New Year's Weekend hours

The Library is open from 9-5 Saturday. We will be closed Sunday and Monday. Happy New Year to you all!

What We Are Reading Now

American Skin by Ken Bruen "an overlooked author, quite Irish, quite noir"
Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
Just Listen by Sarah Dressen
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory "Jane Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and Anne of Cleves have their stories told by the incomparable Philippa Gregory"
The Uses of Enchantment by Heidi Julavits "The best writing I have read in a long time, this book has everything; abduction, amnesia and witchcraft"
The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr

Holiday Hours

The Library will be closed Sunday, December 24 and Monday, December 25.

Librarians' Favorites of 2006

Make sure to check the Library's wiki- The Rabid Reader for a list of your Librarians' favorite books, audiobooks, and DVDs of 2006.

The Final Harry Potter Book has a Title

The title of the last book in the Harry Potter series has been released by J.K. Rowling. It will be called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The author has said two characters will die in this book. There is no publication date for the novel yet. You won't get your next Harry Potter fix until this July when the movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is released.

Best of the Web

U.S. News has chosen 30 web sites to represent the best of the web and organized them into the following catagories; Shopping, Photo & Video sharing, Travel, Entertainment, and Health. Take a look, you may find something useful.

Looking for unique Dover gifts?

Finish your Christmas shopping at the Library. We offer an assortment of gifts unique to Dover.

Dover Public Library Bookback. The latest design of our popular bookbags has a zippered pocket inside, handy for keys and library cards, as well as a pocket on the front of the bag. $15.00

Birds Eye View of Dover 1888, a poster sized map from the Friends of the Library.$5.00

Notepaper featuring five historic scenes of Dover. $4.00

The Port of Dover: Two Centuries of Shipping on the Cochecho by Robert Whitehouse and Cathleen Beaudoin. $25.00

Factory on Fire! Cocheco Mill Blaze of 1907 Revealed DVD. $20.00

The Great Blaze: A Look Back at Dover's Deadly Mill Fire DVD. 12.95

2007 Dover Desk Calendar featuring historic Central Avenue photographs. $10.00

Come on in and see what else we have to offer!

Eragon in Theaters Dec. 15th!

I am very excited to see the movie Eragon based on the book of the same name by Christopher Paolini. I loved the book (epic fantasy including dragons), but I also love the author's story. He grew up in Montana and was home-schooled by his parents. One of his favorite pastimes was reading, and he spent much of his time at the local public library (I did not make that up!). At the ripe old age of 15 he started writing what would become Eragon. In 2002 his family decided to self-publish Eragon, and visited 135 public libraries, schools, & bookstores to do promotion. Did I mention that he attended these events in medieval costume? In the summer of 2002 Carl Hiaasen, whose step-son had read the book, brought the book to the attention of publisher Alfred A. Knopf. Knopf published Eragon and book two in the Inheritance Trilogy, Eldest. These books have been New York Times #1 bestsellers, New Hampshire 7th & 8th graders gave Eragon the Isinglass Award in 2005, and Eldest won a Quill Award. So by all means see the movie, but don't forget to also read the books.

Are libraries at the bottom of the food chain?

An article entitled "Book donations made easier" appeared in our local paper recently. Three Rockingham County towns have signed on with a bookseller called Got Books. The company, a for-profit business based in Massachusetts, places containers for donated books near landfills or recycling centers. Their trucks collect the contents weekly. A used book sale is then held every Friday and Saturday at their warehouse in North Reading. 50% of each weekend's sale profits go to a variety of non-profit organizations in the area. I congratulate the Got Books people for an innovative, and apparently successful, business endeavor.

What bothered me in the article was the sentence that said, "Books not sold in the book sales are given away to schools and libraries ..." So in Step 1, the book was so used, so outdated, or so unwanted that the original owner dropped it in the Got Books bin to get rid of it. In Step 2, the book was not even interesting enough to sell for a discount at a warehouse sale! So, its next evolution is to offer it to schools and libraries? Since when did we become the book home of last resort? Why would anyone think that we would want third-hand leftovers? Why would anyone assume that a library would be happy to accept scraps? Our customers want new titles, the hot DVDs, current music, and the latest bestsellers on audio and tape.

Here in Dover, we encourage you to donate your used books directly to the library. Yes, we do get plenty of clunkers (like the four boxes of '80s management textbooks that came on Monday) that go directly to our next booksale or to the recycling center, but on Saturday we also got a wonderful donation of the two brand new novels by Robert Parker and Michael Connelly! We have about a dozen people waiting to read these two books, so we will gratefully add them to our collection.

Twice a year we have fantastic booksales, sponsored by the Friends of the Library. By the time of the next sale in April, those two Parker and Connelly novels will probably be past their height of popularity and we can take those extra copies and put them in the sale. $4.00 for the Friends! The Friends of the Library make thousands of dollars at our sales; funds that go right back into programs and services and equipment for the library. Did you know that all of our family museum passes are purchased for us by the Friends? That service alone costs over $2000 annually.

So while I wish Got Books the best of luck in their business--- they've seen a niche and are acting on it, I still prefer the direct-to-the-library route for your book (and media) donations.

Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled volumes yearning to breathe free...! We'll keep what we need, sell the rest, and use the profits to purchase more library stuff you really want. Let's not use the middleman!

Unusually Warm Temperatures: Good Luck or Global Warming?

Join us on Sat., Dec. 2nd at 2:00 for a free screening of An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's documentary on global warming.

The vast majority of scientists agree that global warming is real, it’s already happening and that it is the result of our activities and not a natural occurrence. The evidence is overwhelming and undeniable.
A few facts to consider:
· The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years.
· Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian Andes, 7,000 feet
above sea level.
· The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade.
· At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming,
moving closer to the poles.

