Urbana Free Library Picks

Are you Good to Go?

2012-01-27T10:35:00.001-06:00

We don't like to think about it, but we're all going to "go" some day. Good to Go: a Guide to Preparing for the End of Life, by Jo Myers, is a frank but humorous look at many issues you need to consider when planning for death.

Using personal experiences and anecdotes, Myers presents helpful hints plus information from funeral directors, veterinarians, jewelers, hospice workers and others who might be involved with the end of someone's life. You don't always think about or are aware of problems which might arise when a family member or friend passes away. This book will help you prepare, so what should occur actually does. As Myers says: "Death happens. A good plan helps it happen with fairness, dignity, and integrity."

Realistic and practical, Good to Go is available at The Urbana Free Library. Place a hold or contact us at Adult Services to reserve it for you. 217-367-4405.

2012-01-24T16:37:00.029-06:00

African American History Month at The Urbana Free Library

African American History Month is an annual celebration of the achievements by black Americans and a time for reflecting on the central role of African Americans in U.S. history. As conceived by historian Carter G. Woodson, the idea of setting aside time to nationally recognize the importance of African American history began as black history week in 1926. Since 1976 every U.S. President has officially designated the month of February as black or African American history month. To commemorate the month this year, The Urbana Free Library is highlighting our collection of both fiction and non-fiction titles that illustrate and celebrate this rich history. We kick off the festivities with a look at two books on the civil rights movement and the multi-racial freedom riders of 1961:

Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice recounts how a group of volunteers--blacks and whites--came together to travel through the Deep South, defying Jim Crow laws in buses and terminals and putting their lives on the line for racial and social justice. News photographers captured the violence in Montgomery, shocking the nation, and sparking a crisis in the Kennedy administration. This expansive book is the first comprehensive work on the freedom riders by a professional historian, and is a compelling read to boot. A must-read for anyone with an interest in what these brave young people did to influence the national narrative on race and society.

The name, mug shot, and other personal details of each Freedom Rider arrested were duly recorded and saved by agents of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, an investigative agency whose purpose was to "perform all acts deemed necessary and proper to protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi." How the commission thought these details would actually protect the state is not clear,but what is clear, fifty years later, is that the careful recording of names and the preservation of mug shots inadvertently created a record and testament to these early heroes of the civil rights movement.

Breach of Peace:Portraits of the 1961 Mississippi Freedom Riders features over seventy contemporary photographs, alongside many of these original mug shots, along with exclusive interviews with former Freedom Riders.

“The interview excerpts bring to life the experience these people shared—not just the rides, the arrests, and the beatings but also, in many cases, the weeks or months they spent in jail afterwards....We learn what they were doing before the rides and what they have done since….[Etheridge’s] solid feel for his subject is evident throughout this marvelous, moving book.” (Hendrik Hertzberg - The New Yorker )

For more information on African American history month or on the freedom riders, check out these links:

African American history month at the Library of Congress

PBS documentary on the Freedom Riders

Stayed tuned for more highlights from The Urbana Free Library collection!

Martin Luther King and "The Other America"

2012-01-17T16:03:00.020-06:00

Last night the Art Theater in Champaign did something unusual. As part of Martin Luther King Day festivities they showed a 45 minute black and white film of an MLK speech from 1967 – “The Other America”. Speaking without notes, King addressed with urgency the tremendous turmoil in the country that stemmed from racism, the country’s deep economic inequality and the waste and brutality of the war in Vietnam. There is still so much that is fresh, radical, thought-provoking and profoundly relevant in King’s words.

There’s a tendency to idolize King, rather than to really grapple with his humanity and the revolutionary ideas he proposed. A few excellent books do indeed take on this challenge. Taylor Branch’s Trilogy, America in the King Years – though daunting in length – is compellingly readable. Branch gives an unforgettable profile of King, but also offers insight into Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson, Fannie Lou Hamer and others; he revives the forgotten history of the Civil Rights Movement – especially the stories of courage in the face of daily hatred and violence that spring to life in his telling. David Garrow’s book Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leacership Conference humanizes King and shows the struggles and tremendous challenges he faced. Garrow’s research (especially the numerous interviews with King’s inner circle) won him a Pulitzer Prize. And there are many others books to recommend as well, by Stephen B. Oates, Michael Er ic Dyson, and - of course there are King’s own books and recordings of King's speeches.

I’m looking forward to another MLK event this week – A film on Bayard Rustin, a tireless organizer and activist who had a tremendous impact on the Civil Rights Movement (and whose contributions are minimized in part in part because he was openly gay). There’s also another showing of the the MLK Speech “The Other America” on campus next Tuesday, January 24. See this link for details on these and other events (all organized by the University of Illinois' many co-sponsors).

Treasure Trove!

