Banned Books Week Review

Banned Books Week continues with more 1-minute book reviews of challenged and banned titles from our staff. Stop by the library to see a display of even more titles.

Chinese Storytelling

Just a reminder that Chinese Storytelling is tomorrow night, Wednesday, September 30 at 7:00 pm in the Children's Dragon Rug area. A local woman from China, named River Yang, and I (Dana McMurray) began talking a month or so ago, and this idea just emerged naturally from those conversations. Missoula has a lot of families with children from China (there is even a group in Missoula called Familes with Children from China, FCC). Some of these families would like their children to have the opportunity to learn to speak Chinese and some of these families would just like their children to be exposed to Chinese culture in many different ways--language being just one. This will not be a teaching class, but a fun way to hear Chinese spoken and translated as we read picture books to our kids.
River will read a page or two in Chinese and then I will read the same page or two in English. We may switch the order from time to time. As always there will be the chance for the children to ask questions, make comments, and interact with the stories. And, as always, there will likely be songs and craft activities. See you there.

Banned Books Week Review

Today's Banned Books Week video review features a title that faced a local challenge...

Banned Books Tracker

Check out this nifty new Google map that posts when and where every book challenge has taken place over the past two years.

Courtesy of ALAand the Kids' Right to Read Project, a collaboration of the National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression.

Banned Books Week Review

Banned Books Week continues with this staff review of Twilight...

Banned Books Week Review

Another 1-minute review of a title from the national Challenged & Banned Books list...

Banned Books Week Review

Welcome to Banned Books Week, a celebration of the Freedom to Read!

Banned Books Week is an annual recognition of the thousands of titles that have been challenged or banned throughout the country over the years, and of the importance of books in our culture. A Challenged book is one that someone has requested be removed from a public, school, academic, or special library shelf but wasn't necessarily removed. A Banned book has been removed so that no one has the opportunity to read it at that library no matter who, how old, or for what purpose. Many books are challenged, few are banned.

Missoula Public Library has adopted the Freedom to Read, putting forward that any person has the right to choose what he/she will read. We're not telling you or your family what you should read, just that no one else should make that decision for you.

All week our staff will offer 1-minute video reviews of titles that appear on the banned and challenged list. Plus we have a display of banned and challenged books in the library. So tune in and stop by all week long!

Hooray for Hollywood!

Our very own librarian will have her Missoula big-screen debut tonight at 7 p.m. with our free showing of the national film "The Hollywood Librarian." Come learn how cool libraries are. You're sure to be impressed!

The showing is the finale in our National Library Card Sign-up Month, so we'll be giving out library cards before and after the show. No excuses, get yours!

Word Woman

Welcome to another exciting installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! The brain is a use-it-or-lose-it type of tool. If you don't keep it sharp and bright, it won't be in good shape when you need it, so be sure to hone your neural network with mental exercises like learning new words. Here's the Word of the Week to get you started:

Impugn: (im-pyoon) [verb] to assail by argument; call in question or oppose as false -- "The New York Times Everyday Reader's Dictionary of Misunderstood, Misused, Mispronounced Words", Laurence Urdang, Ed., Weathervane Books, The New York Times Book Company, 1972.

Example: The Master of Socrates Cafe often impugns the relevance of neologistic slang terms selected by Word Woman for the Word of the Week.

September is National Library Card Sign-up Month, and Missoula Public Library wants you to Think…MORE!

Oh no! The engine in Harry's vintage VW Bug was acting up again! Perhaps it would take some sort of magic to get it running right? Actually, there was an easier way. Harry stopped by his local library and turned to the Chilton's Repair Manuals in the Reference section. Soon, his car was running better than ever.

Just another cool thing you can do with your library card.

Food for Fido (or Fluffy)

All kidding aside, there are lost and abandoned animals going hungry every day. Through Saturday, when you bring in pet food we will waive your overdue fees. All proceeds will go to AniMeals. Dry food is especially appreciated.
(Sorry, but donations cannot be accepted in lieu of lost, damaged, or ILL fees.)

Healthy Lunches

Are you tired of the same old brown bag lunch? Come to our Healthy Lunches Workshop on September 24th and get some new ideas.

Kathy Revello with Missoula County Extension will be at the library to give ideas and tips on how you can pack a healthy and tasty lunch for your kids, spouse or yourself. The hour long talk begins at 1:00 pm in the Large Meeting Room of the library.

While you are here you can use your library card to check out some great cookbooks to help you with your healthy lunches or a new and exciting dinner option.

You don't have a library card?

This is the perfect time to get your very own free library card and start exploring all that the Missoula Public Library has to offer.

What's a Library For?

