Poetry

Well, here it is, the last day of National Poetry Month and with it the last in this series of poetry-related posts. Feel free to breathe a sigh - either of relief or regret, in accordance with your own inclinations. For this final offering, I decided to diverge slightly from the pedantic and make a foray into something a bit more whimsical. After all, poetry isn't always about love, death or the beauty of nature. Sometimes it's just for fun. As an example, I present Mr. Edward Lear (1812-1888), author of the beloved children's poem "The Owl and the Pussycat". Mr. Lear was an English poet, who delighted in that most basic of all poetic forms, the limerick. Here is an example of his work:

There Was an Old Man with a Beard

There was an Old Man with a beard,

Who said, "It is just as I feared! --

Two Owls and a Hen, four Larks and a Wren,

Have all built their nests in my beard!"

In his lifetime, Lear produced a plethora of limericks, songs, stories and other nonsense verse that continues to delight children even to this day. My favorite of his works, however, is his autobiographical poem entitled "How Pleasant to Know Mr. Lear":

How pleasant to know Mr. Lear! Who has written such volumes of stuff! Some think him ill-tempered and queer, But a few think him pleasant enough. His mind is concrete and fastidious, His nose is remarkably big; His visage is more or less hideous, His beard it resembles a wig. He has ears, and two eyes, and ten fingers, Leastways if you reckon two thumbs; Long ago he was one of the singers, But now he is one of the dumbs. He sits in a beautiful parlour, With hundreds of books on the wall; He drinks a great deal of Marsala, But never gets tipsy at all. He has many friends, lay men and clerical, Old Foss is the name of his cat; His body is perfectly spherical, He weareth a runcible hat. When he walks in waterproof white, The children run after him so! Calling out, "He's gone out in his night- Gown, that crazy old Englishman, oh!" He weeps by the side of the ocean, He weeps on the top of the hill; He purchases pancakes and lotion, And chocolate shrimps from the mill. He reads, but he cannot speak, Spanish, He cannot abide ginger beer: Ere the days of his pilgrimage vanish, How pleasant to know Mr. Lear! from The Complete Nonsense Book, edited by Lady Strachey, 1912

Poetry

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) was a Nobel Prize winning Irish poet. His work was influenced by the rising tide of Irish nationalism, and in turn influenced the identity of an emerging Irish nation. The following poem was written for Major Robert Gregory (1881-1918) of the British Royal Flying Corps, killed in action on the Italian front:

An Irish Airman Foresees His Death

I know that I shall meet my fate

Somewhere among the clouds above;

Those that I fight I do not hate,

Those that I guard I do not love;

My country is Kiltartan Cross,

My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,

No likely end could bring them loss

Or leave them happier than before.

Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,

Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,

A lonely impulse of delight

Drove to this tumult in the clouds;

I balanced all, brought all to mind,

The years to come seemed waste of breath,

A waste of breath the years behind

In balance with this life, this death.

William Butler Yeats

Note: This post is for JS. Enjoy!

Poetry

Ralph Waldo Emerson was not only one of the famous New England poets of the 19th century, but also a noted orator, essayist and philosopher. He held strong religious and political beliefs, speaking in public in favor of the abolitionist movement during the Civil War. He wrote this poem in 1836 for the dedication of a monument commemorating the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the first battle of the American Revolution:


Concord Hymn

by Ralph Waldo Emerson


By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare,
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

Attending MLA 2009 Vicariously

I'm not at MLA this year, but somehow if feels like I am. Through a variety of sources, I've got a pretty decent idea of the goings on.

Marje, one of our reference librarians, is attending and has written not one, but two posts about the conference so far.

Paulette, our cataloging genius, drove up to attend the award ceremony for another reference librarian, Vaun, who was named Librarian of the year. Way to go Vaun! Paulette brought back photographic evidence as proof.

To Vaun's left is Don, a retired MPL reference librarian. This was the dynamic duo that answered all the questions Missoula could throw at them for years.

