Masifunde Sonke

Through South Africa Partners, Dr. David and Donna McGrath have donated 25 books to our library. This is part of the initiative Masifunde Sonke: Let Us Read Together. The books, written and illustrated by South Africans, have themes of justice, hope, and renewal. In addition to our library receiving the books, an underserved school in South Africa will also receive the collection of books for its library.

South Africa Partners has four major goals for Masifunde Sonke: “to increase literacy and a joy of reading among students in rural and township public schools in South Africa, to foster an appreciation of South African children’s books in the U.S., to facilitate contact and exchanges between South African and U.S. schools, educators, and learners, and to stimulate the South African book publishing industry.”

These beautiful books are ready to be checked out. We are very appreciative that the McGraths included us in this wonderful initiative. You can read more about the books, the state of school libraries in South Africa (over 60% of schools have no library materials,) and Masifunde Sonke at South Africa Partners.

And the Runner Up Is...

Library Thing continues to be one of my favorite Web 2.0 tools, although it takes the best ideas of online sharing and technology, it is all about the BOOKS. When our Director, Susan heard of the Library Thing 10 Million Books contest, we had to jump in and give it a try. The Pesky Library was chosen as a runner up for the contest for our photograph highlighting the President’s in honor of President’s Day. It was actually a great way to think about this holiday (besides having the three day weekend and all of the car "sale" advertisements,) and to remember the leaders of our country, past and present. Read more about the contest and the winners at the Library Thing Blog.

Chinese New Year

February 18th begins Chinese New Year. Having had the opportunity to be in China for 2 Chinese New Years, I was reminded of the occasions by our display in the library. Chinese New Year is a lot like our Christmas. Everyone buys presents and children get red envelopes with money in them. Since many people do not have a lot of material goods, this is a very big thing. Also, everyone travels to be with their families. The train and bus stations are extremely crowded and everyone is carrying large presents for their families. Houses are cleaned from top to bottom to get rid of any bad luck from the previous year. Like our Thanksgiving, a feast is prepared for the entire family, and every possible kind of treat is splurged on. At night there are loud fireworks to frighten away any remaining bad luck. 2007 is the Year of the Pig in the Chinese calendar. If you were born in 1911, 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, or 2007, this will be an auspicious year for you.

A Shared Moment

The Valentine's Day Storm

I was going to blog on my three favorite components of the day - kissing (Pucker up Buttercup: How Kissing Works,) love as a life science (How Love Works,) and chocolate (Hey, It Grows on Trees.) But, as the four of us took turns digging ourselves out, I realized that this lovely shot of winter was worth a picture. The snow is giving way to stinging sleet. The wind is sweeping it across the fields to beat on our wall of windows. The usual pile of backpacks has disappeared early this afternoon and it's starting to feel lonely in the library.

You have been accepted...

Admission into elite schools is intense, image raising the bar a bit more with a unique and challenging entrance exam; use of chopsticks. The Hisatagakuen Sasebo Girls High School in Japan is requiring all applicants to test their chopstick skills by using chopsticks with beads, dice, beans and marbles. Ms. Toumayan has created a wonderful display in our Reference area that allows our own Academy members to test their own chopstick skills. Stop by the library to learn more about this culture and education in Japan.

Happy Birthday Abraham

Our official “Presidents Day” is celebrated next week, but today marks the birthday of one of the country’s greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln. As President’s Day has become the catch-all for all our nations Presidents, and not simply Washington and Lincoln, the history of these two men can be overlooked. Thankfully, there are authors who are bringing new life to our historic figures, and we have a few of these titles in our collection; Mr. Lincoln’s T-Mails: the untold story of how Abraham Lincoln used the telegraph to win the Civil War (973.709 WHE), The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the triumph of antislavery politics (973.711 OAK), and a graphic novel, The Murder of Abraham Lincoln (GN GEA). The Library of Congress holds many of Lincoln’s paper and the White House has an extensive biography on Lincoln worth looking at. All of these resources can help spark an interest to learn more about this fascinating leader. As we approach President’s Day next week, how will you remember the leaders of our country?

Valentine's Day Reading

Did you know that the custom of sending romantic messages on Valentine’s Day may have begun as early as the 1400’s? This holiday is celebrated in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Denmark and other countries. The customs vary from country to country, but they all have to do with romance. Even Shakespeare and Chaucer mention St. Valentine’s Day in their writings. The history of the holiday is not certain. Some believe it started as an ancient Roman Festival. Others believe it had to do with a man named Valentine who was a martyr in the early Christian church. It was also believed that birds chose their mates on February 14th.
We celebrate the holiday with several displays in our library. Try some of the selections from the “Books you will Love” display, or go to the OPAC Card Catalog and search for Love Stories. We have 173 books listed, and one of them is sure to make you feel the LOVE.

