Happy New Year East Hampton!

New Year's at Noon
Who says libraries don't draw crowds anymore?

Over 100 local residents today left us with little doubt that if we want to welcome the New Year, the best time to so is noon at the library!

Our 7th annual New Year's at Noon celebration featured oh so edible or made to be noisy crafts, plus group sing-alongs, dancing, and of course -- our signature balloon drop. Par-taay!

ICONN Resources for Students

Graphics for Presentations and Papers




Need a chart or photograph to make your paper or presentation all the more powerful? Take it up a notch by exploring the Associated Press (AP) Multimedia Archive found at iCONN.org. The database allows you to search and browse AP images as far back as 1860 -- then download, email, or print them to use in your assignments. You’re sure to find a picture worth a thousand words (which you will still have to write) among the 3.5 million images in this archive.

About iCONN
iCONN is part of the Connecticut Education Network. It provides all students, faculty and residents with online access to essential library and information resources. It is administered by the Connecticut State Library in conjunction with the Department of Higher Education. Through iCONN, a core level of information resources including secured access to licensed databases is available to every citizen in Connecticut.

Take That, Google!

Clusty: a Different Way to Search the Web
If you've ever grown tired of slogging through pages and pages of Google hits, take Clusty out for a test-drive. Clusty searches for the information you are looking for and delivers the results in ordered groups, or clusters. The clusters help you see the information by topic and often reveal the relationships between results. If you would like to find useful information before suffering a mouse-related wrist injury, Clusty's a 'robusty' choice for sure.

Hello, Baby!

If You're Happy and You Know It... Wiggle and Giggle!
Did you know the the library offers regular programs for babies throughout the year?

Wiggle and Giggle programs are scheduled Mondays and Fridays and begin at 10 a.m. in the Community Room. Programs last about an hour, and are intended for babies 24 months and under, accompanied by a parent or guardian. The programs typically include a short story followed by structured/unstructured play and socializing. Toys are provided. Staff member Rae Strickland leads the programs.

Come when you can. No registration is required.

History Lessons

Teddy Roosevelt: 'Steward of the People'
A former president of the United States will charge up the hill this January to visit East Hampton.

Well, it’s actually Ted Zalewski who will portray Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, our 26th president.

Zalewski, an historical interpreter of Theodore Roosevelt, combines education, history, drama and fun in his acclaimed presentation Teddy Roosevelt: Mind, Body and Spirit. Highlights of TR's life as cowboy, soldier, naturalist, historian, father and statesman help us understand a man who won the Noble Prize, inspired the Teddy bear and, and who at age 42, became the youngest person to serve as President. Zalewski also uses Roosevelt’s own words to illustrate Roosevelt's personality and leadership style.

Mr. Zalewski has performed as 'TR' at the National Theater, the Museum of American Political Life, and prestigious universities around the country.

This must-see, one-man show takes place at 2 p.m. Saturday, January 26, at the East Hampton Public Library. For seating purposes, please phone the library to register at 267-6621 or register online.

MySpace, YourSpace...

And the OurSpace We Find in Between...
It has no windows and doors. You don't need a car, bike, skateboard, or your feet to get there. It's a branch of the library that didn't cost any money to build but is a work in progress. It's open 24-7 and is part of our friendly mission to connect with youth/teens/young adults in our community.

Join us on our EHPL MySpace realist page -- no begging, just happy to make new friends. View pics, blogs posts, check out events, search the catalog, send us a message about what the library can do for you.

Great American Novelists

The Year of Cormac McCarthy
Anyone who has confronted a high school summer reading list has heard of Cormac McCarthy, author of the bestselling novel All the Pretty Horses, first in a series. McCarthy is perhaps one of America's greatest living novelists. He also had a banner year in the way of public recognition.

In March 2007, Oprah selected McCarthy's The Road for her book club. In April 2007, the same novel was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. In November the Coen Brother's released No Country for Old Men, a film based on McCarthy's 2003 novel of the same name. The film was nominated for the Golden Palm Award at the Cannes Film Festival and last week, received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Drama.

Most of McCarthy's novels are available at the library (try our quick search box, right) with several in more than one format. Also catch David Kushner's interview with the reclusive McCarthy, in this month's holiday issue of Rolling Stone Magazine.

WW II: Liberation Trilogy

The Series Continues
Wars are often compared to intersections because after one is over, the civilizations involved go off in different directions. The new directions ultimately cause all of us to change. The war in this book is WWII, the book's author is Rick Atkinson, and the book is second in the author's Liberation Trilogy.

