Credit Crunch on Radar

Check Ups or Fix 'er Uppers
If the credit crunch is changing the way you are making family decisions -- or if you are looking for a way to improve your credit score in a tight lending market -- the library holds many recent consumer credit titles that may be helpful. The library also regularly adds titles about family investing and planning for retirement.

Consumer Credit Tips Worth Sharing
You may obtain a free credit report. However, if you want to obtain your credit score, you'll have to pay for it. The number between 300 and 850 identifies how lenders view you along the scale of not risky to risky borrower.

The three major credit bureau reporters are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. These bureaus don't share information; correcting an error may require separately contacting each of three bureaus.

If you have a specific complaint against a company, individual or entity regulated by our state, you may contact the Connecticut Department of Banking.

Pet Stories

Dog Dreams
If you have ever hit a rough patch in life and loved your dog for loving you, The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein may be a good fiction pick for you. Denny Swift, a hard-luck professional race car driver, endures tragedy but keeps on plugging. Enzo, Denny's dog, not only unfailingly roots for Denny but also dreams of his own, next life -- as a man. A love story and an entertaining one for sure.

Bird Dog
The Parrot Who Thought She Was a Dog is author Nancy Ellis-Bell's account of life with a one-footed blue and gold wild-caught/rescue macaw named Sarah. The book does get repetitive in places but darn if it isn't an engaging story about coping with a cranky bird who can and absolutely does "rule the roost". Sarah want a dog biscuit? She sure does...

Chef's Surprise

Ready, Set the Table, Go!
Recipes are a popular subject at the library. Whether it's outdoor grilling and entertaining, international flavor, dessert, or lifestyle recipes that delight your taste buds, we hope you'll find them here.

Please let us know if there is particular title or type/style of cookbook you'd like to see us add to our collection. We are always, always open and receptive to your suggestions.

Poet of the Month

July's Featured Poet
Rita Dove (1952-) was born in Akron, Ohio. She read passionately as a child, and she writes, “When I was young, I ran the day to its knees. There were trees to swing on, crickets for capture. I can remember the trees I climbed and the noisy crickets out my window at night.” She won the 1987 Pulitzer for Thomas and Beulah, a collection of poems about her grandparents. She was made Poet Laureate in 1994, and has won numerous awards. She writes of common experience — yet with mystery:

The Secret Garden

I was ill, lying on my bed of old papers,
when you came with white rabbits in your arms;
and the doves scattered upwards, flying to mothers,
and the snails sighed under their baggage of stone . . .

Now your tongue grows like celery between us;
Because of our love‑cries, cabbage darkens in its nest;
the cauliflower thinks of her pale, plump children
and turns greenish‑white in a light like the ocean's.

I was sick, fainting in the smell of teabags,
when you came with tomatoes, a good poetry.
I am being wooed. I am being conquered
by a cliff of limestone that leaves chalk on my breasts.

Further Reading: Selected Poems, by Rita Dove,1993; Pantheon Books.
The Darker Face of the Earth: a verse play in fourteen scenes, by Rita Dove,1994; Story Line Press, both in our library.

Coming in August: Richard Wilbur

Content developed by poet and local resident Leland Jamieson

A Glorious Celebration Indeed

Wheel of Good Fortune
Your library's staff once again had the great fortune and pleasure to participate in the Old Home Day Parade. The parade's 30th Anniversary theme was Hometown Holidays; Old Home Day was our holiday of choice.

We must admit it was very nice riding this year -- instead of pushing our book carts -- but we heard you loud and clear. If we had a nickle for each time one of you asked us "Where are the carts?" our fortune would still be great -- and spendable! Suffice it to say the carts will be back next summer with no nickles required.

Special thanks to Belltown Motors for donating their services (truck plus great driver); Val Greco and Greco Designs for up-sizing our logo and OHD signs, and Teri Pretash's Red Barn Studios for delivering logo-wonder tee-shirts. Leave no room for doubt: our local business community is extraordinarily generous, talented, and we're lucky to have them working in and for our community! Over-the-top thanks to Dan Kauczka for float construction.

Library staff pictured left to right:

Ian Dunbar, Phil Carr, Rae Strickland, Sue Berescik (Library Director), Kathleen Sands (Children's Services Librarian), youth volunteers Elizabeth Brittany and Kyle Coughlin. Not shown is Rachel Rival (other side of the wheel) and a favorite of 2 year-old children near and far.