Answers . . . To Go

It’s 11:00 pm. The library’s closed and Google’s not retrieving the search results you need to finish your homework. What do you do? Select Answers . . . To Go (Your @ Home Library.) Provided by the Northeast Massachusetts Regional Library System, this resource connects you to a variety of resources. Here find the link to the databases that the region and state supply to us. You’ll need the Academy’s library card (in Researching at the Library at Classrooms on Elm Street) to access them. Here also find CHAT Reference supplied by Mass Answers. You can talk in real time to a librarian 24/7 who will help you find an article, construct a better Google search, locate a book you can check-out the next morning – anything you need to finish your assignment. So, when our library’s not available, try Answers . . . To Go.

Library as refuge

Not only kitties sleep in the sunshine! Students are making good use of our comfy chairs on these bitterly cold afternoons.

Recommended Reads: The Thirteenth Tale

Our recommended read display has had a turnover of new titles added. I would add my own new title, but it has already been claimed before it even made it there. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (FIC SET) is getting rave reviews and although I am only partially through it, it is holding up to the praise. It is a must read for book lovers and one you will be unable to put down. For more information about The Thirteenth Tale, visit the book's Amazon page or see what people are saying about it on Library Thing. Until it makes it back to the shelves stop by our display to see what others are reading!

That is so cliche

Monday, what better day for clichés? Our magnet boards are back out on the library floor and feature clichés. Like quotations, clichés offer the user bang for their buck by summing up a feeling or idea in a few words and can give the reader something to ponder. Visitors can create their own clichés on our boards or check out books in reference, including The Facts on File Dictionary of Clichés (REF423.1 AMM). And so I leave you with some words to ponder….

Don't judge a book by its cover, take a page out of your book, there is harmony in disharmony, tomorrow is another day, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, every rose has its thorn, this too, shall pass, Rome was not built in a day, laughter is the best medicine, Smile. It makes people wonder, Carpe diem, as easy as pie, there's no place like home.

"A film festival at your fingertips"

Independent Lens (PBS) is presenting an Online Shorts Festival. The two Grand Prize winners were shown on television's Short Stack 2006. There are ten films in all and you are encouraged to vote for the Audience Award. The site also has links to Indie film resources and lists. I admit to watching just one since the link came my way - "Chickens in the City" (and I was charmed by Miss MoneyHenny.) But, the rest are part of my weekend plans.

Shopping, marketing, advertising

Shopping, marketing, and advertising are certainly fueling major news stories. A story in this morning's Boston Globe talked about the generational divide evident with the viral advertising campaign which shut down the city of Boston yesterday. TJX's data hack makes me wonder how much "stuff" do I really need? Is "stuff" really what I am getting out of shopping or is it something totally different? Marketing and product placement are interesting to contemplate but are infuriating if my grocer moves things so that I can't shop "in the zone." Approaching the top of my bookstack is Not Buying It : My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine (658.8 LEV.) TJX is pushing me in this direction (I've already been the route of the compromised credit card when the Boston Globe goofed last year.) Other newish books which are looking good include:
The Long Tail : Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson (658.802 AND)
Why We Buy : the Science of Shopping by Paco Underhill (658.8 UND)
Branded: the Buying and Selling of Teenagers by Alissa Quart (658.83 QUA)
Born to Buy : the Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture by Juliet B. Schor (305.23 SCH)
Packaging Girlhood : Rescuing our Daughters from Marketers' Schemes by Sharon Lamb and Lyn Mikel Brown (306.3 LAM)
A Consumers' Republic by Lizabeth Cohen (339.47 COH)
The Overspent American : Upscaling, Downshifting, and the New Consumer by Juliet B. Schor (339.47 SCH)
Unleashing the Ideavirus by Seth Godin (659.13)

Mass Moments

Each morning I look forward to an e-moments of Massachusetts history delivered to my in-box. Created by the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, these e-moments serve as an almanac of the state's history. The stories are accompanied by primary source documents, images, further readings, and links. You can look at the event on a timeline and on a map. The database is also searchable so you can locate stories by regions, dates, or categories. And, of course, if you prefer, you can listen to each story as a podcast.

MOO

At the last conference we attended, no one was exchanging business cards. Instead, MOO cards were flying! Intrigued, we Googled upon our return and found that we could upload images from our Flickr account into MOO, add six lines of text, and, for a nominal sum, create our own cards. We started with some images from our library tour set. In a week we had our cards and were amazed that they had come from the UK. We uploaded a picture of them into the Flickr MOO Card pool and had a request to exchange cards. Turns out the cards were going to and coming from Rome.

We became hooked on MOO. Surely we had an academic reason to create more? We did. Already working on fine tuning for next fall how we work with the Juniors on their thesis papers, we have decided to hand out bags of writing supplies during our American history topics fair. Each bag will have a MOO clipped to it with info on how to access the library's resources specific to the paper. Now, how can we apply MOO to the freshmen orientation?????