The Day of Battle, The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 is a hard-to-put-down book about WW II's Mediterranean Campaign; i.e., battles in Sicily and Italy. Rick Atkinson -- a Washington Post guy with a Pulitzer for Army at Dawn (North Africa Campaign)-- has unearthed and reveals details about building combat effectiveness, misjudgments, and offers us an eerie awareness of the price paid along the way. Atkinson also makes a convincing case that the Mediterranean Campaign played a decisive role in breaking German power.

Holiday Parties for Little People

Merry Five, Four, Three, Two, One
Santa Pays a Visit
Thursday, December 13th brought us our first major snowstorm. By Friday morning, very little kept our community's littlest folks from enjoying the library's 2007 Holiday Party. Of course, nothing interfered with Santa using his sleigh and go-to reindeer to pay a visit to East Hampton. A good time was had by all.

We offer our special thanks to parents (who provided refreshments) and to Dennis Griswold, a local resident/business owner, Friend of Lake Pocotopaug, and the best Santa surrogate ever!

New Years at Noon
Begins 11 a.m. sharp on Monday, December 31
Celebrate the coming of New Year 2008 at the library! Open to lapsit-aged children (12 to 24 months) and preschool children, this event is formatted to provide you and your kids with a great way to celebrate and to connect with each other. Older siblings are most certainly welcomed. Contact the Children's Services staff at 267-6621 for more information.

Library Launches Movies and Music Blog

The holiday season is officially and well underway. In the harried days between now and the new year, we'll be wishing you many happy returns when you visit the library to borrow great books, films and music to add maximum happy to your holidays.

Music Rocks and Movies Roll @ your library
During this holiday season, we'll be turning up the volume on library services by ramping up a new blog devoted to movies and music. We'll provide you with quick links to latest titles added to our movie and music collections and make recommendations on all too easy to miss titles you might also enjoy. We'll add to our service recipe reading suggestions tied to your viewing and listening interests. We'll also chat about new films, still in theatrical release, before they make it to our DVD shelves.

Official launch date of our Movies & Music Blog was December 1st.

Green Living

Green Giving
If you' re looking for ways to "give green" this season, try Green Living's 25 great consumer-less gift ideas. Some of the suggestions point to the greatest gifts we have to give each other: our time, our talents, and our friendship. Other suggestions focus on giving gifts that aren't things.

Happy holidays!

Resources for the College Bound

Connecticut Student Financial Assistance
If you are planning to attend college in Connecticut and want to learn more about financial aid, your best resource is the financial aid office at the college you wish to attend.

You may also learn about public and private sources of college grants, scholarships and loans on the web. Call or email the Education and Employment Information Center for a comprehensive list of financial aid websites.

Our state's Department of Higher Education also recommends the following web sites.

CTMentor
CT Student Loan Foundation
Check out the comment from Mariana Evica "the loan geek" at CSLF!
CT Higher Education Trust
Federal Student Aid Information Center
CT Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority
CT Talent Assistance Cooperative/Educational Opportunity Center
CT Department of Higher Education Student Financial Aid Page
FastWeb
Financial Aid Information Page
Federal Student Aid on the Web

Your Federal Libraries

Under the Information Superdome
Did you know that our country has four federal libraries supported by your tax dollars? All four libraries are located in the Washington D.C. area and house a plethora of materials on their respective topics, both very old and cutting edge. All of these institutions are considered to be some of the leading libraries in their field. Check out their websites, explore, then visit them early and often!

National Agricultural Library
This library houses one of the world's largest and most accessible agricultural information collections and serves as the nexus for a national network of state land grant and USDA field libraries.

National Library of Medicine
This library is the world's largest medical library. The Library collects materials and provides information and research services in all areas of biomedicine and health care. The NLM supports Medline Plus, a comprehensive medical information database.

Library of Congress
This library is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps, and manuscripts in its collections.

National Library of Education
This library is the world's largest federally funded library devoted solely to education and is the federal government's main resource center for education information.

