Happy birthday Dashiell Hammett...

It was a Wednesday afternoon, and the library was quiet. Too quiet. Of course, it was a library. I took the stairs to the third floor. I looked at the slip of paper in my hand. There was some kind of code on it: PS 3515.A4347.A671965. Yeah, this was the place all right. I hurried to the shelf and looked around to see if anybody was watching me, and then I saw it. A hardback, cover the color of money. The Novels of Dashiell Hammett. Yeah, they were all there in one thick volume: The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man... I knew this book was trouble.

Dashiell Hammett was born May 27, 1894. According to our database Literature Online, Hammett "created all the conventions" of the hard-boiled detective novel: an isolated, dogged private eye stuck in a job he hates but is too jaded to escape. He usually has a small office with his name on the door, a bottle of whiskey in the drawer of his dusty desk, a mordant wit and a turn for gallows humor, a pessimistic view of humanity and "a persistent affection for the city low-life." Often imitated (or parodied, as I did above) Hammett is considered the father of the American crime novel.

Hi own life was not without its dramatic elements. A former employee of the famous Pinkerton detective agency, Hammett was able to write from experience. His books were quickly turned into popular films, cementing his influence on American popular culture. Like his alcoholic private eyes, he fought his own battle with the bottle, becoming a teetotaler for good in 1949. He was a committed Communist, and in 1953 was called before Senator Joe McCarthy's Senate Committee on Government Operations. He refused to answer questions about various books by known Communists. His books were removed from libraries, and he was blacklisted by Hollywood. His assets were seized by the IRS for tax evasion, and in 1957 he listed his income as less than thirty dollars. He passed away in 1961, and as a veteran of two World Wars, was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

He is now regarded as one of the greatest and most innovative American crime novelists of all time, and "the first writer to approach pulp fiction as if it were as serious and complex as 'great literature.'" (source: Literature Online Reference Edition).

That green book is waiting for you on the third floor. I suggest you check it out.

Memorial Day

Hello all,
I hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend, and also took a moment to remember the sacrifices of those who have fought for our country.

The evolution of Memorial Day is interesting. I looked it up in two of our library databases, Daily Life Online and Credo Reference.

Originally known as Decoration Day, the practice of decorating the graves of fallen soldiers started before the end of the Civil War. For a time, this observation was conducted separately by Northerners and Southerners, with those in the Confederate states observing the day anywhere between April 26 and June 13 and those in the Union states celebrating in late May. In 1868, Union general John A. Logan proposed May 30 as the day for “strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion.”

In 1876 the federal government recognized May 30 as the official Decoration Day observance. When the holiday was extended after World War II to honor the dead of all wars, it was renamed Memorial Day. Since 1950, by congressional request, the day has also been set aside to pray for permanent peace.


This beautiful image of a poppy was taken from freephoto.com. It is by Ian Britton. The association of poppies with fallen soldiers was popularized by the poet John McCrae, who wrote the lines “In Flanders fields the poppies blow/Between the crosses, row on row.” Flanders was the site of heavy fighting during World War I, and for many who wrote about it later, the poppy came to symbolize both the beauty of the landscape and the blood that was shed there. Source: Credo Reference

Alas...

Book Review: Tea Time for the Traditionally Built

Hello,
Your faithful blogger is also a constant reader. Big surprise as she works in a library, right?
I have another book review for you today, of yet another title you can find in our Leisure Reading section!

Alexander McCall Smith’s Tea Time for the Traditionally Built reminds me of a nice tea break in the middle of the day. Like the other books in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, it is cozy, warm and relaxing, and a refutation of the notion that you have to have a murder to have a mystery.

Mma Ramotswe, the “traditionally built” (i.e., not exactly sylph-like) proprietress of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency in Botswana, doesn’t always get the kind of cases Sam Spade or Spenser take on. Even when the charges are blackmail or attempted murder, business is usually conducted without bloodshed. You don’t pick up one of these novels expecting a gritty, stomach-churning thrill ride, but you do expect that Mma Ramotswe and her formidable assistant Mma Makutsi are going to straighten everything out in the end. This book, the tenth in the series, does not disappoint.

