Changes In Mid-Stream

I was going to talk today about April being Poetry Month, but right in mid-stream I changed my mind. Just stepped out of that puddle and turned around.
We're getting ready to put up the new displays for April and one of them is titled "Armchair Travel." This is one of those years when I'll be doing armchair travel. Right now it's just easier to stay closer to home.
When I pulled books for the travel display, I was amazed at what I found (not that they were lost, but they are impressive books!).
There's a whole series by Reader's Digest called "Explore America." The two that caught my eye were "America by the Sea" and "Back Roads & Hidden Corners." The colorful pictures in these books are absolutely gorgeous. I sat and browsed through the sea one yesterday, and today I'm looking at the back roads one, which takes me through Vermont, West Virginia, Louisiana, and Oregon, to name just a few places. These books are on the 917.3 shelf if you want to take a peek.
Then I found a very large book by Carl Lowe titled
"Journeys by Rail." You get to see not only the places these trains travel, but you also see what the inside of the trains look like. The journeys take you through North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Again, the pictures are outstanding.
Another really large book (check these books out more than once and you can travel for a whole month!) by National Geographic is "Journeys of a Lifetime." It shows 500 of the world's greatest trips. The book is an inch-thick, and you'll find it so interesting you won't want to put it down.
I did find three smaller books (ones lighter to carry in your book bag) that are of great interest to us travelers.
"Florida Historic Homes" by Laura Stewart and Susanne Hupp is guide to more than 65 notable dwellings open to the public. The pictures are all delightful pen-and-ink illustrations by Patrick Reed. The Alfred B. Maclay State Gardens in Tallahassee is one home listed. It's close enough for you to take a little drive to Tallahassee and see it for yourself. I've been there, and there are always flowers blooming in those gardens. Plus, you'll get to see inside the house.
One book you'll really enjoy is called "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. Even if you never travel the Appalachian Trail, you'll enjoy this hilarious book as you walk along with Bill and see what he encounters on his hike. It'll put some fun in your reading.
But for those of you who are more serious about your traveling, there's Bill Moyers' "Listening to America," a panoramic documentary that is the result of what he saw and learned in a 13,000-mile swing across the country he took. The book is a vivid chorus of the voices he heard while traveling and the places he became aware of as "A Traveler Rediscovers His Country."
I'll have to write about poetry next time, I guess. Today the travel bug bit me.
Be sure you check out the new April displays. There's something for everyone.

Thank You, Dear Reader

I have to tell you I got a real thrill this morning.
Our webmaster received an email today from a man who had read one of the Bookworm's blogs way back in September 2008. The blog was about Bibles as family treasures, and specifically mentioned a large family Bible our Odom Genealogical Library had received. Names written in the Bible on record pages were people from the Moultrie area.
I remembered writing about Bibles being treasure-keepers of family history. With this particular Bible I wondered if it had been the dearest possession someone took with them to a nursing home. Or if it had been on someone's buffet in the dining room. Who was the last person to touch it? Where was the family it should have gone to? I had so many questions.
I listed the names I found recorded in that Bible, hoping someone out there would recognize the names. And he did. So, he wrote asking about the Bible.
For me, it wasn't so much the name he asked about as it was the date of the blog he read. He was researching his family name, put it in Google, and up came that blog date and the name, which was a tag or label. That blog was written over a year ago!
I have to say, I was so pleased I listed those names and he found one he was looking for.
And I have to say, I'm so glad people are reading the blog. Thank you, dear reader. Makes this job even more fun!