Bestsellers

"The Shack"
William P. Young's The Shack has been topping religious bestseller lists but also trade paperback bestseller lists. With over 1.6 million copies in print, news has it a CD of "inspired by" music may be in the works as well as a screenplay.

If you enjoy point-of-view reads, try subject headings Christian fiction or Christian life. Stop by the library's main circulation desk if you need assistance finding the above titles or other titles that represent these and other points of view.

The library's music CD collection also represents a wide range of musical interests, including contemporary Christian Rock and gospel music recordings.

Making the Most of Your Drive Time

Gas Prices? Shocking! Audio Books? Ready for Checkout @ your library
Our Circ Desk staff says many of you report you are driving less, planning your trips more carefully, or making trips to places closer to home. Alas, work commutes are unavoidable and listening to audio books can be a great way to pass the time.

These and many more audio books in CD or MP3 (downloadable, e-audio) format are available for checkout or reserve and may be used for free, provided you have an East Hampton Public Library card. Our collections include adult fiction and non-fiction titles, titles for children, and recently introduced titles for young adults. You may also use our e-audio collection to learn any of over 70 foreign languages!

The better news is a library card is also free....

The Summer of Choice

Summer Reading, Middle School Style
The library and EHMS summer reading brochure offer you a variety of high-interest summer reading choices. If you're a series book lover, a romantic, a history buff, a sci-fi or fantasy book fan, or need a thriller to keep you turning the pages, we're here for you!

It's your summer of choice so read about what you like and we suspect you'll like what you read.

Twenty Questions

Could You Pass a Citizenship Test?
A couple of us library types are also civics fans -- as in civics rock! Sound boring? Not if you wanted to become a citizen of our country.

Link to a sample of the U.S. citizenship test and see how you do. With Independence Day just around the corner, it's a good time for a civics tune-up.

Our Very Own Home Town Holiday

Another Glorious Celebration It Shall Be!
The start of our town's annual Old Home Day Celebration is less than 10 days away and we sure are hoping you are expectant and jazzed. We sure are!

Take a spin through the Old Home Day Association's web site and learn about how you can participate in and enjoy three days of free musical entertainment, great cost-saving and freebie opportunities, PLUS the largest parade in Middlesex County!

Watch for the Old Home Day Association's 2-page informational ad in the July 3rd holiday edition of the Rivereast News Bulletin. Save some gas and plan your Home Town Holiday weekend, in your hometown.

Above logo designed by Red Barn Studios, East Hampton CT

Farmer's Cow Family-Owned Dairy Farms

Take a Deep Breath and Moooo!
While visiting the library, pick up a copy of the local calling card of The Farmer's Cow, a group of six Connecticut, family-owned dairy farms. The farms offer 'udderly' delicious products and their calling card also features a schedule of summer-through fall events sure to be fun/educational for the whole family!

Support Farmer's Cow and CT-based agriculture! All moooriffic farms are within reasonable driving distance from East Hampton: Coventry, Franklin, Hebron, Lebanon, Franklin, and Woodstock.

Summer Fun, Summer Crafts @ your library

Summer Craft Adventures
Read Your Way to Olympic Gold this summer but also take time out to explore your creative side! Summer craft programs are open to children entering grades 1-3 in fall 2008.

Tuesday, July 8th @ 2 p.m.
Let’s all celebrate the 4th of July with a homemade American flag, complete with bells to ring in the summer. After that, decorate your own summer journal to write all about your summer adventures! Register online or give us a call at 267-6621.

Farmer's Markets In Our Area

New Brochure from the CT Department of Agriculture
While visiting the library, pick up a copy of the Connecticut Farmer's Market 2008 brochure published by the CT Department of Agriculture. The brochure features information about well over 100 farmer's markets operating statewide from June through October 2008. Almost all of the markets listed in the brochure are WIC Certified; several are EBT Food Stamp Certified.

Here's a listing of farmer's markets operating in Middlesex County:
Clinton, Chamard Vineyards Farmer's Market
Deep River Farmer's Market
Durham Farmer's Market
Essex Farmer's Market
Middletown Farmer's Market

For the online crowd, you may also download the Farmer's Market brochure as well as many other useful publications by visiting the CT DOA's web site.

EHHS Summer Reading Made Easy

Summer Reading Central
The EHHS summer reading lists were recently released. One list is for 9th and 10th grade; the other for 11th & 12th.

You will find books included on the EHHS lists centrally located on center island in the middle of the library's main reading room. The library has multiple copies of each book included on each list.

