Thursday, February 26, 2009

Genealogy Club of Montgomery County, Indiana Corp

"Pioneer Roads" by Jim Swift (Professional Surveyor)
7:00 p.m.
March 10, 2009

This program will be held at the Crawfordsville District Public Library in the lower level in the Donnelley room. The public is Invited! Call: (765) 362-2242, Ext 4 for more information.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Talented High School Artists Exhibit in Library's Gallery

While anxiously awaiting the first sweet breath of spring "outside"; the Library's Mary Bishop Memorial Art Gallery offers an opportunity to view spring profusions of beauty "inside" while anxiously awaiting the real thing. This annual exhibit is an energetic explosion of over 250 images straight from the fresh imaginations of these young Montgomery County artists whose work will be on display from Sunday, February 22 until Sunday, March 15th during regular Library hours. An Awards Reception is planned for Wednesday evening, March 11 from 6:30 to 8:00 pm in the lower level of the Library. Everyone is invited.

With the help of high school Art Teachers and members of the Tri Kappa Sorority, artists from each of the three high schools have readied an amazing body of work for viewing. Categories include Ceramics, Computer Graphics-Graphic Design & Communication Arts, Drawing 1 and 2, Jewelry & Metalsmithing, Mixed Media, Painting, Photography 1 and 2, Printmaking, Sculpture and Textile & Fiber Design.

Ribbons and Financial Rewards are given for first, second, third place and honorable mention in each category. There is also an award for Best of Show and People's Choice.

Each year Tri Kappa hires an experienced, independent artist to judge the student work. The judge chosen this year is Purdue University Assistant Professor of Industrial Design and maker of functional art furniture, our own Crawfordsville resident Laura Drake. Laura has made art her life since graduating from Herron School of Art, IUPUI and Southern Illinois University, receiving undergraduate and master's degrees in fine arts. These degrees enabled her to attain her goals of teaching and continuing her personal art career. Laura has been a part of the art scene in New York City and has exhibited her work throughout the United States and internationally.

A fledgling high school artist from a few years ago has already attained the attention of the art world and will be returning to our gallery for her first one-woman exhibit during the month of July. Watching her progress and attainment of success in her chosen profession is most exciting and brings messages of hope to other young high school artists. The title of her exhibit will be FLEDGING BECOMES A MASTER: The Photography by Shannon Klepfer.

When you visit this amazing exhibit of artistic diversity, be prepared to be awed by the scope and depth of talent emanating from these high-spirited young artists. There will also be an opportunity to vote for your favorite piece and for the People's Choice Award. Do come often to ENJOY!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Preview Shelf -- Periodicals Are Plentiful

Three new magazine subscriptions due soon at the Crawfordsville District Public Library are "Bookmarks" offering recent book reviews along with ratings, "Diabetes Self-Management", and the bimonthly "Rural Heritage" for those who believe in old fashioned values, common sense problem solving, and preserving traditions for future generations. Total publications upstairs and downstairs are listed on the library's website, http://www.cdpl.lib.in.us. There are 169 magazines in the reading room along with 17 newspapers. In the youth department are 21 children's magazines and 10 for young adults. Upstairs, the building also offers 12 professional journals, 33 called "reference", and 36 more that concern local organizations and local history. Biographical writings have arrived en masse. One of them might tempt you. First comes the collected poems of "W. H. Auden" introduced and edited by Edward Mendelson for the Modern Library's commemoration of the poet's centennial. Auden wrote as if he were addressing an individual reader, and he said, "All the poems I have written were written for love" with a wide conception of that word. There's "In Search of Bill Clinton" by John D. Gartner. "Reagan: The Hollywood Years" by Marc Eliot and "The Age of Reagan: A History 1974-2008" by Sean Wilentz are also new. There's "The Snowball", Alice Schroeder's portrait of Warren Buffett and the Business of Life, and "Call Me Ted", Ted Turner's own explanation of what makes him tick and what ticks him off. Roger Ebert's "Scorsese" is the first record by the film critic about that director's massive works. The book includes Ebert's reviews of Scorsese's individual films. Pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim argues for music's importance in our everyday lives in his "Music Quickens Time". Adam Nimoy's "anti-memoir" is "My Incredibly Wonderful, Miserable Life". "The Road of Lost Innocence" is a true story by a Cambodian heroine, a rescuer named Somaly Mam. (Arthur) "Rimbaud" by Edmund White is the biographer's historical look at the accomplished poet's brief, dramatic life. "India" is a large new DK book about its landscape, history, people, culture, architecture, and travel, with excellent photography and text accomplished by Abraham Eraly, Yasmin Khan, George Michell, and Mitali Saran. Its back cover quotes Mark Twain in 1897, "So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing (about India) seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked." Four special new books about nature start with "Reef Fish Identification" by Paul Humann and Ned Deloach highlighting Florida, the Caribbean, and the Bahamas. Next is "The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Natural World" edited by Michael Benton. "Stalking the Plumed Serpent and Other Adventures in Herpetology" by Bruce Means aims at more appreciation of animals without fur or feathers. "Extreme Birds" is a large book about the world's most extraordinary and bizarre warm-blooded vertebrates by Dominic Couzens. It would fascinate children with its large portraits and categories like "most tireless singer", "biggest colony", "strongest stomach".

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Sustainable Living Collection

Looking for information on how to live better while using fewer of our earth's diminishing natural resources? Whether you're motivated by saving money for yourself or by preserving our environment for future generations, CDPL's Sustainable Living Collection has a wide variety of resources available for you!

This special collection includes books, DVDs, and videos on a wide variety of topics from the foods we eat and the water we drink to environmentally-friendly home construction methods, alternative energy sources, and alternatives to traditional neighborhoods.

Thinking ahead to a spring garden? Maximize food production this year with Leandre Poisson and Gretchen Vogel Poisson's "Solar Gardening: Growing Vegetables Year-Round the American Intensive Way." Reconsider your lawn with "Food Not Lawns: How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden and Your Neighborhood into a Community" by H.C. Flores.

Many materials discuss alternative energy technologies including solar power, biodiesel, wind power, and hydro electricity. "The Renewable Energy Handbook" by William H. Kemp covers off-grid living and advice for efficient use of energy as well as discussing various alternative energy sources. "Biodiesel: Basics and Beyond" by William Kemp discusses the home production and use of biodiesel fuel. "Chasing the Sun" by Neville Williams discusses solar energy as a source of power in developing nations.

The Sustainable Living Collection is located near the computers on the second floor. Feel free to ask a reference librarian for assistance in locating specific materials.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Genealogy Club meeting, February 10

Indiana's German Legacy
Dr Greg Redding, chair, Modern Language Department, Wabash College
February 10, 2009
7:00 pm

The meeting will be held at the Crawfordsville District Public Library on the lower level in the Donnelley room. The public is Invited. Call: (765) 363-3343, Ext 4 for more information.