News from Knowhere - 1/25/2007

It's almost time for Black History Month, and we have a great way to kick it off! Barbara Cheeseboro, Storyteller Extraordinaire, will be coming to the libraries on Tuesday, February 13 at 9:30 in Screven County Library and 11 at the Jenkins County Memorial Library. She's a wonderful entertainer, and there's nothing she likes better than to share her music, stories and heritage with people.

WHAT'S NEW IN SCREVEN:

Have you heard the news about Harry O’Donoghue? He’ll be offering a free concert here in Sylvania, thanks to the Friends of the Screven County Library, who have arranged for him to come up from Savannah on Sunday, February 11 at 4 pm and entertain us with a wide range of Celtic music (traditional and modern) and Irish stories. He’s a wonderful entertainer, the host and co-producer of Georgia Public Broadcasting’s “The Green Island Radio Show”, and the readers of “Connect Savannah” have voted him Best Folk Artist every year since 2000. Want to attend? Then come over to the First United Methodist Church in downtown Sylvania at 4 pm on Sunday February 11 and join in on the fun! And remember – the concert is FREE, as in no charge (although if you care to drop a dollar or three into the donation bucket, we certainly wouldn’t object.)

Don’t forget to stop in at the library to take a look at our great exhibits! The biggest, of course, is Donny Humes’ sculpture – and we do mean “biggest” since some of his work is seven foot tall or more! He’s one of the most fascinating and original artists we’ve ever had here, and I guarantee that you’ve never seen anything like it here in Screven County. Make sure that you stop by to see it before the exhibit comes down in late February!

Speaking of coming down, this is the last week to see Gayle Cousar’s collection of pitchers in the lobby, so get down here before it’s gone! Starting in February, we’ll be having an exhibit of Boy Scout memorabilia in honor of the anniversary of the founding of the Boy Scouts, courtesy of George Litzenberg.

On Thursday, February 8 at 4 pm, the library will be having its monthly craft day. All ages are invited to sign up to create something cute and seasonal. Space is limited, so don’t wait too long!

On Tuesdays, we have two great programs: Twinkle Time and our preschool storytime. Twinkle Time is a fun way for mothers and babies 2 and under to grow closer by singing nursery rhymes, doing fingerplays and cuddling, and it’s Tuesdays at 9:30. The preschool storytime is more than a story, too – as wonderful as reading them a story is for giving them a jump start on learning, it’s even better when they get to create a craft related to the story afterwards! The storytime is for kids 3 and up and it’s at 10 am Tuesdays.

WHAT'S NEW IN JENKINS:

For those of you who’d rather listen to music than watch movies, the Jenkins County Memorial Library has CDs available for checkout. You can check out up to five CDs at a time, and more are available for sale. You won’t find $3 CDs any other place, so come on in to check these out—pun intended.

We also have some great new items in the book sale area to help you beat the winter blahs. Prices start at just a dime apiece, and we also have videotapes just waiting for you. Pick up some great at an incredible price, and help support your local library at the same time!

On Wednesday of each week, The Jenkins County Memorial Library presents “Storytime and Crafts.” Gold was discovered in California in 1848 and Miss Joanne and Miss Myrt will be telling “Gold” stories. . Bring your little one for an afternoon for fun and crafts. Storytime begins at 4 pm.

Now, on with the books!

YOUNG WARRIORS: STORIES OF STRENGTH edited by Tamora Pierce & Josepha Sherman. What would you fight for? What is it that you’d lay down your life for if necessary? Fifteen original short stories offer a variety of answers.

BLOOD ORANGE BREWING by Laura Childs. The Heritage Society has just been donated a run-down Victorian, but they need to raise some money to fix it up. Theodosia Browning is more than happy to help out with tea and treats from her tea shop as part of their fundraiser, but when a guest winds up dead, Theo may find herself in a jam…

THE MISSION SONG by John Le Carre. Bruno “Salvo” Salvador was an innocent orphan raised by the church and trained as a professional interpreter in several African languages. But when he’s called upon to interpret a meeting between Western financiers and African warlords, he’s forced to interpret the calling of his conscience.

