Marvelous day for the market

What a day we had at the market! Thanks to the hundreds of people who stopped at our table and chatted with us and checked out books (and I'm not exaggerating). We gave out 24 new library cards this morning and checked out lots of books. And we loved hearing the cool comments from people who were so happy to see us there!
Take a look at these great photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/missoulapubliclibrary/sets/72157618924868607/

We can hardly wait for our next market trip - the last Saturday of every month all summer. Feeling like you missed out? Be sure to stop in and browse at our next market visit, June 27. Or, if you can't wait that long, we're open every day of the week at the main library.

On the road

In case you missed our earlier blog - we've spruced up our bookmobile and we're getting ready to hit the road this weekend!

Come visit us at the River Market (by the bridge) Saturday May 30, where you can browse books and other materials for all ages on gardening, cooking, and all sorts of market-type topics. We'll even throw in a few fiction books for good measure. If you don't have a library card, you can get one right there - so go home with a book straight from the market. Plus we'll have info on all the cool stuff we're offering this season to get you out of the summer heat. So stop by and visit us at the market - or you could go the traditional route and swing by the library building on E Main. Heck, we'll let you do both!

Vampires Don't Suck

Vampires: they're very popular these days. I'm just starting to get into vampire lore myself, which I guess makes me a late bloomer: Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series has, after all, been keeping many of you on the edge of your seats for ages at this point.

I'm not totally unfamiliar with today's notable vampires and vampire hunters, however; like many of you, I went through my flirtation with vampires when I got hooked on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series--I should add here that those of you who have never seen the series may want to reconsider your avoidance of the show; there's simply loads of fun to be had sitting on the couch with a pint of Ben and Jerry's and watching Buffy and her exceptionally good-looking friends hunt down exceptionally good-looking teenage vampires-- but I have never, until now, been compelled to dive very deeply into the world of vampire lore.

My newly revisited interest in the subject is largely the result of a vampire book I just read, The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova. The book, which is available through the Library as part of a Book Club Kit, details several academics' searches for the legendary Dracula. As I was reading it, I was especially smitten with the way Kostova incorporated real vampire folk lore into the novel. Although historically the assumed appearances and behaviors of vampires differ from region to region, Kostova's vampires resemble the vampires of Transylvanian folklore: pale, gaunt creatures similar in kind to the Dracula played by Bela Lugosi in the 1931 film version of Bram Stoker's famous novel.

In my research, I've been finding that much of the vampire material out there-- books, films, manga, etc.-- is fairly dark, which, in my mind, makes the researching the subject an appropriate pursuit for these long, summer days. After all, according to many legends, vampires have no tolerance for sun. (Or mustard seeds, as it turns out. Not that mustard seeds and summer are particularly related to each other.)

If you, too, find vampire lore worthy of your time, you might check out the following links for some reading/viewing suggestions:

http://www.vampirelibrary.com/lists/guide.htm
http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/top-70-vampire-movies-of-all-time/

Word Woman

Welcome to another wild and wonderful installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Your brain is built to last a lifetime, so keep it in good shape with mental exercises like sudoku, cryptoquotes and crossword puzzles. Or, you can expand your vocabulary by learning new words, like the Word of the Week:

Gelid: (jel-id) [adjective] icy cold; frozen. -- "The New York Times Everyday Reader's Dictionary of Misunderstood, Misused, Mispronounced Words", Laurence Urdang, Ed., The New York Times Book Company, New York, 1972.

Example: With the temperature abruptly climbing from the high forties into the low seventies, gelid treats such as ice cream enjoyed a sudden upswing in sales.

Decorating YA room windows

Come on in and help us beautify the Young Adult room windows. We have a variety of colored window markers and a bunch of wonderful glass "canvases" to show your stuff on. We would like the illustrations to reflect the season and/or the upcoming events in the Young Adult section--but we are pretty flexible in determining what exactly relates to those broad ideas. We're aiming to have most of the work done during the first full week of each month starting in July, but the first few illustrations are already up and we're doing others through the end of May. Come on, show us your stuff--your visual dreams, your giant doodles, your graphic mind games. Talk to the Young Adult librarians to get the markers and other directions.

