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.

Presidential Candidates 2008 as Authors: A Booklist

It occured to me that many of the announced or possible candidates to become our next president have written books. Until I started making this list, however, I had no idea how many there were, candidates and books. I used the candidates list at Politics1 to decide who to include.

In making the list that follows, I tried to add only books for which the candidate was the principle or second author. I also found that some of the candidates have very common names. I did not add titles unless I was very sure that the candidates and the authors were the same.

I noticed that many Republican Party and third party candidates publish books in Nashville.

Not all the candidates are writing about politics or world affairs. Some write about the American Civil War or statistical mechanics. Most write about terrorism.

Here are 61 titles. There are probably more that I missed.

Benjamin, Medea. No Free Lunch: Food & Revolution in Cuba Today. San Francisco, CA : Institute for Food and Development Policy, 1985. ISBN 0935028188

Benjamin, Medea. The Peace Corps and More: 114 Ways to Work, Study, and Travel in the Third World. San Francisco, CA : Global Exchange, Seven Locks Press, c1991. ISBN 0929765044

Benjamin, Medea, ed. Stop the Next War Now: Effective Responces to Violence and Terrorism. Maui, Hawaii : Inner Ocean Pub., c2005. ISBN 1930722494

Brownback, Sam. Building a Healthy Culture: Strategies for an American Renaissance. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001. ISBN 0802849180

Brownback, Sam. From Power to Purpose. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, July 2007. ISBN 084990398X

Clinton, Hillary Rodham, comp. Dears Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998. ISBN 0684857782

Clinton, Hillary Rodham. An Invitation to the White House: At Home with History. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. ISBN 0684857995

Clinton, Hillary Rodham. It Takes a Village and Other Lessons Children Teach Us. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. ISBN 0684818434, 0684825457 (pbk.)

Clinton, Hillary Rodham. Living History. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003. ISBN 0743222245, 0743222253 (pbk.)

Clark, Wesley K. Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo, and The Future of Combat. New York, Public Affairs, 2001. ISBN 158648043X

Clark, Wesley K. Winning Modern War: Iraq, Terrorism, and the American Empire. New York: Public Affairs, 2003. ISBN 1586482181

Corsi. Jim. Atomic Iran: How the Terrorist Regime Bought the Bomb and American Politicians. Nashville, Tenn. : Cumberland House, 2005. ISBN 1581824580

Corsi. Jim. Black Gold Stranglehold: The Myth of Scarcity and the Politics of Oil. Nashville, Tenn. : WND Books, c2005. ISBN 1581824890

Corsi. Jim. Minutemen: The Battle to Secure America's Borders. Los Angeles, CA : World Ahead Pub., c2006. ISBN 0977898415

Corsi. Jim. Shoot-out in Cleveland: Black Miltants and the Police, July 23, 1968. New York, Praeger, 1969. ISBN 0275026140

Corsi. Jim. Showdown with Nuclear Iran: Radical Islam's Messanic Message to Destroy Israel and Cripple the United States. Nashville, Tenn. : Nelson Current, c2006. ISBN 1595550755

Edwards, John. Ending Poverty in America: How to Restore the American Dream. New York: Norton, April 2007. ISBN 1595581766

Edwards, John. Four Trials. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004. ISBN 0743244974, 0743272048 (pbk)

Gilchrist, Jim. Minutemen: The Battle to Secure America's Borders. Los Angeles, CA : World Ahead Pub., c2006. ISBN 0977898415

Gingrich, Newt. 1945. Riverdale, NY : Baen Publishing Enterprises, 1995. ISBN 0671876767

Gingrich, Newt. Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War. New York : St. Martin's Press, 2003. ISBN 031230935X, 0312987250 (pbk.)

Gingrich, Newt. Grant Comes East: A Novel of the Civil War. New York : Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press, 2004. ISBN 0312309376, 0312987269 (pbk.)

