New This Week
January 31, 2011
Column: At the Library
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
Tom Clancy returns this week with a brand new Jack Ryan story. “Dead or Alive,” brings back all the familiar characters, technology, and suspense Clancy is famous for.
Younger readers will no doubt enjoy Lisa Findander’s “Disneystrology,” which provides a Disney character and their traits for each and every birthday (Although I don’t know how accurate it is…as my birth date said I was Tinkerbell!).
Preschool Story Time this Wednesday at 11:00 am, 1:15 pm, & 6:30 pm, and Toddler Story this Friday at 10:30 am will be all about Clowns!
The eighth annual Friends of the Cranbrook Public Library Magazine Sale is right around the corner. The sale will be happening on Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5 from 10 to 6 in the manual training room. It’s two days only this year. Along with the magazine sale will be several silent auctions and a video sale. The Library is currently accepting donations of magazines (dated 2006 or greater please).
Interested in Making Friends With A Book? Weekly discussions about different genres of novels ranging from sci fi to historical fiction. We will be drinking Tea and learning about the different authors as well as genres available to look at in the library. This is a 6 week event running every Friday from 2:30-3:30 in the Manual Training Centre attached to the Library; The event started on January 14th and will continue until Friday February 18th.For more information you can contact Anna Clark at 250-426-4063 or aclark@cranbrookpubliclibrary.ca
The ‘I Liked The Book Better’ series continues this February 8th at 6:30 pm. Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love” will be shown, followed by a discussion comparing the film to the book. Popcorn and juice will be available by donation. Please contact Mike at the Library for more information.
ADULT NEWLY AQUIRED SHELF:
Becoming Canada " Ken Dryden (971.073)
The Grace to Race " Sister Madonna Buder (796.092)
How to Be Your Own General Contractor " Robert E. Emmick (690.837)
The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick " Gene Stone (613)
The Field Guide to Natural Phenomena " Keith Heidorn (500)
More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow " Stephanie O’Dea (641.5884)
Secrets to Your Successful Domestic Adoption " Jennifer Joyce Pedley (362.734)
The Moral Landscape " Sam Harris (171.2)
Canadian Immigration Made Easy " Tariq Nadeem (342.71082)
Bannock and Beans " Bob White (971.185)
The Immigration Handbook " Ivan Vasic (323.6230973)
The Ultimate Book of Everyday Science " Jay Ingram (500)
You and Your Future " Georgia Nicols (133.5)
Kitchens and Bathrooms " Mike Holmes (643.3)
Home Winemaking for Dummies " Tim Patterson (641.872)
Profiling: The Psychology of Catching Killers " David Owen (363.258)
A Feast for All Seasons: Traditional Native Peoples’ Cuisine (641.59297071)
Texas Sage " Sandra Brown (fic)
Dead or Alive " Tom Clancy (fic)
The Best Laid Plans " Lynn Schnurnberfer (fic)
Undressing The Moon " T. Greenwood (fic)
Flabbergasted " Ray Blackston (fic)
A Lonely Death " Charles Todd (mys)
Murder in the Chilcotin (mys)
Damage " John Lescroart (mys)
Zero Hour " Andy McNab (mys)
What the Night Knows " Dean Koontz (mys)
Tigerlilly’s Orchids " Ruth Rendell (mys)
The Woodcutter " Lorn Wolf (sci fic)
Good Will Hunting (DVD)
The Wild Hunt (DVD)
Mastering the Guitar (DVD)
So You Think You Can Dance Cardio Funk (DVD)
Dancing With the Stars Cardio Dance (DVD)
Sweetgrass (DVD)
Return to Cranford (DVD)
YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S NEWLY ACQUIRED ITEMS:
Glee: The Ultimate Guide to the Smash-Hit High School Musical (ya 791)
Spectacular Hair " Eric Mayost (ya 646.724)
Ripley’s 2011 Special Edition (ya 031.02)
The Real Witches’ Handbook " Kate West (ya 133.43)
Disneystrology " Lisa Finander (ya fic)
The Gift " James Patterson (ya fic)
TTYL " Lauren Myracle (ya fic)
Burned " Ellen Hopkins (ya fic)
How to Say Goodbye in Robot " Natalie Standiford (ya fic)
Heartless " Anne Elisabeth Stengl (ya fic)
The Healer’s Apprentice " Melanie Dickerson (ya fic)
The Kingfisher Illustrated Horse & Pony Encyclopedia " Sandy Ransford (j 636.1)
Tremendous Tunnels " Ian Graham (j 624.193)
Fabulous Bridges " Ian Graham (j 624.2
Funny Business " Jon Scieszka (j fic)
The Steps Across the Water " Adam Gopnik (j fic)
13 Words " Lemony Snicket (j pic)
The Fourth Wise Man " Mary Joslin (j pic)
Who Hid the Easter Eggs " Pirkko Vainio (j pic)
It’s A Book " Lane Smith (j pic)
Le Paresseux tres tres paresseux " Andrew Murray (j french)
Captain Sunny Patch (j DVD)
The Big Sneeze (j DVD)
Like most star athletes, Nancy Pearl’s reputation precedes her.
