News from KNOWhere - 9-28-2007

This year just keeps getting better as we go along! We’ve almost reached the halfway point in our series of community discussions we’re calling “Southeast Georgia On Our Minds”, which is a collaboration between Georgia Southern and the Screven-Jenkins Regional Library System, and is funded by the Georgia Humanities Council. Next on our schedule is Dr. Howard Keeley, the Director of the Center for Irish Studies at GSU, who will be presenting “Two Waves of Settlers from the Emerald Isle: The Scotch-Irish in the Georgia Colony and the Irish in 19^th Century Georgia”. It will be a fascinating talk, and there will be refreshments available, so pop in at 7 pm on Tuesday, October 2 and explore our area’s Irish history!

The libraries in Screven and Jenkins County will be closed to the public on Columbus Day Monday, October 8.

News from Screven

Don’t forget that the Screven County Hospital Outreach Program is holding a series of workshops on diabetes here at the library. The workshops will be held Mondays from 5 pm until 6 pm and Wednesdays from 12 pm until 1 pm. For more information, call the Screven County Hospital Outreach Program at 564-5238 on Monday, Wednesday or Friday.

Storytime is at 10 am on Tuesdays, and it’s a great way to help your child learn to love reading. They’ll hear a fun seasonal story and do a cool craft, so bring them down to the library every Tuesday morning!

Don’t have time to read your little one a bedtime story? Just call 564-7080 for the Dial-A-Story and listen to a new story every week – for free!

Interested in finding out more about the Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution, or Children of the American Revolution? Check out the exhibit in the lobby!

The Drivers Education Computers are up and running here in Screven! We haven’t got the signs up yet, but the computers are working just fine, so if you have a teen who’s ready to sign up for the 30 hours of (online) classroom instruction required by Joshua’s Law, come on in and let us help you pick your class!

News from Jenkins

Storytime is at 4 pm on Wednesdays, and it’s a great way to help your child learn to love reading. They’ll hear a fun seasonal story and do a cool craft before they’re done, so bring them down to the library every Wednesday afternoon!

The Jenkins County Memorial Library will host a BOOK SALE on Saturday, October 6, 2007 from 9:30 am to 3:00. “Friends of the Library” may come on Friday for a sneak preview. Not a Friend yet? Well, it’s easy to become one! Come into the library for an application to join this great organization.

The Azalea Garden Club will host a small, Standard Flower Show in Saturday, October 6, 07, the day of the Fair-on-the-Square, in the Multi-purpose Room of the Jenkins County Memorial Library. It is free to the public.

The Friends of the Library will sponsor a Silent Auction Cake Bake beginning on Saturday, October 6, 07. Cake will be furnished by some of the great cooks in Millen. Please come by the library to pick up the bid forms. The auction will run through October 12 and the cake will be delivered on October 13. This sale is in conjunction with a grant from the Libri Foundation and the monies earned will be used to buy children’s books.

Now, on to the books - and remember, you're only a click or two away from reserving any of these great books for yourself!

DOWN TOWN by Ferrol Sams. The South is known for its storytellers, but there’s none so endearing as James Aloysius “Buster” Holcombe, Jr. He begins with the end of the Civil War, and finds that the seeds that were sown then are still sprouting a century later in his small Georgia town.

THE RESTAURANT START-UP GUIDE by Peter Rainsford and David Bangs, Jr. Have you ever been told that you should have your own restaurant? Ever wanted to see if you could make a go at it? Here’s the guide that helps you set the foundation that can make the difference between earning a living and going under.

THE SANCTUARY by Raymond Khoury. An unlikely team-up between a geneticist and a CIA agent leads from an experimental lab littered with the bodies of men, women and children to the pursuit of a book which has left a trail of corpses behind it for nearly 300 years.

THE LAND OF MANGO SUNSETS by Dorothea Benton Frank. Miriam Elizabeth Swanson is in quite a snit. Her estranged son announces he’s marrying a Jamaican woman, her ex-husband Charles has run off with a lingerie model, her tenants are plotting to turn her life upside down – even her pet parrot has opinions.

KILLER WEEKEND by Ridley Pearson. Eight years ago, Sun Valley policeman Walt Fleming was all that stood between New York State attorney general Elizabeth Shaler and a knife-wielding lunatic. Now, she’s returning to Sun Valley as a presidential candidate, and now-Sheriff Fleming is all that stands between her and a would-be assassin.

