Monday, June 29, 2009

Fabulous Fondues: Appetizers, Main Courses & Desserts

If you’re looking for something fun to liven-up a Summer Party, Fabulous Fondues is the book for you. Fabulous Fondues is a great source for information about fondue as well as some really great recipes for all kinds of different fondues. There are nine chapters of recipes in this book, and each deals with a different type of fondue. The first deals with what most people think of when they think of fondue: cheese fondue. “Beer and Cheese Fondue” sounds great for a party outdoors. There are even three pizza fondue recipes. For the vegetarians in your crowd, there is a whole chapter on vegetable fondues, such as “Sweet Corn Fondue.” A recipe for cocktail sauce is included in the chapter with recipes to go with meat. In the final chapter “Topping the Meal” the author offers several chocolate fondue recipes as well as dessert “dunkables” including several different pastries and fresh fruit.

-- Mary Ellen, Main Library

Friday, June 26, 2009

Theatrific

The Human Race Theatre Company production of Ethel Waters: His Eye is on the Sparrow opened on the eleventh and is continuing through the twenty-eighth. If you are interested but can’t make it to the show, or if you’ve seen it and want to learn more, get His Eye is on the Sparrow: an Autobiography from the library.




The Lion in Winter opened on the nineteenth and is running Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees through the twenty-eighth. If seeing it once there isn’t enough, check out the movie starring Peter O’Toole and Katherine Hepburn. The library also has the script of the play.



Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins at Beavercreek Community Theatre is running the same dates as The Lion in Winter. The Broadway Cast Recording, which includes not only all of the music but selections of the dialogue as well, is available at the library. If you see the show and enjoy it, you may also want to read Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell, who discusses the musical in the introduction.

-- Kristen, Main Library

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Red Rally!

For Ohio Libraries
Thursday, June 25
4:00 PM
Centerville Library
111 W. Spring Valley Road, 45458
Wear Red and Attend!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Statehouse Rally

There will be a Save Ohio Libraries rally Thursday, June 25 at 11:30 A.M. at the Statehouse in Columbus. Wear red and bring you library card!

Montgomery county residents may find it easier to attend the Red Rally at the Washington Centerville Public Library Thursday, June 25 at4:00 P.M. Location: 111 W. Spring Valley Road. Supporters are asked to wear red for this event as well.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Rally for the Cause!


A public rally is being held Wednesday to protest Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed budget cuts, which include a 50 percent reduction in public library funding.

This is the primary funding source for public libraries in Ohio.

The budget decision must be made by June 30, and may happen sooner. The "Save Our Libraries" rally will take place at 11 a.m. at the Loveland Branch Library, 649 Loveland-Madeira Road.


For more information, contact Phyllis Hegner at phyllis.hegner@cincinnatilibrary.org or 513-369-4571.


London Public Library - *RALLY on the LAWN - Show your support on Wednesday, June 24, 6:30 pm.


The Portsmouth Library will be closing at 12:00pm on Wednesday, June 24th for the "Save Our Libraries" rally which will take place on the front lawn at 1:00pm. We will re-open at 3:00pm after the rally.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Library Funding Update

The Ohio Library Council has published an article which covers all the details and implications of the enormous threat to the state's libraries that has emerged over the weekend. You can read the whole article here.

"Public libraries in Ohio are funded primarily through the Public Library Fund (PLF), which receives 2.2% of the state's tax revenue. Since 2001, public library funding has been on the decline. As a result of the current downturn in the economy and decreasing state tax revenues, public libraries are currently experiencing a drop in funding from the Public Library Fund (PLF) estimated at 20% or more as compared to 2008. At a news conference on Friday, June 19, the Governor proposed an additional cut in the PLF of $112.5 million in fiscal year 2010 and $114.8 million in 2011 as part of his "framework" to fill the $3.2 billion gap in the budget that must be balanced by Ohio General Assembly's Conference Committee by June 30. This will mean a more than 50% cut in funding for many of Ohio 's public libraries." - Ohio Library Council.

