Teens Go Green @ Your Library

All teens entering grades 6-12 are invited to participate in this year's teen summer reading program from June 24th to August 1st. The program was kicked off last Tuesday with an awesome teen band concert featuring local talent.

Participating in this program is so easy. All you have to do is read anything you want that is at least 80 pages long. This includes fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, or a group of 3 magazines. Just for reading you'll raise $.50 for charity. If the book you've read is on a school reading list you'll raise $.75. The Teen Advisory Group selected the NH Carbon Challenge to be this year's beneficiary.

If you go one step further and write a short review of the book you can earn a raffle entry for one of the following prizes:
NH Fisher Cats box seats for 4
Haywards Ice Cream gift card
Chunky's Cinema movie passes
Texas Roadhouse gift card
Simon Mall gift card
iTunes gift card
Best Buy gift card
Borders gift card
Creative Zen 2 GB MP3 player
Tee Shirt Bodega gift card
grab bag of books

In addtion, there is something going on every Tuesday related to this year's theme. To view a complete listing of teen programs or to register for an event visit www.tinyurl.com/yqm7pa . If you still have questions call Jenn at 589-4612.

The season finale of Doctor Who airs this Saturday in the U.K., a much awaited climax to not only the 2008 season but an era launched by Russell T. Davies four years ago. The New York Times recently did an homage to Davies, "Who Altered British TV? 'Who' Indeed", since the program will be in new hands next year. I grew up on parts of the classic series (1963-1989) and never dreamed it would come back, but Davies has done the unthinkable: new Who has been as good as the old (if mawkish at times), and in some ways transcended it.

As ever, the Doctor doesn't get a moment's rest. Since April he's rescued present-day earth from an alien invasion, gone back to Pompeii in the year 79 when Vesuvius erupted and killed thousands (an emotional episode), teamed up with Agatha Christie in 1926 to solve a murder, and -- my favorite story -- traveled to a planet-sized library in the 51st century, where shadows kill on contact and eat flesh to the bone. (I dream of libraries this size but probably wouldn't visit that one. See the "Silence in the Library" trailer for a creepy preview.) This Saturday's finale is the second half of a two-parter featuring his worst enemies from the classic series, the Daleks, and the resurrection of their creator, Davros. (See this trailer.)

The episodes are being released on the Sci-Fi channel in America, a bit behind the U.K. schedule. But even better, if you haven't seen the previous seasons, the Nashua Public Library has acquired all three on DVD. That's 13 episodes per season, at 45 minutes a piece, adding up to 30 hours of time-traveling fun. Each story is unique -- with plenty of comedy, action, and scares -- though always aimed at a family audience.

The Complete First Series.
The Complete Second Series.
The Complete Third Series.

Also try the following books just ordered:

The Doctor Who Encyclopedia: A Definitive Guide to Time and Space
Inside the TARDIS: The Worlds of Doctor Who - A Cultural History
Doctor Who: The Inside Story

Then try material pertaining to the classic series:

Doctor Who, A Celebration: Two Decades Through Time and Space
Vengeance on Varos
The Five Doctors

I LOVE HGTV, otherwise known as Home and Garden Television. Even before I was old enough to decorate or have a place of my own, I loved to watch all shows on home buying and decorating. Now that I am in the processes of becoming a home owner, I am really into all those design shows! But, you don’t need cable (or to be a home owner) to get some of the wonderful decorating advice on those shows. The library, as I have recently come to discover, has TONS of wonderful design and styling books to transform your home or apartment.

If you are like me, I go for the books offering budget friendly advice on updating or decorating your home. Try:

Kitchen decorating ideas under $100 by Rebecca Jerdee
Design on a dime edited by Amy Tincher-Durik
Trading spaces: $100 to $1,000 makeovers
Shoestring chic: extraordinary style for less by Gail Abbott

Even if you are on a budget, books with stunning (but expensive) design ideas can offer inspiration for colors, designs, and styles as well. Also, don’t forget to check out some of our magazines either. My favorite is Country Living. We also have Better Homes and Garden, Elle Décor, House & Garden, House Beautiful and many more. (See the Reference Desk for a list of Periodicals, or, browse the shelves in the Stearns Room and Music, Art, and Media Department.)

