April 2006

New Fiction

• Game of Patience - Susanne Alleyn
• A Fine Place to Daydream: Racehorses, Romance, and the Irish - Bill Barich
• North by Northanger (or, The Shades of Pemberly) A Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mystery - Carrie Bebris
• Circle of Quilters: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel - Jennifer Chiaverini
• The Two Minute Rules - Robert Crais
• The Renegades - Clive Egleton
• Intuition - Allegra Goodman
• The Orkney Scroll - Lyn Hamilton
• Fiddlers: A Novel of the 87th Precinct - Ed McBain
• A Dirty Job - Christopher Moore
• Quite Honestly - John Mortimer
• Nightlife - Thomas Perry
  
• Lost - Michael Robotham
• Dirty Blond - Lisa Scottoline
• Abide with Me - Elizabeth Strout
• A Map of Glass - Jane Urquhart
• Frangipani - Celestine Vaite
• How Opal got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life - Kaavya Viswanathan
• The Night Watch - Sarah Waters
• The Amalgamation Polka - Stephen Wright
• The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
• Blood Hunt: a novel - Ian Rankin
• The Fallen: a novel - T. Jefferson Parker
• Magic Hour - Kristin Hannah
• Prospero's Daughter: a novel - by Elizabeth Nunez
• The Rebels of Ireland: the Dublin saga - Edward Rutherfurd
• Sour Puss: a Mrs. Murphy mystery - Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown
• The Templar Legacy: a novel of suspense - Steve Berry
• Suspense and Sensibility (or First Impressions) a Mr & Mrs Darcy Mystery - Carrie Bebris
• Oh Danny Boy: a Molly Murphy Mystery - Rhys Bowen
• The World to Come - Dara Horn
• The Last Templar - Raymond Khoury
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
• Labyrinth - Kate Mosse
  
• The Last of Her Kind - Sigrid Nunez
• The Accidental - Ali Smith

New Non-Fiction

• The Big Oyster: New York on the Half Shell - Mark Kurlansky
• Owls and Other Fantasies - Mary Oliver
  
• Grammar Essentials - Learning Express
• Math Essentials - Learning Express
• Harumi's Japanese Cooking - Harumi Kurihara
• Furniture You can Build: Projects that hone your skills - Joe
• Hurst-Wajszczuk
• The Everything Texas Hold'em book : tips and tricks you need to take the pot - John 'Johnny Quads' Wenzel
  
• Frommer's India
• House: a memoir - Michael Ruhlman
• The Trans Fat Free Kitchen: simple recipes, shopping guides, restaurant tips - Ronni Litz Julien
• 1,001 Old-Time Household Hints: timeless bits of household wisdom for today's home and garden - by the editors of Yankee Magazine
• Sandra Day O'Connor - Joan Biskupic
• At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years 1965-68 - Taylor Branch
• Artisan Baking - Maggie Glezer
• Team of Rivals: The political Genius of Abraham Lincoln - Doris Kearnes Goodwin
  
• Building Green: A Complete How-To Guide to Alternative Building Methods - Clarke Snell
• Folk Hats: 32 Knitting Patterns & Tales from Around the World - Vicki Square
• Shooting Star: The Brief Arc of Joe McCarthy - Tom Wicker
  
• The Essential Book of Crochet Techniques - Nancie M. Wiseman
• Master the Postal Exams - Arco - John Gosney
• Sheds and Garages - Sunset Books
• Great Garages Sheds & Outdoor Buildings - Connie Brown
• The Complete Guide to Home Wiring: Including Information onHome Electronics and Home Automation - Black & Decker

New Audios

All CDs unless noted

• A Dirty Job - Christopher Moore
• How Opal got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life - Kaavya Viswanathan
• The Night Watch - Sarah Waters
• The Ipcress File - Len Deighton
• Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith - Anne Lamott -tape
• Surfing the Himalayas - Frederick Lenz - tape
• Killing Orders - Sara Paretsky
• The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding our Families - Mary Pipher - tape

New Music CDs

• Billie Holiday - Billie's Best
  
• Elvis Costello with Burt Bacharach - Painted from Memory

New DVD's

• Good Night and Good Luck
  
• History of Violence
  
• The Thief Lord
• The Mikado with Eric Idle
• Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightly
• Capote
• Everything is Illuminated
• The Squid and the Whale
• The Simpsons 7th Season
• The Three Musketeers - Disney
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  
• Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story
• Dying Gaul
• Howl's Moving Castle
  