Also check out this new Ohio libraries advocacy blog.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Library Funding on the Chopping Block

From Library Journal :

Ohio Governor Proposes Halving State Support; Many Libraries Could Close

Library aid would be cut by $227 million over two years

Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 6/19/2009

  • $3.2 billion budget gap
  • Libraries' cut significant
  • 11 days to agree on budget
Trying to close a $3.2 billion gap by June 30, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland today proposed “resiz[ing] state government in line with the shrinking economy,” prioritizing “extremely limited resources toward critical health and safety service,” and—though not saying so in his speech—severely cutting library aid.

See the DML home page for more info and action tips.


To find your state legislators go to: http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/ and just type in your complete 9 number zip code for a link to your state senator and representative.
To find out your complete zip http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Dayton Ghosts

A perfect book arrived last week at the library for fans of Ghost Hunters, which airs weekly on the Sci-Fi Channel. Karen Laven, an author from Northern Kentucky, has just published a new book titled Dayton Ghosts. Laven covers various purportedly haunted locations across the Dayton region including the Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Blair Hall at Sinclair Community College, Stivers School for the Arts, Sycamore Woods Park, and other various locations around greater Dayton. There are even some humorous hauntings included such as the haunted Arbys in Miamisburg. Be sure to also checkout the author’s website at http://www.karenlaven.com.

-- Jared, Main Library

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Almost Vegetarian?

Almost Vegetarian: A Primer for Cooks who are Eating Vegetarian Most of the Time, Chicken & Fish Some of the Time & Altogether Well All of the Time, by Diana Shaw.

This book is great for people who are, for whatever reason, beginning to be careful about what they put on their table. Many of these people are starting by eating less meat. If you or your family are starting to watch what you eat, this book provides information and guidance to help you prepare delicious meals that are also healthy for you. The book begins with a fresh vegetable directory. Information given includes how to choose fresh vegetables and many other useful facts, such as how the vegetable is commonly used, when the peak season is, how to store the vegetable, and how to determine if it is ripe. There are chapters on poultry and fish, but there also are chapters on soups, salads, pasta and risotto, vegetable main dishes, and side dishes that can double as main dishes. The book ends with even more information: a fresh food directory, info on cookware and utensils, and mail order sources for food. The recipes in this book look really good, and almost every one has serving suggestions. All told, this is a very useful book and very pertinent for today.

-- Mary Ellen, Main Library

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

A Good Year for the Short Story

Although we’ve barely reached summer, 2009 has already proven to be a banner year for fans of the short story. Recently A.O. Scott extolled the virtues of the American short story in the New York Times and James Lasdun in the Guardian took a more global approach in praising the current crop of short story collections. In my opinion, this media coverage is well-deserved, but judge for yourself by checking out one of these fine collections that have all been released in the first six months of 2009:

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower

Love and Obstacles by Aleksander Hemon

The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimanda Ngozi Adichie

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin

How It Ended by Jay McInerney




For more suggestions on short stories worth reading, check out http://ireadashortstorytoday.com/.

Monday, June 15, 2009

We Have a Winner!

Last Sunday Dayton area native Alice Ripley won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the rock opera Next to Normal. If you haven’t heard it yet, the original cast recording is on its way to the library, so request it now. You can also hear her on the cast recordings of the 2006 production of The Rocky Horror Show and on the duet album with Emily Skinner Unsuspecting Hearts.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Write a Winning Resume

Don't miss experts from the Montgomery County Job Center as they present "How to Write a Powerful Resume" at 7:00 PM, June 15 at the Belmont branch. This interactive session shows you the what, where, why, and how of resumes. After you get the concepts down, reserve a session at a library PC to write your resume with Winway resume writing software. The library has recently purchases this program which guides you through the resume writing process with a wizard, Autowriter, Resume Auditor, and many other excellent tools. The software also allows you to customize the appearance of your resume with a wide selection of graphical themes. Winway is available for your use free of charge.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Two Similarly Strange and Entertaining Novels

The Unknown Knowns by Jeffrey Rotter and The Great Perhaps by Joe Meno are both stories of characters pursuing equally strange obsessions in unsuccessful attempts to ignore the complexities of their everyday lives. Jim Rath, the protagonist in The Unknown Knowns, dreams of building a museum dedicated to the Aquatic Ape Theory of Human Evolution. While performing underwater experiments at a hotel pool, Jim mistakes a low level Homeland Security agent for an emissary from a lost aquatic race known as Nautikons. Knowing that a living Nautikon would be a great attraction at his museum, Jim follows the agent from hotel to hotel until the story climaxes with an absurd showdown at a dilapidated water park.