BEYOND RECYCLING: A RE-USER’S GUIDE by Kathy Stein. New uses for old products. Low-cost alternatives to single-use disposables. Re-use programs that benefit schools and children. That’s just the beginning of the ways you can benefit the environment, the community – and your wallet!

JIM CRAMER’S MAD MONEY: WATCH TV, GET RICH by James J. Cramer with Cliff Mason. Investment guru Jim Cramer fills you in on the stuff that he doesn’t have time for on his CNBC show. What you need to know before you pick a stock, when to buy and sell, and more are covered in this book.

WWII: THE PEOPLE’S STORY edited by Nigel Fountain. It’s not just the soldiers who have war stories, the people in the factories and on the homefront can tell tales perhaps less bloody but no less important for that.

Links to the following websites can also be found at www.sjrls.org :

Disney: Winnie the Pooh is a collection of activities related to the Disney animations based on A.A. Milne's "Winnie the Pooh" series. Includes images and profile of characters such as Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet. From Disney UK.

How Internet Search Engines Work describes how search engines find information, using software called robots (spiders) to gather words and notes and build an index. Discusses meta tags, ranking, and how an index may be built. Includes diagrams. From How Stuff Works.

Guide to Research: Declassified Documents provides links to sources for learning about and obtaining copies of formerly classified U.S. government documents. Topics include the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and federal government websites. Also includes a link to Executive Order 12958, under which thousands of pages of documents were declassified at the end of 2006. Although some sources are only available to Georgetown University students, most are available to the general public. From Georgetown University Libraries.

Privacy Lost
Collection of stories from October 2006 examining the steady erosion of Americans' privacy, whether people are concerned and what impact other new technologies might have on your right to be left alone. Topics include technology (such as email and wireless video recorders), smart driver's licenses, comparison between U.S. and European laws, and celebrities and aggressive paparazzi. From MSNBC.

Quality Counts 2007: From Cradle to Career: Connecting American Education From Birth to Adulthood offers articles and data from January 2007 tracking state efforts to create seamless education systems from early childhood to the world of work. Features articles on topics such as "Gauging Student Learning" and "Linking Learning to Earning," and the "Chance for Success Index," which provides state-by-state data on 13 individual indicators (such as family income and preschool enrollment). From Education Week magazine with support from the Pew Center on the States.

Well, that’s it for now – see you in the library!

News from Knowhere - 1-18-2007

We’ve certainly started 2007 off with a bang here! From the great reception we had January 5 to our wonderful (if we do say so ourselves) craft times, we’ve had quite a response from all of you. We’re looking forward to a wonderful year of more programs and we encourage all of you to let us know what you want to do. If you would like to offer a special program, or would like to learn to do something, just give us a call and we’ll do our best to set something up.

We are still looking for teens to join our teen group. We are planning on offering a lot more resources and entertainment for teens, but first we need to know what you want to read, watch, or do! Interested in joining, or just want to find out more? Come by the library and fill out one of our simple survey forms (only four very easy questions – and no wrong answers) or call the library and ask for Sharon if you're in Screven, Wilma or Constance at Jenkins.

The Friends of the Screven County Library have also been busy – they have a concert planned for Sunday, February 11 at 4 pm. The artist will be Harry O’Donoghue, an Irish folksinger who is also the co-producer and host of Georgia Public Broadcasting’s “The Green Island Radio Show”, a program focusing on Celtic music in all its forms. The concert will be held at First United Methodist Church in Sylvania.

WHAT'S NEW IN SCREVEN:

Don’t forget to come in and see our latest exhibits! Donny Humes’ sculpture is like nothing you’ve ever seen. It’s all made from found objects, but in his talented hands what other people call junk bursts into life. It’s a stunning exhibit from a truly creative artist. If you come by and the door’s locked, don’t worry – we’ll be happy to give you the key and let you browse as long as you like. The exhibit will be here throughout the months of January and February.