To read more visit www.climatecrisis.net and/or borrow the library’s copy of the book “An Inconvenient Truth: the Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It” by Al Gore.

Great children's books for Christmas giving!

On Tuesday, December 12 at 10:30am, Children's Librarian Marcia Cannon will present a program highlighting many of the best books for children this holiday season. Her reviews will give parents, grandparents, aunt, uncles and other caregivers lots of suggestions for books which will delight the child on your list. Presented as this month's "2nd Tuesday" lecture for members of the Dover Senior Center, Marcia's talk is open to the public as well.
Location: Library Lecture Hall (top floor)
Length: 1 hour
Cost: free
Benefit to your child: Priceless!

Library Hours for the Thanksgiving Weekend

Wed., Nov. 22 - 9am to 5:30pm
Thur. & Fri., Nov. 23 & 24 - Closed
Sat., Nov. 25 - 9am to 5pm
Sun., Nov. 26 - Closed

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Football Frenzy!

Yesterday, we watched the Patriots trounce Green Bay 35-0; Saturday we cheered as UNH beat Maine in overtime and made it to the Div. 1-AA football playoffs for the third year in a row; Saturday night, as we sat at the Whitt watching UNH hockey beat UMass Lowell 4-0, they kept flashing the score of the Ohio State/Michigan game on the big screen. We also had been pulling for Rutgers but they lost, and we were secretly happy when Dallas beat Indianapolis even though we've always professed no love for either the Cowboys or Bill Parcells.

If you're glued to the TV during football season, you may as well read a book during the commercials, timeouts, or interminable coaches' challenges. There are several great new football titles just out including: Charlie Weis's "No Excuses: one man's incredible rise through the NFL to head coach of Notre Dame"; Tom Callahan's "Johnny U: the life and times of John Unitas"; "Moving the Chains: Tom Brady and the pursuit of everything" by Charles P. Pierce; and Michael Lewis's "The Blind Side: evolution of a game" about football's invaluable left tackle position. Get a gridiron book before you settle down in your armchair after that turkey dinner!!

Free Screening of Monster House

Join us at the Dover Public Library this Saturday, Nov. 18th at 2:00pm to watch the animated movie Monster House. Monster House is about three teens who discover that their neighbor's house is really a living, breathing, scary monster but no adults will believe them. When they disturb the house creepy events start to take place and they must save the neighborhood in this animated adventure.
To see a full listing of movies at the library click here.

As always our movies are free and open to the public.

BYOP! (popcorn)

Lots of FREE Books

Booksale leftovers are free all this week! There is still a good selection of used and/or practically new books free for the taking, on our upper floor outside the Lecture Hall.

Have You Read These Movies?

Some terrific books are coming to the silver screen. You can enhance your cinematic experience by reading the book first.

Fast Food Nation is based on the book of the same name by Eric Schlosser. It is one of the most fascinating and schocking non-fiction books I have read in a long time.
Fur: An Imaginary Year starring Nicole Kidman is based on the biography Diane Arbus by Patricia Bosworth.
A Good Year starring Russell Crowe is based on the novel of the same name by Peter Mayle.
Little Children starring Jennifer Connelly and Kate Winslet is based on the novel of the same name by Tom Perrotta.
Running With Scissors starring Annette Bening and Alex Baldwin is based on the book of the same name by Augusten Burroughs.
Infamous starring Toby Jones and Sandra Bullock is based on the biography of Truman Capote by George Plimpton. Critics say this is an even better portrayal of Truman Capote than seen in the film Capote.
The Prestige starring Hugh Jackman is based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Priest.

Popular Book Lists

We keep refilling those bookmarks that you all love of the various lists of "read-alikes". If you liked the "Other Boleyn Girl", you will probably want to see the books on our latest list of "Henry VIII and Company" read-alikes. But don't wait to come in and pick up a bookmark, we add all of these lists online and they may be viewed right in the catalog under "Readers' Choices".

We Have Wikis!

Please take a look at our two new wikis. (A wiki is a collaborative web site that allows anyone to add to it or edit its pages.)

The Rabid Reader offers book and audiobook reviews. Take a look at what we have been reading, tell us what you are reading, have a discussion on books. You can search the wiki using the navigation box on the left side, or by putting key words in the search box. Type in dogs or England if you want to see how the search results will appear.

We Remember Dover is a wiki of Dover history that we would like to serve to collect memories of Dover citizens, like an oral history. All who live in Dover, or who’ve lived here previously, are encouraged to share what they know. Feel free to add your memories about such places as Siegel’s City, Chris’ Hot Dogs, or the Dover Children’s Home.

Adding a new page to the wiki is as easy as sending e-mail.

To add a new topic:
On the main page, click on “add a new page”
Enter a page name.
You can enter “key word tags” so someone can search by topic.
Click on “add page’ and you are done!

We invite your contributions and involvement. Our wikis can only be as good as their participants.

Don't Forget to Vote Tuesday, November 7

Vote today from 8 am to 7 pm to decide who will be your governor, congressmen, senator, and state representatives, as well as on the two constitutional amendments.

The six (6) polling places in Dover are as follows:

WARD 1 - St. Mary' Church Hall - Chestnut St.

WARD 2 - First Parish Church Hall - Central Avenue

WARD 3 - Langdon Place - Middle Road

WARD 4 - Veterans Building - Back River Rd.

WARD 5 - St. John's Methodist Church - Cataract Avenue.

WARD 6 - Riverside Rest Home - County Farm Road

If you are not sure which ward you are in, click here.

Librarians having fun on the Internet

I just wanted to share a few fun sites your Librarians have discovered for you:

Looking for a new search engine? Try this one, Ms Dewey

YouTube has been much on the news lately. This is one of my favorite videos, isn't every librarian a super librarian?

