New Books in the Grand View Library

Come visit the library and check out a fresh book. We have many new arrivals, including these:

Banned Books Week 2010

Welcome to Banned Books Week 2010!

The purpose of Banned Books Week is to remind people everywhere of the dangers of censorship, our history of censorship, and the promise of reading a variety of books for educational and recreational purposes.

Libraries across the country will often display books that have been challenged or banned in the past so that the public can see for themselves and think about why that book was challenged or banned. Banned Books Week gives everyone time to think about what they choose to read and why they choose to read the books they do. It's an important time to reflect on the choices we make and provides us with an opportunity to consider reading something new in the future that we may not have considered before.

At the Grand View Library we have put together a small display as well. Please come by and take a look. The books are available for checkout, so pick one up today. There are some really good ones in this batch as well.

Twilight Discussion Tomorrow

This is a friendly reminder that we will be discussing the Stephanie Meyer book Twilight tomorrow at 3:00 in Holy Grounds Coffee Shop.  This is open to all students.  Even if you haven't finished the book, you should consider stopping by to listen to the discussion.

If you plan to attend, make sure you bring a couple of discussion questions to get us started.

See you tomorrow!

Today in History

159 years ago today, Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic The Scarlet Letter was published.

Hawthorne was in financial straits when he took a job at a customs house.  It was during this time that he started writing the book.  When it was published, the book made him famous.  Hawthorne went on to write other books as well, including The House of the Seven Gables.

However, one of Hawthorne's most famous short stories, the tale of Young Goodman Brown, was published before Letter.  It is perhaps his most chilling tale.  You can read it online here.

If you're interested in reading The Scarlet Letter, stop by the library and pick up a copy.  Or try it online first and, if you like, come pick up a copy after that.

What Are You Reading?

Winter is a great season for reading.  It's hard to stay outside for too long with the cold blasts of arctic air and the thick snow and ice, so staying inside by a warm fire with a book can be a great experience.

So what have the library staff been reading lately?

I (Dan) have been reading The Best American Short Stories, 2007.  Yes, I know I'm a little behind, but I'm almost finished with it.  It's an excellent collection of short stories and I attribute part of that to the guest editor, Stephen King.  He picked out a few real gems for this edition.  I thoroughly enjoy having a collection of short stories or essays around at all times.  They give you a variety of ideas and narratives to think about, but they are also helpful for when you only have 30 minutes to read something.  Collections of stories and essays are also a great way to discover new authors too.  I've picked up many new books by fresh authors after finishing a short story.

Megan, our Access and Instruction Librarian, has been reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.  She has this to say about it:

"I picked it up because I enjoyed his other novel, The Kite Runner, and my friends and family have been bugging me to read this one too so we can talk about it. So far, I’m liking it even more than The Kite Runner because it focuses on a female perspective of life in Afghanistan. The novel made me curious about the state of women’s rights in Afghanistan, so I learned more here. So far in my reading, nothing too terrible has happened yet, but there’s a definite sense of impending doom…"

So now that we've shared something with you, what can you share with us?  What have you been reading lately?  Leave us a comment to let us know.

Student Book Club

Are you interested in reading a book or two outside of class?  Would you like to meet once a month and discuss books with fellow students?

If so, plan on coming to the March 24^th meeting of the Student Book Club.  We’ll be meeting at Holy Grounds in the library to discuss the popular book Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.

At that time, we can discuss a possible book to read for April as well.

I hope to see you on March 24^th at 3:00 in Holy Grounds.  Contact the library if you have any questions.

Darwin & Lincoln

Today we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln.  

These two men impacted history in unique ways.  Without their efforts, we would certainly be living in a very different world with different perceptions of the people around us.

Lincoln and Darwin helped us to see ourselves in a new way.  Darwin's theory of evolution gave us a glimpse of ourselves as being part of nature and the product of millions of years of evolution.  No one human being is genetically superior or inferior to another.  We are all alike.

Lincoln changed the United States like no one before or after him.  His efforts as the 16th president of our republic helped secure the freedom that American slaves had wished for.  He was a man of his time with faults and failings, but he was also ahead of his time, especially in his writing ability.  His ultimate goal was to preserve the union, but in the process he helped lay the foundation for a multicultural America in which people are treated equally.

Lincoln and Darwin helped us to see that we are all equal.  Let's remember that on this day in history.

