Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare!

William Shakespeare (1564-1616), known now as the "Bard of Avon," was an English playwright and poet whose fame is international and whose works have been translated into every major language. Shakespeare was a well-known author in his own time, but it was not until the 19th century that his fame achieved a high level from which it has not descended. Who in America does not remember some obscure High School English class where one was "forced" to read a play such as Hamlet or recite one of Shakespeare's famous sonnets? If you didn't appreciate Shakespeare then -- and most of us didn't -- why not give him another chance today?

Check out Shakespeare's works @ CDPL!

After-Hours Genealogy Research

Want to do some genealogy after hours?

The Genealogy Club of Montgomery County will have one of its popular "After Hours Genealogy  Research" programs on Friday, April 22 from 5 to 9pm at the Crawfordsville District Public Library.

5:00 -- Pizza supper and Research -- no charge -- donations accepted toward pizza -- Donnelley room
5:45 -- Research in the local history and reference area, 2nd floor (no time limit on computers)
9:00  -- final closing

Advanced arrival {Before 5:00 pm) is required. Library is locked at 5:00 pm. Visitors are welcome.

Please confirm your expected attendance by Wednesday, April 20. 1-765-362-2242, Ext 118 or 624 or gen@cdpl.lib.in.us.

Queen of Free's Royal Grocery and Coupon Seminar

Queen of Free's Royal Grocery and Coupon Seminar!

When: April 16th from 9 to 11am
Where: CDPL's Donnelley Room

During this two-hour session, you'll learn some of the best grocery shopping strategies from me, the Queen of Free, a gal who rarely pays full price for anything and has a penchant for scoring things for free.

• Learn the best places to find coupons! There are so many more places than just the Sunday paper.
• Gain strategies for matching coupons to sales to maximize your savings.
• Find an organizational and time management strategy that fits couponing into your busy lifestyle. It takes minimal minutes out of your week (and can be multi-tasked).
• Discuss some basic shopping strategies to help you get the best bang for your buck.
• Think through some basic home management skills that could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
• Ask the Queen your most burning questions about home finance.

• Enjoy a fun morning, filled with humor, personal reflection, and of course some free giveaways from the Queen of Free herself.

Cost is only $12 and includes a Coupon Binder of your very own to take home at the end of the day!Become a Money Saving Lord or Lady in the Court of the Queen of Free where you can indeed "Daily Save Money and Get Something for Nothing." Looking forward to seeing you there so that together we can change our worlds one penny at a time! Sign up at http://www.queenoffree.net/ (Deadline April 10th)

Sponsored By CDPL

Happy Birthday, Charles Baudelaire!

Charles Baudelaire (April 9, 1821 - August 31, 1867) was a French poet, essayist, and art critic. He also produced the first translation of Edgar Allen Poe into French, introducing this notable American author to France. Baudelaire is best know for his poetry, however, and his most memorable work appeared in 1857, Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil). Baudelaire was known for his combination of classic French poetry forms and meter with modern, everyday subjects. Many were critical of Baudelaire's controversial verse although it is generally granted that this poet helped pave the way for even more radical -- and liberating -- experimentation with French poetry.

You can find Baudelaire's most famous work, The Flowers of Evil, at CDPL.

Happy Birthday, Barbara Kingsolver!

April 5, 1955 is the birthdate for Barbara Kingsolver, This respected novelist, essayist, and activist graduated from DePauw University in 1977. CDPL has several of her fiction titles and her nonfiction book, Animal, vegetable, miracle: a year of food life.
She wrote her first novel while suffering from insomnia. Bean Trees was written from inside her closet when she was combating sleeplessness. It was enthusiastically received by critics when it was published in 1988. Her media break came when The Poisonwood Bible, a tale of Baptist missionaries in the turbulent 1959 Belgian Congo, was selected by Oprah for her book club.

Kingsolver says, "the power of fiction is that it creates empathy. If I write a novel, I'm inviting you into someone's life." Novels by Kingsolver at CDPL are Another America, The Lacuna, Prodigal Summer, The Poisonwood Bible, Animal Dreams and Bean Trees. The opportunity exists for you to come into someone's life at CDPL.

View Kingsolver works in the online catalog

Sources:
http://www.notablebiographies.com/

http://www.kingsolver.com/biography

Genealogy Club Meeting

The Genealogy Club of Montgomery County will meet on Tuesday April 12th at 7 pm in the Donnelley room of the library. Members of the Genealogy Club of Fountain County will present “Genealogy Club Membership Growth”. The public is invited!

