Cape NPR Show - Role of Libraries in Economic Hard Times

Did you hear the Diane Rehm Show on our local NPR station this Wednesday Morning? The topic of the 11:00 show was, "The Role of Libraries in Economic Hard Times". Here is a link that you can use to listen to the show.

Rehm discusses the fact that libraries offer more than just books. There are also DVDs, CDs, Internet Access, Games, and more educational and entertainment resources available to borrow or take advantage of. Your local library has a special role in the community during tough economic times!

Here is another news story, "Rediscovering the Library During Down Economic Times", that aired on NECN News recently.

There have been many similar stories in the news lately from all over the country. Please tell us about any articles, news spots, etc... that you have seen!

Library Friends Holiday Party - One to Remember!

On Thursday afternoon a large crowd attended the Library Friends of Oak Bluffs annual holiday party at the library. Many people heard about the party on the radio, as Library Friends Member, Marilyn Miller, was interviewed on the MVY Person of the Week broadcast.

There was a tremendous selection of baked goodies to eat, many of the recipes came from the Friends new cookbook that can still be purchased at the library as a last minute Christmas gift! There were also gingerbread people for the kids to decorate, gift grab bags, and a crowd-pleasing visit from Santa Claus!

You can see more pictures of the party by visiting the library's flickr account!
Thank you to all of the Library Friends Members who put so much hard work into organizing, baking, setting-up & cleaning-up for the party, and for your ongoing support of the library's programs and services. The library staff greatly appreciates your efforts!

December Book Discussion Group: The Book of Salt

The Book of Salt was author Monique Truong's first novel. As a Vietnamese-American who came to America as a six-year old refugee with her mother in 1975, Ms. Truong set her first novel in Paris and Saigon of the early 1930's. The narrator of the story is a young Vietnamese cook who has been employed by Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas (the Mesdames) for five years.

We had a lively discussion about several of the book's themes, such as: the relation of food and seduction, the meaning of salt, and French colonialism in Vietnam. It was fascinating to read about the Paris of this age and come to appreciate some of the unknown details of the Mesdames' lives. We found it amusing that both Ms. Toklas and Ms. Stein were totally enthralled and in love with Gertrude Stein!

We also enjoyed looking at some pictures of the Mesdames and their favorite dog, Basket, out for a stroll in Paris and "at home" in their studio.

The January book discussion meeting will be on Wednesday, January 28th at 10:30 am. We will choose a book soon.

Downloadable MP3 Audiobooks Have Arrived!

Do you have a Mac and/or iPod that you want to use to listen to audiobooks? The library now provides this service through our CLAMS Digital Downloads website!



The OverDrive Media Console for Mac is now available to download from the site. With OverDrive Media Console for Mac, OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks can now be downloaded and enjoyed on Macs. The built-in Burn Wizard can be used to burn MP3 Audiobooks to CD, and the Transfer Wizard allows quick and easy transfer to Apple® devices.

Oprah loves her new Kindle!

Here is a story from the Oprah Winfrey Show in which Oprah is "talking-up" her new Amazon Kindle. The Kindle is a portable electronic reading device that allows users to download the latest books, magazines, & newspapers from the Amazon Website. The Kindle has lots of other interested features as well, learn more about it by reading the story that we linked to above!

"Vineyard Supernatural" - Holly Nadler's Book Talk

A crowd of 30 people came to the library to listen to Holly Nadler discuss her latest book, "Vineyard Supernatural: True Ghost Stories from America's most Haunted Island".

The lights were dimmed as Holly read from several chapters of her book and discussed the walking ghost tours that she leads. She recounted spine tingling paranormal events taking place in notorious Island locations such as The Ritz Cafe and The Newes Pub.

The library has copies of all of Holly's books relating to the supernatural, check one out today:

Ghosts of Boston Town

Haunted Island

Vineyard Confidential

Vineyard Supernatural

Sustainable Book Club - "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan

On Thursday evening, the library hosted the Island-Wide Sustainable Book Club Discussion. 15 people gathered to discuss Michael Pollan's book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma".

You can find a review of the book by visiting the library's catalog, and the Sierra Club produced a useful discussion guide including links to other related resources (an interview with the author, articles, etc...) that you may find interesting.

As the meeting wrapped-up, a few stragglers continued to talk about television commercials and how they affected their parent's choices of food and consumer products. Below are some commercials from the 50's and 60's that you can watch, courtesy of the Internet Archive.

"Is Pakistan Imploding?" - A Lecture by Dr. James Norton

A group of 13 people gathered at the library to listen to Dr. James Norton lecture on a very important current events topic, "Is Pakistan Imploding?".

In this picture Dr. Norton is concluding his lecture by reading some recommendations for improving the situation in Pakistan that he had made in 2001.

Many thoughtful comments and questions were posed by the audience, some of which led to a discussion of Greg Mortenson's popular book, "Three Cups of Tea".

Please see our events calendar to learn about future lectures and events happening at the library!

September Book Group - "A Yellow Raft in Blue Water"

This important book by Michael Dorris tells the story of three generations of Native American women who are beset by hardships and torn by angry secrets and yet inextricably joined by bonds of kinship. We had an interesting discussion about the book's main theme of individualism: what it means and how it was addressed through the three lives of the central characters. We also came to realize, through our comments, how privileged we are to live in such comfort while there are still people who don't even have indoor plumbing. We agreed that we liked the book, although the story it told was not happy, by any means.

Michael Dorris wrote several other books before his death in 1997. He was divorced from the writer Louise Erditch, who writes almost exclusively about Native Americans and their culture.

If you enjoyed "A Yellow Raft in Blue Water," you might be interested in reading the following works by Michael Dorris:

The Crown of Columbus (with Louise Erdrich, 1991)

Route Two and Back (with Louise Erdrich, 1991)

Morning Girl (1992)

Working Men (1993)

Rooms in the House of Stone (1993)

Paper Trail (essays, 1994)

Guests (1995)

Sees Behind Trees (1996)

Cloud Chamber (1997)

The Window (1997)

Skunk Lecture - Luanne Johnson

Luanne Johnson, Doctoral Candidate in the Environmental Studies Department at Antioch University New England, educated a crowd of 10-15 people on the topic of coastal skunks.

Many interesting questions were posed by the audience, and a lively discussion resulted.

Luanne also presented her fascinating research which you can read more about by visiting her web page.