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

Agatha Christie and Archaeology
Companion to an exhibit, "Agatha Christie and Archaeology: Mystery in Mesopotamia," which "presented a fascinating look at the secret life of one of the world's most popular writers. Agatha Christie (1890-1976) originally became interested in archaeology on a visit to the site of Ur (in modern Iraq) in 1928. It was at Ur that she met her future husband, the archaeologist Max Mallowan." Includes annotated photos and images of archaeological items. From the British Museum.

DailyLit
"DailyLit sends books in installments via e-mail. DailyLit currently offers over 400 classic public domain titles that can be subscribed to and read in their entirety for free." Includes some in French, Italian, and Spanish. Search, or browse by title, author, or category. The entry for each work includes a preview of the first installment and the number of installments (such as 675 for "War and Peace" and 149 for "Pride and Prejudice").

CRS Annotated Constitution
"The content of the CRS Annotated Constitution was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) at the Library of Congress. ... The initial online annotations were published in 1992, and supplements were released in 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2000. This edition is a hypertext interpretation of the CRS text. It links to Supreme Court opinions, the U.S. Code, and the Code of Federal Regulations." Provided by the Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School.

Madeleine L'Engle: 1918-2007
Official website of writer Madeleine L'Engle, best known for her 1962 Newbery Award-winning novel, "A Wrinkle in Time." Features a brief biography, the text of her Newbery Award acceptance speech, a bibliography of her numerous publications (some with cover art and introductions), photos, and links to articles and interviews with the author.

Censored: Wielding the Red Pen
"This exhibition [about censorship] hopes not so much to judge censors and censorship but instead to provoke questions." Some of the topics and case studies covered in the exhibit include reference and religious works, Margaret Sanger and birth control, John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath," the objectivity of science, Internet censorship, and censored films and television. From the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.

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

News from KNOWhere - 9-20-2007

Wow! We had great program last Tuesday with Dr. Patrick Novotny, and we have another coming up on Tuesday, September 25 at 7 pm with Dr. Mary Hadley and Mr. Charles Martin, the mystery-writing duo known as Mary Charles! The title of the event is “Writing Crime Fiction Where We Live: Confessions of a Statesboro Couple” and it’s a great chance to learn about the process of writing crime fiction, getting published and more. This event is part of our “Southeast Georgia On Our Minds” series, a collaboration between the Screven-Jenkins Regional Library System and Georgia Southern University’s Humanities Department, and it will be the first of the series held in Millen at the Jenkins County Memorial Library. There will be refreshments provided, and the program is free. If you are a writer who’s interested in being published, you won’t want to miss this one!

Did you know this is Library Card Sign-Up Month? It is – and there’s no better time to sign up for a library card than today! It’s the smartest card you can have, because no other card gives you access to unlimited numbers of books, free video, CD and DVD rentals, free internet access, and much more! And that doesn’t even count the storytimes and craft days for the youngsters, the latest hottest magazines, special events for all ages, and much, much more! Best of all for us Georgia folks, the Screven-Jenkins Library System is part of PINES, which means you can use your card just about anywhere in the state!

News from Screven

The Screven County Hospital Outreach Program is continuing its series of diabetes education programs. It’s a great chance to learn something about a disease that affects 21 million Americans, and if you haven’t got it, the odds are pretty good you know – or are related to – someone who does. The programs are being held Mondays from 5 pm to 6 pm and Wednesdays from 12:15 pm to 1:15 pm. For more information, please call the Screven County Hospital Outreach Program at 564-5238 on Monday, Wednesday or Friday.

Bring your little one to our great preschool storytimes Tuesdays at 10 am! They’ll hear a story (maybe even two) and then get to do a creative craft suitable for displaying on your fridge or windowsill – and you’ll get a chance to sit back and relax for a bit. It’s a win-win situation, so don’t miss out!

Don't look now, but a little birdy tells me that the Drivers Education computers are about ready for their official unveiling. You've all be patiently waiting, and your patience is about to be rewarded!

News from Jenkins

Bring your little one to our great storytimes Wednesdays at 4 pm! They’ll hear a story (maybe even two) and then get to do a craft suitable for displaying on your fridge or windowsill – and you’ll get a chance to sit back and relax for a bit. It’s a win-win situation, so don’t miss out!

Now, on to the books - and just remember, you're only a click or two away from reserving any of them!

