Welcome to the Reference Department Blog. Visit often for information on programs and events, featured research tools, book lists, and Web resources. We encourage you, our patrons, to give feedback and share your own favorite resources and books. Join us in creating a unique resource for the Wright Library Community.
To encourage community participation in this special visit, Wright Library is holding book discussion groups of All But My Life on March 26 at 1:00 p.m. and March 27 at 6:30 p.m. in the Library Meeting Room.
For over six decades, author, historian, speaker, and Holocaust survivor, Gerda Weissmann Klein has captivated audiences worldwide with her powerful message of hope, inspiration, love and humanity. In her speeches and books, Klein draws from her wealth of life experiences: from surviving the Holocaust and meeting her future husband on the day of her liberation, to her journey to the United States, accepting an Oscar and Emmy for a documentary based on her life, and her constant fight to promote tolerance, encourage community service and combat hunger. Gerda Klein has authored nine books on a wide variety of topics for an array of different audiences. These include her memoir, All But My Life, which was the foundation for the Oscar and Emmy-winning HBO documentary One Survivor Remembers.
Come to the library this weekend for two literary events.
Saturday, January 26 at 2:00 p.m.
Join the Wright Library Poets for an afternoon of poetry. The Wright Library Poets will read from their own work, followed by an open mic for anyone who wishes to share original work or a favorite poem.
Sunday, January 27th at 2:00 p.m.
Local author Joanne Yeck will discuss her most recent book, The Jefferson Brothers. In The Jefferson Brothers Joanne Yeck introduces Randolph Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson's only brother, and brings him out from the shadow of his famous sibling, focusing on the years during which their paths crossed.
Books will be available for purchase and a book signing willfollow.
On Saturday, January 12th at 2 p.m. Martha Moody will discuss her most recent novel, Sharp and Dangerous Virtues.The story takes place in Dayton, Ohio in 2047 and has been described as a "suspenseful what-if that readers will continue to ponder long after they've put it down," -Booklist.
Books will be available for purchase at the event and a book signing will follow.
TrueFlix help students hone literacy skills, build knowledge of subject-area content, and cultivate 21st Century Skills through the inquiry process. All titles are supported with a deep and diverse reservoir of related content and primary sources featuring videos, audio, images, and text.
When accessing TrueFlix in the library use this link.
Join us Sunday, September 23, 2012 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. to celebrate Jane Austen and her novels! This program is for teens and adults and will include a variety of activities, including a Jane Austen craft and trivia game, a tea with light refreshments, and speaker Carrie Bebris, author of the the Mr. and Mrs. Darcy series. Ms. Bebris will be talking about her most recent novel, The Deception at Lyme (Or, The Peril of Persuasion), newly released in trade paperback.
Advanced registration is required and limited to the first 40 people. Contact Wright Library’s Reference Department at 294-7171 or by email to register beginning Friday, September 14.
The latest thriller by Karen Robards features the hunt for a serial killer and a main character who can see ghosts. Find it in print or on CD in the catalog.
Wright Library makes reading fun with TumbleBooks!
TumbleBooks are animated, talking picture books which teach kids the joy of reading in a format they'll love. TumbleBooks consist of animation, sound, music and narration to existing picture books in order to produce an electronic picture book which you can read, or have read to you.
TumbleBooks provides enrichment to students who are reading independently with a variety of high interest material. They also provide support to readers, who require skill building, with a variety of exercises. TumbleBooks are terrific for encouraging any reader to spend more time with a book whether on their own, with other children, or with a parent.
A little while ago we announced here that the Ohio Ebook Project, location of Wright Library's Digital Collection, was now making ebooks from Project Gutenberg available through the site. With the soaring popularity of ereaders and other devices on which you can read ebooks (Did you get one over the holidays?), we often get questions from patrons on where to go to get more free ebooks.
In response, we offer this list, although with the disclaimer that we haven't verified that each site offers formats that work with every reader. Read about the site before you begin downloading.
Another source to keep in mind is the SEO Library Consortium Digital Collection with which the Ohio Ebook Project has a reciprocal lending agreement. This means you can check out and download titles from the SEO Library collection just the same as if you were doing it from the Ohio Ebook Project. You can find a link to the SEO Library Consortium collection on the left hand side of the Ohio Ebook Project homepage.
Let us know what you think of these sites or your ebook experience by leaving a comment.
First Tuesday of each month from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Starbucks, 2418 Far Hills Avenue, in Oakwood.
Come join us!
We will not have a Big Read discussion this spring. Look for OAKWOOD READS this summer.
Tuesday, June 4 - Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. A chance encounter on a plane leads Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Tracy Kidder, to follow Paul Farmer to Haiti. Farmer is a doctor, famed infectious disease specialist, Harvard professor and anthropologist. He is on a relentless quest to bring modern medicine and hope to the abject poor, who live, as Abraham Verghese writes, "in the kinds of places we do not like to think about." As stated in the Haitian proverb, "beyond mountains there are mountains," Farmer never falters as he turns to the next problem after solving the last.
Tuesday, July 2 - OAKWOOD READS 2013, Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver. At 28, Dellarobia Turnbow has reached the end of her rope; she decides she can no longer tolerate grinding poverty, a hapless husband and her critical in-laws. She plans to burn her bridges by having an affair up in a mountain shack. Then, on the climb, she discovers a miracle. As scientists arrrive, Dellarobia sets out to understand exactly what is going on and witnesses the miracle morphing toward catastrophe. Barbara Kingsolver shows us an intelligent Applalachian waking up to a different reality and then discovering how to chart her own flight forward.
