It's a lovely day here at the Farmers' Market under the Higgins Street bridge. Join us at the bookmobile as you get your week's supply of fresh veggies, flowers and other goodies. We've got books on taking care of your produce from garden to kitchen, and lots of others. I've even grabbed some new arrivals that have never even been to the shelves to make their debut here at the market.
We also have some information on today's Envision meeting that will take place this afternoon at 1:00 in the library's large meeting room. Share with us your vision of the future of the library as we plan our next decade and beyond.
Think... more!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
You Named That Bookcover!
Another zany week of Name That Bookcover has run its course - and there's another lucky Missoulian who has earned a fabulous MPL booklight! Congrats to Barbie B., who submitted her correct guess via our Facebook page!Synopsis:
Poor Dick and Sally. It's cold and wet and they're stuck in the house with nothing to do . . . until a giant cat in a hat shows up, transforming the dull day into a madcap adventure and almost wrecking the place in the process! Written by Dr. Seuss in 1957 in response to the concern that "pallid primers [with] abnormally courteous, unnaturally clean boys and girls' were leading to growing illiteracy among children, The Cat in the Hat (the first Random House Beginner Book) changed the way our children learn how to read. --Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.
Find it at: BEG E SEUSS
You have five more chances to Name That Bookcover and be entered into a raffle for a fabulous MPL booklight! Check back this Monday for our next exciting installment of Name That Bookcover and be sure to make a guess! You can submit online via the MPL blog, Twitter, or Facebook pages, or see a friendly staff person at the Missoula Public Library Accounts Desk to make a submission in person.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Word Woman
Welcome to another exciting episode of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! A mind is a terrible thing to waste, so keep yours in top shape with mental exercises such as crossword puzzles, cryptoquotes, sudoku or by learning new words. Here's the Word of the Week to get you started:Histrionics:
Function: noun plural but singular or plural in construction
Date: 1864
1 : theatrical performances
2 : deliberate display of emotion for effect
-- "histrionics." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010.
Merriam-Webster Online. 22 July 2010
Example: Julie's histrionics at work did not have the effect on her boss that she had hoped. Instead of getting the cushy job in accounting that she wanted, she ended up working overnight stock in frozen foods.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Name that Bookcover, Round 6
Friday, July 23, 2010
You Named that Bookcover!
Another mystifying week of Name That Bookcover has run its course - and there's another lucky Missoulian who has earned a sweet MPL booklight! Congrats to Kathleen M., who submitted her correct guess to the Library Accounts Desk!Synopsis:
It's 1996 and Hannah Heath, an expert in rare books, has been lured from her laid-back life in Australia to Sarajevo, to conserve and analyze the world-famous Sarajevo Haggadah, one of the earliest illuminated Jewish texts. The ancient manuscript, filled with images so rich and beautiful that it is now a priceless artifact, has appeared, vanished, and reappeared numerous times in its 500-year history. Its most recent rediscovery in war-torn Sarajevo, where a Muslim librarian has saved this Jewish holy book, is nothing short of a miracle. -- Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.
Find it at: fiction BROOKS, PLAYAWAY BROOKS, BKCD BROOKS, or BKCHAT BROOKS
BKCHAT, you ask? Missoula Public Library offers Book Chat Bags for book clubs! If you're a member of a reading group or are thinking about starting one, call our reference department at 721-2665 to reserve a title -- each bag has at least ten copies of the book and a discussion guide with book reviews, author information, discussion questions and additional tips and resources!
You have six more chances to Name That Bookcover and be entered into a raffle for a fabulous MPL booklight! Check back this Monday for our next exciting installment of Name That Bookcover and be sure to make a guess! You can submit online via the MPL blog, Twitter, or Facebook pages, or see a friendly staff person at the Missoula Public Library Accounts Desk to make a submission in person.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Word Woman
Welcome to another mind-bending installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Don't let the summer heat melt your brain -- chill out those synapses by learning a cool new word! Here's the Word of the Week to get you started:
Vitriolic: [adjective] (of speech or criticism) caustic or hostile -- "The Oxford American Dictionary and Language Guide", Oxford University Press, New York, 1999.
Example: Brian's vitriolic responses to customers' tech support questions resulted in his unexpected transfer to the maintenance department.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Kids + Summer = Library
It's summer time and that means we have lots of kid's programming at the library and lots of kids at the library. These boys decided the library was a great place to come and cool off from the summer heat, but they just as easily could have been in the library for one of a number of programs we have for the summer.As part of our Family Reading Program we have Summer Activities for children entering grades 1-6 every Tuesday at 2pm. Our last activity is Tuesday, July 27. We are having an end of summer party with cake, games, crafts and did I say cake! We also have family movies every Thursday at 2pm. We will have a movie this Thursday, the 22nd and our last movie will be on July 29th. These movies are fun for the whole family. Bring your pillows and snacks and join us at 2pm in the large meeting room and take a break from the heat.
