Book Buzz: Bank Robbers, Famous Dresses, and Historic Poets

Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For December, we’re looking at various books about famous women–biographical fiction about Bonnie Parker of Bonnie and Clyde fame, a historic romance centered around Grace Kelly’s wedding dress, and a biography of 18th century African American poet Phillis Wheatley.

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Guest Blogger: Penelope the Goose, Part 2

Our year-long Your Library Card, Your Ticket to the World program has been a fun way to highlight different places across the globe. I’ve been writing posts that highlight books in these settings, but our faithful, fashionable, and intrepid library goose Penelope has actually been seeing the sights herself. (If you’ve been to the library, you’ve no doubt admired Penelope and her elegant wardrobe as she guards the circulation desk.) She’s back home in Arkansas now, and she posted regular updates on our Facebook page along the way, but she also wanted to share an update here since she’d blogged earlier this year. And who am I to say no to our favorite goose?

[Note: There is some vigorous debate among the library staff about whether or not our dear Penelope is a goose or a duck, and she is kind of evasive on the topic herself. . . .]

As you can see, Penelope picked up some friends as traveling companions along the way. . . .

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Miracle on Spring Street Christmas Movie Challenge

Love watching Christmas movies? Love the library? Want to help us raise $5,000 for the library during the holidays? You can watch movies and help the library with our Miracle on Spring Street Christmas Movie Challenge. 😀

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Katherine Center’s What You Wish For (2020)

Sam feels like she’s finally found happiness in both her personal and professional life. Does she have everything she wants? No. But she is very pleased with her job as a children’s librarian at a quirky, fun-loving private elementary school on Galveston Island in Texas, and she loves the circle of friends/coworkers she has found.

When corporate robot Duncan is hired to be the new principal and promptly starts wrecking everything that makes the school unique and endearing, she and her fellow teachers are outraged and vow to take action. But Sam is even more horrified than everybody else because, years ago, she worked with a very different Duncan–one who was fun-loving and caring. In fact, she was madly in love with that Duncan, though she was too shy to ever act on her feelings. She still sees flashes of that person underneath the austere, distant new Duncan. What happened to Duncan? What’s going to happen to the school? What’s going to happen to Sam?

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Your Library Card, Your Ticket to the World: Mexico

Our library theme for 2020 is Your Library Card, Your Ticket to the World–because with the library, you truly can travel around the world without ever leaving the comfort of your own home. Every month in 2020, we’ll be landing at a new place on the globe. In November, we’re in Mexico.

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Television Review: Lark Rise to Candleford

In 1890s Oxfordshire, two neighboring towns have a bit of a love/hate relationship. The impoverished rural agricultural hamlet of Lark Rise is small and desperately poor but proud, and its residents are devoted to each other. Nearby Candleford is a larger town and more prosperous. Tension exists between the haves of Candleford and the have-nots of Lark Rise. When teenaged Laura leaves Lark Rise to work at the Candleford post office, she finds herself caught between two worlds that may have more in common than either side thinks. And everyone in both towns find themselves caught in changing times.

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Book Buzz: Singapore Romance, Ozark Noir, and Florida Panthers

Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For November, we’re looking at a jaunty romance set in Singapore, a novel about crime in the Missouri Ozarks, and a nonfiction narrative about panther conservation in Florida.

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Be a Friend . . . to Our Library!

I’ve written on here before about the importance of Friends of the Library groups. Libraries provide their communities with a better future through access to information, books, and technology (and more), but Friends of the Library groups provide libraries themselves with a better future. That’s because Friends groups provide funding and volunteers for operations and services that the library may not be able to provide the community with their existing budget and staffing. They also function as advocates for the library.

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Your Library Card, Your Ticket to the World: Brazil

Our library theme for 2020 is Your Library Card, Your Ticket to the World–because with the library, you truly can travel around the world without ever leaving the comfort of your own home. Every month in 2020, we’ll be landing at a new place on the globe. In October, we’re in Brazil.

Continue reading “Your Library Card, Your Ticket to the World: Brazil”