Dolores Hydock Performance

Come see Dolores Hydock at the Irondale Public Library on Monday, April 12th, 2010 at 6:30pm.

Dead Cats and Spunk Water: Superstitions and Magical Thinking in the Writing of Mark Twain: From the Garden of Eden, when Adam struggled to explain the appearance of "this strange new creature with the long hair," to Tom Sawyer’s search for a superior cure for warts, Mark Twain’s imaginative characters – and sometimes Samuel Clemens himself – often used superstitions, folk wisdom, and imagination to make sense of an uncertain world. Imaginative inventions, strange logic to explain the unexplainable, folk remedies, romance, and the ability of the memory to reshape the past -- they're all some of the creative and magical ways of looking at the world that can be found in Mark Twain's masterful -- and often surprising -- stories.

Please plan to join us for this wonderful performance! Refreshments will served, including old-fashioned candy that was popular during Mark Twain's era.

This program is intended for high school aged and adult audiences. Please call us at 951-1415 or email us (irondalelibrary@gmail.com) for more information.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. The Big Read is made possible by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Alabama State Council for the Arts. For more information on the Big Read visit the following sites: Alabama Reads or NEA BigRead.

New "Twilight Saga" Book from Stephenie Meyer!

A new book from Stephenie Meyer will be here in June! Click here to reserve your copy now!



This is the first line from the author's official website: Surprise! I have a new book coming out. It's called The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner.

Here are the details from USA Today:

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella will be released at 12:01 a.m. June 5. The 192-page story, an offshoot of the third novel in Meyer's best-selling teen vampire Twilight saga, has a first printing of 1.5 million. It's the first new Twilight title since Breaking Dawn, Book 4, was published two years ago. The new novella is told in the voice of the teenage Bree, a "newborn vampire" whom we meet on page 569 in Eclipse. Ten pages later, she's dead.

Check out Stephenie Meyer's website for the complete message to her fans about the new book.

Top 50 Websites of 2010

American Mensa has compiled a list of the Top 50 Websites of 2010. They have broken the sites down in the following categories:

Art and Culture

Entertainment and Humor

News and Politics

Reference

Science and Technology

Search Engines

Shopping

Social Networking/Media

There are a lot of really neat sites that I have never even heard of before! I highly recommend subscribing to National Geographic, Photo of the Day. It will deliver one breathtaking picture to your inbox/homepage/Google Reader each day. It includes a brief description and a link to more photos about that day's pic.

Some personal favorites that made the list are Goodreads (allows you to keep track of books read), I Can Has Cheezburger (cute site that adds captions to cat pictures) and Google Scholar (indexes the full text of scholarly literature).

Goodreads not only allows you to keep lists of books you have read (or want to read), but you can share and talk about your lists with your friends. The Jefferson County libraries offers a similar feature with your library card. If you go to "My Account" and type in your card information, then click on the button "My Reading History" you can view your check-out history. If you have not turned this feature on all you have to do is click "Opt-In." From this point forward everything you check out will then be listed without having to do anything else!

What are some of your favorite sites that didn't make this Top 50 list?

Teen & Tween Tom Sawyer Book Discussion

Attention middle schoolers and high schoolers! We will be having a meeting to discuss our favorite parts of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Refreshments will be provided, including tasty old-fashioned candy!

Here are the details.....

What: Young Adult Book Discussion

When: Tuesday, March 30th

Time: Afterschool @ 3:30pm

Who: 6th-12th graders

Where: Irondale Library Meeting Room

Call 951-1415 for more information!

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. The Big Read is made possible by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Alabama State Council for the Arts. For more information on the Big Read visit www.alabamareads.org or www.neabigread.org

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Day

Today is the 41st anniversary of the release of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle!

This beloved classic children's book has been praised for its usefulness in teaching young children to read. It is the winner of multiple awards and has sold over 30 million copies worldwide. The story features beautiful illustrations and teaches counting up to 5 and the days of the week. The book follows the caterpillar and watches as he eats his way to the cocoon stage, where he then hibernates for two weeks to emerge as a beautiful butterfly.

Take a virtual tour of The Eric Carle Museum of Art

Visit Eric Carle's Website

YouTube clip of Eric Carle and the making of TVHC

Come check out The Very Hungry Caterpillar or any of Eric Carle's books today!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Hits Theaters

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is the insanely popular series created by Jeff Kinney. To date there are over 30 million copies in print. The book's summary:

"First of all, let me get something straight: This is a JOURNAL, not a diary." Greg Heffley chronicles a year of middle school through hilarious journal entries and accompanying cartoon sketches. His experiences--having to perform in a school play, dealing with bullies and changing friendships--are made fresh by Greg's over-the-top narration.

There are 4 titles in the series, with a 5th book due for release later in 2010. If you love the books then you will want to check out the movie - it hits theaters this Friday, March 19th!