The plot, in which the wealthy owner of a football (soccer) team hires the ladies to find out which team member might be deliberately sabotaging their success, is resolved in its typical tidy fashion. That’s not much of a spoiler for Mma Ramotswe’s fans. We savor the language in the books, letting its rhythms lull us into contemplation of Botswana, as if we too could come to know the country Mma Ramotswe is proud to call home. It is easy to slip into their manners and way of speaking.

That is not to say McCall Smith glosses over the trials Botswana’s people have endured, but in the person of Mma Ramotswe we find a warm, loving spirit who transcends these challenges. She is one of those brilliantly-realized fictional characters who seems larger than the printed page (and not just because she is, as she says, traditionally built). It is a pleasure to spend time in her company, as uplifting and relaxing as a fresh cup of bush tea.

Come on...

You know you want some of this.

Review of Very Valentine, by Adriana Trigiani

Hello again!
Remember when I told you about those great books we have in our Leisure Reading section? I really can't urge you enough to come check out what we have. Soon we'll be going through the collection and choosing which books we're going to send back, because guess what? We're going to be expanding the section and getting in more titles soon! This would be a great time to give us some feedback, hint hint, if there's a new book coming out you're just dying to read.

I thought I'd do something different today and give you a book review of one of our current titles: Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani (review by your library blogger):

As I finished Very Valentine, the eighth and most recent novel by Adriana Trigiani, I had to give a deep sigh of longing. Through her vivid words and loving description, the author awakened in me a heartfelt need I’d never known I had, a craving I’d never considered before. My very soul ached for that which it could never possess.

I simply had to go out and find a really, truly amazing pair of shoes.

Very Valentine is the story of Valentine Roncalli, the 33-year-old daughter of a loving but tumultuous Italian-American family living in New York City. Of her generation, she alone has chosen to join her grandmother in the family business, the Angelini Shoe Company. As her grandmother’s apprentice, Valentine learns the centuries-old craft of making shoes by hand, creating one-of-a-kind wedding shoes based on her grandfather’s original designs.

I wasn’t kidding about the desire for those shoes. While my previous experience with Trigiani had been with her Big Stone Gap series, here she makes Valentine’s New York every bit as vivid, if not more so, than the small-town Appalachian setting of Gap. I thought I could almost hear the traffic, smell the leather and wood of the shoe shop, taste the delicate flavors of the truffle pasta Valentine’s beau, the dashing chef Roman Falconi, prepares in his restaurant. Trigiani lavishes loving detail here, detailing the craftsmanship of the extraordinary shoes and the artistry of Roman’s cooking. The beauty of her own craft is its transparency: she manages to transport the reader into Valentine’s world without overburdening the narrative with the description. She knows which details will evoke the best response, but she lets the story flow.

And the story is light enough for a beach read, but no less enchanting for that. Valentine struggles to find a way to keep Angelini Shoes financially afloat in the 21st century without betraying the company’s old-world values, clashing with those who urge her grandmother to sell out. She takes it upon herself to protect what her family has built, as she worries about her own future, both economic and romantic. Accompanying her grandmother on a buying trip to Italy, Valentine uncovers a family secret and finally discovers her own true artistic voice.

The resolution doesn’t necessarily tie all loose ends into a tidy bow like the ribbon on a pair of Angelini wedding sandals, but there is a strong sense that our protagonist is going to meet the changes in her life on her own terms, with her best foot forward, so to speak.

I recommend Very Valentine to any woman looking to escape for a few hours into a very fine book. My only regret is—alas—those wonderful shoes aren’t included.

Literary Celebration hits Canton this weekend!

Hello all!
I just learned some exciting news from the Cherokee Tribune. As you may or may not know, the Canton Festival of the Arts is this weekend. I have been to the festival in previous years and enjoyed it very much. There are so many talented artists there displaying their craft, and of course there are all the carnival-type concessions and activities for the kiddos. This year's Festival of the Arts will be held from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday at Brown Park in front of Canton City Hall.

