Saturday, January 31, 2009

What's Black About the Negro Leagues?

Join us at the Madden Hills branch library on Saturday, Feb. 07 at 2:00 PM to take a look at the fabled history of baseball's Negro Leagues, which featured larger than life players like Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, and "Cool Papa" Bell. Did the Negro Leaguers play ball in the same way, with the same intent and meaning, as their white contemporaries? Peter Rutkoff, Professor and Chair of American Studies at Kenyon College, will look at the cultural style and rhetoric of Negro League baseball.

Prepare for the program with one of these fine volumes on the subject:

Shades of Glory: the Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American baseball



The Negro Leagues Chronology

Friday, January 30, 2009

Meet the "Quilt Detective"

Sue Cummings, author of Album Quilts of Ohio's Miami Valley, has spent 35 years investingating the local quilting scene. Hear the story of her adventures and learn how these quilts offer insight into community life in our region between 1888 and 1918 at the Main Library this Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 7:00 PM.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Getting to Know You

If you are trying to get to know our new president, reading his books would be a good place to start. The library has Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope in a variety of formats, including downloadable e-books and the Grammy-winning audiobooks. We even have The Audacity of Hope in Spanish! We also have Barack Obama: Speeches 2002-2006 and last year's Change We Can Believe In: Barack Obama's Plan to Renew America's Promise, which is also available in downloadable and audiobook form.

If you have read those, or you prefer a different route, what better way to get to know how somebody thinks than to read the books that they read? During the primaries, then-Senator Obama was spotted carrying Fareed Zakaria's The Post-American World, a book about the shifting balance of power as countries like China, India, and Brazil gain influence.

A list compiled by AbeBooks.com gives the titles W.E.B. DuBois' Souls of Black Folk, Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory and The Quiet American, Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook, Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls (also a favorite of Senator McCain), and John Steinbeck's In Dubious Battle among books that our new president has listed as significant for him. Shakespeare and Mark Twain are also among his favorite authors.

- Kristen, Main Library

Monday, January 26, 2009

The Best Family Slow Cooker Recipes

Now that mid-winter has arrived, it is nice to have some slow cooker recipes to warm us up. The Best Family Slow Cooker Recipes by Donna-Marie Pye brings us just that. The soup chapter offers Dutch Farmer Bean Soup and a Meaty Minestrone. The Poultry chapter gives recipes for a favorite—Turkey Tetrazzini, as well as something more original, Tex-Mex Turkey Pancake. This book offers a Meatless Main chapter including Slow Cooked Macaroni and Cheese. Other chapters offer recipes on Beef and Veal, Pork and Lamb, and Grains and Side dishes. A dessert chapter rounds things out. So, if you are looking for some comfort food this winter, this is the place to turn.

Mary Ellen Elvers - Main Library

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Don't Act Your Age

Research shows that humor plays a positive role in our health and longevity, and that we shouldn't look at our age as a defining factor in what we can and cannot do. This entertaining talk includes ideas on staying healthy and maintaining a positive outlook on life. Our presenter is Anne Holaday, of the College for Lifelong Learning at Sinclair Community College.

You have three chances to catch this great program:

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Feeling Cold? Turn Up the Hot Stove!

It may be cold outside, but nothing warms the hearts of baseball fans like the hot stove discussions of the previous and upcoming seasons.

If you’re like me, you may wonder where the term “hot stove” comes from. Simply put, it’s an expression of baseball fans hovering around a hot stove to keep themselves warm while they discuss baseball in the winter months. In his 2003 book Why Is The Foul Pole Fair?, Vince Staten explores this and many other baseball-isms with fascinating and wonderful detail. Set against the backdrop of a Cincinnati Reds game, Staten covers everything from the innovations of equipment from the earliest days to today, how box scores began, why the foul pole really is fair, what really goes inside a hot dog, and much, much more. He also follows Dayton Daily News and Baseball Hall of Famer Hal McCoy on the typical day of a baseball beat writer.

For numbers crunchers, ESPN’s Jason Stark provides The Stark Truth in which he discusses the most over – and under – rated players in baseball history. You think Steve Garvey was all that and a bag of chips at first? Stark says think again and offers Hank Greenberg as an option. Peter Keating’s Dingers! is all about the long ball. It goes far beyond Barry Bonds passing Hank Aaron and helps one to appreciate the factors that go into arguably the most exciting scoring play of a game.

