whom are from North Carolina. Lots of the reviews have continued to be read.

I know you read the reviews, but do you ever buy, read, or recommend the books reviewed? If you will, please click here to take a quick survey. There are only three short questions. It will only take you seconds.

I promise to post the results no matter what they are.

Presidential Candidates Give Supporters Blogs

The Chicago Tribune of February 16, 2007 includes a front page article by Washington Bureau reporter Mike Dorning titled "Political Web Sites Get Personal: Candidates Let Backers Write Blogs, Network." The article starts with news about Barack Obama's web site.

"Sen. Barack Obama's newly revamped Web site looks a lot like MySpace and Facebook, and that's no accident. As a presidential candidate offering himself as a generational change agent, Obama is leveraging online social networking in a nearly unprecedented way in yet another clear measure of how the Internet is transforming politics."

Later in the article, the reporter says that the web site for John Edwards also provides supporters with blogs and space for profiles.

Finding the social tools on Obama's website is easy, as they are prominently displayed. On Edward's website they associated with the "Join the Campaign" box. Also, if you "skip to the website" from the welcome page and scroll to the bottom of the following page, you will find links to the Edward's MySpace, YouTube, 43 Things, etc.

It will be interesting to see if the candidates who have supported legislation to restrict access to social websites in schools and public libraries will be following the examples of Obama and Edwards. They could be choosing to filter themselves.

A Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger

When I read the newspaper or check the news online, I usually skip over crime stories. I may read the headlines and the opening paragraphs, if even that much, and go on to political, economic, and human interest stories. What can I get out of reading about another senseless murder? I'd rather spend my time with book reviews and stories about the arts and technology.

I was not a likely candidate to read A Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger.

So, why did I do it?

Your honor and members of the jury, you might not expect me, mild-manner reader that I am, to take up a brutal book like A Death in Belmont. There are reasons that I acted so out of character.

1. Lots of people were reading it. They kept recommending it to me. It was peer pressure.
2. There just are not enough iPod books at my library. I have run through the ones that interest me. It was an act of desperation.
3. I have recently seen two fascinating movies about Truman Capote's writing In Cold Blood. Junger's book also takes the readers back to the 1960s. I wanted another fix.

So, I plead that it was beyond my control to avoid A Death in Belmont. I listened to it on my iPod, and I do not regret a single minute. Well, maybe I squirmed while Junger described how the Boston Strangler killed some of his victims, and I almost wanted to cry when he told about the sad, sad fate of Roy Smith. I also felt exasperation and outrage during the reading of lengthy police interrogation of Smith. It was not pleasure reading, but it was compelling.

I promise now to read something more uplifting.

Junger, Sebastian. A Death in Belmont. New York: Norton, 2006. ISBN 0393059804

Reproducible Tax Forms in My Dreams

Ever have a dream that seemed so real?

Late in December I dreamed that the Reproducible Copies of Federal Tax Forms and Instructions came and that I put them in an old, battered binder. What's more, I was very happy because the IRS had sent the set in one volume in one numeric order, instead of later sending a second volume, which starts the number order all over again. 2007 would be so much better for our clients who like to browse through the forms.

When awake a few days later, I started looking for the forms. I could not remember what I had actually done with the binder. For days I looked around the reference desk, in the work room, on the index tables, in the staff room, and around the library. I did a lot of cleaning looking for the missing binder. I asked all the staff if they had seen a white tax form binder. No one had.

I was very surprised when I called the IRS to get a replacement set. The telephone rep told me that the reproducible forms had never been sent, as some of the tax laws had been changed at the last minute, requiring that some forms to be rewritten. I felt senile.

Today is February 15, 2007. Our postal carrier just delivered the reproducible forms. In the top left corner of the cover sheet are the words "Volume 1 of 2." More are coming later in another numbering scheme. Some dreams just don't come true.

Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Country Music in America

I continue my study of country music with Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Country Music in America, a big, beautiful book with the stamp of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. I am now well prepared for my trip to Nashville.

It is a commitment to read Will the Circle Be Unbroken, as there are 360 oversized pages full of text, colorful photos, and sidebars focusing on the musical stars and their hit songs. Reading it takes you on a long journey through the history of the musical genre, from the hillbilly music of Appalachia, the gospel music of the South, and cowboy songs of western expansion, through minstrel shows and vaudeville, to the rise of recording and radio, and ending with modern country music.

Most people will use Will the Circle Be Unbroken as a reference book. Each chapter focuses on a time period or a musical root, such as cowboy music or bluegrass. Special pages show the sheet music, guitars, and clothes of the country music stars. Using the detailed index, students can find information on singers, songwriters, songs, radio stations, barn dance programs, and American cities.

