Just When You Thought You Knew Every Section of the Library
We have a new section of DVDs-documentaries. Of recent interest is GasLand about how the fracking of natural gas contaminates our water supply and Objects and Memory telling us how we preserve the past and speak to the future through the things we treasure and the memories they invoke. On order, and soon to arrive on the shelves, is Client 9: the Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, Inside job and The Lottery.
Spring is in the Air
Two upcoming programs will get you out of the winter “blues.” On Tuesday evening, March 29 at 7:30 pm, Hastings’s own Becca Mudge, award-winning landscape designer will present “Garden Midwifery” …or how I learned to have a nice garden in the midst of deer country. Come with your questions and be ready to sit back and learn (and laugh) as Becca gives lots of practical gardening advice.
Then, on Saturday, April 2 at 3:00 pm, Jerry Silverman, local musicologist and folksinger will put on a show of baseball songs. This program is appropriate for the whole family.
If You Are Able and Willing
The Hastings Police Benevolent Association will sponsor a blood drive at the Library on Thursday, March 31 from 1:30-7:30 pm. Officer Heather Smolenski (478-3400 ext 671) will coordinate the event. As some of you know, many people cannot give blood due to medical conditions, medications, travel and other considerations. Of those who CAN give blood, only about 10% do so. Consequently, whole-blood supply is constantly in demand. If you are able and willing, please consider donating –it really is quick and easy.
When Eavesdropping is Good
I love to listen in when patrons are talking about "good books" they have recently read. Not for the faint of heart: Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder. In twelve years, in deliberate killing policies unrelated to combat, the Nazi and Soviet regimes killed 14 million people in a zone of death between Berlin and Moscow. Their story is finally told.
Whimsical: Moby Duck by Donovan Hohn. Thousands of bath toys are accidentally lost at sea and the author sets out in search of them. Welcome to the world of oceanographers, beachcombers, Arctic researchers and sailors.
And Mrs. Vaillancourt says she loved this year’s Newberry Award winner: Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool. Motherless, 12-year-old Arlene Tucker is sent to Manifest, Kansas, for the summer vacation. She stumbles upon a map and a family mystery. And so begins the story!
The Debate Has Just Begun
E-books are becoming increasingly popular. Presently, Hastings patrons can download e-books via the Westchester Library System (http://westchester.lib.overdrive.com). We anticipate starting our own collection soon. The March 15 New York Times carried an article stating that HarperCollins Publishers will limit circulation to library customers on their e-books to 26 check-outs. While they are the first to place this restriction, it is just part of the debate of how to price all books,
paper and digital. I think the larger question is how do libraries support all the formats of materials patrons demand? I like to give the example of when Gone With the Wind was published. Library X maybe bought five hardback copies to lend. Now when a popular title comes out we need it in hardback, large print, on audio CD, downloadable audio and e-book formats. The cost has actually so escalated to own that one title. The economics of publishing, in all forms, will continue to evolve in ways we can only guess at. Ultimately, it is probably very good for the consumer-you, our library patron.
-Sue Feir-
Happy Reading!
The Hastings-on-Hudson Public Library
7 Maple Avenue
Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706
(914) 478-3307
Village of Hastings-on-Hudson
7 Maple Ave, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706
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