During our Adult Summer Reading Program (Novel Destinations), the Adult Services Staff created a blog looking at narrative nonfiction titles in which the reader participates in lifelong learning and is also compelled to read through plot and characterizations as in the tradition of fiction.
Participation is free and easy for all, regardless of city of residence. Go to our website www.bettendorflibary.com, then to the “Adult Services” tab at the top of the page. Click on “Genre Studies” from the drop-down menu. When you want to reply or suggest more titles, simply click on the word “comment” at the bottom of any entry.
BPL staff will be taking turns once a week suggesting titles from the universe of nonfiction. Last week we explored the Environment with Hedy. This week we’ll be tickled with Humor from Maria.
Books suggested by staff and by patrons on the blog will be on display in Display Central through July 30 and can all be checked out. Look for them!
As many Library patrons and my colleagues know, I love poetry! I always try to have some poetic display or program for National Poetry Month in April. At every staff meeting I attend, I share a poem. If there’s room on bibliographies I create, I add a poem. It’s the frosting on the cake, the cherry on the sundae, so to speak. For many years, St. Ambrose University English Professor Bea Jacobson has led discussions of Emily Dickinson’s poetry sometime during the month of her birth (December) and death (May) because there is an Emily Dickinson Garden on the Library grounds and because Dickinson is an icon of American poetry beloved the world over by all age groups. If you’ve interest, join us this year at 7 p.m. on Wednesday May 11 for a discussion of Dickinson’s poetry on war. She wrote many of her 1000+ poems during the American Civil War. If you want to read the poems we’ll be discussing ahead of time, hardcopy texts are available at the Library or I can email or mail them to you. Contact me at hhustedde@bettendorf.org or 563-344-5705.
“Leading from Within: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Lead” edited by Sam M. Intrator and Megan Scribner 808.819 LE
A poet is a person who “lets drop a line that gets remembered in the morning.”–E.B. White
As many Library patrons and my colleagues know, I love poetry! This is a book I gave my husband as a gift and then I read it aloud to him one poem a day till we finished. One of the things I really like about this book is that dozens of “leaders” chose a poem which meant something to them and told the reader why. These are poems that inspired these leaders in some way–intellectually, emotionally, spiritually. Maybe one of them will do the same for you!
What I found gratifying was that so many of my favorite poets were cited: Naomi Shihab Nye, T.S. Eliot, Wendell Berry, Mary Oliver, Pablo Neruda, and (of course) Emily Dickinson… And the final chapter included intriguing and potentially useful sections like “Finding Poems That Matter”, “Using Poems as Companions”, “Waking Yourself Up with a Poem”, “Using Poems as Talismans”…
In honor of the current season, here’s a section from Mary Oliver’s “Spring Azures”:
In spring the blue azures bow down / at the edges of shallow puddles / to drink the black rain water. / Then they rise and float away into the fields. // Sometimes the great bones of my life feel so heavy, / and all the tricks my body knows– / the opposable thumbs, the kneecaps, / and the mind clicking and clicking– // don’t seem enough to carry me through this world / and I think how I would like // to have wings– / blue ones– / ribbons of flame….
Learn more about the upheavals in the Middle East and what it means to the people who live there. The World Affairs Council and World Community Institute are bringing in a panel of three speakers from Egypt, Morocco and Syria to talk about how the uprisings affect the people of those countries. Join us on Tuesday, April 27, at 7:00 p.m. to get a personal accounting of the effects of revolution and war.
So I was trying to come up with a clever headline relating to basket weaving (being a basket case, weave a good time…blerg) but my creative juices just aren’t flowing today. So I’m just going to go ahead and say it. You’ve got less than 48 hours (until 9:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 13) to sign up for the Library’s Creation Studio program on basket weaving. Tracy Welch, from Basketwerks in Long Grove, will teach us the basics of basket weaving. You’ll get hands-on experience and learn basic skills, sources for training and materials, and approximate start-up costs. No cost to you, thanks to the sponsorship of the Friends of the Bettendorf Public Library. Call 563-344-4175 or click here to register.
