No Foolin’, April Has Plenty of Genuine Activities

By KATHY McGILBERRY

No joke, there’s so much to do in April at McAlester Public Library you might be tempted to think it’s all just a big hoax. But it’s all for real and it all starts this week.

 Among the many teen activities this month is a combined haiku and origami workshop on Thursday, April 23. You can find all the programs and meetings for the teen set on the chartreuse and blue calendars at the front desk.

 Children’s activities include the usual Lapsit times and Story Times, as well as Family Fun Night on Tuesday, April 21. Anita Ross has all the details. She’s also working on the summer reading program. The theme for 2009 is “Be Creative @ Your Library,” and features music and the arts.

 Volunteers from the American Association of Retired Persons will be here for their final few free tax preparation sessions on Friday, April 3, 9a.m.-1 p.m.; Monday, April 6, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday, April 10, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.; and Monday, April 13, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

 Free math tutoring continues as well every Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Students can get help with everything from basic algebra to trigonometry.

 Computer tech Anthony Smart has scheduled free basic computer/internet classes every Wednesday in April. You must pre-register to attend. Sessions are set to start each week at 4 p.m.

 Other adult and family activities include:

Thursday, April 2—Bodacious Bookies, 1-3 p.m. in the Conference Room. They’ll be discussing “Marley and Me” by John Grogan.

Saturdays, April 4 and 18—Adult Manga Club, 1-4 p.m. in the Whiteacre East. This group is going strong, so if you are interested in Manga and Anime and you’re over 18 years old, feel free to attend.

 Wednesday, April 8—Another free crafts workshop will begin at 2:30 p.m. Be sure to call or stop by the front desk to register. Only 10 spaces are available for the “wind spinner” project. All you have to provide is your creativity and some time on a Wednesday afternoon.

 Saturday, April 11—Second Saturday Cinema returns with a 2 p.m. screening of a classic Easter musical starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. Step on out with your baby, or by yourself, to see this family-friendly fare. Free popcorn! Prizes!

 Monday, April 13—Arthouse Theater also returns at 6 p.m. with a quirky little offering starring Adrien Brody and Ileana Douglas. Brody made this film just before winning the Academy Award for “The Pianist,” and learned ventriloquism just for the role.

 Thursday, April 16—“Let’s Talk About It, Oklahoma,” the popular reading and discussion program sponsored statewide by the Oklahoma Humanities Council and locally by the Friends of the Library, meets from 6-8 p.m. in the Whiteacre East to examine John Ferling’s history “Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800.” This is the fourth book in the “American Icons” series. Attendance has been strong for this history-themed series. Join us for a rousing discussion, free refreshments and even a door prize. Dr. Carol Sue Humphrey, one of the creators of this series, will be our scholar. She presented for us last year in the “Piecing the Quilt, Stirring the Stew” series and we look forward to seeing her again.

 Friday and Saturday, April 17-18—Friends of the Library annual book sale kicks off at St. John’s Catholic Church gymnasium Friday evening and continues through noon the next day. This is the main fundraiser for the year for Friends, and there are always scads and scads of high-quality materials for sale.

 Saturday, April 18—McAlester Public Library will have a booth at the “Blue’s Clues and Baby Moves” Baby Fair at the Expo Center. Stop by and try your skill at the beanbag toss, register for a library card if you don’t have one, and get yourself a prize.

 Tuesday, April 21—Speaking of the Friends, they are set to meet at noon on this date for their regular monthly meeting. Later that day, the Night Readers convene at 6:30 p.m. in the Conference Room to discuss “A Year in Provence” by Peter Mayle.

 Monday, April 27—Our first-run independent movie this month comes from Belgium and begins at 6 p.m. “Eldorado” tells the tale of two loners who manage to avoid a  violent encounter, and instead set off on a homecoming journey in an old Chevrolet. It’s a Cannes winner for “Best European Film.” Why not try something different and attend one of these Film Movement screenings?

 And finally, Thursday, April 30—“Let’s Talk” wraps up with the ever-popular Dr. Trisha Yarbrough of East Centeral University presenting the novel “Dolley” by Rita Brown. The book is subtitled “A Novel of Dolley Madison in Love and War.”

 National Library Week sits smack-dab in the middle of our month, April 12-18. The theme this year is “Worlds Connect @ Your Library.” One of our displays will feature some local library history.

