Word Woman

Welcome to another illuminating installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! This is the last Word of the Week of the year, but don't worry, there will be more celebrations of verbage to come in 2011. And the last Word of 2010 is:

Nadir:

1: the point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the zenith and vertically downward from the observer

2: the lowest point

"nadir", http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nadir , 12/19/2010

Example: The nadir of Steven's year was the day that he got fired from his job, was pulled over for running a red light on his way home and ended up in jail on an outstanding warrant for unpaid parking tickets. "From here on out, things can only get better," he mused as he waited for his wife to post his bail.

Top 30 websites for family research!!

The magazine Internet Genealogy published it's top 30 list in the October/November 2010 edition. If you are interested in family research you may want to take a look at this issue and see if there isn't some resource that you haven't tried yet. For instance, http://www.accessgenealogy.com/ is a great resource for seeing what census records are available online broken down by state, but is also is helpful for Native American family research with access to tribal rolls and Indian Tribal histories. Another resource is http://www.castlegarden.org/ which offers access to information on 11 million immigrants from 1820 through 1892. If you've got the family genealogy bug visit us to take a look at this article or the 15 Fantastic Sites for tracing female ancestors article in the same issue which highlights websites less well known to researchers.

Across my desk today

New music CDs just came in to go onto the shelf and there is a great mix. Check our New Arrivals shelf for these titles:

Pink Friday, Nicki Minaj's debut rap/hip hop CD, call #MCD 781.649 MINAJ

Move, Third Day's 11 studio CD in the contemporary Christian area, call# MCD 781.7 THIRDDA

Soul Bossa Nostra, contemporary versions of Quincy Jones' popular creations featuring a star studded array of artists, call# MCD 781.644 JONES

The Essential Charlie Daniels Band, call# MCD 781.641 CHARLIE

...and this is just a sampling of the titles heading out to the shelf.

Think... more!

Clothes and coffee at the library!

The other day I was downstairs in the lobby of the library getting a coffee from Civitella's Espresso Bar. As I was waiting and looking around, I noticed these great t-shirts for sale. Printed with non-toxic inks on American Apparel shirts, these cool t-shirts are printed in Missoula by Zoo City Custom Apparel. I was drawn in by the nifty logo on both the front and back of the t-shirt. Each t-shirt costs $19 and best of all, comes with a free beverage of choice. Civitella's is open Mon.-Sat. from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. so you can pick up your shirt then. Unique clothes, great drinks. All right at your local public library. Missoula Public Library--think more!

'Twas the day before the day before Christmas...

Okay, because of Christmas Day falling on a Saturday this year, we're not open on Christmas Eve Day. Therefore, we've had to edit Laura's famous 'Twas the Day Before Christmas @ Your Library poem.

'Twas the day before (the day before) Christmas and all through the stacks,
People were looking for trade paperbacks.

And books on CD to help pass the time
during holiday travel or waiting in line

To buy that last gift, it had been a long haul
And they needed a way to escape from it all.

So off to the library they wandered in quest
Of a good book to read that stood out from the rest

Or maybe a holiday music CD
To play while they finished trimming the tree

Or even a kids' Christmas book to be read
To help restless children get settled in bed.

Then up to the checkout, arms full, they did dash
Where friendly staff helped them check out in a flash,

They packed their selections and went on their way
With a wave and a smile and a "Happy Holiday!"

As they left the building, I heard them all say:
"We're so glad you're open the day before Christmas Eve Day!"

We close at 9pm tonight, December 23rd and will be closed on Friday, December 24th and Saturday, December 25th. Enjoy the wonderment of the season!

We will reopen at 1pm on Sunday, December 26th.

Merry Christmas to you and yours from the staff at Missoula Public Library!

Word Woman

Welcome to another wondrous installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Tomorrow night is Christmas Eve, and I wish you all the joy of good times spent with family and friends. Here's a holiday-related Word of the Week to slip into Yuletide conversations:


Fossick:
(verb)

a : to search about : rummage
b : to search for by or as if by rummaging : ferret out

-- "fossick", http://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/2010/11/07/ , 12/16/10.