Enjoy The Small Pleasures

Yesterday on Yahoo! I spied an interesting topic called "101 Small Pleasures You Can Enjoy Every Day." So I took a peek. Sure enough there were 101 small pleasures that people thought were worth more than money could buy, small pleasures said to relate to happy people.
I looked to see how many I thought could be related to our library and was surprised when I found more than I could list right here. But here are a few:
The perfect cup of coffee - Now, I have to admit our Johnnie makes a pretty good cup of coffee. And occasionally some of us bring flavored coffee to brew. Monique calls that kind her aromatherapy. Yep, that's a good one!
A genuine compliment (giving or receiving) - Since January 1st we've been following the guidelines of Random Acts of Kindness, so many of us have been on the giving or receiving end of compliments. They just seem to make a good day even better. We also pass along compliments to our patrons.
Laughing - We try to keep things fairly quiet around here where people are working and studying. But occasionally we do a fair amount of laughing when our funny bones get bumped. That kind of laughter keeps us cheerful. And you don't want to see grumpy library help. Do you?
Helping someone in need - Again, our list of Random Acts of Kindness shows we have some very kind employees working here. One occasionally buys breakfast for a needy patron. That makes her a really special employee.
Funny things that kids day - The best person in our library to tell you stories of funny things that kids say is Miss Norma, our Children's Librarian. She hears them all!
A novel you can get lost in; happy endings, even if they're fictional; great stories; reading to your child a bedtime story - All of these were mentioned. I thought people might be talking about the paper kind of books. Then again, you could find the first three online. But I think I'd rather read to my child with a wonderful, large, colorful, paper book sitting between us that we could touch.
Old friends, new friends - The first people I thought of are our Friends of MCCLS. Many of them are old friends that got together and formed the Friends organization. That made them new friends for the library. They're just what we need!
Old photographs - Some of the people who visit the Odom Genealogical Library are absolutely amazed when they find old family photos online through Ancestry.com or one of the other family search-finders. Some even cry when they see the pictures.
Inspiring blogs - I'd like to think that this blog is inspiring occasionally to those who read it. Mostly, we try to keep you informed of exciting news about our library. But we hope we've been inspiring once in a while.
So, did you find any of your small pleasures here? If not, you could take a few minutes and come up with your own list. See how many small pleasures you could turn into a happy habit. We hope you'll put visiting our library on your list.
You're on ours!

We Have New Additions In Genealogy

This morning's visit to our genealogist, Irene, really paid off. She's been working her fingers to the bone registering, logging, labeling, and reading all the new materials and books that have recently come to the Odom Genealogical Library.
Especially noteworthy is the new microfilm on the Worth County, Georgia newspapers. There are twelve boxes of microfilm dated October 1895 to May 1931. The newspapers are the Worth County Local, which was later changed to the Sylvester Local. And they're ready for you to look at and enjoy.
Not only the newspapers, but specially ordered books have arrived. See if any of these received in March might encourage you to visit the Odom Library:
***11th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry
***15th South Carolina Infantry
***3rd South Carolina Infantry Battalion
***Order of First Families of North Carolina Registry of Ancestors Vol. 2
***Colonial Families of Surry and Isle of Wright County, Virginia, Vol. 9
***Abstracts of Pasquotank County, North Carolina Deeds 1750-1770
***Wayne County, Tennessee, History & Families, Vol. I & II
***Family Maps of Henry, Barbour, Dale, Coffee, Cherokee, DeKalb, Jackson County, Alabama; Family Maps of Citrus, Holmes, Jackson, Santa Rosa, Suwanee, Washington County, Florida.
What with all the reunions coming up pretty soon, now would be a good time to visit the Odom Library and make sure your genealogy papers are in order. You know how it is with reunions. People are always asking questions about relatives and you need to be prepared.
If you have any questions about the new materials, just call 229-985-6540 and ask for Irene. Or you can visit our website and contact the webmaster. You'll see the link on the home page.