We also have something brand new this summer. On Tuesdays right after the activity program we have a R.E.A.D. dog come to the library. These are Reading Education Assistance Dogs and they are here from 3-4pm to listen to stories. Any child is welcome to sit and read a story to the dog. They get practice with their reading and the dog gets to listen to a wonderful story. The dogs also revel in the attention that is showered upon them during their visits. Our R.E.A.D. dogs also come to the library on the 3rd Saturday of every month. They are available to listen to stories from 11:30-12:30pm, which is right after our Saturday story time.So come on in to the library and beat the summer heat with a good book and while you are here take advantage of our fantastic children's summer programming.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Name that Bookcover, Round 5
Friday, July 16, 2010
You Named that Bookcover!
Another bewitching week of Name That Bookcover has run its course - and there's another lucky Missoulian who has earned a sweet MPL booklight! Congrats to Maggie D, who submitted a correct guess at the library Accounts Desk this week!Here's a synopsis of J.K. Rowling's wildly popular first tome of magic and wizardry:
Orphaned in infancy, Harry Potter is raised by reluctant parents, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, an odious couple who would be right at home in a Roald Dahl novel. Things go from awful to hideous for Harry until, with the approach of his eleventh birthday, mysterious letters begin arriving addressed to him! His aunt and uncle manage to intercept these until a giant named Hagrid delivers one in person, and to his astonishment, Harry learns that he is a wizard and has been accepted (without even applying) as a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There's even more startling news: it turns out that his parents were killed by an evil wizard so powerful that everyone is afraid to so much as utter his name, Voldemort. Somehow, though, Harry survived Voldemort's attempt to kill him, too, though it has left him with a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead and enormous celebrity in the world of magic, because Voldemort vanished following his failure. But is he gone for good? --Michael Cart From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.
Find your own copy in any number of formats: book (J ROWLING), audiobook (JDVD ROWLING), or DVD (JDVD HARRY).
You have seven more chances to Name That Bookcover and be entered into a raffle for a fabulous MPL booklight! Check back this Monday for our next exhilarating installment of Name That Bookcover and be sure to make a guess! You can submit online via the MPL blog, Twitter, or Facebook pages, or see a friendly staff person at the Missoula Public Library Accounts Desk to make a submission in person.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Word Woman
Welcome to another exciting episode of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! It's time to give your mind a little exercise by expanding your vocabulary, so get ready to stretch your neurons with the Word of the Week:
Inculcate: [verb] to teach via repetition -- "Word Traps", Jordan L. Linfield & Joseph Krevisky, Innovation Press, New York, 1993.
Example: Having been inculcated from birth by his father the science teacher with the Periodic Table of Elements, it came as no surprise when Stewart elected to major in chemistry in college.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Studying for an exam?
If you are prepping for an exam for college entrance, grad school entrance, ASVAB or other career opportunities there is help for you at Missoula Pubic Library. We have people come in daily looking for GRE, SAT and other exam prep study material. We carry a selection of books but we also have a couple of great online resources. They're free and available from home through our website. Our online resources include both exam prep books and practice exams for just about any exam you can think of. Just go to our website and select the E-Databases link on the right side of the home page. Select either the Infotrac Magazine database and then go to the Testing & Educational Reference Center (near the bottom of the page) or the LearningExpress Library database and select either College Preparation, College Students or Jobs and Careers to find a variety of exam prep tools. You will be asked to enter your library card number to enter either of these resources, then it's on to success!
Rieti's Two Songs Between Two Waltzes
Our featured download from the Alexander Street Press Classical Music Library is Rieti's Two Songs Between Two Waltzes, performed by Ann Murray (mezzo-soprano) and Graham Johnson (piano). All tracks downloaded through this promotion are owned by Alexander Street Press and are available to legally download, free of cost to the user courtesy of your public library. Think... more!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Name That Bookcover, Round 4
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Envision! Missoula County Public Library
What should the future Missoula County Public Library look like? You can tell us...
We're embarking on an Envision! project to review our current building and plan out future building needs. There are 2 ways you can have input to this major project:
Public Forums: We're hosting 2 public forums. Come on Saturday, July 31, 1-5 p.m. in the library’s large meeting room on the lower level to evaluate our existing building and its usage. Then return for a second forum Aug. 14, to envision a new building.
In addition to our public forums, we would love if you took a few minutes to fill out this short, 7-question survey.
Thanks for your time! It can really make a difference.