Example: Tired of her children fossicking in the closets all through the month of December, Leanne took to hiding her unwrapped Christmas presents in the pantry behind the shelves of canned vegetables, where they were certain never to find them.

40 years at Missoula Public Library!

December marks the retirement of 40-year Missoula Public Library employee Vaun Stevens. An institution of knowledge, we are so sad to see Vaun leave but are delighted she will now have time to explore her other interests. As is required with all stellar employees who retire, we are sending Vaun off in fine style. On December 15, we held a reception at the library in Vaun's honor which was open to the public. On Sunday, Dec. 19, the staff held a potluck recognizing Vaun's many years of achievements at MPL. Vaun had a few going away surprises for us as well including this floppy disk she unearthed somewhere. Remember those?! Congratulations Vaun! This place won't be the same without you!

Word Woman

Welcome to another outrageous episode of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! This is the last in our series of words which are often confused due to how similar they look and/or sound. And our Words of the Week are: Disparate -- 1 : containing or made up of fundamentally different and often incongruous elements 2 : markedly distinct in quality or character http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disparate and... Desperate -- 1 a : having lost hope desperate spirit crying for relief> b : giving no ground for hope desperate> 2 a : moved by despair desperate by abuse> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/desperate?show=0&t=1291907560 Example: If I have to watch one more movie about disparate people trapped together in a typical small-town diner under desperate circumstances, I just might throw my television out the window.

Grand opening open house at Big Sky Branch tonight!

Carolyn Kamrud, Big Sky Branch Librarian

The Missoula Public Library is very pleased to announce the opening of a new branch of the library. The Big Sky Branch, located at Big Sky High School, at 3100 South Ave. W, Missoula opened for business Tuesday, Nov. 30, with a open house/grand opening event planned for Tuesday, Dec. 14 from 5:00-7:30 p.m. Big Sky High School was chosen as the location for a branch to allow better access to library materials and services on the southwest side of Missoula. This has been a much anticipated opening for Missoula Public Library, one of the busiest public libraries in the state. The Missoula Public Library sees an average of 70,000 visitors each month and check in 300 items an hour, every day!

The Big Sky Branch is Missoula Public Library’s fourth branch library, joining branches at Frenchtown High School, Seeley Lake High School, and the Community Center in Condon. “The previous school sites have been a big success because it gives the public more for their money,” Missoula Public Library Director Honore Bray says. “They’re already paying public dollars for their schools and they’re paying public dollars for the library. So by combining them together and using the school for longer hours, it makes more sense than paying rent in a building or trying to build a new building,” she added.

With computer access, books to read for fun or study, audio books, DVDs and more, the Big Sky Branch offers all the same great services as the main Missoula library. The Big Sky branch will serve as a pick-up and drop-off location for Missoula Public Library materials. Patrons can request materials via the online catalog and select the Big Sky Branch as the pick-up location. A drive-by book return is also being installed outside the high school. The branch librarian, Carolyn Kamrud, will be making regular trips to the main library to regularly switch out the collection so there will always be something new on the shelves. Plus, she provides great reference service to Big Sky branch users.

The Big Sky branch is open to the public, as well as to students. Hours are 4:00-8:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and Saturdays from 9:00 to 2:00 p.m. Further information is available at www.missoulapubliclibrary.org.

Please join us for the gala open house/grand opening of the Big Sky Branch of the Missoula Public Library on Tuesday, Dec. 14 from 5:00-7:30 p.m. There will be food, drinks, music, demonstrations, giveaways, the READ dogs are invited, and general merriment will ensue as we celebrate greater access to library materials and services in Montana.

Missoula Public Library— think more!

Books on My Desk

A small shipment of colorful holiday books has arrived. Ask the librarians at the kids’ desk to show you the plethora of Hanukkah & Christmas books we have in stock.

