Find the Falcon, Final Case

During the Big Read, we're asking you to one-up Sam Spade and find the Maltese Falcon...in Missoula!

Can you crack the case & identify the Falcon's secret hideout this week?

Each person who submits a correct guess by Friday, November 12th will be entered into a raffle for a fabulous bundle of gifts: a free copy of The Maltese Falcon, a Missoula Public Library t-shirt, and an MPL booklight. Submit answers in person at the library Accounts Desk or on Missoula Public Library's Blog, Facebook or Twitter pages.

Been busy guessing? Those hard-boiled Missoulians who have submitted at least 5 answers will be entered into a drawing to win a final grand prize to be announced at our Big Read finale on November 13th.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. Special thanks to major local Big Read Missoula sponsors Missoula Art Museum, Missoula County Public Schools, Allegra Print & Imaging & Signs Now, and Humanities Montana. The Little Read is largely sponsored by the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation. Additional Big Read support and partnerships are available on our web site. http://www.missoulapubliclibrary.org/

Case Closed!

Missoulians have cracked case #5 of Find the Falcon!
The Maltese Falcon's secret hideout this week was inside the dumbwaiter of the Double Front Cafe. "The falcon eats fried chicken?" you may ask. In short, yes! Join us this Sunday for a special Raptors of the Rockies demonstration at 2pm in the Large Meeting Room, where you can learn about the diet of the Peregrine Falcon (Mostly other birds. But usually not deep-fried) and meet a Northern Pygmy-Owl name iPod.

Congratulations to this week's hard-boiled Missoulian, Allison D. Visit the library Accounts Desk to claim your prizes!

Didn't win this week? Don't despair. There will be 1 more opportunity to guess -- and an added incentive to participate each week: everyone who submits an answer each week (5 total submissions) will be entered into a drawing to win a final grand prize to be announced at our Big Read finale on November 13th.

Check back this Monday, November 8th for the final case of Find the Falcon.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. Special thanks to major local Big Read Missoula sponsors Missoula Art Museum, Missoula County Public Schools, Allegra Print & Imaging & Signs Now, and Humanities Montana. The Little Read is largely sponsored by the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation. Additional Big Read support and partnerships are available on our web site. http://www.missoulapubliclibrary.org/

Special visitor at Missoula Public Library

The star detective from the mystery series that brought you The Malted Falcon was a visitor at the library. While in the building he checked his email in Web Alley, stopped for a cuppa at Civitella and visited Karen, the librarian, during story time. Patrons were amazed that such a famous name would stop in at Missoula Public Library, but then Chet Gecko knows that the library is the place to be.

Find the Falcon, Case #4

During the Big Read, we're asking you to one-up Sam Spade and find the Maltese Falcon...in Missoula!

Can you crack the case & identify the Falcon's secret hideout this week?

Each person who submits a correct guess by Friday, October 29th will be entered into a raffle for a fabulous bundle of gifts: a free copy of The Maltese Falcon, a Missoula Public Library t-shirt, and an MPL booklight. Submit answers in person at the library Accounts Desk or on Missoula Public Library's Blog, Facebook or Twitter pages.

There will be 6 total opportunities to guess -- and an added incentive to participate each week: those hard-boiled Missoulians who submit 6 answers will be entered into a drawing to win a final grand prize to be announced at our Big Read finale on November 13th.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. Special thanks to major local Big Read Missoula sponsors Missoula Art Museum, Missoula County Public Schools, Allegra Print & Imaging & Signs Now, and Humanities Montana. The Little Read is largely sponsored by the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation. Additional Big Read support and partnerships are available on our web site. http://www.missoulapubliclibrary.org/

Find the Falcon, Case #3

During the Big Read, we're asking you to one-up Sam Spade and find the Maltese Falcon...in Missoula!

Can you crack the case & identify the Falcon's secret hideout this week?

Each person who submits a correct guess by Friday, October 22nd will be entered into a raffle for a fabulous bundle of gifts: a free copy of The Maltese Falcon, a Missoula Public Library t-shirt, and an MPL booklight. Submit answers in person at the library Accounts Desk or on Missoula Public Library's Blog, Facebook or Twitter pages.

There will be 6 total opportunities to guess -- and an added incentive to participate each week: those hard-boiled Missoulians who submit 6 answers will be entered into a drawing to win a final grand prize to be announced at our Big Read finale on November 13th.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. Special thanks to major local Big Read Missoula sponsors Missoula Art Museum, Missoula County Public Schools, Allegra Print & Imaging & Signs Now, and Humanities Montana. The Little Read is largely sponsored by the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation. Additional Big Read support and partnerships are available on our web site. http://www.missoulapubliclibrary.org/

Find the Falcon, Case #2

During the Big Read, we're asking you to one-up Sam Spade and find the Maltese Falcon...in Missoula!

Can you crack the case & identify the Falcon's secret hideout this week?