One of the Librarians found this magical library video today.

If you would like to be educated as well as entertained, take a look at a one of our favorite blogs- French Word-A-Day

Election Day is Around the Corner

Nov. 7th, 2006 is Election Day and not only will we be voting for candidates, but we will also be voting for 2 Constitutional Amendments. Are you prepared? Visit the libary's Voting Information page to find out where to vote, to see a sample ballot, and to read a Voters' Guide to the 2 amendments. See you at the polls.

Trick or Treat

If you're out "trick or treating" on Monday night, Oct. 30, stop in and show us your costume. Staff at the adult circulation desk will have treats for your goodie bags!

BOOKSALE

Helpers of all ages were setting up for the Library's big FALL BOOKSALE this week. The sale starts Saturday, October 28, at 9am for Dover Public Library cardholders only. The general public is welcome Sunday, October 29 at 1pm. There will be thousands of hardcover books, paperbacks, and AV materials for children and adults available with prices ranging from 50 cents to $2. In addition, these prices are reduced every few days. The sale continues through Sunday, November 12.

OverDrive is Not Just for Adults

By now you have probably heard that the library has access to OverDrive, a service that allows our patrons to download audio books to an MP3 player for free. But did you know this service is not just for adults? There are plenty of titles of interest to teens such as Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, Maximum Ride by James Patterson, Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot (as well as other titles by Meg), and Eragon by Chris Paolini. Listening to a book, even if you have already read the book, can be fun. A good reader can bring characters to life and make you look at the book in a new light. Give it a try; go to the library's web site and click on "Download Audio Books".

When Dover had the Flu

In 1918 Dover experienced the horrors of the Spanish Influenza epidemic. Over 2000 people were sick, a fairly significant figure when you consider the population was only 13,000. Wentworth Hospital was full to capacity. There weren't enough doctors and nurses to provide medical care, and no cure for the illness. In many households entire families lay sick in bed, untreated. Undertakers were swamped also, as deaths occurred hourly. It is a frightening glimpse at what can happen when disease overwhelms a small American town.

Friends of the Library Lecture

John Olszewski lecturing on "Imprisoned Artists", on Wed., Oct. 18 at 7:00pm, in the Dover Public Library Lecture Hall.

Take a fascinating and psychological look at the artwork of infamous convicted murderers drawn right from the news headlines. Criminal justice lecturer John Olszewski will be exhibiting art he has collected from personal interviews with murderers, and discussing the backgrounds of these individuals behind the art. Click here to see a complete listing of Friends of the Library events.

Downloading Audio Books Just Got Easier!

A new OverDrive console is available that will allow you to transfer audio books from the console directly to your MP3 player! No need to go through Window Media Player anymore. Go to the NH Downloadable Audio Books software page and click on the blue button that says OverDrive Media Console V 2.1. It will download the software right over the older version. Any books that you have on the old version will stay there. It's easy to install, and even easier to put books on your MP3 player.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night...

The pounding of the rain and the distant rumble of thunder on a dark October night got me thinking about one of the most terrifying books I have ever read. I read Richard Matheson's Hell House years ago and I can still remember the sensation of the hair lifting off the back of my neck as I read it. It was that scary. Hell House is a mansion haunted by an evil, sadistic spirit and the souls of others he tormented. Any attempts to explore Hell House have led to murder, suicide or insanity. A physicist, his wife, a psychic, and a previous survivor of Hell House are hired by a dying millionaire to investigate the mysteries of Hell House, regarded as the "Everest of haunted houses"and to determine whether there is life after death. It will frighten you with psychological suspense, not blood and gore. Are you brave enough to dare the horrors of Hell House?

The Trouble With Harry

This beautiful autumn weekend reminded me of one of Alfred Hitchcock's more charming movies. The Trouble with Harry takes place in a lovely little New England town during the height of the foliage season. This black comedy revolves around the trouble with Harry, which is that he is dead. Half the town seems to think they are responsible for his death; they take turns burying, digging up, and moving poor Harry. Shirley MacLaine makes her film debut as a pert young woman who has many rapid fire humorous exchanges with John Forsythe, Jerry Mathers, (AKA the Beaver) is her funny little boy, and Mildred Natwick and Edmund Gwen are a hoot as the elderly lovers. It's not the usual Alfred Hitchcock film, but this unusual little gem should not be missed. Make sure to place a reserve on this DVD!

Curious George is receiving a lot of attention lately!

We have a new, animated movie about a rather curious monkey showing Sat., Oct. 7, at 2:00pm in the Library Lecture Hall. If you are curious, come and see it!

The Curious George books have sold millions of copies, and yet for the war-time escape of the authors, H.A. and Margret Rey, the story of the adventurous monkey might never have been. This dramatic story is revealed in the book; The Journey that Saved Curious George: the True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey, written by Louise Borden and illustrated by Allan Drummond. This compelling biography for all ages is located in the Children’s Room.

Pick out a Curious George book and this biography and enjoy together!

Friends of the Library Annual Fall Booksale starts October 28th

The Friends of the Library Annual Fall booksale will start Saturday, October 28, at 9am for Dover Public Library cardholders only. The general public is welcome Sunday, October 29 at 1pm. There will be thousands of hardcover books, paperbacks, and AV materials for children and adults available at great prices. Sale ends November 13.

Downloadable Audiobooks Now Circulate For 7 Days

Downloadable audiobooks can be checked out for 7 days now. This means a shorter waiting period for audiobooks you want to listen to. Just be sure to transfer those books on to CDs or your MP3 player before the 7 day period is up.

Audiobooks that you already have checked out will still have a 14 day circulation period.