Blogging about Blogs

If you are looking for a better understanding of what a blog is or the impact it is having on how we seek and find information, check out the Bloggers Blog: Blogging the Blogosphere: reporting on blogging news and trends. It reports on all the new technologies and ways companies, organizations, and people are using not only blogs, but other applications.

“Happiness is all about your state of mind”

January 22, they call it “Blue Monday.” Scientists in England have dubbed this day “blue” by coming up with a mathematical equation as to why so many people feel particularly down on January 22 over any other. You can read more about their reasoning in the Portsmouth (UK) News. What better way to counteract gloom and melancholy than with a dose of happiness! For your reading pleasure the library has just acquired the book, Happiness: a history (170 MCM), where it states “happiness has been equated regularly with the highest human calling, the most perfect human state.” In addition, you will also find in the Pescosolido collection under “happiness”, Dahn Meditation: a spiritual exercise to perfect health and happiness (181.45 HEU), Authentic Happiness: using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment (158 SEL), The Art of Happiness: a handbook for living (294.3 LAM), and The Architecture of Happiness (720.103 DEB). Lastly, to help you fight the Monday blues, visit the Authentic Happiness website, or the Resources of the Happiness Foundation. Don’t worry this blue Monday will pass.

What's next?

Many of our Seniors have been accepted into college and of course, feel a big sense of relief. They have met a major goal of their prep school career. The anxiety that they have felt for the last year cannot be overestimated and they have been so proud to tell me of their plans for next year. As I have been congratulating them on their acceptance letters I have been offering a bit of librarian advice. Should they be wondering what to read once their senior class assignments are completed or if they find they have more free time, I have advised them to go to their new college’s web-site and find out what readings are required for their freshman year or even for their summer reading before school starts. Getting a head start on some of this required reading will make the transition from high school senior to college freshman a little easier. The amount of reading is often a big shock to new students. Right now the seniors are still too busy with school work to embrace my advice, but come Spring, they may be more receptive to my suggestion as they contemplate their futures.

New Technology Blog at the Academy

The newest Academy blog is Technology of the Month. Designed and written by the Technology Committee, the purpose is to introduce classroom teachers to new technologies as well as new ways to use “old” (or rather existing) technologies. The first post is on mobile blogging – ways that students can use the technologies in their pockets (PDA’s, cameras and phones) in their class work. Imagine a science field trip: “Students could snap pictures using their camera phones, use their fantastic text messaging ability to identify and describe the image, and then post it to the field journal in seconds. Back in the classroom or, even better as part of their homework, students could log into the blog and add to or edit the post, slowly building a comprehensive field journal which could also double as a study guide.” As we all know, the pace of technology growth outstrips our ability to keep up with it. The Committee hopes their blog will be informative on current educational technologies.

A Day in the Life of a Governor's Academy Student

Last week while ESL teacher Karen Gold was at a writing seminar, Jen and I took over her class. The assignment was a Flickr essay on A Day in the Life of an Academy student. We wanted these international students to reflect on what they had observed and learned (sometimes the hard way!) these past few months. Each student had to take pictures in four categories: Academics, Afternoon Program, Residential Life, and American Culture. The pictures needed to reflect something that a new international student needed to know in order to be successful here at the Academy, something that would enable a new student to “hit the ground running” so to speak. Once the pictures were uploaded, the students needed to write informative commentaries. Take a peek! (Double click on a picture to read the commentary.)

BPL resources at your fingertips

Any Massachusetts resident can now access Boston Public Library electronic resources, audio, video and music resources as well as place holds on BPL materials with the BPL e-card. The library will issue a temporary e-card that will need to be upgraded within six months, simply apply online. Learn more by visiting the Boston Public Library webpage.

Celebrating Martin Luther King Day

The school held the Martin Luther King Day convocation with a number of presenters offering insight to the importance and significance of this day. Jerri Anne Boggis, Project Director for the Harriet Wilson Project, shared in the efforts to bring Harriet Wilson’s Our Nig (FIC WIL) to the forefront as a piece of black history in New Hampshire. She also described the efforts to construct a memorial to Harriet Wilson in Milford, NH.

The library has a Martin Luther King display in one of our cases that reflects the efforts to raise funds for the Martin Luther King Memorial. The Academy’s NEXO club which promotes cultural awareness, has held a fund raiser for this cause. In addition to this display other Martin Luther King materials are being displayed in the library. An inspiring day for all.

There can only be one winner...

Browsing School Library Journal for December 2006 led me to the “Word of the Year” for 2006. Carbon Neutral is the winner, urging us to live a greener way of life or off-setting the damage we may do to the environment by doing something environmentally positive. The winner for 2005 was podcast, a word that has changed how we gather and receive information. The runners up from both years provide insight to our culture and the cutting-edge technologies, concepts, or language we use (or may use in the future.) Maybe carbon neutral, (some argue promoted by Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth,) will have a positive impact on how we live our lives. The word is having an impact in the blogging world, people are a buzz with this new word of the year! Makes you wonder what could be the winner for 2007, what will this year bring?

