Sunday, September 30, 2007

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....

Friday, September 21, 2007

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.

Monday, September 10, 2007

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.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

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