If you're wondering why the library only collects PS2 games to circulate, you're not alone.

Let me start by saying we're not trying to show preferential treatment over those of you that are part of the Nintendo family. It's actually much more basic than that.

A few years ago we noticed a desire from our customers to be able to check out video games and we agreed that this is a service we'd like to offer our community. However, our budget only allows for us to collect one platform of games. At the time we started to purchase video games for check out our research told us that PS2 was the most popular console. Since we want to serve as many people as possible, that's what we went with.

Now that new platforms such as the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii, perhaps we will soon have to re-evaluate our collection policy, for now, however it remains that the library will only be purchasing PlayStation 2 video games for check out.

To see a complete list of PS2 games owned by the library...
1. Visit the library catalog
2. Choose "Subject Browse" from the pull down menu
3. Type "PlayStation 2 video games" into the search box and click the arrow or hit enter.

You can locate the games on a white turn rack in the teen room.

Happy Gaming!!!

Did you know that you can recommend a book, CD, or movie for the library to purchase? We want our collection to reflect the community's interests so that means we want to know what interests you.

If you know of a title that you think the library should own, you can submit your suggestion online, stop by the Reference Desk and fill out a suggestion form, or give us a call at 589-4611. The appropriate librarian will then be notified, and he/she will investigate the title, (and let you know what he/she decides in case you would like the book reserved for you after it is bought.)

Please keep in mind purchases should be appropriate for a public library setting and fit within our collection development policy.

Happy reading, listening and viewing!

'Tis the season for lots of things - including politics. If you have caught a news report lately, you may have noticed the increase in references to political candidates and the New Hampshire Primary. One projected date for the New Hampshire Primary has been mentioned as January 22, 2008. The number of individuals creating presidential exploratory committees grows daily. The number of states trying to find a way around New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation status is growing as well.

If you are a newcomer to New Hampshire or if you will be an eligible voter in January 2008, you may find yourself feeling confused by or uninformed about the whole concept of a first-in-the-nation primary. The library has several books which will help to explain the background of the New Hampshire primary. Two of these books were authored by Hugh Gregg, a former Republican governor of New Hampshire, Why New Hampshire published in 2003 and A Tall State Revisited published in 1993. For more background information, try Primary Politics by Charles Brereton, a writer living in New Hampshire since 1970. Although his book The New Hampshire Primary and the American Electoral Process ends with the 1996 election, Niall Palmer provides a most thoughtful and thought-provoking discussion of the new Hampshire primary and its influence on the electoral process. Another discussion of the primary and its background can be found on the website for the state of New Hampshire

If you are looking for current information on the candidates and the political situation, the choices are unlimited. Keep in mind, however, that many of the political websites will display opinions slanted toward one party or candidate and away from the rest. WMUR, Channel 9 news, maintains a political webpage which will contain current and unbiased information. Those candidates, or potential candidates, currently in the U.S. Senate maintain websites which will provide their views and accomplishments. Among the Democrats, that would incude Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama . Among the Republicans, that would include Sam Brownback and John McCain. Other possible candidates have their websites as well. You can find information on John Edwards through his One America Committee. Tom Vilsack can be located through the state of Iowa website. Rudolph Giuliani has a website called Solutions America which features his viewpoints and travels across America. Information about Mitt Romney can be located on the website for the state of Massachusetts. Another website worth a look is RealClearPolitics. RCP features newspaper columns, magazine articles and web writeups on all aspects of American politics.

If you have any other suggestions for good political websites, be sure to let me know and I'll include them in a later update!

You're looking for a book, and the author's last name is Green. You sit down at one of the library's catalog computers, click on the box that reads Books and More, and type the word green in the search field. The catalog returns 1,289 entries that you must sift through to find your book. There must be an easier way!

