2013 BOOK AWARDS - Booker, Nobel, Pulitzer !

The votes are in, and the winners have been announced!  Here are the authors and books that received major literary awards in 2013:

 

 

THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE – Alice Munro

 

Cited as a “master of the contemporary short story”, Munro is the first Canadian to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.  She is also a three-time winner of Canada’s Governor General’s Award for Fiction.  Her works include:

Dance of the Happy Shades (1968)             

The Progress of Love (1986)

The Love of a Good Woman (1998)

Dear Life (2012)

 

THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION - Adam Johnson

 

Johnson is a South Dakota native and Associate Professor in Creative Writing at Stanford University.  He received the Pulitzer for The Orphan Master’s Son.  His works include:

Emporium (2002)

Parasites Like Us (2003)

The Orphan Master’s Son (2012)

 

THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION – James McBride

McBride is a writer and musician whose 1996 memoir, The Color of Water, was a huge bestseller.  He received the National Book Award for The Good Lord Bird.  His works include:

 The Color of Water (1996)

 Miracle at St. Anna (2002)

 Song Yet Sung (2008)

 The Good Lord Bird (2012)

 

 THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE – Eleanor Catton

 

A native of New Zealand, Catton attended the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 2008.  She received the Booker Prize for The Luminaries and is the youngest recipient (at age 28) of that award.  Her works include:

 The Rehearsal (2008)

 The Luminaries (2013)

 

Many of these titles and various other award-winners are in the East Central Regional Library collection.  Check Evergreen (our online catalog) or contact your nearest ECRL branch library for assistance!

Bob Gray, Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

 

 

 

MnLINK - Your Gateway to Interlibrary Loan !

The MnLINK Gateway (www.mnlinkgateway.org) is your portal to a rich collection of resources.  With a valid library card, you can request materials from participating libraries in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.  Thousands of people now enjoy the benefits of interlibrary loan, but many may not understand how this service works.  Let's address some of the questions that have been submitted to ECRL staff:

"I can't log in.  Is something wrong with MnLINK?"

The database may be down for maintenance or experiencing a temporary technical problem.  Try again later or ask library staff for assistance.   Your library card must be current and valid.  Library staff can help you resolve card or registration problems.

"Can I request materials that are owned here?"

We do not interlibrary loan materials that are in the ECRL collection.  Instead, you should check Evergreen (the ECRL catalog) and place holds on materials there.  There is a link to Evergreen on our homepage (www.ecrlib.org). 

"Why wasn't my MnLINK request filled?"

Most popular materials (bestsellers, DVDs) are in constant demand with long waiting lists.  Other items may be lost, damaged, or non-circulating.  If an item is unavailable, for whatever reason, your request will not be filled.  It's best to wait a week or so before placing another one (libraries are not required to fill requests for their materials).  ECRL staff are happy to accept suggestions -- if we don't own an item that you're interested in, we may purchase it for the ECRL collection!

"How many items can I request through MnLINK?"

You can have 20 active (pending or received) requests at any one time. 

"I tried to request an item through MnLINK and received a strange message.  Why didn't my request go through?"

You may be at your 20-item limit, there may be a problem with your library card, or your fines may exceed $5.00.  Please contact library staff for assistance.

"Can I request materials from libraries in other states?"

Yes!  Materials in many North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin libraries can be requested through MnLINK.  You must login and change the "Current Profile" field to "ELM - Worldcat (shared)" for access to these library collections.   Some libraries, archives, and historical societies do not participate in MnLINK.  Contact ECRL staff for access to collections at the state historical societies in North and South Dakota, for example.

"What happens if I damage or lose an interlibrary loan item?"

Accidents happen, of course, but you are responsible for returning materials by the due date and in the condition in which they were sent.  If an item is lost or damaged, the lending library will send us a bill;  that amount (no more, no less) is then placed on your ECRL library card.  The amount can be significant, depending on the item and the lending library's policies. 

"What materials are available through interlibrary loan?

Books, DVDs, music CDs, videos, audiobooks, microfilm, photocopies, magazine articles, maps, and (limited) reference material.  At present, eBook and eAudio materials cannot be requested through interlibrary loan.   ECRL has a growing collection of eBook and eAudio titles; you'll find links on our homepage (www.ecrlib.org).  And we welcome your suggestions!


