Happy Birthday: Harper Lee

Nelle Harper Lee (b. April 28, 1926) is best know for her work, To Kill a Mockingbird, which won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961. Although she has written very little since then, Lee remains one of the most influential authors of the late 20th century.

Wikipedia biography on Harper Lee

Genealogy Club Meeting, May 12

The Genealogy Club of Montgomery County, Indiana Corp, will meet at 7:00 pm, May 12, 2009 for a program entitled "A Place for Everything & Everything in its Place," by Betty Warren, Genealogist, Indianapolis, IN.

This program will be held at the Crawfordsville District Public Library on the Lower Level in the Donnelley Room. Public Invited. Call: (765) 362-2242 Ext 4 for more information.

Preview Shelf -- Lots of Readers Request Lots of Mysteries

T. S. Eliot's famous quote, "April is the cruelist month", might be applied to the many kinds of requested mysteries recently received at the Crawfordsville District Public Library. Here are some of them. Tess Gerritsen's "The Keepsake" finds the reader in the dusty basement of Boston's Crispin Museum where a perfectly preserved mummy has lain forgotten, but when found, "Madam X" is seen to have a macabre message hidden within the corpse (aha, it's a modern murder victim). Kate Atkinson's "When Will There Be Good News?" is told 30 years after an appalling crime, as the criminal is released from prison; then lives and histories intersect with surprise and suspense. "The Shack" by William Young asks where tragedy confronts eternity, reading like a prayer filled with sweat and wonder and surprise. "Dear to Me" by Wanda Brunstetter is the third installment of The Brides of Webster County; in this case she loves animals and her sweetheart loves to hunt. Harlan Coben's "Long Lost" unfolds a sinister plot dealt with by his character Myron Bolitar with shocking global implications."Snake Dreams" by James Doss finds Native American sleuth Charlie Moon dealing in romance and murder, "a tale best told under a full moon and beside a crackling fire." "Cut To the Quick" by Dianne Emley starts with the murder of a billboard tycoon in the Pasadena hills, and the solution develops in settings including ritzy estates and a rocky desert outpost. "Still Life" by Joy Fielding is told by a traffic accident's assumed comatose patient who can hear the shocking discussions by her visitors. "Bone by Bone" by Carol O'Connell involves a northern California town, where two teenage brothers go into the woods one day, but only one comes back; it takes 20 years for the surviving brother to uncover that a crucial secret belonged to his sibling. Dana Stabenow's "Whisper to the Blood", the 17th adventure of her character Kate Shugak, involves two brutal murders at a gold mining company inside one of the 15 Alaska National Parks. Three adventures begin with "In the Presence of My Enemies" Gracia Burnham's gripping account of the kidnapping of American missionaries and their year of terror in the Philippine jungle. Former U.S. Army Ranger and Sniper Team leader Joe LeBleu's "Long Rifle" is his story of being a sniper in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lincoln Hall's own tale of life after death climbing Mt. Everest is called "Dead Lucky". "American Farmer: The Heart of our Country" is a collection of photographs by Paul Mobley showing the faces and voices of the people who keep it alive, with interviews of agribusinesses from cattle ranchers to strawberry growers across the country. A special photographic retrospective is called "Annie Leibovitz at Work". "Shakespeare and Modern Culture" is Marjorie Garber's premise that "Shakespeare makes modern culture and .. modern culture makes Shakespeare"; she delves into ten plays to show the meeting place between the playwright and the 20th century. "The Art Instinct" by Denis Dutton unites art and evolutionary science to change the way we think about arts, from music to literature to pottery. He say's our love of beauty is inborn and our tastes come from our own past (evolution). Dagoberto Gilb takes on the voice of a Chicano teenager in "Gritos: Essays" that explore becoming a man during urban unrest and racial turbulence. "Cringe" is editor Sarah Brown's collection of teenagers' diaries, journals, notes, letters, poems, and abandoned rock operas offering "a voyeuristic glimpse at the roller coaster of youth in all of its naval-gazing, soul-searching, social-skewering glory."