We also have Gayle Cousar’s collection of ceramic pitchers in our display case. Ranging from the whimsical to the simply elegant, they’re well worth a long look and they will be in the lobby display cases through the month of January.

On Tuesdays, we have two great programs for the little ones. The first is Twinkle Time, our lapsitting program for toddlers and infants. Moms with babies are welcome to come in to enjoy fingerplays, nursery rhymes and a chance to relax and bond with their children.

Our second program is our preschool storytime, which lets children three and up listen to stories and do a related craft project designed just for their age group. It’s fun, it’s free and it’s a great opportunity for parents to do a little adult stuff like reading a paper or checking email while the little ones are busy.

WHAT'S NEW IN JENKINS:

We have storytimes at 4 pm on Wednesdays. It's a great time for preschool and elementary aged children to listen to a story and do a fun craft, so bring them in and enjoy yourself reading or checking your email while we entertain them for you!

Now, on to the books!

THE BOLEYN INHERITANCE by Phillipa Gregory. Henry VIII had already disposed of 3 queens when he married Anne of Cleves… and hated her on sight. Worse, his eye is caught by Katherine Howard, a girl who is beautiful, flirtatious and dares to be in love with someone else.

THE HUNTERS by W. E. B. Griffin. Delta Force major Charley Castillo returns, and he’s neck-deep in trouble as usual. But his enemies, the corrupt officials and businessmen behind the UN/Iraq oil-for-food scandal, are the ones who are in over their heads.

CAROLINE’S JOURNAL by Katherine Stone. Architect Caroline Wynn and her lawyer husband Jeffrey have been trying to have a baby for years. Now it’s happening – and she finds herself fighting for her life and her unborn baby as her husband is caught in the biggest legal battle of his career.

MARLEY & ME: LIFE AND LOVE WITH THE WORLD’S WORST DOG by John Grogan. There are some dogs that you just love despite their flaws, and Marley was one of them. He ate anything vaguely edible (and many things that weren’t), jumped up on people, drooled incessantly… and dug his way into the heart of the human who owned him.

IF YOUR CHILD STUTTERS: A GUIDE FOR PARENTS by The Stuttering Foundation. Tips and suggestions for parents whose children stutter.

FISHING MADE EASY by Wade Bourne. From how to tie your line to a pole to where to find catfish and what kinds of fishing boats are out there, Bourne shares his tricks to bringing back the catch of the day.

WHEN DARKNESS FALLS by James Grippando. Lawyer Jack Swyteck tackles a case in which the life of his best friend hangs in the ballance - and in which nothing is as it seems.



THE FIRST LADY by Carl Weber. She knows that she's his First Lady... but she doesn't want to be his last.



STALEMATE by Iris Johansen. This one will leave you guessing until the final nerve-racking page. A simple phone call sets forensic sculptor Eve Duncan on the trail of a killer even other killers fear to face.


THE COMPLETE BOOK OF PERSONAL LEGAL FORMS by Mark Warda and James C. Ray. Need a legal form? The odds are pretty good you'll find it in here.

Links to the following sites can also be found at www.sjrls.org :

Book Fairs and Other Literary Events is an extensive listing of U.S. and international book fairs and other literary events (such as poetry and storytelling festivals). Provides contact phone numbers and websites, and month of the events. Listed alphabetically and by state. From the Library of Congress Center for the Book.

The PETS Act: All in a Year's Work summarizes the events leading to the passage in October 2006 of the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act, which "require[s] the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure that state and local emergency preparedness operational plans address the needs of individuals with household pets and service animals following a major disaster or emergency." From the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

Book Burning collects relevant resources and tracks acts of book burning. Features historical examples of book burning (such as those in Nazi Germany and the Harry Potter series challenges), a section on burning of religious works, related links, and a brief bibliography. From the American Library Association (ALA).