Each person who submits a correct guess by Friday, October 15th will be entered into a raffle for a fabulous bundle of gifts: a free copy of The Maltese Falcon, a Missoula Public Library t-shirt, and an MPL booklight. Submit answers in person at the library Accounts Desk or on Missoula Public Library's Blog, Facebook or Twitter pages.

There will be 6 total opportunities to guess -- and an added incentive to participate each week: those hard-boiled Missoulians who submit 6 answers will be entered into a drawing to win a final grand prize to be announced at our Big Read finale on November 13th.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. Special thanks to major local Big Read Missoula sponsors Missoula Art Museum, Missoula County Public Schools, Allegra Print & Imaging & Signs Now, and Humanities Montana. The Little Read is largely sponsored by the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation. Additional Big Read support and partnerships are available on our web site. http://www.missoulapubliclibrary.org/

Case closed!

Missoulians have cracked case #1 of Find the Falcon!

The Maltese Falcon's secret hideout this week was the M7 "Priest" Self-Propelled Howitzer located on the front lawn of the Rocky Mountain Museum of Military History at the Fort Missoula Historic District.

Congratulations to this week's hard-boiled Missoulian, Eric H.  Visit the library Accounts Desk to claim your prizes!

Didn't win this week? Don't despair. There will be 5 more opportunities to guess -- and an added incentive to participate each week: everyone who submits an answer each week (6 total submissions) will be entered into a drawing to win a final grand prize to be announced at our Big Read finale on November 13th.


Check back this Monday, October 8th for Case #2 of Find the Falcon.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. Special thanks to major local Big Read Missoula sponsors Missoula Art Museum, Missoula County Public Schools, Allegra Print & Imaging & Signs Now, and Humanities Montana. The Little Read is largely sponsored by the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation.  Additional Big Read support and partnerships are available on our web site. http://www.missoulapubliclibrary.org/

Find the Falcon, Case #1

During the Big Read, we're asking you to one-up Sam Spade and find the Maltese Falcon...in Missoula!

Can you crack the case & identify the Falcon's secret hideout this week?

Each person who submits a correct guess by Friday, October 8th will be entered into a raffle for a fabulous bundle of gifts: a free copy of The Maltese Falcon, a Missoula Public Library t-shirt, and an MPL booklight. Submit answers in person at the library Accounts Desk or on Missoula Public Library's Blog, Facebook or Twitter pages.

There will be 6 total opportunities to guess -- and an added incentive to participate each week: those hard-boiled Missoulians who submit 6 correct answers will be entered into a drawing to win a final grand prize to be announced at our Big Read finale on November 13th.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.

Special thanks to major local Big Read Missoula sponsors Missoula Art Museum, Missoula County Public Schools, Allegra Print & Imaging & Signs Now, and Humanities Montana. The Little Read is largely sponsored by the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation.

Additional Big Read support and partnerships are available on our web site. http://www.missoulapubliclibrary.org/

So, what is the Stuff that Dreams are Made Of?

Mink stoles & trench coats
and typewritten notes.
That's what dreams are made of.

Visit the Missoula Public Library lower lobby for The Stuff That Dreams are Made Of: Echoes of the Maltese Falcon, curated by The Historical Museum at Fort Missoula. The display runs through November 15th.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.

Special thanks to major local Big Read Missoula sponsors Missoula Art Museum, Missoula County Public Schools, Allegra Print & Imaging & Signs Now, and Humanities Montana. The Little Read is largely sponsored by the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation.

Additional Big Read support and partnerships are available on our web site. http://www.missoulapubliclibrary.org/

The Big Read is here!

What page are you on? Local schools, museums, businesses, institutions and libraries have teamed up as one big community to provide something even bigger: The Big Read. Starting tonight, you can pick up one of 50 free copies of The Maltese Falcon at Missoula Art Museum's First Friday reception. Want to get started earlier? We have over 200 copies of the book to give away at the Missoula Public Library Accounts Desk.

If you aren't able to grab a free copy in time, don't worry: we have several copies in different formats available for checkout.

We're also going to give away copies of the book to the weekly winners of our Find the Falcon contest, which will kick off on Monday October 4th and continue through November 12th.

Here's what's happening during the first week of the Big Read (click the links for more information):

October 1 - November 15: The Stuff that Dreams are Made Of

October 4 - November 15: Online Book Discussion

October 4 - November 13th: Find the Falcon Scavenger Hunt

October 5 - October 12: MCAT Film Workshop & Open Studio

October 5: KICKOFF! Spade and the City -- A Tour of Noir

October 6: Inside The Maltese Falcon

October 9: CSI Presentation (with "The Van")

October 10: Noir Downtown Walking Tour

Special thanks to major local Big Read Missoula sponsors Missoula Art Museum, Missoula County Public Schools, Allegra Print & Imaging & Signs Now, and Humanities Montana. The Little Read is sponsored in best part by the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation.