• Jarhead
• The Shield, Season 4
  
• Proof
• Crimes and Misdemeanors
  
• Manhattan
  
• The Purple Rose of Cairo
  
• Radio Days
  
• Zelig

New Videos

• Baby Take a Bow - Shirley Temple
  
• Curly Top - Shirley Temple
  
• Heidi - Shirley Temple
  
• Sabrina - Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart
  
• Miracle on 34th Street
  
• Batman Forever - Val Kilmer

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BOOKLISTS

Every month in this spot we feature reading suggestions. These include historic fiction, science fiction, mysteries, and more. Many of these titles can be found in the Mid Hudson Library System.

Authors of THRILLERS & SUSPENSE Novels

• Abrahams, Peter
  
• Andrews, V. C.
  
• Baldacci, David
  
• Brown, Dan
  
• Brown, Sandra
  
• Buchanan, Edna
  
• Caunitz, William J.
  
• Child, Lee
  
• Clancy, Tom
  
• Coben, Harlan
  
• Condon, Richard
  
• Connelly, Michael
  
• Connolly, John
  
• Coulter, Catherine
  
• Cussler, Clive
  
• Crais, Robert
  
• Cray, David
  
• Deaver, Jeffrey
  
• Deighton, Len
  
• Diehl, William
  
• Dorsey, Tim
  
• Ellis, David
  
• Follett, Ken
  
• Forsythe, Frederick
  
• Freedman, J. F.
  
• Freemantle, Brian
  
• Frey, Stephen
  
• Gardner, John
  
• Garwood, Julie
  
• Gerritsen, Tess
  
• Gifford, Thomas
  
• Gilman, Dorothy
  
• Haig, Brian
  
• Harris, Thomas
  
• Hawksley, Humphrey
  
• Hecht, Daniel
  
• Hiaasen, Carl
  
• Higgins, Jack
  
• Hillhouse, Raelynn
  
• Holt, A. J.
  
• Howard, Linda
  
• Hunter, Stephen
  
• Iles, Greg
  
• Joyce, Graham
  
• Kaminsky, Stuart
  
• Keneally, Thomas
  
• Kling, Christine
  
• LeCarre, John
  
• Lehane, Dennis
  
• Leonard, Elmore
  
• Lustbader, Erich V.
  
• Lynds, Gayle
  
• Massey, Sujata
  
• Mathews, Francine
  
• Meltzer, Brad
  
• Morrell, David
  
• Parker, Robert B.
  
• Patterson, James
  
• Patterson, Richard North
  
• Pearson, Ridley
  
• Perry, Thomas
  
• Reichs, Kathy
  
• Reilly, Matthew
  
• Rose, M.J.
  
• Rosenberg, Joel
  
• Rosenfelt, David
  
• Rucka, Greg
  
• Sanders, Lawrence
  
• Sanford, John
  
• Siegel, Sheldon
  
• Siler, Jenny
  
• Sloan, Susan
  
• Smith, Martin Cruz
  
• Stone, Robert
  
• Woods, Stuart

David Alpher
Lecture Series

We are continuing our popular David Alpher Lecture Series, associated with the Chamber Arts Festival of Marbletown.

Beethoven's "Ghost" Trio (Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 70 #1)
Tuesday, April 4 at 7pm
at the Community Center

Why does this trio still astound us after 218 years? Why is it always fresh and emotionally compelling? Find out how Beethoven used compositional extremes to create a radical new sound.
Companion concert: Amadeus Trio, June 4.

The Music of George Crumb
Monday, April 17 at 7pm
at the Community Center

Dr. Crumb will be with us at the Festival as a member of the George Crumb Ensemble. At this lecture, let's explore why this Pulitzer-Prize winner is one of the most significant composers of the last 50 years. As a gateway to his music, we'll listen to and discuss Crumb's hauntingly evocative Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale), and hear how he uses chisels and glass rods for expressive purposes.
Companion concert: The George Crumb Ensemble, May 27.

If You Listen to Classical Music, Are You a Snob?
Sunday, April 23 at 3pm
at the Community Center

A frank and open discussion of that embarrassing topic, cultural elitism. Why is this topic so incendiary? We'll find out.
Companion concerts: All Six.