WHAT A SISTA SHOULD DO by Tiffany Warren. Pam, Taylor and Yvonne are very different women with very different questions of what they should do about the troubles that have entered their lives, but they all attend the same church, and they’ve all found the same answer: “A sista should pray.”

LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE by Diana Gabaldon. Lord John Grey is a soldier, a gentleman, and no mean hand with a blade. He also has a shocking family mystery, a love affair that bids well to destroy him, and a war that stretches from the Old World to the New…

ACT OF TREASON by Vince Flynn. Two weeks before the presidential election, Vice President Sherman Baxter’s campaign run is disrupted by an assassination attempt that kills his wife and half a dozen Secret Service bodyguards… and lands him in the Oval Office. It looks like an open-and-shut case of terrorism until a package is left on the doorstep of the lead investigator into the attack, a box full of information so dangerous that only one man is reckless enough to follow the trail it points to.

SHOPAHOLIC & BABY by Sophie Kinsella. Becky’s back and happier than ever! She’s got a job at London’s hottest store, she’s house-hunting with her husband, and there’s a baby on the way. Add to that the fact that shopping cures her morning sickness, and she couldn’t be more thrilled – until her celebrity, must-have obstetrician turns out to be her husband’s ex-girlfriend.

Links to the following sites and much more can also be found at www.sjrls.org, our library homepage!

World Shibori Network
Website for this international group interested in shibori, "the collective term in Japanese for tie-dye, stitch-dye, fold-dye, pole wrap-dye, etc." Features examples of shibori traditions in different parts of the world, an essay on shibori techniques (from a 2000 exhibit at the San Francisco International Airport), a bibliography, images, and information about the group's activities.

2007 Sunscreen Proposed Rule
Documents concerning an August 2007 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed regulation "that sets standards for formulating, testing and labeling over-the-counter (OTC) sunscreen drug products with ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) protection." Includes the press release, Federal Register notice, a FAQ, summary of key points, and consumer article. From the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Note: may not display correctly in all browsers.

Fraud Alert! Bogus "Bonus" Checks
Background about scams that involve receipt of bonus checks in incorrect amounts or fake cashiers checks. Includes descriptions of the scams, and suggestions of how to protect yourself from them. For example, with cashier's checks the site advises insisting a check is drawn on a local bank, calling an out-of-town bank, and waiting to release merchandise until a check has cleared. From the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Top 100 Undiscovered Websites
PC Magazine "picks for the top new or under-the-radar sites of 2007." Includes annotated links to sites in areas of reference, health and food, lifestyle and entertainment, money and career, music, news, reading, shopping and travel, technology, and video. From PC Magazine.

FishWatch: U.S. Seafood Facts
This site "can help you make informed decisions about the seafood you eat by providing you with the most accurate and timely information available on the sustainability of U.S. seafood fisheries." Features news, background about seafood and your health, and details about selected types of fish. Also includes data on U.S. seafood imports and exports, a glossary, and descriptions of how some commonly used fishing vessels work. From NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service.

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

News from KNOWhere - 09/13/2007

We had a great time at Dr. Novotny’s presentation this Tuesday, and we’re looking forward to more of the same on Tuesday, September 25 at 7 pm when Dr. Mary Hadley and Mr. Charles Martin go to the Jenkins County Memorial Library. They’re the mystery-writing couple known as Mary Charles, and their presentation “Writing Detective Fiction Where We Live: Confessions of a Statesboro Couple” will talk about the writing process, how to become published authors and much more. After their lecture, there will be a question and answer session, and there will be refreshments served. This is a free program from our “Southeast Georgia On Our Minds” series, and a wonderful chance for aspiring authors to get some great tips. Want more information on the series or a look at the full schedule? Just click here!


News from Screven

If writing isn’t your thing, you might find the display we have in the lobby interesting. The Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution, and Children of the American Revolution have gotten together to provide information about the Revolutionary War, and about their organizations.

Got a preschooler? Then we’ve got something for them! Every Tuesday at 10 am is our great preschool storytime for kids two years old and up. It’s a fantastic chance for them to listen to a story (or two!) and then do a creative craft to take home with them.

If your little one is a bit too young for that, call Miss Gina here at the library about Twinkle Time. It’s a program just for the very youngest ones and their mothers or caregivers, and it’s a wonderful way to become closer to your baby and help them to grow up to be the smart and successful adults you know they can be!