This year, there's going to be something new! Yawn's Books & More is partnering with festival sponsor Cherokee Arts Center to hold a Literary Celebration! This free event will be happening from 9 am to 5 pm at the Canton City Hall Auditorium. There will be eight panel talks featuring more than 30 authors. Patricia Sprinkle, Rebecca Johnston and Cynthia Simmons will be among them, so if you missed their appearance here, you'll want to be sure to catch them this time. Joining them will be Patti Callahan Henry, Karen White, J.T. Ellison and my dear friend Juanita Hughes, among other noted writers and illustrators. You can read the full Tribune story, and see the panel schedule here.

If all goes well, they plan to make this literary festival an annual event. That would be a great thing for our community! I hope you will all come out and support the literary arts this weekend, and eat some cotton candy for me!

CountryWatch: Website to the world (tm)

Dear Library Blogger,
Which database would you recommend if I need to find out information about, like, countries, and their economies or whatever?
Signed, Fictitious Student

Dear Fictitious,
Believe it or not, I get that question all the time, from students who aren't in the least fictitious! My answer is always CountryWatch. You can find the link on the left side of our homepage under "Articles & More." CountryWatch is really an incredibly helpful tool, especially for you international business students. In one place, the CountryReviews section, you can find demographic, political, economic, business, historical, cultural and environmental information about each of the world's recognized countries. The CountryWire provides daily news coverage for all countries. You can also find maps and even intelligence briefings on significant political developments.

Personally, I would consult CountryWatch when planning any international travel, for business or pleasure. There are even helpful tips for navigating the customs and etiquette of other countries (avoid the "ugly American" stereotype please)!

Today I was browsing World Health Reports, a CountryWatch product. World Health Reports offers a comprehensive review of the health care systems of many countries, along with health-related news. (Yes, I admit it--I was tracking the spread of A/h1n1 flu). This is a great tool for comparing the quality and costs of health care in different countries, as well as giving a pretty good perspective on standards of living around the world.

There are more uses for CountryWatch than I can touch on here. Why don't you check it out for yourself? It may end up being one of your favorite sources for international information, too.

Signed, Your Faithful Library Blogger

Hurry! Online Jazz Fest happening now!

Thanks to Michael M. for the tip...

Remember that jazz database I mentioned earlier? Well, to celebrate and promote the database, Alexander Street Press is holding an online jazz festival. You don't even need a ticket, just this link. You'll have free access to more than 18,000 jazz recordings online in streaming audio, as well as free music downloads, jazz videos, jazz trivia quizzes and contests. You could win prizes, like a free year of Jazz Music Library access for your, ahem, favorite library. ;)

The festival runs through tomorrow, so don't miss out, jazz fans!

How to "do history" with a mountain bike and some great databases!

I got a chance to chat with local historian Richard Wright yesterday at the library, and we got to talking about how he started researching the history of this region. He knows so much about southern Appalachia and its past, it might surprise you that he doesn't have a degree in history. What he does have is a mountain bike, a pair of hiking boots and more than a kayak-full of natural curiosity! (A friendly relationship with the library doesn't hurt).

"I backpack and I mountain bike the whole Appalachian region from Charlotte on down," Wright said. He wondered about things he would see on his travels, and started asking questions about them. He quickly found that a lot of information he saw in history books was inaccurate or just plain wrong. For example, in the case of former Georgia governor Joe Brown, a Canton resident, Wright said the biographies are very inaccurate about his life in Cherokee County.

"His biographers have never been here. They're very inaccurate about his early life," Wright said. "In some of the biographies, Canton even isn't in the index." It didn't help that the politician fudged his own history, describing himself as a farmer when a large part of his income came from mining--something that should have been obvious to anyone who knew the topography of his property.

"You really have to put yourself where he was to really get a picture of who he was."

Compounding the problem of most southern historians is the loss of records kept before the Civil War. The war was so devastating, Wright said, that most histories of the area tend to start there. Wright is hoping to change that with his own project.

"I'm working on a history of the southern Appalachians up until the Civil War," Wright said, starting in 1787 when the first land was ceded by the British after the American Revolution. "That gives us a starting point. At that point you couldn't settle west of the Appalachians." This area was the western frontier,and,according to Wright, became very prosperous.