And if that isn't enough, I've been keeping up with the conference live via Twitter. From these posts I know the opening speaker was great, there was a pretty lively discussion of Intellectual Freedom, and there was a lot of what happens at every conference - waiting for the next workshop or speaker to begin.

With the wide array of social web tools, and a little bit of inside info, I'm able to keep up with a professional conference that I didn't attend. It's a grand new age of information. Has anyone else been following MLA from afar like I have?

MLA conference 2009

Greetings again from Kalispell where we just finished a rousing Librarian Olympics as part of a fundraiser for library scholarships in memory of Sheila Cates. You will be so pleased to hear that your MPL team won two silvers and a gold with sterling performances by all our members.

The day was well spent with an outstanding keynote speaker and many worthwhile workshops. At the awards luncheon we were delighted to see Vaun Stevens receive her Librarian of the Year award with long-time colleagues, Don Spritzer and Paulette Parpart in attendance. We all enjoyed the reception announcing the winner of the Montana Book Award by Barbara Theroux, President of the MPL Friends of the Library which is (drum roll please) Full Court Quest (call #796.323 PEAVY ) a non-fiction account of the 1904 women's basketball team from Ft. Shaw that went to the St Louis World's Fair. Definitely a must read for anyone interested in Montana history and especially Montana native American history. It beat out some great books so must certainly be worth the read.

Tomorrow morning our wakeup call is for 6 a.m.

Word Woman

Welcome to another mind-bending installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Train your brain for the marathon of life by doing crossword puzzles, cryptoquotes and sudoku. Or, expand your vocabulary with the Word of the Week:

Tintinabulation:

1. the sound made by ringing bells

2. a tinkling, bell-like sound

"-Ologies & -Isms: A Thematic Dictionary", Howard J. Zettler, Ed., Gale Research Company, Detroit, 1978.

Example: Carol listened to the tintinabulation of the wind chimes outside her window every night while she was lying in bed.

Bonus word: Tinnitus -- a ringing noise in one or both ears, either intermittent or continuous

April is about more than just poetry

By now we all know that April is National Poetry Month. Being a library it's only fitting that we spend a lot of time talking about it. But another non-fiction section rivals poetry this month. The 641s may well be our largest collection, and I'm sure my fellow librarians will call me to task if I'm way off base. I don't think I am. That leads me to April's other designation: National Grilled Cheese Month!

(Original photo by Flickr user faeryboots. Some Rights Reserved.)

Who knows how it got started? If I had to make up an explanation I would say that because "April is the cruelest month," someone decided we could all use some comfort food to get us through. And notice how I brought this post full circle by mentioning a poem. Clever, right?

If you don't have your grilled cheese recipe perfected yet, the library has you covered. Here are some resources for you to get started:

In the Library

Great grilled cheese : 50 innovative recipes for stovetop, grill, and sandwich maker by Laura Werlin. 641.84 WERLIN

Nancy Silverton's book of sandwiches : the best sandwiches ever from Thursday nights at Campanile by Nancy Silverton. 641.84 SILVERT

The Tillamook cheese cookbook : celebrating 100 years of excellence by Kathy Holstad. 641.373 HOLSTAD

On the Web

The Basic, with suggestions for additions, from Epicurious

Grilled Cheese Sandwich Competition

Maybe more about Grilled Cheese than you'll ever need from Squidoo

Now it's up to you, get out there and grill some comforting sandwiches. I know I've worked up my appetite. And if you live here in Missoula, today would be a perfect day to try out the recipe of your choice since it is so rainy and dreary out.

Poetry

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) was a Poet Laureate of the UK. With the exception of Shakespeare, he is perhaps the most quoted English writer of all time. In fact, quotations from some of his works have become so integrated into common usage in the English language that many people are not even aware of the source of the lines when they use them in conversation. See if you can recognize one of these well-used quotations in the following excerpt from his famous poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade":

The Charge Of The Light Brigade

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Memorializing Events in the Battle of Balaclava, October 25, 1854
Written 1854

Half a league half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred:
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd & thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,

Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Note: This post is dedicated to one of our former employees who used to work in the Children's Department. Those of you who worked with her will know why. If you're still out there reading the blog, Rita, we miss you!

