In the Gallery: A Joy-Filled Diversity

A Joy-Filled Diversity

From late August until early June this month's exhibiting artists may be found in the classroom at Southmont Junior and Senior High Schools teaching art. Summer gives them personal time to soar in pursuit of their own careers as practicing artists. This exhibit manifests the delicious fruits of their extraordinary personal endeavors. Milt Anderson is a young artist, born in 1969, and the new father of a beautiful red-headed baby boy, who lives with his wife and son in Lafayette, Indiana. After graduating from West Lafayette Indiana High School, Milt traveled the world compliments of the United States Navy. When his complimentary travel education was complete, he returned to Indiana and to receive a Fine Art's degree from Purdue University. Soon after graduation Milt began teaching art at Southmont Junior High School. As a practicing artist Milt works with ceramics, wood, and metals. This is his first opportunity to exhibit his work. Eleanor Brewer is a many-faceted renaissance woman who has honed her skills in many and diverse areas. As the Art Department Chair at Crawfordsville's Southmont High School she teaches Advanced Art III & IV, Painting, Drawing, Advanced Placement Art, Computer Graphics and Visual Communications. She is a graduate of Herron School of Art, Indiana University at Indianapolis and Bloomington where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Education and Visual Arts in 1981. In the summer of 1986 she received a Master of Arts in Education and Visual Arts from Indiana University at Indianapolis and Bloomington. She received nine hours at I. U. Bloomington in Gifted & Talented Education and in the summer of 1987 served in a Research Advisory Group, Computer Art Discovery, and A Renaissance in Education, better known as CADRE. In addition to her teaching license, Eleanor earned a Diploma from the Atlanta School of Interior Design in 1995. She was accepted at Indiana Wesleyan University as an Adjunct Professor of Art and Music History in 2007. The renovation and interior design of the RENAISSANCE Gallery & Towers (circa 1876) in historic downtown Ladoga, presented Eleanor with an opportunity to utilize her knowledge and skills in interior design. Incorporating her interdisciplinary method of thinking and teaching, Eleanor developed The Grand Plan of Renaissance Gallery & Towers incorporating a Victorian decor with Classical Music, Impressionist Art, Literature, Civil War era memorabilia, politics, values and aesthetics to complete a "Renaissance of the Spirit" much like the time period in which the Block Centennial Building was built. She has entered many art exhibits and won many ribbons and cash prizes, the most prestigious of which is the 2005 Hoosier Salon, where she won Best of Show in any Medium. She is a member of many professional organizations and often presents to them and others. She has received grants and authored many educational books. Janet McVay comes to us from the "center of the universe," Tangier, Indiana, where she has lived for the past 37 years; though her introduction to West Central Indiana came at a very early age while camping with her family at Turkey Run State Park at the age of 3. Most of Janet's youth was spent in Miami, Florida, but summers provided travel opportunities to visit grandparents in Ohio and New Jersey. Janet's mother, an Art Major herself, nurtured the family in a love of the arts, often visiting art museums, symphony concerts, and dramatic productions on their many trips into New York City and elsewhere. Janet's greatest love, however, was summer camp in the hills of western New Jersey where she spent eight weeks each summer. The family also camped at Chimney Campgrounds in the Great Smokie Mountains near her favorite mountain stream, where she dangled her toes in the cold churning waters and felt surrounded by the wonders of God. Sand, surf, sun and sailing were the wonders she specially enjoyed. Janet visits her mother in Miami several times a year, but living there permanently ended in high school when Janet opted to leave the Miami multitudes to attend a small college in Ohio. Her junior year presented an opportunity to live with two families in Switzerland and in her senior year, she married a sweet guy from Indiana which is the reason for her move back to Parke County where his family resides. Janet lives in an 1870's farmhouse near a still-used barn for feeding their 30 steers. She has been a teacher of Art and Photography at Southmont High School for the past twenty-three years. Her husband has been a teacher for thirty-nine years. Previous to her teaching career, Janet stayed at home while raising their two sons, now teachers themselves who live in the area. Each son is married with two children, providing Janet the privilege of grand parenting. Janet still enjoys traveling, art, photography and classical music. She likes drinking hot coffee from a handmade mug kept warm on the wood-burning stove in her kitchen, and particularly enjoys watching the color as the seasons change. She cherishes her simple lifestyle, the rural beauty of the area, her friends and family who are honest, loving and hard-working people. Life is good! Sandy L. Minick was born in Nurnberg, Germany and grew up in a military family. She spent most of her vacations with her German mother's family in a small village in the Bavarian area of Germany. During her teen years, she enjoyed the most wonderful opportunity to travel and see many of the great art masterpieces of Europe. She loved exploring old castles and palaces and today still immensely enjoys visiting museums. The art teacher in her can never seem to learn enough. Able to create in clay, mixed media, fibers, and with a camera, Sandy still prefers drawing in charcoal or pastels and painting in oils and acrylic. She receives her inspiration mostly from what she hears; then translates it into visual elements. The Lord's word is most important to Sandy in her creation process. After reading devotions and listening to contemporary Christian music she often creates her most vivid pieces. Living on a horse ranch, with fifty-plus horses and all the work that goes along with it, inspires Sandy in the creation of pieces that reflect western cowboy life. Sandy feels most comfortable using earthy or subdued tones with hints of vibrant colors. She strives for strong composition and drawing techniques so that she is able to use soft brush strokes and depth in the paint. She tries to lure the viewer in close to promote an investigation and to stimulate wonder in the viewer about what might be under or beyond the piece itself. Currently she is exploring collage and is trying to develop a more creative approach in her current work. Currently Sandy lives with her husband and three nearly grown sons on a small horse farm adjacent to their families' horse ranch. Together they enjoy working the horses, cattle and buffalo, sweating together over the work involved in caring for a farm. While Sandy has an Art teaching license, she is currently the Vocation Aide at Southmont Senior High School. She is hoping to find a more permanent teaching position in one of the local school systems -- and soon!

Author Birthday: J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling (born July 31, 1965 in Gloucestershire, England), author of the Harry Potter series, was named Time's runner-up for the Person of the Year in 2007. Before the success of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Rowling struggled to make ends meet as a single parent on welfare. In 2007, she was ranked the 48th Most Powerful Celebrity by Forbes magazine. In addition to the Harry Potter series, Rowling is involved in many charities, including One Parent Familes, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britian, Children's High Level Group, and Comic Relief.

Wikipedia Biography on J.K. Rowling

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The Best Biographies You've Never Read

Check out our special section entitled The Best Biographies You've Never Read located on the New Adult Non-Fiction Shelves on the 2nd floor!

The books featured are CDPL's "lost" biographies and memoirs, books which have been lost among other books in the shelves and never or rarely checked out.

The section includes works about baseball great Babe Ruth, president Ronald Reagan, actor Clark Gable, poet Robert Burns, musician Miles Davis, aviators Charles Lindbergh and Elinor Smith, and much more.

