Tons of ebooks!

How many times have you realized five minutes before class that you left your copy of Dracula at home? And how many times have you come to the library to check out a copy, only to find that someone else got there a few seconds before you did?

Problem solved. The library has just acquired 500 of the most popular classic titles as electronic books. Go to the library catalog, type in your title, hit the search button and up it comes. Click on the book and there will be a link that takes you right to it so you can read it in your device of choice: Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iPad, whatever.

Desperate seekers of Huck Finn, you are welcome.

Don't stop now!

The turkey has been eaten, the football games have been played, some Black Friday retail therapy is complete . . . the winter holidays are just around the corner. Don't lose momentum! I know the end is in sight, but take a deep breath, center yourself and find the energy you need to see you through a successful midterm season. It will make enjoying the fruits of your labor so much sweeter.

When you're done, stop by and pick up something wonderful that you can really dive into over the break. Not sure what to pick? Come and visit - I love telling people what to read. What I mean is that I am very happy to ask you what you have read, what you like to read, and then figure out what treasure I have in the library to which I can introduce you that will delight and surprise you. The wonders of the season are unfolding - shepherd them along with some great literature.

Food for thought

The library has a surprising collection of cookbooks. We like to have a little bit of everything here, and while the culinary selection is by no means comprehensive, it is delightful in its way. Some of the titles are historical in nature: The Medieval Cookbook; The Seasonal Hearth: The Woman at Home in Early America; something a little older still with Cooking in Ancient Civilizations; and a long-time library favorite - Cooking with Shakespeare.

Others are of regional or ethnic interest: Foods of Peru, Chile and Cuba; The World Religions Cookbook; and Culinaria France, with its gorgeous photographs and informative essays. We also have books for those of you only starting to experiment: Now You're Cooking or How to Boil Water might be just the thing for the kitchen-uninitiated. More experienced? Mastering the Art of French Cooking, the classic by American treasure Julia Child, is waiting quietly on the shelf for you to discover.

If you're more into thinking about it than actually doing it, we've got books for you too. In Defense of Food, an Eater's Manifesto, will make you think carefully about what you're putting in your body; Eat, Pray, Love lets you live vicariously through Elizabeth Gilbert as she ventured around the world and did all three; and - I'm saving the best for last here - M.F.K. Fisher's collected essays The Art of Eating is among my top five favorite books in the library, the first thing I checked out and took home when I got here.

However you spend your Thanksgiving holiday, you're going to eat something at some point. Why not take a moment to reflect on it? Vow to make next year's feast even better by helping to cook it, or at least offer a thoughtful appraisal of where it came from and why it matters.

*You didn't hear this from me, but Manischewitz boxed potato pancake mix makes a very fine latke, with the addition of a little fresh onion, if you don't have time or patience for all the shredding and squeezing.  NOT THAT I WOULD KNOW, OF COURSE.

Book mobile

I totally want to do this. Looks like a great summer project and a terrific way to assuage the guilt I always feel when I weed something, no matter how decrepit or outdated. My glue gun is holstered for now, but come June, I am a folding maniac. Who's with me?

Fall into a book

This is the middle of my fifth year here, and this year I noticed that I had developed some comfortingly familiar habits: Banned Book week at the end of September and Halloween books for the month of October. Every November 1 I choose to highlight books about pilgrims and early colonists in America, the Native American tribes they may have encountered, books about winter holidays including Christmas and Hanukkah, and my favorite: our collection of cookbooks. We also have quite a selection of books about not just food, but nutrition, which is interesting reading at this time of year - Halloween candy is everywhere and the temptation of Thanksgiving is mere weeks away. Come on in and pick up something cozy, informative, or both.

New and improved

As you can see, there have been some changes. I am mostly recovered, physically speaking. Once upon a time I was asked if I had read every book in the library. I have not (yet!), but I have actually touched every single one during the packing and unpacking. There are fewer books, but it is true that sometimes we must prune old branches in order to stimulate new growth.

This post is very overdue – do I have to pay a fee?

I was told a few months ago that “no one reads blogs anymore.” Au contraire! There are people who make a living just on blogging alone, so someone must be reading them. I read them, certainly – I have a few favorites bookmarked so I can stay current: Swiss Army Librarian, Awful LibraryBooks, Ringling College’s Library Voices, to name a few.

Halloween, once upon a time, was the season when the peoples of Northern Europe marked the transition in the year from light to dark. It seems as good a time as any to set about revitalizing my blog – I enjoy writing, and I really enjoy sharing what’s new and exciting in the library and at Out-of-Door. So here’s to new beginnings, despite the falling leaves.

See you in the stacks.