"The Etowah and Chattahoochee rivers are the first ones that do not flow into the Atlantic," Wright said. River trade made this area boom. Before the river traffic was supplanted by the railroad, Canton was a larger city than Atlanta. Its heyday, which Wright said fell somewhere between 1832 and 1850,unfortunately hasn't really been chronicled before now.

So how does Wright plan to research (or "do history" as he calls it), when the history books give him so little to go on? By finding his own primary sources. In a lot of cases, that involves tapping a resource that hasn't been given its proper due by historians before now: our own people. Wright knocks on doors, talking to genealogists and family historians who have done their own painstaking research, and sometimes have amazing documents in their possession. He's found local people who are still living on the property their ancestors owned, in the houses their forebears built.

"I've found local people who are passionate about history and have amassed huge amounts of primary documents," Wright said, and he would like to see them get the respect they deserve.

And where does our library come in? I bet you thought I'd never get to that. It's our databases Wright loves. From Georgia Historic Newspapers to Vanishing Georgia to Southeastern Native American Documents to JSTOR, Wright says he's been very impressed by what we have available, a wealth of searchable documents at one's fingertips. They are just the thing for a researcher, whether he's a historian or just the average student working on a term paper.

I hope to share more with you about Wright and his research in blogs to come! Cheers!

"Teaser" for tomorrow's blog

Hello all!

I recently had a fascinating conversation with one of our patrons--a local historian who has made great use of our databases to track down primary sources for his research. I'm going to blog more about our talk tomorrow--stay tuned!

Leisure reading, and suggestions?

Did you know there's an online form you can fill out to suggest books and media for the library's collection? Here's the link. You can also post a comment to this blog to let us know what you'd like to see.

We recently got a new shipment of books from McNaughton. Basically, these are books that our library rents for the collection, usually best-sellers and popular fiction and nonfiction titles. You can find these books near the front double doors on the second floor, and they have green labels on their spines. You can find good reads here, and they're only available for a limited time, so take advantage of them!

For me, it's just like Christmas when the McNaughton books come in! I just finished Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani, the author of Big Stone Gap, and it was great! Next, I'm going to read the latest Dresden Files novel by Jim Butcher (I love this series about an urban wizard. Entertainment Weekly describes it as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer starring Philip Marlowe.)" We also have the latest from Maeve Binchy (excellent), J.D. Robb, Alexander McCall Smith and many others. We have nonfiction books too, such as Joe Torre's account of his time with the Yankees and What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis. We also have audiobooks for your road trips this summer.

Enjoy the chance to read some good books during summer break. Just try not to get too much sand in them if you take them to the beach!

All That Jazz

Hey, hep cats!
I'm staying cool today in the library, grooving to another great library database. Did you know your Reinhardt College library has access to the Jazz Music Library from Alexander Street Press? They're the same cats that brought us the Contemporary World Music and American Song databases, among others. The Jazz Music Library was recently updated to include 1,955 albums and 18,922 tracks, and it's still growing. Alexander Street claims the jazz Music Library is going to be the largest and most comprehensive collection of jazz available online, with thousands of jazz artists, ensembles, albums, and genres. You can browse by song title, artist, album or genre, and listen to jazz right on your computer. (I could get a cappuchino from Quiktrip and pretend the archive room is a trendy little coffeehouse).
I started out by listening to Ella Fitzgerald, one of my favorites. I found 83 of Ella's tracks on the database, which could keep me happy for quite a while! After that, I'm going to be adventures and seek out new artists. You can find the greats on here: Coltrane, Monk, Davis, Rosemary Clooney, and others; ranging from classic performers of the past to artists currently performing and recording today. You can build your own playlist. The album liner notes are even available in pdf format.
Whether you're a serious student of jazz (hi, Reggie) or a relative novice, I suggest you give this database a listen.

(I'll leave you with this fun sample I just found. See if you can name this tune. Stay cool)!

Commencement speaker pitch-perfect on Saturday

The Reinhardt College class of 2009 was given a major-league sendoff at last Saturday's graduation ceremonies. After graduate Briana Lee Moody charged her fellow classmates to change the world and to "bring hope...whenever possible," Dr. J. Thomas Isherwood introduced the keynote speaker: "a man who is much more than just his fastball," Mr. John Smoltz.