Check out these fascinating biographies which were previously out of sight!

Noteworthy Birthdays: Amelia Earhart & Alexandre Dumas

Renowned aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart (born January 4, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas) disappeared during an attempt to make a global circumnavigational flight in 1937. Earhart was the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross after successfully flying solo across the Atlantic Ocean. In addition to flying, Earhart published books, wrote newspaper articles, promoted her own lines of luggage and fashion, and became an advisor at Purdue University.

Wikipedia Biography on Amelia Earhart

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French author Alexandre Dumas (born July 24, 1802,died December 5, 1870 in Villers-Cotterets, France) contributed works of fiction, non-fiction, drama, travel writing, and an encyclopedia/cookbook. Dumas' works include themes of adventure, politics, culture, and French history. His most famous contributions include The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Christo, Robin Hood, Henri III et Sa Cour (drama), Antony (drama), and Great Dictionary of Cuisine.

Wikipedia Biography on Alexandre Dumas

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Preview Shelf -- Summer Reading at CDPL

The Crawfordsville Library's circulation wall lists titles that patrons have read for this year's Race Into Reading program, and the readers have given the books ratings. They're listed by genres like fiction, history, mystery, humor, biography etc.which might help patrons searching for their own summer reading. Here are newly requested books of fiction. The new A.D. Chronicle "Ninth Witness" by Bodie & Brock Thoene transports readers back in time when in Rome Herod's son reigns while fatherless youngsters journey to Jerusalem for Passover. "Joelle's Secret" by Gilbert Morris is set in the mid-1800s when a 17-year-old escapes her Tennessee river town to join a wagon train to California. Shatter" by Michael Robotham features the hero of his previous book "Suspect" (also available at the library) who now tries to prevent a suicide and finds himself locked in a deadly duel with a very clever killer. "Mounting Fears" by Stuart Woods is a plot involving the President and his wife who happens to be the head of the CIA; a threat from abroad looms. Karen Robards' "Pursuit" also weaves a complex tale of political conspiracy at the highest level of government. "Knit Two" by Kate Jacobs continues with tales about members of the "Friday Night Knitting Club" (also available to borrow) as the patterns of their projects symbolize their various situations. Walter Mosley's "The Long Fall" is his first Leonid McGill mystery about an ex-boxer, hard drinker, old-school P.I. working in 21st century Manhattan, the city behind the city, with mobsters, corrupt cops, compromised bankers, you know the type, from whom McGill needs to learn information for a high-paying client.The two newest books about the big expedition beginning in 1803 are "The Essential Lewis and Clark" edited by Landon Jones, essentially the most important of their journal entries, and "Along the Trail with Lewis and Clark" published by Montana Magazine with historical highlights, colored maps, and advice where to stay and what to do to while visiting that area.The Culinary Institute of America has published a large, colorful manual, "Techniques of Healthy Cooking". "Food Matters" by Mark Bittman, is a guide to conscious eating including 75 special recipes. "Foods to Fight Cancer" comes from Richard Beliveau. "The One-Dish Chicken Cookbook" by Mary Evans offers more variety of recipes than you'd expect (120 from around the world). Animals are popular subjects. Denny Rogers' "The Illustrated Owl - barn, barred & great horned" is an ultimate reference guide for bird lovers, woodcarvers, and artists because it shows the details of feathers and shapes of claws. "Training the Hard-to-Train Dog" by Peggy Swager specializes in effective techniques for working with shy, controlling, and stubborn dogs. Jon Katz' "Izzy & Lenore" is "the story of two dogs, an unexpected journey, and me" delving into his connections with a once-abandoned dog when dealing with the arrival of a new companion. "Raising Dairy Goats" by Jerome Belanger tells about breeds, their care, and the profession of dairying. "Spiders: The Ultimate Predators" by Stephen Dalton, begins with the English rhyme "If you wish to live and thrive/Let the spider run alive". It says "Spiders rarely bite, even if provoked." This book explains and illustrates all the truths and all the mistruths for arachnophobes and "bug lovers".

Sheet Music Collection

Have you ever wanted to find specific pieces of sheet music but not known where to look? Search our new Sheet Music Collection database at CDPL! Including over 1,800 song titles, the Sheet Music Collection encompasses multiple categories, from Hymns, Piano and Organ pieces, and Operas to Popular Twentieth Century and Holiday music. There are also many pieces from early Hollywood films starring legendary stars such as Fred Astaire, Clark Gable, and Bing Crosby. The Sheet Music Collection includes works by many great composers...from Bach to Bacharach!

Check Out the Sheet Music Collection at CDPL

Noteworthy Birthday: James Cagney

American screen legend James Cagney (born July 17, 1899 in New York City, died March 30, 1986 in New York) was rated the 8th Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute in 1999. Although best remembered for his roles in gangster films, Cagney also starred in comedies and musicals. A 1942 Academy Award Best Actor Winner, James Cagney's films include The Public Enemy (1931), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), The Strawberry Blonde (1941), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), White Heat (1949) and Mister Roberts (1955).

Wikipedia Biography on James Cagney

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Noteworthy Birthday: Rembrandt

Dutch painter and etcher Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(born July 15, 1606 in the Netherlands, died October 4, 1669 in Amsterdam) is considered one of the greatest artists in European history. He is best known for his self-portraits, portraits, and Bible-influenced scenes. Rembrandt's most renowned works of art include:

Artemis

Belshassar's FeastSelf Portrait

Wikipedia Biography on Rembrandt

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The Gift of Gourds: By Patty Blacker, Verona Clark, Carolyn Rushton, and Merle Teel

The gourds shown in this exhibit are Indiana grown and have been crafted by different artists, all of whom belong to the Indiana Gourd Society which has been in existence for the past seventeen years. Each spring the IGS presents an exhibit giving members an opportunity to display their work and share their knowledge and growing and crafting skills with others. The Indiana Gourd Society meets twice a year in locations throughout the state. In addition to statewide meetings, smaller groups, called "gourd patches" meet regularly to create projects at the local level. Gourd Patch 4 consists of members from Tippecanoe, Montgomery, Benton, Parke and Clinton Counties. Regardless of their county of origin, anyone is welcome at any gourd patch meeting. Those who have provided gourds for this exhibit include:

Patty Blacker, who comes to us from Clarks Hill, has been crafting gourds grown by her husband Wayne, for the past eight years and using a number of different techniques. She also teaches cake decorating at the Crawfordsville Public Library.

West Lafayette "gourder," Verona Clark has been growing gourds for the past 25 years and enjoys making undecorated gourd birdhouses. She is the chairperson of Gourd Patch Group 4 and is available to answer questions regarding growing gourds in the area and preparing them for crafting.