I recognized some of the album covers, especially Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs by Marty Robbins, Sentimentally Yours by Patsy Cline, and A Touch of Velvet by Jim Reeves. There were a lot of these records around the town where I grew up.

Being a sponsored publication by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the book is mostly positive in tone. The authors do, however, describe drug and alcohol abuse, broken marriages, and bitter rivalries in the field. The outrage of many in Nashville when outsiders like Olivia Newton-John or John Denver won awards is noted. A strongly-worded criticism of the music business by Rosanne Cash is included in the back of the book.

I took lots of notes as I read and am placing some reserves on CDs. I want to listen to Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Vince Gill, and Emmylou Harris.

Will the Circle Be Unbroken should be in most public library collections.

Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Country Music in America. New York: DK Publishing, 2006. ISBN 0756623529

Wall of Book Covers at Augustana College

Wall of Book Covers
Originally uploaded by ricklibrarian.

Last week my daughter Laura and I were in the Treadway Library at Augustana College. I really liked the wall of book covers in one of the entry ways - fifth floor if my memory is good. The only one of the books on this wall that I have read is the Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney, which you can see near the center.

American Libraries, February 2007: Are You Reading?

Based on circumstantial evidence, I do not think many people are bothering to read monthly issues of American Libraries. They are probably unaware of the redesign of the journal and its focus of looking back and forward in 2007, its 100th anniversary year. It is unfortunate that the articles are not fulltext at American Libraries Online. Is the fear that no one will bother joining ALA if the articles are free on the web? I do not think so. Most librarians join ALA because they are committed to the profession, not because they really want the journal. Is the fear that nonlibrarians will read the articles? I hope not. Putting the articles on the web would give them the exposure they deserve. The authors who wrote the articles and columns deserve a broader platform.

Because I can not link to the articles, I will link to the February table of contents and tell you what articles impressed me in the new issue.

"Race and Place: A Personal Account of Unequal Access" by Tracie D. Hall on pages 30-33 is definitely the most important item in the issue. The library service we all expect is still not universally available, as Hall makes very clear.

Meredith Farkas tells about the efforts of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County to train its staff in "A Roadmap to Learning 2.0" on page 26. Few libraries have the resources and talent of PLCMC, but they steal a few ideas from their blueprint for learning.

"Spectrum Turns 10: ALA's Diversity Recruitment Program Marks Its First Decade" by Amy Stone on pages 42-43 is an alert to how much more needs to be done in the area of diversity recruitment.

I was asked the other day why libraries would be interested in Second Life, the virtual world on the web. The answer is that youth are interested. See "Who's on Second? Do You Know Where Your Avatar Is?" by Jennifer Burek Pierce on page 46.

Mary Ellen Quinn tells about the new The Cambridge History of Libraries in Britain and Ireland in "Librarian's Library" on page 48. It will take real commitment to read, as it is three volumes and over two thousand pages. It does sound interesting. Can someone write the concise edition?

Bill Ott devotes his "Rousing Reads" on page 51 to one author, Lee Child.

Will Manley reports on the 1907 ALA Annual Conference in Ashville, North Carolina on page 64. No, he was not there! He read through the July 1907 issue of Bulletin of the American Library Association. He says that we would recognize most of the content, issues, and attitudes. Only the ideas about service for youth have changed radically.

Wouldn't it be nice if I could link to these articles so you could read them right now? The folks at RUSQ have caught on. Seek out the February issue of American Libraries. There should be one around your library.

The Caliph's House by Tahir Shah

Is "silly English-speaking person moves to foreign land and is surprised by the unfamiliar" a nonfiction book genre? If so The Caliph's House by Tahir Shah is a SESPMTFLAISBTU.

Tahir Shah is of Scottish and Afghan descent. Tired of the cold winters and shallow society of the British Isles, wanting his children to grow up in the sun, he decides to move his family to an over three hundred year old villa in Casablanca. Since his own childhood when he visited his grandfather in Tangier, he has nurtured a dream of living in Morocco. After buying Caliph's House, he moves his family into the insect-infested old stone rooms, where he discovers that he has inherited three house guardians and an angry Jinn (evil spirit) named Qandisha.

The tale that Shah tells is at times very funny and always compelling. Readers will want to know what happens next with the remodelling of the house, the searching for building materials, the hiring of assistants, the bending of laws, and the meeting of other ex patriots. I also like the story about seeking out his grandfather's abode and friends.

I am a bit troubled by the story. How could Shah have not known the troubles he would face? Was he really expecting trouble knowing its account would make a good book? Is the book honest or is it the literary equivalent of reality TV?