Montana Library Association conference 2009

Greetings from lovely Kalispell MT, site of this year's annual MLA http://www.mtlib.org/ conference. The library director, Honore Bray, and I arrived late yesterday evening so that she could be up bright and early to introduce this morning's pre-conference speaker. I, on the other hand, after getting up early to work out and blog will soon be heading out to help with conference check-in and to read board reports in preparation for the MLA board meeting which will be followed by a meeting of the AskMontana virtual reference team. The conference gives us an opportunity to meet face-to-face with our colleagues from across the state to share ideas, war stories, and to have a little fun.
This year it will be my pleasure to introduce the winner of the Librarian of the Year award at the annual awards luncheon on Thursday. This year's recipient will be MPL's reference librarian, Vaun Stevens and I am delighted to be able to honor her service to the Missoula community and to Montana. However I will not post a picture of her lest she run me through the wringer. More from the conference tomorrow...

Free Investment Research Training!

Don't miss the virtual Morningstar Investment Research Center training session on Wednesday, April 29 at 2:00pm.

It can be accessed at any location with phone and Internet access. To register, simply e-mail librarytraining@morningstar.com and mention Missoula Public Library in your email.

We will also be offering 6 seats for this training in our Computer Classroom. Space is limited. Call 721-2665 to reserve your seat.

In the meantime, learn how to export data from Morningstar so that you can have historical financial statements and stock quotes where you need them, when you need them. Read on!

The Training Corner | by Lars Wasvick, Associate Product Manager

What Is the Exporting Thing?

Client feedback is something very important to us at Morningstar. In our most recent survey, many clients told us that Morningstar Investment Research Center should consider exporting capabilities. After months of development, you can now export stock price history and historical financial statements.

So where is it?

As excited as we are to have this capability, exporting is not one of those features that jumps out at you from our home page. However, I promise it is in there, so if you haven't found it yet, just read along.

All stock pages have the same format. Running down the left side of the page you will see a number of different tabs. If you click on Financial Statements you will see a new set of tabs and 10-years' worth of numbers. Scroll down to the bottom right corner and you will see a prompt, Export to Excel. Simply click and you've got a 10-year Income Statement. Just follow suit for Cash Flows and Balance Sheet to get your data.

Now for daily price history you will want to click on Dividends & Returns tab on the left side of the page. In about the middle of the next page there is a heading Price/Dividends/Splits and just beneath that is the price history. Slide over to the right and you will see five years listed. Click on a year to get the closing price for each trading day of that year. Right at the top you will find the Export to Excel tab. Click there and you will get the designated year in an Excel spreadsheet.

To save you cumbersome cutting and pasting, you can also get five years of price history together. You will find that option back at the Dividends & Returns page. At the far right of the price history section you will find the prompt. Click that and you will get each closing price for the past five years.

I will be demonstrating export functionality along with many other features during the Patron Training Session.

C) Copyright 2009. Morningstar, Inc.

Book Review Blooper Reel

This is the footage you weren't supposed to see! All the bloopers from our one minute book reviews this week. I had to limit the number of times I used myself, because I messed up A LOT. Enjoy.

EDIT: I posted the wrong video. Talk about a blooper reel! Here's the real thing.

Linette's One Minute Book Review

Our Young Adult librarian, Linette Ivanovitch, reviews Ghost Medicine by Andrew Smith.

Molly's One Minute Book Review

Reference Librarian Molly reviews the James Beard award winning book "Fat" by Jennifer Mclagen in this installment of our One Minute Book Reviews.

Max Baucus Supports Montana Libraries!

Senator Max Baucus is the final supporter of Montana Libraries in our series. Thanks to all the legislators who support libraries in our great state!