For a truly unique and inside perspective of the game, Ron Luciano’s The Umpire Strikes Back cannot be beat. Written by Luciano after umpiring in the Major Leagues for twelve-years, this book provides a new insight into the men fans love to hate: the umpires. Ron explains how he got into baseball and worked his way through the minor leagues, his technique of getting angry managers and players to talk about anything but the play they’re upset about, and how his most famous rival, Baltimore manager Earl Weaver, became the thorn in his blue-suited side for many years to come. You’ll be wary to bad mouth an ump after reading this one for the simple fact that you might not hate them as much.

Happy reading and go Reds. (Hey, I can dream, can’t I?)

-Jason, Miami Township Branch

Thursday, January 15, 2009

We Still Make House Calls!

Do you know someone who would love to borrow books, CDs or DVDs from the library, but can’t leave home? Dayton Metro Library has the perfect solution – Homebound Service. Every three weeks, we’ll bring anything that checks out from the library; you can make specific requests or ask us to choose for you from general topics. It doesn’t matter if you need us on a temporary or permanent basis – we’re here to help. Call Outreach Services at 496-8956 for more information or to sign up!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Stuff We Found While Weeding

Swimming the American Crawl, Johnny Weissmuller. Yes, you read the author’s name correctly — Johnny Weissmuller, the original Tarzan. But before he was famous for yodeling and swinging through trees he was famous for breaking swimming records. He won five Olympic gold medals and set sixty-seven world records. So I guess he knew a thing or two about swimming.

Cybernetic Serendipity: the Computer and the Arts, Jasia Reichardt. The title won’t grab you but the date might: 1968. This book contains examples of very early forays into computer art. I almost said primitive computer art, but many of these works are remarkably sophisticated given the state of computer programming in those days. Opening pages show some of the actual equipment used to produce the art. This alone will give any youngster under the age of, say, 40 some idea why most people back then sagely told themselves nothing would ever come of this “computer craze.”

Hawaii Says Aloha, Don Blanding, illustrated by the author. This is a pleasant collection of poems about life in Hawaii, which is a nice enough thing to contemplate on a cold January day. But what really sets this book apart is the illustrations, all vintage woodcuts by the author. Sprinkled among the poetry are little vignettes of island people and creatures, but suddenly a two-page spread explodes with colorful plantlife or mythic scenes from Hawaii’s past. A real surprising find!

Sue - Main Library

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Curious About Classical?

Have you been meaning to explore classical music? Are you interested in composers, but don’t know where to begin? Do you find that the liner notes of your classical CD’s are lacking in detail? Dayton Metro Library has a series of books that are perfect for budding listeners as well as more experienced classical music fans.

The Unlocking the Masters series of books offers insight into the lives and works of twelve of the world’s most famous composers, including Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, and Mahler. Each book begins with some background information to put the work in a sort of cultural context, then dissects each piece of music in rich, descriptive language. If you aren’t familiar with some of the terms, don’t worry- there is an extensive glossary in the back of the book.

What really makes these books special is the full length audio CD included with each volume. Not only do you learn what the composer wrote, and why, but you get to actually hear the end result. Regardless of your level of knowledge, this series is sure to bring you closer to the music and the people who composed it.

- Zachary Hill, Main Library

Monday, January 12, 2009

Presidential Inaugurations

As another Inauguration Day approaches, maybe your thoughts are turning to presidential history. Here are some samples of what the library can offer to help you look back at days you might remember and learn about those before any of our lifetimes.

Presidential Inaugurations by Paul F. Boller. 973.099 B691PI 2001

The Presidents Speak: The Inaugeral Addresses of the American Presidents, from Washington to Clinton. 353.035 UPRPI

Sounding the Trumpet: The Making of John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address, by Richard J. Tofel. 352.2386 T644S 2005

Lincoln's Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural by Ronald C. White, Jr. 973.709 W587L 2002


- Kristen, Main Library

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Learn From the Less-Than-Perfect

One of my writing professors in college told the class that we could learn more from a poorly written book than from the classics of literature. I’m pretty sure he was quoting someone (E M Forster’s Aspects of the Novel or maybe Brenda Ueland’s If You Want to Write…college was a long time ago). I believe the thought behind the instruction was that if as aspiring writers we read some less than expertly written fictions, we would be able to see how the authors did what they did & do them one (or more) better. If you want to improve your writing, you can read those two great books of instruction mentioned above…and then read some bad fiction.

Wait…before you relax with a bad book here are a few more good books of writing instruction: John Gardner’s Art of Fiction, Anne Bernays’s What If?, Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, Stephen King’s On Writing, and Dorthea Brande’s Becoming a Writer (available through MORE).