Gingrich, Newt. How to Win: A Battle Plan for Victory in the War on Terror. New York: Regan Books, 2002. ISBN 006009902x

Gingrich, Newt. Lessons Learned the Hard Way: A Personal Report. New York : HarperCollins, c1998. ISBN 0060191066

Gingrich, Newt. Never Call Retreat: Lee and Grant, The Final Victory. New York : Thomas Dune Books, 2005. ISBN 0312342985

Gingrich, Newt. Pearl Harbor: A Novel of the World War II Pacific Theater. New York : Thomas Dunne Books, 2007. ISBN 0312363508

Gingrich, Newt. Rediscovering God in America: Reflections on the Role of Faith in Our Nation's History and Future. Nashville, Tenn. : Integrity Publishers, 2006. ISBN 1591454824

Gingrich, Newt. To Renew America. New York : HarperCollins, 1995. ISBN 006017336X

Gingrich, Newt. Window of Opportunity: Blueprint for the Future. New York, N.Y. : T. Doherty Associates in association with Baen Enterprises, c1984. ISBN 0312939221

Gingrich, Newt. Winning the Future: A 21st Century Contract with America. Washington, DC : Regnery Pub., c2005. ISBN 0895260425

Giuliani, Rudolph W. Leadership. New York : Hyperion, c2002. ISBN 0786868414

Giuliani, Rudolph. untitled memoir. New York: Hyperion Books, September 2007. ISBN 0786868422

Gravel, Mike. Citizen Power: A People's Platform. New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. ISBN 0030914655

Huckabee, Mike. Character is the Issue: How People with Integrity Can Revolutionize America. Nashville, TN : Broadman & Holman Publishers, c1997. ISBN 0805463674

Huckabee, Mike. From Hope to Higher Ground: 12 Stops to Restoring America's Greatness. New York: Warner Books, 2007. ISBN 1599957043

Huckabee, Mike. Kids Who Kill: Confronting Our Culture of Violence. Nashville, Tenn : Broadman & Holman, c1998. ISBN 080541794X

Huckabee, Mike. Living Beyond Your Lifetime: How to Be Intentional About the Legacy You Leave. New York: Broadman and Holman, 2000. ISBN 0805423362

Huckabee, Mike. Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork: A 12-Stop Program to End Bad Habits and Begin a Healthy Lifestyle. New York : Center Street, 2005. ISBN 0446578061

Hunter, Duncan L. Terror! The Inside Story of the Terrorists Conspiracy in America. New York: SPI Books, 1994. ISBN 1561713015 (pbk.)

Keyes. Alan L. Master of the Dream: The Strength and Betrayal of Black America. New York : Morrow, 1995. ISBN 0688095992

Keyes. Alan L. Our Character, Our Future: Reclaiming America's Moral Destiny. Grand Rapids, Mich. : Zondervan Pub. House, c1996. ISBN 0310208165 (pbk.)

Kubby, Steve. Why Marijuana Should Be Legal. New York : Thunders Mouth Press, 2003. ISBN 1560254815 (pbk.)

Kucinich, Dennis J. A Prayer for America. New York : Thunder's Mouth Press, c2003. ISBN 1560255102 (pbk.)

McCain, John S. Character is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know And Every Adult Should Remember. New York : Random House, 2005. ISBN 1400064120

McCain, John S. Faith of My Fathers. New York : Random House, c1999. ISBN 0375501916, 0060957867 (pbk.)

McCain, John S. Hard Call. New York: Warner Books, August 2007. ISBN 0446580406

McCain, John S. Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life. New York : Random House, c2004. ISBN 1400060303

McCain, John S. Worth Fighting For: A Memoir. New York : Random House, c2002. ISBN 0375505423

Obama, Barack. Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. New York: Crown Publishers, 2006. ISBN 0307237699

Obama, Barack. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. New York: Times Books, 1995. ISBN 081292343X, 1400082773 (pbk.)

Pataki, George E. Pataki: An Autobiography. New York : Viking, 1998. ISBN 067087339X

Phillies, George. Elementary Lectures in Statistical Mechanics. New York: Springer, 2000. ISBN 0387989188

Richardson, Bill. Between Worlds: The Making of an American Life. New York : Putnam, c2005. ISBN 0399153241

Romney, Mitt. Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games. Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2004. ISBN 0895260840

Root, Wayne Allyn. Joy of Failure: How to Turn Failure, Rejection, and Pain into Extraordinary Success. Arlington, Tex. : Summit Pub. Group, c1996. ISBN 1565302060

Root, Wayne Allyn. Millionaire Republican: Why Rich Republicans Get Rich - And How You Can, Too! New York : Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, c2005. ISBN 1585424307

Root, Wayne Allyn. Zen of Gambling: The Ultimate Guide to Risking It All and Winning at Life. New York : Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, c2004. ISBN 1585424021 (pbk.)

