Word Woman

Welcome to another invigorating installment of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Train your brain for the long run of life as well as your body and it will improve your quality of living. Here's the Word of the Week to get you started:

Anodyne:

1. Serving to alleviate pain

2. Not likely to offend or arouse tensions : innocuous

"anodyne", http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anodyne , 5/4/2011.

Example: The anodyne effect of copper bracelets on arthritic joints has yet to proven scientifically.

More Missoulians get caught reading!

We continue on our quest to recognize all the great readers that frequent our fine city of Missoula. We were out and about at the Clark Fork River Market on Saturday and snagged five new folks who were only too delighted to "get caught reading" for our special Missoula Public Library May promotion. And thanks to all who stopped by the library table at the market. Don't forget--we're giving out free library cards at the market and have a great supply of books you can check out right then and there!Your Missoula Public Library--always thinking more!

PICTURED: Kim Granath, Debbie Sullivan (with friend), Sheila Hurd, Emilee and Lindsey Maplethorpe, and Rebecca Wallace (who remembered the bookmobile with great fondness from her youth and was THRILLED to have her photo taken with it!).

Word Woman

Welcome to another spine-tingling episode of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Your brain is meant to last a lifetime, so keep it in good working order by doing mental exercises like crossword puzzles, cryptograms and sudoku. Or you could expand your vocabulary by learning new words, like the Word of the Week:

Insouciance: (in-soo-see-ants) [noun]

lighthearted unconcern ; nonchalance

French, from in- + soucier to trouble, disturb, from Old French, from Latin sollicitare — more at solicit

First Known Use: 1799

-- "insouciance", http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/insouciance , 4/28/11.

Example: Grant's persistent insouciance toward the editor's stated deadlines for copy resulted in his reassignment as foreign correspondent to Burkina Faso.

Looking for an uplifting read?

Flavorwire just released a list of uplifting books for lonely souls that contains some unexpected titles. Compiled by Kathleen Masara you may want to consider one of these titles for your next uplifting read whether your soul is lonely or not.
Still life with woodpecker by Tom Robbins on order
Vida by Patricia Engel call# ENGEL
High fidelity by Nick Hornby @ our partner libraries
The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon @ our partner libraries
A natural history of the senses by Diane Ackerman call# 612.8 ACKERMA
Me talk pretty one day by David Sedaris call# 814.54 SEDARIS
Bridget Jones' diary by Helen Fielding call# FIELDIN
Radio Free Dixie by Timothy B Tyson
The Alchemist by Paul Coelho call# COELHO
A people's history of the United States by Howard Zinn call# 973 ZINN
See the full article at flavorwire.com

Library Week Treasure State Treasure Hunt contest winners announced!

Back during National Library Week, April 10-16, Missoula Public Library staff encouraged our patrons to participate in the week with a unique celebration – a statewide online scavenger hunt, called "A Treasure Hunt for the Treasure State." Montanans from Alazada to Zortman played the game to try and win a prize at the end of the contest. We are pleased to announce that a Frenchtown Elementary School class won one of the prizes!


The "Treasure Hunt" questions were located on local library web sites and on http://mymontanalibrary.org. Participants had to use library electronic resources to find the answers. All answers had to be submitted electronically and were verified for correctness. There were four separate contest categories with questions of varying difficulty available for students K-5, middle school, high school, and adult age groups.
Winners were selected randomly and included:

• Patti O’Sullivan’s class at Frenchtown Elementary School in Frenchtown
• Celeste Jolley’s first grade class at Smith Elementary School in Helena
• Brad Holland, middle school category, whose library is the Drummond School Community Library in Drummond
• Julia Balcom, middle school category, whose library is the Parmly Billings Library in Billings
• Haley Walter, high school category, whose library is the Lewis & Clark Library in Helena
• Ryan Bowers, high school category, whose library is the Superior High School Library in Superior
• Patt Leikam, adult category, whose library is the Parmly Billings Library in Billings
• Diana Rogers, adult category, whose library is the Parmly Billings Library in Billings

Statewide prizes included six Apple iPods™, which were presented to two winners each in the middle school, high school, and adult categories by their local libraries. Two pizza parties were provided for the winning elementary school classrooms.

"We wanted to encourage all Montanans to try some of the many library resources we offer online that are available day and night – whether you’re in your local Montana library or at home," said Darlene Staffeldt, Montana State Librarian. "We felt that if we offered a scavenger hunt with fun prizes that some folks who have never tried using their online library might be more inclined to give it a shot." Thanks for participating Missoula Public Library patrons!