I also wonder about how Moroccans react to the book? Shah expresses European views of the Muslim people that might offend the natives, but he also serves up a lot of self-criticism. Could a Moroccan read it rooting for the locals in the way conservatives in the U.S. used to root for Archie Bunker in All in the Family? It would be interesting to know.

Because of its oddities, The Caliph's House might make a good discussion book.

Shah, Tahir. The Caliph's House. New York: Bantam Books, 2006. ISBN 0553803999

People Eternally Grateful for the Library

Will Sherman has written a great piece called Are Libraries Totally Obsolete? 33 Reasons Why Libraries and Librarians Are Still Extremely Important. His argument is very orderly and well presented. Everyone should read it.

I got my own evidence that library is still needed yesterday from the people who came by the reference desk and to my Beginning Internet class.

Early in the afternoon one woman said to me, "I'm in trouble. Can you help?" What she needed was actually very simple. I extracted a small bit of information from one of our newspapers on microfilm in less than three minutes. As she left, she said, "I'm eternally grateful."

After school, a student asked me for books on the history of movies. I gave her five books, including one on silent films and another on the pioneers of Hollywood. She gave me a big smile.

Later in the day another woman came to the reference desk. When I asked how I could help, she said that she had just stopped by to thank me for some information that I gathered for her family two months ago. I vaguely remember that I printed out several articles from a periodicals database. She said it was information that she had been unable to find on the Internet.

I had two students for my Beginning Internet class. One was recently widowed. Her husband had been skilled with the Internet, and now that she was on her own, she felt that she needed to learn. She said that she had called a government agency for some information and had been told that she would have to use their website. The other woman said that she was beginning to feel left out because all her friends are on the Internet daily. Both did quite well. They just needed someone patient to teach them some basic skills.

These transactions all support what Sherman says. It was an important day at the library.

Cleveland Public Library Places Content Outside Its Website

I have forgotten where I first heard the challenge to put library-generated content on
nonlibrary websites. Whatever, I have not actually seen a rush to meet this challenge, and I am personally guilty for not finding ways to partner with nonlibrary organization other than our local historical society, which was a good joint project, which needs follow up.

Yesterday, preparing for a trip to Nashville, I was looking for country music booklists. I did not find what I sought with the Librarian's Booklist Search and found only one guide list with other search engines. I will try again. Surely something more is out there. (By the way, I am still looking for libraries to add to the LBS.)

Whatever, I did find Hank Williams: Still Cookin': booklist from the Cleveland Public Library on a popular country music radio station website. It recommends books on Williams, histories of country music, songbooks, reference books, and music CDs, all at the Cleveland Public Library.

Well, partner, that's mighty good marketing!

How Nashville Became Music City, U.S.A.: 50 Years of Music Row by Michael Kosser

I read How Nashville Became Music City, U.S.A.: 50 Years of Music Row by Michael Kosser to prepare for a trip as a chaperon for my daughter's high school choir. Knowing that we were going to the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman Auditorium, and other country music sites, I wanted to get more background on the history of Nashville music and learn the important names. This book was a good choice as it had some of the history that I wanted.

The subtitle of the book really indicates the focus. There is only passing mention of the Grand Ole Opry in this book. The main topic is Music Row, the Nashville neighborhood that includes all the recording studios and music publishers. Kosser tells how WSN radio technicians set up a studio in an old house and began recording musicians after their day jobs over 50 years ago, starting a new industry in the city. He chronicles how Nashville then attracted musicians from around the country and how the corporations became involved. The story is filled with controversies, including "What is country music?"

In a way, this book is mostly about the people who make the country music recording industry work. Kosser profiles music stars, studio musicians, song writers, disc jockeys, producers, record executives, and agents. Many of the names are not well-known beyond Nashville. Readers learn the entire process of making a hit record, from idea by a songwriter to the work of the record companies to promote the records to the radio stations and the public.

My favorite sections were about Chet Atkins and Ray Stevens. The funniest song title was "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You."

Libraries with collections on the business of music will want this book.

Kosser, Michael. How Nashville Became Music City U.S.A.: 50 Years of Music Row. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2006. ISBN 0634098063

A Man without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut

As some people get older, they care less what other people think and say what ever is on their minds. Of course, Kurt Vonnegut has never held his tongue. In A Man without a Country, he is as forthright as ever.

If you think the United Nations Commission on Global Warming is critical of the human impact on the earth, then read A Man without a Country and see that Vonnegut has little hope for us. On page 44 he writes, "We have squandered our planet's resources, including air and water, as though there is no tomorrow, so now there isn't going to be."