Debussy's String Quartet: Toward Impressionism
Sunday, April 30 at 3pm
at the Community Center

It's been said that this is the piece in which Debussy became Debussy. What do we mean by musical impressionism? We'll deconstruct this radiant quartet, which teeters between standard 19th-century French structural music and the impressionism of the Nocturnes and La Mer.
Companion concert: Brentano String Quartet, May 26.

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21 GRAMS Screening

Actress Melissa Leo Featured at Library Benefit

Tuesday, April 18 at 8pm
at the Rosendale Theatre
Cocktail Party at the Alamo at 6:30pm

Stone Ridge resident actress Melissa Leo will be the featured guest at the Stone Ridge Library’s spring fundraising event, a screening of the film 21 Grams on Tuesday, April 18 at 8 p.m. at the Rosendale Theatre. A pre-screening cocktail party at the Alamo Restaurant at 6:30 will provide an opportunity for guests to discuss the film with Ms. Leo.

Melissa Leo is best known for her starring role as Detective Kay Howard on the award-winning NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street. She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for her role as Linda Warner on ABC’s All My Children. In addition to Ms. Leo’s television credits, she has also performed in several theatre productions and films, most recent among them 21 Grams, in which she portrayed Marianne Jordon, Benicio Del Toro’s suffering, yet supportive, wife, to much critical acclaim.

Audiences worldwide took notice of Melissa Leo for her fine portrayal of Rachel in Tommy Lee Jones’ directorial debut in the Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, which won numerous awards in 2005 at Cannes and other film festivals.

A few of Leo's many film credits include Patch, co-starring Deborah Harry, Runaway, co-starring Aaron Stanford and Robin Tunney and Hide and Seek with Robert DeNiro and Dakota Fanning.

Ms. Leo will be starring opposite David Strathairn in Racing Daylight, which begins shooting locally in, May. The film is written, produced and co-directed by Nicole Quinn of BlueBarnProductions, a member of Actors and Writers and Town of Rochester liaison to the Stone Ridge Library Board. The film took “First Fifteen” in the Tanglewood Film Festival in 2003.

The cocktail party will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will include complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. A suggested donation of $20 per person, $35 for two, will benefit the library. Reservations are suggested but not required, and can be made by calling the library at 687-8726 or 687-7023.

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"The Art and Pleasures of
Reading Poetry,
the First Language
of Humankind"

with writer and teacher Rosemary Deen

Saturdays, April 8, 15, 22, 29
1:30-3:30pm in the Library Reference Room

We'll read a few glorious poems, revel in them, and learn to discover tham at work! Please sign up at the library, or call 687 8726.

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Volunteers Needed for the 60th Annual LIBRARY FAIR

This year's Library Fair will take place on Saturday, June 10 from 11am-3pm. We are putting the Fair together this year without a Fair Chair, so it will be smaller, but just as much fun! Please volunteer to help us get ready for the Fair, or sign up to work at a booth on Fair day, or both! Sign up on line or in the Library.

Right now we're sorting books on Saturdays from 1:30-3pm, stop in to help. We are accepting book donations and toys. We are also accepting rummage and gift items for our year round Brown Bag Boutique and Attic Boutique. If you are interested in these items, visit us year round when the library is open. We won't have rummage or Eleanor's Emporium in the yard this year on Fair day.

Our raffle will be replace this year by four 50-50 drawings, one per hour.

As we get closer to June, please keep us in mind when hou have garden divisions to spare. Our plant booth is always a favorite! See you soon!

Click here to sign up online. For further information call the Library at 687-8726.

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Sherlock Holmes Book Club

Experience Victorian England through the eyes of Sherlock Holmes in our new book club. Mike Wallace is adding a new book club at the Library. The Sherlock Holmes reading group will meet every two months, and will have its first organizational meeting on Wednesday, April 19th at 6:30pm. Join us!

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Knitting Group

Saturdays, April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
10am-Noon at the Library

Our knitting group meets every Saturday in the Library's Reference room. All levels are welcome.

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On the Shelves

Poughkeepsie Journal 3.5.06 Frank Rees

Don't let these Titles Fall Through the Cracks Unread

On the Shelves is a monthly column by a rotating list of mid-Hudson Valley library directors who comment on notable books coming to your local public library.

New book collections at local public libraries contain a vast potpourri of great books for all types of readers. These four titles, both new fiction and nonfiction, represent some of the best, but often overlooked, books arriving at libraries in Dutchess County.