OK, with that solid foundation, you’re ready for some fiction with flaws. Some titles that make the NYT Bestseller’s list qualify—just because everyone’s reading it doesn’t make it good—and I’ll suggest a couple of books, but first 1) these are books I found wanting, others might like them; 2) not every book by these authors is bad, everyone has off days; and 3) please, no ankle kicking if you have read them and liked them: Robin Cook’s Abduction, James Patterson’s Daniel X: Alien Hunter (graphic novel), Kate DiCamillo’s Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Dean Koontz’s The Mask or Dragon Tears, Patricia Cornwell’s At Risk…there are more out there, I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding them.


Tim C. - Main Library

Last Night at the Lobster

At only 146 pages, Last Night at the Lobster is a great read for the time-challenged among us. Manny is closing down the Red Lobster he has managed because the location is a chronic underperformer. Spend a cold winter evening with him as he struggles to make sense of the people and events around him. Another recommended title by this author, Stewart O'Nan, is The Night Country, a beautifully executed and truly haunting story of loss and regret narrated by the ghosts of three teenage car accident victims.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Wild Weeds at Our National Parks

The National Parks Service has a great website with regularly updated information on all the parks across the country and the history of the Parks Service and the parks themselves. It’s great if you are planning a vacation (or if you have a child who has to do a project on one of the parks!) If you are interested in nature and science, that section of the site alone will keep you interested and entertained for days!

But my favorite part of the site at this time of year is “Weeds Gone Wild: Alien Plant Invaders of Natural Areas,” a web-based project of the Plant Conservation Alliance's Alien Plant Working Group. (File that under Government projects you never knew existed!)…might sound a little frivolous, but spend some time reading the fact sheets and look at the damage that “alien” and “invasive” plants can do to the environment. Fascinating!

You might wonder why I said “at this time of year” above…well, every year the APWG creates a calendar which highlights a different alien plant species with each month. That would be interesting enough…but they do it with humor. 2008’s calendar pictures were all fake movie posters, December was “The GIANT Salvinia” 2009 is fake magazine covers “Plante Nasty Invader” (instead of Conde Nast Traveler). Funny and informative (and often pretty)! All you need is Adobe Acrobat and this link to print yourself a great FREE calendar…if you didn’t get too many for Christmas!

Tim C. - Main Library

Friday, January 9, 2009

Kill Bin Laden

In Kill Bin Laden, Delta Force Commander “Dalton Fury” gives his first hand account of the events that transpired during the hunt for Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora in late 2001. Fury’s writing gives the reader an inside glimpse of the ultra secretive Delta Force counterterrorism unit and the skills and expertise of the commandos that make up the unit. Even more intriguing is Fury’s explanation of how Bin Laden was able to slip out of eastern Afghanistan and across the border to Pakistan. Shaky alliances with Afghani warlords, unreliable Mujahideen support, shaky alliances between the United States, Pakistan, and Afghanistan; and the reluctance of top military commanders to install American commandos at the frontlines all hampered Delta’s mission to kill the most wanted man in the world.

Despite the odds stacked against them, Delta commandoes were able to clear out enemy forces in Tora Bora; something the Soviets were unable to accomplish in a decade of warfare. Also checkout Fury’s interview about his book on 60 Minutes. An accompanying website for Kill Bin Laden is available at http://daltonfury.com/index.html .


Jared - Main Library

Free Your Ears with Librivox

Audiobook fans (with Internet access) rejoice! You can now download free audio books to listen to on your computer or burn to CDs. (The files are probably a bit large for your portable device; but if you have the memory, go to town!)


There are tons of sites on the Internet that say they offer free audio books. Some offer one book free a month, and you pay for the rest. Some force you to subscribe to their service. Some just don't work at all. Librivox.org is the real deal. (That is all you need to type into your browser's address bar, no www or http:// needed). Started in 2005, Librivox makes use of volunteer readers who read works that are considered public domain (When an author copyrights their work, the copyright only lasts for so long. Right now almost anything written before 1923 is considered public domain. Anyone can use a public domain text in any way they want to). The volunteer readers record themselves reading a chapter or a short story or a whole novel, and Librivox makes that recording available for free online. Some works even have multiple editions recorded.


Alcott, Wodehouse, Burroughs, Verne, Gaskell, Dickens, Austen, Twain, Baldwin...the list of authors goes on and on. There is Science Fiction (Andre Norton) and Mystery (Wilkie Collins) and Children's Fiction (L. Frank Baum's OZ books, Lucy Maude Montgomery, and Frances Hodgson Burnett). Librivox even has collections of short works by various authors. You can search by author or title or genre or reader or language.