Hey, what’s going on?! I had a bunch of people ask me for a Creation Studio program on knitting, I scheduled it, and now we don’t have many people signed up. It’s going to be a great program – these women not only know how to teach knitting (they taught a class for teens here a few years back and it was great), but they know how to have fun. Don’t miss out! Call 563-344-4175 to sign up or click here.
March’s Brown Bag Lunch is this Friday, March 18, at 12:00 p.m. It was mistakenly given the wrong date in the most recent edition of our Pages Newsletter. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Local musician Buddy Olson will be performing a special program of the music of Hank Williams, Sr. Bring a sack lunch and enjoy some good music. Beverages will be provided. We hope to see everyone there!
The Civil Rights Song Fest on February 17th was attended by some 170 people, meaning standing-room-only. There was a wonderful line-up of talent from the Quad-Cities community and I do stress the word “community” because by the time we finished singing “We Shall Overcome” together, the smiles, laughter, and appreciation for each other were palpable. Special thanks go to Bill Campbell from St. Ambrose University for suggesting the Civil Rights Songwriting Competition in the first place (as part of the Library’s Civil Rights Project), for devising the songwriting competition guidelines, and for judging the entries (along with Barbara Kuttler and Dwayne Hodges). Photos & 2 minute video (“We Shall Overcome”) by Michael Hustedde from the Civil Rights Song Fest:
OK, how cute is this purse? One of the participants in January’s Crazy Quilting Creation Studio fashioned it out of the square that she made that night. One evening, one quilt square, a little know-how and you’ve got a fabulous purse. Can’t you just see that slung over your shoulder as you’re on your way to a holiday party wearing your best little black dress?
If you’re not familiar with the Creation Studio program series, here’s a little background. I love arts and crafts of all types, but I am timid. I see all sorts of cool things I want to try and then I talk myself out of it because I don’t know how to do it, I don’t know how much it will cost, I don’t know how much time will be involved, I don’t know who can teach me. (Obviously, I don’t know a lot!) In my life, it’s all about having less stuff and finding more time; trying every new craft that piques my interest does not fit into that framework.
So I came up with Creation Studio. It’s a one-night workshop designed to give the participants a foundation in different arts and crafts. Accomplished teachers give us some background, show us the basic tools, tell us where to get more training and how much it will cost to get started. Whenever possible, we have a small hands-on project so you can really get a feel for whether or not you want to pursue it.
To date, thanks to the generosity of the Friends of the Bettendorf Public Library, all of the Creation Studio classes have been free to participants. (Thanks, Friends! You’re the best!) We’re taking a break in February, but come back strong on March 24 with knitting, taught by members of the Quad City SnB club. They meet in Dewey’s Cafe, and a more knowledgeable, fun-loving group of knitters you’ll never find. Sign up starts on February 28, so mark your calendar to call us at 563-344-4175 or register through our online Calendar of Events at www.bettendorflibrary.com.
In celebration of the 180th anniversary of Emily Dickinson’s birth, St. Ambrose University Professor of English Bea Jacobson will lead a discussion of poems with the theme “vision”. If the weather’s not inclement, we will meet briefly in the Emily Dickinson Garden behind the Library right at 7 p.m. After reading a suitable poem, we will retire to the Malmros Conference Room for light refreshments and conviviality. Copies of the poems are available at the Library or can be e-mailed by contacting Hedy Hustedde at hhustedde@bettendorf.org. They will be available the night of the discussion as well.
“Leading from Within: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Lead” edited by Sam M. Intrator and Megan Scribner 808.819 LE
In celebration of the 180th anniversary of Emily Dickinson’s birth, St. Ambrose University Professor of English Bea Jacobson will lead a discussion of poems with the theme “vision”. If the weather’s not inclement, we will meet briefly in the Emily Dickinson Garden behind the Library right at 7 p.m. After reading a suitable poem, we will retire to the Malmros Conference Room for light refreshments and conviviality. Copies of the poems are available at the Library or can be e-mailed by contacting Hedy Hustedde at