A library has always been about more than books, but now that's becoming both more obvious and more interesting. The obvious exceptions are the CDs and DVDs and popular magazines and computers. The interesting exceptions are the books for giveaway, books for sale, countless meetings that happen every week, outreach we do to a variety of community organizations, and the wealth of programs we offer every week. Did you know we have a teenagers' Writers' Group that meets every week? Or video games--like Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band--once a month on the big screen in the large meeting room? Or several public movies a week? Or storytimes for kids 0-3 (three times a week) and for kids 4--7 (three times a week)? Or arts and crafts activities (for kids grade 4--6) once a month? Or regular Scrabble games once a week? Or open philosophical discussion once a month? Or really good coffee and pastries (from Eddie's Coffee Shop downstairs) that you can carry (covered) throughout the Library?
So if you're looking for things to do--day or night--check us out and see if we have anything going on that tempts you. At the least you could have a latte and a muffin. See you at the Library.

Jumping on the bandwagon

By now, if you have access to a computer monitor and an internet connection, you've seen this:

by way of National Geographic Traveler, NG's The Daily Dozen Gallery, or Cute Overload.

What you may not have seen is The Squirrelizer, wherein you can add that fantastic ground squirrel to any photo with a url. MPL has a Flickr account, and access to a bevy of images with urls, so yours truly though "why not?"

The rest is history:

Hanging out on Main Street. Books to return, perhaps?

Problem at Self-Checkout? See us at the Accounts Desk!

Discovering what's new and exciting at the power walls.

Checking out Patrick Swayze DVDs at the vault.

Now go forth and squirrelize.

Get carded

Yup, it's still National Library Card Sign-up Month and we have lots more great reasons why you should get a library card. Take a lesson from this near disaster...

Susan's relatives were coming to visit Montana for the first time, but Susan didn't know what to do with them. How could she entertain them for an entire week? She asked at the library and went home with fishing books and hiking maps, a calendar of fun events for all ages (Cheap Date Night anyone?), and some new release movies too. Her library card saved her, and kept her in good standing with the family!

This is just one of the amazingly cool things you can do with your library card. So what are you waiting for? Missoula Public Library wants you to Think...MORE!

Word Woman

Welcome to another mind-bending installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Fall is nearly upon us, but don't let your brain cells wither away like so many autumn leaves. Keep your mind active with mental exercises, such as learning new words. Here's the Word of the Week to get you started:

Nintendonitis: A chronic painful condition that affects the muscles or joints in the hand, fingers and/or forearm after playing videogames too much. -- "Mo' Urban Dictionary", Aaron Peckham, Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, Kansas City, 2007.

Example: John tried passing off his nintendonitis as carpal tunnel to his boss, but she had already heard all about him getting Halo Wars for his birthday and wasn't buying it.

September is National Library Card Sign-up Month, and Missoula Public Library wants you to Think…MORE!

With the SAT coming up next weekend, Diane's son was feeling woefully unprepared. To soothe the distressed adolescent, she took him to the library to check out some books on cracking the SAT and then ran him through a practice test using the Learn-A-Test database. Soon, he was full of confidence and ready to face the big day.

Just another cool thing you can do with your library card.

Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week is coming up! September 26 through October 3. We'll advertise it in our outside storefront window and in a display inside that will be full of juicy banned books. Actually "juicy" is often a misleading term. Many banned books are opposed by only one or two highly opinionated, overly zealous citizens. And you may pick up a banned book and read the whole darned thing without ever grasping what the fuss was about. On the other hand, there are those banned books that might actually make you blush--and take the darned thing back to the library. But that's the point of a free society and an open library. You have the choice to pick up and devour--or return (unread)--any book in our collection. You don't have to read anything you don't want to or allow your children to either. And you don't have to capitulate to someone else's ideas about what you should or shouldn't read. It's a free country and public libraries are one of the best active examples of that freedom. Come on down and cherish your freedom during Banned Books Week. (And you don't even have to pick up a banned book!)

Unveiling of "Staff Picks & Readers' Choice" Display

We are proud to introduce our "Staff Picks and Readers' Choice" Power Wall!! We've revamped it and are adding more new selections daily. Staff Picks are exactly what you'd think - it's what we here at Missoula Public Library recommend to you, our patrons. It's some of our favorite books and movies that we want to share with you! Readers' Choice Recommendations are items that you, our patrons, would like to recommend and have featured on our Power Wall. It's easy to add your favorite book, movie, or CD ~ just fill out a lavender "Readers' Choice Recommendation" card (found on the Power Wall, at the Accounts Desk or at the Reference Desk) , give it to any staff member and we'll feature your selections on our Wall.