For more information about Darwin and Lincoln, check out some of the many books we have here at the Grand View library.  Also, take a look at some of these excellent websites devoted to the lives of these men:

The Learning Page @ the Library of Congress: Abraham Lincoln

The Abraham Lincoln Papers @ the Library of Congress

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois

The Complete Works of Charles Darwin, Online

The Darwin Correspondence Project

"Lost" Books

Are you a fan of the television show Lost on ABC?  Have you ever noticed that some of the characters show up from time to time reading different books?

Have you ever wondered, "Hmmm, why are they reading that book?  Could it have something to do with the overall story of the show?"

Well, there's one way to find out.  Read those books and make the connections!  We have a number of the books here in our library that have appeared on the show.

Come over to the library, take a look, and see what you can learn.  Plus, there are some excellent books on this list.  

Here are a few of them that we have:

Dune by Frank Herbert

The Epic of Gilgamesh by author unknown

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Island by Aldous Huxley

The Odyssey by Homer

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Winter Read-In Tomorrow

Do you like to share what you read?  Each semester the library hosts a small gathering of students, staff, or faculty at the Holy Grounds Coffee Shop to discuss what we like to read.  We call them "read-ins" and we share poems, essays, paragraphs from favorite stories, etc.  Basically, if you enjoy it, come share it with us.

This month's theme is winter.  Do you embrace winter?  Do you love running around in the snow?  Or are you yearning for spring and summer?  Either way, bring a text that shows how much you love or loathe winter.  You could bring a poem about how beautiful spring is, or perhaps a character's recollection of the beauty of a snowfall.  It's your choice.

Come on over tomorrow, January 27th, at 11:30 and share your text.  Grab a coffee while you're at it.  We'll be there until 1:00.  Also, it's a Humanities Passport event, so you can get extra credit.

MLK Display

Come over to the library and check out our book display on Martin Luther King, Jr. Taylor Branch's Pillar of Fire is an especially good book.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today we celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King worked tirelessly throughout his life seeking social justice for African-Americans and the impoverished in the United States.

Dr. King did much of his early work in the American South, but moved on into Northern states and the nation's capital to preach his message. His "I Have a Dream" speech is one of the most famous speeches of the past 50 years and is often quoted by freedom fighters and civil disobedience groups today.

Sadly, Dr. King's life came to a shocking end in Memphis, TN when he was assassinated. However, his work continues to this day, all over the globe. If you want to learn more about his work and how you can be a part of it, visit the King Center's website.

If you wish to learn more about the man and his life's work, visit the Grand View Library. We have a number of books on the life of Dr. King, including At Canaan's Edge and God and human dignity : the personalism, theology, and ethics of Martin Luther King, Jr.

There is also an excellent newspaper archive in which you can relive Dr. King's life, day by day.

Finally, if you're interested in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, check out some of the resources available at the website of the Library of Congress.

New Books in the Library

It's snowing pretty hard today. What's a good way to spend a snowy day? Well, I'm working right now, but if you have some free time, snowy days are perfect for reading. Here are a few of our many new books for December.

What Makes Us Human? edited by Charles Pasternak

This book contains essays by some of the world's greatest thinkers.  They try to tackle that eternal question: what makes humans different than other creatures?  They explore anthropology, philosophy, and other areas of human thought to try and answer the question.

A Surgeon in the Army of the Potomac by Francis M. Wafer, edited by Cheryl A. Wells

Cheryl Wells helps edit the writings, letters, and documents of an assistant surgeon in the American Civil War.  Mr. Wafer writes about all of the things he sees as a doctor during America's darkest war.  It truly is a view of the war you have never seen before.

The Tyranny of the Market by Joel Waldfogel

We are in some rough economic times right now and this book can help explain part of that.  Our system supposedly provides products and services to satisfy the desire of any consumer.  But what about the things the economy can't provide?  Waldfogel tells us about the limits of our economy.

James Van Allen: The First Eight Billion Miles by Abigail Foerstner

Do you like to read about space and the cosmos?  This book is about one of Iowa's greatest scientists who helped revolutionize the way all humans look at space.  James Van Allen was born and raised in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa and became one of the greatest space scientists of the 20th century, helping us learn about the sun, the solar system, and how to explore it all with missions from Pioneer to the Mariner.

So come on over to the library and check one out.  We have many new books to choose from!