Bob Gray
Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

Clearer descriptions

When you look for a DVD or book you search our online catalog, using words that describe the title, author, performer, or subject. Your search results depend on how ECRL's catalogers put the information into the database for each item as it comes in. A new standard is being embraced that uses more descriptive and commonly used words, and less non-intuitive abbreviations. The new standard is call RDA, or Resource Description Access, and replaces the venerated cataloging standard called AACR2.

ECRL's catalogers attended Minitex training this week to learn how to use RDA and plan to incorporate it into catalog records for new items as we buy them. Since ECRL has over 400,000 item records, you will still see the older terms for quite some time, but hopefully descriptions of new items will be easier to read.

Barbara Misselt, Director

NEW BIOGRAPHIES AND MEMOIRS at Your Library!

Publishers are gearing up for fall!  New biographies and memoirs are sure to be popular and many will hit the bestseller lists.  Check the ECRL catalog in the coming weeks for the following:

Bruce by Peter A. Carlin – the life of Bruce Springsteen based on interviews with family, band members, friends, and ex-girlfriends

But Now I See by Steven Holcomb – the Olympic gold medalist faces possible blindness

Butch Cassidy by W.C. Jameson – the life, exploits, and controversial death of Robert Leroy Parker

Call of the American Wild by Guy Grieve – the author escapes to the Alaskan wilderness and builds a new life

Five Lieutenants by James Carl Nelson -- five brilliant young soldiers from Harvard serve their country during WWI

A Gift of Hope by Danielle Steel – the romance novelist discusses her tireless work with the homeless

The Godfather’s Daughter by Rita Gigante – growing up in the household of Vincent “The Chin” Gigante, head of all five New York crime families

Heisman by John M. Heisman – the first authorized biography of the man memorialized by the Heisman Trophy

Hello, Gorgeous by William J. Mann – Barbra Streisand’s early New York years and her rise to stardom

Killing Kennedy:  The End of Camelot by Bill O’Reilly – focuses on a 20^th century assassination shrouded in mystery and conjecture

Lady Bird Johnson:  An Oral History by Michael L. Gillette – 37 newly released oral histories collected over 14 years

Marmee & Louisa by Eve LaPlante – Louisa May Alcott’s relationship with her mother based on recently discovered family papers

Martin Luther King Jr:  A King Family Tribute edited by Angela Farris Watkins – family members share their memories

Pray the Gay Away by Bernadette C. Barton – the extraordinary lives of 50 Bible Belt gays and lesbians

Thornton Wilder:  A Life by Penelope Niven – the life of the great playwright and literary icon based on his personal papers

Titian:  His Life by Sheila Hale – a definitive study of the great Renaissance painter

Twitch Upon a Star by Herbie J. Pilato – Elizabeth Montgomery “Bewitched” thousands of TV viewers in the 1960s

The Voice is All by Joyce Johnson – a groundbreaking portrait of Jack Kerouac as a young artist

Bob Gray
Librarian
East Central Regional Library

April 15, 1912 - TITANIC SINKS IN NORTH ATLANTIC!

It was the largest and most luxurious ocean liner of its time.  Captained by Edward J. Smith, the RMS Titanic left Southhampton, England, for New York City on April 10, 1912.  Four days later, at 11:40 pm on April 14th, the ship struck on iceberg in the North Atlantic, south of Newfoundland, Canada.  In the early morning hours of April 15th, the Titanic broke in two and sank to the ocean floor.

1517 people perished.

April 15, 2012, is the 100th anniversary of a maritime disaster that continues to fascinate people around the world. 

East Central Regional Library has a wide variety of materials on the Titanic in various formats that can be requested and borrowed from your local branch library.