Ruwart, Mary J. Healing Our World in an Age of Aggression. Kalamazoo: Sunstar Press, 2003. ISBN 0963233661 (pbk.)

Sharpton, Al. Al on America. New York : Kensington Pub. Co., 2002. ISBN 0758203500, 0758203519 (pbk.)

Sharpton, Al. Go and Tell Pharoah: The Autobiography of the Reverenc Al Sharpton. New York : Doubleday, 1996. ISBN 0385475837

Tancredo, Thomas. In Mortal Danger: The Battle for America's Border and Security. Nashville, Tenn. : WND Books, c2006. ISBN 1581825277

The Complete Beatles Chronicle by Mark Lewisohn

I started The Complete Beatles Chronicle by Mark Lewisohn, which is a nearly day by day account of the Fab Four's professional activities from 1957 to 1970, back in early December after I found it on a sale table at Borders. It took me nearly eight weeks of reading a few pages a day to complete the 349 double-column pages. Now I know nearly everything about the group's playing clubs and skating rinks, recording in studios, dubbing and editing, visiting radio and television studios, and shooting movies.

Lewisohn based his book on documents from Apple Records, the BBC, Capital Records, EMI studios, theaters, newspaper ads, and interviews. It starts with Paul attending a church fair in Liverpool where he heard John's group the Quarry Men. The early part of the book shows how far fetched the idea of the evolving group of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Best becoming musical stars was in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Many hours were spent in the Cavern Club and then in really tough clubs in Hamburg. The act nearly dissolved, but Brian Epstein kept booking the band into any venue that would take them, sometimes three shows a day.

I was struck by how often the Beatles were on British radio and television in 1963 and 1964. The funny thing is that radio performances were usually live performances (or recorded live performances) while the Beatles usually mimed to studio recordings on television. There are 36 songs recorded for radio that did not appear on studio albums, only one of which was an original Lennon and McCartney composition.

Lewisohn's book is filled with fascinating details. The Beatle's last concert was in San Francisco. George is the only Beatle on the recording "Within You Without You." A twenty-seven minute version of "Helter Skelter" remains unreleased. Ringo's only drum solo is on "The End," the last song on the last album (if you ignore the snippet of "Her Majesty"). Beatles fans want to know this stuff. The book has much reference value. It includes a discography, list of radio and television programs, a song index, an index of concerts by country and city, and a lengthy personal name index. There are also many photos.

I enjoyed discovering what the Beatles were doing on specific days. On my seventh birthday they played a lunchtime show at the Cavern Club and two nighttime shows in other clubs. John and Paul wrote "From Me to You" on a bus in York on my ninth birthday. They recorded a radio special for the BBC on my tenth birthday. When I turned eleven, they were in the Bahamas shooting a beach scene for Help! The day I became a teenager, they were rehearsing "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." On my sixteenth birthday, when the group was never getting together again, George was in the studio mixing a recording that was never released.

I feel that reading through The Complete Beatles Chronicle has given me a much better understanding of the group. Other books and documentaries have always seemed to skip over some periods, leaving gaps in the story. Though not totally complete, Lewisohn's book comes close. Now the breakup seems very understandable. How could any group keep up the pace the Beatles maintained from 1962 into 1968?

The Complete Beatles Chronicles (with an s on the end) was first published in hardback in 1992, but it came out in paper (without an s) in England in 2000 and the U.S. in 2003. A Japanese edition also exists. Baker and Taylor lists an edition for $12.99 before discount but shows no copies in stock. Borders has its own edition which I bought for $7.99. Get it if you can.

Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship told by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff, and Dr. Paula Kahumbu

Bonnie brings home the best books.

Owen & Mzee: The Languages of Friendship is the sequel to Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship. At the time of the writing of the second book, the young Kenyan hippopotamus, who had been orphaned by the December 24, 2004 tsunami on the Indian Ocean, had been living with the 130 year old tortoise for a year and a half. The two eat, swim, play, and sleep together and are rarely more than a few steps apart. This book, which tells how the two have created their own language of grunts and motions, includes many photos of them and shows their home in Haller Park in Malindi, Kenya.

I like the story of the writing of the books almost as much as the story in the books. Isabella Hatkoff was only six years old when she saw a photo of Owen and Mzee in a newspaper and asked her father to help her write a book.