One of the founding members of the Indiana Gourd Society, Carolyn Rushton, has been painting and using other mediums to decorate gourds for the past seventeen years. Her favorite medium is pyrography, commonly known as wood burning, done with a very advanced wood burning tool called a Detail Master. Carolyn's work has been published in eight books. Pieces of her work are in collections throughout the world.

Our unique "gourder," Merle Teel, has been growing gourds and making musical instruments with them for the past twelve years. During this time he has also used his instruments to provide entertainment at the Purdue Springfest and at many other gatherings throughout the state.

Do come and enjoy this simple and unique display that may be grown in the backyard of anyone's good earth!

In the Gallery -- July 2009

Fledgling becomes Masterful: The Photography of Shannon Klepfer

"Photography is my love," artist Shannon Klepfer states. "I could not imagine my life without it, nor do I ever want to imagine my life without it." In 1983, Waynetown, Indiana was gifted with a precious child born second in her family. Her mother remembers, not so happily, her special talent for drawing pictures on her bedroom walls whenever the opportunity presented itself. Even when the crayons were hidden in a special place, Shannon continued drawing on the walls. "Where on earth were these crayons coming from?” her mother wondered. The mystery persisted until one day as her mother passed her daughter's room, she noticed Shannon pulling colorful crayons from beneath her mattress! Aha, at last the mystery was solved. It appeared Shannon's passion for drawing far exceeded her need to obey her mother! As a youngster, Shannon's parents often took her to art museums where she always wanted to take home various paintings and pieces of art. That was when her parents knew art would become a very large part of her life. At the age of five, Shannon got her first "real" Barbie camera, which she carried everywhere capturing objects that felt interesting. She still remembers that little pink camera with "Barbie" stamped across the top. One day Shannon became curious about what would happen if she set off the flash right before her eye.She definitely found out, when she saw only purple for the next thirty minutes. She never told her mom for fear the camera would be taken away! At Southmont High School she took as many photography classes as possible and began researching photographers and their work, looking for inspiration in becoming a professional photographer. During lunch hour and after school, she could always be found in the darkroom making multiple images with an enlarger. The day she succeeded in photo manipulation was the day she wanted to manipulate all her images to more accurately represent what was in her imagination. During this time, she entered several art contests and regularly won. Just before high school graduation she bought her first enlarger. She kept it in her bedroom closet and washed her prints in the bathtub which didn't impress family members at all.

In 2001, Shannon started Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, Indiana. She took drawing classes, art history, and of course, photography. She spent every moment possible in the photo lab. She enjoyed being at Herron, but felt something was missing. She felt the need to experience more of the world. In May 2003, she was accepted at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California. The school of her dreams turned out to be an intense year-round educational facility with only a one week break between semesters. While on break, assignments were still expected to be completed. She worked diligently to learn the skills necessary to make her photographs as close to her visualizations as possible. Shannon studied under Nino Rakichevich, a renowned fashion and celebrity photographer. Once she took some of these classes Shannon realized how much she loved fashion photography because of its endless possibilities. She then married fashion photography with her love of fine art to create her own version of fashion photography. While attending Brooks, Shannon had her first solo art exhibit at the Wild Cat Lounge in Santa Barbara, California. Today, Shannon lives and works on the beach in Wilmington, North Carolina where she owns and operates her own photography business. This fledgling has definitely become masterful!

Author Birthday: Dalai Lama

The 14th Dalai Lama and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Tenzin Gyatso (born July 6, 1935 in Qinghai) is the spiritual Buddhist leader in Tibet and a noted public speaker. He became the spiritual leader in 1950, at the age of 15, and has been a prominent voice for the past five decades. The Dalai Lama has written many books, including his autobiography Freedom in Exile and The Art of Happiness.

Wikipedia Biography on the Dalai Lama

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Author Birthday: Neil Simon

American playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon (born July 4, 1927 in New York City, NY) began his successful career with his 1961 Broadway debut, Come Blow Your Horn. Simon is the recipient of multiple Tony awards as well as the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His most famous plays (which he later produced as Oscar-nominated films) include Sweet Charity, The Odd Couple, Barefoot in the Park, and The Goodbye Girl.

Wikipedia Biography on Neil Simon

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Noteworthy Birthday: Princess Diana

Diana, Princess of Wales (nee Spencer, born July 1, 1961, died August 31, 1997) was the first wife of Prince Charles and mother to Princes William and Henry. After a royal wedding on July 29, 1981 which was viewed by more than 750 million, Princess Diana became a popular public figure. Her legacy includes charity work, raising AIDS awareness, and campaigning against the dangers of landmines.



Wikipedia Biography of Princess Diana

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New Business Reference Work

The Indiana 2009-2010 Business Directory has been added to the library's reference collection. This work lists businesses by city, businesses by category, major employers, and employers by standard industrial classification. Why is this such a great resource? Search for potential employers, by town, complete with contact names and addresses; look for a list of car dealerships for the entire state; search for nursing homes statewide or only major employers with more than 100 employees. As always, questions are welcomed by the library's reference staff, so feel free to ask for assistance with this or any other reference item.

Michael Jackson 1958-2009

Famously referred to as the King of Pop, American entertainer Michael Jackson began his career at the age of eleven as the lead singer of the Jackson 5. The Jackson 5 produced hits such as "I Want You Back", "ABC", and "I'll Be There". Jackson launched his solo career in 1971 with the popular songs "Ben" and "Rockin' Robin". 1982's album Thriller cemented Jackson's fame throughout the 1980s. Although Jackson was mostly known for his personal and legal woes in the 1990s, he was planning a comeback in July of 2009 with 50 sold out concerts scheduled until March 2010. Michael Jackson died June 25, 2009 after suffering cardiac arrest.

Wikipedia Biography on Michael Jackson

Check out Michael Jackson Resources at CDPL:
Michael Jackson Biographies

Moonwalk by Michael Jackson

Dancing the Dream: Poems and Reflections by Michael Jackson

Author Birthday: Pearl S. Buck

American-born author Pearl S. Buck (born June 26, 1982 in West Virginia, died March 6, 1973) was the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938. Raised in China and tutored by a Confucian Scholar, Buck's writing often reflected her Chinese background. Themes dealt with in Buck's writing include women's rights, immigration, war, and Asian culture. Some of Buck's most noteworthy works are The Good Earth, Sons, A House Divided, Peony, Letter from Peking, The Big Wave, and Imperial Woman.