FDA Issues Draft Documents on the Safety of Animal Clones is a December 2006 document announces a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) draft risk assessment finding "that meat and milk from clones of adult cattle, pigs and goats, and their offspring, are as safe to eat as food from conventionally bred animals." It also notes that "due to limited data on sheep clones, ... FDA recommends that sheep clones not be used for human food." Includes full text with data and related links.

Special Online Collection: Breakthrough of the Year 2006 reviews some of the big science stories of the past 12 months and the dubbing of one of them the Breakthrough of the Year. Features a description of the Breakthrough of the Year (the solution of the Poincaré Conjecture, a century-old mathematics problem) and the runners-up in areas such as paleogenomics, glaciology, paleontology, optics, medicine, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and molecular biology. Also includes material about scientific fraud. Requires free registration. From Science magazine.

Well, that’s it for now – see you at the library!

Harry O'Donoghue Concert

Harry O'Donoghue is an Irish singer-songwriter, host and co-producer of Georgia Public Broadcasting's "The Green Island Radio Show" and has been voted Best Folk Artist by the readers of "Connect Savannah" every year since 2000! Want to know more? He's got a website at www.harryodonoghue.com that has a lot more. So make sure that you don't miss this great concert hosted by the Friends of the Screven County Library, we don't see this caliber of artist here very often!

News from Knowhere - 1/11/2007

The library will be closed Monday, January 15 in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to read more, we’ve got just the thing for you! We’re offering a bag full of books for just $1 – you pick the books, we’ll provide the bag! It’s a great deal on great books, and we would love to have you come in and take advantage of it. And if a bag of books is a little overwhelming, well – it’s still only a dime for a paperback and a quarter per hardback book. We’ve even got CDs for only $1.

WHAT'S NEW IN SCREVEN:

Looking for something fun and creative to do this afternoon? Come in at 4 pm Thursday and enjoy some cool crafts for all ages – and best of all, it’s free! Space is limited, but we can probably squeeze in one more, so come in and join the fun!

Do you have little ones who aren’t yet old enough for school? Bring them in on Tuesday to give them a great head start on learning with our special programs! At 9:30 Tuesday mornings we have Twinkle Time, our special storytime for children from newborns to toddlers. It’s a great way to get closer to your baby as you do fingerplays, sing nursery rhymes, play and cuddle – plus on certain days, we give away door prizes that are just what’s needed for moms and their babies!

If your child is a little too old for Twinkle Time, bring them by at 10 Tuesday for our preschool storytime. It’s a great way to help your child learn to read, and reading is the path to succeeding! Not only that, but it’s the perfect chance for you to read the paper or check your email while your little one is listening to the story or doing one of the great crafts that go along with the story.

Don’t forget to check out the great art exhibit by Donny Humes. You are not going to believe the kind of stuff he creates out of ordinary materials and things that other people would send to the landfill! From flying birds to people, his work is a perfect example of turning trash to treasure, and it will be on display from now until the end of February.

We’ve also got Gayle Cousar’s beautiful collection of pitchers in the lobby of the library. It’s a great example of the different ways that form and function can combine, not to mention pretty neat!

WHAT'S NEW IN JENKINS:

Don't forget to come see the lovely display of hand-painted china by Mrs. Camille Lane, Mrs. Marilyn Knight, Mrs. Jackie Moore and Mrs. Barbara Pike, on display in the Ruthe Newton Spiers boardroom.

We also have storytime at 4 pm Wednesdays for children 3 and up. It's a fun time to listen to a story and do a craft project while their parents catch their breaths after the holiday rush.

Now, on to the books!

SLIM TO NONE by Taylor Smith. When a covert-ops specialist driven by a personal purpose disrupts a conspiracy that stretches from the worst parts of the Middle East to the top levels of the Washington elite, her chances of survival are slim to none.