2012-01-13T13:17:00.000-06:00

There is an area in our DVD section that many people overlook. Don't let this happen to you! In the far back corner of the DVD room we have our Music and Musical Performance DVDs, a small but amazingly rich section that includes documentaries, concerts, and everything musical in between.

With a little help from a grant, our collection ranges from Bach to the Sex Pistols; it is arranged to match our CD collection.

Genius Within: the Inner Life of Glenn Gould is one I enjoyed recently. This 2009 film attempts to look beyond the well-known eccentricities of this celebrated pianist through interviews with the people who were closest to him. It moves from his early child prodigy days to his death at age 50 in 1982.

Glenn Gould's story has been told many times, but as director Peter Raymont said, the making of the film produced many surprises: "We’ve found people who knew Gould intimately who have never before spoken about the depth of their relationship. We’ve discovered rarely-seen footage, never-before-seen photographs and a wealth of Glenn Gould’s private recordings."

Check it out! It's at your library!

Where Children Sleep reflects their worlds

2012-01-10T10:00:00.024-06:00

In discussing his photo essay, Where Children Slee p, photographer James Mollison says "I found myself thinking about my bedroom: how significant it was during my childhood, and how it reflected what I had and who I was. It occurred to me that a way to address some of the complex situations and social issues affecting children would be to look at the bedrooms of children in all kinds of different circumstances."

Mollison combined compelling portraits with bedroom photos and stark, matter-of-fact bios. The contrast is immense. This is serious social controversy that not only explores worldwide lifestyle divides but combines them with detailed graphics which are fascinating and haunting at the same time.

Preview portraits from the book. And, if it intrigues you, borrow the book from The Urbana Free Library and spend time exploring how differently children live around the world. Where Children Sleep is a book you won't forget.

Questions or need help placing your hold? Call us at Adult Services, 217-367-4405, or email.

Have you tried our audiobooks?

2012-01-03T10:05:00.004-06:00

For those who didn’t know, audiobooks are the perfect way to help the time pass more quickly on a long drive. On my drive home last weekend, I listened to Cloaked by Alex Flinn, performed by Alexander Cendese. The drive takes over 6 hours roundtrip, so this audiobook was the perfect length (6 hr., 46 min.). Usually by the time I reach my destination I’m itching to get out of the car, but Cendese’s vocal performance of the various characters had me captivated for the entire drive. With a cursed prince/frog, enchanted talking swans, witches, and a hot princess, this isn’t your ordinary fairy tale. Add in a teenage shoe repair guy with a magic cloak as a hero, and the result is an engaging tale that will keep you entertained until the very last moment. Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself and get CLOAKED!

(Not a fan of audiobooks? We have Cloaked in print as well! )

P.S., The audiobooks have moved! You can find them now on the 2nd floor by the Educational DVDs.

YOUR Favorite 2011 Reads--The Rest of the Story

2011-12-28T10:07:00.008-06:00

Recently we Urbana Free Library staff members got together and made a list of our favorite reads of 2011.

Now it's your turn. Help us create a companion list. We want to know our patrons' reading highlights of 2011.

Tell us the titles/authors of the best books you enjoyed in 2011.

You can pick new titles or old goodies you finally read in 2011.
Adult fiction, adult nonfiction, teen titles or children's books--you choose.
They don’t have to be books the library owns; we LOVE getting recommendations.

Pick the one easiest way to contact us.

Post your choice(s) on our Facebook page--https://www.facebook.com/UrbanaFreeLibrary
Tweet us @urbanalibrarian
Email us--reference@tufl.info
Comment on this blog post

Send us your selections by the end of day on Sunday January 15, 2012.

And that's it! We'll pull your responses together (anonymously) to create a companion bibliography for our staff picks. You'll be able to get a copy of our UFL Patron Picks at the library and online at our website.

Let's get to know each other better and share our leisure reading!

Champaign Urbana Color

2011-12-19T10:05:00.001-06:00

I became a fan of Dan O'Brien's gorgeous local shots when I followed his daily photoblog on the gct13.com website a few years ago. Dan went out into Champaign-Urbana, UIUC and the surrounding countryside and posted the most colorful photos celebrating our communities.

The photoblog is discontinued now, so I was delighted to discover O'Brien has published a book inspired by the spirit of his blog. Some shots are new, but I was thrilled to view some of my personal favorites. While O'Brien's shots of UIUC buildings bring out their iconic flavor, I particularly love his images of the fields and ever-changing Illinois skies.

Preview Champaign Urbana Color online, or request our Urbana Free Library copy.

The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams

2011-12-03T09:35:00.008-06:00

Holly Williams never felt much of a connection to her grandfather. So when she slipped on a pair of white gloves and lifted one of Hank Williams' old spiral-bound notebooks to inspect its pages recently at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, she was a little bit startled to feel a deep visceral reaction.Hank Williams used to carry the notebooks in a battered old leather briefcase he always had with him, including at the time of his death on Jan. 1, 1953, on the way to a show in West Virginia.