Poetry

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was a famously reclusive New England poet, and almost none of the hundreds of poems she wrote were published in her lifetime. Not due to her nonstandard use of capitalization and punctuation, or her refusal to title her works, but because she had little inclination to share her rich, inner life with the rest of the world. Her first collection of poetry was published four years after her death by her friends, though whether or not she would have approved of their actions is a matter for debate. Certainly, poetry lovers have reason to be glad of it. This poem, one of my favorites about the sea, is taken from that volume:

I started Early -- Took my Dog --
And visited the Sea --
The Mermaids in the Basement
Came out to look at me --

And Frigates -- in the Upper Floor
Extended Hempen Hands --
Presuming Me to be a Mouse --
Aground -- upon the Sands --

But no Man moved Me -- till the Tide
Went past my simple Shoe --
And past my Apron -- and my Belt --
And past my Bodice -- too --

And made as He would eat me up --
As wholly as a Dew
Upon a Dandelion's Sleeve --
And then -- I started -- too --

And He -- He followed -- close behind --
I felt his Silver Heel
Upon my Ankle -- Then my Shoes
Would overflow with Pearl --

Until We met the Solid Town --
No One He seemed to know --
And bowing -- with a Mighty look --

At me -- The Sea withdrew --

-- Emily Dickinson

Word Woman

Welcome to another wild and wonderful episode of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Keeping your brain active by learning new words is a great way to help prevent long-term memory loss due to aging, so let's stretch out those synapses with the Word of the Week:

Beefalo: Like Cattalo, a cross of the buffalo and the beef cow, according to Webster's five-eighths beef and three-eighths bison. Various mixtures have been tried. Usually ranchers who crossbreed cows with buffalo are seeking more meat on the frame and so more profit, but the American supermarkets and meat buyers have traditionally resisted the result. -- "Dictionary of the American West", Winfred Blevins, Facts on File, New York, 1993.

Example: Mark discovered that he liked beefalo burgers so well that he went out of his way to visit the only restaurant in town that served them.

Kids' Poetry Read Out!

We had a great turnout for our first-ever Kids' Poetry Read Out! This was a chance for elementary-age kids to read their original poetry as part of our National Poetry Month celebration. And we heard some amazing poetry -- description, humor, list poems, tongue twisters, you name it.

Of course, my favorite poems talked about the library!

If you like poetry, you can still come to tonight's Montana's Historic Poets program at 7 p.m., or (if you're a teen) take part in our Teen Poetry Open Mic next Thursday, April 23, at 4 p.m. See our events calendar for more fun stuff to do!

Poetry

It is interesting to note that Robert Frost, the quintessential poet of rural New England, was in fact born in the far more urban setting of San Francisco. Indeed, this Great American poet, winner of four Pulitzer Prizes, lived for several years in England, where his first book of poetry (entitled "A Boy's Will") was published. The following selection is taken from that book: To the Thawing Wind by Robert Frost

Come with rain, O loud Southwester! Bring the singer, bring the nester; Give the buried flower a dream; Make the settled snow-bank steam; Find the brown beneath the white; But whate'er you do to-night, Bathe my window, make it flow, Melt it as the ice will go; Melt the glass and leave the sticks Like a hermit's crucifix; Burst into my narrow stall; Swing the picture on the wall; Run the rattling pages o'er; Scatter poems on the floor; Turn the poet out of door.

Jon Tester Supports Montana Libraries!

Senator Jon Tester also supports Montana Libraries!

Our 400th Post!

This is our 400th post! And during National Library Week. Coincidence?

...yes.

Anna's One Minute Book Review

We have another Young Adult book review, this time coming from Anna Doyle, one of our pages here at the library. She reviews "Un Lun Dun" by China Mieville.

Ben's One Minute Book Review

Today, yours truly reviews a book of technology essays by Cory Doctorow. To get a free copy of this book go to his website. We also have it here at the library, of course.

Denny Rehberg Supports Montana Libraries!

Representative Denny Rehberg is a supporter of Montana Libraries. Thanks Denny!

National Library Worker's Day

These days it takes more than putting your hair up in a bun and waving your shushing finger at anyone who dares squeak their shoes in your proximity to work in a library. The old stereotype is as good as dead. Our library has more than a handful of male employees, we've hosted rock bands in our lobby, we show popular, new movies on our big screen (and along the same lines, we let teens play video games on said big screen), and on and on.