Whatever town she visits, she is rushed by fans demanding autographs. The press call her “innovator,” “iconoclast,” “pioneering,” “a legend,” and a “rock star.” The city of Seattle actively recruited her. The action figure based on her likeness was an immediate success, and remains a bestseller; as do her posters and wall calendars. Although retired, Pearl remains at the top of her game; their simply isn’t a second place, or anyone even close to her talents. Pearl remains baffled by all of this, even though it is pretty standard stuff for a star athlete.
The odd thing is Pearl isn’t a star athlete at all. She’s a librarian.
Autographs? Legend? Action figure? These are not the terms one typically associates with librarians. How did any of this happen?
All this began in the mid-1950s, at Detroit’s Parkman Branch Library. The branch’s two children’s librarians"Miss Whitehead and Miss Long--could not help but notice the 10-year-old Pearl was spending more and more time at their library. At first they thought she was just becoming an avid reader (which she was), but it soon became obvious Pearl was avoiding a horribly abusive home life. Decades later she credits the interest the librarians took in her, and the books she read “saved my life.”
She promised Whitehead and Long to repay them; to show other kids the kindness and support they had shown her. She kept her promise, earning a master’s degree in library science in 1967, and becoming the children’s librarian at the very branch she grew up in.
From here Pearl worked in various libraries around the U.S., finally settling down in Tulsa, Oklahoma. By now she had a second master’s degree (this time in history), a husband, and two daughters to raise.
And it was here, in Tulsa, where Nancy Pearl unknowingly began her journey towards becoming “the most famous personality in librariandom” (apologies to Melvil Dewey). For Pearl was brilliant at recommending books. In fact, she was genius at it. She somehow combined her overwhelming enthusiasm for books with a high degree of social intelligence. Instead of imposing her preferences on someone, she asked them what their preferences were; what were their tastes in reading. Only then would she begin to recommend a book.
This ability made her a bit of a star at the Tulsa Library, which led to a newspaper column, and then her own half-hour radio show. In 1993, the director of the Seattle Public Library sought out Pearl, and offered her a job on any terms she wished. She had one: to talk to people about books.
From here on, her achievements are remarkable. Wondering what it would be like if everyone in Seattle read the same book, she initiated the “one city, one book” program in 1998. Now common all over North America, no one had ever thought of it before Pearl.
She was given another radio show, but this time it was national. Countless cities around the country began to request her to come speak at their libraries. In 2003, the publisher of Sasquatch Books asked her to write “a mass-market book of reviews.” Knowing that her love of books was “so strong it has been officially classified as lust,” the titled it “Book Lust.”
“Book Lust” was an instant hit, reflecting Pearl’s contagious enthusiasm for books of all kinds.
This led to McPhee Toys creating a Nancy Pearl action figure, a mini likeness of her complete with ‘shushing’ action sound. Initially created as a one shot novelty item, its sales exceed all other McPhee figures.
In 2004, an Australian bluegrass band named themselves the Nancy Pearls.
“Book Lust” has been followed by “More Book Lust,” “Book Crush: For Kids & Teens,” and “Book Lust to Go.”
Pearl has also won numerous awards, including the Washington State Humanitarian Award. Two weeks ago last she won Library Journal’s 2011 Librarian of the Year award.