Wikipedia Biography on Pearl S. Buck

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Preview Shelf -- CDPL Offers A Variety of Summer Reading

The Crawfordsville District Public Library will be closed on July 4th. Here are two interesting books of poetry. Richard Wilbur, once our country's Poet Laureate, who has written five children's books and numerous works of prose and translations, now has his name on his 17th collection called "Collected Poems 1943-2004". Ginger Andrews, winner of the Nicholas Roerich Prize has a book of poems called "An Honest Answer". "Battlefield of the Mind" by Joyce Meyer helps destroy negative thoughts in order to achieve freedom and peace. "Love Smart: Find the One You Want, Fix the One You Got" is Phil McGraw's treatise that everyone deserves a committed relationship, and that it is within everyone's control to have it. "Bad Childhood, Good Life" by Laura Schlessinger shows how to blossom and thrive in spite of an unhappy childhood. Stephanie Staal discusses living with the legacy of parents' divorce in "The Love They Lost". "Speaking of Divorce" by Roberta Beyer shows how to talk with kids and help them cope. Constance Ahrons' "We're Still Family" is the result of a two-decade landmark study about what grown children have to say about their parents' divorce. "You Don't Have to Take It Anymore" by Steven Stosny tells how to turn resentful, angry, or emotionally abusive relationships into compassionate, loving situations."Lucky Science" by Royston and Jeanie Roberts offers discoveries with experiments like "What do Silly Putty, Velcro, a three-million-year-old woman named Lucy, and corn flakes have in common?" Colin Sargent's novel "Museum of Human Beings" is about the Lewis and Clark friend Sacagawea's son, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, his education at court to be a European-touring concert pianist, and his return to the American wilderness. "Deadly Night" by Heather Graham is the first "chapter" in the Flynn Brothers Trilogy about a New Orleans plantation they inherited in 1863, to be followed by "Deadly Harvest" and "Deadly Gift". Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel's new novel "A Mad Desire to Dance" shows a life shaped by the worst horrors of the 20th century and one man's attempt to reclaim happiness. As a stringer in liberated Europe writing among the ruins of London, Warsaw, Paris, Prague, and Madrid after World War II, Paula Fox offers "The Coldest Winter". Jonathan Kaplan's nonfiction “Contact Wounds” tells of his self-discovery and survival, and the making of a career devoted to saving people caught in the crossfire of war as a surgeon in Angola, taking charge of a combat-zone hospital, and in Baghdad treating civilian casualties amid gunfights for control of hospitals. "The Shia Revival" by Vali Nasr studies how conflicts within Islam will shape the future. "Mahammad" by Eliot Weinberger is an essay derived from the Quran, from sections of non-Quranic writings known collectively as the Hadith, and from other early writings. In "From Baghdad, With Love" by Lt. Col. Jay Kopelman, a U. S. Marine reports things learned by the military in their search work, even finding a pitiful little dog and caring for it. "Fiasco" by Thomas Ricks tackles the American military's tragic experience in Iraq. "Warlord" by U. S. Marine Ilario Pantano recounts his courageous military career and courtroom success proving that he killed two Iraqi insurgents in self-defense. "Mere Christianity" is C. S. Lewis' series of radio lectures addressing the central issues of Christianity in 1943 England, when all hope was threatened by the inhumanity of war. In "Lockout" Michele Wucker writes her ideas why America keeps getting immigration wrong when our prosperity depends on getting it right.

Noteworthy Birthday: Lou Gehrig

Lou Gehrig (born June 19, 1903, died June 2, 1941) was an American baseball player for the New York Yankees in the 1920s and 1930s. He played in 2,130 consecutive games, accumulated 1,995 runs batted in (RBI), a batting average of .340, and a slugging percentage of .632. Gehrig was awarded as the American League's Most Valuable Player in 1927 and 1936. The baseball player's impressive career was tragically cut short by the fatal disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (now commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease).

Baseball fans, check out our Baseball display on the second floor in July!

Wikipedia Biography on Lou Gehrig

Check out the baseball player at CDPL: Lou Gehrig

Check out the sport at CDPL: Baseball

Author Birthday: Salman Rushdie

Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (born June 19, 1947 in Bombay, India) is an award-winning yet controversial author who often incorporates political and religious themes while examining the relationship between the Eastern and Western world. Since his debut in 1975, Rushdie has contributed novels, short stories, and works of non-fiction. Some of his more famous works include Midnight's Children (1981), Shame (1983), The Jaguar Smile (1987), The Satanic Verses (1988), East, West (1994), and Shalimar the Clown (2005)

Wikipedia Biography on Salman Rushdie

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Author Birthday: Joyce Carol Oates

American author Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938 in Lockport, New York) has been an influential writer of novels, short stories, poetry, and non-fiction since her debut in 1963 titled With Shuddering Fall. Some of her more famous works include the short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", the 1970 National Book Award winner Them, the essay "On Boxing", and the Oprah's Book Club pick We Were the Mulvaneys.

Wikipedia Biography on Joyce Carol Oates

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Preview Shelf -- Library Offers Bicentennial Darwin Reading

This year is Charles Darwin's bicentennial, and three new books at the Crawfordsville library explain his importance. "Darwin's Sacred Cause" by Adrian Desmond shows how a hatred of slavery shaped the scientist's views on human evolution and restored the moral core of his motivation. In the huge book, "On the Origin of Species" (the illustrated edition), David Quammen begins by saying it is "a surprising, peculiar work in many ways, but among all its peculiarities my favorite is this: Seldom in the history of English prose has such a dangerous, disruptive, consequential book been so modest and affable in tone...because its author...was himself a modest and affable man". Sketches complete the full picture. "Born to be Good" uses Darwin's work on uncontrollable and fleeting facial expressions as the point of departure as Dacher Keltner weaves together insights from new studies of positive emotions in neuroscience, evolution, and philosophy.
The library also has new American history books. "Crossing the Continent 1527-1540" is Robert Goodwin's story of the first African-American to explore the American South, facts based on groundbreaking research in Spanish archives; Esteban Dorantes and three Spanish noblemen survived shipwreck, famine, disease, and Native American hostility from Florida to the Gulf of California. "A Short History of the United States" by Robert Remini, Historian of the United States House of Representatives, contains the essential facts about our country's development. Ronald Walker's "Massacre at Mountain Meadows" is the account of a one of the darkest events in Mormon history and a key event in American religious history; on September 11, 1857, Mormon militia and Piaute allies killed 120 men, women and children, all unarmed emigrants. Robert Roper writes of Walt Whitman and his brothers in the Civil War in "Now the Drum of War". Two significant biographies are Stefan Kanfer's "Somebody" telling the reckless life and remarkable career of Marlon Brando, and Fidel Castro's own "spoken autobiography" called "My Life" organized for the book by Ignacio Ramonet. New art books include the colorful "The Lion Companion to Christian Art" by Michelle Brown, who embraces much of the history of art in the West and in parts of the Middle East, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia from antiquity to the present day showing Christianity's central role in shaping Western culture. The photography collection "America at Home" is a close-up look at how we live, created by Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt, another in the series of collections made in seven days by photo-journalists fanning out in the United States to produce 250,000 digital photos of "home". Kaffe Fassett offers 25 quilt designs in "Glorious Patchwork". On to the future. Howard Rosenberg & Charles Feldman discuss the menace of media speed and the 24-hour news cycle in "No Time to Think". "Paranoia" the 21st-century fear is the menace analyzed by Daniel and Jason Freeman. "The Universe in a Mirror" is Robert Zimmerman's saga of the Hubble Telescope and the visionaries who built it. "Siesta Lane" describing one cabin, no running water, and a year living green, is Amy Minato's own Walden Pond story in Oregon. "Why We Make Mistakes" how we look without seeing, forget things in seconds, and are all pretty sure that we are way above average, is the work of Joseph Hallinan, who notes our design flaws (we're often in the wrong frame of mind) and suggests ways we can do better the next time.