Also, keep in mind that you can only have 3 titles checked out at a time. If you put an audiobook on reserve, don't check out more than 2 books or you will not be able to download your reserved title when it becomes available.

What does this say about our community?

For years now, we've had to stash the annual Swimsuit Issue of Sports Illustrated behind the Circulation Desk. Not because we wanted to censor it: we would hand it over to anyone who asked to see it; but because if we left it on the shelves displayed alongside other magazines' current issues, it would somehow disappear! Year after year, we would lose the SI swimsuit issue within days of receiving it. Then we wised up and starting protecting the bathing beauties behind the desk.

This year, no one asked to see the Swimsuit Issue. Not one person. The lovely models languished unseen, between the library pamphlets and the reserve bookshelf. However, stealth still has its place in the library. This year, we began a subscription to Everyday with Rachael Ray, a new cooking magazine produced by the exuberant "please don't call me a chef"/talk show/travel show/Food Network host. Every Rachael Ray magazine has been stolen! Gone, all of them, every issue!

I'm no psychologist or demographer, but what does this say about our Dover patrons? Cooking now trumps sex? I'm stumped. What can I tell you except that Sports Illustrated is now on the magazine shelf and the newest (and only) issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray hides behind the Circulation Desk. Your comments and analysis are welcome...

Free Movies at the Library

The Library has a full slate of movies planned for this fall; to see a full listing click here. There is something for all ages from Disney movies to documentaries. Our next one is Curious George: Show Me the Monkey on Saturday, Oct. 7th at 2:00pm in the Lecture Hall.

Free and open to the public. BYOP(popcorn)!

Library Trustee Needed

The Library Board of Trustees will have a vacant seat as of November. This is a 5 year term, and the Board meets monthly, except July and August, on the first Thursday of the month at 1:00. If you have an interest in helping the library support its mission, please visit the city website to download an application.

Download Audiobooks free from home!

Picture this: it's the night before a business trip or vacation when you realize you don't have any new audiobooks to listen to. No problem; you go to the Dover Public Library web page, click on Download Audiobooks, chose three titles out of the hundreds available, and download them to your computer. You can then either burn them to a CD or transfer them to an MP3 player. Sound like Science Fiction? It isn't!

In partnership with the New Hampshire State Library, the Dover Public Library is offering this new service to cardholders. We hope you will be as excited as we are by the huge variety of interesting books to listen to like Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, The 5th Horseman by James Patterson, and David Sedaris Live at Carnegie Hall. In fact, three Librarians ran out and bought MP3 players just so we could make full use of this program. Another really cool thing about downloading audiobooks; you never have to return them and there are never late fees!

Movie Night @ the Library

Our Foreign Film Series will resume this Wednesday night, September 6th at 6pm with a showing of the South African film Tsotsi. This compelling story of desperation and hope won countless awards around the world including the 2005 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

On the edge of Johannesburg, Tsotsi's life has no meaning beyond survival but after a carjacking goes bad, and he is left to care for his victim's infant son, his life takes a sharp turn towards redemption.

This film is in Afrikaans and English with English subtitles and is rated "R" for violence and language. Tsotsi starts at 6pm in the Library Lecture Hall and admission if FREE!

Yo-ho-ho!

The Children's Room Summer Reading Program: "Treasure Reading" was a huge success this year. The kids loved the pirate theme. Our room was decorated like a pirate's lair, we had pirate crafts and displays, and our prizes were piled in a pirate's treasure chest.

This year, 513 children registered to read books and earn prizes. That is the highest number of sign-ups ever for our summer programs.

Our drop-in story hour had 409 children and parents visit over the summer, and 142 children and parents came to our summer movies. Our pirate-themed crafts were huge this year- 1,818 crafts were made! That is 700 more than last year. On a beautiful day in August we held our summer party on the front lawn, and 139 people enjoyed the weather, the party food, the raffles, and our children's entertainer, Stephen Blunt.

It is gratifying to see so many kids involved in reading over the summer- we wish them all the best for the coming school year.

Search the World's Card Catalog!

If you look at the library's Interlibrary Loan page on our website, you'll see that a new little search box has been added. It's small, but extremely powerful! This is our quick link to the tremendous resources of OCLC's WorldCat database. Enter a title, a subject or a person into the search box and WorldCat will hunt through its 1.3 billion records of items in 10,000+ libraries worldwide. Use the database to locate libraries which have the books you want to borrow, then fill out an Interlibrary Loan Request form and we'll ask the owning library to loan it to the Dover Public Library, and thence to you! By entering your zipcode, you'll get a list of the nearest libraries which have the materials and links to the libraries' online cataloging records. The world's largest card catalog...give it a try!

Teen Summer Reading Program Announces Winner

The Teen Summer Reading Program is officially over for this summer, and the lucky winner of the iPodNano is Patrick Jencso. Congratulations!

This Teen Summer Reading Program has been our most successful ever with twice as many kids participating as last year. The participants wrote 86 books reviews and read for a combined total of 925 hours. I am happy to report that reading is alive and well in Dover.