Word Woman

Welcome to another astounding episode of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! The time for summer reading is fast approaching, so stretch your synapses with a good book or two! Now, let's get started with the Word of the Week:

Invidious:

Pronunciation: in-'vi-dE-&s

Function: adjective

Etymology: Latin invidiosus envious, invidious, from invidia envy -- more at ENVY

1 : tending to cause discontent, animosity, or envy

2 : ENVIOUS

3 a : of an unpleasant or objectionable nature : OBNOXIOUS

b : of a kind to cause harm or resentment

- in·vid·i·ous·ly adverb - in·vid·i·ous·ness noun

-- "invidious." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009. Merriam-Webster Online. 22 May 2009

Example: Clifford's invidious comments created tension between himself and his co-workers.

Letterpress Part 1

As far as the dissemination of texts and images go, the internet has been the great leveller: now, anyone with something to say can publish his or her two cents on the web by creating a website or blog, or by adding to pre-existing sites and blogs. Likewise, any web surfer trolling the net has access to that information. But, in this age of quick, cheap information exchange, I implore you, let us not forget the vehicle that began it all: the printing press.

Because I own and print with an archaic Vandercook printing press (above image from www.fiveroses.org/intro.htm), I have a soft spot for printing words and images the old fashioned way, painstaking though it may be. Why painstaking, you may ask? Well, for starters, if I wanted to print this paragraph on my press, I would first have to spell out all of these sentences letter by letter using small pieces of lead with individual characters (letters, spaces, and punctuation) stamped on them. Next I'd have to spend an hour or two placing these sentences just so on the press and locking them in tightly so that they wouldn't slip when I started printing. Then, before the actual printing could begin, I'd still have to follow through with the paper-cutting step, the inking-of-the-press step, and the adjustment-of-the-image step. And, after printing, I'd have to save a half an hour or so to clean the press, a process which, if you learned how to print at the San Francisco Center for the Book like I did, would involve Crisco, rubbing alcohol, and--your favorite and mine-- paint thinner.... Naturally, most people have a million other things to do, right?

All that being said, I love the relative slowness of printing with a press; the work involved makes the words I print worth more. And, I love the end results, which can vary according to what I'm trying to do.

Currently, most people doing letterpress work (i.e., printing with presses) are artists to greater or lesser degrees, and they're interested in the particular aesthetics of their products: a letterpressed wedding invitation, for example, should be both visually appealing and should have that unique texture that comes from stamping lead letters into nice, thick paper. If you're confused here about what I mean by "texture," you might stop in at Noteworthy on Higgins in Missoula to run your fingers across some of their letterpressed greeting cards. They also have a working Vandercook press in the back that you could take a look at.

And, here's a few of my favorite online letterpress related resources:

The San Francisco Center for the Book: http://www.sfcb.org/index.php
Fameorshame Press: http://fameorshame.com/
Briar Press: http://www.briarpress.org/
Introduction to Letterpress Printing: http://www.fiveroses.org/intro.htm

DVD Dispenser Goes Live!

We've finally gone live with our brand new DVD Dispenser/DVD Checkout machine. We wanted to be sure and work the bugs out before we let you, the patrons, start to use it. For the time being we'll have a staff member manning the machine to let you get the hang of things, just like when we moved to self-checkout before.

The new system is easy to use and you should only have to stand in one line, instead of two or three. And, as an added bonus, we have the most DVDs out that we've ever had before! Just check out the selection of Grab 'n Go movies!

So if you're looking for some movies for Memorial Day weekend, we're your first stop!

The Hollywood Librarian

"They have more cardholders than VISA, more customers than Amazon, and more outlets than McDonald's. Meet America's librarians."
--The Hollywood Librarian
(film recently obtained by MPL: DVD 020.9 HOLLYWO)

Sure, you may have seen them doing storytime, answering questions, or helping someone track down their favorite author, but what else do professional librarians do?? Those of you curious about what exactly it is that librarianship entails may be interested in placing a hold on The Hollywood Librarian. Librarians across America **including Missoula Public Library's own reference librarian Molly** were interviewed to create this "look at librarians through film."

Watch the trailer:

What's your favorite book?

We librarians are always getting asked if we know a good book. Of course we do! But we're also always looking for your opinions on what's good and what's not-so-good. That's why we're encouraging teens to vote on this year's YRCA and TTT lists.

YRCA - Young Readers' Choice Award - is the oldest children's choice award in the U.S. and Canada. There are 3 divisions: Junior (grades 4-6), Middle (grades 7-9), and Senior (grades 10-12). If you fall in those age ranges, read at least 2 of the nominated books in your division and then vote on your favorite. We have a special display in the YA Room with all the Middle & Senior division titles, and a separate display in the children's room.

