It's Funny and Timely!!!!!

Banned Book Week!!!!!!

Banned Book Week.......

Once a year, libraries around the United States salute intellectual freedom by highlighting books that have been banned or challenged in school libraries and public libraries. Banned Books Week, which is September 26 – October 3 this year, celebrates our freedom to read materials which may have controversial content or unpopular viewpoints.

You would expect to see books such as Lolita and Harry Potter on the list, but many of the books frequently challenged in schools and libraries are surprising. Here are a just a few examples:
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
King & King by Linda de Haan
The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé
Walter the Farting Dog by William Kotzwinkle (one of my personal favorites)
Come to the library and check one of the banned books out. Open your mind by getting to know a different point of view.

Celebrating Constitution Day......

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that this is a crummy video. But, hey (!), it's the first one I have done using a new gizmo - so I am forgiving myself. Alittle more practice and the quality will improve!!

Anyhoo, this was shot during the nation-wide celebration of Constitution Day on September 17th. Churches were encouraged to ring their bells at 4:00PM and here in Bishopville the Bethlehem United Methodist Church participated. Spearheading this effort was Mrs. Frances Drayton. We rang the bells 222 times. Once for each year since the original signing in 1787.

We are always happy to participate in community events.

Librarian: superhero for information-saturation

Each September, as students head back to the classroom, the American Library Association urges people to get and use a library card. Smart people, those librarians.
Here are some reasons why you should be putting a library card to good use:

1. You are already paying for it. During these tough economic times, why would you pay double for something? A 2008 poll showed library usage at an all-time high.
2. Save money. While you may want to own a few favorite titles, do you really need all those books? Anyone who has ever moved will tell you, “Moving boxes of books stinks.”
3. You get to try titles and genres you might otherwise miss. You may not want to plunk down $20 just to find out you that you detest the latest craze in vampire romance novels.
4. Reading broadly makes you smarter. Studies have repeatedly shown that vocabulary development, language acquisition and background knowledge are all improved in those who have been exposed to a variety of information.
5. You can get more than books with your library card. The library offers an amazing array of products and services: DVDs, CDs, magazines, newspapers, movie nights, computer use, homework help, college prep, after school programs, kid & teen programs, author visits, career planning, and free classes. Many libraries are beginning to feature audio books, eBooks and even eMovies that are downloadable from your home computer.
6. Libraries are better than bookstores. If the bookstore doesn’t have a title or subject you are searching for, you can get it through Interlibrary Loan. This even works for international titles! The library also has 24-hour online access. Bookstores close, but you can access databases and reference information while sitting in your pajamas.
7. Free WiFi. No more wardriving or mocha latte obligations for you.
8. They will bring the books to you. Some libraries will deliver titles you request right to your mailbox and many neighborhoods have bookmobiles. Think of it as the corner ice cream truck, only less fattening.
9. Libraries will give you free money. Most library cards offer perks like discounts to museums, zoos and art galleries in your community.
10. Librarians are hot. While you’re there, getting your shiny new library card, remember to hug the librarian. They hold the keys to unlocking our mass of information, the superheroes of our information-saturated society

Oscar Mayer "Wiener" Ad 1965 in COLOR (THE BEST CLASSIC AD IN THE USA)

I am working on trying to get the "Wiener Mobile." how cool would THAT be!!??

Reading Rooster Recommends September 3 2009

It's a trend.......

First came "Price and Prejudice and Zombies" new to be released: "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters." The latest Jane Austen mashup. Can't WAIT so see what they come up with next!!

Have IM on the Blog.......

Well, we finally have IM on the blog. Scroll down to the bottom and ask a question!!

New Program......

We have yet another new program in the works. We would like to offer a Wii Fit program for adults. Wii Fit uses a unique platform peripheral called the Wii Balance Board, allowing the software to, among other uses, calculate body mass index (BMI) when told the user's height. The game has about 50 different activities including yoga poses, push ups, and other exercises. Furthermore, Wii Fit allows its players to take body tests and compare their results without the game disc. Wii Fit tracks a user's "Wii Fit Age" through a body test basing the result on the user's current age, weight and athletic ability.

This is awesome software. If you are interested in participating, please call the the library. We will base the schedule on the level of interest.

Ahhhh -- the lazy blogger

In a phenomenon that occurs every year in the week before Labor Day, bloggers across America file pointless, content-free "filler" blogs, enabling the lazy scribes to hit the beach earlier, according to observers who have been following this trend.

The "filler" blogs are churned out in a matter of minutes with no loftier goal than meeting a deadline and filling up space -- meaning that bloggers will often resort to using the same words or phrase again and again and again and again and again.

And rather than doing any original writing, the slothful bloggers will rely on so-called "experts" to supply them with quotes to fill up space, experts say.

"They'll often quote people you've never heard of," says Harold Crimmins, an expert in the field of filler blogs. "It's pretty shameless."

The typical "filler" blog is often a reprint of a previously published column, but the writer will later plug in one cursory reference to current events, such as the health care reform controversy, to disguise this fact.

And in order to fill up space even faster, Crimmins says, the lazy beach-bound blogger will compose his summer "filler" columns with short paragraphs.

Many of these paragraphs will be as short as one sentence, he says.

"Or shorter," he adds.

There are other telltale signs a reader can look for in order to determine whether a writer has, in fact, filed a so-called "filler" blog, according to Crimmins.

One of these is a tendency to repeat information that the reader has already read earlier in the article, with columnists even stooping to using the same quote twice.

"They'll often quote people you've never heard of," Crimmins says.

Another tip-off is if the blog ends abruptly.

my thanks to andy