The Dream Life of Sukhanov, by Olga Grushin; G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Steeped in the tradition of Gogol, Bulgakov and Nabokov, The Dream Life of Sukhanov tells the story of Anatoly Sukhanov. A brilliant artist nearly 25 years ago, Sukhanov trades his precarious existence as an underground artist for the perks and comforts of a high-ranking Soviet apparatchik. Grushin tells the story of Sukhanov's betrayal of his talent, his friends and his principles by blurring the boundaries between reality and nightmare with series of dream sequences that may or may not be in real time. The result is a virtuoso performance that is original, startling and haunting.

The Thin Place," by Kathryn Davis; Little, Brown & Co.

The Thin Place combines elements that ought to be unmixable - metaphysics, psychology and suspense - as we meet Mees Kipp and her friends who live in the small New England town of Vareness. Worlds mix together According to legend, Vareness is a "thin place" where the almost nonexistent membrane separating this world from the spirit world thrives. Davis' novel is delightful, witty, surprise-filled and profoundly original.

Summer Crossing, by Truman Capote; Random House.

In late 2004, the handwritten manuscript, Summer Crossing, was found in a trove of Truman Capote papers slated for a Sotheby's auction. Started in 1943 and long considered lost by Capote scholars and biographers, Summer Crossing is set in post-World War II New York and revolves around young socialite Grady McNeil, whose parents leave her alone in their Fifth Avenue penthouse for the summer. Filled with hard irony, this must-read novel points to all Capote's future literary triumphs.

Warriors: Portraits from the Battlefield, by Max Hastings; Knopf.

In this nonfiction title, Hastings documents the experiences of 14 soldiers and airmen who fought in the wars of the 19th and 20th centuries. Warriors is a very readable book that captures the commitment of servicemen and women with a powerful and entertaining narrative.

Frank Rees is the Assistant Director of the Howland Public Library in Beacon. He was the Director of the Hudson Area Association for 11 years and has written collection development articles for Library Journal. Can't decide on what to read? Visit midhudson for links to lists of titles that might attract your interest.

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Ulster's Drastic Library Funds Cut
has Dour Impact

Poughkeepsie Journal - 3.17.06 -
By Michael Woyton

KINGSTON - To Gloria Lipton, the state of a library speaks volumes about the municipality in which it's located. "The library is the linchpin of the community," the Kingston resident said. "If you diminish [the library], you are diminishing the soul of the community."

Lipton is not pleased the Ulster County Legislature has reduced funding to county libraries by 50 percent for 2006. The libraries will receive $100,000 this year, said James Cosgrove, vice president of the Ulster County Library Association and director of the Marlboro Free Library.

The county libraries received $230,000 two years ago and took a 13 percent cut last year, down to $200,000. "It's just going in the wrong direction," Cosgrove said.

As a result, the 21 county libraries will receive about $5,000 this year, with facilities serving larger populations, such as Kingston, getting a little more, he said.

The Marlboro library board voted to close the building Sundays to keep from cutting purchases, Cosgrove said. The library is part of the Mid-Hudson Library System, so patrons can order books from other libraries if they are not on Marlboro's shelves.

Cosgrove doesn't think it is fair to make the other libraries pick up the slack. "That just moves the pain to someone else," he said.

County Legislator Susan Zimet, D-New Paltz, said only $184,000 in funding for nonprofit organizations was approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature last year, with a mandated 50 percent reduction in funding for each group. Nearly $730,000 was requested originally.

The Arts, Education, Tourism and Community Relations Committee, of which she is the chairwoman, got the onerous task of dividing up the amount. Some organizations got nothing. Many programs were cut more than 50 percent, Zimet said.

"The libraries were the only organizations that did not get cut from where they started," she said. They ended up with two-thirds of the money.

Zimet said this was not a great situation, coming on the heels of a 39 percent tax increase and a $12 million cost overrun for the Ulster County Jail, originally projected to cost $72 million.

"I think it's a real shame that we as a county are spending so much on a jail," she said. "I truly believe the not-for-profits all provide the groundwork you need not to end up in the county jail. Our money should be going to them."

The Kingston Library's budget was reduced by nearly $17,000 to make up for the shortfall. The original budget was $578,000, Director Bruce George said. Magazines to take hit

Purchases for adults and children and magazines will be reduced by 30 percent, he said. Adult programs will be cut in half, but children's events will remain.

"This is not good for us," George said. "It's not good for the public." Kingston resident Richard Cripe said the reduced funding will hurt lower-income people who rely on libraries for books and DVDs.