Poet of the Month

December's Featured Poet
Walt Whitman (1819-1892), was a mystic and upbeat pitchman for the unfolding of the United States as a Great Poem. He was, like the nation itself, nearly broken by the loss of life, human suffering, and the devastation of families resulting from our Civil War. He exhausted himself visiting the sick and dying in D.C. area field hospitals — as described in the “Drum-Taps” section of Leaves of Grass, from which this comes:

By the Bivouac's Fitful Flame

By the bivouac's fitful flame,

A procession winding around me, solemn and sweet and

slow — but first I note,

The tents of the sleeping army, the fields' and the woods'

dim outline,

The darkness lit by spots of kindled fire, the silence,

Like a phantom far or near an occasional figure moving,

The shrubs and trees (as I lift my eyes they seem to be

stealthily watching me),

While wind in procession thoughts, O tender and wondrous

thoughts,

Of life and death, of home and the past and loved, and of

those that are far away;

A solemn and slow procession there as I sit on the ground,

By the bivouac's fitful flame.

Further Reading: Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass; James E. Miller Jr., A Critical Guide to Leaves of Grass, Francis Murphy (Ed.), The complete poems / Walt Whitman.

Coming in January: Elizabeth Bishop

Content developed by local resident and poet Leland Jamieson

The Girls Have Their Say

Daring Do's
Last summer's Dangerous Book for Boys became a not so surprising bestseller by celebrating what many may have considered (before reading the book) old-fashioned activities for boys.

The Daring Book for Girls talks back by celebrating what many may consider (before reading the book) old-fashioned activites for girls. The twist is this book also takes time to showcase more modern-girl ideas.

Both of these books are available at the library and offer a wealth of ideas on constructive play for boys, girls, or both. Use the books alone or together but both are great, parent-friendly guides with news worth sharing.

New Magazine Subscriptons

Periodically Speaking
We've recently added 10 new titles to our collection of circulating periodicals. New titles complement already popular titles on topics you've indicated you most enjoy. Add a magazine to your checkout selections!

Travel: Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, Travel and Leisure
Cooking: Easy Home Cooking, Taste of Home
Crafts/Craftsmanship: McCall's Quilting, Fine Woodworking
Home Finances: Smart Money
Picture Perfect: Popular Photography
Your Home and You: Ladies Home Journal, Real Simple

Each issue, excepting the most current, may be checked out for 14 days. Outdated issues are eventually deposited in the library's drop-and-swap bin located in the lobby.

In Memoriam

Former Governor William A. O'Neill, 1930-2007

East Hampton's favorite son, Bill O'Neill, died Saturday in his East Hampton home at the age of 77 and after a life led in public service.

From Around Our State

Hartford Courant: "Titan" of State Politics

CT State Library: Roster of CT State Governors

Gov. O'Neill Archives: CCSU Oral Histories

CT Post Online: Former Governor William A. O'Neill

WTIC News Radio: William Atchison O'Neill

News from the Books and Reading Front

It's All In How You Read It
On November 19th, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) released "To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence" a compendium of over 40 studies that indicate we, as a nation, spend less time reading than we did 20 years ago and as consequence -- we read less well.

On the tail of the NEA's report came the November 26th issue of Newsweek and its cover story featuring Jeff Bezos, e-commerce pioneer and Amazon's CEO. Bezos describes the Amazon Kindle, a potentially transformative e-reading device.

All in all, it's been a week or more of leading-edge news about the state of books and reading in our nation. We certainly have much to say about the news but we're far more interested in your views.

Post a comment on how you read it.

Friday Story Hour Update

Cool Shoes Story Hour
As many of you know, the library hosts a Friday afternoon story hour led by Rae "Cool Shoes" Strickland. Children ages 3-5 are invited to drop in with their caregivers and participate in a rousing round of well-told stories aimed at helping young children acquire a range of ready-to-read literacy skills.

Cools Shoes Take a Second Step
On Friday November 16, our Cool Shoes story hour became a collaborative effort. JoAnn LePage, coordinator for the East Hampton Early Childhood Council's Second Step Program, joined our Friday afternoon team and enhances our ready-to-read emphasis with Second Step's larger ready-for-school focus. So come on down to the library on Friday's at 1 p.m. and enjoy the coolest ways to use your preschool shoes to step, step, step forward on your way to kindergarten!

About Second Step
Second Step, a violence prevention program, teaches the pre-kindergartner empathy skills, self control/anger management skills, and non-aggressive problem solving skills. Each lesson's topic is addressed through stories, discussion, role play, music, puppetry, and games. The 15 -20 minute award winning curriculum offers lessons such as calming down strong feelings, dealing with not getting what you want, and fair ways to play. Second Step is designed to teach children from their earliest years to understand feelings, to make positive choices and to keep anger from escalating into violence.

Calling All Kindergarteners!

You're Big, You're Strong, You're Especially Special... and Ready to Read!
Being in Kindergarten means it's that special time when you can learn new things, make new friends, and get your first card at the East Hampton Public Library!