When you do a general keyword search, the computer searches the title, author, subject, and even the notes for the word green; it can appear anywhere in the record. So, those 1,289 results include books such as Green Eggs and Ham and The Green Book of Songs by Subject; recordings by Al Green; books by Aliza Green; material about the Green Bay Packers, Green Berets, and green tea; and the CD Instrumental Music and Songs of the Southern Appalachians because a song listed in the notes is titled "Bowling Green."

Rather than use the general keyword search, click on the search tab at the top of the screen. The Basic Keyword Search tells the computer to search either the title, author, or subject for your word(s). If you want to find a book by Jane Green, use the author keyword field; but, to find Green Eggs and Ham, use the title keyword search. Although the results are more targeted, the author search still returns 457 titles, and the title search gives you 659. Sorting and limiting your results by using the dropdown menus on the right side of the screen will help, but you might want to focus your search even more.

By clicking on Advanced Keyword Search in the blue bar below the tabs, you can combine terms and choose options beyond author, title, and subject. This is especially helpful when you want to find a particular book by a certain author. For example, you can enter the words John Adams in the title field and David McCullough in the author field, so you will not have to look through all of the books titled John Adams or by David McCullough. The advanced search also allows you to sort and limit your results prior to the search.

When you know the first few words of a title, an author's name, or a subject heading, you can use the browse feature. Click on Browse, in the blue bar, and choose one of the options from the dropdown menu. Once you enter the search term and hit the arrow, you will see an alphabetical list of titles, authors, or subjects, which groups the records accordingly. You won’t have to look at every title by every author named Green. Click on an author’s name to find all of his or her books, or on a subject heading to find books on a specific topic.

Whether you should use search or browse depends on the amount of information you have about a book. If you know the title or author of a book, or if you are looking for books on a particular topic and know the subject heading, browse is more efficient. Remember to type an author's last name first. Be sure to enter the beginning of a subject or title and omit a, an, the. When you don't know the first word or the exact title, you should use search. If you don't have any luck finding a book using subject browse, don't assume that the library doesn't have books on that topic. The subject keyword search might generate some results.

Stay tuned for more information about subject headings...

Exciting news from NASA.... Recent photos from the Mars Global Surveyor suggest the presence of water on Mars. Articles about the discovery are available in the EBSCO collection of articles, available through the library's web site. You'll find information in the Newspaper and General Magazines collections. Choose "MasterFile Premier" and "Newspaper Source" from the list of databases. On the search page, use keywords "Mars" and "water". Make sure to click the checkbox next to "full text" so that your search results include the full article. Sources such as the Times of London, Astronomy magazine, Scientific American magazine, and USA Today all covered the announcement.

For more on Mars, check out our science collections for books for children...

• Exploring Mars, by D.J. Ward
• Mars, by Mary Kay Carson
• Mars, by Tim Goss

And adults...

• The Rock from Mars, by Kathy Sawyer
• Roving Mars, by Steve Squyres (an account of the Mars Exploration Rover mission)
• NASA's Mars Mission Reports, compiled from the NASA archives and edited by Robert Godwin. Volume 2 includes DVD with images and movies of Mars.
• A Traveler's Guide to Mars, by William K. Hartmann (of the Mars Global Surveyor Mission)
• Smithsonian Book of Mars, by Joseph M. Boyce

You can also browse by category: "Life on Earth", "Exploring the Universe", or "Humans in Space." There are web pages for kids, students, educators, researchers, press, industry, and employees. A multimedia section has photos, video (including a video of the evidence of water on Mars), podcasts, and more. The site also provides links to other space-related web sites, including other countries' space agencies.

Happy exploring!

I imagine you've probably read or heard about 'Seinfeld' star Michael Richards' outburst in which he screamed racial epithets at African-American members of his comedy club audience. In doing so, Richards has sparked an often angry discussion on just how far comedians can go to get a laugh. In the aftermath of the incident, Paul Mooney, a prominent African-American comedian, has decided to renounce the slur, vowing never to use it in public again, and said he would campaign to get all blacks to stop using it. (Read more in this story at Recordonline.com.