You can get the latest news about the friends at the Haller Park website. There are weekly updates and lots of pictures.

Your library should have this book.

Hatkoff, Isabella. Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship. New York: Scholastic Press, 2007. ISBN 0439899591

The Cut-Ups by James Marshall

Hot dog! James Marshall has won the 2007 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for a "substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children." I hope the Internet in the Afterlife is abuzz with the news!

I am thrilled. I have been a fan since I read George and Martha in my children's literature class in library school long ago. I then sought out all the James Marshall books I could find. Miss Nelson is Missing, The Three Little Pigs, The Stupids Die, and all the other original and retold stories. Sometimes Marshall was the author/illustrator and sometimes just the illustrator. Whatever, the books were always funny and full of surprises.

The Cut-Ups is especially loved in our household, as it was one of the first books our daughter was given, long before she could read. We used to have it memorized. "Spud Jenkins and Joe Turner were a couple of real cut-ups." Turn page. " They made their mothers old before their time." Next page. "To say nothing of Spud's little brother Jerome." There is Jerome, upside down, attached to a kite, flying over the boys.

"My zinnias!" cried Spurgle" is my favorite line.

The Cut-Ups has silly pranks, a charming but mischievous girl, rocket science, a mean old man with a wart on his nose, a chase scene, and the suggestion of further action in sequels. What more could you want?

You want more James Marshall books. Go to your library and get them.

Marshall, James. The Cut-Ups. New York: Viking Kestrel, 1984. ISBN 067025195X

The U. S. vs. John Lennon

The After Hours Film Society packed the Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove for its showing of The U.S. vs. John Lennon. Around one hundred people stayed for the discussion late Monday night.

"Does it bother you that Yoko approved all the content of this film?" asked one of the discussion leaders. "No," one man answered, "we are usually given the other side. This was tribute, not journalism." The group of mostly Lennon fans agreed. They wished we had a figure like Lennon today.

The U.S. vs. John Lennon starts in Ann Arbor, Michigan at a rally for the release of John Sinclair, a marijuana advocate who was sentenced to two years in prison for possession. Up on the stage with anti-war activists like Jerry Rubin and Bobby Seale, Lennon sings a song he has composed for the occasion. The Nixon administration takes notice, and J. Edgar Hoover assigns F.B.I. agents to follow the musician.

The film then turns back to Lennon's youth and his career with the Beatles, showing how he was always stirring controversy. With statements about religion, use of drugs, and criticism of the Vietnam War, he irked American conservatives who held bonfires to burn Beatles albums, photos, and collectibles. He marries performance artist Yoko Ono, and, under hand printed "Make Love Not War" signs, they spend a week-long honeymoon in Amsterdam in bed surrounded by reporters and followers. Denied entry into the U.S., the couple repeated the in-bed protest in Montreal under the lights of American television.

Lennon and Ono are then allowed into the U.S. and settle in New York, where they start appearing on Dick Cavett's talk show, recording anti-war songs, and meeting American radicals. For Christmas, the couple covers the city (and 11 other international cities) with billboards saying "War is Over ... If You Want, Merry Christmas, John and Yoko." Because they are stirring such trouble, the Immigration Service starts deportation hearings against John, who was arrested for marijuana possession in London years earlier. The latter part of the film focuses on Lennon's efforts to stay in the U.S.

In addition to film of the period and a soundtrack of Lennon music, The U.S. vs. John Lennon is full of recent interviews with newsmen, activists, writers, and government agents of the time. Walter Cronkite, George McGovern, Gore Vidal, Tommy Smothers, and Angela Davis are among thirty plus interviewees. John Dean and a couple of F.B.I. agents seem contrite, ruing what they did. Only G. Gordon Liddy maintains the Nixon administration was doing the right thing with its "dirty tricks."

The DVD of The U.S. vs. John Lennon with 50 minutes of additional scenes will be released February 13. Many libraries should add it to their collections and consider it for discussions.

House of Plenty: The Rise, Fall, and Revival of Luby's Cafeterias by Carol Dawson and Carol Johnston

I was not really intending to read House of Plenty when I requested it. I wanted to see whether it told about the Luby's Cafeteria in San Angelo, Texas, where in my youth I used to add dishes of both mashed potatoes and potato salad to the bowl of jello on my tray. I was disappointed, as the only mention of the San Angelo store told which members of the Luby family invested and managed it. I let the book sit on my shelf for about a week and then got it down to return it, but before I did, I read the opening chapters. Then I kept reading.