It takes lots and lots of different people to keep this library functioning.

The Board - These are our real bosses. They meet monthly and look at statistics, approve the budget, and generally shape the policy of what happens at the library. We're lucky to have a fantastic board!

The Friends - The friends are everyday people who support the library and make it possible to provide many of the events we put on here at the library. They sponser Senior Outreach, our copy machines, traveling exhibits and even buy the staff food on occasion. We couldn't do it without our friends!

The Foundation - The Foundation is like the Friends on steroids. They deal with the big money contributions and use that to help us fund events, upgrades and other things we need.

Administration - These are the day-to-day head honchos. They submit a budget to the board (lots and lots of work), and work with the board of trustees to shape policy and look at the direction of the library. They deal with scheduling, staffing and making sure the policy is carried out here at the library.

Reference - This is the go-to source for information. Want to look at newspaper archives from the 60's? Want to find information on Celtic designs? Need to know the difference between a gerbil and a hamster? Already read everything Stephen King has written, and want to find something similar? These are the people to ask.

Young Adult Librarians - If you're a teen, you already know this group. They organize teen events, pick out the best teen books, help you out on the computer in the YA room, and let you play Rock Band on the big screen. They are the cool, hip librarians who keep the staff feeling young.

Children's Librarians - This bunch is busy. They organize storytime for the youngsters, give tours to the 5th graders (EVERY 5th grader in Missoula comes through the library at least once, that's a lot of 5th graders!), give parents suggestions on books for their kids, help the kids play games on the kids computers, and organize the insanely poplular Summer reading program every year. They give the best first impression to the library we could hope for!

Circulation - These are the people who check your books in and out. They are the soldiers on the front line. They are constantly busy and always hard at work. This is the real lifeblood of the library. When you can't find a hold, they track it down. They register all of our new patrons. Their day is stressful and hectic, but they still do it with a smile.

Tech Services - This is where the books come from. And not just books, CDs, DVDs, Books on CD, everything. They order the books, process them, catalog them, and get them ready for you to check them out. Without them, we couldn't have a computerized catalog, or get the newest movies on the day they come out. They're down in the basement tirelessly working away to keep up with the demands of the public.

Interlibrary Loan - Interlibrary Loan gets you books from far, far away. If it isn't in our partnership, Mary and her team track it down and get it to you. Reference helps place the request, but all the dirty work is done in the ILL office. They also are the go-to crew for mailing and troubleshooting our mailing machine. If your friends in Boston need a book that only we have, they're the ones putting it in transit and making it available.

Pages - The pages get the books from the circulation department to the shelves. They're a quiet bunch, until you get them behind closed doors. Because they are knee deep in books all day long they are some of the most knowledgeable members of the staff. They keep the shelves in line, and keep the turnaround quick so the books that come in on Monday are out by Tuesday at the latest.

Volunteers - We have the best volunteers around. They mend our books, help the pages with shelving, and do anything else we ask them to do. Our volunteers repair broken spines, fix ripped pages, re-sleeve our DVDs, and do countless other tasks that we just don't have time for. Thank you all so much!

Our staff is just the best. If you stop in today, be sure to tell them thanks for the work they do all year long!

Dana's One Minute Book Review

For the second installment of our one minute book reviews we turn to Dana, who splits his time between the Children and Young Adult desks reviewing another Young Adult book, "Skate" by Michael Harmon.

National Library Week: A History

Started by the American Library Association in 1958, National Library Week is meant to promote every library in America. Before that, states had their own "state library weeks." The goal is, and has always been to give libraries, especially smaller libraries with smaller budgets, a central theme and marketing materials to increase awareness of Libraries. It is also meant to celebrate the accomplishments of librarians and libraries.

Libraries have celebrated with many different events: open houses, movie screenings, book discussions, raffles, scavenger hunts and more. Heck, a few years ago we had an after hours rock concert!

