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eReader Clinic: How to Download Library eBooks – Jan. 6


Would you like to learn how to download eBooks from the Library? If your holidays include unwrapping a brand-new eReader, take note: We’ve got the eReader Clinic for you!

Bring your new electronic companion to Central Library Auditorium on Thursday, Jan. 6 at 7:00 p.m. for a how-to with the Library’s tech gurus on using our free downloadable eBooks.

Remember, the Amazon Kindle and some other eReaders do not accept Library downloads (so we won’t be able to help you with those). Read the most up-to-date list of compatible eReaders and system requirements or print out an eReader Cheat Sheet (pdf).

The eReader Clinic will cover:

  • Overview of library’s eBook collection 
  • How to checkout and download an eBook
  • Which eBooks we buy, how we decide, what other area libraries offer
  • Answers to FAQs (technical and about eBooks / eReaders in general)

There will be a Q&A; period, and take-home handouts will be provided.

Can’t attend on Jan. 6, but need to ask questions? Checkout our troubleshooting page and our Help! Email Library Staff page.

Too Cool for Yule: 3rd Annual Holiday Tunes from the Director, Part 3

 

Director's Blog

And now we bring you the last part of the Library Director’s annual “Don’t Touch That Dial” holiday-music blog post, designed to chase the dark away.

2010, PART 3….

17. Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by John Lennon, The Harlem Community Choir, Yoko Ono & The Plastic Ono Band, from John Lennon & Yoko Ono Power to the People – The Hits (Remastered) 2010
John Lennon’s death is right up there with the Kennedy Assassination as two of the defining events of my life. Never a fan of Yoko (she broke up the Beatles)

18. A Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives, from Have a Holly Jolly Christmas 1965
Good songs, goofy animation, grrrrreat characters: Hermey, the elf who wants to be a dentist, Yukon Cornelius, Charlie in the Box and his pals on the Island of Misfit Toys. CLASSIC!!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sooHzHHh4kM?fs=1]

19. God Bless The Master, from Folk Songs Of The Four Seasons
. Folk poetry that blesses the Master, the Mistress, the House and Cattle, too. Powerful in its simplicity, the song closes every performance of Revels, a national arts organization founded in 1971 by musician, educator and author John Langstaff to celebrate the seasons through the power of traditional song, dance, storytelling and ritual from cultures around the world.

20. Santa’s Got a Brand New Bag by The Bobs, from Too Many Santas
The a cappella Bobs salute “the hardest-working man in show business, the great James Brown (May 5, 1933 – December 25, 2006).
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ss0ww5o_8A?fs=1]

Bonus Tracks in Honor of Holiday Feasting

21. Nobody’s Fat in Aspen Christine Lavin, from Future Fossils 1984
Neo-folkie Lavin reveals the shallow, fallow under-girding the beautiful people. But it’s not a downer when sung by Lavin’s chirpy, quirky soprano. It makes the list because it references snow. And skiing.

22. He’s a Chubby Little Fellow by The Singing Cowboy Gene Autry, from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Other Christmas Classics 2003
Creator of the Cowboy Code (“a cowboy must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action and personal habits”), Autry was famous for his Christmas classics, the most famous of which is the aforementioned Rudolph. But I liked this one better.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCdcT_DY7ew?fs=1]

Too Cool for Yule: Holiday Tunes from the Director, part 2

This week we bring you the Library Director’s annual “Don’t Touch That Dial” holiday-music blog post, designed to chase the dark away.

PART 2….

9. Angels We Have Heard On High by Indigo Girls from Holly Happy Days
Girls with guitars who have known each other since grade school and whose voices blend like a yogurt smoothie.

10. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town by The Pointer Sisters from A Very Special Christmas 1987
Silly, sassy and so much fun.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuQRXoIP3uI?fs=1]

11. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Eddie Higgins Christmas Songs 2005
This year’s pick of my favorite Christmas pop song.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArFBB0Ik9-4?fs=1]

12. Greensleeves by Paul Desmond & The Modern Jazz Quartet
Recorded on Christmas Day 1971, by Paul Desmond and the Modern Jazz Quartet, the first and only time they played together.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-brmiryqxxY?fs=1]

13. The Christmas Waltz (Sammy Cahn/Jule Styne) by Peggy Lee from Christmas Carousel, 1960
For those who might remember only her woozy sounding pop charter of 1969, “Is That All There Is?”, Peggy Lee (March 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002) was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer and actress in a career spanning nearly seven decades. This track was recorded in 1960, at the height of her popularity.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n1yapgYn8o?fs=1]

14. Silver Bells by Dean Martin, from My Kind of Christmas, issued 2009
Okay, I needed someone to represent the SammyPerryAndyTonyBingFrankSteveandEdie spectrum, and settled finally on Dino, whose boozy on stage persona eclipsed a croony, real life hipness. Warm and easy; a recording that’s amore.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D5t9wPjhyE?fs=1]

15. I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm by Jo Stafford, from Happy Holidays – I Love the Winter Weather (Re-mastered)
I love, love LOVE Jo Stafford. Play this in any kind of weather. Repeatedly.