In thinking about these issues myself, I wondered if the Nashua Public Library had any books on these topics and sure enough we do. The first is
Nigger : The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word written by Harvard Law School Professor Randall Kennedy. According to a review in Booklist, Kennedy "examines the most socially explosive word of insult in the U.S. His approach is comprehensive, both from a historical and a contemporary perspective...Kennedy also explores the contemporary use of this taboo word, notably in rap music and the youth culture."

Back in 2002, Andy Rooney offered a commentary on Kennedy's book which I found in a book recently donated to the library, Years of Minutes: The Best of Rooney from 60 Minutes. In his commentary, titled "The N-Word", Rooney states that the best way for any of us to get rid of a problem is to hold it up to a bright light and look at all sides of it. That's what Kennedy does in this book."

Perhaps Michael Richards' recent outburst and the aftermath is forcing society to do this once again. What do you think? Please leave us your comments.

Other recommended library books:
* White guilt : how blacks and whites together destroyed the promise of the civil rights era / Shelby Steele.
* Sundown towns : a hidden dimension of American racism by James W. Loewen.

Other online resources:
* Google News Search for "Michael Richards"
* TMZ.com article

You probably know the feeling. You have done your initial research and know that the article you need appeared in the Nashua Telegraph some time in December 1948. And no, it is not online, but there is a copy you can get to right away, in the library... on microfilm.

And now you are faced with the "horrors" of learning to use a microfilm reader. It is really not that difficult to figure out, but in the hustle and bustle of the twenty-first century it can be pretty inconvenient.

Well, fear no longer! We have a new Minolta MS6000 Microform Workstation that even I, a "microfilm challenged" person, find a pleasure to use. This microform reader is connected to the computer next to it, so you can scan, edit and print a page or a group of pages. And you can save to a disk or CD, and also e-mail the results (just as you would any document).

Please feel free to ask any of the Reference Staff for assistance. Or if you would like more thorough instruction, please see us or call us at 589-4611 to schedule a 15 minute training session.

Some of the resources available on microfiche include:
The Nashua Telegraph 1862 -2006

The Boston Globe 1986-2004 (more recent articles available on our Newsbank database)

The New York Times 1963-January 2005 (more recent articles available on our Newsbank database)

and such magazines from selected time periods as Life, Boy's Life, Look and Newsweek.

Patron: Hi. I'm looking for books about heart attacks. I did a subject browse, but nothing came up. I can't believe you don't have any books about heart attacks!

Librarian: We probably do have books about heart attacks. You said you did a subject browse for the words "heart attack"?

Patron: Yes. That's the subject I want.

Librarian: We do have books about heart attack, but they're not categorized by that subject heading.

Patron: Why?

Librarian: The subject heading for heart attack is actually myocardial infarction. As you can see, when I do a subject browse for myocardial infarction, the catalog returns a list with numerous headings and subdivisions, such as popular works, prevention, and psychological aspects, for myocardial infarction so you can better pinpoint the books you want. When I click on Myocardial infarction -- Popular works, the record is a book about heart attacks.

Patron: Why doesn't the computer just use heart attack?

Librarian: Subject headings are part of what we call a controlled vocabulary. The catalog requires words from an official list so librarians don't use multiple variations of words and phrases in the catalog. This ensures that similar books are listed together under the proper subject heading. Myocardial infarction is a tough one; it's not intuitive. Often, if you enter a term or phrase that's not part of the controlled vocabulary, the catalog will tell you to use another term. When you browse for Revolutionary War, the catalog tells you to see "United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783."

Patron: When I searched for heart attack, it didn't tell me to see myocardial infarction. What should I do if something like that happens again?