The choice of themes has been interesting. In 1958 it was, "Wake up and Read," which was used the following year, then slightly adapted in 1960 to, "Open wonderful new worlds...wake up and read." The theme seems to be altered slightly each year. By 1974 it had morphed into,"Information Power," which bred the following year's awkwardly worded, "Information Power at the library? At the Library." The Internet finally made its influence known in 1997 with the inclusion of the @ symbol. "Kids connect @ the Library." The @ symbol has been used in every theme since then.

This year's theme is "Worlds Connect @ Your Library."

In 2003 it was decided that each Tuesday of National Library Week would be designated as National Library Worker's Day. Hey that's today! I for one am glad I get to work with everyone here at the library. You couldn't ask for a better bunch of co-workers. Thanks guys (and gals)! More on National Library Worker's Day later...

Thanks to these online resources: Library History Buff, RensSearch, American Library Association

Give it away, give it away, give it away now

One of the ways we're celebrating National Library week is by giving stuff away. And unlike our books or movies, you don't have to bring this stuff back. At the Reference, Children, Young Adult and Account desks you'll be able to pick up a free seed packet to get you and your yard in the mood for spring. The seeds will grow into Shasta Daisies.

Before

After

(Original photo by Flickr user normanack. Some Rights Reserved.)

We're also giving away temporary tattoos, bookmarks and MPL magnets at our raffle table. What is the raffle table? Well, sign up for our daily raffles to win prizes including an MP3 player, books and a Missoula Downtown Association gift certificate. Each day we'll have a drawing, so the more days you come in and sign up, the better chance you'll have to win a prize!

So come to the library to celebrate National Library Week and get some free stuff.

Brian Schwietzer Supports Montana Libraries!

Our very own Governor Brian Schweitzer is a supporter of Montana Libraries.

Joyce's One Minute Book Review

This is the first in our series of One Minute Book reviews. We're going to be featuring one each day this week to celebrate National Library Week, and then continue featuring them from time to time in the future. Our PR expert Joyce is up first with a review of Robin Brande's Young Adult novel "Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature."

Welcome to National Library Week!

Welcome to National Library week! It officially started yesterday, but since we were closed we're starting it today!

Stay tuned to the blog for One Minute Book Reviews and much, much more! And be sure to check out all the events for this week on our events page!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! We're closed today, but we'll be back tomorrow!

(Original photo by Flickr user tajai. Some Rights Reserved.)

Poetry

Shakespeare, The Bard, Poet of Stratford-on-Avon -- his is a household name which needs no introduction. Indeed, one can scarcely get through high school in this country without being exposed to several of his plays. However, his poetry is not quite as widely-known, except perhaps to those who went on to become English majors in college. But you don't have to be an English major to appreciate the beauty of Shakespeare's sonnets, like the one I'm going to share with you today:


Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.


-- William Shakespeare



What is a sonnet? A sonnet is a poem composed of fourteen lines of ten syllables each. Shakespeare's sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, a rhythm compared to that of the human heartbeat. Try reading it out loud to hear how it sounds. In each stanza of the sonnet, the first and third lines rhyme, as do the second and fourth. The last stanza is the exception to this rule, having only two lines to rhyme.

Word Woman

Welcome to another mind-bending episode of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Looking for a way to stretch your mental muscles? Why not get a little intellectual exercise by doing crosswords, cyrptoquotes and sudoku? Or, you can expand your horizons by learning new words. Here's the Word of the Week to get you started:


Inauspicious: It has been remarked that "no other word ever had such a premiere as inauspicious," which made its debut in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Romeo crying:

Here, here will I remain...
And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
From this world-wearied flesh.

Shakespeare probably invented inauspicious, as he did auspicious (in The Tempest), meaning favorable, conducive to success. Its roots are in the Latin auspex, a corruption of avispex, for the Roman birdwatcher who deduced omens from the flight of birds. -- "The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins", Robert Hendrickson, Checkmark Books, New York, 1997.


Example: Seeing the huge black thunderclouds gathering on the horizon, Peter decided that it was an inauspicious day for a picnic and ordered pizza instead.