Come on down to the library with your parents, get your very own library card -- and take home a special little treat to mark the milestone. Then go pick out lots of books to celebrate you -- the mighty Kindergartener!

Library of Congress Enters the Blogosphere

207 Years Old and Growing Younger by the Day
The Library of Congress, 207 years-old on April 24, 2007, is made of sturdy stuff. Widely known as a leading provider of reputable online content -- the LOC web site features 22 million digital items and receives 5 billion hits a year -- the LOC is not surprisingly among the first federal agencies to join the blogosphere. Both the Smithsonian and National Endowment for Arts are also experimenting with blogs.

Matt Raymond, the Library's Director of Communications, writes for the LOC's blog, which also features contributions from the Librarian, curators, and other Library staff members. The blog features "new" information about LOC activities and "old" information that draws attention to the LOC's extraordinary digital collections and LOC web site features that deliver reputable content.

Raising the Blogger Bar
"Given the presence of some 70 million blogs worldwide -- and the exponential increase in blogging as technology makes it easier to access the Web, even with wireless devices and cell phones -- it's crucial that the Library of Congress be part of the collective conversation taking place," Raymond said. "Some of the top blogs have far greater readership than even some top newspapers and magazines," he said. "Blogs are expected and even demanded by people who surf the Web." Raymond all noted the LOC will strive to interest other bloggers while maintaining a high standard of content and conduct.

Quotes appeared in the LOC's June 2007 Information Bulletin

A Whole New Look and...

A Very Stylish Parking Lot
As many of you know, both the library and the Senior Center are proud to call the East Hampton Community Center 'home'. We collectively serve thousands of residents each year and are a port-of-call to many who enjoy and count on our services.

The next time you visit the library and/or Senior Center, please take a moment to notice our new look. We've installed two-sided signs in the front parking lot noting our long-time presence on Main Street. Each side, Senior Center and library (library side shown above) is ready-made to convey our service purpose and our service commitment to you. New signage was funded by grants and donations. We welcome your comments.

Logos and signs designed by Greco Design, East Hampton CT

Poet of the Month

November's Featured Poet
William Wordsworth (1770-1850), a poet of the English Lake District, said at 31 that his life had been “unusually barren of events.” He was a walking poet, like Wallace Stevens, and also like him he sought to wrest meaning out of life through creativity as a function of the imagination. The London of his time was awash with disorder, as reflected in this poem addressed to John Milton:

London, 1802
Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour:
England hath need of thee: she is a fen
Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,
Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,
Have forfeited their ancient English dower
Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;
Oh! raise us up, return to us again;
And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.
Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart:
Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:
Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,
So didst thou travel on life's common way,
In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart
The lowliest duties on herself did lay.

Further Reading: Negrotti, Rosanna, William Wordsworth : a biography with selected poems; Mahoney, John L., William Wordsworth, a poetic life; Sisman, Adam, The friendship : Wordsworth and Coleridge.

Coming in December: Walt Whitman

Content developed by local resident and poet Leland Jamieson

Museum Pass Adventures from Our Friends to You

Friends on the Go Museum Adventure Passes
The Friends of the East Hampton Public Library fund circulating passes to 13 premiere museums in our area. Passes provide free or discounted admission and circulate for 2 days. Reserves are accepted by phone or in person, up to 24 hours in advance of the day you plan to check out or use the pass. All reserves are on a first-come, first-served basis. One pass at a time, per household please.

Which museums may I visit using a Museum Adventure Pass?
Children's Museum of CT (West Hartford)
Children's Museum of Southeastern CT (Niantic)
CT River Museum (Essex)
Florence Griswold Museum (Old Lyme)
Lutz Museum (Manchester)
Maritime Aquarium & IMAX Theater (Norwalk)
Mashantucket Pequot Museum (Mashantucket/Ledyard)
Mystic Aquarium (Mystic)
Mystic Seaport (Mystic)
New Britain Museum of American Art (New Britain)
Peabody Museum (New Haven)
Roaring Brook Nature Center (Canton)
Roger Williams Park Zoo (Providence, RI)
Wadsworth Atheneum (Hartford)

Email Notices: Opt In Today

Saving Your Money
The library runs overdue notices every Thursday and mails them every Friday. The process includes the costs of paper, envelopes, staff time, and postage. Not to mention the annoyance we cause you when notices cross in the mail.