 Other displays this month will feature National Parks, more “staff picks” and Forrest’s choices for the “Shelf of the Week.” Last month, Forrest’s themes included the cryptic “Don’t Look,” followed by the welcoming “Look.” Stop by the library to see which books he’s featuring.

Bodacious Bookies Choose Eight New Books

The Bodacious Bookies, the daytime book discussion group at McAlester Public Library, have selected eight new titles for 2009. The group meets on the first Thursday of every month from 1-3 p.m. in the Conference Room. Group leaders are Darlene Rising and Janice Saaranen. The eight new choices and the reading schedule are:

*May–“Couples” by John Updike, a provocative novel about sex in suburbia;

*June–“Relic” by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, a thriller about mysterious and savage murders at the Museum of Natural History in New York City;

July–“Oblivion” by Peter Abrahams, featuring private investigator Nick Petrov, amnesia and a case of a missing daughter;

August–“‘Tis” by Frank McCourt, the followup memoir to the bestselling “Angela’s Ashes;”

September–“The Camel Club” by David Baldacci, a convoluted tale of four men who meet to discuss political conspiracies, and discover one of their own;

October–“The Witching Hour” by Anne Rice, a novel of witchcraft and the occult;

November–“The Beekeeper’s Apprentice” by Laurie R. King, a Mary Russell mystery, featuring Sherlock Holmes; and

December–“Girl With a Pearl Earring” by Tracy Chevalier, the imagined tale of the girl in the famous Vermeer painting.

Friends Will Welcome Barbara Smitherman

The McAlester Friends of the Library will host local author Barbara Smitherman at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 17 for a book signing. Smitherman, of McAlester, is the author of “Engaging the Sons of Darkness,” due for nationwide release April 21.

“Engaging the Sons of Darkness” takes readers dep into the realm of the spiritual, where unseen forces are at work influencing the lives, actions and thoughts of people. Friends of the Library meet monthly in the Whiteacre Room for a luncheon and informational program. A $3 donation is requested for the cost of the meal.

Tess Gerritsen Will Speak to Oklahoma Writers

A keynote address by bestselling author Tess Gerritsen will be one of the featured events at the 41st annual Oklahoma Writers Federation Conference May 1-2 in Norman. All seven of Gerritsen’s medical thrillers have appeared on the bestsellers lists.

The “Word by Word” conference will be preceded by a session called “Self-Editing Without Self-Destructing” on Thursday, April 30.  Once official activities get underway, there will be seminars and sessions with commercial agents, authors, freelancers and other specialists. Information is available at the Writers Federation website, www.owfi.org.

March 15 is the deadline to receive special pricing on registration.

A Goodly Number of Yellow Stripes

A SUFFUSION OF YELLOW was the color as city workers painted new markers on the main parking lot at McAlester Public Library Wednesday. The clearly-marked spaces—25 in all—are a welcome improvement.

‘Teen Tech Week’ Just Part of March Activities

By KATHY MCGILBERRY

Whether you are high-tech, low-tech or no-tech, March at McAlester Public Library has plenty to interest you. We have a spring holiday scheduled, so please note that the library will be closed on Monday, March 16.

The teens take center stage March 9-14 for the annual “Teen Tech Week.” Activities include a book club meeting on Monday, a digital photo editing workshop on Tuesday, a website/blog workshop on Wednesday, a video game design activity on Friday and a game tournament on Saturday. All the details are available on the Teen Page at the website. 

Adults will become more tech-savvy at four internet/computer classes scheduled by Computer Tech Anthony Smart. Those sessions are set for March 4, 11, 18 and 25. If you want to attend, call 426-0930 to register.

Children’s Librarian Anita Ross continues her regular Lapsits and Story Times every Tuesday and Wednesday. She also hosts the regular monthly “Family Fun Night” every third Tuesday of the month beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Adult activities this month center on our book clubs, the “Let’s Talk About It, Oklahoma” reading and discussion series and our monthly first-run independent movie. You’ll note that we have skipped our regular “Arthouse Theater” and “Second Saturday Cinema” this month in order to give the teens plenty of space for their special activities. Look for those regular movies to resume in April.