House of Plenty is more of a family saga than a business history, telling about the generations of Lubys who came out of Illinois by way of Missouri and Oklahoma to start a family-owned chain of cafeterias in Texas in the early part of the twentieth century. It is a sort of rags to riches story until the final chapters. "Good Food from Good People" was the company slogan, and, according to the authors, including a Luby descendant, fairness to customers and employees was an ingredient of its business strategy.

Families have their problems, but the tale is mostly upbeat until 1991 when 24 people die in a shooting spree in the Belton, Texas Luby's. The 1990s also saw the transition on the Luby's board of directors that led to corporate decline. Family members who grew up in the kitchens were replaced by Harvard and Wharton business school graduates with no restaurant experience who took a profitable company and nearly destroyed it - they replaced freshly made dishes with frozen food, openned too many stores, and borrowed too much money. The revival part at the end of the book is short.

Though House of Plenty comes from a university press, it is not academic. The text is very readable, and the book includes many old photos, recipes, and menus. The authors include discussions of business methods, restaurant operations, and corporate ethics while detailing the lives of owners, managers, and employees. It might be a good discussion book, especially in Texas. Someone at Harvard and Wharton should read it, too.

Dawson, Carol and Carol Johnston. House of Plenty: The Rise, Fall, and Revival of Luby's Cafeterias. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006. ISBN 0292706561

A Stronger Kinship: One Town's Extraordinary Story of Hope and Faith by Anna-Lisa Cox

A Stronger Kinship by Anna-Lisa Cox is a true story of goodness in a world of evil.

The Midwest region of the United States during the latter half of the nineteenth century was not a safe place for African-Americans. Men from these states, including blacks, fought with the Union in the Civil War, but the outcome of the war did not lessen discrimination against blacks in the region. When black soldiers who were born in Indiana returned from the war, they found they had lost residency and were required to pay exorbitant Black Code bonds to return to the state. Most of the states would not allow blacks to run for public offices, and a blond blue-eyed man who was one-sixteenth black was thrown into prison was trying. Black children were denied schooling, and, as the decades passed, lynching became more common.

Quietly, the men and women of Covert in southwestern Michigan built an alternative community. In April 1868, the voters of the community defied state law and elected both an African-American and Native American (who was not even considered a citizen) as highway overseers. By 1875, Covert had a black justice of the peace to whom many whites had to go legal assistance. Blacks owned some of the best farms and small businesses, and their children were in the schools, sharing desks, attending dances, and signing autograph books with whites. Whites and blacks worshiped together, held picnics, served on local committees, and joined together in business ventures. Integration was common every day life.

New residents sometimes threatened the order of the community. Cox tells about several serious challenges that could have split Covert racially, but community leaders remained calm and patient, and bonds became stronger. Unhappy whites always left unable to exploit the blacks. Twentieth century civil rights activists could have learned from the common people of Covert.

A Stronger Kinship is a quick read and would be an excellent choice for a book discussion group.

Cox, Anna-Lisa. A Stronger Kinship: One Town's Extraordinary Story of Hope and Faith. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2006. ISBN 0316110183

Notes from the Local History Special Interest Group Meeting at the Elmwood Park Public Library, January 16, 2007

Seventeen librarians attended the Metropolitan Library System Local History Special Interest Group on Tuesday, January 16 at the Elmwood Park Public Library. Most of the participants from the previous meeting returned, and several new members attended this meeting and tour of the local history room at the hosting library.

Russ Parker of the Elmwood Park Public Library passed out copies of his library’s local history policies and forms. The well-organized document describes the collection, explains the acquisition, access, and loan policies, and describes the library’s relationship to the Elmwood Park Historical Society. Attached were forms to apply to use the collection, to donate materials, to loan materials to the collection, to borrow materials, and to request duplication services (photocopies, scanned documents, or photographs). Russ said that he has used all the forms. Recently, staff from Channel 11 (PBS) in Chicago used the collection to research for an upcoming program.