Olivia Claus

Call #: HOLIDAY E FALCONE

On the night before Christmas, Olivia discovers that her favorite stuffed monkey, Mathilda, is missing, as are other favorite items from around the house.

Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney

Call #: HOLIDAY E DEWDNEY

Llama Llama becomes overwhelmed as Christmas preparations progress, until his mother reminds him of the real gift the holiday brings.

It’s Christmas, David! By David Shannon

Call #: HOLIDAY E SHANNON

Christmas has arrived with so many rules to follow that David fears his mistakes will cause Santa to pass him by.

My, What Big Eyes Readers Have!

As I process new books for the children and young adult departments I cannot help but notice certain trends in publishing. Last year brought with it an iceberg-sized pile of books about polar bears and penguins. 2010 ushered in a swarm of bug and insect books and now sheep appear to be the latest graze, I mean craze in kids’ publishing.

For teens (and adults) all things supernatural are extremely popular. It is probably no surprise that vampires, vampires, vampires (Marsha, Marsha, Marsha) continue to dominate storylines due to the Twilight series phenomena. I’ve seen an onslaught of angel related romances emerge and it may be that angels are looking to become the new vampires, but they’ll have to contend with zombies and werewolves on the bookshelves. Werewolves have the upper hand though because a new theme taking off in both kids’ and young adult literature is Red Riding Hood. That’s right, Red is making her big comeback.

New teen titles spinning the Little Red Riding Hood & Big Bad Wolf motif include Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde, Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce, and Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakely-Cartwright (paperback release date: Jan. 25, 2011). The latter title has been adapted for film (tagline: Believe the legend. Beware the wolf.) The new Red Riding Hood movie starring Amanda Seyfried will debut March 2011 and if it turns out to be any good, will help boost Red’s overall ratings.

Authors and illustrators have also been busy reworking the tale of Little Red for younger audiences such as Gail Carson Levine's Betsy Red Hoodie. Here are some links to other Red Riding Hood titles:

http://amzn.to/fUTaf5

http://classiclit.about.com/od/booklists/tp/aatp_redridingh.htm

http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/ridinghood/books.html

If Red doesn't make it as the next big thing, what topic or character do you wish would come in vogue?

Word Woman

Welcome to another mind-bending installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! This week we'll be looking at a pair of words so similar that the difference in pronunciation between the two of them is difficult to distinguish, and yet their meanings are quite distinct. And the Words of Week are:

Immanent: (adjective) inherent; transcendent; present throughout the world

Imminent: (adjective) likely to happen soon

-- "Word Traps", Jordan L. Linfield & Joseph Krevisky, Innovation Press, 1993.

Example: Due to the immanent nature of sibling rivalry, it seemed inevitable that conflict was imminent when the family climbed into the car.

7 New MANGO Basic and Complete courses!

If you haven't tried our Mango Languages courses to increase your conversation skills for foreign destinations this may be the time to do it. New languages have been added to the already astounding array so take a minute and take a look.

The new languages are Czech, Dutch, Tamil, Slovak, Ukrainian, Croatian and Indonesian. Go to http://www.missoulapubliclibrary.org/resources/online.htm or just click on the Mango link from our front page. Learn a new language now!

Attention Holiday Shoppers!

Get the most bang for your buck by consulting ConsumerReports.org before making final purchases.

Whether you're looking for information on lawnmowers, groceries, or the latest in digital cameras, ConsumerReports.org has the rating, reviews, recommendations and buying advice you need. The online edition gets you access to videos, newsletter, notification of recalls, and a handy mobile app convenient for comparison shopping on the go. In addition, you can find advice and tips on saving money, home improvement, personal finance, health and wellness, and more.

You have free access to both the online and print editions of Consumer Reports with your library card. Visit www.ConsumerReports.org -or- check out back issues from our magazine collection. The reference desk also keeps copies of Consumer Reports for in-house use along with an index.