Teen Top Ten - This is a national teens-only vote for the best book published this year. 25 titles have been nominated (no, you don't have to read all 25 to be able to vote, but we know you want to!) and voting takes place online in September. See our display in the YA Room along with a list of all the titles, or find a full list here.

Happy Reading!

Summer Feeling

For all you UM students, it's finals week, which means that right now you're either tearing your hair out before a test, or that you're done with your finals and well on your way toward that sweet summer feeling. And if you're a pre-college student, you are, at this point, probably staring slack-jawed out the window while your teachers make half-hearted attempts at stuffing the last remaining crannies of your brains full of useful knowledge before summer erases everything. As for the rest of us who don't get three month summer breaks, we're just happy to finally see the sun.

Which brings me to an important question, one that I put to students and working stiffs alike: what will you do with your summer vacation?

Having spent a couple of summers in Missoula, I can honestly say that summers here are uniquely fabulous. A friend recently reminded me of a particularly invigorating activity we both took part in a few summers back: The Mud Wrestling Party. There are still some around here who will remember the event, and the costume-clad glory seekers who came to it, who struggled against each other and the very earth itself, all for the chance to win The Champion's Belt (a belt-like article crafted from aluminum cans and duct tape).

Other interesting summer diversions I've heard of as of late: throwing a junk-food potluck, reading the entirety of Moby Dick aloud with friends, learning how to build stone walls, performing plays at nursing homes...yes, my friends, the sky's the limit. And, of course, I also can't say enough about classic Missoula summer activities like hiking, floating, fishing, gardening, and spending long evening on a porch with a good book.

Whatever the case, whatever you choose to do this summer, you'd better get on it; there's only 41/2 months till October.

Word Woman

Welcome to another astonishing installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Train your brain to keep in shape for a lifetime by expanding your vocabulary. Here's the Word of the Week to get you started:

Quotidian: \kwō-ˈti-dē-ən\

Function: adjective

Etymology: Middle English cotidian, from Anglo-French, from Latin quotidianus, cotidianus, from quotidie every day, from quot (as) many as + dies day — more at deity

Date: 14th century

1: occurring every day <quotidian fever>
2 a: belonging to each day : everyday <quotidian routine>
b: commonplace, ordinary <quotidian drabness>

-- "quotidian." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009. Merriam-Webster Online. 14 May 2009

Example: The Master of Socrates Cafe believes that there is no point in using a neologism when a quotidian word will serve just as well.

Hi-Tech Writing Tips

Fresh on the heels of our writing contest (stay tuned to this blog for the winning entries in each category), I thought I'd share some tips on writing with all the aspiring writers out there. We need you to get going, so we can add your books to our collection when they're finished!

It's common knowledge that one of the best ways to get better at writing is to read. And read. And read. Well, we've always been here for you in that regard and always will be, but here are some writing tips for the digital age.

1. Start a Blog!

Practice makes perfect, and a blog is a great place to practice. You can set one up in minutes using free services such as Blogger or Wordpress. Take time to practice writing every day. Think of your blog as an artist's sketchbook. While you're writing, you'll have the opportunity to receive feedback and also build up a fan base/support group.

This method works particularly well if you're writing a non-fiction book. While writing your daily posts you end up doing all the research for your book and more. Some blogs even outlive the book they're written about, like Wikinomics and Freakonomics.

2. Subscribe to Writing Blogs

In addition to writing a blog, read them. There are lots of blogs out there to give you tips on how to craft a sentence or plot. Use a feed reader to read them all without having to use bookmarks or remember all their web addresses. Some recommendations?

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/
http://prowritingtips.com/
http://writing.lifetips.com/

3. Use New Software to your Advantage

Dark Room - a free program that keeps your computer distraction free while you're working. Simple interface and you're not bothered by a constant stream of emails.

Perl Tagcloud Script - prepare to get geeky. This is a perl script that looks through a text file and creates a tagcloud of the hashtags. If you're doing a lot of research, this could be very useful. Props to Cory Doctorow for asking for this script and Dan McDonald for creating it.

Freemind - an open source mind mapping program. You can use this to make flowcharts and other diagrams to organize your the ideas whizzing around in your head.