Jack Simpson of the Newberry Library cautioned against making acquisition policies too detailed, which might scare off some donations. He said he would rather see what was being offered and then decide. Several members asked how to know when the documents of local organizations or companies were worth collecting. There was no easy answer, but many of the libraries limited by available space in their buildings. One suggestion is to collect newsletters from local organizations but not serve as the organizations’ archives.

Mark Johnson of the Franklin Park Public Library told us about the collection of photos and negatives given to his library. Some the photos can be seen at his library’s local history website. We discussed the rights to use scanned material on web pages. Copyright seemed to be less concern than being sensitive to privacy rights.

When discussing the management of digitization projects, Kathy Nicola of the Eisenhower Public Library District described Backstage Library Works, a company that will bring scanning equipment to a library and do a project on site. Knowledgeable staff will scan and create metadata. She has discussed a project with the company and thinks its rates are reasonable.

Christina Stoll of the Metropolitan Library System had another suggestion for a library trying to do a local history project but having trouble finding staff time. She said that library students at Dominican University need to do practical projects and might be able to help.

Kathy urged anyone who has not yet to join the group’s Yahoo Group.

Jack recommended the Mapping and Genealogy Workshop at the Newberry Library on April 13-14.

Christina took suggestions for Metropolitan Library System sponsored workshops. There included the following:

• Basic archival techniques for small collections
• Best practices for clipping files
• Software and online tools for local history
• Establishing good relationships between libraries and historical societies
• Marketing historical collections
• Using collections to create publications and programs
• Meeting with Chicago area organizations, such as South Suburban Historical and Genealogical Society

The next meeting of the Local History Special Interest Group is pending for Thursday, March 15 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Metropolitan Library System.

My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme

My Life in France is Julia Child's story of learning to cook the French way, of writing her early cookbooks, and of starting of her life in television. I was surprised to hear that she knew very little about cooking when she arrived in France at age 36 in 1948. While her husband Paul worked for the United States Information Agency in Paris, she began taking cooking classes and experimenting in her kitchen. She had to be persistent to get serious instruction and meet most of the important culinary experts of the time. Eventually she joined Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle in writing a cookbook for the American book market; after more than a decade that work became Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Readers will enjoy learning about post-World War II France and American foreign service of the time. The witch hunt for communists in foreign service and the right wing politics of Child's father are subplots of the story of her discovery of French cuisine.

Alex Prud'homme helped Child write the book and completed it after her death in 2004.

I enjoyed listening to My Life in France read by Kimberly Farr on my iPod, which let me hear the pronounciations of the names of French dishes but not see how they are spelled. Since I will not be preparing any of them any time soon, I am not disadvantaged.

Readers should expect to gain five pounds.

Child, Julia with Alex Prud'homme. My Life in France. New York: Knopf, 2006. ISBN 1400043468

Two New Wikis

Yesterday I joined two new wikis.

While working on my funding request for this summer's American Library Association Conference in Washington, D.C., I discovered that the Official Conference Wiki is already up. It looks much like the wikis from 2005 and 2006, to which I contributed some museum information and book recommendations. There will be much useful conference and visitor information. I signed up and was the second person to join the blogging list.

Catching up on my reading of AL Direct, I learned about Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Wiki, which is trying to build a community of book lovers. As of a few minutes ago, there are already 787 members. I joined, added two links to blog lists, and started a profile. I also added a title to the Best Books of 2006 page.

Later yesterday I got welcome messages for joining both of the wikis. What a good day!

Live Aid and Live 8: DVDs That Save Lives

"This DVD saves lives" is printed on the booklet to Live Aid. "The long walk to justice" is on the Live 8 booklet. Both boxes display the distinctive guitar with a body in the shape of the African continent. Both sets contain 4 DVDs packed with performances by a mixture of legendary and relatively unknown musicians. Both continue to raise money for African relief and push for debt relief and fair trade.

Because of its time, Live Aid is the more dramatic of the two sets. Disc One starts with a BBC Television report from the summer of 1984 about the terrible famine in Ethiopia. Most of the 7 or 8 minutes of the report show emaciated children in a refugee camp. All have terribly skinny arms and legs, and many of the dying already seem mummified. Every morning the dead are wrapped in what looks like burlap and are lined up along the edge of camp for removal in open bed trucks. Many of these corpses are shockingly small.