Once you fall in love with the site...you can even volunteer. Your voice reading your favorite classic novel will the be preserved for all of posterity to download and enjoy!

Libraries on the Radio

On Wednesday, January 7th, NPR's The Diane Rehm Show did a segment on the role of libraries in economic hard times. If you missed it, you can listen to it here on the WAMU website: http://wamu.org/programs/dr/09/01/07.php#24509

Thursday, January 8, 2009

HOBITS Rule!

Thank you to our volunteer HOBITS (Historical Obituary Indexers) for a great year in 2008. Thirteen dedicated volunteers spent a total of 823.1 hours adding names to our Dayton Obituary Index. Our staff members have also spent quite a few hours on this, although we did not track the number of hours that staff spent. In 2008 we completed adding names from the Dayton Daily Journal or Dayton Daily News for 1907, 1928, 1929 and 2008. We worked on, and are still working on 1906, 1908, 1930, 1931, 1934, and 1956. You can see that individual HOBITS and staff members were assigned different years to extract and enter.

In addition, we worked on an index to World War II casualties from the Miami Valley. This is not yet complete, but we have found quite a few interesting tidbits along the way by examining these clippings. For example, a number of Marines who died on Iwo Jima were from the Dayton area. Quite a number of local civilians and military personnel were Prisoners of War in the Philippines. There were a number of write-ups on nuns, priests, and Catholic missionaries who were affiliated with the University of Dayton (St. Mary’s College) who were among these POWs. One notable POW was Ruth Stoltz, a military nurse who, I am happy to report, was liberated and later taught at the Miami Valley Hospital School of Nursing. It is sobering to see how the casualties mounted as the war escalated. We are now working on 1944 and we see the local death count rise.

If you are not familiar with the Dayton Obituary Index view it at:

http://www.daytonmetrolibrary.org/HobitsForm.cfm .

When the index is complete it will cover 1850 to present day.

Obituaries listed there can be viewed on the microfilm at the main library or requested by sending citation information to: magazines@daytonmetrolibrary.org .

Obituary requests are a VERY popular service of the library and staff sent thousands of obituaries in 2008 to all over the world, in addition to the many researchers who came to our library to obtain the obituaries themselves.

If anyone is interested in being a HOBIT volunteer please contact Shawna Woodard, genealogy librarian, at 496-8653 or swoodard@daytonmetrolibrary.org


- Shawna Woodard, Genealogy Librarian
Main Library

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Shiny New Toys!

We're thrilled with what found under the tree here at DML! Shiny new laptop computers. They even have wireless internet connections! Come play with these great new toys in our recently-opened computer lab at the Main Library. We're offering the following classes FREE:

Register at 937-463-2665

Jan. 12, 3:00 PM - "Using the Library's Website and Catalog": An introduction to the DML website and online catalog. Learn how to search, renew items, access databases, and download media.

Jan. 13, 7:00 PM - "Introduction to Word": The basics of Microsoft Word. Learn menus and toolbars. Practice creating and editing a simple document.

Jan. 14, 10:00 AM - "Online Job Hunting": Hands-on experience in exploring career options and searching and applying for jobs online.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Get Hyp!

Did you know that hypnotherapy can help you quit smoking, achieve your weight loss goals, and overcome stress? Come to a one-hour seminar called "Using Hypnotherapy to Create a Better You" and learn how hypnotherapy can empower you to achieve your goals. The Huber Heights branch library is hosting Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 6:30 PM. Our presenter, Kelvin Love, is a board certified hypnotherapist.



Brush up on the subject before you go with this new book: De-stress your life in 7 easy steps.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Here or There?

Come join us at the Kettering-Moraine branch library for a one-hour workshop on life transitions. Jean Weaver, MS, and experienced life coach, will present advice on understanding the inherent losses in a situation and seeing the possibilities of new opportunities - Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 7:00 PM.


For more on life transitions, check out these books:

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Across the Pond

This year's Man-Booker Prize, reserved for authors hailing from the Commonwealth, was awarded to Aravind Adiga for his debut novel, The White Tiger. The book is written as a series of letters from a one-time Indian taxi driver to the Premier of China with the intention of imparting to him lessons in entrepreneurship and democracy. The White Tiger has been lauded for its narrative vitality as well as its unflinching look at the wealth disparity among the people of "rising" India. Of course, we also stock the 2007 winner, The Gathering, by Anne Enright. An Irish family epic, the book records the travails of the Hegarty clan via middle-aged sister Veronica as she deals with the drowning death of an elder brother, Liam.
 
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