In the Gallery -- June 2009

Dynamic Duo in the Gallery for June
For most of her life, PAT MYERS PARIS has had a passion for detail that has only intensified with the passage of time. When she is dissatisfied with one of her drawings and needs a little something extra, her passion for detail clicks in and she is able to define a whole new texture or use waves of light to inject new drama into her piece. After successfully investigating several other art mediums, Pat became enamored with the powerful potential of using charcoal and pencil in the creation of her exquisitely detailed images. She prefers to start with something that is already outrageous then pushes it to the limits until it is almost "microscopic"! Since these adventures are so labor intensive, (up to two hundred hours each), there is always the risk of getting "too much of a good thing"! The payoff for all these hours of work comes during the photographic and enlargement process when she begins to "see" things she didn't even realize were there. "It has to be magic", she says. Pat finds herself in love with the whole wonderfully stimulating process of being emotionally gratified, soothed and excited by the masterful drama found in her work. Her fondest hope is to continue to improve with age, just like a fine wine! Pat is an active part of Thorntown's Sugar Creek Art Center, home to over 40 working artists. She is also taking classes from a very talented and well known artist, Bill Pattison, who recently completed a film special for PBS. The creative learning opportunities available are endless.

Friend and fellow-artist KATHLEEN NORTON is comfortably fluent and masterful in many mediums which include drawing, watercolor, oil painting, photography and one-of-a-kind pieces of handmade jewelry. Kathleen has been interested in art as long as she can remember. Growing up she was never without a crayon, pencil or needle and thread in her hands. She remembers being fascinated by coloring books and paper dolls. Betsy, the paper doll from McCall's Magazine, received new clothing and accessories from the magazine every month along with the designs Kathleen created for her. In junior high, she began making her own clothes. When high school rolled around she designed her prom dresses and later, her wedding dress. After high school, Kathleen earned a bachelor's degree in Fashion Design and Business from Woodbury University, an art and business college in Los Angeles, California. After graduation, she was a designer for a sportswear-manufacturing firm. It was the life she had always dreamed of; spending her days sketching and buying fabric samples, submitting designs to the pattern department and seeing the finished garment ready for purchase. When her husband's job brought the family to Crawfordsville, marriage and three daughters became her priority. Personal artistic endeavors were put on the back burner for later. As the children grew more independent, and time permitted, Kathleen completed classes in Fine Arts at Purdue University which enabled her to explore even more new areas of art. As a self-taught artist Kathleen has relished inspiring teachers who came her way; Pat Fay, her first watercolor teacher and Pat Paris, a relaxed pencil artist who helped her fine tune her drawing skills. During this time Pat and Kathleen partnered in teaching adults and home school students multi media art at Campbell's on Main. Kathleen has traveled in the US, Italy, and Provence, France. She discovered that photographing what she was experiencing would provide a "hard copy" memory which she could enjoy later and perhaps use as a theme for her work. Kathleen's studio is located in Thorntown, Indiana's Sugar Creek Art Center where you will find more of her paintings, photography and her line of jewelry.

Preview Shelf -- Jerry Smith's New Book

Art is a popular subject in Montgomery County, as a curriculum in our schools, practiced in businesses and studios, and produced by individuals in many ways. Jerry Smith, whose Green Street Gallery is a favorite destination in downtown Crawfordsville, has issued a new book called "Common Ground", dedicated to his children and grandchildren and to their love of nature and the land. He explains his lifelong love of art and shows his acrylics, watercolors, and oils in his chapters named Hoosier Roots, Water, Snow, Studies, Sketches and Small Paintings, Seacoast, Diversions and New Directions, Flowers, Still Life, Ireland's Dingle Peninsula, and England and Wales. You'll see how hard it is to settle on a favorite painting. This book exudes peace, beauty, and color. His "How To Paint Expressive Landscapes in Acrylic" issued in 2005, is also in the Crawfordsville District Public Library's collection. Other new books about art begin with Jonathan Lopez' "The Man Who Made Vermeers" the legend of master forger Han van Meegeren. "The Forger's Spell" by Edward Dolnick tells the story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the greatest art hoax of the twentieth century. "The Art and Colour of General Motors" provides essays edited by Jonathan Stein on the history of the company's design department from 1927 to the present, showing models including the Corvette, Camaro, and the once-ubiquitous tail fin, the final illustration (prophetic?) being a yellow 2008 Pontiac Solstice GXP. "The Complete Book of Woodcarving" by Everett Ellenwood begins with a history of the craft, followed by colored instructions for many kinds of shapes. Tony Dungy's "Uncommon" discusses what it takes to live a life of significance. In his book "Culture Making" Andy Crouch calls Christians to make culture instead of criticizing it or just consuming or condemning it. He describes the valuable life as one that participates in always-better ideas from the Bible. Thomas Howard's "Dove Descending" studies T. S. Eliot's "Four Quartets". "A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards", the brilliant Colonial theologian, missionary, college president, family man and philosopher, is research by George Marsden. Candy Harrington's "Barrier-Free Travel" is a full guide to going here and there when you need special physical help; it gives accurate and up-to-date advice about planes, trains, buses and ships. There are three significant biographies: Jim Mann's "The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan" a history of the end of the Cold War, "Flannery" Brad Gooch's life of Flannery O'Connor "whose books will live on and on in American literature", and "Let Me Stand Alone" the journal of Rachel Corrie, a charming, busy, State of Washington native and creative writer featuring her growing up years; she was killed at 23, trying to block the demolition of a Palestinian family's home in the Gaza Strip. There's new fiction. "World's Tallest Woman" by Rita Rose is a novel based on the real-life experiences of Sandy Allen, who graduated from Shelbyville High School. Earlene Fowler's "Love Mercy" explores "the knots in family ties" through the experiences of a grandmother estranged from her grandchildren. "While My Sister Sleeps" by Barbara Delinsky fastens on the unique and emotionally complex world of siblings when one of them suffers a life-threatening experience. A couple's supposedly safe adoption of a baby is threatened by the birth father in "Three Weeks to Say Goodbye" by C. J. Box.