Note to the Master of Socrates Cafe: The past tense of the verb "to forego" is indeed "forewent", regardless of how peculiar that may sound.

Poetry Events

At the beginning of the month, I mentioned that we have some great events planned here at Missoula Public Library for National Poetry Month and I promised to fill you in on them later. Since it's later now, here's the scoop:


Kid's Poetry Read-Out
Grade school students, we would love to hear your original poems! Come to the Children's Department at 3:30pm on Thursday, April 16th and share with us!


Montana's Historic Poets
You've probably heard of E. E. Cummings, but how about J. V. Cunningham? No? Then come join us in the Large Meeting Room on Thursday, April 16th at 7pm. Guest speaker Professor Tami Haaland will be lecturing on the lives and writings of Montana poets of the early twentieth century. Partial funding for the Speakers Bureau program is provided by a legislative grant from Montana's Cultural Trust and from NEH's "We the People" program.


Teen Open Mic
Are you between the ages of 13 and 18 with original poetry that you'd like to share? Then join us on the lower level of the library by eddie's coffeeshop on Thursday, April 16th at 4pm and let your voice be heard.


Hope to see you all there!

Gov 2.0

Ever wonder just what those lawmakers are thinking? Keep up with what's going on in your government, track votes, and let them know what's on your mind! You can collect all sorts of info from tracking spending to sending your comments to the White House. Learn how at "Government 2.0: Keep Up, Talk Back" this Thursday, April 9, at 7 p.m. UM's Government Documents Librarian Jennie Burroughs will share her insider knowledge, so don't miss out. This program is part of the Mansfield Library's Government Documents Depository Centennial Celebration.

Poetry

In the third installment in this series of blogs celebrating National Poetry Month, I'm pleased to present the one and only T. S. (Thomas Stearns) Eliot. Born in the United States in 1988, he emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1914 and liked it so much that he decided to become a British citizen. While he is best known for his magnum opus, "The Wasteland", I have selected a passage from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" to share with you today instead. It is my second favorite work of his next to "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats", which was eventually adapted into the long-running Broadway musical "Cats".

from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherised upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question …
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.
In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.

-- T. S. Eliot

Michele Reinhart Supports Montana Libraries!

Another Montana Library supporter hailing from Missoula's House District 97 is Representative Michele Reinhart.

Poetry

For my second installment in this month's series of blogs celebrating National Poetry Month, I'd like to introduce you to one of my favorite poets, Walt Whitman. In case you aren't already familiar with his work, he was a New York poet who wrote during the Civil War era. His works were quite controversial in his time, due to the fact that his choice of subject matter was often considerably more liberal than that of his peers. Also, he chose to work outside of the regular meter and rhyme schemes commonly associated with classic poetry, pioneering the art of free verse. Here is a short offering, by his standards:


Beat! beat! drums!

Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!
Through the windows—through doors—burst like a ruthless force,
Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation,
Into the school where the scholar is studying;
Leave not the bridegroom quiet—no happiness must he have now with his bride,
Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, ploughing his field or gathering his grain,
So fierce you whirr and pound you drums—so shrill you bugles blow.
Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!
Over the traffic of cities—over the rumble of wheels in the streets;
Are beds prepared for sleepers at night in the houses? no sleepers must sleep in those beds,	1
No bargainers’ bargains by day—no brokers or speculators—would they continue?
Would the talkers be talking? would the singer attempt to sing?
Would the lawyer rise in the court to state his case before the judge?
Then rattle quicker, heavier drums—you bugles wilder blow.
Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!
Make no parley—stop for no expostulation,
Mind not the timid—mind not the weeper or prayer,
Mind not the old man beseeching the young man,
Let not the child’s voice be heard, nor the mother’s entreaties,
Make even the trestles to shake the dead where they lie awaiting the hearses,
So strong you thump O terrible drums—so loud you bugles blow. -- Walt Whitman

Volunteer Breakfast

Last Saturday we held our annual Volunteer Breakfast to honor our awesome volunteers. As you can see, we had a full house. Everyone was fed and had the chance to introduce themselves to everybody else, since usually volunteers don't really know who else is volunteering, because they come at all different times of the day and on different days of the week.