Don’t forget the diabetes workshops here at the library! Mondays from 5 pm – 6 pm and Wednesdays from 12:15 pm – 1:15 pm, the Screven County Hospital’s Community Outreach Program will be having a diabetes workshop. Each workshop covers a different aspect of diabetes, and all are being held to help you understand one of the most common health problems of our time. Want more information? Call the Outreach Program at 564-5238 on Monday, Wednesday or Friday!

Do you love your library? Would you like to help us to raise money to hire performers, buy special items and convince our legislature to support your library? Then join the Friends of the Screven County Library today! It’s only $5 a year for one person, $15 for your entire family, and it’s a wonderful (and easy) way to show you care about your library!

News from Jenkins

We have a great storytime at 4 pm on Wednesdays! It’s a fantastic chance for them to listen to a story (or two!) and then do a creative craft to take home with them, so make sure to bring your little ones to join in the fun.

Vermell Scott is displaying his wonderful pencil drawings at the library. Make sure to come see it!

Do you love your library? Would you like to help us to raise money to hire performers, buy special items and convince our legislature to support your library? Then join the Friends of the Jenkins County Memorial Library today!

Now, on to the books - and remember, just a few clicks can reserve them today!

BETWEEN YOU AND ME: A MEMOIR by Mike Wallace with Gary Paul Gates. One of America’s best-known and most trusted reporters gives the inside scoop on stories he’s covered. From presidents to pop stars, crooks to cult figures, he’s interviewed them all.

FARTHER THAN I MEANT TO GO, LONGER THAN I MEANT TO STAY by Tiffany L. Warren. She’s independent, successful and fulfilled in her spiritual walk – and overweight, close-to-forty and the target of her mother’s constant criticism and her friends’ attempts at matchmaking. She thinks she’s finally found her man when Travis Moon asks her to marry him… well, until his secrets leave her reputation in shreds, her career dead in the water, and her life at rock-bottom.

GEORGIA BIRD WATCHING: A YEAR-ROUND GUIDE by Bill Thompson III and the staff of Bird Watcher’s Digest. Lavishly illustrated and with descriptions of which birds you’re likely to see when, Georgia’s 10 must-see birds, and explanations of how we can attract particular species to our own backyards, this is a great guide for bird watchers!

THE 5-FACTOR DIET by Harley Pasternak with Myatt Murphy. Five meals a day, 5 ingredients per recipe and 5 minutes prep time are all you need to create the meals from this diet that promises to have you losing weight and getting fit in only five weeks.

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

Online Gallery: Sacred Texts: Picturing the Prophet
"This is an unusual example of the Prophet Muhammad pictured in an Islamic manuscript. It comes from a royal miniature made to illustrate a copy of the poems of the celebrated Persian Nizami, and depicts the Prophet's ascension to heaven on the horse Buraq." See a zoomable image of this illustration, which was created in the 16th century, and brief background material about the illustration. From the British Library.

BusinessDictionary.com
This site provides definitions of over 20,000 business-related terms. Users may search by letter or topic such as accounting, currency trading, investing and speculating, advertising, and securities and futures trading. The site features a term-of-the-day and over 115,000 links between related terms. From an Internet design company that specializes in finance.

Lighthouse International
The website for this organization provides information about vision disorders and resources for independent living, vision care, education, and support for the visually impaired. The site includes descriptions of eye diseases such as cataracts, macular degeneration, and glaucoma; many include simulations showing what the world looks like when one has disease. The independent living guide features videos demonstrating safe kitchen and cooking procedures for individuals with vision problems.

NIMH: Suicide Prevention
Compilation of background and news about suicide prevention topics, including statistics, recommendations to the media for reporting on suicide, documents on nationals efforts concerning suicide prevention, and booklets on topics such as depression and suicide in older adults and antidepressant medications for children and adults. Also includes information for researchers and links to related resources. From the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

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

News from KNOWhere - 9/6/07

Georgia Southern University is coming to Millen and Sylvania! Would you like to learn more about the cultures and history that have formed Southeast Georgia? The Screven-Jenkins Regional Library System is presenting a series called “Southeast Georgia on Our Minds”, with professors from GSU speaking, followed by a question and answer period.