Librarian: You can try a subject keyword search. The browse indexes are alphabetical, so if you invert the words in the subject, you won't find them by browsing, but you will find them in a keyword search. The subject keyword search looks for each word you enter in all of the subject headings. Many books have more than one. If that doesn't work, you can do a general keyword search, which will look for your words in all of the searchable fields--title, author, subject, series, notes.... You could get a lot of results. Once you find a relevant book, click on one of its subject headings to find more. You can see here that the subject headings are on the left side of the screen in a box that reads "item information."

Patron: So, why should I even bother with subject browsing?

Librarian: When you subject browse, you'll find books that pertain to your topic. You won't have to sift through records that simply include the word you entered. Plus, you get a list that includes all of the subdivisions. If I have a general idea of the subject, I try subject browse first.

You can also do subject searches in some of the EBSCO Databases. Clicking on the word "subjects" or "thesaurus" (depending on the database) in the green bar at the top of the page will give you a searchable, alphabetical list of subjects used in the database. Searching for subjects rather than keywords is especially helpful in a database. If you enter a word as a keyword, the database can return hundreds of irrelevant results. Although a keyword appears in a record, the article might not be about that topic. This is often the case when you enter common words or words with various meanings. If you cannot find an article on your subject, you can use the strategy I just mentioned. Find an article that is relevant and search its subjects.

Patron: Ok. Thank you for your help.

Librarian: You're welcome. Let me know if you need more help.

It's the birthday of A Christmas Carol. On December 19, 1843,* Charles Dickens published his story, an instant success that has become a holiday favorite. A Christmas Carol is available in a variety of formats at the library. You can find the book under "Dickens" in the library's hardcover Fiction section, or check the Classic Paperbacks area for a copy. There are also copies in the Children's Department.

A Christmas Carol has been the basis for many movies, from the Alastair Sim standard to the Muppets and Mickey Mouse versions. Stop by the Music, Art, and Media Department to check out our selection!

If you're interested in literary criticism of A Christmas Carol, the Literature Resource Center is a great source for articles. You can search by author, title, or subject. In addition to literary criticism, Literature Resource Center provides biographical information on the authors, information on the pseudonyms they used, who their contemporaries were, related web sites, and much more.

For more on the life of Charles Dickens, consider a biography from our collection. Or, try the Biography Resource Center database for articles about the author.

Enjoy!
____________
*Source: Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac and the University of California's Dickens Project.

The weather outside has not been frightful....yet, but this is the time of year when thoughts turn to warm weather destinations. The library has travel guides to assist you in planning your trip to almost anywhere. These guides also make great reading on a cold snowy day when you are not going anywhere!

ExxonMobil has a large series of travel guides covering all of the United States, usually by region or by state. The library has many of them, including the Florida 2007 guide, which features maps with distances and driving times as well as hotels, restaurants, driving and walking tours and things to see and do.

If you have been there and done that or are all "Disneyed" out, there are guide books to other destinations available at the library. The Caribbean is a warm weather destination of choice for many. The library has several Lonely Planet guides to Caribbean destinations. If you have always wanted to see the Jamaica pictured in those great television ads, Lonely Planet Jamaica is the guide for you. It's filled with places to see and practical advice for anyone new to traveling in Jamaica. If Costa Rica intrigues you, Lonely Planet Costa Rica is worth your time. The Rainforest Aerial Tram and the Rainmaker Aerial Walkway are two of the fascinating things to see and do discussed in this book. Lonely Planet also has a very comprehensive guide to Mexico which includes information on the entire country including the history and culture. If the beach is more your thing, the library has the Unofficial Guide to Mexico's best beach resorts as well as Fodor's guide to Cancun, Cozumel and the Yucatan Peninsula which also contains a section on the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza.

If you have an interest in cruising, the library has a number of books which will help you to plan a cruise. One of the more interesting destinations is the Panama Canal. This book contains many colored photographs of plant and animal life and the ship's ports of call, as well as a section on the history of the Panama Canal.