Growing pains

Sometimes, working with modern collections in an old library necessitates fitting a round peg into a square hole.
Yesterday, the 2nd hottest day of the year, we reconfigured two rooms on the main floor of the library, moving heavy furniture and several collections. Our 101-year old Carnegie building was never constructed to hold our ever-growing collections of DVDs, music CDs, and audiobooks in various formats. In 1905, the library opened with sturdy oak built-in bookshelves, only bookshelves. Who could have imagined anything else? Well, 100 years later, we had pretty much stuffed our Browse Room, the "happenin'" place for new books, with all kinds of multimedia and the storage units that hold them. Patrons could hardly move around in there without bumping into free-standing shelving units or other people!
Alternately, our bigger Reference Room was growing smaller, print-wise. So many reference sources are now accessed online that our physical collection of non-circulating books was growing smaller. Hence, the move!
We consolidated and shifted and were able to empty almost 1/4 of the reference shelves. Yesterday, the DVDs, the music CDs, and the movies on video took their new place in the front left of the Reference Room. (By the way, feel free to ask our adjacent reference librarians about any of these items: the librarians there can answer all questions about all collections, not just ones that strictly use reference books!)
Back in the now-spacious Browse Room, we moved the "New Mysteries" and "Fast Reads" sections, the "New Biographies", the audio books, and positioned a table for six in the middle.
New signage is our next project, but in the meantime, just ask!

Cocheco Mfg. Company has electric cars in 1890's.

This is a photo from our online historical Dover photograph collection. This is one of the Cocheco Mfg. Company's electric cars. The photograph was taken in 1909 by C.P. Silva, and a typed note on the back of the photograph states "The mill owners used the most efficient and up-to-date transport available. The electric cars were merely adapted wagons that suited the company's ambitions." c. 1890's.
Apparently there were "smart cars" back in the 1890's! See more of our historic photographs at http://images.dover.lib.nh.us.

The Library Parking lot will be paved Thursday

The Library parking lot will be paved Thursday, July 27. You will still be able to use the parking lot but there will be delays to get in and out.

The 1st Annual Easy Summer Reading Contest (For Grown-ups)

The Easy Summer Reading Contest runs during the month of August and IT'S EASY! First you read a book, then you write a 3 - 5 sentence review describing what was great or terrible about it and whether or not you would recommend it to your fellow readers. Each time you give us a review we will enter your name in our raffle jar for the weekly prize, a terrific gift bag from Starbucks filled with treats and of course coffee! We will draw a winner from the jar each Monday during the month of August. You may bring your reviews to the Adult Circultion Desk or e-mail them to doverpl@dover.lib.nh.us. The rules are: there are no rules. Just read, review and have fun!

The bookdrops have moved

The bookdrops have moved behind the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in the driveway. Now you can drive around the back of the statue and drop off your books without leaving your car!

Teen Summer Reading Program Tops 100

This is the 6th Teen Summer Reading Program that the library has sponsored, but the first time it has topped 100 kids entered! This might have something to do with the fact that the grand prize is an iPod Nano, but I prefer to think that is due to the hard work we have put into it. It is not too late for area teens to enter the program just stop by the library's reference desk to sign up or call 516-6082 for more details.

Dover Library Web Site Tops 1 Million Hits

Fiscal year '06 statistics are in and for the first time the Dover Public Library web site reached 1 million hits! It is exciting to know that all those hours of working on the web site have not been in vain, there are actually people looking at it--205,621 visitors to be exact.

Our Dover Historical Images web site is still in its infancy, but 50,002 visitors previewed some of the 600 photos we have available. If you have not looked at this part of our web site follow the link for "Dover History Online". Besides the usual historical photographs of churches, schools, etc. be sure to look at the Circus Collection, the fire and flood pictures, as well as the mystery photos that you may be able to help us identify.

Comments and suggestions about our web site are always welcome.

Will Harry Potter Die?

J.K. Rowling, the author of the fantastically popular Harry Potter series, says in the seventh and final book two characters will die. She has been very careful not to say who the victims will be but has she hinted. "We are dealing with pure evil. They don't target the extras do they? They go for the main characters, or I do." If you would like to read the complete transcript of the interview, visit the Leaky Cauldron and click on "Transcript of JKR Interview on Richard & Judy".

Who do you think will die?

Are We There Yet?

If you are planning a long car trip with your family make sure to stop in the Children's Room to get recommendations on great audiobooks that will keep everyone entertained.

Summer Reading Begins & Circulation Doubles!

When the Library's summer reading programs began yesterday, circulation doubled! While the average number of items checked out on Mondays in the past four weeks was around 950, staff checked out 1,974 items alone on this particular Monday, June 26. Adults checked out about 220 audios, cds, and dvds, as well as 600 books. Young adults checked out 120 items on the first day of the Teen Reading Program. In the Children's Room the most popular items were picture books with over 300 checkouts and paperbacks with more than 150 checkouts.

DPL Book Club Schedule for 2006 - 2007

We love summer but we love September too because that's when Book Club is back! All titles are available in paperback. For more information about the Book Club call Barbara Winter at 516-6050

September 10 Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
October 22 Boy's Life by Robert McCammon
November 19 The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
December No Meeting - Happy Holidays!
January 21 White Teeth by Zadie Smith
February 18 The Dive from Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer
March 18 The Music Lesson by Katherine Weber
April 15 The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty
May 20 Are Men Necessary? : When Sexes Collide by Maureen Dowd

When Lightning Strikes

I drove home from the Library through a violent thunderstorm last night. As I watched lightning bolts flash across the panorama of the sky I was reminded of two intriguing novels. The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman tells the story of a librarian who is hit by lightning. She joins a lighting bolt survivors group and falls in love with another victim. The novel details the many bizarre ways lightning can affect people; loss of the ability to see the color red, hearing clicking noises, tree shaped images burned into the skin, are just a few symptoms.

One of my favorite novels by Carolyn Haines is Touched. The story takes place in a small southern town that is shaken up by the arrival of a bold, unconventional woman and her young daughter, Duncan. When Duncan is hit by lightning she gains the ability to foretell the future. The townspeople are convinced that she has been marked by the devil. The novel is reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird in the stifling small town atmosphere and the courage required of a few remarkable characters to do stand against common opinion and do what is right.

Read these memorable books while summer thunderstorms rage overhead!

