Unrelated Bits and Pieces...

• Loud, Proud, and Unabridged: It is Too Reading! on the popularity of audiobooks in a busy world, from the New York Times...
• Summer 2005 selections from the Discover New Writers program at Barnes and Noble, a seasonal selection of the best forthcoming new work by debuting and underappreciated writers...
• Frenzied fans of Harry Potter may want to track (or plan) parties for the July 16 debut of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince...
• A fuss over former librarians Mao Zedong, J. Edgar Hoover, Batgirl and Casanova...
• Google's plans to digitize libraries run afoul of University presses...
• Trump University opens... but I can't seem to locate the library. Check it out here...

The First Three Books of Summer...

I became a librarian because I love to read. Unfortunately, being a librarian often keeps me too busy to read for pleasure (insert irony here.) However, the summer presents more opportunity for recreational reading and the following are what I have read (and enjoyed) so far:

• The Sign of the Book: A Cliff Janeway Bookman novel by John Dunning: The latest in a mystery series with a retired policeman/book dealer as hero, Cliff Janeway sleuths and lurks among autographed copies, with lots of satisfying twists and turns.
• The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd: I loved the Secret Life of Bees for its beautiful language and poignant insight. This book has too little of those qualities and while interesting, veered a little too closely to the romance novel category for my taste.
• Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell: I absolutely adore Sarah Vowell and her droll political commentary. In this book, she visits the locations, shrines, museums, plaques, and parks associated with the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. Doesn't sound too humorous so far? Trust me, the connections she makes and the historical trivia invoked are reported with tremendous wit and great feeling. Did you know that Robert Todd Lincoln was on hand for all three assassinations? Or that Edwin Booth, the brother of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth, once saved Robert Todd Lincoln's life?

Memorial Day = Decoration Day

Pacific Side of the WWII Memorial
Originally uploaded by Calabro.

The History Channel provides an overview of the holiday originally intended to honor the Civil War Dead here...
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall page provides names, statistics, maps, forums, and is maintained by a non-profit veterans group. Also available...the bracelet exchange for POW/MIA bracelets.
The photo above is from flickr.

Love of Reading Keeps 100-Year Old Librarian on the Job...

From Kansas City and the Coal Creek Library, a librarian who has been on the job since 1926.

A Poet in Winter...

ruminates about spring in his garden in this interesting New York Times article on poet laureate Stanley Kunitz.

Have It Your Way....

Google launches a new personalization service, from Search Engine Watch....
A new library in Kuala Lumpur that offers personalized musical selections while you read...

From the All Things Google Dept.

It just keeps on coming...

• Find the best gas prices in your area, from GasBuddy and Google Maps...
• From Google Guide, how to use the calculator function of Google...

Searching Books...

in them and for them:

• Search for digital books with the Digital Book Index, the Online Books Page, or the Ebook Locator. Read a comparison of the three here....
• Search inside books with Amazon and Google Print. Learn more here....
• and if you prefer your books in the traditional fashion, admire these hand-bound beauties here....

A Peek...

at librarians' desks from around the country, on Flickr.com.

The Catalog is Back...

with a bit of a makeover. View the new (inter)face here...

Something for the Kiddies...

Summer reading suggestions for children:

• Summer reading recommended by Horn Book
• Children's Book Sense Picks
• Summer Reading Counts from Scholastic
• and our own humble efforts, Rainy Day Reading Lists!
  

The Best Summer Job Ever...

may be waiting for you at this site...Cool Works.

PILOT down...

No, not that kind of PILOT. PILOT is the name of our online catalog, which will be unavailable for most of the May 9-May 13 week due to upgrades. PILOT will also have a new look when it returns. In the meantime, call the Reference Desk for assistance at 724-738-2641 or try searching for our materials in the Access PA online catalog. Remote database access should work, as long as your barcode was already in the system.

Hungry for Knowledge?

Delicious Collection for Readers or Eaters from the New York Times

Eight Decades of the Pillsbury Bake-Off (with recipes)

Paleocuisineology®: Bringing history alive through cooking @ History Cooks

Medieval Cookery for those going to the Pennsic Wars at Cooper's Lake this summer

and..The World Carrot Museum. Why not?

Summer Library Hours

Monday (May 9) and Tuesday (May 10), 8:00 am to 4:00 pm

Beginning Wednesday (with the start of Pre-Session)

• Monday to Thursday, 8:00 am to 9:00 pm
• Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
• Saturday, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm
• Sunday, 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Some exceptions to watch out for...

• Memorial Day weekend, closed Saturday May 28-Monday May 30
• July 4th weekend, closed July 2-July 4
• End of summer sessions, library hours are 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, closed on weekends

Check first--call us at 724-738-2058.

You'll Feel Fine at the Library...

for your musical entertainment...from Cheeky Beef.

What Children's Book Are You?

A new book quiz available here... I seem to be Harold and the Purple Crayon.

Miscellaneous Library Stuff...

• The highest library in the world (insert your own joke here).... also contains scary photo of guy in a plastic wrap suit.
• The Brautigan Library, containing only unpublished work, inspired by Richard Brautigan's book, The Abortion. Always open, never open? more here....

From the All Things Google Dept:

Google announces Google accelerator, designed to make your browser go faster.
Xtra Google, also new, shows all of the many types of Google searches in icon form.

Latest Harry Potter News...

4th Harry Potter movie, Goblet of Fire release date set...
5th Harry Potter movie, to film in fall...
Hot Topic, stock in IMax up on announcement of new Potter film...

...and of course, you can order the new book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, to arrive by its release date of July 16!

35 years ago....

A tragedy at Kent State... explore the online archive here.

Mothers in Literary Form...

Literary Mama: A literary magazine for the maternally inclined
The Mother Goose Society: Mother Goose Day was also May 1
All About Mother Jones from Mother Jones magazine
The Mothers Movement Online
The Philosophical Mother, a webzine

What We're Reading Feature in NoveList...

Want to see what some well-read librarians are reading? Get the hookup from those who get the good stuff. Go to Novelist, a database for fiction searches within EBSCO, and click on the What We're Reading feature. The famous Nancy Pearl, the librarian who was the model for the action figure and also the author of Book Lust, has some good recommendations there.

Also, summer 2004 reading recommendations from NPR...

Breaking News on Citation Machine!

Saved! From Lynn Hoffmann:

The citation machine has been moved to:

http://citationmachine.net/

It will only serve 70,000 citations a day because of bandwidth limits, so some of you may want to ration your use of the site.

Beltane and Book Burning...

May 1 is also Beltane, a Gaelic celebration of the first day of summer. Bonfires are customarily lit to mark the day, in this case a bonfire of books....