Children to be honored during National Library Week

National Library Week this year occurs April 12th until April 18th. Because the Crawfordsville Library will be closed on Easter Sunday, the Youth Services Department will celebrate with gifts beginning Monday. The first 100 children who come to obtain their first borrowing cards or who visit with their library cards will each receive a "Pop Open a Good Book" bag containing a bookmark and a special package of microwave popcorn to "pop" at home. Books often explain the past. Ten billion years of life on our planet are scanned in "Supercontinent" by Ted Nield. "Why Sacagawea Deserves the Day Off and Other Lessons from the Lewis & Clark Trail" comes from Stephenie Tubbs. American Rifle" by Alexander Rose is a biography of that special icon. After all, George Washington insisted that his portrait be painted with one. Daniel Boone created a legend with one. This book encompasses time from the Revolution to the present day."The Slaves' War" by Andrew Ward explains the American Civil War in former slaves' words woven together from hundreds of interviews, diaries, letters, and memoirs. "American Made" is Nick Taylor's documentation of the activities of the WPA (Works Progress Administration) when President Franklin Roosevelt put the nation to work beginning in 1935. "The New Deal-a 75th Anniversary Celebration" by Kathryn Flynn offers photographs and posters of the programs from 1933 to 1943 designed to ease the Depression."The Journal of Helene Berr" presents the notes of the heroic young woman whose spirit thrived in the face of prejudice and war as a recent graduate of the Sorbonne seeking refuge from the harsh realities of being a Jew under the Vichy regime 1942-1944. "Gone Too Soon" is People Magazine's salute to 65 celebrates who died far too young. "Leathernecks" by Merrill Bartlett and Jack Sweetman is an elaborate illustrated history of the United States Marine Corps. Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey's "State by State" is a panoramic portrait of America expressed through 50 unusual essays. The one named "Indiana" was written by Susan Choi, who composed a few complimentary paragraphs about Crawfordsville on page 147, especially extolling Wabash College and " a handsome building of caramel-colored stone" the Carnegie Library. Tables show Indiana to be the 15th most populous state, 30th in population increase the last 50 years, 33rd in foreign-born population, with a median age of 36.3, 16% claiming no religion, $ 8, 798 public education expenditure per pupil (21st highest), with lots more tables. Some new books were requested by patrons. "The Well-Educated Mind: a guide to the classical education you never had" by Susan Bauer offers this inside the cover: "Have you lost the art of reading for pleasure? Are there books you know you should read but haven't because they seem too daunting?" The book's aim is to show you how to avoid distractions and enjoy self-improvement from your time spent reading. Susan Jacoby's "The Age of American Unreason" surveys "junk thought" forced on us by the mass media and other "lazy" attractions, challenging Americans to face the painful truth about its costs to individuals and the nation. Maureen McCormick's "Here's the Story" (Marcia Brady on "The Brady Bunch") exposes a side of this beloved pop-culture program that the paparazzi missed; Maureen shows how she became a survivor. "Hope Endures" by Colette Livermore is subtitled "leaving Mother Teresa, losing faith, and searching for meaning"; she worked for eleven years in Mother Teresa's order.

Spring's Delicate Dance of the Quilts In Library's Garden Gallery

In the Gallery for April: Just before the first breath of spring bursts forth, freshened by "pieceful" winter quilting adventures, our Sugar Creek Quilters begin to bloom with a consuming passion to share their fantastic fabric forays with the world at large.

So, in a not-so-quiet profusion of munificent color, magical quilts "trip the light fantastic" on the walls and in the display cases of the Library's Mary Bishop Memorial Art Gallery from Monday, March 16 until Thursday, April 30, during regular Library hours.

With a core of 60 active members, Sugar Creek Quilters learn about and enjoy everything relating to the old-fashioned and new-fangled art of quilting. Member's interests range from those who unashamedly enjoy just being around or under warm snuggly quilts, to those who venture further into their imaginations to create bed quilts, art-quilts, baby quilts, patterns, bags, purses, wallets, vests, jackets and everything in between. A plentiful passel of the picturesque is fashioned during this mind-bending process.