Whose blogging now?

We, the librarians at the Governor’s Academy, have been blogging for the past two years. It seems that we not alone. The Boston Sunday Globe (January 7, 2007) had an article in the “Career Development & Education Supplement” that stated that many colleges and universities now use blogs in their courses, in admissions departments, as well as department home pages. Blogs are different from online discussion forums. Greg Salyer, associate professor and chair of liberal studies at Boston University’s Metropolitan College explains the difference this way. “Forums are more like class participation. A blog is private, personal refection made public. It requires more thought and crafting, and is uniquely yours.” I really liked that definition. To visit some of the blogs from select Boston colleges and universities, go to:
Professor Salyer’s blog at BU
(www.bu.edu/dbin/liberalstudies//?q=blog)
MIT Admissions blog
(www.mitadmissions.org/blogs.shtml)
Harvard Student blog
(http://harvardextended.blogspot.com/)

Short Takes for Study Breaks

Hidden within the 813’s of the video collection was an assortment of short stories. We’ve moved them to the entertainment section where you can find them by title. Timed at 60 minutes or less, they provide some intriguing viewing. Who needs Snakes on a Plane when there’s Ambrose Bierce’s suspense laden “The Man and the Snake?” Owen Johnson’s funny Lawrenceville Stories (first published in the Saturday Evening Post) of high jinks in the famed prep school are represented by "The Prodigious Hickey" and "The Return of Hickey." Opening this weekend on the big screen is a movie about a murderous hitchhiker, but the Eudora Welty story’s point of view is from the driver who picked up a hitchhiker later found murdered (“Hitch-hikers.”) For those of you reading Gatsby and enjoying the period, try “Under the Biltmore Clock.” Kurt Vonnegut’s “Who Am I This Time” is one of my favorites. An endearing rather than creepy Christopher Walken stars with Susan Sarandon in a sweet romantic comedy. Ms. Pesky suggests that these are great study breaks as they are short but still brain-engaging!

Billy Collins

As Chapel speaker this morning, Headmaster Doggett spoke of this odd time when the New Year is just beginning yet we are gearing up toward the ending of the semester and its exam period. It was an interesting thought. Although we take stock of where we are personally at the year’s close and set ourselves resolutions for the year to come, we are probably not concentrating any longer on where we’ve been but rather on where we’re going. Seniors are either into colleges, anticipating graduation and the fall, or are anxiously awaiting letters while freshmen need to learn how to review the fall’s curriculum and demonstrate their mastery on an exam.

He continued his talk by reading some poetry by the very accessible former Poet Laureate Billy Collins. Collins takes familiar moments and transforms them. He transforms how we view reading a book, writing, or even looking out a window. His “Aimless Love” in Nine Horses (811.54 COL) has rescued me many times when my mind is too full of forests and no trees. You can read more about Collins at poets.org, an interview on bringing poetry to the people, or his poetry 180 project.

Visitor from Kenya

Joseph Lekuton, member of the Kenyan Parliament visited The Governor’s Academy on Tuesday, January 9. Read more about his visit on the school’s webpage. One message Mr. Lekuton shared with the audience was to encourage young people to look outside their world, travel and discover places unlike their own. If teachers and students are unable to travel, the next best thing would be to READ; read about the world, read about what is happening in other countries, people and their experiences. You can learn more about Mr. Lekuton from his book, Facing the Lion: Growing up Masai on the African Savanna (967.62 LEK) which Ms. Chase blogged about last week.

Oh, what a year can bring

It is always interesting to stop and reflect when a new year has come and gone. I remember last year at this time, feeling baffled by all of the new technologies libraries, and young adults had been adopting. iPods, blogs, social networking, online gaming, cell phones that have everything but the kitchen sink and more innovative technologies.

Here at the library we have incorporated many of these new technologies into our program starting with the blog, flickr, Library Thing, (I love Library Thing – if you are a reader you must use it!) , del.icio.us and our library staff is using a wiki for professional development. As we look ahead to 2007 there are many new exciting technologies we look forward to diving into, when you make the dive once the rest becomes exciting new adventures. We hope you will stay turned and enjoy the adventures with us. Happy New Year!
Felice Anno Nuovo! (One of my New Year’s goals: to work on my Italian!)

Facing the Lion

Kenyan legislator Joseph Lekuton will speak at this Tuesday's convocation. We have available several copies of his book Facing the Lion: Growing up Masai on the African Savanna available in the library. When you come in to check out a copy, look at the display of Kenyon books in the hallway which Mrs. Healey put together. In March four of our students will be visiting a school in Kenya along with Mr. Nelson and Mr. Gerry. In April, two Kenyan students and their teacher will be coming to us. Let's welcome the visitors to our campus by learning about their country and culture.