Flahbake - another tool from the mind of Cory Doctorow. Flashbake keeps a log of changes to your work every 15 minutes along with tons of other metadata. This is for the archivists in training who want to know what songs you were listening to while you were writing your last novel. Be careful though, this one isn't for the faint of heart, and might take a lot of work to get working correctly. Be warned.

4. Publish Yourself!

The Internet allows you to publish your book without a publisher if you want. It might not make you famous, but at least you'll be able to get a copy for yourself and your friends, and maybe someday sell a few copies. Who knows, if your blog really caught on, maybe you will sell a bunch of copies and get rich. Just don't forget about my cut. Lulu.com is the definitive name in self publishing, but you could also try Xlibris or one of the countless other print on demand options. Take a look at this article before you take the plunge.

So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and start writing!

Dispense it like it's hot

Our new DVD Dispenser is here! Up until now, you've had to bring an empty DVD case up to the Accounts desk, wait around and have one of us grab your DVDs, then go check out. This works fine, until we get really busy and then you get stuck in line for 5 or 10 minutes. Now we have a solution!

This machine, located in Entertainment Central, will allow you to check out your DVDs and then dispense the disks to you. We're still working on getting it set up, but look for this to be active in the near future. Hopefully it will get more DVDs out to you faster!

Book vs. Fido

http://failblog.org/2009/03/11/puppy-training-fail/

Came across this image on www.failblog.org -- unfortunately, this kind of thing happens more often than you'd think. Dog training books are notorious for coming back to the library in less than pristine condition.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! Some of you, like me, are probably working today instead of spending quality time with your family, so kudos to you for doing what it takes to keep it together. Here at the Library, we have put up a power wall display for the month of May dedicated to mothers and motherhood. Here are just a few of the titles we have on display and available for check-out:

"12 Simple Secrets Real Moms Know"
by Michele Borba

"The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal"
by Renee Peterson Trudeau

"My Mother's Daughter"
by Irene Zahava

"Mother-Daughter Wisdom"
by Christiane Northrup

"The Wild Mother"
by Elizabeth Cunningham

"American Mom"
by Mary Kay Blakely

So, come check out these and many other books about being or having a mother. Oh, and guys, just in case you're feeling left out, there is a display of Man Fiction right next to it, with authors like Clive Cussler and Raymond Chandler. See, we didn't forget about you...

Teen Media Club - Makin' Movies

Want to make digital videos like the shorts you see on YouTube? If you're between 13-18, now's your chance!

Our Teen Media Club just filmed the first of its series on life at the library. Our first subject: the teen writers group, of course. Now that we have footage, we're working on editing and coupling it with music. When it's complete, we'll post it to our teen page.

Feel like joining the fun? We could use a few more hands -- and we always want great ideas! Share what you know and learn from other teens every Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the computer classroom on the lower level next to the Small Meeting Room. If you can’t make Tuesday meetings but would like to work on a project, ask at the Young Adult desk.

See you at the movies!

Word Woman

Welcome to another mind-bending episode of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Keep your brain in good working order by learning new words. Here's the Word of the Week to get you started:

Teledemocracy: [noun] use of electronic media, especially television, in the political process. -- "Hatchet Jobs and Hardball: The Oxford Dictionary of American Political Slang", Grant Barrett, Ed., Oxford University Press, 2004.

Example: In our increasingly technological society, teledemocracy has taken the place of whistle-stop campaigning, and political candidates need to be internet-savvy in order to have any hope of getting elected.

So, you want to be super?

As I'm sure you all know, the new X-men movie, X-men Origins: Wolverine, just hit the theatres in Missoula. I won't say that I've been waiting on pins and needles for the movie to come out, but I will probably see it this weekend, since I am infinitely fascinated by the idea that somehow superheroes-- or mutants, as they are called in the movies--make spandex suits seem plausible, and even necessary. (To be fair, the X-men's suits appear to be made out of super powered spandex rather than ordinary spandex, which I'll grant makes them cooler.)

Anyway, in preparation for this weekend's big movie adventure, I've been doing some research. I first went to check out the superhero comic book situation in the library and found out that we have A LOT X-men comic books. As I was reading, and since the new movie is all about the origin of Wolverine's powers, I started wondering about all the possible ways one might actually gain superpowers. For those of you who have been kept up at night by this question, the answer is that there are basically 4 ways of becoming a superhero (or villain):

1. You're born that way, you lucky dog!
2. You become a mutant during your lifetime; perhaps this is the result of a run-in with a toxic chemical or a mad-scientist or what have you.
3. You're from another planet.
4. You have discipline, time, and a load of cash and you use all of those to learn karate and build a bunch of super hi-tech gear for yourself, thus elevating you above other mere mortals.