Below is an example of what you'll see when you visit our new display. There's always room for more!

What to do with all of those tomatoes!

Did you go to the Farmer's Market this weekend and go a little overboard? I know it's easy to do once you set your eyes on all of that delicious looking produce.

Come to the workshop on canning at the library and learn the best way to save some of your produce for winter enjoyment. Our workshop starts at 1 pm in the Large Meeting Rm. and will last about 1.5 hours.

See you there.

A Fun Book Challenge!

This is so fun, I’m sharing it with you! I found this @ http://www.bostonbibliophile.com/2009/07/abc-book-meme.html

I’ve changed the instructions a bit, just to ease us all into it:

For this challenge, you list a favorite book that starts with each letter of the alphabet. If you don't have a book for a letter (such as Z or X) than you can substitute a favorite book that simply has that letter in the title (i.e. The Lost City of Z or Hot Six by Janet Evanovich). However, you can only do this a maximum of 3 times. (Z, X, and Q, but not Z, X, Q, and V.) Fellow blogger, Bryan, added the rule that articles at the front of books (The, A, An) don’t count and it is the next letter that truly counts, so The Stand is an S book and A Medicine for Melancholy is an M book, etc.
Let’s start with FICTION books!

Sound like fun? It is, but it’s more difficult than you'd think. I started with some of my favorites (choosing is the hard part) and look where I’m stuck:

Abundance

Bloody Mary

Charlotte’s Web

Dante Club

Elephant Man

Fifth of March: Story of the Boston Massacre

Gone for Good

He Sees You When You’re Sleeping

Inside Out

Jack and Jill

Killing Ground

Last Dickens

My Antonia

New Moon

October Horse, A Novel of Caesar and Cleopatra

Poe’s Shadow

Q

Redwall

Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas

Twilight

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Violets are Blue

Winter Rose

X

Y

Z

Leave your lists in our comments or post your answers on your blog and include the url to it. Let’s see who can finish first!

How To Find Happiness

I just finished reading The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner for our September book discussion. What a breath of fresh air, this book! This book, a non-fiction account of Weiner's travels to several different countries in search of the happiest places/people in the world, is not a sappy assortment of deludedly fond remembrances, nor is it a self-help book. Rather, it approaches the notion of happiness skeptically: "Is happiness a real, quantifiable state of mind?" Weiner, a self-described "grump," wonders.

Consequently, in writing about his travels to Switzerland ("Happiness Is Boredom"), Bhutan ("Happiness Is A Policy"), Moldova ("Happiness Is Somewhere Else"), Thailand ("Happiness Is Not Thinking"), India ("Happiness Is A Contradiction"), and beyond, Weiner comes across as an incredibly approachable person-- friendly, thoughtful, open, relatively down to earth, and not particularly happy or particularly unhappy-- the sort of guy you'd enjoy chatting with over dinner and a beverage.

I won't ruin the book for you by telling you what, ultimately, he concludes about happiness, but I will say that the book got me thinking about the relationship between a person's physical location and his or her happiness. I think that Missoula is one of those towns that people choose to settle down in because of its strong sense of community and because of the natural beauty that surrounds it. What do others think? What, would you say, is the Missoula community's general attitude towards the pursuit of happiness? Relatively speaking, are we a happy community? Are you happy? Why, or why not?

Eric Weiner's website: http://www.ericweinerbooks.com/content/index.asp

Another amazing thing you can do with your library card

Think your library card is just a piece of plastic sitting in your wallet? Think again. Here's another amazing way your library card can change your life:

Marshall was planning the best back-to-school bash ever. But the drummer of his band broke his hand attempting an ollie on his skateboard. No music for the party! Marshall rushed to the library and checkout a bunch of CDs and the party grooved on.

We have all sorts of music you can check out from hip-hop to reggae, and everything in between. Browse our collection and you're bound to find something to keep your feet tapping. Just another cool thing you can do with your library card. Missoula Public Library wants you to Think...MORE!

Workshop on Canning

Join us on Tuesday, September 15th from 1-2:30pm in the Large Meeting Room of the Missoula Public Library for a workshop on the latest canning practices. Learn what has changed in the last few years regarding safety, methods and recipes as well as general instructions for canning. 

We will have discussion and demonstration on how to get started, library resources, equipment and methods for both water bath canning and pressure canning.

So don't let all of those tomatoes go to waste. Or if you don't have a garden, go to the farmer's market and stock up.

Learn how to preserve you favorites and you can enjoy wonderful, locally grown produce all winter long.