Reading alums

One of the best parts of being a school librarian for me is connecting with an alum and once more talking about reading. I had lunch yesterday with Laura who is an English major at Williams. After the catching up on school news and old friends, we talked about her upcoming semester with three courses on the novel. She is currently reading Emma in preparation. After she had read Pride and Prejudice her freshman year, I got a wonderfully delirious e-mail: ”I knew I could count on you to truly understand. Imagine the emotion, excitement and absolute pleasure of a first-time reader. I felt guilty enjoying the book so much.” I imagineI babbled similarly to the teacher who first handed me the same novel.
I envy her the experience of Emma – meeting Miss Bates for the first time! Before I knew Kilpling was an Austen fan, I read the “Janeites” and was bemused when his soldiers assigned Austen characters and irony to the people they met: “I was past carin’. But [the grey-headed nursing Sister] went on talkin’ and talkin’ about the war, an’ her pa in Ladbroke Grove, an’ ’how strange for ’er at ’er time of life to be doin’ this work with a lot o’ men, an’ next war, ’ow the nurses ’ud ’ave to wear khaki breeches on account o’ the mud, like the Land Girls; an’ that reminded ’er, she’d boil me an egg if she could lay ’ands on one, for she’d run a chicken-farm once. You never ’eard anythin’ like it—outside o’ Jane. It set me off laughin’ again. Then a woman with a nose an’ teeth on ’er, marched up. ‘What’s all this?” she says. “What do you want?” “Nothing,” I says, “only make Miss Bates, there, stop talkin’ or I’ll die.”
In The History Boys, Hector responds to a student “The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. And now, here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours.” Austen has given me some of my best moments in reading and is now doing the same for Laura. Our lunch chat was so satisfying. I wish this reading experience for all my students and that they return to talk about it!

Library collegiality

This semester has afforded us many collegial moments in the library. We had a student from the Salem State graduate program spend 25 hours observing our library program and our librarians in action. She is currently a teacher at the Landmark School which allowed us to talk more specifically about our roles in independent schools. In November the Greater Boston Cooperative Library Association held its November meeting here. We presented our Library 2.0 tools – how we are implementing, evaluating, and drafting policies and procedures. Last Friday, Linda Braun brought her class on Technology in the School Library Media Center from the Simmons Graduate School to look at how we use technology and how we are using the new 2.0 applications for programming. We did our 2-hour demonstration on a SmartBoard.
Presenting is a wonderful evaluation tool. As we decide what to share with our audience, we think about what we are doing and why we do it thusly. Also, questions from colleagues often get straight to the heart of librarianship. As we ponder and answer, we also wonder if there is a better way. Reflecting on your feet in front of colleagues can be illuminating (and challenging!) Earlier this week Jen wrote about sharing resources with other libraries. I count us fortunate that we have also had wonderful opportunities to share our profession.

Felice Navidad!

We welcomed carolers this morning. Felice Navidad rang through the halls, bringing students and faculty together in a Christmas moment!

GEORGE - "A reader's best friend"

Do you wish that you could read faster? The December 11th, 2006 issue of Newsweek magazine reports that if you read to a dog your reading speed will increase substantially. There are currently 16,000 certified therapy dogs trained for reading assistance programs, and requests for these trained dogs are pouring in from schools and libraries. The dogs curl up with their student and cause the anxiety level of the readers to go way down. This process of reading the dog a story aloud has proven to increase the number of words a minute a reader can read.
GEORGE, our astute cover boy, is ready, willing and able to lay at anyone's feet.

We know how to share

One thing libraries do exceptionally well is sharing, we share information, we share our resources. We are receiving ILLs (Inter-Library Loans) from around the state, and also sending out materials to other libraries. The Pescosolido Library belongs to a number of different networks, including, CLASS (independent schools), MassCat (Massachusetts Virtual Catalog), through NMRLS (Northeast Massachusetts Regional Library Network), we can access MVLC(Merrimack Valley Library Consortium) and WorldCat. Late fall is a heavy ILL time for the library as students are on the home stretch for a variety of projects, including the Junior Thesis papers. Inter-Library Loan services open up the availability of resources to our students and can often times bring them information they would of otherwise missed. Sharing, it's a great thing...

Waiting for the white stuff!

Tis’ the season for snow! We are waiting for its arrival, and I am sure at some point Mother Nature will provide it. For those who are skiers, snowboarders, snowshoers, and sledders, young and old, the first sign of snow brings much anticipation and excitement. Ms. Toumayan has been busy creating intricate snowflakes for our bulletin board, bringing the exciting feel of the first snowfall into the library. Here you will find some new books including, The Little Book of Snowflakes (551.57 LIB), Ken Libbrecht’s Field Guide to Snowflakes (551.57 LIB), Snow in America (551.57 MER), and a display about snow cannot be without, Poems by Frost (811.52 FRO).
Staying with the “snow” theme, I read in one of my regular Bloglines feeds about the Orange County Library System’s Virtual Library where anyone can visit and create a virtual snowman (or lady.) This is strictly for fun, but shows how our world, via technology becomes smaller. All snow people created can be added to the Snowperson Gallery. I do admit to creating a virtual snowperson (Can you find it? She is gearing up for some some holiday time), visit the gallery, try it out for yourself. Even in Florida they are dreaming of snow!

