Preview shelf -- Come Join The Summer Adventure

Karen Record announces that the Crawfordsville Library's summer reading program called "Under the Sea" begins Monday. Children of all ages including teens are invited to sign up to read books, and to participate in crafts, story times, and Friday "Floats & Films". Special programs will include the Seahorse Show June 5th, Oceans of Bubbles June 14th, and magician Mark Lehmann's appearance July 12th. Local businesses are joining the Friends of the Library and Crawfordsville Park and Recreation in supporting awards. Some sponsors are McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen, and Steak 'n Shake; more will be listed later. The library constantly adds to its collection. "Choosing Simplicity" promotes finding fulfillment in a complex world (the cover shows the front of a canoe facing a serene lake). Linda Pierce studied 211 people who simplified their lives; she gives workshops on work/life balance. A rogue travel writer Chuck Thompson who's traipsed through 35 countries gives the truth about travel as he sees it in "Smile When You're Lying". Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" is his documented trip around the world on an empty stomach searching for adventure and good food. "Who Was First?" by Russell Freedman presents pre-1492 discoverers; artifacts reveal Columbus was among the last, not the first explorers to reach the Americas. "Young Stalin" by Simon Montefiore "unveils the shadowy journey from obscurity to power of the Georgian cobbler's son who became the Red Tsar"."A Charmed Life" is Liza Campbell's experience as the last child to be born at Cawdor Castle in Scotland, family seat of the Campbells, featured in Shakespeare's "Macbeth". "Bread and Roses" by Bruce Watson recalls the mills, migrants, and struggle for the American dream that began with protested pay cuts in the 1912 Lawrence, Massachusetts labor standoff. "Leading Ladies" by Kay Hutchison profiles the lives of 63 American women pioneers from all walks of life who have "woven thin threads of opportunity into sweeping tapestries of achievement." "Penguins of the World" by Wayne Lynch, "Good Dog, Stay" by Anna Quindlen and "Crows" by Candace Savage all have appealing illustrations for a few good hours among animal friends. "The Daylily: A guide for Gardeners" is a beautiful manual by John Peat and Ted Petit. Jacques Cousteau (d. 1997) offers "The Human, the Orchid, and the Octopus" as he takes us exploring and conserving our natural world; it's a big story.
New poetry books are "Quantum Lyrics" by Van Jordan with lines likened to beautiful music, while "Gulf Music" by Robert Pinsky is known for its familial, cultural, tribal, national and spiritual sounds. "Simply Dreams" by Jacqueline Towers is an A-Z guide of meanings of common and unusual symbols, to learn what the subconscious is trying to tell us. "Four Days to Glory" is Mark Kreidler's review of his wrestling career in Iowa. FBI profiler John Douglas' "Inside the Mind of BTK" is the true story behind the 34-year hunt for a notorious Wichita serial killer. Having a younger family live with the father's parents for three months is a gracious but challenging task, expressed by Judith Viorst in "Alexander and the Wonderful, Marvelous, Excellent, Terrific Ninety Days". "40 Digital Photography Techniques" by John Kimlooks is helpfully organized, even describing different cameras, and comparing their products. Screenwriting is explained in "Save the Cat!" by Blake Snyder who has sold dozens of scripts for films.

Preview Shelf -- Toby Herzog Donates Works

Wabash College Professor of English Tobey Herzog has given the Crawfordsville District Public Library a copy of his book "Tim O'Brien". In several intriging ways the subject (O'Brien) and author (Herzog) have lead parallel lives, besides both serving in Vietnam. Herzog writes, "The moral and physical terrain of Vietnam serves as a heightened setting in which O'Brien explores the nature of truth, the function of memory and imagination, the possibility of moral courage, and the power of love." Herzog's second gift, his new book, "Writing Vietnam, Writing Life" reflects interviews and examines the compositions of four of his contemporary Vietnam-involved authors Philip Caputo, Larry Heineman, O'Brien, and Robert Olen Butler. Both Herzog's books thoughtfully consider the larger questions of that war era. Other additions to the library's collection begin with "The Insider's Guide to the Colleges". This 2008 edition from the staff of the Yale Daily News has comments from students on campuses. "Acing the College Application" is Michele Hernandez' advice to maximize chances for admission to the college of choice. "Paying for College Without Going Broke" is from The Princeton Review and shows how new federal laws affect this situation. There are also "1001 Ways to Pay for College", and "Adult Students: a Painless Guide to Going Back to College" with stories of success from these students and admission officers, both books by Gen & Kelly Tanabe. Requested novels are historical this time. "The Scandal of the Season" by Sophie Gee takes the reader to London high society in 1711, observed by Alexander Pope, who fashions the daring poem "The Rape of the Lock" that will catapult him to fame and fortune. "The Notorious Mrs. Winston" by Mary Mackey is full of accurate historical detail and vibrant characters during the American Civil War when an abolitionist falls for a Confederate soldier. "A Passion Most Pure" by Julie Lessman is the first volume of The Daughters of Boston fastening on the year 1916 during World War I, and extending the scene to the green hills of Ireland. Here are requested mysteries. "Killer Heat" by Linda Fairstein is a Manhattan serial killer search. Margaret Coel's "The Girl with Braided Hair" presents a vivid picture of the Native American, past and present, capturing the rugged atmosphere of Wyoming, and concentrating on a thirty-year-old murder.."Three Sisters" by James Doss is his 12th Charlie Moon story, a Colorado murder case, tracked by a Ute shaman, the tribal investigator's aunt. M.C. Beaton's "Death of a Gentle Lady" is a Constable Hamish Macbeth story about the meddling elderly favorite of Lochdubh, Scotland who turns up dead, and the issue of closing his beloved police station. "Malice" by Robert Tanenbaum is his most suspense-filled book yet as a New York district attorney takes on a cartel that uses terrorists to further its criminal empire. Here's requested nonfiction. "Come On People" by Bill Cosby and Alvin Poussaint presents personal accounts of setbacks and rebuilding of lives in the face of adversity. "Legacy of Ashes" is Tim Weiner's history of the CIA. In "Loving Natalee" Beth Holloway writes about her daughter's 2005 kidnapping in Aruba and its aftermath. "Write It When I'm Gone" holds Thomas DeFrank's off-the-record conversations with President Gerald R. Ford, which could not be released until after his death. Jonathan Aitken's biography "John Newton; From Disgrace to Amazing Grace" describes the man who not only wrote one of the greatest hymns of all time, but lived one of the greatest stories of salvation by helping abolish the slave trade, altering the course of western history.