Donald Hall new Poet Laureate of the U.S.

Librarian of Congress James Billington announced today that Wilmot, New Hampshire's Donald Hall has been named as the new Poet Laureate of the United States. Hall was poet laureate of New Hampshire from 1984--1989 and has authored 15 books of poetry as well as memoirs, essays, and children's books, notably the Caldecott Medal-winning The Ox-Cart Man.

Love our email notices?

If you do, make sure you continue to receive all your notices by keeping your email address updated. Now you can update your address online when you go into the library catalog and sign in to "My Account". Go to "profile" and follow the directions. If our email system is new to you and you'd like to get in on it, you may also sign up for email on the same "profile" page by simply typing in your email address and clicking the appropriate buttons.

Internet PCs update

All the Internet stations are functioning again, although not at peak efficiency. The IT department is still doing battle with the virus that took the system down so we cannot guarantee any work you do on the computers.

An apology

Rarely have I ever felt that I have misspent city-appropriated funds designated for purchasing books for our library. But after seeing Ann Coulter on "The Today Show" last Tuesday, I want to apologize for purchasing Coulter's new book, Godless. After hearing her vile statements about the 9/11 widows ("...reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by grief-arazzis. I've never seen people [actually she called them broads] enjoying their husbands' deaths so much"), I regret having added a few City of Dover dollars to her income stream. Yes, we had requests for her new book and yes, we have all her others, but her venomous and deliberately hurtful diatribe turned my stomach. My best hope is that it was just a shocking ploy to sell books. Regardless whether you are a conservative or a liberal, and you'll find both views represented equally in our collection, a human being with any compassion would never be able to write those words. I find her statements repulsive and her comments indefensible.

Internet still unavailable

Unfortunately the problems with our Internet connection continues. While we are freeing up a couple of machines at a time, access remains unreliable. The situation will probably not be remedied until Monday or Tuesday, June 12-13.

Internet PCs Down

Due to a virus all Internet PCs will be unavailable at least through Wednesday, June 7.
We are trying to rectify the situation as quickly as we can.

Isinglass Award Winner Announced

The Isinglass Award votes have been tallied and the winner is..

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones

Runners up were:
Blood Trail by Nancy Springer
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
A Time for Dancing by Davida Hurwin

The Isinglass Award is an award voted on by seventh and eighth graders in local seacoast communities.

What is all that construction next door?

The large brick building to the right of the Library started out as a High School, become a Junior High School, then a Middle School. It is entering a new phase now. The building has been renamed the McConnell Center and it will serve as a Community Center, where various human service agencies and non-profits will be housed under one roof. Part of the building will be ready in July for occupancy by the Recreation Department and Dover Adult Learning Center. The rest of the project will be ready in the fall.

Before all this happens, the old building must be brought up to code. Plumbing and electrical lines must be replaced or updated, a sprinkler system is being added as well as two new elevators. In addition, water and sewer connections to the McConnell Center and the Library are being upgraded and repaired. Crews will also regrade and repave the driveway entrance to the parking lot, making it wider and safer.

Blueprints for the interior of the building are available for viewing in the Reference Department.

Library Budget FY2007

At Saturday's budget workshop at City Hall on May 22, the Dover City Council tentatively voted to cut the library's proposed FY'07 city appropriation by $25,000. Effects of this further reduction, on top of $17, 294 in cuts made by the City Manager, will affect library staffing and programming. Under consideration are: closing the library one morning per week (which would include elimination of one storyhour session) or the loss of part-time staffing totaling 18.5 hours weekly. The book budget would be level-funded (no increase) and all programming beyond our regular schedule of children's story hours and a basic "no frills" Summer Reading Program would cease. There would be no funds for craft supplies or craft clubs, no reading or book clubs, no school vacation week programs, no automatic holds program, no library newsletter, no film showings, and no public "courtesy" phone.

2006 Award Winning Audiobooks

Announcing the 2006 Winners of the Audies, the award presented by the Audio Publishers Association for excellence in audio publishing.

Audiobook of the Year
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Tertiary Phase by Douglas Adams
(Dover Public Library owns this)

Fiction, Abridged
Q&A by Vikas Swarup

Fiction, Unabridged
A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin
(Dover Public Library owns this)

Nonfiction, Abridged
Luckiest Man by Jonathan Eig

Nonfiction, Unabridged
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
(Dover Public Library owns this)

Biography/Memoir
Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
(Dover Public Library owns this)

Humor
The Truth (With Jokes) by Al Franken
(Dover Public Library owns this)

Click here for a complete list (PDF file)

Evening of Poetry a success!

Last night was the library's 4th annual Evening of Poetry and over 100 people were on hand to enjoy the festivities. Approximately 30 young poets shared their work. The library would like to thank our five poetry judges who spent hours reading and re-reading every poem before making their difficult decisions. The judges were Janice Alberghene, John Michael Albert, Maria Faskianos, Joseph Nadeau, and Marsha Pelletier.

Save Your Flood Damaged Books and Photographs

If your books or family photographs were soaked during the recent flooding, you may find these web sites helpful:

Saving Family Treasures

Emergency Salvage of Wet Books and Records

Emergency Salvage of Wet Photographs

Memorial Day Weekend Hours

The Library will be open Saturday, May 27 from 9 to 5. We will be closed Sunday and Monday.

New DPL Canvas Tote - $15

Just in time for that first trip to the beach the Friends of the Dover Library have a brand new book bag for sale. Reminiscent of a popular "boating bag" our large green and white canvas tote features an inside zippered compartment for valuables as well as a top zipper to keep out the elements AND an outside pocket for those all important lists of "books to read." At $15 our tote is a great bargain and benefits a great cause, your library.