There are many more exciting destinations for warm weather vacations, and the library has books, all with beautiful color photos, to use in planning trips to all of them. Just to mention a few too good to pass up, Hawaii, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and a personal favorite for winter daydreams, Tahiti!
It's never too early to start planning your vacation!

The Kwanzaa cultural holiday begins today, December 26, and runs until January 1. According to the official Kwanzaa web site, "Kwanzaa is an African American and Pan-African holiday which celebrates family, community and culture."

At the official Kwanzaa web site, you can learn about the seven principles of Kwanzaa, its symbols, celebrations, and meditations. You can also read about the founder of Kwanzaa, Dr. Maulana Karenga.

For books about Kwanzaa, try:

• The complete Kwanzaa : celebrating our cultural harvest, by Dorothy Riley. (Adult Nonfiction 394.261 R)
• A Kwanzaa keepsake : celebrating the holiday with new traditions and feasts, by Jessica B. Harris. (Adult Nonfiction 394.261 H)
• Kwanzaa : everything you always wanted to know but didn't know where to ask, by Cedric McClester. (Adult Nonfiction 394.268 M)

The library's Music, Art, & Media Department also has some music CDs to get you into the spirit of the Kwanzaa celebration:

• Kwanzaa music [sound recording] (CD K 98 1)
• Kwanzaa party [sound recording], compiled, sequenced and annotated by Eric V. Copage and Daisann McLane. (CD K 981 1)

Tis the season for top picks of the year. We're no different here at NPL and we've created a display of our staff's top reading picks of 2006. Starting today you can find a special display of staff picks for '06 in the new arrivals area on the main level next to the elevator. While the books may have been published prior to 2006, they were read by staff during this year and made quite an impression.

Just to give you a quick taste of what we have selected, the Director recommends, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susan Clarke. If you'd like to find out more about this title, he recently reviewed it in his Director's Blog.

I'll close with my own personal top reads of 2006...My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult and Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher. FYI, I was not the only person that thought My Sister's Keeper was an awesome book, as it was also voted the runner up for the first ever The Flume: NH Teen Reader's Choice Award.

Amazon also has a few lists compiled that you might be interested in checking out at Best Books of 2006.

Be sure to stop by the display the next time you're in the library to pick out which book you'll be reading next. Oh, and if you'd like to let others know what your top pick of '06 is be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of this entry.

Happy reading!

It's the birthday of the late, great Isaac Asimov. One of the giants of science fiction, Asimov is well-known for works such as the Foundation series. (Movie buffs will remember the 2004 Will Smith film, "I, Robot," based Asimov's ideas on robotics.) But his writing ranged far beyond sci-fi. A search in the library catalog for this author brings up an astounding 190 hits. He wrote detective stories, published in collections such as "The Return of the Black Widowers." He also wrote on a wide variety of nonfiction topics, ranging from history to literature to science.

Asimov backed his science fiction with a strong knowledge of science fact, and many of his nonfiction works cover science topics, such as:

• Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery. (REF 509 A; non-circulating)
• Asimov's New Guide to Science. (Adult Nonfiction 500 A)
• Isaac Asimov's Guide to Earth and Space (Adult Nonfiction 520 A)

Among his other books were works on number theory (Asimov on Numbers), history (Rome, Egypt , the Middle East, France, and North America, and others); the human brain (The Human Brain: Its Capacities and Functions), and even a guide to Shakespeare.

Asimov's books for children include several on the planets; an environmental series covering topics such as acid rain, litter, and rainforests; a biography of Christopher Columbus; and many more.

For information about this remarkable and prolific author, try one of Asimov's autobiographies:

• It's Been a Good Life (BIOG As422)
• In Joy Still Felt : the Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1954-1978 (BIOG As422)
• In Memory Yet Green : the Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1920-1954 (BIOG As422)

Or, search for "Asimov" in the Biography Resource Center database to read what others had to say about Asimov. For more about Asimov's writings, try searching for articles in the Literature Resource Center. Literature Resource Center provides literary criticism of authors' works, lists any pseudonyms they used, shows who their contemporaries were, and may provide links to related web sites.