The Adult Summer Reading Program is Starting Its Engine

"Race Into Reading (Or Why Should The Little Readers Have All the Fun?)"is the theme of the Crawfordsville District Public Library's summer reading program for adults that starts June First. The Youth Department is using a similar theme so the building is bedecked in snazzy black and white. Adults will race their cars by reading different kinds of books labeled along their racetrack. The champion will be crowned in the Winner's Circle August 31st, receiving the drawing's big prize. The track is already posted on the south circulation wall. These three months promise to be both fun and mind-expanding for all. Here are the final new May mysteries. "A Death in Vienna" by Frank Tallis is set in the 1902 Austro-Hungarian Empire's days, introducing a young physician who uses psychoanalysis to combine intuitive examination and hard evidence in crime solutions. The same author's "Vienna Blood" takes us to the same place at the same time when a serial killer leaves cross-like symbols with his victims. In "An Incomplete Revenge" by Jacqueline Winspear, her World War I aftermath character Maisie Dobbs investigates a potential land purchase in Kent, England, and finds evidence of criminality . "The Redbreast" by Jo Nesbo finds detective Harry Hole monitoring neo-Nazi activities in Oslo when members of the nation's government willingly collaborated with Nazi Germany. "The Likeness" by Tana French features returning Dublin Murder squad detective Cassie Maddox who finds that a certain victim is her "double". "The Return" is Hakan Nesser's Inspector Van Veeteren mystery about a nearly perfect murder. Parnell Hall's "Hitman" a Stanley Hastings story features the "unlikeliest private eye in New York City". New Dilbert volumes by Scott Adam have arrived. These are clever graphic books, meaning written in cartoon form. Number 6 is "It's Obvious You Won't Survive By Your Wits Alone". No. !0 is entitled "Seven Years of Highly Defective People" which is the author's guided tour of the evolution of Delbert featuring comic strips from previous Dilbert books. No. 12 is called "Journey to Cubeville (Population: You)". No. 14 is "Dilbert Gives You the Business" as a lawyer, entrepreneur, secretary, intern, programmer, accountant, and as other professional workers. The other arrivals are "It's Not Funny If I Have to Explain It", "What Would Wally Do?", and "What Do You Call A Sociopath In A Cubicle?". The other new graphic book is "Reflections" the Fifteenth Anniversary collection of Cathy cartoons by Cathy Guisewite. Some readers favor commentaries. "A Tolerable Anarchy" by Jedediah Purdy is described (upside down on the cover) as "rebels, reactionaries, and the making of American freedom". "Stealing MySpace" is Julia Angwin's treatise on the battle to control the most popular website in America. Peter Singer's advice on acting now to end world poverty is called "The Life You Can Save". How common sense can rescue American foreign policy is discussed in Leslie Gelb's "Power Rules". Next are books about animals. In "American Buffalo" Steven Rinella contemplates the 14,000 years of hunting in North America and the place of this animal in the American experience, after learning that there were 40 million at the time of the Revolutionary War. It's a total study of this lost icon. "Deer World" by Ontario wildlife photographer Dave Taylor follows the calendar year viewing species of the deer world, namely wolves, foxes, cottontails, beaver, and moose.

Barbie's 50th Birthday

Guess who is 50?

Barbie!

The new upstairs display at the Crawfordsville Library celebrates the doll Barbie's 50th Anniversary.

Library staff members Janet Palin, Debbie Barry, and Dellie Craig gathered up family favorites. Janet's daughter Paula McLain is sharing her six holiday Barbies, Christmas gifts from Mom, the favorite one showing Barbie in a ball gown of gold lame. Debbie shows her 1958 Ken, his amazingly preserved sailor suit and original bathing suit, and her vintage blond Barbie in a shiny black formal. Dellie's contribution is a "Crystal Barbie" with brilliants on her bodice, purchased in Japan in the early '80s while her husband Roger was stationed at Yokota Air Base. But besides these, you'll spy many more gems like her famous Jeep, and a suitcase box allowing you to peek at her inside a roadster on one side and on an airplane on the other.

See it now on the 2nd floor!

Preview Shelf -- Library Display Celebrates Barbie's 50th Birthday

The new upstairs display at the Crawfordsville Library celebrates the doll Barbie's 50th Anniversary. Library staff members Janet Palin, Debbie Barry, and Dellie Craig gathered up family favorites. Janet's daughter Paula McLain is sharing her six holiday Barbies, Christmas gifts from Mom, the favorite one showing Barbie in a ball gown of gold lame. Debbie shows her 1958 Ken, his amazingly preserved sailor suit and original bathing suit, and her vintage blond Barbie in a shiny black formal. Dellie's contribution is a "Crystal Barbie" with brilliants on her bodice, purchased in Japan in the early '80s while her husband Roger was stationed at Yokota Air Base. But besides these, you'll spy many more gems like her famous Jeep, and a suitcase box allowing you to peek at her inside a roadster on one side and on an airplane on the other. Here's some new nonfiction to borrow. Notes of a Christian exile called "American Babylon" by Richard Neuhaus (1936-2009) discusses the well known phrase "in but not of the world" and the ways in which the sentiment holds particularly true in America today. ."Christ & Culture Revisited" by D. A. Carson considers the same subject, showing how Christians must maintain a balancing act as our culture departs from its Judeo-Christian roots. Kevin Vanhoozer's "Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament" is a book-by-book survey, discussing each one in turn explaining its history, interpretations, and major ideas. "Basilica" by R. A. Scotti tells the story of the building of St. Peter's in Rome, and describes that turbulent century including the "splendor and the scandal". "Troublesome Young Men" is Lynne Olson's report of the rebels who brought Winston Churchill to power and helped save England. "Forever Green" is Chuck Leavell's history of the American Forest, pointing out that wood is one of our most critical resources that must be wisely used and conscientiously renewed. "Billions of Missing Links" by Geoffrey Simmons, looks at the mysteries evolution can't explain, "from the blue whale to the virus, from the macro to the micro, current scientific evidence "revealing Darwin's most fatal flaw - "the missing links in the story of chance development of life." "Space Missions" edited by Jim Winchester, covers the history of space flight and the individuals involved from Sputnik to SpaceShip One. "Seeing in the Dark" by Timothy Ferris explains how amateur astronomers are discovering the wonders of the universe.Sandra Lee's "Semi-Homemade Money Saving Meals" offers dishes that taste like they're made from scratch. Kathleen Daelemans' "Getting Thin and Loving Food" comes from the Food Network with her recipes; "Your body is your temple. You wanna live there or in a warehouse?" "A Year Along the Garden Path" is given in month-by-month ideas by Ann Lovejoy with pictures by Mark Lovejoy. "A Jury of Her Peers" by Elaine Showalter is a history of American women writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx (from 1650 to 2000).Oprah Winfrey's text about the movie "Journey to Beloved" is accompanied by photographs by Ken Regan. "The Gamble" by Thomas Ricks reviews General David Petraeus' direction of the American military adventure in Iraq from 2006-2008, using hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with top officers and special on-the-ground reportage.

Genealogy Club Meeting, May 12

The Genealogy Club of Montgomery County, Indiana Corp, will meet at 7:00 pm, May 12, 2009 for a presentation entitled "A Place for Everything and 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.

