World Book Day – April 23
CALENDAR
In truth,World Book Day, sponsored by UNESCO, is a movable feast, celebrated at various times by individual nations. The official April 23 date goes back to 1923 when established book Spanish booksellers. The date honors the birth of Shakespeare and the death of both Shakespeare and Cervantes, both of whom died on the same date, April 23, 1616. The day is also known as UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day.
On the virtual heels of and in the spirit of World Book we celebrate World Intellectual Property Day on April 26– a day more honored in the breach in these conflicted times. The event was established by the World Intellectual Property Organization to “raise awareness of how patents, copyright, trademarks and designs impart on daily life” and “to celebrate creativity, and the contribution made by creators and innovators to the development of societies across the globe.” (World Intellectual Property Organization statement)
April is also National Poetry Month(https://www.poets.org/national-poetry-month/national-poetry-month-faq) It’s not too late. Consider the excellent guide to Poetry Resources produced by the Library of Congress. The guide includes the Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape, the Archive of Recorded Poetry & Literature, begun in 1932 under the aegis of Allen Tate, LC Consultant in Poetry, the Center for the Book sponsored Webcasts, Conversations with African Poets and Writers, Library of Congress Poetry and Literature Webcasts, the Library of Congress Poetry Webcasts, a comprehensive listing of LC’s recent poetry webcasts, the National Book Festival, and well as webcasts and recordings of countless individual poets, e.g. thee webcast of Lucille Clifton, Robert Frost, Gwendolyn Brooks, Robert Pinsky, James Dickey, Stephen Spender, Charles Simic, Kurt Vonnegut and scores of others . Descriptions and links to these and more poetry resources of LC. A good link to explore the treasures is this: https://www.loc.gov/poetry/— or try this search strategy: https://www.loc.gov/collections/archive-of-recorded-poetry-and-literature/about-this-collection/ For last minute National Poetry Month resources check here: https://www.poets.org/national-poetry-month/home
New from LC: https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2018/04/new-poetry-podcast-series-launches/?loclr=ealocb
EVENTS – A smattering of the possibilities
Talk of the Stacks. Sponsored by Friends of Hennepin County Library.
- April 24– Alex Wagner. In her nonfiction narrative debut, Futureface: A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest, and the Secret to Belonging, Alex Wagner, anchor and correspondent for CBS News and a contributing editor at The Atlantic, takes a journey into her own ancestry and discovers the ways race and immigration constantly redefine the American experience.
- May 16 —Tracy K. Smith– U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize Winner Tracy K. Smith deftly dissects the nature of citizenship in a time when the American past and present continuously collide, as she discusses her latest collection of poems, Wade in the Water (Graywolf Press, April 2018).
April 28-10:00 AM – Minnesota Muslims Up Close. Tamim Saidiwill lead a discussion of the diversity and unity of the Muslim experience in Minnesota. Sponsored by Minnesota Independent Scholars’ Forum. Washburn Library. Free and open. 5244 Lyndale Ave South, Mpls.
May 18-20 Art-a-Whirl https://nemaa.org/art-a whirlhttps://nemaa.org/about/
Sunday, May 20, Peace and Justice Forum: Larry Johnson and Allan Bostelemann discuss the topic “Reformation or Revolution: What should be the role of the Church on Military Killing?” 12:15 Central Lutheran Church, 3rdAvenue and 12thStreet. Lunch available 11:45 – free will offering.
Through July 29 – “Allen Rupperesberg: Walker – Intellectual property 1968-2018: https://walkerart.org/calendar/2018/allen-ruppersberg-intellectual-property-19682
REPORTS & RESOURCES
Online resources from the Library of Congres
- 2018 marks the 100thanniversary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein. The Library of Congress is celebrating by making available online musical manuscripts and scrapbooks from the digital collection – 23700 items, including photos, writings, correspondence, scripts, musical sketches, scrapbooks and audio recordings. At this writing the Bernstein Collection at LC consists of an estimated 400,000 items, including manuscripts, correspondence, audio and video recordings, photos and more. The Library will celebrate the Bernstein centennial with a Spring mini-fest May 12-19. (loc.gov/concerts/bernstein100.html) More information at https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-18-038/library-launches-leonard-bernstein-centennial-celebration-with-thousands-of-bernstein-items-online/2018-04-10/
- Immerse yourself in a virtual tour of the Library. In this video, Janice McKelvey discusses the history of LC,including the era when it was located within the U.S. Capitol from 1800-1987 https://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=8268&loclr=eanw.
- If your interest is in expanding resources in music, learn about NLS Music Notes, a blog for and about those who want, need or provide the special format music of braille, audio, and large print; the showcase includes classical and popular music, new titles, interviews of and articles about blind and low vision musicians, music braille transcripters and features about current music events. https://blogs.loc.gov/nls-music-notes/
- One fascinating post is Harriet Tubman: Teaming Up to Acquire a Rare Photograph https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2018/03/harriet-tubman-teaming-up-to-acquire-a-rare-photograph/
- Learn more about the work of library conservatorswith this video: “Conservation of the Emily Howland album”https://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=8267
“Secret Service and White House win Rosemary Award for Worst in Open Government in 2017 https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/news-rosemary-award/foia/2018-03-12/secret-service-white-house-win-rosemary-award-worst-open
“Our favorite signs from the 2018 March for Science https://blog.credomobile.com/2018/04/favorite-signs-2018-march-science/
Almost 50 years Frederick Wiseman’s documentaries are now available on Kanopy – free to anyone with a library cad, a faculty or student ID. https://slate.com/culture/2018/04/frederick-wisemans-documentaries-are-now-streaming-via-kanopy.html
“Enchanting illustrations carved from old books” https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/art-carved-from-old-books
“Here are the ‘Transparency’ policy documents the EPA does not want you to see” by Yogin Kothari, Washington representative, Center for Science and Democracy, April 21, 2018. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://blog.ucsusa.org/yogin-kothari/here-are-the-transparency-policy-documents-the-epa-does-not-want-you-to-see
“Yale’s insanely popular happiness course now open to everyone’ by http://mentalfloss.com/article/540264/yales-insanely-popular-happiness-course-now-open-everyone-online, Michele Debzac, April 2018
“John Moss and the roots of the Freedom of Information Act: Worldwide implications https://unredacted.com/2018/04/17/john-moss-and-the-roots-of-the-freedom-of-information-act-worldwide-implications/
Free online library – https://www.childrenandnature.org/?search=main&s=eeRESEARCH
“Raising teens in a new country” http://www.brycs.org/documents/upload/Raising-Teens-New-Country.pdf
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/two-museum-directors-say-its-time-tell-unvarnished-history-us-180968341/ “History is not pretty and sometimes it is vastly different than what we’ve been taught: – Lonnie Bunch and Kevin Gover
Craig Silverman, http://www.niemanlab.org/2018/03/living-in-a-sea-of-false-signals-are-we-being-pushed-from-trust-but-verify-to-verify-then-trust/ March 8 2018, NiemanLab “This new initiative deploys humans to review, research, and rate U.S. news sites” NiemanLab, March 5, 2018
The rise and fall of the Hormel Girls, who sold America on SPAM https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/history-of-spam-hormel-girls
Poking Around with Mary 