There's Lots Of Work To Be Done

This is one of those days when I didn't want to come in to work this morning. Not that I don't have anything to do. But the sun was on its way to shining, and I just knew when I came out at lunch time, it was going to be warm and spring-timey.
And sure enough, it was.
I should have stayed home, I thought. I could be reading, right now, on my front porch with my Alexander McCall Smith book about The Ladies' No. 1 Detective Agency. I could be sipping my iced tea and reading in the warm sunshine, the kind that after a while makes you want to take a lazy nap.
But I'm here at work.
Really, that's a good thing, because I'm compiling the contact list for our authors' event that will be held in May. This will be our third annual authors' event. This year it will be called "Books & Bites," and we're planning to invite around 80 authors.
Now, that doesn't mean they are all going to show up, but we're going to invite them. They cover just about every genre that you'd want: Christian fiction, memoir, poetry, local history, children, Bible studies, fiction, and political. The writings are about revenge, serving our country, what Moultrie was like long ago, falling in love, local killings, baseball, rivers and railroads and plantations. The authors come from Moultrie, Tifton, Albany, Valdosta, Thomasville, Bainbridge, Tallahassee, and all points in between.
So, there's lots of work to be done, and we're getting close to sending out our invitations.
May is just around the corner, and we're getting excited about seeing new faces and old faces...well, maybe not old, but faces we saw last year anyhow. We'll keep you posted so you can begin getting excited about our upcoming event.
It's bound to be as spectacular as last year's...maybe even more so.

We're Big Readers Around Here

I just heard last night on the news that more girl students are interested in math now, and they've caught up with the boys in their achievement.
But when it comes to reading...well, the boys are far below the girls in achievement. The news said the boys want to read only what they're interested in, whereas the girls read most everything.
I thought I'd check that out here at the library and ask the staff what they're reading. Granted, they're all females, but just look at the wide range of authors they read.
***Johnnie reads books by Christian fiction writer Charles Martin (he's a nice looking fella) and thrillers by Steve Martini.
***Monique likes books by Nicholas Sparks, who now has several of his books made into movies, the latest one with Mylie Cyrus.
***Cray reads books by Christian fiction authors like Karen Kingsbury and Tracy Peterson, comtemporary historical author Robin Hatcher, and the famous Danielle Steele and Fern Michaels.
***Norma loves children's books by Mo Willems and Margie Palatini, science fiction by Michael Crichton, and Southern fiction by Fannie Flagg.
***Elois is big on books by media personality Glenn Beck, investor Warren Buffett, and inspirational author Joyce Meyer.
***Ann loves Augusta Trobaugh (a Georgia author with humor), James Patterson, Eugenia Price, and John Grisham.
***Melody reads Nevada Barr, Gail Fraser (we love the Lumby series), and Spencer Quinn (who is writing mysteries from a dog's point of view).
***Michelle is reading inspirational books by Charles Stanley, Khalil Gibran, and Rick Warren.
And me...well, my favorite authors are Augusta Trobaugh, Alexander McCall Smith, Gail Fraser, Fannie Flagg, and all the Southern authors I can find. Plus most anyone that writes a little cozy mystery!
I think my next survey will be when I sit at the local coffee shop. I think I'm going to ask every fellow I see who their favorite authors are. Wonder what kind of response I'll get. Interesting, huh? I'll let you know.

It's Time For The World To Wear Green

Didn't you just know I'd write about green today? I mean, every blog on the Internet will talk about St. Patrick's Day and leprechauns and green.
All I'm going to say about it is the Irish have celebrated this religious holiday for over a thousand years. They love their traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage. This day, the day of "the wearing of the green," is a lot like Cinco de Mayo, Columbus Day, Mardi Gras, and Easter. It's a day of many personal celebrations.
The best thing I've seen so far...all of us who work here at the library are wearing something green, like t-shirts, beads, pins, earrings. I had fun distributing packs of gum in green wrappers with a little sign taped to it that said, "Have a luck of the Irish day!" And of course, when you walk through the entire library, you'll see all the green displays.
When I opened my window blinds at home this morning, I saw the grass outside my house had even turned green. Now do you think that was all because of St. Patricks' Day?
This Saturday is supposed to be the first day of Spring (and I use a capital for that word because Spring is very important to me). Many of us have been waiting patiently for Spring to arrive and I must say the trees and flowers, and now the grass, say it's coming. It's very close. It's almost here.
Today, St. Patrick's Day, is just another way of encouraging the greening of the Earth. That color has to be the favorite color of the entire world.
Come visit us today and look for the green we have here in the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library.
And by the way, be sure to wear your green today.