Library news, book chat, resources, and more
A librarian from a different town mailed us several books with the following note. Names have been changed to protect the guilty.
The 6th Adult Spelling Bee will be held on Sunday, September 28 2008 at 2:00 pm, in the Community Room of the Main Library, 145 Washington Ave.
An informal survey (a questioning of friends) indicates that listening to audio books on both coasts is much more infrequent than the same activity in the Rocky Mountain West. There are obvious reasons for this, both of which, in my opinion, are positive reasons for living in the West: we have to drive long distances to go from destination to destination, and while we are driving, because of the relative lack of population density, we can really concentrate on the books we are “reading.” Of course we have to focus on our driving, too.
Recently I had to drive between New Mexico and Colorado a number of times, and I decided early on that excessive singing along with Led Zeppelin has its limitations. Because the Santa Fe public library has an excellent selection of audio books, I became a frequent patron of that section of the library. I actually looked at both Joyce’s Ulysses and Proust’s Swann’s Way, but I decided that once was enough for both. I listened to Pride and Prejudice even though I’ve read it several times for the beauty of its language, and because I know the story well, it was an enjoyable read. I tried practicing my Spanish using a CD but realized that I might end up on the plains with the antelope or would have to pull over to the side of the road (isn’t that an old John Stewart song? See, the mind wanders far too easily….).
Mysteries are good for the highways. Two of my favorites are Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard and The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid. While traveling, it’s always good to have several choices just in case one or two don’t work out. I tried listening to a popular writer about Tuscany who should have stuck with writing and avoided recording. Another favorite which I will now have to read on paper that simply needs a deeper examination is Charles Mann’s 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus.
Those of us who are now hooked on audio books have often had to resort to sitting in the driveway, driving around the blocks for a few minutes, or just giving up altogether and taking the book inside to finish it. We invite you to look at the opulent selection of audio books at all three branches of the Santa Fe Public Library and enrich your life.
This summer, we had a great session of Preschool Story Time which went along with our “Catch the Reading Bug Summer Reading Program” that featured what else? Bugs! There were spiders, walking sticks, butterflies, bees and ants, Oh My! We made rain sticks, door hangers, placemats, and all kinds of cool stuff!
And of course we read stories about bugs such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and Miss Spider's Tea Party by David Kirk, and so many more. We sang songs like “The More We Get Together” and “There’s a Spider on the Wall” by Raffi, and did the Itsy Bitsy Spider finger play numerous times in both Spanish and English.
The “Bug Lady” came to visit with her awesome collection of butterflies and moths. Children were introduced to their numbers and their alphabet by featuring a letter and a number of the week with color pages and a sticker craft. At one story time we had an attendance of 102! That was fun!
A friend left for London last week—she’s the type that had done tons of research and had her travel guides highlighted and filled with sticky notes. I gave her a few must do items, even though she was sure she had all the key notes highlighted or with hot colored stickies.
by PCH @ Main
Inspired by recent tweets from Annapolis, Maryland, and Billings, Montana, I thought I'd see where people are reading our blog and website. Our top five states for both include these four:But where Arizona is our #3 for web page views, it's only #8 in blog readership, after #5 Massachusetts, #6 Iowa and #7 New Jersey. Perhaps our tales of desert living are all too familiar to Arizonans?
Some other nifty facts:
And a really fun, if bemusing fact:
More people in Albuquerque read our blog than in Santa Fe.
Let us know where you're from!
Main Library
Librarian of Congress, Dr. James H. Billington, says,
Rob Pegoraro wrote an article which appeared in the Washington Post on a new product, Eye Fi Explore. Purchase this little memory card for your digital camera and it slides in like any memory unit. But, get this. It has a WiFi receiver that connects to a database of wireless networks to let you know where your pictures were taken. No, not just the time and date. The place.