Interested in joining the Genealogy Club? Call: (765) 362-2242, Ext 117 for more information or e-mail us at gen@cdpl.lib.in.us

Author visit: Marlene Lewis

Author Marlene Lewis will be @ CDPL April 9, 12pm to 3pm
Her titles include Adult Fiction: Imaginary Minds
Children’s Books (Best Buddies Series): Jolly Gets a Skateboard, Jolly and His Friends
Meet the author and/or buy an autographed copy of one or all of her books!

Photography Classes

Photography Classes! First Class is FREE!

Thursday March 31st 6:30 to 8pm

Thereafter $60.00 for 6 additional classes that will be held every Thursday beginning April 7th.

You can find a pamphlet with all information at the Circulation Desk.

Highly recommended to get the most out of your digital camera!

Easter Egg Hunt on April 16th

CDPL's Youth Services Department will hold an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday April 16th at 10 a.m.. This event is geared towards children aged 3 to 8.  

Registration is required so call 362-2242 ext 115 after April 1st to sign up. 

Don't forget to bring your Easter basket!

Free Banjo Lessons!

Free Banjo Lessons March 31 and April 14!

Teens: 5-5:30pm
Adults: 5:45-6:15pm

Bring your 4-string tenor banjo if you have one!
(The instructor will have a few banjos to use if you do not have one.)

Elizabeth Taylor 1932-2011

Celebrate the life of Elizabeth Taylor by checking out these biographies at CDPL!

How To Be A Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood by William J. Mann
921 Taylor, E.

Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and the Marriage of the Century by Sam Kashner
920 Kas

A Passion for Life: The Biography of Elizabeth Taylor by Donald Spoto
921 Taylor, E.

Liz: An Intimate Biography of Elizabeth Taylor by C. David Heymann
921 Taylor, E.

CDPL also has some of Taylor's best loved movies available on DVD!

National Velvet DVD FIC NAT

Life with Father DVD FIC MY

Father's Little Dividend DVD FIC ELI

The Last Time I Saw Paris DVD FIC LAS

A Place in the Sun DVD FIC PLA

Giant DVD FIC GIA

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof DVD FIC CAT

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? DVD FIC WHO

Stephen Crane in The Crime Doctor's Courage

Turner Classic Movies will present The Crime Doctor's Courage on Tuesday March 29th at 1pm.   This 1945 mystery film features Crawfordsville native Stephen Crane in the role of Gordon Carson.

 The Crime Doctor's Courage was a part of the Crime Doctor series of mysteries that were released throughout the 1940s.  The films were based on the CBS radio program of the same name.

For more information about the film, visit TCM's movie database.

New Books!

Don't forget that the library displays its new adult non-fiction books in a separate area on the 2nd floor! You'll enjoy browsing among the recent additions that the library has to offer. Did you know that most new items also circulate for the same period as the non-new items?

If you want to see all the "new" items when you do a catalog search, simply choose "New adult non-fiction" from the Limit by drop-down box and then hit Go!

You'll then see just the new items -- and at the time of this post, there were more than 500 choices.

You can use the same drop-down to find all new fiction, too (which is shelved on the 1st floor).

In fact, you can use this drop-down to limit your choice to many different types of books and materials. If you need help, just ask a librarian!

Oil Painting Class

Jan Brown's oil painting class wil be held on March 15th at 5pm in the library. This instructor uses the Bob Ross Wet on Wet technique. All you need is a 16 x 20 inch canvas and $40 for registration. Call 362-2242 ext 109, the CDPL Circulation Desk, for details.

Pi Day at the Carnegie!

Celebrate Pi Day!

The Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County will host the 3rd annual Pi Day on Saturday March 12, 2011 from 2 pm until 4 pm.  Wabash College Society of Physics Students will help visitors explore with light, waves, lasers, and pressure.  This event is free and aimed at the whole family. 

Call 765-362-4618 or email carnegie@cdpl.lib.in.us for more information!

Taste of Home @ CDPL!

Amateur Chefs are needed to participate in CDPL's, recipe-testing program, Taste of Home.

Come to the circulation desk, sign-up, and pick a recipe you are willing to bring in "made" for all participants to share before the meeting:

March 3rd (Thursday) at 6pm

Bring your own drink and appetite!

In the Gallery -- Tri Kappa High School Art Contest and Exhibit

INGENIOUS HIGH SCHOOL ARTISTS EMBELLISH CDPL GALLERY
While anxiously awaiting the first breath of spring "outside"; the Library’s Mary Bishop Memorial Art Gallery offers you an opportunity to view colorful spring profusions "inside" at this year’s diverse Tri Kappa High School Art Contest and Exhibit. You will find an energetic explosion of over 250 images from the imaginations of young Montgomery County artists whose work is on display from Saturday, February 20th until Sunday, March 14th during regular Library hours. An Awards Reception will be Wednesday evening, March 9th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm in lower level rooms A & B. Everyone is invited.

igh School Art Students, with the help of Art Teachers and Tri Kappa Sorority members, will wow you with their rich talent and focused abilities. Every art student who wishes may enter this event, in one or several of the twelve categories.