To see what we have on decorating, do a subject keyword search for interior decoration. Leave a comment letting us know what style you like or any decorating projects you have done recently.

Ever wondered how to do a salchow jump? How to create a battery out of a lemon? How to prepare for a hurricane? There's a web site out there with videos on all of these burning questions. MonkeySee features videos by experts in categories such as auto & mechanical, beauty & fashion, personal finance, safety, parenting, and more.

Now, as a suspicious reference librarian, my first question with every web site is "Who is this person and how is she qualified to give me advice?" The nice thing about MonkeySee is that each how-to video is accompanied by a short biography of the "expert." For example, the video on how to do the salchow (that's a jump performed in ice skating) is by Olympic figure skater Michael Weiss. The hurricane preparation video is by the emergency management director of Hernando County, Florida. And the lemon battery? Some guy named Adam Kemp--no qualifications mentioned, so I'd take his advice with a grain of salt.

However, the variety of topics and the high quality of many of the videos' experts make it a great place to go for all kinds of information: how to maintain your car, how to dance, how to knit, how to caulk your bathtub, and much more.

For those who prefer books or videos, the library's got you covered. Whether it's how to build a fantasy football team, how to cook a vegetarian meal, or how to surf fish, you'll find it here at the library.

Before the spectacles of the Democratic Convention in late August and the Republican Convention in early September, a spectacular event will take place which will have the whole world watching. The Summer Olympics are coming to Beijing, China August 8-24. The initial publicity surrounding the Beijing Olympics has not always been positive. The progress of the Olympic torch from country to country was disrupted by human rights activists protesting the violence taking place in Tibet. Olympic athletes pondered, in the press, the wisdom of risking their lung health competing in the unhealthy air of Beijing. A massive earthquake struck part of China killing thousands. Recent bomb explosions which occurred on buses in Yunnan Province act as reminders of possible terrorist threats to the Olympic games.

In spite of all this, Beijing and the rest of the world will be ready on August 8 to begin the Summer Olympic games. As many of the problems as possible have been addressed by the Chinese government, including stringent restrictions on traffic in the city of Beijing in an attempt to reduce smog and air pollutants. If you are interested in viewing what has been done in Beijing to prepare for the Olympics, go to the Beijing Olympics official website. If you are interested in seeing what the city of Beijing has to offer or want to view some of the venues constructed for the Olympic games, the city of Beijing has an Official Website.

Information about the Olympics in general can be found on the Official Website of the Olympics. Here you can find information about Olympic medal winners since the Athens Olympics of 1896, take a virtual tour of the Olympic Museum or view historical information about both Summer and Winter games since 1896.

The library is also a source of Olympic information. These are just a few of the library materials about the Olympics:
Rome 1960 : the Olympics that changed the world
The Olympics : Athens to Athens 1896-2004
The Olympics, a history of the modern games
Awaken the Olympian within : stories from America's greatest Olympic motivators
If your interest is in Olympic history
The naked Olympics : the true story of the Ancient Games and
The Ancient Olympic Games
Of course, if you are into movies, Chariots of fire is the quintessential Olympic movie.

Hello, blog readers!

You won't have seen my name on here before, as this is my first post to this blog. I came up with the topic of this entry about oh... ten minutes ago. So when you're done reading, please leave a comment to let me know how I did.

Neil Gaiman has just finished teaching a week at Clarion, a superb science fiction and fantasy writers' workshop held in San Diego. So he's been on my mind lately. He's primarily a fantasy writer, but you can find things he's written in practically every department of the library.

Fantasy: He is perhaps best known for American Gods. It won best novel in the Hugos, the Nebulas, and the Bram Stoker Award for 2002. You can find this in the library's fiction section.

Graphic Novel: Unless of course he's best known for Sandman, a series of graphic novels about Morpheus, The Lord of Dreams. The first collection is titled Preludes and Nocturnes. These are located in the Music, Art and Media department downstairs. Except that some lucky person already has the first volume checked out, so you'd better put a hold request on it before someone else beats you to it.