In a similar tale of underwater obsession, The Great Perhaps tells the story of Jonathan Casper, head of the odd and crumbling Casper family. While focusing all his energy on searching in vain for a prehistoric giant squid, Jonathan effectively ignores the dysfunction surrounding him, which includes his wife’s failing academic career, his oldest daughter’s first attempts at becoming a teenage revolutionary and his youngest daughter’s wayward search for God. Like The Unknown Knowns, Joe Meno’s The Great Perhaps deftly mixes the absurd with the everyday to create a compelling and humorous novel.

-- Joe, Main Library

Monday, June 8, 2009

Everyone Against Everyone!

German thrash metal masters Kreator toured recently to support their new release, Hordes of Chaos. Their show on a recent Thursday night in Louisville, KY did not disappoint. Opening band Warbringer was outstanding as well, but you get the feeling they are attending a "Thrash 101" clinic when Kreator begins their set. This is the twelfth studio album from Kreator and its critical reception has been quite good. If you came to metal with the early 80s thrash explosion, you will love this record. As great as some of today's non-extreme metal (Lamb of God) is, or as much as you might love death metal or black metal, thrash came first and, if you've been around long enough, you might be tempted to exclaim "that's what I mean when I say metal!" upon the wave of intensity that flows over you as Hordes of Chaos unleashes itself through your speakers.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

65th Anniversary of D-Day

Today marks the 65th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy. President Obama paid tribute recently to the 215,000 Allied soldiers who were killed or wounded during D-Day and the following three months it took to secure the Allied capture of Normandy. Here at the Main Library, there is a book display that pays tribute to the Allied invasion of Normandy 65 years ago. The display is located directly in front of the World War II history books. Titles featured on the D-Day display include works from noted historians Stephen Ambrose, Max Hastings, and Martin Gilbert. We also have a large collection of books and DVDs on the Normandy Invasion by other historians.

--Jared, Main Library

Thursday, June 4, 2009

The Spunky Librarian Checks In

It’s the very end of the school year and a lot of students are in a sweat to finish their last research paper. My latest student needed some basic population statistics for Puerto Rico along with some history & cultural information. For general information about countries, I like the CIA website. Yes, that’s the Central Intelligence Agency. They have a lot of up-to-date information provided in their country profiles. Then we have a source called Culturegrams which comes in a print as well as an online database version. We have a lot of other encyclopedias about different cultures around the world and we always have books about specific countries. This was all more than enough for a 3 page paper.

--That’s all for now.

BB, Main Library

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

The Best of Sci-Fi in 2008

About a month ago, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America gathered in Los Angeles to present the annual Nebula Awards for books published in 2008. These books are nominated and voted on by all active members of the SFWA and, together with the Hugo awards, they are the major literary prize for the Science Fiction genre. This year's winner for Best Novel was Powers, by Ursula K. Le Guin. Here are the other nominees:

Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow

Cauldron, by Jack McDevitt


Brasyl, by Ian McDonald

Making Money, by Terry Pratchett

Monday, June 1, 2009

The Eco-Kitchen

Recipes from an ecological kitchen: healthy meals for you and your planet, by Lorna J. Sass.

More and more people are becoming cognizant of issues relating to the current ecological crisis. Many are adopting lifestyles based on the idea that we need to be responsible about how we use the resources on our planet. And, often they start by changing the way they eat. This book is a guide to making that change. The book begins with suggestions for your pantry. Information on beans, grains, nuts, dried fruits and dried herbs and spices is given. Proper storage is explained. Next, the book explains the use of wok cooking, pressure cooking and steaming. Twelve menus using recipes from the book follow. Recipe chapter topics include grains, rice, pasta, tofu, land and sea vegetables, sauces, dips, quick breads and desserts. The book ends with lists of books for further reading and a list of mail order sources.

-- Mary Ellen, Main Library
 
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