Blank vs. Blank

Blank vs. Blank is a zany poll where items are matched against each other and you get to decide who wins by 'voting' or posting a comment to the library's Blog, Facebook, or Twitter accounts. The winning item then becomes a featured topic in an upcoming blog post.

Here is a quick recap of our past winners:

Pirates vs. Ninjas: The Pirates reigned supreme

Chicken vs. Cow: Both lived to see another day in the barnyard by a tie vote

Alien vs. Dinosaur: Alien invaded and conquered

Now up for battle:
Futon vs. Couch

I have a feeling this will be a close one. Your participation is crucial. You have two weeks to decide the fate of futon & couch. Polls close 11:59 PM Friday, Sept. 25, 2009.

H1N1 Flu update information

If you are concerned about the possible flu outbreak spend some time getting up-to-date and reliable information at http://www.ebscohost.com/flu/. There you will find information (in many languages) about seasonal flu as well as those special flu bugs. Look there also for information on flu shots and an excellent question and answer page.
This is being made available by the same folks that offer our Auto Repair and Small Engine databases, Ebsco.

This week's free music download

Josquin des Prez: Deploration sur la mort d'Ockeghem
This week's free download from Classical Music Library is Josquin's Deploration sur la mort d'Ockeghem, performed by A Sei Voci. Josquin Des Prez was one of the most influential and widely regarded composers in the history of Western music, so famous that he is known merely by his first name.

For more information on this download or to see what else is available from our music databases go to the E-databases page and open up the Alexander Street Press link.

For more information on this composer go to our E-databases page open the Infotrac link and go to the Biography Resource Center. It's chock full of biographies on just about everyone even mildly famous.

Chinese Storytelling DATES

I will remind you later, but I did mean to include the first few dates in the previous blog. The first two Chinese Storytelling dates are Sept. 30 (for Moon Festival) and Oct. 14 (for Chongyang Festival). After Oct. 14, River will be taking a month-long trip and we will resume Chinese Storytelling night in late November or early December.

Chinese storytelling

Here is a very cool opportunity for families with children from China (kids and parents both), for Chinese students who might be missing home, and for anybody who wants "something completely different!" A woman from China, River Yang, is going to be reading stories to children in Chinese, singing songs, and doing crafts one or two nights a month on our regular Wednesday Family Storytime night, 7:00--8:00 pm. (Note: Family Storytime used to be on Mondays, so this is a change to Wednesday nights.) River will be assisted by one of our Children's/Young Adult librarians, Dana McMurray (who just happens to have chldren from China in his family). Many Missoula families do have children from China, so we have a good potential audience. Remember that human brains are more primed to learn language when they're young than at any other time. Come join us and stretch your mind.

Save More Than Using Geico!!

I saved approximately $150.93 this weekend just by using my library card!!

Last Friday I pulled my library card from my wallet and went 'shopping' among the bookshelves and Entertainment Central to stock up for the long weekend. For fun I tallied up the retail prices of the items I took home. While it's no secret that a library card can save you a lot of cash, I was surprised to see just how quickly the savings can add up! Here is a brief list of what I checked out (including library call numbers) and how much I would have paid had I purchased these items:

Various feature films & documentaries approx: $60

MTV Roadtrips U.S.A $21.99
This unique travel guide includes suggested playlists to listen to as you hit the road.
[917.3049 MTV]

Eccentric America: the Bradt guide to all that's weird and wacky in the USA $18.95
You may be happy to know that Montana is represented in the festival section with the good 'ole Testy-Fest. [917.3049 FRIEDMA]

Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku $45
I am fascinated by technology but not scientifically minded. Physics rock-star Kaku has written this book for the layman and features lots of references to popular science-fiction that has or may become science-fact. MPL owns the hardcover edition of this title, but I downloaded the audio book version via www.montanalibrary2go.org

Spin Magazine $4.99/issue
You may have guessed from the travel guide titles above that I have a bit of wanderlust. A friend and I are planning a roadtrip and we need some new tunes to keep us company on our journey. This music magazine has lots of recommendations to keep our ears humming.
[Y MAGAZINES]

How much did you save by using your library card?? Add it up and tell us by posting a comment.

Just another cool thing you can do with your library card. Missoula Public Library wants you to Think...MORE! September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month

Amazing ways your library card can save you from disaster, destruction, and certain doom

We're celebrating National Library Card Sign-up Month here at Missoula Public Library and thought we'd share some perhaps unrealized ways library cards can make your lives better. Watch our postings all month for surprising stories of disasters diverted and achievements achieved. Here's one now...

Gary** completely forgot to get his girlfriend something for her birthday, and now all the stores were closed. He had 20 minutes before she got to his house, but what could he do? Gary logged on to the library website and pulled up an electronic book of romantic poetry, which he recited to her by candlelight. His library card saved the day. Read on!