Click here to view the movie trailer!

More Fun Links:

Visit the official movie website

Wimp Yourself on the Official Wimpy Kid website

Interview with Alex Ferris who plays Greg

Join us for PJ Storytime!

It's PJ Storytime!

Monday, March 15th at 6:30pm

Come dressed in green or your favorite pajamas to hear St. Patrick's Day stories, make a craft and enjoy a bedtime snack! All ages welcome. Call 951-1415 for more information.

Book Club Wrap-Up - Out Stealing Horses

Thank you to everyone who came out to Book Club Monday night! The book we discussed this month was Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson.

From the publisher:

"We were going out stealing horses. That was what he said, standing at the door to the cabin where I was spending the summer with my father. I was fifteen. It was 1948 and one of the first days of July."

Set in the easternmost region of Norway, Out Stealing Horses begins with an ending. Sixty-seven-year-old Trond has settled into a rustic cabin in an isolated area to live the rest of his life with a quiet deliberation. A meeting with his only neighbor, however, forces him to reflect on that fateful summer.

The group enjoyed the quiet pace and vivid descriptions the book offered. Not only did we have a great discussion, it was a special meeting for us. Our book club is now one year old!!! Happy Anniversary to us :-) We have a wonderful group - we appreciate every one of you who comes to the meetings. Here's to many more years of Book Club!

For more information:

Per Petterson fan site

U.K.'s Guardian Interview

The Quarterly Conversation

Next month we won't be having a regular book club meeting. Instead, in celebration of Alabama's Big Read, we will be having the wonderful Dolores Hydock, who will entertain us with her program Dead Cats & Spunk Water: Superstitions & Strange Logic in the Writing of Mark Twain.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museumand Library Services and Arts Midwest. The Big Read is made possible by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Alabama State Council for the Arts. For more information on the Big Read visit www.alabamareads.org or www.neabigread.org

So join us Monday, April 12th at 6:30pm. You will not want to miss it!

A Musical Afternoon with Bobby Horton and Mark Twain at Alys Stephens Center

The Big Read: Alabama Reads The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain comes to the Alys Stephens Center this month. A Musical Afternoon with Bobby Horton and Mark Twain will be featured on Sunday, March 14, from 2 to 3:30 p.m.


photo by Chuck King

Popular musician Bobby Horton will entertain audiences with music and stories of Twain’s years growing up along the Mississippi River. A collaborator with musical-comedy trio, Three On A String, Horton has also produced and performed music scores for ten Ken Burns films, including a documentary on Mark Twain.

The performance is designed to promote the statewide literacy campaign, The Big Read: Alabama Reads, which encourages citizens to read Mark Twain’s classic, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The book was chosen to correspond with the Alabama Department of Tourism’s Year of Small Towns and Twain’s 175th birthday. The statewide literacy campaign launched in February and will conclude in April.

Tickets are available now at the Alys Stephens Center by visit or phone at 205-975-2787, as well as online. Tickets for adults are $10, and tickets for children under 13 are $5.

Visit http://www.alysstephens.uab.edu/ or http://www.alabamareads.org/ for more information.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.

Read it Forward

The libraries of Jefferson County invite you to Read It Forward!

The Read It Forward concept is based on the book Pay it Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde, which is a story about an eighth grader who decides to change the world by doing a good deed for someone and then asks that person to "pay it forward" by doing the same for others.

Here are the details:

1. Visit any JCLC location to pick up a free copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.

2. Read the Book!

3. Log onto the Read It Forward web site and enter the book's tracking identification number and leave a comment.

4. Pass the book forward for someone else to read. Give it to a friend or neighbor - or leave it in a public place for someone to discover.

Continue to log onto the Read It Forward web site to track your book as it travels from reader to reader!

Read It Forward is in conjuction with The Big Read: Alabama Reads The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. For more information on the Big Read visit www.alabamareads.org.

The Big Read: Alabama Reads: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Join Alabama's 1st statewide Big Read, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain!

We have two upcoming events here at the library:

Young Adult Book Discussion: Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 at 3:30pm

Attention middle schoolers and high schoolers - we will have a casual meeting to talk about our favorite parts of the book. Refreshments will be provided, including tasty old-fashioned candy!

Dolores Hydock: Dead Cats & Spunk Water: Superstitions & Strange Logic in the Writing of Mark Twain: Monday, April 12th, 2010 at 6:30pm

From Tom Sawyer to Adam in the Garden of Eden, Mark Twain's characters often went beyond logic to make sense of an uncertain world. Join storyteller Dolores Hydock for an exploration of the magical thinking in Mark Twain's stories!

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. The Big Read is made possible by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Alabama State Council for the Arts.

For more information on the Big Read visit the following sites: Alabama Reads or NEA BigRead.