Explore!

More couples become engaged between Christmas & Valentine’s Day than at any other time of the year. Wedding planning starts immediately thereafter for the happily ever-after!

If you need a book which will provide lists of things that need to be done and the order in which they should be done, Wedding Planning for Dummies would be a good choice. It's especially helpful for anyone who is a complete novice (I almost said clueless) at wedding planning and needs help with everything. DK Publishing, the travel guide people, also have a series called "Keep It Simple" or K-I-S-S. Their wedding planning guide is called the K-i-s-s guide to planning a wedding and also provides a detailed breakdown of what needs to be done and when. If you want a wedding guide combined with lots of pictures, and examples of real weddings of some rich and famous people, browse through In Style Weddings.

The Music, Art and Media department has a DVD set called Martha's complete weddings. Martha is Martha Stewart, of course, and her four DVD set covers flowers, cake, gowns and how to have those little touches that make your wedding special.

Here is a short list of books covering other areas that can cause nail biting and heated discussions. This should be a fun time, and with a little help it can be.

Special circumstances
Wedding Etiquette for Divorced Families
The everything elopement book

Wedding crafts
Weddings for all seasons
Michaels book of wedding crafts

Music and words
Words for the wedding
I will be here : 25 of today's best wedding & love songs

More couples become engaged between Christmas & Valentine’s Day than at any other time of the year. Wedding planning starts immediately thereafter for the happily ever-after!

If you need a book which will provide lists of things that need to be done and the order in which they should be done, Wedding Planning for Dummies would be a good choice. It's especially helpful for anyone who is a complete novice (I almost said clueless) at wedding planning and needs help with everything. DK Publishing, the travel guide people, also have a series called "Keep It Simple" or K-I-S-S. Their wedding planning guide is called the K-i-s-s guide to planning a wedding and also provides a detailed breakdown of what needs to be done and when. If you want a wedding guide combined with lots of pictures, and examples of real weddings of some rich and famous people, browse through In Style Weddings.

The Music, Art and Media department has a DVD set called Martha's complete weddings. Martha is Martha Stewart, of course, and her four DVD set covers flowers, cake, gowns and how to have those little touches that make your wedding special.

Here is a short list of books covering other areas that can cause nail biting and heated discussions. This should be a fun time, and with a little help it can be.

Special circumstances
Wedding Etiquette for Divorced Families
The everything elopement book

Wedding crafts
Weddings for all seasons
Michaels book of wedding crafts

Music and words
Words for the wedding
I will be here : 25 of today's best wedding & love songs

What does it mean when you see a "q" in front of a call number, as in the record for The U.S.A. : a chronicle in pictures, with the call number q973 W? All books labeled "q" are oversized books. After the last call number in each hundred section, you will find the "q," or oversized, books. For example, after the call number 698.9 R you will notice that the height of the shelves changes, and the next call number is q600 B. When you search the catalog, you will find the records for oversized books integrated with the regular books; however, many patrons who simply browse the shelves for books on a particular subject often miss the books in the oversized section. Next time you are in the library, take a look at our "q" books, which are often neglected. Many of them have fantastic photographs and useful information.

They say that talking about the weather is the last resort of people making small talk. But I've always thought it was an interesting subject. Take the weather we've been having this winter--people are wearing shorts in New Hampshire in January! On the other hand, Denver is getting socked with blizzards and avalanches. How do we make sense of it all?

For the weather information purist, the National Weather Service is the source to beat. Their web site, www.weather.gov, is a treasure trove of weather information. (Note: be sure to type .gov, not .com--we'll talk about the .com site shortly.) The National Weather Service site provides weather forecasts, but also gives climate information, tracks fire, flood, and storm risks, gives historical weather information, air quality data, and much more.