Tuesday, August 6 - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. It's 1950 and criminals beware, eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce is on the case and looks unstoppable. Flavia lives in England with her father, two dreadful sisters, and their loyal retainer, Dogger. When murder threatens the family, Flavia turns her mad passion for chemistry to sleuthing, jumps on her bicycle Gladys, and tracks danger to its doorstep. First-time novelist, Alan Bradley, won the Debut Dagger in 2007, the Agatha Award for best first novel, and the Macavity Awards, Best First Mystery Novel for 2010.
Tuesday, September 3 - O Pioneers! by Willa Cather. When her father dies, Alexandra Bergson takes over the running of the family farm and the raising of her three brothers. She devotes herself to taming the wild, desolate prairie into orderly and productive fields. As other immigrant families give up, the Bergsons grow roots and some find love. This is the first novel in Willa Cather's Great Plains trilogy, followed by The Song of the Lark and My Antonia. Here she gave first literary voice to Swedish, French and Bohemian homesteaders and celebrated the windswept Nebraskan prairie.
Join the library Sunday, August 15, at 2:00 p.m. in welcoming local author Katrina Kittle. Ms. Kittle will read from her new novel, The Blessings of the Animals, with time for discussion and questions from the audience.
The program will be held in the the library meeting room. No advanced registration is necessary.
Katrina Kittle is the author of Traveling Light, Two Truths and a Lie, and The Kindness of Strangers. The Kindness of Strangers was a BookSense pick and winner of the 2006 Great Lakes Book Award for Fiction. Visti her Web site for more information.
Recently we did a post on social networks for book lovers. We want to add another Web site to the list. The Audiobook Community is just what the name implies, a community of audiobook listeners. As it says on the site, "Audiobook Community was created and is maintained by the team at AudioFile as an open, uncensored, unbranded forum for all audiobook listeners to discover audiobooks and connect with other fans as well as publishers, authors, and narrators." If you're an audiobook listener, check out the discussions. Plus you can download free audiobooks from Sync (read about it), which is hosted by Audiobook Community.
Each week, from July 1st until September 1st, you can download two totally FREE audiobooks through SYNC! Anyone may participate, there's no required sign-up or personal info or credit card needed. The titles are in MP3 format compatible with ANY digital player or computer, and the choices are top titles from the best audiobook producers - how much better could it get?!?
The downloads are handled through OverDrive, the same company which supports the Wright Library Digital Collection at the Ohio Ebook Project. The OverDrive Media Console, a program for downloading and managing audio and video files, is used for the downloading process and for transferring the audiobook to your portable device. If you haven't done this before, a Wright Library audiovisual librarian would be happy to help you get started. And your digital audiobook experience doesn't have to end with SYNC, free audiobooks are available from the Wright Library Digital Collection with just your library card. Check out this slide show.
In addition there's an entire social community where SYNC participants may interact with authors, narrators, audiobook producers, and each other! SYNC has been developed to promote audiobook listening to teens ages 13 and up through the unbranded open forum Audiobook Community. But it's not just for teens! Each week, two new titles will be available for download - one a current teen favorite, one a classic with a similar theme. What a great way to experience classics on your summer reading list, discover great YA literature, or download perfect family listening for a wide spectrum of ages.
If you are an online social networker and love books this post is for you. Maybe you know about the user reviews on sites like Amazon (maybe you even write them), but where do you go to really share your love of books. Below is a list of places you can go and indulge your passion by organizing your collection online, sharing it with others, discussing specific books, and passing on and finding new books (literally! Check out bookcrossing.com.)
Provided by the Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN), use this search to find anything about books and authors. Use it to find reviews, recommendations, and read-a-likes.
Watch this tutorial to see what it is and how it works.
Ohio’s book award is unique among other state book award programs in that the nominated and winning titles are entirely selected by children. Teachers and librarians who encourage their students to participate in the Buckeye Children’s Book Award reading/nominating/voting process report an enthusiastic response.
Digital books are becoming more and more popular. Many are available Wright Library's Digital Collection at the Ohio eBook Project, and because they are from the library, they're free. Although a terrific collection, it is also a limited one for now and often the book you want to read or listen to is not available. Where else can you go for free books? The Internet is full of them!
Other sources of free books online make works of public domain and/or open license available. Check out Online Libraries - 25 Places to Read Free Books Online, one of which is the Internet Public Library's list of resources of Online Texts. Check out these other sources many of which have a variety of literary forms, have both text and audio versions, and in some cases, allow you to download the book.
June is designated National Audio Book Month by the Audio Publishers Association. To kick off the month The Audies 2009 were announced. These awards recognize distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment. If you have never listened to an audiobook, give it a try.
The Library's extensive collection of audiobooks, both on cassette-tape and CD, is very popular. The collection covers a range of fiction and non-fiction and has something for every reading age (picture book read-a-longs, juvenile and young adult fiction, novels, and nonfiction on every subject).
Additionally, our Digital Collection (part of the Ohio eBook Project) offers the opportunity to download thousands of more titles. Instructions on how to download titles from home are available in a slideshow. If your Internet connection is slow or you want a streamlined downloading experience, come into the library with your portable player and use our Download Station to download titles directly.
Come learn how to download ebooks, digital audiobooks, music, and videos from the Wright Library Digital Collection, part of the Ohio Ebook Project. The program will be held Monday, May 18th, from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. in the Library Meeting Room and will help familiarize you with
installing required (but free) programs
searching the collection
checking out and downloading items
transferring titles to CD and portable devices
Once you're set up, you can get reading, listening, and viewing materials without leaving the comfort and convenience of your home. Best of all they're from your library, so they're free.