So. There you go. Now you're ready for action.

Our Bookmobile Gets a Facelift

Check out the new look of our bookmobile! We're dusting it off and getting it ready to leave the garage for the first time in a few years. We added our new logo and, as Bob Ross would say, some "happy clouds" to the side.

You'll be able to see the Bookmobile out in the wild starting May 30th. We're going to send it down to the Farmer's Market (Clark Fork River Market) and have gardening, cooking and other DIY books to check out. You heard right, you'll be able to check out books at the Farmer's Market soon. Pretty cool.

Fiesta!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Contrary to what you might have heard, the 5th of May is not actually Mexico's equivalent of our 4th of July Independence Day celebration. That distinction belongs to the 16th of September, and it's as widely celebrated as the Fourth is here in the States.

In Mexico, the 5th of May is primarily a regional holiday commemorating the victory of Mexican forces over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. In the U.S., it's a day people often choose to celebrate Mexican heritage and culture. Or, if you're like me, it's a great excuse to indulge in some delicious Mexican food.

Here at the Library, the staff celebrated with a little fiesta of our own, a Cinco de Mayo potluck with tacos, enchiladas and much more. Authenic mexican cuisine? Not exactly. Tasty? Oh, yeah! So, if you're in the mood to party tonight, then go out and listen to a mariachi band, or salsa dance, or just grab some nachos. I'll be right there with you.

Ole!

Unusual Coffee Table Books

Every month I check out a handful of library books to put on my end table. My friends and guests love to see the selection I bring home. I usually raid the oversize collection (housed on the east wall by the adult biographies) for art books and the like. Once in a while I'll throw in an odd title to catch people off guard.

These two titles got double takes from visitors to my house!




Bad Hair by James Innes-Smith and Henrietta Webb [646.724 INNES]
Going to Prison? by Jimmy Tayounare [365.6 TAYOUN]

Bad Hair is composed entirely out of head shots of well, bad hair. The array of mullets & bouffants is quite startling. It also contains what I consider photographic evidence of Wolfman.

Going to Prison? is described as "a practical guide for the first-time offender to help ease the transition to prison life." Part 2 includes a packing list of personal items that are typically prison approved including 30 packs of cigarettes, and a section on staying safe. I hope I won't ever have to check this booklet out for practical purposes.

Writer's Contest Reception

We had an occasion to break out the punch and cookies today at the library as we held a reception for our first ever Writing Contest! We had a full house of writers, judges and family members.


We announced the winners and read excerpts of all the first place stories. Daniel Johnston and Louise McMillin bravely stepped forward and read their own pieces, and our staff read the rest.

Louise ended the festivities by encouraging the young writers in the audience to keep writing, a fitting end to a fantastic Sunday celebrating writing.

Stay tuned to this blog to read the first place entries and check out our Flickr page for pictures of all the award recipients.

Farewell to Claire

We said goodbye to our Assistant Director Claire at a going away party on Wednesday, but her last day was yesterday. At her request the only picture I'll be posting from her going away party will be this picture of the lovely book given to her by two of our volunteers.

I also know that Claire isn't big on sentimentality, but I will say that she was a visionary in the library and strongly shaped the way our library looks and acts now and her work style was just like Vanilla Ice's; "If you got a problem, Yo! [Claire] will solve it!" Amongst other things, she worked tirelessly on the schedule as well as proofreading these blog posts by pointing out my numerous misspellings and grammatical errors. We are all going to miss working with her.

Claire and her husband are moving on to the wilds of Alaska.

Word Woman

Welcome to another wild and wonderful installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! A mind is a terrible thing to waste, so keep yours active by expanding your vocabulary. Here's the Word of the Week to help you get started:

Imbroglio: (im-brohl-yo) [noun] a state of confusion; a perplexing situation -- The New York Times Everyday Reader's Dictionary of Misunderstood, Misused, Mispronounced Words, Laurence Urdang, Ed., The New York Times Book Company, 1972.

Example: The departure of the Assistant Director created a temporary imbroglio at the Library.