The current library building located at 301 East Main was designed for 30 years of use. Built in the early 1970s, the building has already exceeded expectations, and the library is fast outgrowing its shell. With the most users and highest per capita circulation numbers in the state of Montana, Missoula County Public Library is looking proactively at future needs and wants to be ready to continue offering the high-quality services it currently provides. Our plan is to stay downtown.
The Envision! project is a three-month process including focus groups comprised of staff, community organizations/businesses, and public input. In addition, Oz will provide engineering and structural assessments, itemizing what’s needed in a library building and what may be lacking from the current facility. Stay tuned here for updates on our progress!
Friday, July 9, 2010
A Big Read for Missoula
What if all the residents of The Big Read kicks off with “Spade and the City: A Tour of Noir,” on Oct. 5, offering a virtual trip through Hammett's San Francisco featuring music, food and Bay Area Hammett expert Don Herron.
Plus, the library will be giving out more than 2,200 copies of The Maltese Falcon at the library and locations throughout the county. Younger readers won’t be left out – they can get a copy of The Falcon’s Malteser or The Malted Falcon, our Little Read selections.
Special thanks to major local Big Read Missoula sponsors
Additional Big Read support and partnerships include DirecTV, Otis Elevator Company, First Security Bank, Missoula Federal Credit Union, Norco Products, Fact & Fiction,
To date, the NEA has funded more than 800 Big Read programs in the nation’s towns and cities. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the
You Named That Bookcover!
Another wild week of Name That Bookcover has run its course - and there's another lucky Missoulian who has earned a sweet MPL booklight! Congrats to Lori B on Facebook for her correct guess!
Here's a brief synopsis of Maurice Sendak's illustrated classic, Where the Wild Things Are:
Max, a wild and naughty boy, is sent to bed without his supper by his exhausted mother. In his room, he imagines sailing far away to a land of Wild Things. Instead of eating him, the Wild Things make Max their king. -Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.
Check out a copy of Where the Wild Things Are in our Children's Room under E Sendak. Have you seen the most recent adaptation to film? We own the DVD, but it's a popular item! Visit our catalog to place a hold.
You have eight more chances to Name That Bookcover and be entered into a raffle for a fabulous MPL booklight! Check back this Monday for our next exhilarating installment of Name That Bookcover and be sure to make a guess! You can submit online via the MPL blog, Twitter, or Facebook pages, or see a friendly staff person at the Missoula Public Library Accounts Desk to make a submission in person.
Here's a brief synopsis of Maurice Sendak's illustrated classic, Where the Wild Things Are:
Max, a wild and naughty boy, is sent to bed without his supper by his exhausted mother. In his room, he imagines sailing far away to a land of Wild Things. Instead of eating him, the Wild Things make Max their king. -Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.
Check out a copy of Where the Wild Things Are in our Children's Room under E Sendak. Have you seen the most recent adaptation to film? We own the DVD, but it's a popular item! Visit our catalog to place a hold.
You have eight more chances to Name That Bookcover and be entered into a raffle for a fabulous MPL booklight! Check back this Monday for our next exhilarating installment of Name That Bookcover and be sure to make a guess! You can submit online via the MPL blog, Twitter, or Facebook pages, or see a friendly staff person at the Missoula Public Library Accounts Desk to make a submission in person.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Computer tip
WORD 2007 is definitely different from earlier versions of WORD. Our word processing class this Monday evening will cover basics but if you are interested in trying something a little more advanced - how's this for a trick? Say you are typing away and have added a list in your document. Then let's say you decide it would look so much nicer if the list were in alphabetical order. Retype it? No way! Just highlight the text that needs to be sorted into alphabetical order then click the AZ SORT button on the Paragraph section of the Home ribbon. You will be given options for how you would like it sorted in the drop down menu; just select text and ascending and the program will take care of it for you.
There are lots of great tips that you can learn in our classes. We have classes Monday evenings from 6-7 and Wednesdays 12:30-1:30. And all our classes are free. Think... more!
Word Woman
Welcome to another wild and woolly installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! This is the tenth and final entry in our series of words which only seem to appear in the negative. That is not to say, however, that there are no more of these words to be found in the English language, but simply that ten will be a sufficient sample for our purposes. And the Word of the Week is:
Disgruntled:
Pronunciation: \dis-ˈgrən-təl\
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): dis·grun·tled; dis·grun·tling \-ˈgrənt-liŋ, -ˈgrən-təl-iŋ\
Etymology: dis- + gruntle to grumble, from Middle English gruntlen, frequentative of grunten to grunt
Date: 1682
: to make ill-humored or discontented —usually used as a participial adjective
"disgruntled." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010.