Saving Your Time
What we can offer you is the option to receive your overdue notices via your email. Via email we can notify you more quickly about an overdue and both you and we save time -- not to mention a couple of trees. The e-notice might also serve as a reminder to renew items (online or by phone) and help minimize overdue fines. Using your email address, we can also immediately notify you if an item you have placed on reserve is ready for checkout!

Opt In to Email Today
If you would like to opt in to email notices and reminders, you may use Contact Us to send us an email; use the suggestion box to tell us you'd like to opt in to email service. Or you may log into our online catalog, click My Account and input your email address. We'll do the rest and we'll both enjoy saving your money, your time, and everyone's trees.

Does Civics Still Rock?

Decide for Yourself
There's much ado being made by conventional news outlets and in the blogosphere about what we'd best describe as the Great American Civics Test.

"In fall 2005, researchers at the University of Connecticut’s Department of Public Policy (UConnDPP), commissioned by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s (ISI) National Civic Literacy Board, conducted a survey of some 14,000 freshmen and seniors at 50 colleges and universities. Students were asked 60 multiple-choice questions to measure their knowledge in four subject areas: America’s history, government, international relations, and market economy."

The result were disappointing: college seniors, on average, failed all four subjects, and their overall average score was 53.2%.

Try the quiz yourself and no matter how well you fare, taking the quiz is a great way to review topics still discussed in our local schools and referred to in our contemporary media. Rock on, civics!

Help for Foreign Language Learners

Hello, Guten Tag, Hola, Nei Ho, Ciao
The Library can help you brush up on your language skills - or get you started learning a brand new language - all from the comfort of your home!

Local library card holders can access Pimsleur Language titles, designed to help you learn to speak another language quickly, using our online e-audio book service brought to you by Recorded Books/Netlibrary.

Pimsleur titles are in MP3/WMF format and may be played on any desktop or portable computer that supports windows media player 9.0 and above. You may also transfer your favorite titles to a wide range of portable devices such as music players, media centers, Pocket PCs and select smartphone devices for listening on the go. Sorry iPods are not currently supported.

Click here, enter your East Hampton library barcode number, and register for the service using the link on the right hand of the Recorded Books site. Complete the one-time registration, search for Pimsleur titles, and you're ready to go! Good luck, bonne chance, buena suerte....

A Little Older and Still Spectacular in Every Way

Boomer Waves Meet Internet Shore

For those of you who are age 50+ -- or know someone who is -- we highly recommend Savvy Seniors, a web-based "national information service for older Americans and the families who support them." The site delivers a wealth of reputable information about getting older (aren't we all?) and offers a useful view of how to be a savvy information consumer.

You may also use the site to sign up to receive Senior Newswire, a free weekly service that e-mails you direct Web links to current (50+) national news and information links to trusted web resources and government agencies/nonprofit organizations serving the interests of older adults.

Link to Savvy Seniors here or via the link list included in our online catalog display.

MyLibrary BookStore: A New Way to Think Locally

No Fooling... Visit Our Online BookStore
Our new online BookStore is now open for business! Our bookstore is backed by Baker & Taylor -- a worldwide distributor of books, video, music, and games -- and powered by Autographics, our leading edge library system services provider.

Spending with Local Impact
MyLibrary BookStore offers you the opportunity to think locally when choosing to buy a book, video or music CD for your personal library. Hardcover book prices are generally discounted by 25%; paperbacks by 20%; media materials by 10%. Shipping options vary; the charges are reasonably competitive. Credit card transactions are protected by SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption technology to protect your personal information.

Give Our BookStore a Whirl!
Our BookStore's discounts surely won't beat the prices and promotions offered by the online or bricks-and-mortar Goliaths; and we all know who they are. However, the important difference is a portion of the profits from our BookStore return to East Hampton, a "corporate" enterprise in which we all share a more personal investment. We hope you'll consider using your purchasing power locally. There's a great book you may want as your own... and it's only a couple of clicks away.

Poet of the Month

September's Featured Poet
Lucille Clifton (1936-) last May won the Poetry Foundation’s 2007 $100,000 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for lifetime achievement. "Lucille Clifton is a powerful presence and voice in American poetry. Her poems are at once outraged and tender, small and explosive, sassy and devout. She sounds like no one else, and her achievement looks larger with each passing year" — Christian Winman, chair of the selection committee. Well said.

the river between us
in the river that your father fished
my father was baptized. it was
their hunger that defined them,

one, a man who knew he could
feed himself if it all came down,
the other a man who knew he needed help.

this is about more than color. it is
about how we learn to see ourselves.
it is about geography and memory.

it is about being poor people
in america. it is about my father
and yours and you and me and
the river that is between us.