"Unfortunately, we are cutting services to something that is so helpful to so many people," he said.

Contract Agencies appeal for funding

Ulster County Press 3.15.06 Andrew Hickey

Ulster County lawmakers' recent decision to make drastic funding cuts to several dozen contract agencies is necessary, unfortunate and final, one county legislator said, but two agencies are not going down without a ruckus.

The Ulster School to Work Partnership requested $60,000 in funding from county coffers for 2006 and, much to the dismay of dozens of supporters who showed up for the March 8 vote, got nothing. "If we lose our funding," School to Work President Nancy Lynch said to a packed legislative chamber, "it will close our doors."

The Ulster County Library Association, which earned the largest award of $100,000 this year - 50 percent less than 2005 - fired off a press release dated March 7 that warned lawmakers' of the service cuts library patrons, including some county agencies, would face if funding wasn't restored.

"It's always a shame when we have a situation where disgruntled patrons have to complain to their legislators on our behalf," Jody Ford, the Association's secretary, said in the press release. "I think legislators forget that library patrons are voters."

Legislator Alan Lomita, D-Rosendale, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said funding for these agencies was never designed to be permanent. "We were supposed to be temporarily funding these groups until they got on their feet," Lomita said. "There is no open door here. This is over for this year."

But both Lynch and Library Association Vice President James Cosgrove saidtheir agencies perform a wide range of services to people across the county and they do it in partnership with the county.

Cosgrove's agency was awarded almost twice as much as all the other agencies combined. But, he said, with 21 libraries in the association that leaves around $5,000 a piece. "It's spin to compare us to other agencies," Cosgrove said. "We're serving a really wide cross section of the public."

Lynch said the Ulster County's School to Work Partnership is the last of its kind in New York State. Federal funding for the program dried up in 1999 and further funding ended in 2001. "Of the 59 (partnerships) in New York, we are the only one left," Lynch said. "This organization has been here for 10 years. To see it disappear in a heartbeat is sickening." But, according to some legislators, School to Work shouldn't have to disappear.

"I would hope that the school districts and businesses in Ulster County would understand the value of this program and its services and find a way to fund it," Legislator Susan Zimet, D-New Paltz and head of the Budget Reform Subcommittee, said.

Zimet said that the county's contract agencies - 17 of which saw their funding disappear and 16 whose funding was significantly curtailed - should remember that it was a Legislature under Republican control that made theses cuts necessary. "Democrats inherited this problem," she said. "Republicans passed this budget and Republicans put us in the financial place we're in."

Zimet said county Republicans, who have held the majority in the Ulster County Legislature for most of its existence, used the county's fund balance to offset tax increases over the years and now, after taxpayers were thrown a nearly 40 percent tax increase this year, spending needs to be cut to avoid similar hikes in the future.

Lynch said she is still holding out hope that the county will find some way to fund the School to Work Partnership, but in the meantime "we're trying to come up with creative ways to augment funding." She said the board of directors for the program is scheduled to meet and assess the situation.

Cosgrove said the library association is leaning toward a more aggressive stance in publicizing its worth to the county. "Now we really have to take more political action," he said. "We need to let the Legislature know we're a group to be reckoned with. We're being a little aggressive because we want to be paid attention to."

One Year Anniversary of our eNewsletter

We've learned a lot but there's a lot more to learn about this web page business. Let us know what you'd like to see in our Library eNewsletter. E-Mail us at Webmaster

GREAT WEBSITES!

National Garden Month

"April is National Garden Month, a time to celebrate making our lives greener." The site features materials to help commemorate this event in your community. Includes instructions for activities (such as growing herbs in pots and making plant-based dyes), a calendar of garden-related events, and articles on topics such as community gardens, eating well, and security of our food supply. From the National Gardening Association (NGA). more

National Kite Month

National Kite Month in April is "a month-long celebration of those things at the end of the strings." The site features a calendar of events, materials for organizing an event, an overview and timeline of kite history, materials for teachers (including four simple kite plans and images of kites from around the world), and games and activities for children. From a nonprofit venture co-founded by the American Kitefliers Association and the Kite Trade Association International. more

Pharming: Is Your Trusted Web Site a Clever Fake?

