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

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.

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

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

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:

• Jan. 29, at 6:30 PM at the Vandalia branch library
• Jan. 30, at 1:30 PM at the Ft. McKinley branch library
• Feb. 25, at 6:30 PM at the Kettering-Moraine branch library
  

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

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!