Additional Big Read support and partnerships include DirecTV, Otis Elevator Company, First Security Bank, Missoula Federal Credit Union, Norco Products, Fact & Fiction, Shakespeare & Co., Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, MOLLI – Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at University of Montana, MCAT, Poverello Center Inc., Missoula County Sherriff’s Office, Barnes & Noble, Book Exchange, Missoula Senior Center, Kelly Cooper, UM School of Theatre and Dance, Loyola High School, Top Hat Bar, Randi Mysse Ristau Photography, Friends of the Missoula Public Library, and Missoula Public Library Foundation. Partner libraries include Drummond School & Community Library and the Mansfield Library at UM.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.

Day in the Life via a reference librarian

So, we are doing the Day in a Life series visiting different librarians around the library. Well rather than catching me at the reference desk where many of you normally see me, you caught me on a day that I wasn't actually at the reference desk at all. Every three weeks those of us involved in outreach make visits to residential facilities around town to deliver books to those that have a hard time making it into the library. Friday morning I spent some time doing some behind the scenes tasks before heading out for deliveries.
What would those tasks be? Well, since I coordinate the Wednesday Movie Matinee series I was putting together, printing and posting our flyers for the October movies. You haven't come to join us for those yet? My oh my you are missing out on some great classic films. In October, in keeping with our Big Read theme of noir books and films, we will be showing two of the most famous early noir films (think Bogart). This series plays on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at 2.
I followed up with a brief time in Web Alley giving the attendant there a break then pulled together some Big Read information and books for our senior book discussion groups coming up. These will be led by volunteers from the university (see we're getting everyone involved) who are associated with the UM MOLLI program. If you are over 55 and haven't heard about this program, give the U a call. They offer educational seminars for lifelong learners in the community and will be offering a class on the noir genre in conjunction with the Big Read.
The rest of my day was spent visiting Hillside Health Care, the Beehive Homes and Village Senior Residence. We bring between 100-200 books, including requests that people give me, to residents there every three weeks. We visit 15 facilities over the course of 4 days to provide for those that might otherwise not get to use library materials. We take books (large and regular print, fiction and non-fiction), audio books, music, magazines and DVDs. Pretty much a selection of materials that would meet the needs of anyone in Missoula. We serve people with vision, physical and developmental difficulties that make it hard to come in and choose their own materials. We bring materials for caregivers in the facilities to use for programming and activities. The best thing for me is that everyone is always so happy to see me! It's a great boost to my day.
After getting back to MPL I spent my last hour at the YA and kid's desks helping out there before closing at 6. And there you have it. Most days you will find me at the reference desk answering questions at the desk and over the phone about everything from when Missoula was started or how to find wiring diagrams to fix a car or how to find old articles in the Missoulian or what would be a good book to read on (fill in the blank) and on goes the list. Every day has something new and interesting in it. Thanks for joining me.

A Big Read for Missoula

What if all the residents of Missoula and surrounding towns read the same book? That’s Missoula Public Library’s plan this fall. The library is proud to announce it will offer The Big Read in October and November, orchestrating a community-wide reading of Dashiell Hammett’s classic detective novel The Maltese Falcon.

Missoula is one of 268 communities across the nation participating in The Big Read this year thanks to a $17,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and additional support from local businesses and organizations. The Missoula community will celebrate The Maltese Falcon with a full calendar of events including book chats hosted all over the county, staged readings, movie screenings, children’s events, mystery games, a Find the Falcon scavenger hunt, Festival of the Book mystery writers workshops, and lots more from Oct. 5-Nov. 13.

The Big Read kicks off with “Spade and the City: A Tour of Noir,” on Oct. 5, offering a virtual trip through Hammett's San Francisco featuring music, food and Bay Area Hammett expert Don Herron.

Plus, the library will be giving out more than 2,200 copies of The Maltese Falcon at the library and locations throughout the county. Younger readers won’t be left out – they can get a copy of The Falcon’s Malteser or The Malted Falcon, our Little Read selections.

Special thanks to major local Big Read Missoula sponsors Missoula Art Museum, Missoula County Public Schools, Allegra Print & Imaging & Signs Now, and Humanities Montana. The Little Read is sponsored in best part by the Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation.

Additional Big Read support and partnerships include DirecTV, Otis Elevator Company, First Security Bank, Missoula Federal Credit Union, Norco Products, Fact & Fiction, Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, MOLLI – Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at University of Montana, MCAT, Poverello Center Inc., Missoula County Sherriff’s Office, Barnes & Noble, Book Exchange, Missoula Senior Center, Kelly Cooper, UM School of Theatre and Dance, Loyola High School, Top Hat Bar, Friends of the Missoula Public Library, and Missoula Public Library Foundation. Partner libraries include Drummond School & Community Library and the Mansfield Library at UM.

“It’s exciting how many Missoula groups and organizations have volunteered their time and services to take part in this community-wide program,” said Big Read Missoula committee chair Molly Ledermann, of Missoula Public Library. “This is an amazing opportunity for everyone to share a reading and cultural experience.”

To date, the NEA has funded more than 800 Big Read programs in the nation’s towns and cities. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. Support for The Big Read is provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Transportation for The Big Read is provided by Ford.