If you enjoy fiction, consider these novels, all published in 2012:

“By the Light of the Silvery Moon” by Tricia Goyer

“The Company of the Dead” by David Kowalski
“The Dressmaker” by Kate Alcott
“Echoes of Titanic” by Mindy Starns Clark
“Hearts that Survive” by Yvonne Lehman
“Promise Me This” by Cathy Golke

For nonfiction readers, the following 2012 titles should prove interesting:

“Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage” by Hugh Brewster
“Shadow of the Titanic” by Andrew Wilson
“Titanic:  Last Night of a Small Town” by John Welshman
“Titanic in Photographs” by Daniel Klistorner
“Titanic Tragedy” by John Maxtone-Graham
“Voyagers of the Titanic” by Richard Davenport-Hines

For film buffs, the library offers both feature films and documentaries:

“Titanic” starring Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck (1953)

“A Night to Remember” starring Kenneth More and Jill Dixon (1958)
“Titanic” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (1997)
“Titanic” starring Toby Jones and Linus Roache (2011)
“Titanic:  the Complete Story” (2011)
“Titanic:  100^th Anniversary Collection” (2012)
“Titanic:  the Definitive Documentary Collection” (2012)

 These are only a few of the items you'll find in the ECRL catalog.  For additional materials in various formats (for children, teens, and adults), access our homepage at www.ecrlib.org and click on "ECRL Catalog" on the upper left. 

And remember that library staff are always happy to assist with queries and suggestions!

Bob Gray
Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

Minnesota's Own - JUDY GARLAND !

Eighty-nine years ago today, Frances Gumm was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.  In 1935, she signed a seven-year contract with MGM, the biggest motion picture studio in Hollywood.  In 1939, she shot to international stardom as Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz".

Frances Gumm was better known as JUDY GARLAND.

It was a rough and rocky road for the young girl who first entertained audiences at age two in her father's theatre.  Musical hits like "Meet Me in St. Louis", "The Harvey Girls" and "Easter Parade" kept her at the pinnacle of Hollywood stardom in the 1940s, even though she battled personal demons and drug addiction in her private life.  Today Garland is considered one of the great icons of 20th century American entertainment. 

The 36th Annual Judy Garland Festival will be held June 16-18  in Grand Rapids.  Her childhood home is a popular museum and can be visited. For additional information, call 1-800-664-5839 or visit the following website:  http://judynoplacelikehome.org

East Central Regional Library has a wide variety of materials pertaining to Garland that can be requested and checked out.

"Get Happy" by Gerald Clarke is the definitive biography, while "Me and My Shadows" by Lorna Luft is an enlightening, bittersweet memoir written by Judy's second daughter.

If you enjoy musicals, look no further than our DVD collection.  "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944) is a gentle, nostalgic look at a Midwestern family during the 1904 World's Fair.  Judy and Van Johnson play feuding music store clerks destined for romance "In the Good Old Summertime" (1949).  And in "A Star is Born" (1954), she gives the finest performance of her career as a young singer rising to stardom while her husband battles alcoholism.   Garland received her only Academy Award nomination as "Best Actress" for this film.

To find these materials -- and more, including music CDs -- visit the library's homepage:  www.ecrlib.org and click on "ECRL Catalog" on the upper left.  Then enter "Judy Garland" as a keyword search.

Staff are always willing to help or make suggestions!


Bob Gray
Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

82nd ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS

On the evening of March 7, 2010, the 82nd annual Academy Awards were presented at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was officially organized on May 4, 1927, but the first "Oscars" were not awarded until May 16, 1929. That evening, in the ballroom of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, "Wings" was named "Best Picture" of the year. Emil Jannings and Janet Gaynor took home the acting prizes.

Fast forward 81 years. On March 7th the following winners were announced:

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart"

Best Actress: Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side"

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz in "Inglorious Basterds"

Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique in "Precious"

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker"

It was a night of firsts! Bullock, Waltz, and Mo'Nique were all first-time nominees, and Bigelow was the first woman in the history of the Academy Awards to receive the "Best Director" prize. Also, for the first time since 1943, ten films were nominated for "Best Picture".

Here are some fascinating facts about the Oscars:

Most Awards (11): "Ben-Hur", "Titanic", and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"

Most Nominations (14): "All About Eve", "Titanic"

Most Awards - Acting (4): Katharine Hepburn

Most Nominations - Acting (16): Meryl Streep

East Central Regional Library has many Oscar-winning films on DVD and more are being added to the collection on a regular basis. Check our catalog!