Use your card to check out electronic books through our catalog. Just follow the catalog link from our home page at www.missoulapubliclibrary.org and mark the box that says 'Check here to search only for digital/electronic content.' You can find downloadable audio books that way, too!

Just another cool thing you can do with your library card. Missoula Public Library wants you to Think...MORE!

**Names, dates, and all facts have been changed to protect the ignorant.

Word Woman

Welcome to another wild and wonderful episode of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Well, it's officially back-to-school time now. Some of you out there are undoubtedly hitting the books and working up a sweat from all that studying even as we speak. For those of you who aren't, however, may I recommend the Word of the Week as a little stretch to help keep your mind in shape:

Production level: Although most police departments have established no quota, parking control officers are expected to meet a production level of approximately 17 overtime or illegal parking tickets every day in most major cities of the United States. An aggressive San Francisco meter maid wrote 362 citations in a single day - a record that still stands. That worked out to about 48 citations every hour. -- "Latest Intelligence: An International Directory of Codes Used by Government, Law Enforcement, Military and Surveillance Agencies", James E. Tunnell, Helen L. Sanders, Ed., TAB Books, Blue Ridge Summit, PA, 1990.

Example: "I could see the arrow click down to zero on the parking meter even as I reached for the handle of my car door, but the parking ticket was already there waiting for me on my windshield. I guess the parking official must have been trying to meet his production level for the day."

September is National Library Card Sign-up Month, and Missoula Public Library wants you to Think…MORE!

Jane was on her way home from work when her husband called her cell phone to let her know that his mother would be joining them for dinner. Knowing that her mother-in-law was lactose-intolerant, Jane realized that her plan for lasagna would not work tonight. Thinking fast, she stopped by the library and picked up a cookbook of dairy-free recipes and dinner was saved!

Just another cool thing you can do with your library card.

Welcome to National Library Card Sign-up Month!

It's a very long name - National Library Card Sign-up Month - but definitely one worth remembering, and passing on. We want everybody to who doesn't already have a card (it sounds crazy, but some people don't have cards!) to come on in and get one. Just to motivate you a bit, we're giving out temporary tattoos and MPL notepads with every new card all month long.

No time to stop by? Fill out our form online: http://www.missoulapubliclibrary.org/about/onlinecard.htm

So go on. Think more. Get a card.

That teen craze for the paranormal

Did you realize that the craze for Twilight and all things supernatural seems to be a large building wave of teen (and younger and older) fascination with the supernatural and paranormal. Vampires, werewolves, zombies, wizards, unusual beings of all sorts are beginning to possess many teenagers (and others) despite their being plugged into their cell phones and laptops 22/7. Maybe it's excapism, maybe it's a reaction to gain some (second hand fantasy) power in the face of a world gone crazy. Regardless, it's very widespread and it's not automatically discardable as an avoidance of life. Reading good fantasy fiction can give readers all kinds of mental practice in decision-making, romance, problem-solving, and focusing on the positive powerful aspects of their lives. Librarians are often fond of saying, "Well, at least they're reading something." It's not necessarily a "woebetton, second best" kind of response. There are plenty of good YA books out there with solid writing appealing to ages 10 through 90. If you're reading them, don't feel guilty. If you aren't, maybe you should give one a try.

Take Me to Your Leader!

Alien invaded and beat out Dinosaur in the latest round of blank vs. blank!!!

Thanks to all who voted! If you didn't get a chance to vote, no worries, just keep an eye on this blog for future face-offs or follow MPL on twitter to receive updates.

So, I browsed online to try and discover the greatest alien movies of all-time and I was happy to find that the library owns most of the titles featured on various 'best-of' lists, including these extraterrestrial gems on DVD:

Contact DVD 791.43 CONTACT

Invasion of the Body Snatchers DVD 791.43 INVASIO

Close Encounters of the Third Kind DVD 791.43 CLOSEEN

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2-disc set includes new release w/Keanu Reeves and the original black & white edition) DVD 791.43 DATTHEE

The War of the Worlds (1950's classic) DVD 791.43 WAROFTH

The Thing DVD 791.43 THING

Independence Day DVD 791.43 INDEPEN

E.T. The Extraterrestrial JDVD ETTHEEX

And coming soon to the library Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien Resurrection

You can use your library card to place a hold on these flicks from the library catalog. Visit www.missoulapubliclibrary.org to access the catalog or call 721-2665 for assistance.

And for all you DIY types, here are step by step instructions for creating your very own Alien-in-a-Jar!!!


Glowing Alien in a Jar - More DIY How To Projects