Fantasy: You might be interested in his Anansi Boys, the story of the son of the trickster spider god Anansi. It won the Mythopoeic Award for best novel in 2006. I had the privilege of hearing Gaiman read a bit of this before it was published when he spoke at the National Book Festival in Washington, DC. This book is not only in the fiction section, but the library also has it in Large Print or as downloadable audio.

Children's Fantasy: But maybe you're looking for something a little younger? No problem. Gaiman has written Coraline, about a girl who's moved into a new apartment and discovers an alternate world. It also won a Hugo, a Nebula, and a Bram Stoker Award. You can find this one in the children's room in the older fiction section.

Movie: Take a break from all that Neil Gaiman reading and watch Stardust, a movie based on his book of the same name. A very different sort of fairy tale and love story. The DVD can of course be found in Music, Art, and Media. The book is located in the Science Fiction and Fantasy alcove in the back of the library. (My favorite alcove.)

Nonfiction: For the nonfiction inclined, here's Hanging Out With the Dream King: Conversations with Neil Gaiman and his Collaborators.

If you still haven't had enough of Neil Gaiman, you can read Good Omens, a collaboration with none other than Terry Pratchett. Or read his short fiction in Fragile Things. Or search the library catalog for Neil Gaiman. Lots of good stuff there.

You can read more about Neil Gaiman on Wikipedia or check out his blog at http://journal.neilgaiman.com/.

And remember to leave me that comment!

Robert Darnton's recent article in the New York Review of Books, "The Library in the New Age", cautiously celebrates the digitization of knowledge. It's mainly about the future of research institutions, but has a broader scope of implications for all libraries. Darnton critiques various aspects of Google's digitization project, speaking as a Google fan himself who nonetheless retains a heavy nostalgia for books -- not least for their smells and other tactile pleasures. From the article:

"Books...give off special smells. According to a recent survey of French students, 43 percent consider smell to be one of the most important qualities of printed books—so important that they resist buying odorless electronic books. CaféScribe, a French on-line publisher, is trying to counteract that reaction by giving its customers a sticker that will give off a fusty, bookish smell when it is attached to their computers.

"When I read an old book, I hold its pages up to the light and often find among the fibers of the paper little circles made by drops from the hand of the vatman as he made the sheet—or bits of shirts and petticoats that failed to be ground up adequately during the preparation of the pulp. I once found a fingerprint of a pressman enclosed in the binding of an eighteenth-century Encyclopédie—testimony to tricks in the trade of printers, who sometimes spread too much ink on the type in order to make it easier to get an impression by pulling the bar of the press...

"I may expose myself to accusations of romanticizing or of reacting like an old-fashioned, ultra-bookish scholar who wants nothing more than to retreat into a rare book room. I plead guilty. I love rare book rooms, even the kind that make you put on gloves before handling their treasures. Rare book rooms are a vital part of research libraries, the part that is most inaccessible to Google. But libraries also provide places for ordinary readers to immerse themselves in books, quiet places in comfortable settings, where the codex can be appreciated in all its individuality."

His conclusion?

"Shore up the library. Stock it with printed matter. Reinforce its reading rooms. But don't think of it as a warehouse or a museum. While dispensing books, most research libraries operate as nerve centers for transmitting electronic impulses. They acquire data sets, maintain digital repositories, provide access to e-journals, and orchestrate information systems that reach deep into laboratories as well as studies. Many of them are sharing their intellectual wealth with the rest of the world by permitting Google to digitize their printed collections. Therefore, I also say: long live Google, but don't count on it living long enough to replace that venerable building with the Corinthian columns. As a citadel of learning and as a platform for adventure on the Internet, the research library still deserves to stand at the center of the campus, preserving the past and accumulating energy for the future."

Read the whole article, and then come to the Nashua Public Library and check out some books -- books that you can hold in your hand and savor in all the ways Darnton rhapsodizes about -- about digital libraries and online resources.

Google and The Myth of Universal Knowledge, by Jean Noel Jeanneney.

The Web Library: Building a World Class Personal Library with Free Web Resources, by Nicholas Tomaiuolo.

Internet Digital Libraries, by Jack Kessler.

Coyle's Information Highway Handbook, by Karen Coyle.

Find it Online: The Complete Guide to Online Research, by Alan Schein.