Television's Weather Channel also has a web site, www.weather.com. One of their specialties is a focus on how the weather will impact your activities. Here you can find the forecast for upcoming events like NFL playoff games. Planning a wedding? You can track the weather forecast for the big day, see what time the sun will set, get tips for an outdoor wedding, and even see what flowers will be in season. Going out of town? Find out what the interstate travel conditions will be like. There's even a section on keeping your pet comfortable. (Oh, and they also have weather forecasts.)

Think this weather has been strange? Check out "Freaks of the storm : from flying cows to stealing thunder, the world's strangest true weather stories" by Randy Cerveny.

Interested in how the weather affects us all? Two recent titles show that it has a bigger impact than you might think:

• The winds of change : climate, weather, and the destruction of civilizations, by Eugene Linden
• Blame it on the rain : how the weather has changed history, by Laura Lee

• Weather : a visual guide, by Bruce Buckley, Edward J. Hopkins, and Richard Whitaker
• Cambridge guide to the weather, by Ross Reynolds.

Or, stop by the reference area for a look at the Encyclopedia of climate and weather, edited by Stephen H. Schneider.

Let it snow!

If you're a New England Patriots fan, like many of us here at the library, then you're probably feeling pretty good after Sunday's win over the NY Jets.

If you're curious about the men behind the magic, we have numerous books on the New England Patriots including its coach and players.

Here's a few you might be interested in taking a look at....
New England Patriots
Bill Belichick
Tom Brady
Drew Bledsoe (ex. player)

Another good source to surf is our Biography Resource database. All you have to do is put in the name of the coach or player you're interested in, make a click of a button, and you've got your information.

Don't forget to watch this Sunday at 4:30pm as the Pats cream the Chargers. Everyone's wearing the same clothes and sitting in the same seat as they did during the last game right? (not that I'm superstitious or anything)

Did you know that dozens of organizations use the library as a meeting place throughout the year. In fact, because so many organizations want to do so, we ask that they first contact Carol Eyman to check for room availability. (Carol's phone number is 603-589-4610.) One group that holds regular meetings at the library, and has always interested me, is the Nashua-Hudson Toastmasters Club. Their mission is to "provide a supportive learning environment in which to develop communication and leadership skills," and couldn't we all benefit from making improvements in those areas of our lives.

So, if you are ever interested in attending a Nashua-Hudson Toastmasters Club meeting, here is what you need to know. Meetings take place at the library on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month from 6:30-8:30pm, and visitors are welcome. For more information, contact Don at 883-9757 or Ted at 289-5693, or visit http://www.n-htm.org. Also, try exploring the Toastmasters official website, toastmasters.org.

Downloadable Audiobook on Public Speaking*:
101 secrets of highly effective speakers : controlling fear, commanding attention / Caryl Rae Krannich, Beth McDonald.

* For more information about the library's downloadable audiobook service, visit this web page.

Recently Orderd Books on Public Speaking:
Elements of Great Public Speaking by J. Lyman Macinnis
Present like a pro : the field guide to mastering the art of business, professional, and public speaking by Cyndi Maxey and Kevin E. O'Connor

Today we honor the life, work, and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The civil rights leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Time magazine's 1963 "Man of the Year" worked for justice and equality throughout his short life. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, while standing on a motel balcony in Memphis. Four days after King's death, Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) proposed the establishment of a holiday in honor of King. The King Center, which was founded in 1968 by the late Coretta Scott King, organized a commemoration on January 15 1969, and for several years, various groups and individuals petitioned Congress to declare a holiday in memory of King. In 1973, Illinois became the first state to pass a King Holiday bill. The federal holiday was not signed into law until 1983, and was first observed in 1986. At that time, 17 states had been celebrating the King Holiday, and by 1989, 44 states had declared the holiday. In 1994, the mission of the day was expanded to include community service, interracial cooperation, and youth anti-violence initiatives. In 1999, New Hampshire became the last state to adopt the holiday.*