Please join us for what promises to be a delightful evening as Dr. Patrick Novotny of Georgia Southern presents the next installment of the series with “This Georgia Rising: Education, Civil Rights and the Politics of Change in 1940s Georgia” on Tuesday, September 11 at 7 pm at the Screven County Library. Learn about the first wave of the tsunami of change that climaxed in the 1960s and whose effects we’re still feeling today. The series is a collaborative project between the Screven-Jenkins Regional Library System and GSU’s Humanities Dept., and is funded by the Georgia Humanities Council. Want to know more? Head over to www.sjrls.org!

News from Screven

If World War II and its aftermath aren’t your favorite historical period, how about the Revolutionary War? Local chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution and Children of the American Revolution have teamed up to create a great exhibit of fascinating material covering the Revolutionary War period, and they’d love to share it with everyone!

Are you a teen who loves reading? Do you know one who does? The Screven County Library is in the process of forming a book club for teens, and we’d love to have you join. If you’re interested, just give us a call at 564-7526!

News from Jenkins

This month’s art exhibit is courtesy of Vermell Scott, who has kindly shared his great pencil drawings with us – make sure to come see it!

Are you a teen who loves reading? Do you know one who does? The Jenkins County Memorial Library is in the process of forming a book club for teens, and we’d love to have you join. If you’re interested, just give us a call at 982-4244!

Now, on to the books - and remember, a couple clicks is all it takes to put one of them on hold!

ADELAIDE PIPER by Beth Webb Hart. Adelaide is an idealist with the heart of a poet. But when a violent incident changes her life and the Virginia campus where she studies, she needs to find a way to balance her Southern heritage with the harsh realities of modern life.

THE LAST SUMMER (OF YOU & ME) by Ann Brashares. THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS was a big hit with teenage girls – now Brashares tells a story for the adults, as a group of friends who meet each summer as they visit their families’ vacation homes find that the innocence of their childhood lies behind them, and their summer haven can no longer protect them.

THE WATER’S LOVELY by Ruth Rendell. Ismay can never forget the day that her sister came down the stairs dripping wet and led her up to the bathroom where their stepfather floated dead. Years later, her sister becomes involved with a man, and secrets begin to rise to the surface, secrets that she’s long suppressed…

THE DOUBLE BIND by Chris Bohjalian. Laurel Estabrook was an outgoing photographer before she was attacked while riding her bike on a Vermont back road. Now, she’s retreated into her photography, and her friendship with troubled and homeless Bobbie Crocker. Can Bobbie’s box of photos – left to her after his sudden death – shed light on her family history?

SISTERS by Danielle Steel. A model, a TV producer, a lawyer and an artist. What do they all have in common? They’re sisters, and after a horrible accident that left their mother dead and their father grief-stricken, they’re living together in a New York brownstone.

INNOCENT AS SIN by Elizabeth Lowell. Kayla Shaw is a banker in Arizona, smart and capable but unappreciated and underpaid. Rand McCree is a haunted man who paints landscapes in the Pacific Northwest, burning with a need for answers about the event that shattered his world. They have nothing in common – until their lives intertwine and explode.

Links to the following websites and much more can also be found at www.sjrls.org, our library home on the web!

Paper Cuts: A Blog About Books
This blog is "about books and other forms of printed matter, written by Dwight Garner, senior editor of The [New York Times] Book Review. Look here for book news and opinion, interviews with writers, regular raids on the Book Review's archives, and other special features." Includes posts on topics such as the 50th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" in 2007 and playlists of songs from writers. From The New York Times.

The Politico
This online news site has "the mission of covering the politics of Capitol Hill and of the presidential campaign, and the business of Washington lobbying and advocacy." Includes news, opinion pieces, photos, blogs, and other material about Congress, politicians, the 2008 presidential election, and other political topics. From the publishers of the free Politico print newspaper available in the Washington, D.C., area.

Richard Wright, Black Boy
Companion to a documentary about Richard Wright, the "influential and infamous writer who changed the face of American literature." Features a chronology of Wright's life from his birth in 1908 to a sharecropper and teacher in Mississippi, the publication of "Native Son" in 1940 and "Black Boy" in 1945, and his death in 1960. Also includes a selected bibliography. From Independent Television Service (ITVS).

Krakatoa: Volcano of Destruction
Companion to a "dramatized documentary that reconstructs the weeks before, and the struggle for survival during ... [the] cataclysmic eruption" in 1883 of the Krakatoa volcano. Features video clips, survivor diaries, a build-you-own volcano interactive feature, an illustrated essay, and puzzles. From Discovery Channel.

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