Further Reading: Lucille Clifton, Mercy: Poems (2004), and Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1988-2000,both in our library.

Coming in October: William Wordsworth

Content developed by local resident and poet Leland Jamieson

It's Still Rock and Roll

The Beatles Anthology on DVD
Classic rock struts its' stuff in this anthology of the Fab Four's indisputable transformation of post-Elvis rock and roll. Filled with interviews and performances -- and stories of both success and failure -- these films give a comprehensive visual history of what is arguably the world's all-time favorite band.

Check out this series (8 parts on 4 DVDs) for a look back at a time you may remember or share it as a family with your tweens or teens. Each DVD circulates for 2 weeks.

Did You Know?

Not So Small Services @ your library
Our services certainly include the obvious; that is, we buy materials using your tax dollars and you borrow them. What we have learned, however, is some of our services fly slightly lower on your radar. Here's a few...

Deposit Collections
Our staff selects collections for delivery as deposit collections located at Chatham Acres and Bellwood Court senior housing centers. Collections are rotated every 4-6 weeks and consist of a hand-picked selection specific to each site. For additional information, contact Beverly Simmons, Older Adult Service Librarian, at 267-6621 or click Contact Us.

Art Prints to Go
Did you know you can check out art prints from the Library? Come browse the collection and borrow any of nearly 30 pieces for up to 8 weeks. A limit of 2 prints may be checked out at one time and may not be renewed. The collection is funded by the Friends of Library. Home staging anyone?

Speed Reads
With Speed Reads, you don't have to wait to read that latest bestseller from our 14-day loan collection. No requests or holds - if it's there, it's yours to check out for 7 days. Read with speed; the fine for a late speed read return is $1 per day.

Value Line
Value Line, an investment advisory service that rates hundreds of stocks as to safety, timeliness and projected price performance, is available in our print reference collection. It's best known for the Value Line Investment Survey, a comprehensive source of information and advice on approximately 1,700 stocks, more than 90 industries, the stock market, and the economy.

Tuesday Stress Reliever: Join Our Community Drum Circle

We've Got Rhythm to Spare and Share
The East Hampton Public Library makes its Community Room available to area folks interested in joining with others in a community drum circle. Drum circle programs are scheduled on the first Tuesday of every month, in the library Community Room. All programs begin at 6:30 p.m.

What's a Drum Circle, You Ask?
A drum circle is a collaboratively self organized musical event; anyone can participate. People of all levels of musical expertise can join in the circle and share their rhythm and whatever drums and percussion they bring to the event. You don't have to be a drummer to participate; all you need is a willingness to make music; share your rhythmic spirit; and release some positive energy in the process.

Bring along your drum to the Tuesday programs or think creatively: play a plastic water bottle turned upside down with the neck cut off; shake a soda can with rocks in it; or hit two sturdy sticks together. All you really need to know how to do is form a circle and add your spirit to the rhythm of your community's drums.

History Made Real on Reel

"Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie."

So reads an ancient stone at Thermopylae in northern Greece, the site of one of the world's greatest battles.

In the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, an alliance of Greek city-states fought the invading Persian army in the mountain pass of Thermopylae. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the Spartan enemy in one of the most famous last stands of history.

History buffs may enjoy the epic dramatization of the battle, 300, or the History Channel's documentary, Last Stand of the 300. We also recommend Paul Cartledge's new non-fiction book, Thermopylae : the Battle that Changed the World and an older novel, Gates of Fire : an Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae by Steven Pressfield.

Knit Your Own iPhone

Cute Baby Meets Cool Phone
Greg Allen blogs for daddytypes.com "the weblog for new dads." (We'll let you visit Allen's blog on your own if you're interested.) Concerned about his 3 year-old daughter's attraction to his oh-so-high-end iPhone, Allen asked his talented and "insanely cool" mom to whip up a wooly substitute. She did.

Needless to say the comments poured in, mainly in the form of requests for instructions on how to knit a toddler-friendly version of the most classy gizmo to come down the pike in years. The squishy phone pattern comes with a second pattern for a Pop Tart cell phone case.

For those of you looking for more conventional ways to use your yarn, link to our catalog.