16. Last Christmas by Wham! From Music from the Edge of Heaven 1986
Before there was George Michael, paparazzi fodder, there was Wham, his and Andrew Ridgeley’s revival of teen pop. A great song; give it to someone special.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gmARGvPlI?fs=1]

Stay tuned for Part 3, coming Monday night…

Cookies at Columbia Pike – Yummy!

Last Saturday at the Columbia Pike Branch Library, nearly 50 hungry kids and their caregivers celebrated the holidays by listening to fun COOKIE stories, decorating imaginative COOKIES, and eating delicious COOKIES.

Thanks to all who helped out and participated! We had a great time.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

Too Cool for Yule: 3rd Annual Holiday Tunes from the Director, in 3 Part Harmony

 

Director's Blog

This week we bring you the Library Director’s annual “Don’t Touch That Dial” holiday-music blog post, designed to chase the dark away.

PART 1….

1. The Gloucestershire Wassail by Waverly Consort, from A Waverly Consort Christmas: Christmas From East Anglia To Appalachia –
What holiday is complete without some good old, wassailing? Take some apples, add some sugar and spice and you end up with something hot and nice.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrZnZ6MZtVA?fs=1]

2. I Wonder As I wander/Noëls Anciens and
3. Coventry Carol by Musica Intima, from Nativité
Two a cappella classics from a Vancouver based ensemble. Breathtakingly beautiful.

4. Angelus Ad Virginem by The Boston Camerata, from Sing We Noel

Founded the year of my birth, Boston Camerata is one of the oldest early music ensembles in the United States. The song is a medieval carol, with text that is a poetic version of the Hail Mary. Interesting Factoid from Wikipedia: AAV was the first piece of music sung at the annual Bracebridge Dinner, a lavish Christmas feast held for many years at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. The song, sung as the guests entered the dining room, was selected by Ansel Adams in 1929, who was director of the pageant at that time.

5. Good People All by Anonymous 4, from Wolcum Yule – Celtic and British Songs and Carols.
Luminous and pure in tone. Play repeatedly.

6. Zat You Santa Claus? by Buster Poindexter and His Banshees of Blue, from How Cool Is That Christmas
In which Buster Poindexter (alter ego of frontman David Johansen, of glam band New York Dolls fame) channels Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), fabled New Orleans trumpeter and titanic entertainer.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP8C_SUKQbs?fs=1]

7. Winter Wonderland by Aretha Franklin, from How Cool Is That Christmas
‘Retha swings in this 1964 rendition of the timeless classic. Sleigh bells ring. Are you listenin’???
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svm0K7ykYbA?fs=1]

8. Good King Wenceslas by John Fahey, from Christmas Guitar, Vol. 1 1982
Local (Takoma Park, MD) folkie, bluesman and acoustic guitar innovator, John Fahey (February 28, 1939 – February 22, 2001) picks apart this medieval carol and creates an off brand holiday classic. A must in any serious music collection, holiday or otherwise.

And this is just the start of of 2010’s Yule Tunes from the Library Director’s collection! Check back on Monday and Tuesday for Part 2 and Part 3…

Have you heard about "Shark vs. Train"?

Our children’s librarians have noticed that Shark vs. Train, by Chris Barton and Tom Lichtenheld, is turning up on several “best of” lists for children (K-grade 2) this year.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra2QESKwBTw[/youtube]

See PARTY CRASHERS, then Read their Books


Do you love reading graphic novels? Do you love their varied art styles? Then check out the new exhibit, PARTY CRASHERS – a collaborative art show between the Artisphere and the Arlington Arts Center, opening Saturday, Dec. 11 – which explores the mashup between comic art and contemporary gallery culture, and features artists who pass back and forth between the two worlds.

Then go to the Library, and check out books by these Party Crashers artists:

The Artisphere exhibit examines the ways in which comic art’s influence is evident in the pieces and working methods of fine artists. Bold black lines, flat expanses of solid color, sequential storytelling and the joining of literature and imagery are common facets of artworks made today.

The Arlington Arts Center showcases alternative comic artists who also show their original pages and drawings in art galleries; fine and comic artists working side-by-side on a national curated project, and fine and comic artists creating avante-garde, purely abstract sequential art without words or recognizable imagery.

The exhibit runs from Saturday, December 11, 2010 – Sunday, February 13, 2011. The books are available all year round, at the Library.



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