Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Book Maintenance


Ripped Jacket Cover
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library
We continually do maintenance on our collection. That means that whenever we spot a problem, we fix it.

Although we buy quality processing materials from reputable vendors, time does take its toll. We need to replace a few aged and ripped plastic jacket covers every month.

Here is a photo of how a jacket cover might get ripped over time. A book does not necessarily need to get abused to need a little help!

Monday, February 25, 2013

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week

This week - February 24-March 2, 2013 - is the National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.

The NEDAwareness Week is the largest education and outreach effort on eating disorders in the United States.

The aim of NEDAwareness Week is to increase awareness and education about eating disorders and body image issues for effective recognition, early intervention and direction to care.

Visit our library lobby, our eating disorders research guide, or the NEDAwareness website for more!

Friday, February 22, 2013

Presidents Display


Presidents Display
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library
During this February, one display case is focused on President’s Day.

As we celebrate the school’s 250th anniversary, we thought it would be interesting to link presidential history with the academy’s past anniversaries. The display offers interesting tidbits both from past events and past presidents whose life intersects the Academy's past anniversaries in some way or another. Please come in for a look!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Founder's Day Keynote Speaker Chosen

Just last week, it was announced that Dr. John Stauffer will be our keynote speaker on Founder’s Day, Friday, March 1, 2013. He will speak at an all-school luncheon in the Pescosolido Field House.

Dr. Stauffer is the Chair of the History of American Civilization program at Harvard University and a leading authority on antislavery, social protest movements, and interracial friendship. On Founder’s day he will speak to the campus community and guests on the intersecting values of history and education.

The luncheon will be a part of the day long program commemorating the Academy’s 250th Founder’s Day. A complete schedule can be found on the anniversary website, www.Govs250.org/FoundersDay.

Feel free to visit the library to look at some of Dr. Stauffer's publications!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Armory Show 100 Years


Armory Show Display
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library
From February 17th to March 15th, 1913, New York's 69th Regiment Armory hosted an art show officially known as The International Exhibition of Modern Art.

Nicknamed the Armory Show, the exhibition was lauded as one of the most influential events in the history of American art. It was inspired by previous large independent art exhibitions in France, Germany, Italy, and England.

The Show was home to approximately 1250 paintings, sculptures, and decorative works by over 300 European and American artists. There was a wave of modernism after the Armory Show, the first major showing of avant-garde works in the U.S.

Look at our Armory Show and Presidents displays on the first floor for more!

Friday, February 15, 2013

Parents' Weekend, February 2013


Allies Book Sale Poster
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library
This weekend is Parents' Weekend. Welcome!

The schedule is full of activities, from talks by faculty to a ceramics sale to benefit Cor Unum and two art shows - not to forget the musical, of course! This year, students are performing Legally Blonde. We're sure it will be an amazing show!

Also during Parents' Weekend, the Allies raise money for library books by "selling" books to parents. Parents select specific books to have plates put in honoring a child's birthday or maybe honoring a teacher. We are grateful for their never-ending support. Look for the book sale cart for interesting new titles!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Darwin Day

Darwin Day is a global celebration of science and reason held on or around February 12, the birthday anniversary of evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin (1809-1882).


Image: Charles Darwin, watercolour, late 1830s, via Encyclopedia Britannica.


Darwin was an English naturalist whose theory of evolution by natural selection became the foundation of modern evolutionary studies. An affable country gentleman, Darwin at first shocked religious Victorian society by suggesting that animals and humans shared a common ancestry. However, his nonreligious biology appealed to the rising class of professional scientists, and by the time of his death evolutionary imagery had spread through all of science, literature, and politics. Darwin, himself an agnostic, was accorded the ultimate British accolade of burial in Westminster Abbey, London.

Darwin formulated his bold theory in private in 1837–39, after returning from a voyage around the world aboard HMS Beagle, but it was not until two decades later that he finally gave it full public expression in On the Origin of Species (1859).

Read more on the International Darwin Day Foundation's website, browse Project Gutenberg for Darwin's writings, or search our library catalog for Charles Darwin!

Monday, February 11, 2013

AP History Papers on Academy History Now Available

As the Academy changes with the times and in our drive to innovate, we also know which parts of our heritage, which traditions, and which pillars are worth preserving. The history research paper is one of those, and Governor's Academy is among a dwindling number of schools today that still require all of their students to write history research papers.



Mindful of the Academy's 250th anniversary, history teacher Bill Quigley last year asked students in his AP US history class - all of them members of the sestercentennial Class of 2013 - to research subjects related to our school's history, drawing as much as possible from archival records.

Exemplars of independent, authentic learning, their papers artfully present some of the most marvelous highlights of the Academy's storied history. You may read on the Govs 250 website. The students will also present their papers in a Historical Symposium on Founder's Day (March 1st).

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Bookish: Discover Reading Online

How do you discover new books to read? Browsing shelves in a store or a library? Or browsing an online catalog for a store or a library?

Bookish is a brand new site - launched yesterday! - for engaging "more readers with more books, more authors and with one another."

Bookish offers book descriptions and author bios, related videos, other books by the author, reading lists, plus the latest stories from around the web about specific books and author. It is very easy to find recommendations: Type in a book you read recently. Bookish with show a selection of books.

By clicking a link, you can 'vote' on each suggestion and get more recommendations. Besides book descriptions, you can also read samples of the text or buy copies (either on paper or eBooks). A Mashable article reports that
"Bookish developed technology to analyze data about the book and reader reviews to surface particular themes and motifs — or what [Bookish CEO Ardy] Khazaei refers to as the book's "fingerprint" — in order to automatically generate the best recommendations."
At first glance, Bookish certainly looks like a fresh, inviting way to find new reading. Happy browsing - whether you prefer a physical shelf or a virtual one!

Monday, February 04, 2013

Latest Reviews: February 2013


Social Animal
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library
Feel free to search our LibraryThing collection for a captivating read or two! Below you can find links to reviews of just some of the books recently read by our staff.

The latest reviews in our "virtual collection" include The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement by David Brooks and Give It Up! by Mary Carlomagno.

You can always find even more reviews through our LibraryThing profile.