The High School Art Teachers, Sheila McCormick and Marianne Ballenger of Crawfordsville, Mike Strickler of North Montgomery, Eleanor Brewer and Milt Anderson of Southmont, stimulate students to try new things, teach necessary skills and encourage artists to put forth their best effort.

Ribbons and Financial Rewards, in each of twelve categories, are given for first, second, third place and honorable mention.

Each year Tri Kappa hires an experienced, independent artist to judge student’s work. Austin Gabriel Pittman, who was raised in Zionsville, is this year’s judge. He graduated from Herron School of Art and Design with a Bachelors Degree in painting with an emphasis on drawing. After Herron graduation, he moved to Philadelphia to pursue his Masters Degree in painting at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the country’s oldest art institution. The human figure became the focus of his studio work.

Today he is teaching at the Art Institute of Indianapolis where he provides instruction to bright and imaginative students who are trying to find their own voice. Providing guidance to others who are eager to find their voices is a valuable resource for his explorations of expression through the human form in a variety of wet and dry mediums that provide a different feel and articulation.

Without Tri Kappa volunteers this philanthropic event would not take place. Each year Tri Kappa women, most of whom are employed full time outside the home, work with high school art teachers preparing for the event, receive and tag the art and then on Saturday morning place finished art categorically in the Gallery and Display cases.

When you visit this exhibit, be prepared to be awed by the scope and depth of talent emanating from these high-spirited young artists. Enjoy!

Wallace's Ben-Hur on Screen

Turner Classic Movies will continue to highlight Oscar-nominated films with the showing of Ben-Hur on Thursday February 24th at 10pm.  Released in 1959, the epic film follows Prince Judah Ben-Hur as he escapes enslavement and battles his enemy Messala in a Roman chariot race.  The film won 11 Academy Awards.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ was written by Crawfordsville's Lew Wallace and published in 1880. Ben-Hur was the best-selling American novel until the 1936 publication of Gone with the Wind. To learn more about Lew Wallace, visit the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum in Crawfordsville.  CDPL has many items related to Lew Wallace in our circulating and local history collections.

If you cannot catch this classic film on television, come by CDPL and check the DVD out!

Happy Birthday, Steve Crane!

Steve Crane, second from left, in Tonight and Every Night

Stephen Crane was born in Crawfordsville on February 7, 1916.  After working in his family's local cigar shop, the Stephenson and Crane Cigar Store, and attending Wabash College, Crane moved to California.  Although he is most widely known as one of Lana Turner's husbands, Crane had a short-lived movie career before he created lasting success in the restaurant industry.

The 1945 film Tonight and Every Night is set in London during World War II. The Oscar-nominated musical features Rita Hayworth, Lee Bowman, and Janet Blair.  Stephen Crane plays Observer Leslie Wiggins, a friend of Lee Bowman's character.  Although his lines of dialogue are limited, Crane is featured in many scenes throughout the film. 

Turner Classic Movies will show Tonight and Every Night on Thursday February 10th at 11:00 a.m.  Don't miss out on the chance to see Crawfordsville's Stephen Crane in this classic musical!

View TCM's page on the film here.

Want to know more about Steve Crane?  Visit CDPL's Stephen Crane research page or come by the library and take a look at our Joseph Stephen Crane papers in the Local History collection.

Maurine Watkins and Libeled Lady

Released in 1936, the film Libeled Lady featured an all-star cast including Spencer Tracy, Jean Harlow, William Powell, and Myrna Loy.  The film, nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, credited four writers for its screenplay--one of the writers was Crawfordsville's Maurine Watkins.  After graduating from Crawfordsville High School in 1914, Watkins attended several universities before writing her Broadway hit, "Chicago".  After success on the stage, Watkins turned her attention to film writing.  Watkins' other screen contributions include Doctors' Wives (1931), No Man of Her Own (1932), and I Love You Again (1940). 

In Libeled Lady, an heiress sues a newspaper for libel after a false story is printed. The newspaper's editor then tries to set the heiress up in a compromising situation so that she is forced to drop the suit. 

Want to see Maurine Watkins' film for yourself?  If you have Turner Classic Movies, you're in luck.  TCM will be showing Libeled Lady on Monday February 7th at 12 p.m. and on March 15th at 11:15 p.m. 

Also, CDPL has a photograph of Maurine Watkins with the Sunshine Society.  You can view the photo here.

Sources:
TCM database entry for Libeled Lady

IMDb entry for Maurine Dallas Watkins