Vonnegut criticizes the current administration, the news media, corporations, and religion. He praises socialism, agnosticism, humanism, the Sermon on the Mount, and slower living. He says that humans are addicted to fossil fuel and compares the current wars with drug wars; the generals and politicians are fighting around the world to supply transportation junkies. There are no words of comfort or hope.

From what I have said so far, you might think this is a dreary book. It is not! Vonnegut still cares about the reader. He has written a fun book about the end of humanity.

Vonnegut has said that he will not write again, making A Man without a Country a parting shot. Fans will want to read it, if they have not already. Others will probably condemn this very discussable work.

Vonnegut, Kurt. A Man without a Country. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2005. ISBN 158322713x

Zone 1 Reference Librarians on Nonfiction Readers' Advisory

Thursday’s meeting of Zone 1 Reference Librarians (Metropolitan Library System outside Chicago) was really good. Six librarians met at the Indian Prairie Public Library to discuss nonfiction readers’ advisory. Debra Wordinger baked cookies, which we ate with our choice of beverages, and we settled in for a good long talk.

Bonnie Reid of the Downers Grove Public Library reported on meetings of the Adult Reading Round Table, which has devoted 2006-2007 to nonfiction. Each meeting focuses on a nonfiction genre, such as biographies, adventure stories, or science discoveries. The participants read an assigned book and two titles from a genre booklist for the discussions, which are held every second month at the libraries in either Downers Grove or Des Plaines.

A key reason for the ARRT discussions is to identify appeal factors, which could help in choosing like books to offer readers. Appeal factors include frame, characterization, pacing, and storyline. Advisory for nonfiction readers may be more challenging than for fiction readers, who may happily read every book in a series by an author. The nonfiction reader may feel one book was enough on a topic and want the next book to be on a completely different topic but still have similar appeal.

Participants of the ARRT meeting keep the initial genre lists and the meeting notes to help them with their reader services.

Bonnie went on to tell about the DGPL Reference Department’s nonfiction readers’ advisory. At the staff’s weekly Wednesday afternoon meeting, the librarians report on any nonfiction books they read that week. (DGPL has a separate Readers’ Advisory Department that is devoted to fiction.) Each title with subject tags goes into a departmental database to help with advising readers and producing booklists. DGPL has these booklists on their website, and they are searchable in the Librarian’s Booklist Search.

During the Zone 1 meeting, we talked about nonfiction books that we had read. Each title mentioned suggested another. We jokingly started to identify new sub-genre, like “growing up in a really bad family” or “incidents in small midwestern towns.”

The next Zone 1 Reference Librarians Meeting is Thursday, May 3 in Downers Grove.

Inside the Animal Mind by George Page

I recently saw a 25th anniversary episode for the PBS program Nature. As I watched I kept waiting to hear the voice of the late George Page, who was the host and frequent narrator for many years. It was surprising deep in the program before one of his episodes was highlighted and he was acknowledged. The segment showed Page talking about canine/human interactions, which reminded me about his book Inside the Animal Mind.

While some ancient and tribal people believed animals have spirits and powers, most modern thinkers since the Age of Reason and the Industrial Revolution have assumed that animals act strictly according to instinct. According to common and sometimes religious belief, animals are inferior to humans. It was assumed that animals have no self-awareness and they are unable to think.

According to Page, scientists now disagree strongly about the nature of the animal mind. Some continue to believe animals have no thoughts, feelings, or conscience, while other point to studies of animal communications, problem-solving, and relationships with humans to contend that they are more capable. In Inside the Animal Mind, Page presents the arguments, his own beliefs, and the moral implications for how humans should treat animals in labs, zoos, feedlots, and the wild.

Librarians should offer this fascinating book when helping students with animal behavior and animal rights research.

Page, George. Inside the Animal Mind. New York: Doubleday, 1999. ISBN 038549291X

Pop Goes Fiction: A New Fiction Book Review Blog

Lora Bruggeman, a reader's advisory librarian currently tending to her family, has started Pop Goes Fiction, a new fiction book review. In a month and half she has posted 17 snappy reviews and a short list of her favorite books from 2006. She seems to have a knack for knowing what people like; I cross checked the titles with our library catalog and see that many of her choices having dozens of reserves. Her blog can help us with our fiction selection.

The reviews can help with reader's advisory, too. She captures the essence of each book in one nice-sized paragraph and she adds useful tags, like "first novels," "page-turners," "women's lives and relationships," and "multicultural fiction."

I have added Pop Goes Fiction to the Librarian's Book Revoogle. I am also adding the link to the right.

Nice work, Lora.