Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Jack LaLanne dies at 96

Jack LaLanne, founder of the modern physical fitness movement, died on January 23, 2011 at age 96. The son of French immigrants, he was born in San Francisco on Sept. 26, 1914.

Obituary by Richard Goldstein published in the New York Times

Books by Jack LaLanne in the library

Two New Papers

Hamden Public Library is receiving two new papers:

Investor's Business Daily and

Federal Jobs Digest

You can find the Investor's Business Daily with our other daily papers, across from the computers, next to the magazines. The Federal Jobs Digest is available at the Information Desk. If you are trying to locate an article in an older newspaper, check out our newspaper databases.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Films On DVD To Watch Before The Oscars

The 83rd annual Oscar nominations will be announced on Tues. Jan 25Th. Here are some 2010 films that are sure to be in the running and available for free here at your library.

Inception
Despicable Me
Exit through the Gift Shop
How To Train Your Dragon
I Am Love
Restrepo
Social Network
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Kids Are Alright
The Secret In Their Eyes
The Town
Toy Story 3
Winter's Bone


What was your favorite film this year?

Thursday, January 20, 2011

50 Years Ago - John F. Kennedy's Inauguration Speech

John F. Kennedy's Inauguration Speech, delivered on January 20, 1961, is widely considered one of the best speeches in American history. View the speech and a transcript through our database AMERICAN HISTORY IN VIDEO. Outside the library, you need your Hamden Public Library card to access.

Another useful database for research on John F. Kennedy is BIOGRAPHY IN CONTEXT. Access this database and others on our library's website under databases. A search for John F. Kennedy in Biography in Context yields (all in full text) 32 reference articles, 713 news articles, 492 magazine articles, 115 academic journal articles, 4 primary sources, and a couple of select websites.

On January 13, 2011, the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston has made available to the public their digitized archive of papers, photographs, speeches, letters, and recordings from his time in the White House. With more than 200,000 pages, 1,500 photos, 300 reels of audio tapes, it is the nation's largest digitized presidential archive.

Celebrate International Creativity Month

January is International Creativity Month: "A month to remind individuals and organizations around the globe to capitalize on the power of creativity. Unleashing creativity and innovation is vital for personal and business success in this age of accelerating change. The first month of the year provides an opportunity to take a fresh approach to problem solving and renew confidence in creative capabilities." (from: Chase's Calendar of Events 2011) Check out our book display for inspiration! Books with subject heading "creative ability".

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Women Artists at the New Britain Museum

There is a new exhibit at the New Britain Museum of Art, featuring Women Artists. 80 works chosen from over 600 will be on display through March 20, 2011. If you are a Hamden resident with a valid Hamden library card, you can borrow a free museum pass to the New Britain Museum of Art which admits four people free.

Among the influential artists featured are Sarah Miriam Peale, Mary Cassatt, Georgia O'Keeffe, Dorothea Lange, Louise Nevelson, Lee Krasner, and Helen Frankenthaler. Among the contemporary artists are Nina Bentley, Ellen Carey, Lisa Hoke, and Lalla Essaydi.


Thursday, January 6, 2011

Designing with Books

Books as design objects are in demand by interior designers, high-end builders, hotel developers and architects. Multimillion dollar homes have to come with libraries: spaces with built-in shelves and lots of books. And there are people who specialize in furnishing these libraries with books: 2,000 books wrapped in white or in cream colored leather? 4,000 books wrapped in black? No problem! Will they be read? That is another question!

Selling a book by its cover, an article by Penelope Green, published in today's New York Times, Jan. 6, 2011. Books as a way to grace a room (slideshow)

Monday, January 3, 2011