Ordained as a minister at 19 and educated at Morehouse College, Crozer Theological Seminary, and Boston University, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was influenced by the Social Gospel, which applies biblical teachings to social problems, and Gandhi, who advocated and practiced nonviolence.** While working as Pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL, he was elected President of the Montgomery Improvement Association, which organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In 1956 he and others were indicted "on the charge of being party to a conspiracy to hinder and prevent the operation of business without 'just or legal cause.'" That was only one of thirty arrests for his efforts on behalf of civil rights.***

King is probably most famous for the often cited "I Have a Dream" speech, which he delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial; however, his work extends far beyond the August 28, 1963, March on Washington. To learn more about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., take a look at The King Center website. You will find a biography and chronology of King's life, as well as links, information about the holiday, and information about the work of the center. Another good site is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University. This site is especially helpful to educators, as it includes lesson plans and classroom resources, as well as quotations, a King encyclopedia, information about lectures and programs, a bibliography, and the opportunity to purchase publications. A few of King's speeches are available free on this site.

Here at the library, we have numerous books about Dr. King. The most recent, At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years 1965-1968, by Taylor Branch, was named one of Amazon.com's Top 50 Editor's Picks of 2006; a top 10 history book by editors and customers at Amazon.com; and one of New York Times’ 100 Notable Books for 2006. The book is the third in a trilogy. The first, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63, received the Pulitzer Prize. We also have Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963-65. These books combine for over two thousand pages of information about Martin Luther King, Jr. You can find other (and shorter) books, by doing a subject browse for King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968. To read about the Civil Rights Movement in general, you can do a subject browse for Civil Rights Movements -- United States -- History -- 20th Century.

If you are particularly interested in King's speeches, visit the Music, Arts, and Media Department, where you will find The Speeches of Martin Luther King. We also have a documentary titled In Remembrance of Martin, which includes comments from family, friends, classmates, advisors, and public figures, as well as archival footage of King. You can also visit the American Rhetoric website, on which the "I Have a Dream" speech is one of the most requested speeches.

*"The King Holiday: A Chronology," The King Center, http://www.thekingcenter.org/holiday/chronology.pdf.
**Hendrick, George and Willene Hendrick, Why Not Every Man?: African Americans and CIivil Disobedience in the Quest for the Dream (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2005), 187-204.
***"Chronology of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.," The King Center, http://www.thekingcenter.org/mlk/chronology.html; "Biographical Outline of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.," The King Center, http://www.thekingcenter.org/mlk/bio.html.

In honor of Appreciate a Dragon Day (yes, really--it's January 16), Tuesday's storytime in the Children's Department will feature stories about dragons. Not the prosaic Kimodo kind, but the fantastical, magical dragons of legend. If you can't make it to storytime, never fear. We have the next best thing: downloadable audiobooks. Almost as good as a live storyteller--you can listen to a recording of a good dragon tale! The New Hampshire Downloadable Audio Books collection allows you to check out books to your computer or MP3 player with your library card. Read more about the library's downloadable audiobook service here. Among the titles for children and teens available from the collection are:

• Dealing with Dragons (the Enchanted Forest series, book 1), by Patricia C. Wrede. Princess Cimerone has adventures with the dragon Kazul. Written for children.
• Dragon Rider, by Cornelia Funke. A children's book featuring the exploits of the dragon Firedrake and the human boy, Ben.
• Eragon , by Christopher Paolini. Though often found in teen collections, this title and its sequel, Eldest, have been widely enjoyed by adults as well. Take a look at Jenn's blog entry about the recent movie based on these books.

There's also a great selection of dragon books for young and old here at the library. Currently in the New Arrivals is The Last Battle, the third installment of Chris Bunch's Dragonmaster trilogy. The series, with a strong military component, begins with Drag