Merriam-Webster Online. 25 June 2010
but has anyone ever heard the word:
Gruntled:
Pronunciation: \ˈgrən-təl\
Pronunciation: \ˈgrən-təl\
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): grun·tled; grun·tling \ˈgrənt-liŋ, ˈgrən-təl-iŋ\
Etymology: back-formation from disgruntle
Date: 1926
: to put in a good humor
"gruntled." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010.
Merriam-Webster Online. 25 June 2010
Example: Edward was disgruntled after a long, difficult day at the office, but a night out on the town with his charming wife soon had him gruntled again.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Beautiful Possibility
Alison Pebworth has been cycling around Missoula County asking thecommunity about what it means to be an American. This is all part of her experiential work called Beautiful Possibility.
Four panels of her work are currently on display at the Missoula Public Library and she will be at the library on Thursday evening, July 8th to discuss her work.
Please join us at 7pm in the large meeting room of the Missoula Public Library to see and discuss Alison's work.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Name that Bookcover!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
If you thought Rose Park was pretty in June...
... you should see it in July! Now that all of the roses have had a chance to unfold, it's gorgeous. I consider it one of the perks of living in Missoula that we are surrounded by such a bounty of flora and fauna. I even like the deer that come into my backyard. I wish they wouldn't eat my garden, though. Want tips on how to keep deer out of your garden? Look in Adult Non-Fiction 635.0496. Speaking of which, we have lots of books on gardening in Adult Non-Fiction 635 at the library, so come on in and check some out. If you want to grow roses like this in your own yard, look in Adult Non-Fiction 635.9333 for books specifically on roses:
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Closed for the Holiday
Missoula Public Library will be closed Sunday, July 4th and Monday, July 5th in observance of Independence Day.
Have a safe and happy holiday weekend. We'll be re-opening at 10am on Tuesday, July 6th.
Please note: we will have a delayed opening of 1 pm on Wednesday, July 7th for a staff forum, the first step in the library's building feasibility study.
(Original photo by flickr user scubadive67. Some Rights Reserved)
Friday, July 2, 2010
You Named that Bookcover!
Another (literally) wondrous week of Name That Bookcover has run its course - and there's another lucky Missoulian who has earned a sweet MPL booklight! Congrats to Becky M on Facebook for her correct guess!Here's a synopsis of Junot Díaz's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel , The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao:
Paralleling his own experiences growing up in the Dominican Republic and New Jersey, author Junot Díaz has choreographed a family saga at once sanguinary and sexy that confronts the horrific brutality at loose during the reign of the dictator Trujillo. Díaz's besieged characters look to the supernatural for explanations and hope, from fukú, the curse unleashed when Europeans arrived on Hispaniola, to the forces dramatized in the works of science fiction and fantasy so beloved by the chubby ghetto nerd Oscar Wao, the brilliantly realized boy of conscience at the center of this whirlwind tale. Writing in a combustible mix of slang and lyricism, Díaz loops back and forth in time and place, generating sly and lascivious humor in counterpoint to tyranny and sorrow. And his characters Oscar, the hopeless romantic; Lola, his no-nonsense sister; their heartbroken mother; and the irresistible homeboy narrator cling to life with the magical strength of superheroes, yet how vibrantly human they are. Propelled by compassion, Díaz's novel is intrepid and radiant. --Donna Seaman Copyright 2007 Booklist From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc.
Where can you find this intriguing piece of fiction, you ask? You'll find it under fiction DIAZ, certainly, but there are a couple other spots: an audio version can be downloaded from Overdrive or you can pick up a physical copy from our Staff Picks shelf.
You have nine more chances to Name That Bookcover and be entered into a raffle for a fabulous MPL booklight! Check back this Monday for our next exhilarating installment of Name That Bookcover and be sure to make a guess! You can submit online via the MPL blog, Twitter, or Facebook pages, or see a friendly staff person at the Missoula Public Library Accounts Desk to make a submission in person.
Word Woman
Welcome to another exciting episode of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! This is the ninth in our series of words which only seem to appear in the negative. And the Word of the Week is:
Uncouth:
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English uncūth, from un- + cūth familiar, known; akin to Old High German kund known, Old English can know — more at can
Date: before 12th century
1 a archaic : not known or not familiar to one : seldom experienced : uncommon, rare b obsolete : mysterious, uncanny
2 a : strange or clumsy in shape or appearance : outlandish b : lacking in polish and grace : rugged
"uncouth." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010.
Merriam-Webster Online. 25 June 2010
but have you ever heard the word:
Couth:
Pronunciation: \ˈküth\
Function: adjective
Etymology: back-formation from uncouth
Date: 1896
"couth." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010.
Merriam-Webster Online. 25 June 2010
Example: Daryl's manners, while entirely couth for the rural community where he grew up, were considered completely uncouth in the big city where he went to college.
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