SWAG: SOUTHERN WOMEN AGING GRACEFULLY by Melinda Rainey Thompson. Southern women have their own ways and their own charms, everyone knows that. Here, Thompson offers a series of essays on everyday life in the South and the women who make it so special.

DEADLY GAMBLE by Linda Lael Miller. Mojo Sheepshanks is not your average girl. Home-sweet-home is Bad-Ass Bert’s Biker Saloon. She doesn’t know who she really is or how she wound up there. And as if her life wasn’t weird enough, now she’s seeing ghosts!

SEQUENCE by Lori Andrews. Dr. Alexandra Blake is working in her dream job: creating vaccines to protect against bioterrorists. But the new director at the institute is more interested in turning their research towards crime-solving as a way to show up the FBI’s legendary forensics lab…

CROSSWORD by William Rawlings Jr. Matt Rutherford is back, and he’s in trouble. His house guest has been murdered, the FBI has placed them in protective custody, and he’s beginning to realize that he can’t even trust them, because there’s still someone stalking him and his lady friend…

NATURE GIRL by Carl Hiassen. Honey Santana is the self-proclaimed “queen of lost causes” – as proven by the fact that she’s trying to convert a telemarketer to civilized behavior. Throw in a stalker ex-boss, a former drug-running ex-husband, a too-wise 12 year old and a half-Seminole failed alligator wrestler who just wants to be left alone, and you’ve got classic Hiassen set loose in the Everglades.

Links to the following sites, along with this article, links to the library catalog, and much more, can be found at www.sjrls.org, the library’s home on the Web!

Major Holidays and Celebrations of Spanish-speaking Countries is a list and explanation of the various holidays celebrated in various Spanish speaking countries, from Año Nuevo (New Year’s Day) to La Navidad (Christmas).

Overlake Hospital Medical Center's Virtual Medical Library features health and medical resources for consumers and professionals. Contains annotated links to specific diseases and conditions; patient information handouts; and online medical textbooks, handbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference works. Includes links to national associations (by area of research) and professional organizations. Maintained by librarian Kenneth Willer.

American Highway Project documents the disappearing road culture of America through photography and oral history interviews. The photographs feature roadside landmarks such as motels, gas stations, theaters, and other oddities found along our highways. Road warriors will love the collection of links that lead them to old billboards, highways, diners, tourist attractions, drive-in theaters, road maps, and other gems of the American road.

Ultimate White Pages is a handy tool for searching online residential telephone books. Simply type into the Yahoo boxes the name, city, and state (or as much as you know) of the person you are looking for, and the site will copy the information to the other five white pages search engines (WhoWhere, Switchboard, Infospace, AnyWho, and Worldpages). Choose one to search (it opens a new window), come back, search another, etc. You can also do reverse number lookups and map searches from this page. The site also offers fast forms for e-mail lookups, yellow pages, and trip planning.

Well, that’s it for now – see you at the library!

Donny Humes Reception

Just thought we'd offer a quick "thank you" to everyone who attended our reception for the grand opening of the Donny Humes exhibit! For those of you who missed it, it was on Friday, January 5. You can still see the art throughout January and February, but you missed out on the party!

Some highlights:










SCHS art teacher Jason Walker and some of his students explore the exhibit.















Artist Donny Humes and his son Ivan give a new meaning to the term "high chair".












Looks like we made the paper!












Watch out for The Shark overhead!













And a good time was had by all!

News from Knowhere - 1/4/2007

Happy New Year! Hope that everything’s going well for you, and that it will be even better in the coming year!

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN SCREVEN:

I know that we’re off to a great start here at the library. Tomorrow we’re having the grand opening of the exhibit by Donny Humes at 7 pm. Make sure to come to this one, he’s a really cool guy and his sculptures are like nothing that you’ve ever seen. The exhibit will be available for viewing all through January and February. Curious? Well, you can get a sneak peek either by looking at one of the flyers (the library’s got some out) or, if you have internet access, by going to our brand new library blog!