Brief questions and answers about "pharming," the Internet scam in which "criminal hackers redirect Internet traffic from one Web site to a different, identical-looking site in order to trick you into entering your user name and password into the database on their fake site." The term is spelled with a "ph" because it is "part of an underground slang system." From Microsoft. more

African American Popular Fiction Writers

This booklist provides a starting pointing for finding black authors of romance, mystery, science fiction, and other popular fiction works. List is in alphabetical order by author, with notations for the genre of works. Some of the authors listed include Octavia Butler, Samuel R. Delaney, Tananarive Due, Terry McMillan, Walter Mosley, and Alice Walker. From Onondaga County Public Library, New York. more

Ask.Com

(Formerly Ask Jeeves.) Ask.com is a search engine that allows users to enter questions in plain English. Includes a helpful "narrow your search" feature. Ask.com has significantly improved and should be high on any information seeker's list of first places to find answers and websites. more

Google Scholar

Beta version of this Internet search tool that "provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations." From Google. more

Growing Stronger: Strength Training For Older Adults

This presentation describes the benefits of strengthening exercises for older adults, and provides guidance in starting and maintaining a strength-training program. The "Exercises" section features step-by-step instructions and animated drawings for each of the exercises. Also includes a physical activity readiness questionnaire to help determine if you should check with your doctor before you start. From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). more

Instructables

This site provides "a step-by-step collaboration system that helps you record and share your projects with a mixture of images, text, ingredient lists, CAD files, and more." Includes instructions for hundreds of projects, many that are technology related (such as making a robot from a computer mouse and building a portable light) and others that are not (such as constructing a marshmallow gun from plastic pipes.) From an engineering design and technology innovation company. more

Chuck Shepherd's News of the Weird

Approximately six-months of archived columns from this syndicated feature on strange and bizarre news items, involving crimes, medicine, science, government actions, arts and entertainment, strange-but-true stories, confusing headlines, and more. Some of the ongoing themes include police blotter items, "Least Competent Criminals," and "Undignified Deaths." more

Oddly Enough

Strange-but-true news from the news wire, on celebrities, crimes and criminals, ordinary people, lawsuits, government, scientific studies, and more. Includes some video clips and a months' worth of archived stories. From Reuters. more

eBird

This is an "on-line checklist project where you can enter and store your bird observations in a central database, track your personal records, and share your observations with other birders and scientists." The central database is used by those "who want to know more about the distributions and movement patterns of birds across [North America]." Requires free (but fairly detailed) registration to use "My eBird." From Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. more

Lambda Literary Foundation

Find lists of winners of these literary awards for books by gay and lesbian writers and with gay and lesbian themes. Some of the award categories include fiction, poetry, mysteries, science fiction, biographies, memoirs, humor, religion, transgender, and titles for children and young adults. Lists go back to 1988 and include finalists for the current year. more

The Lulu Blooker Prize

"The Lulu Blooker Prize is the world's first literary prize devoted to 'blooks': books based on blogs or websites." Awards are given in three categories: fiction, nonfiction, and comics. Includes submission information and the current short-list for each category. Judges for the award are well respected in the blogging, technology, and writing communities. Award-winners are announced in April. From a provider of print-on-demand books, including "blooks." more

Dear Miss Breed: Letters from Camp

A retrospective of San Diego Public Library children's librarian Clara Breed, who became "a lifeline to the outside world" for Japanese American children relocated during World War II to internment camps. Breed "distributed stamped and addressed postcards to her young friends, asking them to write to her and describe their life in camp." The site documents life in the camps with letters, photographs, and audio and video files. From the Japanese American National Museum. more

wwiTV: World Wide Internet TV

This independent guide to Web TV provides links to live and on demand television broadcasts from over 100 countries. Includes music, sports, and news outlets. Available in several languages. more

San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection: Great Fire and Earthquake of 1906

"The San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection contains over 1,700 digitized images of the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. These images depict scenes taken both during and after the three-day event, and include neighborhoods, buildings, refugee camps, and the process of reconstruction." Photos are browsable by subject. From the San Francisco Public Library. more

1906 Earthquake Refugee Shacks

Details about the history and current condition of small cottages built in western San Francisco to house refugees following the 1906 earthquake and fire. "Of 5,610 shacks built in 1906-1907 only 27 remain." Includes historic photos, addresses for shacks still in existence, and images and additional material for selected homes. From the Western Neighborhoods Project, "a nonprofit organization formed to preserve and share the history and culture of the neighborhoods in western San Francisco." more

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Contact Us

Phone: 687-7023

E-Mail: Webmaster

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