His mother found a cache of material after his death as well. She turned the song fragments over to Williams' publisher and they've sat in a vault for most of the ensuing decades, until producer Mary Martin came up with the idea for breathing life into them.

That idea developed into an all-star project that coupled Hank Williams' lyrics with modern artists melodies to create a unique form of collaboration. Jack White, Norah Jones, Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, Vince Gill, Rodney Crowell, Alan Jackson, Levon Helm, and others built melodies around Hanks lyrics to create new songs. These songs were then recorded by the artists and was released as the superlative "Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams" CD, now available at The Urbana Free Library!

Want to learn English? Want to help someone else learn?

2011-10-18T18:11:00.000-05:00

If you would like to learn to speak English our community is a great place to be. There are many offerings both for people just starting their study of English and for those who are more advanced. Likewise, native English speakers hoping to expand their horizons can find many opportunities here to interact with the local international community.

Check it out!

A song of our times

2011-10-18T08:00:00.015-05:00

I was heading to the library for book club one Sunday and the hard rock chorus of Chickenfoot's latest single, "Three and a half Letters", roared into my car. The song is devastatingly affecting. It's hard to drive to work with tears in your eyes.

I need a job
I need a job
I'm willing to work
But I need a job

The backstory? Chickenfoot's lead singer, Sammy Hagar, was inspired by correspondence he received from Iraq vets, homeless, and others desperate for work. They wanted to work--they were able to work--they just couldn't find jobs. Hagar used actual letters he received in the lyrics. Hagar and Chickenfoot hope that the publicity from the song will be a practical conduit they can use to help these folks and others in similar situations find jobs.

What caught my ear was this stanza--

I'm sorry this letter is hand-written but I don't have a computer
I don't have access to one
I'm 51 years old
I lost my wife to breast cancer three years ago
Lost my job of 26 years one year later
I'm homeless with no one to turn to
I've been through a lot, brother
I heard you like to help people
Well, I need help

I wish the person who wrote that letter knew that most public libraries could give him access to a computer,other equipment and perhaps even technology training. The Urbana Free Library serves many folks looking for jobs every day in our computer lab. But not everyone is aware that we're there for them. We libraries all certainly have books about writing resumes, interviewing, and the job search. And we plan to provide more.

Computer & Internet Services at The Urbana Free Library

Here's a list of some of The Urbana Free Library's job hunting materials.

Listen to "Three and a Half Letters".

The guys of Chickenfoot put together a podcast discussing how "Three and a Half Letters" evolved.

If you're interested in listening to more Chickenfoot, "Three and a Half Letters" is on the album Chickenfoot III. Follow the link or contact us at Adult Services to place a hold. 217-367-4405 or reference@tufl.info.

High Line--hidden in Manhattan

2011-10-11T08:00:00.001-05:00

The High Line is a unique urban garden, created in the heart of New York City from an old, abandoned, elevated freight line. What was an eyesore is now a vital community space.

I've been fascinated by the High Line ever since I viewed this brief CBS Early Show feature. So I was thrilled when I heard on NPR that a new book detailing the inside story of the project was on the way.

Now, you too can find out all about the creation of this popular public park by reading High Line: the Inside Story of New York City's Park in the Sky, by Joshua David and Robin Hammond.

Place a hold online, or contact us at the library & we'll be happy to reserve a copy for you. (217) 367-4405/reference@tufl.info

Danger: Rock Science!

2011-09-30T14:49:00.009-05:00

Menthol is back. No, not in your cigarettes. The Urbana Free Library has recently acquired a taste for Menthol in the person of Joel Spencer- bass guitar player turned reference librarian. I fondly recall "moshing" frantically (when you're 16 you do everything frantically) to Menthol's driving riffs at the now defunct Trenos (currently Espresso Royale next to Krannert). When Joel told me of his past career I was reminded of my former musical love and I quickly ran to the UFL database to discover that yes, indeed, we owned a Menthol album. Danger! Rock Science was available and I wasted no time in cranking it up down in my basement...drowning out the fading protests of my wife and child.
Some things you go back and listen to and it occurs to you that perhaps your elders had a point when they caustically dismissed whatever grunge band you were currently blasting. Some, however, stand the test of time and I am pleased to report that Danger: Rock Science! easily affirms my narcissistic suspicion that I was always inclined towards good taste in music. From the singable "Guiding Hand" to the hilarious yet oddly sad "Strange Living" the album is both a product of its times with 80s style synth sounds combined with 90s sharply distorted riffs, as well as a musical work that transcends its moment in history. It is still evocative and still seems fresh after all these years. The fact that Seth the long haired wanna be hippie slam dancing at Trenos can agree with Seth the library employee father of two is a testament to Menthol's musical talent.
So check out Danger: Rock Science! We own it and it rocks. And give respect to Joel next time you're in for making it as a musician for 8 years in Chicago...that should earn mad props.

Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon

2011-09-19T11:54:00.016-05:00

Outlander Series
By: Gabaldon, Diana

Now this is a book you can really sink your teeth into: 627 pages of swashbuckling adventure, romance, tragedy, time travel, history and great characters. (For those of you are thinking, time travel, yuck, the author only uses that to get Claire Fraser to 17th century Scotland--there is no hopping back and forth.) This is a well researched historical novel with lots of action. Gabaldon's descriptive way of writing puts you right in the middle of everything.

This entire series so far contains seven novels, all told from Claire's point of view, and a 2010 graphic novel called Exile, which retells the first novel from 17th century Scotsman Jamie's point of view. The eighth and final novel is due in 2012.

Who are Jamie and Claire? Claire is a 20th century nurse who steps through a crack in time and ends up in 17th century Scotland. She finds herself having to marry Jamie Fraser, a Scotsman, to have the protection of his clan during the Jacobite uprising. Their road to romance is rocky and worthy of a Shakespearean tragedy. The entire series follows their adventures (and misadventures) from Scotland to the United States during the American Revolution.

And: this just in! The 20th anniversary edition of Outlander has just been published. It has a beautiful cover and a cd of music from... Outlander the Musical??????????

If you find you like this series as much as I do, you might also try:

Into The Wilderness by Sara Donati.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory.

Green Darkness by Anna Seton.

T. A. Pratt's Marla Mason

2011-09-16T09:26:00.012-05:00

Some fantasy series are like zombies, marching on ahead volume after volume long after they've lost every original thought in their head. I'd like to bring your attention to a series that hasn't been zombified: T. A. Pratt's Marla Mason series. By which I mean, in addition to each book being conspicuously well-written, the stakes and settings and supporting characters keep shifting, so the world never feels stale.

The books in order are Blood Engines, Poison Sleep, Dead Reign, Spell Games, and Broken Mirrors. Up top you can see the cover for the third book. The first four all have consistent cover art. Here's the cover for the most recent volume:

Here's where my zombie metaphor becomes more complicated. Because in a (good) way, the Marla Mason series is like a zombie, in that it won't die. After publishing the first four books, Bantam Spectra decided not to continue with the series. (And with the fourth book a cliffhanger, no less!) Remember how a zombie keeps marching forward? In the case of the Marla Mason books, this is a good thing. The awesome Merry Blacksmith Press (whose motto is "Because great books deserve to be read!", and which seems to exist in part for just this kind of situation) published the fifth book, and it looks like it might also be putting out the sixth, both of which were/are being funded by readers' donations.

Cold, Yummy and Healthy

2011-08-26T17:35:00.000-05:00

Just when you think summer is over, along comes another spell of intense and cloying warmth. It's the perfect time for refreshing ice pops!

Ice Pop Joy: Organic, Healthy, Fresh, Delicious, by Anni Daulter, is a great alternative for those looking for cool but healthy treats. Don't depend on those refined sugar popsicles you get at the store. Why not make your own, nutritious versions? And these aren't just pops for kids--these have great appeal for adults, too.

Check out the book's website for more pictures and some free recipes. But check the book itself out from the Urbana Free Library, and create all sorts of scrumptious icy taste treats yourself. Bet you'll want a supply to enjoy all year round--not just in the heat of summer.

Broetry

2011-08-25T08:00:00.003-05:00

Broetry? What is it besides the title of a newly published book of poems? The poet, Brian McGackin, says it best in his blog post: "...Broetry is poetry for dudes; it's poetry for people who don't normally like poetry. Are you the type of person that scoffs at Shelley, laughs at Lord Byron, and wouldn't be caught dead reading Whitman? Then I am quite pleased to inform you that there is finally a manly alternative."

And he's right. Where else can you find poems that start out:

"I have finished

the beer

that was in

the icebox"

"So, we're probably going to break up, right?

I think we should, although I'm terrible

at making decisions, so would you mind

just taking care of that for me?"

So check out this new addition to our collection and enjoy the manly--and sometimes rather explicit--musings of a totally male poet.

Remember, it's Broetry: Poetry for Dudes. Follow the link and place a hold or give us librarians a call, so we can reserve it for you.

Sure to Appear on a Soundtrack Somewhere

2011-08-10T17:35:00.000-05:00

The Naked and Famous' new album Passive Me, Aggressive You ...
we have it!

Get you some indie-pop!

2011-08-08T13:12:00.001-05:00

Cults' self-titled new album ... we have it!