Sculpture isn’t the only thing we’re going to be displaying here at the library. Gayle Cousar has very kindly allowed us to display her collection of ceramic pitchers, which you’ll be able to see in the display cases in the lobby.

Storytime Tuesdays are great ways to help the little ones get ready to learn! At 9:30 am we have Twinkle Time for babies two years old and under, and at 10 am we have our preschool storytimes for children 3 and up. Both are great ways to help your children get a jump start on learning, but they have different approaches. With Twinkle Time, toddlers and infants enjoy fingerplays and nursery rhymes with their moms, while the regular storytime kids have stories read to them and then they do a cool craft. Both are wonderful experiences for the kids – and their parents! And of course, they’re both totally free.

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN JENKINS:

We have a beautiful display of painted china available for viewing in the Ruth Spiers meeting room. Make sure to come see the work of these talented local artists!

Wednesdays are a great time to bring your kids to the library! They can enjoy a fun story and a great craft while you take a little break to check your email or read a magazine. It's a wonderful way to spend a little time helping your children develop their reading - and reading is the key to succeeding! Come by the library at 4 pm on Wednesdays to enjoy this great free program.

Now, on to the books!

NEXT IN LINE: THE AMERICAN VICE PRESIDENCY by Barbara Silverdick Feinberg. “Once upon a time there was a farmer who had two sons. One of them ran away to sea, the other was elected vice-president of the United States. Nothing was heard of either of them again.” As this story indicates, the VP was long thought doomed to obscurity. But in the 20^th century, things changed.

CRISIS by Robin Cook. It starts when Dr. Craig Bowman, a devoted physician, is charged with medical negligence, and it just gets worse. But his wife Alexis has an ace in the hole: her brother Dr. Jack Stapleton, a medical examiner in New York City.

UNDER ORDERS by Dick Francis. Death at the races is not uncommon. But three in one afternoon? That’s enough to get Sid Halley very worried, particularly when one of them leaves the winning jockey with three .38 rounds in his chest.

FINDING NOEL by Richard Paul Evans. Didn’t get quite enough of that Christmas spirit? The author of THE CHRISTMAS BOX has a new story, this one a love story about two young lovers from different worlds, and about how people come into our lives for a reason.

NEXT by Michael Crichton. Forget the world of the future – this is about the world right now. It’s about a world in which one can check one’s spouse for genetic problems, where there’s a genetic cure for drug addiction, where blondes just might be becoming extinct and nothing is as it seems.

Links to the following sites and much more can be found at www.sjrls.org:

smokefree.gov is intended to help you or someone you care about quit smoking. The site provides access to an online step-by-step cessation guide, local and state telephone quitlines, NCI's national telephone quitline, NCI's instant messaging service, [and] publications, which may be downloaded, printed, or ordered. From the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Office on Smoking and Health, and the American Cancer Society.

SelecTree: A Tree Selection Guide is a tree selection guide with information on more than 1,400 trees which features options for searching, browsing by common and scientific names, and generating a list of trees that match a set of attributes (such as height, fragrance, and water and soil requirements). Tree profiles include photographs, growth habit, pest and disease problems, and more. From the Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute, based at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly).

The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce unveiled recommendations calling for the biggest changes in the American education system in a century in October 2006. Suggestions include offering universal pre-kindergarten programs, and enrolling students in college after 10th grade. The site provides a 28-page summary of the report, "Tough Choices or Tough Times," and links to media coverage and to other commission papers. From the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE).

When Nixon Met Elvis sounds like a story, but Elvis Presley met President Richard M. Nixon in the Oval Office in December 1970. Through the original letters and memorandums written by Presley and the White House staff, this exhibit tells the behind-the-scenes story of how the meeting was arranged. Also features a series of photos from the event, including a famous image of the two shaking hands. From the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Well, that’s it for now – see you at the library!