The Journal North published a great article about the current renovations at the La Farge Library on August 18th. Susie Sonflieth, Director of Branches, and Pat Hodapp, Library Director were both interviewed about the history of the La Farge Branch, the benefits of the current renovations, and hopes and dreams for the future of the building.
This great picture book cashes in on the humor of children being smarter than adults. No one seems to notice that Leo is no longer a baby. Can’t we all relate to feeling older (or younger) than we really are?
Check out http://www.punkfarm.com/
Olivia is a typical six-year-old in a piglet’s body. The Olivia books depict the whimsical humor of a kid with tons of personality, possibly like a child you yourself might know.
Ok, this book is just Funny. As the title promises, the dumbest animals on the planet become superheroes, saving the farm from all kinds of disasters.
I used to get into trouble laughing during class while reading these books. Even in high school, Morris’s wit captivated me and kept me rolling in my seat. They have a great combo of humor and history.
Have you ever wondered what your pets do when you go out? Well, hopefully they aren’t like Stanley-a dog that, left unattended, will take more liberties than a teenager house-sitting.
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle is as funny to kids today as it was when it was published 35 years ago. Maybe you read it as a child and now you can share the fun with your children.
This adorable no-words tale combines the sweetness of a baby-dog bond and the humor of what goes on when mommy goes to the store. Home Alone meets Napoleon and Samantha.
While the emphasis of this book is on love and belonging, the attempts that Choco makes to align himself with other animals that share one of his characteristics is sure to keep any child laughing.
Appropriate as both a picture book and a beginning reader, this joyful story combines familiar elements (the unexpected heroine, the mean neighbor) with a wild telling that lets readers in on the joke.
As a child, I remember being so frustrated and embarrassed by Amelia Bedelia; Maybe I was transposing my own mother upon Amelia’s character. However, I loved the silliness of Amelia’s “mistakes” even though I didn’t completely understand the humor.
My parents read this book to me over and over again. Maybe they saw another level of humor in it while reading it to my sister and I. We added a third parallel drama to the book – two bad children reading about two bad children reading about two bad alligators.
Have you ever wondered who penned that immortal phrase? It especially seems appropriate with all the dark and stormy afternoons we've been having."It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents--except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness."
"Theirs was a New York love, a checkered taxi ride burning rubber, and like the city their passion was open 24/7, steam rising from their bodies like slick streets exhaling warm, moist, white breath through manhole covers stamped 'Forged by DeLaney Bros., Piscataway, N.J.' "
In the mid 1980s, when a woman claimed to have seen Elvis in a grocery store in Vicksburg, Michigan, near Kalamazoo, a Denver radio station sent a local woman to try to find Elvis. There was a $1 million reward involved. Now you are aware, Elvis died in 1977, by most accounts.
This August 16th marks 31 years since the alleged death of Elvis Presley, and I say “alleged” since there are many books out there which debunk the death of Elvis as a cruel myth. And yes, I have even read a couple. Sadly, these titles are not to be found at Santa Fe Public, but we can grab them for you through our Interlibrary Loan Service, from other libraries around the country who are less skeptical about death hoaxes.
City of Santa Fe
If Justin and I were told that we would be working at the Southside library and would like it, we would have to laugh in your face and be like ….. “HA yeah right.” Although it’s quite the opposite.
Several children were lucky enough to get a chance to color beautifully designed fabric and wood kites at the school-age craft for the Library's Summer Reading Program. Everyone gets excited when their kite actually makes it into the air.
We've gotten a request for more information about the tin work at left.
It seems as if the whole world is a-twitter! And I don't just mean with this lovely summer weather. Twitter is a micro-blogging program, where people use e-mail and texting to update the world about what's going on. The challenge is that the information needs to be 120 characters or less!
Senator Jeff Bingaman visited the Southside Library to experience the greenest public building in Northern New Mexico recently. Earlier in the year he hosted an environmental conference in Santa Fe, and members of Congress, Congressional staff and members of the Canadian Parliament toured Southside Library.