The public is invited. Call: (765) 362-2242 Ext 4 for more information.

In the Gallery: May 2009

The Month of May Brings Dynamic Duo to the Gallery

During the month of May, the walls of the Library's Gallery will be bursting with new and joyful watercolors, pastel and acrylic intuitions from the brush and palette knife of Lafayette Indiana's well known artist Jim Mailloux. In the Gallery's Display Cases, accompanying this exquisite wall art, you will find the most dazzling Personal Expressions fresh from the ever-blooming imagination of Frankfort's multi-talented artist Nancy Fullerton. What delight this exhibit will bring to your life, if you let it! As a young high school student, Jim Mailloux back-grounded himself in many forms of art, but didn't paint for 30 years! Imagine a talent like his being dormant for that long! Twelve years ago, Jim's talent burst forth with new passion when he began painting in watercolor. Recently he began working with pastels and in acrylics with a palette knife. During an art class taught by Denise Goldschmidt, Jim learned to see and feel colors and details in nature with a whole new eye. He began seeing subtle reflected colors in shadows – not just dull shades of gray as he did previously. Jim learned that painting a brown paper bag can be one of the best exercises in the acute observation of texture, color and line. Jim is exploring the use of color to express his own feelings about a subject even if that color is not what he saw at first glance. He relishes feeling free to use these exaggerated or made-up color combinations to express his natural instincts. To avoid getting in a rut, Jim often experiments with new materials and techniques. In this way he hopes to keep his work fresh and to have more options to create the desired effect. His background inspiration comes from working with flowers, nature, and living a rural lifestyle. Painting in watercolor using yupo paper, a synthetic slick paper, forces Jim to forget the details thereby creating a more interesting loose watery effect in his work. Painted in clear bright colors, his large florals have a Georgia O'Keeffe feel, while his acrylics feel more impressionistic, especially those of Turkey Run State Park and area waterways. If you are interested in taking a watercolor class from Jim in Lafayette, please call 765-477-7741 or 765-404-5057. What an experience that would be -- learning from the best!

Nancy Fullerton is one of the most eclectic and talented artists I have ever met. She isn't afraid to try anything. It always turns out well even if not like her first vision. She is filled with joy and that joy permeates her work. Growing up in the midst of a multi-talented family has played an extremely important role in Nancy's creative life. Her maternal grandmother taught her to knit at age seven. Catching on quickly and loving the process, Nancy is still enjoys knitting and is always looking for that new idea she can experiment with. Her paternal grandmother was a successful artist in her own right. Since Nancy was the first grandchild, she posed for many portraits while listening to her grandmother's constant discussions about art and color. Her mother was a fantastic seamstress. When Nancy became good enough to sew for her, she felt like "She had finally arrived"! In 1950, Nancy graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Industrial Personnel. In 1952 she married Bill Fullerton and together they raised two very handsome sons, Bush and Brad. Even though Bill didn't always quite understand her passion for the arts, he was still very supportive. When Nancy turned sixty, she took her first class at the Sievers School of Fiber Arts on Washington Island, Wisconsin. That was her introduction to Wearable Art. She hasn't missed a summer class at Sievers in the past twenty-two years. While there, Nancy took classes in Beadwork from Diane Fitzgerald, Lois and Diane Ericson taught her about Wearable Art and the Philosophy of a Happy Life. She follows these teachers and others around the country always learning and meeting wonderfully creative students doing the same thing as she. Now we understand more fully how Nancy has found the courage to listen to her own drummer and follow her very own personal star.

The sun might be out, or maybe it isn't, but the light in the gallery never dims. It patiently waits to share the light and savor the color of beauty.

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.

Author birthday: Robert Frost (March 26)

Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 - January 29, 1963) is one of the best-known American poets, famous for his themes of rural New England. "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life -- It goes on"
-- Robert Frost

A Minor Bird

I have wished a bird would fly away,
And not sing by my house all day;

Have clapped my hands at him from the door
When it seemed as if I could bear no more.

The fault must partly have been in me.
The bird was not to blame for his key.

And of course there must be something wrong
In wanting to silence any song.

check the catalog: Robert Frost

Preview Shelf -- The Latest Commemorative Donnelley Publication

The annual R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company Lakeside Classic special publication dated December, 2008 is now available to borrow from the Crawfordsville District Public Library. Its title is "Jailed for Freedom" the story of the militant American suffragist movement written by Doris Stevens, born in 1892 in Omaha, a teacher and social worker in Ohio and Michigan. She was also "a phenomenal organizer and lobbyist with striking good looks, legendary charm, and radical sensibilities". (See the "Historical Introduction"). The "Publisher's Preface" notes that it "is published at the close of a national election year that finds women more prominent in our federal government than ever before. Sixteen women are United States senators; seventy women serve in the House of Representatives where they are led by its first woman Speaker, ...another woman is Secretary of State..." There follows a history of the women's rights movement. It also tells how the original 1920 edition of the book was "heavily illustrated with photographs of the people and events whose story it tells." The Preface goes on to update the reader about the forward-looking business and environmental ideas being implemented by the Donnelley Company. This book has special value for its readability and documented historical content. "The Last Lincolns" by Charles Lachman follows the family after President Lincoln's murder through calamities and woes as their misfortunes multiplied for the last generations. "Asian Americans in the Twenty-First Century" is a volume of 27 oral histories of first-to fourth-generation Americans from China, Japan, India, Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Laos. There are many new environmentally-geared books. "Made from Scratch" by Jenna Woginrich helps us discover the pleasures of a handmade life. She says, "Point is, it feels good to get dirty, work hard, and slow down." "Where Am I Wearing?" by Kelsey Timmerman is a global tour to the countries, factories, and people that make our clothes now. A similar subject, "Confessions of an Eco-Sinner", is Fred Pearce's adventure tracking the routes taken by the items in his home - from raw ingredients to finished products. Deirdre Imus offers "The Essential Green You!" Volume Three, full of easy ways to detox a diet, a body, a life. "The Green Collar Economy" is Van Jones' solution to two problems: our failing economy and our devastated environment. "OverSuccess" by Jim Rubens offers to heal the American obsession with wealth, fame, power, and perfection. Then, there's Richard O'Connor's "Happy at Last" described as the Thinking Person's Guide to Finding Joy. Linda Stroh's "Trust Rules" show how to tell the good guys from the bad guys in work and life. Timothy Keller tells about how belief can prevail in an age of skepticism in "The Reason for God" as it points to the true path and purpose of Christianity.Here are colorful books about various kinds of arts. In "Posters For The People" Ennis Carter shows the art of the WPA as the New Deal marks its 75th anniversary; the designs of the day (post Depression) added good messages to the posters' drawings. "Native American Leather & Bead Crafting" comes from Patty Cox. "Seams to Me" is Anna Horner's composition with 24 new reasons to love sewing. "Every Day Crochet" presents illustrations of Doris Chan's wearable designs. "Baby Beanies" offers happy hats to knit for little heads designed by Amanda Keeys.

