Serial Adventures

"Now that all the bookstores are closing, I'm going to have to go to the library."

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I overheard that statement from a person reading a paperback on the train. Mainly, I wanted to get up and shout the benefits of public libraries and get that person a library card. Tout de suite.

It seems fitting that I should now list ALL the advantages of a library but I've been wanting to post about the new magazines we have added to the collection for 2011.
About 25 plus new titles were
added. Ironically, we learned of many of these new titles by visiting a nearby Borders. The closing of that store won't stop us from finding new and interesting titles this year. We are a resourceful bunch and greatly admire Mr. Magazine and you for suggestions.

Many of the magazines we added in 2011 follow a new trend. Highly specialized and diverse. Chicago Crescent, India Today and News China focus on specific communities affecting all of our lives. Midwest Gaming, Cardmaker, Just CrossStitch, Woodcraft target hobbyists. Looking Back appeals to Seniors. Cicada to teens. If you had to open your wallet to read one of these magazines, you'd probably stick with a familiar topic. But at the library being adventurous doesn't cost a thing.



2011 Additions
Cardmaker, Chicago Crescent, Cicada, Do It Yourself, Equus, Fitness Magazine, Guitar Aficiando, Heart and Soul, Illinois Game and Fish, Just CrossStitch, Looking Back, Midwest Gaming and Travel, News China, Realms of Fantasy, Shonen Jump, Small Business Opportunities, UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, WoodCraft, Yoga Plus Joyful Living

Tiger, tiger...

Amid the war-scarred landscape of a fictionalized Balkan country, a young doctor, Natalia, faces superstition and secrecy on a humanitarian trip to an orphanage across the border. At the same time, she searches for the truth of her grandfather's mysterious final days and his solitary death in a small country village. In Eastern Orthodox tradition, we learn, “the forty days of the soul begin on the morning after death.” During that time, it will “make its way to the places of its past.” Natalia must return home with her grandfather's personal effects before those forty days pass so that his soul can find it's way.

That is the basis for the finely-crafted mix of history and legend, reality and allegory that is The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht. This debut novel, by the youngest writer on The New Yorker's 20 Under 40 list of 2010, emerges from a barrage of prepublication fervor as that rare literary gem: deserving of all the hype.

With extraordinary skill and imagination, Obreht slowly illuminates the grandfather's life through the re-telling of "the deathless man" and "the tiger's wife," two of his own fantastic tales. “These stories run like secret rivers through all the other stories” of his life. Subtly, each bit of myth and memory builds on the next to reveal the character of both the man and the land he comes from.

This novel is not a light read. Its richness and complexity awes, and we are left with the understanding that who we believe our loved ones to be is powerfully influenced by the stories they tell. And in turn, the stories lived out by everyday people define their homeland more truly than any boundary drawn on a map.

Buona Fortuna Signora Manfrotto

Our dear friend Karen McBride is bidding farewell to us tomorrow. Our loss is Barrington Area Library's gain when Karen assumes the position of Head of Public Information for them.

If you have had any contact with the Des Plaines public library including (and especially) our website, you have been the benefactor of Karen's great gifts. Her job title is "Web Librarian" but that's like the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Not only did Karen develop and maintain our website, she also (brace yourself): wrote and directed all our library videos, created all the videos created for Des Plaines businesses; acted as an instructor for numerous computer and social media classes; lectured and presented several times at the Illinois Library convention, the Public Library convention and other venues on behalf of Des Plaines Public Library; wrote much of the copy for the library website and database information; wrote the "Plain Talk" blog daily; was a star member of the Singing Librarians which have entertained us in numerous July 4th parades and Christmas shows; taught staff and patrons how to blog, use Twitter; use Facebook, use iTunes and use iPads; worked the Reference desk and Readers' services desk; worked on the online catalog committee for almost two years and helped design our new "MyCatalog."

This remarkable work product is not the best thing about Karen, however. The best thing about Karen is, well, she's Karen. She is super smart, creative and gracious. She likes platform shoes and Ronzoni pasta. She loves her family and Bono. She sings like an angel, or at least like a blond Barbra Streisand. If you need to laugh, she's your gal.If you need to cry, she is also your gal.

When I think of Karen, I see her in my mind's eye setting up the video camera on the Manfrotto tripod (hence, the moniker "Mrs. Manfrotto".) And I see something else too - her generosity. In the all the time that Karen and I worked together, I never once saw her turn down a request for help. And believe me, when you're a tech wiz, there are plenty of requests for help. Like endless waves rolling to shore, everyone wanted Karen's assistance with something, and never once, not once did I ever hear her say no. They say human cloning is wrong, but when it comes to Karen McBride, I'm all for it.

So, our good friend, in Irish it's said Go n'éirí an t-ádh leat. In Polish, it's Powodzenia! In Des Plainesian, we say you were a joy to work with and we wish you every good fortune that life can deliver.

And thank you.