Here’s the rest of the lineup:

*Thursday, March 5—Bodacious Bookies, 1-3 p.m., Conference Room, discussing Jodi Picoult’s “Thirteen Minutes;”

*Saturday, March 7—Adult Manga Club, 1-4 p.m., Whiteacre East, movies and fun;

*Thursday, March 12—Let’s Talk About It, Oklahoma, 6-8 p.m., Whiteacre East, Dr. Douglas Watson presents “American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson” by Joseph J. Ellis, free refreshments and a door prize;

*Tuesday, March 17—Friends of the Library noon luncheon; Night Readers, 6:30 p.m., Conference Room, discussing “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini;

*Saturday, March 21—Adult Manga Club, 1-4 p.m., Whiteacre East, movies and fun;

*Thursday, March 26—Let’s Talk About It, Oklahoma, 6-8 p.m., Whiteacre East, Caroline Larsen, J.D., presents “Scandalmonger” by William Safire, free refreshments and a door prize; and

*Monday, March 31—First-Run Independent Film, 6 p.m. Whiteacre East, “In Love We Trust,” unrated and not recommended for those under 17. The film follows a divorced couple living in modern-day China who discover that their daughter is dying of leukemia.  Doctors inform them, however, that the child can only be saved with stem cells from an umbilical cord of a sibling. Unfortunately both parents have since remarried. The film follows the emotional strain that this development brings to both marriages.

One of the March displays currently going up is Reference Librarian Christopher Elliott’s look at Native America and Native Americans. Be sure to check it out, especially if you plan to watch the “We Shall Remain” American Experience series on PBS beginning in mid-April. The series presents Native history as an integral part of how the United States was shaped. Christopher’s display will amplify the theme.

Also this month, the Barbie doll (nee Barbara Millicent Roberts) turns 50 years old, and we have a display to commemorate this milestone birthday. To us, the old gal looks not much different than she did back when she wore a black-and-white horizontal striped bathing suit and had a bouffant hairdo. But our eyesight isn’t what it used to be, so maybe we’re just seeing her in soft focus!

Did you know there is another weekly display in the new books section? It’s called “Shelf of the Week,” and you’ll find some fascinating reading there. Library Aide Nathan Forrest selects a shelf from the nonfiction section to help you discover the interesting subjects you might have been missing. This week, the subject is “History of Other Areas,” or “Views from the Other Side of the Horizon.” Next week, who knows?

Alyce Edwards is the latest staffer to offer up her book choices for a special display. See Alyce’s selections directly across from the front desk—she has wide-ranging interests.

We hope to see you at the library in March. 

 

 

How Do You Use the Library to Save Money?

This spring, the McAlester Public Library, the American Library Association (ALA) and Woman’s Day magazine want to know how you have used resources and services at the library during this tough economic time. 

From now until May 18, women over the age of 18 can submit their story in 700 words or less to womansday@ala.org.  Four stories will be featured in the March 2010 issue of Woman’s Day, which has more than 4 million readers.  Official rules are available on the Woman’s Day Web site at womansday.com/ala.

“The public library plays an important role as Americans face tough economic times, whether that means providing free Internet access, assistance in finding a job and of course, the lending of books, CDs and DVDs.” said Head Librarian Christine Sauro.

For information on free resources at McAlester Public Library, visit www.mcalesterlibrary.net.

The initiative was developing by Woman’s Day and the ALA’s Campaign for America’s Libraries. The Campaign for America’s Libraries (ala.org/@yourlibrary), ALA’s public awareness campaign, promotes the value of libraries and librarians. 

McAlester Public Library is located at 401 N. 2^nd, at the intersection of 2^nd and Adams Streets. Parking is available in the main lot off Adams Street, with additional parking on the lower level off 2^nd Street. The phone number is 918-426-0930, toll-free within Pittsburg County at 1-800-215-6494. The library is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

This latest initiative continues an eight-year partnership between the magazine and ALA’s Campaign for America’s Libraries that has generated millions of dollars worth of editorial coverage for libraries. Since 2002, Woman’s Day has asked its readers to write in about “how the library has changed my life,” “why I would want to be a librarian for a day,” and “how I started my business at the library.”

The March 2009 article features four readers who used the library to improve their health and wellness. Featured are a wife who turned to the library for solace during her husband’s illness, a new mom who sought answers about postpartum depression at the library, a retiree who learned how to find trusted medical resources at a free library class and a reader who rediscovered books through the Library of Congress’ Talking Books program after she lost her sight.

Woman’s Day magazine is a partner in the Campaign for America’s Libraries. Other partners include Carnegie Corporation of New York, Dollar General, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the International Federal of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Univision Radio and Verizon.