After a slow fadeout, the DVD takes the viewer to late fall in London for the filming of the Band Aid Video "Do They Know It's Christmas" and then to spring in the United States for the shooting of the USA for Africa Video "We Are the World." In the wake of the BBC report, these performances are quite moving. After these pieces, the DVD moves to Wimbley Stadium London on July 13, 1985 where Prince Charles and Princess Diana enter the stadium with Bob Geldof for a day of mostly rock music. Later on Disc One the concert from JFK Stadium in Philadelphia begins.

According to the booklet in Live Aid, there was to have been no recording of the 1985 concerts. Geldof had said it was to be a one day event to be remembered, but the BBC and MTV ignored his directive. Both television companies recorded but then lost their tapes for years. When Live Aid staff went looking for the material in the 21st century, some of it had been destroyed. What is left is incomplete. Still four DVDs is a lot of music.

The 1985 concert was beset with technical difficulties, so the sound quality of some of the performances suffers, but many of the songs are still quite good. My favorites are "Rockin' All Over the World" by Status Quo, "I Don't Like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats, "We Will Rock You" by Queen, "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" by Elton John and Kiki Dee, and "White Room" by Eric Clapton. By flying over the Atlantic in the Concorde, Phil Collins sings "Against All Odds" in London and "In the Air Tonight" in Philadelphia.

I believe I enjoy the Live 8 DVDs more than the 1985 set. The sound is better, the cameras are sharper, and direction is improved. More musical genres are included. Concerts in more cities are included. I like that the venues are parks instead of stadiums and that there are more pans of the audience. The 2005 set also introduced me to acts that I had never heard. I particularly like "Da-Na-Mi-Tee" by Ms. Dynamite, "Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane, and "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by the Proclaimers. The last half of Disc Three with Stevie Wonder, The Who, Pink Floyd, and Paul McCartney in succession is terrific.

Because of the events they document and the variety of artists performing, both Live Aid and Live 8 are excellent additions to any library collection.

Unbowed: A Memoir by Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai is the 2004 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Born in central highlands in Kenya in 1940, her youth was poor but almost idyllic. Though near the equator, the region of her birth was cool, green, and fertile, and rarely was anyone in the still traditional Kikuyu villages ever hungry. Maathai loved the forests, the clear-running rivers, and the wildlife that was abundant.

In Unbowed, Maathai tells how she unexpectedly was sent to boarding school and did so well that she was eventually chosen for a Joseph P. Kennedy scholarship and landed at Mount St. Scholastica in Atchison, Kansas and then the University of Pittsburgh. After getting her graduate degree in biology, she returned to an independent Kenya, a nation full of promise and uncertain how to proceed in a modern world.

Most of Unbowed is the story of how Maathai became an activist for women's rights in an increasingly male-dominated society and an environmentalist in a country handing over public lands to commercial interests. As a founder of the National Council of Women in Kenya and the Green Belt Movement, she led many efforts to educate women and restore forests. She subsequently became an opponent to the corrupt one-party government of President Daniel arap Moi as a reaction to constant government harassment. She was frequently arrested and sometimes beaten, but she kept planting trees.

Readers interested in social justice, envirnmental concerns, and third world economics will enjoy this book, as will memoir readers.

Maathai, Wangari. Unbowed: A Memoir. New York: Knopf, 2006. ISBN 0307263487

The Complete Illustrated Sesame Street 1967-2006

It will be several days before I finish another book so here is a review of a book that does not exist but should.

The long awaited Complete Illustrated Sesame Street 1967-2006 is here. This boxed two-volume work tells the story of the founding of the Children's Television Workshop and how muppeteers, animators, and actors create a delightful program for children that is also enjoyed by many adults. It is the definitive work on Sesame Street.

The authors put much into these volumes. Of course, there are profiles of and photos for every recurring muppet and human on the show, as well as synopses of the every episode. One section in the second volume lists all the guest stars, identifying episodes and original broadcast dates. In sidebars, several of these celebrities tell about there Sesame Street experiences. Titles, credits, and images from every animated short are also included.

A quotation dictionary in volume one includes all the best lines from Big Bird, Oscar, Grover, Bert, Ernie, Telly, Elmo, and Aloysius Snuffleupagus. Volume two has a bibliography of all the Sesame Street books and pictures of all the licensed toys.