Scrapbook Workshop

March 28, 2009
Presented by Susan B. Griffith at the Crawfordsville District Public Library

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

Beginners Class, 10:00-12:00, $8.00, materials charge
Register and pay at Circulation Desk 362-2242
Questions can be directed to Sue at 307-7738 or suegriffith@accelplus.net

Author birthdays! John Updike & Philip Roth

Celebrating John Updike and Philip Roth

Two famous American authors have their birthdays this week: John Updike (1932-2009) and Philip Roth (1933- ). Why not look at what we have @ CDPL?

check the catalog: John Updike

check the catalog: Philip Roth

Girl Scout Week

On March 8, Mayor Charles Coons of Crawfordsville came by the library to commemorate Girl Scout Week. At the library he was able to meet with some Scouts as well as see the library's display celebrating Girl Scouts.

Preview Shelf -- Successful Seuss Party

The Crawfordsville Library's Dr. Seuss Birthday Party March 3rd was a big success. The Youth Department expanded itself for the festivities enjoyed by 76 children and 65 adults. Besides reading the author's stories, participants made his unique hats, threw Green Eggs on a plate, tossed rings at the Cat in the Hat, fished for One Fish, Two Fish, threw bean bags to other Seuss characters, pinned flowers on Horton, decorated cupcakes, and wore nose- and whisker-painted faces to sing Happy Birthday in front of his 105th Birthday cake. Instead of bringing him gifts, the children received Seuss books to take home. Hooray, hooray, a very good day! On the "new book" shelves, four geographical guides would be fun to read whether or not the reader plans a visit. Insiders' Guide to New York (state) named "Off the Beaten Path" comes from William and Kay Scheller, and their commentary is divided into the eight areas of the state. "Let's Go - New York City on a Budget" has complete maps, and chapters called Accommodations, Food, Sights, Museums, Entertainment, Shopping, Nightlife, and Daytrips. "The Everything Family Guide to Washington, D.C." by Jesse Leaf lists all the best hotels, restaurants, sites, and attractions. "Unforgettable Canada - 100 Destinations" by George Fischer includes brilliant colored photos. There's a bevy of new cookbooks to enjoy. "660 Curries" by Raghavan Iyer comes from The Gateway to Indian Cooking. National Geographic's "Edible" is an illustrated guide to the world's food plants with a foreword by Deborah Madison. "The Williams-Sonoma Cookbook" is the "essential recipe collection for today's home cook". Jackie Eddy's "The Absolute Beginner's Cookbook" has a subtitle How Long Do I Cook a 3-Minute Egg? From Cooking Light comes "Annual Recipes 2008" with 1,000 entries. Elizabeth Yarnell offers "Glorious One-Pot Meals" (dutch-oven cooking). Finally, "The Healthy Kitchen" with Recipes For a Better Body, Life, and Spirit is from Andrew Weil. "Character" by Chris Wallace contains 16 profiles in Presidential courage. Robert Wagner's autobiography opens his heart to share the romances, drama, and humor of his incredible life in "Pieces of My Heart". Kathleen Norris offers "Acedia & Me" about her marriage, monks, and her life as a writer. David Fischer's "Champlain's Dream" brings to life the remarkable Samuel de Champlain, soldier, spy, master mariner, explorer, cartographer, artist, and Father of New France . "The Limits of Power" handles the triple crisis facing America: the economy, the government, and the nation's involvement in endless wars; A. J. Bacevich offers "the neglected tradition of realism". On to fiction. Robert Parker's "Rough Weather" is a Spenser mystery about a society wedding where Spenser's nemesis guns down guests and kidnaps the bride. Nicholas Sparks' "The Lucky One" is a "stunning" tale about a man whose brushes with death lead him to the love of his life, but it's not what you'd expect. "Just Breathe" by Susan Wiggs shows a Chicago cartoonist who, unhappy in marriage, moves west, finding her high school heartthrob and an unexpected conflicting circumstance. Another mystery is "Stalking Susan" by Julie Kramer takes us inside the world of TV ratings where an investigative reporter discovers that a serial killer is targeting women named Susan once a year. "Heart Sick" by Chelsea Cain shows a situation between a torture victim and his captor who's in prison for life. Cain's "Sweetheart" is another plot involving the same characters in a new situation. "19th Wife" by David Ebershoff is a mystery combining historical fiction with a modern murder, involving Brigham Young and polygamy in present-day Utah.

Pi Day at the Carnegie Museum

Saturday, March 14th
(3.14)
1-5 PM

The Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County and Wabash College Invite you to our First Annual Celebration of Pi Day!

In honor of Pi Day Wabash Physics and Math Guys will be on hand to entertain and amaze us. We will have 5 tables of demonstrations, 2 telescopes and lots of fun. Part of the fun will be a hair-raising experience and another involves lasers and balloons.

Bring the whole family and join us at the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County.

222 S. Washington St
Crawfordsville, IN
362-4618
carnegiemuseum@yahoo.com

And of course we will need to have a little pie also!

Wedding planning help at your library!

Congratulations on your engagement! Every wedding is special and every bride has her own distinct style. So each bride looks to place her personal touch on each detail of that unforgettable day. Now is the time to compile your bridal files with these helpful books on a variety of subjects from writing your own vows to making toasts at the reception.

"Weddings for All Season" by Amy Tincher-Durik has general projects for flowers, invitations and programs that can be adapted for the bride's unique style for use throughout the year. Dreams really can come true with the help of "Michael Book of wedding crafts" by Linda Kopp. This book includes many craft ideas for scrapbooking, gifts and favors and also includes a handy 12-month wedding planner. Get the groom involved with ideas for a co-ed shower party from the book, "100+ Wedding Games" by Joan Wai. No bride has time to look at every wedding website so this book, "E-plan Your Wedding" by Crystal Melendez, will help you keep on track with the many details. As you put together your happily ever after wedding, "may the twinkle in your eyes stay with you, and the love in your hearts never fade." For more toasts take a look at "Toasts for All Occasions" by Jeff Herman.

This special collection of books, DVDs, videos and magazines will be on display throughout the month of March.

Girl Scout Week display

March 12, 2009, marks the 97th anniversary of Girl Scouts of the United States of America, founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912 in Savannah, Georgia. Be sure to look at our Girl Scout display this month, on the 2nd floor of the library. We wanted to do something to help celebrate Girl Scout Week (8-14 March 2009). Maybe you can help identify some of the people in a few old photos? Or simply enjoy some of the assorted items! We have also collected a few books you can check out.

Since 1912, Girl Scouting has helped more than 50 million women grow up courageous and strong. Girl Scouting cultivates values and social conscience in girls while teaching them real-life skills to succeed. For more information on Girl Scouts, go to their official site at www.girlscouts.org