For quick online browsing, click here for 9th and 10th grade selections or here for 11th and 12th grade selections. Based on your demand for listed titles, we'll add copies so speak up on the listed titles that interest you!

We'll also be here all summer long to recommend other titles. Though you're only required to read two books, we're sure we can match you up with many other great books you'll love, that will make you laugh and think, and which will make your summer all the more enjoyable!

Child Meets World

Resources for Parents
The library regularly and actively purchases books of interest to parents with children at different stages of development. A few of the latest additions to our collection are shown above.

Parenting books cover a broad spectrum of issues and approaches: maternity and birth, "boot camp" or how to, medical, educational -- all related to the long-term and healthy growth of your child. If you don't quickly find what you are looking for, please ask us -- that's why we're here.

For the web-savvy crowd, we also recommend free access to highly credible online resources found at ICONN, our state's online information portal. ICONN features access to health and wellness resources, Medline, CT Physician Profiles, CT Consumer Health information, and much, much more!

Poet of the Month

June's Featured Poet

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) holds the distinction of probably having the greatest single influence on poets writing in the U.S., attracting a greater following than Yeats or Eliot in the latter half of the 20th Century. He was a close and accurate observer of real life who tried to make language new, disregarding rhyme and meter. A full-time practicing physician who had his feet on the ground, he often wrote of patients, and of flowers and paintings which he loved. Here’s an example of the latter:

The Dance
In Brueghel's great picture, The Kermess,
the dancers go round, they go round and
around, the squeal and the blare and the
tweedle of bagpipes, a bugle and fiddles
tipping their bellies (round as the thick‑
sided glasses whose wash they impound)
their hips and their bellies off balance
to turn them. Kicking and rolling about
the Fair Grounds, swinging their butts, those
shanks must be sound to bear up under such
rollicking measures, prance as they dance
in Brueghel's great picture, The Kermess.

Above: The Kermess by Pieter Brueghel the Elder

Further Reading: Selected Poems, by William Carlos Williams ; edited with an introduction by Charles Tomlinson, 1985, available at our library. The Collected Stories of William Carlos Williams ; introduction by Sherwin B. Nuland, 1996, is also available at our library.

Coming in July: Rita Dove

Content developed by local resident and poet Leland Jamieson.

Booming Books

Feeling Old, Feeling New, Books to Borrow, All About You!
Those of us in the baby boom generation haven't found it easy to ignore the plethora of new books aimed at helping us feel and look younger. We don't know about you but the publishing world's opinion of us does give us pause....

This being said, however, there certainly is something for everyone looking for choices to help make our mid-life selves happier, healthier and better looking inside and out. Here's a sampling of new books on the subject.

Hostess with the Mostest

Stephenie Meyer Tackles the Adult Sci-Fi Market
Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga vampire series books (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse) were all very difficult to put down. The fourth and final book in the series, Breaking Dawn, is sure to be another runaway bestseller and is due out on August 2nd. Twilight, the movie, starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson is also due out December 12th.

While you are waiting for the Twilight Saga's last chapter to morph into summer reader madness, try Meyer's new adult sci-fi book, The Host. The plot centers on a fairly typical sci-fi book theme: alien society takes over humankind. Yet Meyer folds in rip-roaring adventure story and (sigh) just the right amount of romance.

The Host is nothing short of another great book from the Hartford-born(!) Meyer. Enjoy.

Fill 'er Up?

Latest Fuel Economy News from the U.S. EPA
Our Consumer Reports print magazine collection -- as well as the online version available through our statewide ICONN online services portal -- have certainly been getting a workout of late. Automobile comparisons seem to be much on your minds.

We recommend another consumer tool offered by the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection. The EPA web site features a Green Vehicle Guide which may help you get a handle on how well a vehicle performs in our age of rising gas prices. Fill in and submit the form, which will deliver information about fuel economy and emissions.

A Familiar Face on TV News Shows

A National Bestseller
Fareed Zacharia's The Post-American World recently hit the New York Times Non-fiction Bestseller List. The book gives the author's take on a post 9/11 world, the rise of other nations in a global economy, and an offers an optimistic look at where our country stands in the changing international landscape.

About the Author
Zacharia has appeared as a panelist on Sunday news shows and from 2005-2007, hosted a weekly international affairs show on PBS. He now hosts a program on CNN and is an international news editor for Newsweek Magazine. Check out a clip of Charlie Rose interviewing the author or a sound clip of the author's chat with Robert Seigel on All Things Considered.