The SCQ meets at 6:45 on the third Monday of every month in the Public Library's Lower Level Community Room C. Everyone is welcome to come, enjoy and perhaps join the group! Cost of membership is $15.00 per year, which includes an informative monthly newsletter, the opportunity to hear state-of-the-art speakers and to enjoy the work of members during each meeting's show-and tell. Small sub-groups in art & color interpretation, machine and hand quilting, using found objects in making quilts meaningful and making a different patterned square each month, have been added to the SCQ agenda this year. The four smaller groups have become very popular and are stretching minds and aiding growth. Small Groups are free and members may take all four classes or just one.

Quilters come in all shapes and sizes as do their unique and unusual creations. However the quilter's inspiration comes, the quilt will be fascinating to behold. Color choices reflect personal preference; difficulty of design depends on the individual quilter's skill and proficiency. Some members finish their quilts quickly; others take a more relaxed approach. Some quilters enjoy beading and bling; others plain and not so fancy. This diversity makes for genuine interest, education and a lack of boredom.

Members encourage one another to enter state and national quilting competitions where they are judged, juried, win prestigious ribbons and prizes and receive a gentle critique of their work. A larger opportunity from which to grow.

Enjoy an "inside breath of spring" right here, until the real thing comes along.

Author birthday: William Wordsworth

April 7 marks the date of William Wordsworth's birthday (1770-1850), one of the greatest of the English Romantic poets.


Check out this poet @ CDPL: William Wordsworth

Special Collection for April: cookbooks for fast, easy and cheap meals

Cookbooks for fast, easy, cheap and nutritious meals! People are trying to get their budgets under control in this rough economy. Financial planners say most people have to trim 10 to 15% off their overspending to stay within their budget. The food budget is a great place to start because there are so many opportunities to cut expenses. The Envelope System, popular years ago, was the budgeting system where you filled envelopes with cash allotted to various expenses right down to the last penny. Now is the time to bring that system back for at least your grocery shopping. Shop with cash when you shop for groceries and do not take a lot of extra cash with you. And if you have cash left over, you can even transfer that cash into an envelope for a vacation and watch that fund grow. Returning to the basics can be a refreshing comfort in hectic times. For more information on family budgets see books with the call number of 332.024.



The special collection in the Reference Department for April is on cookbooks for fast, easy and cheap meals that can also be nutritious. Plan at least one vegetarian meal a week. "One-Dish Vegetarian Meals: 150 Easy, Wholesome, and Delicious Soups, Stews, Casseroles, Stir-Fries, Pasta, Rice Dishes, Chilis and More" has many recipes that are fast and nutritious too. Always check the weekly grocery ads from the newspaper and plan all of your meals and create a shopping list from what is on sale. If it is a really good deal then buy in multiples. Use the book: "Big Food: Amazing Ways to Cook, Store, Freeze, and Serve Everything You Buy in Bulk" for methods handling leftovers. "Once-a-month Cooking: A Proven System For Spending Less Time In The Kitchen and Enjoying Delicious, Homemade Meals Every Day" is also a great method to plan meals ahead of time. The Agriculture Department forecasts meats will drive up food inflation. This means there will be less meat on the retail market and at higher prices. It will be important to check the price per pound on meat items. Your crock pot is great for cooking less expensive cuts of meat because the long cooking time at low heat will tenderize the meat. The low temperature also keeps the meat from shrinking so much. "Cook Once Eat Twice: Slow Cooker Recipes: Meal 1 Tonight, Meal 2 Tomorrow" has ideals on using smaller portions of meat that you have bought in bulk. Households not accustomed to home cooking may have to make a small investment in kitchen equipment and ingredients that can help speed up food preparation and will remain useful long after the economy has improved. In Rachel Ray's, "Express Lane Meals: What to Keep On Hand, What to Buy Fresh for the Easiest-ever 30 Minute Meals" has lists of what to keep on hand in your pantry, refrigerator and spice rack. The "Alton Brown's Gear For Your Kitchen" has recommendations for the right kitchen "tools" needed for a well-equipped kitchen from pots and pans to knives to appliances plugged and unplugged. Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo, who studied families in a program for overweight children, found that basing the family diet on a low-calorie, high nutrient foods not only improved the health of the entire family but also reduced the amount of money spent on food. Look for these books on healthy cooking: the "Woman's Day Cookbook for Healthy Living" and "Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2008" along with "Whole Grains: Every Day, Every Way."

Ben-Hur on display!