An Evening of Poetry

Tuesday, May 23rd at 6:30
All students who participated in the Library’s 4th Annual Poetry Contest, for grades K-12, are invited to come and share their work at our Evening of Poetry. The general public is encouraged to come and enjoy the readings.

Poetry Contest Winners Announced

Dover Public Library’s

4th Annual Poetry Contest

The Dover Public Library would like to announce the winners of our 4th Annual Poetry Contest. Over 600 entries were received and we would like to congratulate all who entered. We would like to thank our judges: Janice Alberghene, John Michael Albert, Maria Faskianos, Joseph Nadeau, and Marsha Pelletier.

Category 1:

1^st Place: Spencer Wirth, Grade 2, Portsmouth Christian Academy

2^nd Place: Kieran Lombard, Grade 2, Horne Street School

3^rd Place: Camden Patten, Grade 1, Saint Mary Academy

Honorable Mention: Adam Slater, Grade K, Horne St. School (tie)

Ellen Blezinsky, Grade 1, Horne St. School (tie)

Category 2:

1^st Place: Erin Robert, Grade 4, Saint Mary Academy

2^nd Place: Samantha deJong, Grade 4, Woodman Park School

3^rd Place: Emily Wynne, Grade 4, North Hampton School

Honorable Mention: Annie Batchelder, Grade 3, Garrison School

Category 3:

1^st Place: Myles Chalue, Grade 6, Dover Middle School

2^nd Place: Eric Wilson, Grade 5, Saint Mary Academy

3^rd Place: David Lombardi, Grade 6, Dover Middle School

Honorable Mention: Robert Valarese, Grade 6, Dover Middle School

Category 4:

1^st Place: Jillian Niler, Grade 8, Dover Middle School

2^nd Place: Hannah Allen, Grade 8, Oyster River Middle School

3^rd Place: Jasmine Zhou, Grade 8, Dover Middle School

Honorable Mention: Marena Hoogeveen, Grade 8, Dover Middle School (tie)

Kenny Lavallee, Grade 8, Dover Middle School (tie)

Category 5:

1^st Place: Alycia Schramm, Grade 9, Portsmouth Christian Academy

2^nd Place: Timothy Cilley II, Grade 10, Saint Thomas Aquinas

3^rd Place: Julia Huggins, Grade 9, Dover High School

Honorable Mention: Sara Smith, Grade 10, Dover High School

Molly Hearn, Grade 10, Cocheco Arts & Technology Academy

Category 6:

1^st Place: Abigail Thornton, Grade 12, Portsmouth Christian Academy

2nd Place: Samantha Lee, Grade 11, Dover High School

3^rd Place: Brittany Taylor, Grade 11, Portsmouth Christian Academy

Honorable Mention: Nicole Loring, Grade 11, Dover High School

Matt LeMoyne, Grade 12, Dover High School

Da Vinci Code Readalikes

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown was the second most popular fiction book in the Library last month. This month is following the same trend with all of the Library's many copies checked out. If you have read the book, seen the movie, and still want more; pick up our If You Liked the Da Vinci Code bookmark here at the Library. Some of the recommended titles include
The Amber Room by Steve Berry, The Confessor by Daniel Silva, The Eight by Katherine Neville and An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears. You can also look under the Readers' Choices tab in the online catalog then choose New Items & Suggestions to get the complete list without visiting the Library.

The Normal Rockwell Code

A famous museum... a shocking murder... a distinguished symbologist... an alluring cryptologist... secrets written in code.
No, it's not that "other" story. Inspired by The Da Vinci Code, local attorney Alfred Thomas Catalfo created a 35 minute film parody. The trailer for the film is garnishing quite a bit of attention, it will even be featured on the ABC World News Tonight this Thursday. If you don't see it on the News tonight, you can watch it on the internet.

2006 "Pre-school Education in Dover" is now available

PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION IN DOVER is an alphabetical listing of those nursery schools and kindergartens whose directors have provided us with information about their schools. In April 1977 when the staff of the Dover Public Library's Children's Room started to create a list of area preschools, we were pleasantly surprised by the abundance of valuable information we received in response to our questionnaire. We decided not to try to condense or edit replies, but to include them, as written, in a booklet. The "Pre-school Education in Dover" booklet is updated yearly and nine copies are made available for borrowing.

The 2006 updated "Pre-school Education in Dover" booklet is now available for downloading (PDF format):

Wireless just got easier!

The Library has installed 6 new outlets in the Addition to make life easier for our laptop WiFi users. Each is conveniently located by a study carrel.

Kiwi-Limey Pie has been cancelled

The Friends of the Library presentation of Kiwi-Limey Pie: Or, a mixture of impressions on a visit to New Zealand by Sheila Bolsover has been cancelled and will not be rescheduled. The lecture was to have taken place Wednesday, May 17tth.

Factory on Fire Reading List

If you are planning on attending “Factory on Fire” with your family, you may want to look at the reading list the Children’s Room has created. You will find many intriguing books on what life was like for young girls in who worked in the mills.

The Library also has scanned many historical photographs of the Dover mills, as well as the fire that will be depicted in “Factory on Fire”. http://images.dover.lib.nh.us/mills.htm If you would like to know the history of the Dover mills, the famous strike of the mill girls, and the fire, take a look at http://www.dover.lib.nh.us/DoverHistory/cityof.htm

For those of you who don’t know, “Factory on Fire! The Cocheco Mill Blaze of 1907 Revealed” is a historic reenactment of Dover’s disastrous mill fire of January 26, 1907 and the court trial that followed. It is an event not to be missed!

Flume Award 2007 Nominees

The Flume: NH Teen Reader's Choice Award Committee has announced its 2007 Nominees. This award is for teens in grades 9 -12, and voting will take place in April of 2007.