A Well-Deserved Salute and Slow Adieu to VHS Format

Started as a Breeze But Now It's Windy
Seven years ago, the library launched its DVD film collection. VHS format was still the in-home standard for most of you; but then came DVDs. We tagged-teamed additions to VHS and DVD film collections for as long as we could; but since DVD is now your in-home standard, we no longer purchase films in VHS format. The good news is we have already started to replace continuously popular VHS titles with their DVD counterparts.

Adieu Adult VHS
Over the next few months we'll slowly withdraw titles from our adult VHS film collection to make room for -- you guessed it -- DVDs. Small groups of withdrawn titles will be value-priced and made available for purchase at the Friends of the Library Book Store located in our Community Center complex. If you'd like "first dibs" on a title we own, sign up with the Friends and they'll contact you when the title is available for sale. The Friends Book Store is open Mondays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Proceeds from book store sales support specialized library programs and services.

Poet of the Month

August's Featured Poet: Jack Prelutsky

Jack Prelutsky (1940-) hooks kids on poetry. He honors their feelings and encourages them to think with formal and informal poetry that’s funny — frightening funny, scary funny, strange funny and everyday funny. He reaches kids without false sentiment or talking down, building vocabulary with laughter. Last year the Poetry Foundation officially named him the first Children’s Poet Laureate — a well-deserved honor.

The Bogeyman
In the desolate depths of a perilous place
the bogeyman lurks, with a snarl on his face.
Never dare, never dare to approach his dark lair
for he's waiting . . . just waiting . . . to get you.

He skulks in the shadows, relentless and wild
in his search for a tender, delectable child.
With his steely sharp claws and his slavering jaws
oh he's waiting . . . just waiting . . . to get you.

Many have entered his dreary domain
but not even one has been heard from again.
They no doubt made a feast for the butchering beast
and he's waiting . . . just waiting . . . to get you.

In that sulphurous, sunless and sinister place
he'll crumple your bones in his bogey embrace.
Never never go near if you hold your life dear,
for oh! . . . what he'll do . . . when he gets you!

Further Reading: Our library’s children’s section has 32 titles by Jack Prelutsky that make fun reading for parents with kids at their sides. Among them: The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders, Pizza the Size of the Sun, My Parents Think I’m Sleeping, New Kid on the Block.

Coming in September: Lucille Clifton

Content Developed by local resident and poet Leland Jamieson

East Hampton Voices

The Poet Behind Our Poetry Posts
Throughout April 2007, National Poetry Month, our blog featured "poet of the week" entries. Poetry posts are now a monthly feature, owing to your comments (verbal and electronic) and something we never expected: clear demand to read and learn more about poets and their poems.

As you may have noticed in the closing byline of each post, the content is developed by Leland Jamieson, a local resident and poet in his own right. His published volume of poetry, 21st Century Bread is available at our library. Read for yourself poems about which critics say... "Fabulous capsules of feeling.... Admire the hand-flawlessly-fitting-in-a-snug-glove-tone of your lines...." "They Electrify...."

About the Author
Leland Jamieson, poet and author of 21st Century Bread: Poems, is a one-time performing arts center manager now living and writing in East Hampton, CT. A native of Miami, FL, he is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As managing director of Bushnell Memorial Hall Corporation in Hartford from 1978-85, he turned around a large operating deficit, and facilitated the conversion of the family-centered board of trustees into a modern, representative governing entity. He oversaw two major building reconstruction projects. He resigned to pursue other business interests until his retirement from business in 2000.

Poet of the Month

July's Featured Poet: Sharon Olds
Sharon Olds (1942–), a widely-read contemporary poet who has long taught at NYU and won numerous critical awards, in recent years used her celebrity status to make a political statement (as did Marlon Brando, declining an Oscar Award, Robert Hughes declining a White House Invitation from Lady Bird Johnson, and many others). She turned down Laura Bush’s invitation to read her poetry at a festival of 85,000 people. In a long detailed Open Letter she concluded, “I could not face... breaking bread with you... who represent... this war...its continuation...torture... I could not stomach it.”

The Unborn
Sometimes I can almost see, around our heads,
Like gnats around a streetlight in summer,
The children we could have,
The glimmer of them.

Sometimes I feel them waiting, dozing
In some antechamber servants,
half Listening for the bell.

Sometimes I see them lying like love letters
In the Dead Letter Office.

And sometimes, like tonight, by some black
Second sight I can feel just one of them
Standing on the edge of a cliff by the sea
In the dark, stretching its arms out
Desperately to me.

Further Reading: Olds, Sharon, Strike Sparks: Selected Poems 1980-2002; Olds, Sharon, The Wellspring (1996), both in our library.