Ben Hur on display! What is the first thing that comes to mind when the name Charlton Heston is mentioned? If it's a chariot race, then you may want to check out our new display for the month of April. The display is commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1959 movie edition of the classic book Ben-Hur (written by Lew Wallace of Crawfordsville). You can learn all sorts of interesting facts about the movies (there were three, and a stage play was also produced), and you can also look at pictures that tell stories of their own. Did you know that the Ben-Hur stage play aired on Broadway in New York City? Did you know that the first movie edition of Ben-Hur resulted in a standard-setting movie copyright lawsuit? Did you know that the 1925 silent film, Ben-Hur, was the most expensive silent movie ever filmed in Hollywood? These are just a few of the things that you can learn about in the new display!

We hope that you will take some time to come out and look at the display on the second floor of the library this month only.

Genealogy Club Meeting, April 14

The Genealogy Club of Montgomery County, IN is holding a meeting and program at 7:00 pm, April 14, 2009 entitled "Quaker Migration to Indiana, 1830-1840" by: Larry Truitt [Pastor, Sugar Plains Friends Church].


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

Preview Shelf -- Spring Break Activities

Next week, during "spring break", the Youth Services Department at the Crawfordsville Library will offer story times on Monday at 4 o'clock for elementary school children, on Tuesday at 10 a.m. for babies and 6:45 p.m. for families, on Wednesday at 10 a.m. for toddlers, and Thursday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. for preschoolers. Craft projects will be available during library hours from Monday through Thursday. The new book "Fra Angelico" by Diane Cole Ahl contains plates of his wondrous Christian art made in the late Middle Ages in Florence, Italy. You can also travel happily by armchair by spending an evening with "Paris Memories of Times Past" by Solange Hando with 75 paintings by Mortimer Menpes. "The Line Upon a Wind" by Noel Mostert takes the reader back to 1793 when France declared war on Britain and covers the next 22 years of Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars; the narrative describes the unforgiving life that seamen endured fighting at sea. "Boom!" is Tom Brokaw's book about The Sixties and what happened, how it shaped today, how it gave lessons for tomorrow. Recipe books are now being issued as new ideas and as history. "America Eats" by Pat Willard is a journey into the regional nooks and crannies of American cuisine when WPA writers in 1935 documented chuck wagon parties, church socials, food festivals, political feasts, and a sheepherders' ball. "The World is a Kitchen" edited by Jordan and Brady relates first person experiences with international foods so the reader is cooking his/her way through culture stories like "A Taste of Ghana", "A Cooking School in Bangkok", and "Drowning the Snail". Mary Gunderson's "The Food Journal of Lewis & Clark" offers recipes from the expedition, enhanced by the explorers' almost-every-day words about food. Liz Edmunds just issued "The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner" with easy meals for every day of the week. These books are colorful, well explained, and tempting reasons to get right to work. Here are delicious ideas about nature, both animal and human. "Growing Trees from Seed" by Henry Kock gives the whole truth, some of it quite simple. "Welcome to the Aquarium" by Julie Diamond is an expert teacher's system for routines and rituals children need to thrive, showing how that knowledge can be put to work in any children's classroom. "Dogology" by Vicki Croke and Sarah Wilson tells what your relationship with your dog reveals about you. Under sea life species are described by Bill Harrigan in "Diving & Snorkeling - Florida Keys". The identification photo book "Hawaiian Reef Fish" comes from Casey Mahaney. Perhaps the largest book of the year so far, "Equus" by photographer Tim Flach, is the seven-year project on several continents studying breeds both familiar and surprising, with fresh approaches to photography to obtain special spectacular shots. "The Last Polar Bear" by Steven Kazlowski is also a photographic journey, this time to the Arctic to show this amazing animal and the dangers to its habitat during global climate change. "Let's Talk Turkey" by Rosemarie Ostler has recorded the stories behind America's favorite expressions, like "Let the chips fall where they may", "Say uncle", and "Keep the ball rolling". Dana Jennings' "Sing Me Back Home" chronicles the years 1950 to 1970, the golden age of twang, highlighting the iconic voices and images of country music to explain what the music means to us today. "Factory Girls" by Leslie Chang looks into the everyday lives of today's migrant worker population in China, following two young women over three years as they try to rise from their assembly line.