Scarves, Ribbons, Paper

The gifts I treasure most are often those that are handmade, and took time rather than money to make. OK, maybe a little money too. For those of you who have a creative streak or those of you who wish to develop your creativity, there are many books in our library to help you make interesting and beautiful items that are sure to please the people on your holiday list. There is a wonderful display of arts and crafts books in the library right now to help you get started. Among the many titles are:
The New Paper Quilling 745.45 SMI
Embroidering with Silk Ribbon 745.59CIO
Celebrity Scarves 746.43 and
Fiber and Bead Jewelry 745.59

(Photo from: Edelman, Abra. Celebrity Scarves New York: Sixth & Spring Books, 2003.)

Flakey reads

Although the snow has fallen once this season, it was of the sleety and icy variety rather than the puffy and silent. No more perfect moment exists than when one stands, face uplifted, and watches the perfect flakes drift down in utter silence. The world stops and beauty reigns. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow captured it in “Snow Flakes”: Out of the bosom of the Air, Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken, Over the woodlands brown and bare, Over the harvest-fields forsaken, Silent, and soft, and slow Descends the snow.
Ken Libbrecht in his Field Guide to Snowflakes (551.57 LIB) provides a behind the flake science explanation accompanied by gorgeous microphotography of the different crystals. Snow, while wondrous, can also in drifting amounts provide challenges to us. Bernard Mergen in Snow in America (551.57) gives us three hundred years of cultural history from the settling days when snow forged our character to the present when it snarls our cities and challenges our environment with our wintry pastimes. If wintry pastimes are your passion, Jim Smith’s The Art of Snowboarding (796.93 SMI) might take your participation to a new level.

Santa or Brady?

I was in a quandry. It was after 3:30 and the Pats were down. And, even though they were playing poorly, this was the time in a game when they'd pull out the magic and the win. Unfortunately, my husband was Santa for the lighting of the tree on the Newbury Green and would soon be arriving by fire engine. Santa won over Brady (although it was closer than I'll ever admit to) and I hotfooted it over to the Green. Fortunately, my son who was an elf for the afternoon texted Janet Hansen (both of them Class of '00) and she texted back that the magic had happened and the home team won.
I was happy that after watching the Santa magic, I could snuggle by the fire and read Moving the Chains: Tom Brady and the Pursuit of Everything by Charles Pierce (796.332 PIE.) Not only is it a fascinating read on the growth and development of Brady but it's also the growth of the Patriots into a team who during Super Bowl introductions ran on to the field en masse. It was that moment which kindled my growing devotion to the team. The book simply enhanced that devotion.

That Holiday Feeling

The holiday spirit is filling the air at the library. One cannot help but be inspired when looking at the selection of materials on our Christmas display. Cookie books, favorite carols and Christmas stories from around the world fill the shelves. Our varied collection includes, Christmas Unwrapped: the history of Christmas (DVD 394.26 CHR), A Treasury of African-American Christmas Stories (SC TRE), The Physics of Christmas (394.26 HIG), The Autobiography of Santa Claus (FIC GUI), and Christmas Cookies: from the whimsical bake house (641.8 KAY). Just looking at the cookie recipes and pictures will get you inspired. (See the cookie theme I have going over my last two posts?) All we are missing is carolers, maybe in the next week and a half we will have some stop by to spread cheer.

How does your pyramid stack up?

This last month’s Library Media Collection (November/December 2006) had an interesting article titled, “Feed Your Brain!” by Tammy Failmezger. I copied the pyramid illustration as it intrigued me to think of what we read in the same context as the food pyramid we are all so familiar with. This pyramid was geared towards students, but is it something we can all benefit from to keep our minds alert, aware, healthy and growing? I have attempted to create this Brain Food Pyramid in the photo to the left. Failmezger suggests students have a healthy base to their pyramid with “Nonfiction reading” including, newspapers, magazines and nonfiction books, next “award winners”, followed by “inspirational reading”; biographies, character building stories, poems. This leads to the tip of the pyramid, with “pleasure reading” and, to be used sparingly, “mind candy.”
As I was considering my blog for today I was eating a delicious chocolate cookie from the dining hall (tempting dessert photo from today’s sweets table also below,) and thought about the last book I read and loved, Water for Elephants (FIC GRU). This may fall under the “pleasure reading”/ cookie category, but I must confess it makes for a great read without the cookie guilt. So find something at the tip of the pyramid once in awhile, it may even be better than the chocolate cookie.