The Complete Illustrated Sesame Street is more than just a great reference work. It includes instructions on how to make your own muppets, illustrations of all the sets, and scripts for the most famous episodes. There are recipes for Cookie Monster's favorite cookies, Luis and Maria explain how to fix many small appliances, and photos of Savion Glover show basic tap steps.

If this is not enough, look in the back cover. There are several DVDs, including "The Complete Bert and Ernie," "The Best of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem," and the remastered director's-cut "Sesame Street Christmas."

Every library should have The Complete Illustrated Sesame Street.

If only it existed.

Right Attitude to Rain by Alexander McCall Smith

The Right Attitude to Rain is the third novel by Alexander McCall Smith set in Edinburgh, Scotland featuring Isabel Dalhousie, editor of The Review of Applied Ethics. The book is more a novel of manners than a mystery, but libraries will tend to shelve it with mysteries to place it with the author's other works. Central to its plot is the issue of when to tell the truth and when to restrain from telling anything. The issue of romantic love between people of different ages is also important.

I enjoyed listening to the audiobook read by Davina Porter. The descriptions of Scottish landscape, weather, and Edinburgh neighborhoods makes me want to visit the country. I would definitely want to visit little art galleries and try the small restaurants.

The real mystery for readers is how Isabel, a philosopher who seems to weigh every issue of conscience so thoroughly, can be so surprised by the obvious consequence of her actions. The story will certainly continue.

McCall Smith, Alexander. The Right Attitude to Rain. New York: Pantheon, 2006. ISBN 0375423001

8 compact discs. Prince Frederick, Maryland: Recorded Books, 2006. ISBN 1428115110

ALA Conference Bag with Groceries

ALA Conference Bag with Groceries
Originally uploaded by ricklibrarian.

When I was in Trader Joe's last week, I noticed a bunch of canvas grocery bags for sale next to the checkout. Beside them was a "save the earth" message. For a moment I considered buying a couple of these bags, but then I remembered that I had a collection of bags from library conferences sitting in a closet. I decided to bring one to see if a clerk would load it with my groceries.

Today I returned to the store to get a few items. When I asked the clerk if we could use my bag, she answered "Certainly!" She said the company encourages reuseable bag use, and as an incentive it enters canvas bag users in a free raffle to win groceries. I now have a chance to win $25 worth of Trader Joe's goods.

My blue ALA New Orleans 2006 bag was just big enough for today's purchases. Next time, I will also bring a white PLA Seattle 2004 bag.

How are you using your conference bags?

Kate Fleming: A Distinctive Voice Remembered

Listening to the December 24, 2006 podcast from NPR Books, I learned that Kate Fleming, an actress who recorded audiobooks under the name Anna Fields, died after rainwater flooded her basement studio in a storm that hit Seattle on December 14. The full story is in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer of December 18.

Fleming chose the name Anna Fields as a tribute to her great grandmother, whose picture is posted on the Cedar House Audio website. Her great grandmother was an actress known for her beautiful voice. Fleming was known for her great variety of voices and ability to portrait both young and old when reading.

I first heard Fleming reading Havava Dreams by Wendy Gimbel, but I most remember her readings of Bushwhacked and Who Let the Dogs In? by Molly Ivins. She was so good that I thought her voice was that of Ivins. She did not sound as though she were reading.

Fleming leaves a legacy of over 50 audiobooks. Search your library catalog for Anna Fields.

The Singing by C. K. Williams

What I like in poetry are stories with words that paint pictures in my mind. In the first section of The Singing by C. K. Williams, there are plenty. A blind piano teach raps the fingers of a student with a baton. A coed falls from the window of a dormitory. A ghost comes to Christmas dinner. The poet looks closely into the eyes of Rembrandt's self portrait. As I read, I saw all of these events and shared the poet's experiences.

The second section, a longer poem called "Of Childhood the Dark," is divided into fourteen ten-verse parts. While it lacks narrative, it includes many ideas, such as human desire being the real Pandora's box.

In the third section, Williams witnesses the decline and death of a friend and describes his difficult acceptance of his loss. The fourth section is a strong collection of post-September 11 poems, which seem neither despairing nor optomistic.

Though Williams won the 2003 National Book Award for poetry with this collection, it is not in many libraries. It can still be purchased, but some libraries may want to buy Williams's new Collected Poems (containing these poems) instead.

Williams, C. K. The Singing. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2003. ISBN 0374292868