Content developed by local resident and poet Leland Jamieson

Friends of Lake Pocotopaug Launch Web Site

A Place Like No Other
The Friends of Lake Pocotopaug, a non-profit, all volunteer group dedicated to improving Lake Pocotopaug and its environs, recently announced the launch of their new web site. The site is chock full of information about the Friends' fundraising activities and their many coordinated efforts to help improve the water quality of our community's most precious asset.

We recommend adding this site to your list of web site favorites. Surf the site early and often to find out what's new on the lake front and to learn more about how to become a friend of a friend in need.

A Listener's Feast

Rhyme and Meter, Rhythm and Blues
The second annual national poetry recitation contest, sponsored by the National Arts Endowment and the Poetry Foundation, concluded on May 1st at the George Washington University Lisner Auditorium in Washington, DC. Duke Ellington School of the Arts senior Amanda Fernandez took the top prize by riveting audiences with her reading of Ma Rainey*, a vibrant portrait of rural African-American life by poet Sterling A. Brown.

The contest is administered in 50 states and the District of Columbia; winners advance to school-wide competitions, then to the state competition, and ultimately to the National Finals. Over 100,000 of our nation's youth participated in this year's competition, representing more than 1000 high schools.

For Your Listening Pleasure
Visit the Poetry Out Loud website which includes video and audio clips of the 2006 contest winners (you'll need Windows Media or Real Player) as well as photos of contestants by state. Also try a BBC website for audio clips of interviews with and readings by renowned poets.

*Gertrude "Ma" Rainey [1886-1939] was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
Rainey is widely known as the "Mother of Blues".

"If we had no Winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.."

June's Featured Poet: Anne Bradstreet
Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672) was married at age 16, and as a bride set sail from England for Massachusetts Bay. There, facing the stark hardships of the frontier and recurrent illness, she raised eight children and without support of any women — "I am obnoxious to each carping tongue
Who says my hand a needle better fits"—
wrote poetry published England in 1650 as The Tenth Muse.

In Honour of . . .Queen Elizabeth [excerpt]
Now say, have women worth? or have they none?
Or had they some, but with our Queen is't gone?
Nay masculines, you have thus taxed us long,
But she, though dead, will vindicate our wrong.
Let such as say our sex is void of reason,
Know 'tis a slander now but once was treason.
But happy England which had such a queen;
Yea happy, happy, had those days still been.
But happiness lies in a higher sphere,
Then wonder not Eliza moves not here.
Full fraught with honour, riches, and with days
She set, she set like Titan in his rays.
No more shall rise or set so glorious sun
Until the heaven's great revolution:
If then new things their old form shall retain,
Eliza shall rule Albion once again . . . .

Further Reading: Bradstreet, Anne (edited by Jeannine Hensley, foreword by Adrienne Rich) The Works of Anne Bradstreet, 1981; Gordon, Charlotte, Mistress Bradstreet: The Untold Life of America’s First Poet — both in our library.

Content developed by local resident and poet Lee Jamieson

Painting by Ladonna Gulley Warrick

Poetry Posts Back by Popular Demand

Now Appearing on the This Blog: Poet of the Month Charlie Simic
We'd like to thank all of you who took the time to offer your encouraging comments about April's poetry posts. Though our formal celebration of National Poetry Month (April) has passed, we'll offer Poet of the Month posts for all you folks who enjoyed the celebration and would like to party on...

Charles Simic (1938-), born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, writes contemporary free verse in a laid-back surrealistic MFA style characteristic of the academy (currently dominant in the U.S.). He has won numerous national awards for his poems and translations from Croatian, French, Macedonian, Serbian and Slovenian. The poem below shows how acute an observer he is of contemporary U.S. culture and its fractured disconnects:

Hotel Starry Sky
Millions of empty rooms with TV sets turned on.
I wasn’t there yet I saw everything.
Titanic on the screen like a
birthday cake sinking.
Poseidon, the night clerk, blew out the candles.

How much should we tip the blind bellhop?
At three in the morning the gum machine
in the empty lobby
With its freshly cracked mirror
Is the new Madonna with her infant child.

Further Reading: Simic, Charles, The Voice at 3:00 a.m.: Selected Late and New Poems, 2003; Simic, Charles, Jackstraws: Poems, 1998; Ratiner, Steven (Editor and Compiler), Giving Their Word: Conversations with Contemporary Poets — all in our local library.

Coming in June: Anne Bradstreet

Content developed by local resident and poet Lee Jamieson