Tithe by Holly Black
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Haunted by Meg Cabot
The Truth About Forever by Sara Dessen
Powder Monkey by Paul Dowswell
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Geography Club by Brent Hartinger
Velocity by Dean Koontz
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon
The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Rick Yancey
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

Readers' Choices

Just added to our booklists posted for your enjoyment: "tales from the harem" and "post apocalyptic fiction". Simply click on the linked title of this post which will take you to our reading suggestions in more than 15 categories.

Aeon Flux at the Library this Saturday

Saturday is going to be wet and dreary, why not come to your warm library and enjoy a free movie? Aeon Flux is being shown in the Lecture Hall at 2pm. Aeon Flux, starring Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand, takes place 400 years in the future. Earth's population has been decimated by a mysterious virus; all the survivors now live in a walled city in the middle of the jungle. Citizens keep vanishing while the tyrannical government insists all is well. Aeon Flux belongs to a group of rebels seeking to overthrow the government. When she is sent to assassinate the leader, many mysteries come to light.

Display your art at the Library

If you live in the area and would like to display your artwork, whether as a professional or amateur, please consider exhibiting at the library. We offer display space on a monthly basis, free of charge. You can choose to sell your work or just to exhibit. We ask that you reserve ahead of time, and that you hang your own collection. Currently we are in need of exhibitors for June, July, and/or August.
Contact the main desk at 516-6050.

Seacoast Jazz Society Lecture

The Seacoast Jazz Society 2006 Lecture Series continues this Tuesday night, May 9th, at the DPL. Jazz journalist Len Weinstock will trace the origins of jazz during the formative years of the late 19th and early 2oth centuries. The lecture is free and will be held in the Library Lecture Hall beginning at 7:30pm. Following the lecture there will be free refreshments and a chance to talk with the speaker and other jazz afficianados. If you love jazz, love to listen to jazz, and love to talk about jazz, the Library is the place to be this Tuesday night!

New magazines available!

The Library has started receiving several new magazines recently:

AMC Outdoors
Betty Crocker Recipe Magazine
Boston Common
Cruise Travel
Domino
Everyday with Rachel Ray
Islands
Make- Technology on your time
Mental Floss
Old House Journal’s New Old House
Portland Magazine
Readymade
Wizard Magazine

Bags & Boxes of BOOKS FOR $1

Beginning Friday morning at 9 am, the books left from the mini sale this week are only $1 a bagful or boxful. The "all-for-a-dollar" sale will continue on Saturday and Sunday. The library is open Friday until 5:30, Saturday 9-5, and Sunday 1-5.

The Opal Mehta controversy

I happened to be in the middle of reading "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life" by Harvard student Kaavya Viswanathan just when the news hit that many passages had been plagiarized from other recent novels. I hadn't read the others so the book felt fresh to me. However, it never should have been marketed as an adult novel: it's aYA book, through and through. Perfect for high school girls, but a bit cartoonish and name-dropping for my tastes. Now it sounds like Kaavya got caught up in a publishing whirlwind with Alloy Entertainment which co-holds the book's copyright and is in the business of "packaging" teen novels. I wonder just how much writing Katya did and how much was done by committee...a committee which may have pilfered similar words and ideas from other popular Young Adult novelists' works. So if you're an adult who's put this book on hold, just be aware that you may be disappointed in the fluffiness of it all. And since the book is being pulled from bookstore shelves and won't be re-issued, I wonder if libraries' copies will become collector's items or go for big bucks on eBay?

Gardening Know-It-Alls

We have so many new gardening books at the library there is no excuse for a sorry looking yard. The Best Garden Plants for New England by Thomas Mickey and Alison Beck and the New England Gardening Almanac from the Boston Globe's garden columnist Carol Stocker will help you choose plants that can survive the unpredictable New Hampshire weather. Making the Most of Shade by Larry Hodgson will show you how to have a nice garden even if your home is in a wooded area. If your yard is in need of an extreme makeover you might try Instant Gardens: high impact makeovers that look great now! Check out our Know and Grow display and find the answers to all your gardening questions. Soon your yard will be the talk of the neighborhood but in a good way.

Booksale

The Spring mini sale continues today with prices drastically reduced! Lots of books left priced from 10 cents to $1.00.

Flume: NH Teen Readers' Choice Award winner chosen

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown is the winner for the first ever Flume: NH Teen Readers' Choice Award! The Da Vinci Code received the most votes from NH teens around the state. Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper and Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time placed second and third in the vote tally.

Click here for Oscar nominated DVDs at the Library!

Have you caught up on all the Academy Award winning films yet? Many of them are available on DVD at the Library. Some of the films the Library owns are Crash, Capote, Good Night and Good Luck, King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Junebug. You can check out three DVDs for up to two weeks.

You may also want to look at the lists of Sundance Film Festival and Golden Globe nominated films.

Classic Rock albums for sale at the book sale!

We have classic rock albums, from Chuck Berry to Blondie and U2 available for sale very reasonably at our first ever Spring book sale.

We also have copies of recent books in excellent condition for sale. Prepare for your summer vacation by getting a stack of great books to read!

Dover Public Library Photograph

The Library is a 100 year old Carnegie Library.

Most popular fiction books at the Library in April were:
1 At First Sight by Elizabeth Chandler
2 Blue Smoke by Norah Roberts
3 The House by Danielle Steel
4 A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve
5 The Camel Club by David Baldacci
6 Just Rewards byBarbara Taylor Bradford
7 Chill Factor by Sandra Brown
8 No Place Like Home by Mary Higgins Clark
9 Sweetwater Creek by Anne Rivers Siddons
10 True Believer by Nicholas Sparks