Atlantic Monthly's List

December's Atlantic Monthly lists the top 100 list of influential Americans. In its 150th year of publication, the Atlantic asked 10 historians to submit their lists of those Americans who have had the greatest impact on the America of their time period and America as it is today. On the list are presidents, activists, authors, immigrants, theologians, scientists, athletes, and showmen. Walt Disney is at 26 before William LLoyd Garrison at 46 before Jonathan Edwards at 90. Debatable? Certainly and that is why the Atlantic encourages you to weigh in with your own lists and additions.

Books Make Great Gifts

Are you stymied as to what to buy for those special people during the holiday season? Let me suggest a gift that is sure to please. Gift certificates to book stores make wonderful gifts for everyone on your list. The New York Times has just made available on line their annual list of "100 Notable Books of the Year". You might want to give the list along with the gift certificate to help make choosing a little easier. Happy holidays from the Pesky Librarians!

Warholizing

Although a case can be made for whether or not one is artistic if one is crafty, I always think of myself as the latter, never the former. So I am grateful to the toys on the Web which allow me to try different "artistic" presentations. Today I looked at the Flickr Toys I have been reading about. The Warholizer allows you to upload a picture (either one in your Flickr account or on your computer) and give it a silkscreen effect. I took three from Flickr: our stairway, a reflective student, and Jen's cup of tea from Richmond Park.

The Winter Season is Upon Us

You would never guess it from the weather we are having, but a new season of afternoon acivities has begun. The fields will rest during the coming months and the gym, field house, rink and PAC will be a-buzz with students taking part in their winter activities. We have received a new book for the hockey lover, Hockey: a people's history by Michael McKinley (796.962), that will gear up fans for another season. The book is beautifully illustrated with photographs depicting the story of of hockey not so much from the pro viewpoint, but from those who love the game. Learn more about the book by visiting our online catalog or Library Thing page. If you are a fan of hockey, this is a wonderful title to have a look at.

No "turkeys" here!

How often do I hear students and staff saying they wish they had more time for pleasure reading? In our busy lives sometimes a long book just feels like a burden. My suggestion for these readers is a series of books that are “the best”: short stories, plays, science and nature writing, mystery stories, essays, travel writing, spiritual writing and non-required reading. Each “the best” book has many stories by many authors, and in this way the reader can enjoy excellent writing in areas of interest to him or her, without the need to spend too much time. Here is a list of some of our library’s “best” selection, but there are many more listed in the card catalog:
The Best American Spiritual Writing 230 ZAL
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 500 BES
The Best American Sports Writing 796 BES
The Best American Non-required Reading 810.08 BES
Best American Plays 812.08 BES
The Best American Essays 814.54 BES
The Best American Travel Writing 818.54
The Best American Mystery Stories SC BES

Destined to be always Beta?

We are the Library Spotlight in the November Newsletter of the Northeast Massachusetts Regional Library System! The article is about how we are using Web 2.0 here at the Academy. It includes our successes and our “modifications." I think that trying these new Web tools means being in a constant state of tweaking – trying, evaluating, tweaking, and repeating this process. I believe that as we go about tweaking, we should be sharing our learning with one another so that the collective wisdom helps us more easily create tools which fit our program.

This makes me feel, however, that I am always in Beta mode, never finished. This is hard for librarians. I think we always want to present a perfectly designed finished product to our users. But, I believe we need to let that go and step blindly forward. We are stepping forward again but this time with a wiki for staff training. We have a staff large in numbers but small in consecutive work hours. Trying to find time together to learn new things is hard. Hence, the wiki, a collaborative web document which any user can add to, update, or change. Jen and I signed up for a free pbwiki. Advertised as “As easy to make as a peanut butter sandwich,” the wiki format suggested we weren't expert sandwich chefs. Susan Babb of NMRLS came last Friday and gave us some insights. Tuesday, Jen and I were able to make the PB sandwich. I am excited to see how all of us at the library will use the wiki. It’s Beta once more but I believe we’ll learn how to use it as a tool to share with our users. We'll keep you posted.

Discover a great ancient treasure

It was on November 4, 1922 that the tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered by the persistent archeologist Howard Carter with the financial backing of Lord Carnarvon. After years of searching this historical and archeological treasure was uncovered. Ms. Toumayan has created a display in honor of this anniversary and provides intriguing information from our Jackdaws collection. For further reading check out The Complete Tutankhamun (923.014 REE), The Murder of Tutankhamun (923 BRU), and Egypt: Quest for Eternity (VC 932 EGY).