We also named our volunteer of the year, Marguerite Ragan!

Thank you to everyone who volunteers at the library, you guys make it possible for us to provide programming, materials and services to our patrons. We couldn't do it without you!

We are looking for more volunteers, so if you are so inclined, fill out an application and drop it off here at the library.

Word Woman

Welcome to another amazing installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Are you ready to stretch your brain by expanding your vocabulary? If so, then let's get started with the Word of the Week:

Blinkmanship: [noun] the art of diplomatic negotiations which cedes no ground until the other side backs down from a position. -- "Hatchet Jobs and Hardball: The Oxford Dictionary of American Political Slang", Grant Barrett, Ed., Oxford University Press, 2004.

Example: In these trying economic times, Harry played an extremely risky game of blinkmanship when he told his boss that he would quit effective immediately if he was not granted an exception to the current wage freeze in effect at the company.

Digital Signage! ...and new baskets

If you've been to the library this week, you may have noticed our brand new digital signs. There are two screens, one right outside Web Alley in the basement and one upstairs near the entrance (fittingly) of Entertainment Central. These will have information on upcoming events and happenings at the library.
In less interesting news, we just added lots more baskets for you to use in the library while browsing the stacks. It looks like you'll need them, because we saw a record number of checkouts last month. Keep it coming!

Sue Malek Supports Montana Libraries!

The next legislator in our series of elected officials who support Montana Libraries is Representative Sue Malek from Missoula's House District 98.

Poetry

April is National Poetry Month, one of my favorite times of the year! We have some great events going on at the Library to celebrate this month (which I'll go into in depth later), so I hope you'll come in and join us. Here's a well-known offering to kick off the month:

OZYMANDIAS

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear --
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.'

Percy Bysshe Shelley was an Englishman who wrote at the beginning of the 19th century, one of the great Romantic poets. His wife, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, achieved fame in her own right as the author of that quintessential horror story "Frankenstein". Followers of current films or readers of graphic novels may recognize the name "Ozymandias" from "The Watchmen".

Missoula Public Library Processes Last Book Ever!

Our technical services staff finished cataloging and processing the last physical copy of a book the library will ever buy today. As they put the finishing touches on Nora Robert's upcoming novel Vision in White a collective sigh was heard throughout the library. The book will be available on April 28th and will be the last "book" added to the library's collection.

(Original photo by flickr user John Pastor. Some Rights Reserved.)

Missoula Public Library has decided to move to purely digital copies, also known as e-books, of both new and classic titles. Patrons will be able to download the titles onto devices like Amazon's Kindle (seen above) or Apple's iPhone. This will allow our patrons to virtually browse our shelves from home and avoid long checkout lines. Physical copies of our books will be gradually phased out to make room for more Internet access computers, e-book download stations and a vast expansion of Entertainment Central's DVD collection.

Also slated to be phased out will be Books on Tape and Books on CD. They will be available only as mp3s from our download stations.

Alert from Social Security - Don't get Scammed

Beware of Recovery "Phishers"
Beneficiaries are, no doubt, looking forward to receiving their one-time recovery payments from Social Security. But Social Security wants to warn people not to fall victim to scammers who may be "phishing" for a cut of their own. To make sure no one does, we'll state the facts as clearly as possible:
All Social Security and SSI beneficiaries who are eligible for the special one-time recovery payment will have their payment issued in May;
The payment is automatic; and
There are no requests to make, no applications to complete, no emails to respond to and no fees to pay.
If you receive an email from anyone claiming to want to help obtain your payment, don't fall victim to the scam. Social Security has an Office of the Inspector General (OIG) that will investigate allegations of fraud, including circumstances where scammers attempt to intercept a beneficiary's one-time economic recovery payment. Please report such activity to Social Security's OIG at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/oig/ or by calling the fraud hotline at 1-800-269-0271 between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. EST.