Smoltz, a pitcher with the Boston Red Sox organization (but beloved in this town for his 20 years with the Atlanta Braves), drew applause and cheers when he stated that his heart "will always be in Atlanta."

Smoltz, who noted that Saturday was the first time he'd worn a college cap and gown (he was drafted straight out of high school by the Detroit Tigers), spoke from the heart as he encouraged his audience to pursue "success in Christ," not worldly success. He told about his decision at the age of 7 to pursue a career as a major league baseball pitcher, and the internal drive he felt to be the very best he could. "I wanted to play baseball because I loved it," he said, but he alluded to the temptations some feel when they pursue success for the wrong reasons.

"I stand before you a blessed man, a protected man," he said, speaking of how he avoided the pitfalls of drugs and cheating in professional sports. "I had this map for my life. I got over the hurdles and avoided the issues that were going to get me off that track. Some of my peers have failed...I believe whatever it is they're seeking is not enough."

He shared the stress he used to feel whenever he would fail. "I felt that I had let down my family, let down my team...I was so consumed by the desire to be the best, I was missing the boat." Since he became a born-again Christian in 1996, Smoltz said, "The desire to be the best is still there, but now I have an underlying peace." He urged his listeners not to be afraid of failure, telling them that failure is an essential ingredient in success: "You must fail and learn from your failures."

Ultimate success, he said, is assured through Christ. "When troubles and pressures arise, we are tempted to think that success is unavailable." But for us to be ultimately defeated, he said, we would have to be separated from Christ, and that is impossible.

"What has sealed my success is that apart from anything else, I am sanctified and set apart. In the midst of all your chaos, you can have victory and success, because nothing can separate you from your heavenly Maker. Your God-centered faith will give you the pathway to true, ultimate success." He encouraged his listeners to "know who [their] Master is...everything else is circumstantial."

"Thank you for having me," he said in conclusion, "and I pray for your success."

The Reinhardt College graduates and their guests gave Smoltz a standing ovation, and Dr. Isherwood presented him with a Reinhardt baseball cap to commemorate his visit.

Diplomas were then awarded to those who had earned associate degrees, and then to those who had earned bachelor's degrees. Then Reinhardt history was made with the hooding of the recipients of the college's first master's degrees! It was a momentous day not only for our graduates, but for our entire school, and I for one was very proud to have been present to witness it!

Congratulations again to all the graduates, and thank you again to Mr. John Smoltz for being such a big part of the day and for sharing his "success story" with us.

Library staff and student workers representin' at Commencement

(#1: Those are librarians Karen Preslock and Michael Martinez sporting the lemon-yellow hoods in the faculty procession. Trust me, they looked great, despite the bad lighting in this picture. #2: Our great student worker Chris Williams serving in his capacity as student usher. #3: Hooray! Our wonderful FORMER student worker Amy Ross on her big day. #4: Another great FORMER student worker Shawn Springsted looks proud of his accomplishment. #5: CONGRATULATIONS Amy and Shawn! We'll miss you! Next year's student workers have BIG shoes to fill! Love, your library staff)

Update on Sully's Library Books!

Hey, remember Captain Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, who heroically brought his plane to a safe landing in the Hudson River back in January? I posted earlier about what an incredibly responsible library patron he is. He's now recorded a PSA for the San Francisco Public Library about their Fine Amnesty event. In this video, he also talks about the lengths being taken to recover his lost library books from the Hudson River.

Do you have overdue library materials? Don't let fear of the fines keep you from using and enjoying your library. Here at the Hill Freeman Library and Spruill Learning Center, we're willing to work with you to find a way to pay your fines. Come talk with us. We can work out a payment plan, and in some cases, we will even accept donations of canned food in lieu of cash. The food goes to feed the needy (yay), we get our items back so that other patrons can use them, and you get a clean library record AND peace of mind.

Remember to check the sticker on the front of your book for the due date. You can always call us during library hours to renew your books over the telephone. Our circulation number is (770) 720-9120.

Thanks!