The best book ever written about the Academy Awards is probably "80 Years of the Oscar" by Robert Osborne. It's located in the central reference collection at the Cambridge library for your enjoyment and perusal.

Bob Gray

Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

LOOKING FOR RELIABLE HEALTH INFO?

Did you know that East Central Regional Library maintains an extensive list of web sites that we use on a daily basis? Just check our "Reference Desk" page and click on "Web Links". There are many different categories! One of the most popular is Health & Medicine.

Here you'll find links to the American Medical Association, Medline Plus, WebMD, and the Mayo Clinic, among other reliable online resources. You can easily locate information on diseases, medical conditions, drugs, and specific health-related topics pertaining to children, men, women, and seniors.

The library also maintains outstanding print resources for your use, including:

"Mayo Clinic Family Health Book"

"Complete Guide to Prescription & Non-Prescription Drugs"

"American Medical Association Complete Medical Encyclopedia"

Please contact your nearest ECRL branch library for assistance with these and other library resources!

Bob Gray

Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

THE ROAD to Cormac McCarthy

When No Country For Old Men won the Best Picture Academy Award in 2007 I told myself, "I must read Cormac McCarthy."

I didn't get around to it, however, until recently. I knew that All the Pretty Horses, volume one of "The Border Trilogy", had received both the 1992 National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Then The Road was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Last week I picked up The Road, thumbed through it, and noted the absence of quotation marks to indicate dialogue. Finding this somewhat distracting, I laid the book aside and turned to a different novel. Yesterday I picked up McCarthy's book again----and finished it this morning.

A man and his son, both unnamed, struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Possessed of meager provisions and a pistol with two bullets, the man convinces the boy that some kind of salvation exists near the sea. Through a blighted landscape of gray ash, dead trees, and chilling temperatures, the reader joins them on the road, encountering harrowing instances of debased humanity, cannibalism, and despair. The boy, who has never known any other life, seems, at times, touched by God, for he is ever aware of the fact that he and his father are the "good guys" who "carry the fire". Eventually the man succumbs to disease, starvation, and exposure---yet remains convinced that "Goodness will find the little boy. It always has. It will again."

The Road has been called both "a masterpiece" by Booklist and "a novel of horrific beauty" by Kirkus Reviews. I agree. The book, deceptively simple and straightforward, is devastating and reminds us that the world teeters on the edge of the abyss.

On June 5, 2007, McCarthy sat down with Oprah Winfrey for his first and only television interview. When asked about his writing, McCarthy said he prefers simple, direct sentences and refuses to muddy up his text with "weird little marks" (quotation marks). The video can viewed on Oprah's site: http://www.oprah.com/. Just enter his name in the "Search oprah.com" field on the upper right of the screen.

Directed by John Hillcoat, the film adaptation has just been released in theatres and is receiving generally favorable reviews. Viggo Mortensen, whom many will remember as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, plays the man.

East Central Regional Library owns all of McCarthy's works in various formats: regular print, large print, audio, VHS, and DVD. Access our homepage at http://www.ecrlib.org/ and click on "ECRL Catalog" if you'd like to request a specific item. Remember that library staff are a quick phone call away if you need assistance.

Bob Gray
Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian

Progress - the Web Catalog

I've been here just over a month (Wednesday was my one-month anniversary). Wow, so much has happened. I told Marilyn that I wish we had kept a daily log. We've not celebrated each step in the implementation of our new ILS (integrated library system), but there have been plenty.

Today is a huge milestone -- the unveiling of the online patron access catalog. In library terminology, that's an OPAC. Let's not call it that. It's just simply the Catalog. It seems pretty straightforward to use. The biggest thing that I think the public may need to remember is that they should select their library on the initial search screen -- it comes up searching "All".

As staff has tried the catalog out in its implementation phase, they've found several things they've like, several more not so much. Carla told me that she's been here through Classic Dynix, Horizon 8.0, and now Unicorn. She says that there are certain things that she likes in each one and she wishes she could combine all her favorite tools. I suspect that will be the case with a lot of us (this will be the sixth automation system I've worked on).

Give it a try. And then post in the comments section what you like - or not. (be specific, please)

ECRL Catalog

Barbara Misselt, Director