Scrapbook Workshops

May 17, 2008
Presented by Susan B. Griffith at the Crawfordsville District Public Library

Crop Workshop, 9:30-4:30
$10.00 ($5.00 for half day)
Tools and some supplies available for purchase

Beginners Class, 10:00-12:00, $8.00, materials charge

Register at Circulation Desk 362-2242, by May 15. Questions can be directed to Sue at 307-7738 or suegriffith@accelplus.net

Library Gallery Blooms with Photos and Postcards

After a long extended vacation, the magic month of May has arrived in all of its glory to perfume the stale air of winter and color the still brown earth and woods with delicately colored blooms and bushes. It's a perfect time to let the sparkle of spring fill in the crevices of winter still left behind. After a prolonged vacation, the long-awaited magic of Wabash College Professor Dr. Z's mesmerizing photographic travel odysseys have arrived in all their glory to grace the still warm walls of the Library's own Mary Bishop Memorial Art Gallery all during the merry month of May. It's a perfect time to let the spring of new beginnings blossom and fill in the crevices of your art-starved soul right here at the Library. John Zimmerman grew up on a 120-acre family farm in northeastern Iowa. After nine years of one-room country school education, he entered Monticello Public High School where he took a chemistry course the first year it was offered. His excitement with the subject led him to a B.S. in Chemistry from the State University of Iowa, followed by a Ph.D. at the University of Kansas. His four decade Wabash College chemistry teaching career began that same year in 1963. Although now retired, he continues to work daily in the Wabash College Hays Science Center. Photography became part of John's life when he was given an Argus C3 35mm slide film camera in 1959. That began decades of documenting family life and trips throughout the United States and Canada. The original Argus C3 has evolved through six different cameras to the current Nikon D100 digital single lens reflex model. Entry into the digital camera world, including access to post-shot tools like Photoshop and digital printing, has revolutionized the number and quality of images one can take. In the early 90s John began to document Wabash College activities, especially athletics, music and theater. This led to documenting student travel in Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Wales, St. Petersburg, Russia and two summers on an archaeological dig in Crete. This exhibit features a blend of prints taken over the past two years with some "old favorites." The majority of the images are "instinctive shots taken mostly on the run." As such they tend to be more documentary than artistic. Come Travel with Me was one of John's favorite performance numbers in the 2006 Wabash College Glee Club Wales, Scotland, and England tour repertoire. The Come Travel with Me blend of lyric and piano accompaniment always energized John to look forward to the next day's adventures. It is in that spirit that John is pleased to share images from some of his more recent travels and has named his exhibit COME TRAVEL WITH ME: A Photographic Engagement with Dr. Z.

As an addendum to the Gallery exhibit Harley Sheets will share a small part of his enormous 15,000 to 20,000 Postcard Collection with the community in the Display Cases of the Gallery during both the months of May and June. Mr. Sheets is the vice-president of the Indianapolis Postcard Club, was born in Lebanon, Indiana, and has lived in Danville, Indiana for the past 20 years. He is a devout collector of Indiana High School and Boone County postcards. On Saturday, June 21 at 2:00 pm in Rooms A & B in the Library's Lower Level, Mr. Sheets will present a 20 to 30 minute synopsis on postcard collecting and give information on what makes postcards both valuable and collectible. Following the presentation, he will offer free postcard appraisals for those who may have collections and accumulations of their own. Mr. Sheets offers libraries and other organizations these programs as a way of giving back to a hobby which he enjoys immensely. He has named his exhibit COME LOOK & LISTEN TO ME: A Postcard Engagement with Harley Sheets. Do come visit these Library Gallery exhibits and enjoy another spring adventure.

Diane Hammill, Coordinator, Mary Bishop Memorial Art Gallery, Crawfordsville Public Library,
2008