What's new in DVD at the Pesky Library

The Pescosolido Library’s DVD collection is ever growing. There are displays throughout the library highlighting some of our new acquisitions. Some of the new entertainment titles include, V for Vendetta (DVD V), Capote (DVD CAP), and Memoirs of a Geisha (DVD MEM). Our new “Read the Book and Watch the Movie” Classics include, The Old Man and the Sea (DVD OLD), and Lawrence of Arabia (DVD LAW). In addition, many new titles from Films for the Humanities and PBS have been purchased, these include, A World Without Borders: what is happening with Globalization?(DVD 337 WOR), Martin Luther (DVD LUT), and The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance (DVD 945.5 MED).

Are you ready for some football?

Football is the great American Fall pastime. ‘Tis the season, and it’s a good one. Our beloved Patriots until the other night were playing beautifully and our own Governors are having a terrific year falling for the first time last week in a hard fought match with Milton. Some of us even watch college ball with interest, looking for our Governor boys who have made the big time. Watching is a fun diversion and a long standing traditional part of Fall.
For those of you who would like to read about the game, our sports books can be found upstairs in 796 and those pertaining specifically to football are 796.332. A popular selection is David Halberstam’s, Education of a Coach 796.332 HAL, The which examines the amazing coaching life of Bill Belichick as he propelled his team to three Super Bowls in five years.

Welcome Clara A. Pesky

Welcome to the newest member of our staff, Clara A. Pesky! She arrived several weeks ago and has been busily learning the ins and outs of our library. In fact, she’s showing up in every corner of the library. (Check out the new library tour and see!) Because she’s a 2.0 librarian, she would like to introduce herself by sharing her librarian trading card, a 2.0 tool you can also see at the Pool of Cards. She invites you to stop by the library, check out a book for the upcoming holiday break (nothing better than curling up and reading while the pies are baking says she,) and make her acquaintance.

Rotunda Gallery

Students in David Oxton's photography class have transformed the rotunda on the second floor of the library. Their framed photos now adorn the walls. Check back frequently for new additions to the gallery. All photos can also be seen online in the Rotunda Gallery.

The Stolen Child

When I saw this tree at Richmond Park during our recent trip to London, I thought it would be the perfect hide out for any number of small creatures. Maybe the deer that roam this park make it their home when all is quiet, a small child could easily make this hide-a-way their own, or maybe something else, some other creature that is not seen, but lives in our imagination and the stories we read. This image lead me to the new and highly acclaimed novel, The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue (FIC DON). Keith Donohue has a wonderful Amazon site for this book, including a video interview in the Amazon Fishbowl, an author profile, and an insider’s look at the “story inside the story.” In this description Donohue writes, “The very first image that came to me when I began The Stolen Child was of a young boy hiding in a hollow tree, face pressed against its wooden ribs, determined not to be found by anyone.” The Stolen Child has been described as an “adult fairy tale” inspired by a poem by William Butler Yeats. In this novel seven year old Henry Day is taken by the changelings (think wild fairy children,) and they make him one of their own, living in the woods. In his place, a changeling takes on the life of Henry Day with his family in the modern world. To read more about this book take a look at the conversations people are having in Library Thing by finding it in the Pesky Library, Library Thing collection.

Keeping Warm

So far it has been a sparkling fall with the temperatures in the 50s nearly everyday. That is why I found it so funny when one of our new students from Thailand came into the library the other day hugging himself and telling me he was so-o-o cold. I laughed and tried to explain that this is only fall and it is going to get a lot colder. I told him he is going to have to get some nice warm mittens, a scarf and a stocking hat.
This little conversation led me to browse through our collection of knitting books. Our selections cover basic knitting instructions to Celebrity Scarves and Exquisite Little Knits. They can be found upstairs in 746.43.

Archives added to CQ Researcher!

When we learned that the Archives of our CQ Researcher database were on sale, we had to have them. Going back to 1923, the archives provide incredible support for the U.S. History thesis paper for our juniors. Researcher provides information on issues of the day. While researching the internment of Japanese-Americans, we found information from April of 1942 on "Enemy Aliens and the American War Effort." In looking at the politics of the Christian right we found that in 1928 there was a discussion of "American Churches and National Politics." That same year there was a discussion of why a declining number of Americans were casting ballots in national elections. It's a fascinating resource! Thanks to our parents' group, the Allies, whose financial support of the library allows us the flexibility to take advantage of unexpected opportunities.

Feeling Blue

While posting to Book Displays in Libraries, we noted that the Lansing Library had a display of red books. A library in Florida was inspired and did an orange display. We were, quite frankly, intrigued. Displays are usually thematic. What would happen if a color rather than an idea or genre supplied the parameters? First, we’re amazed at how many blue book jackets there were. Second, books came to light that had probably only before appeared in a new books display. Side-by-side are now Stephen Fair (Tim Wynne-Jones,) The Country Ahead of Us, the Country Behind (David Guterson,) A Strong West Wind (Gail Caldwell,) Sky in a Bottle (Peter Pesic,) and Fire Bringer ( David Clement-Davis.) Some really great reads are to be found here. Mrs. Healey, who arranged this display, is already considering the next color!