The Library Will Be Closed Sunday and Monday

The library will be closed on Sunday and Monday, May 24 & 25 for the Memorial Day Holiday.

Summer Reading

Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, is almost upon us. And what is summer synonymous with? Well yes, swim suits, hot weather, and BBQs, but more importantly, summer makes you think of great reading. I sense you are puzzled. Beach reads of course! Those refreshing, thrilling, just-for-fun books that wake up your poor old brain which has been numbed by way too many articles on the economy, or Very Serious Required Reading. I am well prepared for the forthcoming weekend with a huge stack of books featuring Zombies and Agent Pendergast (Cemetery Dance), magical realism in a small southern town (Secret Keepers), true life adventures of a death defying nature writer (Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time: My Life Doing Dumb Stuff with Animals) and a fast paced supernatural thriller (The Crystal Skull). Those are just a few of the action-packed, riveting, and amusing little treats I have waiting for me.

If you are not so fortunate as to have a big, delicious pile of fun filled books waiting for you, make sure to stop in the Library, pick up some bookmarks listing our favorite books, then go get your own big stack of books.

We have been busy creating bookmarks so there are some new choices for you- Africa, Tough Chicks, Gentle Reads, If You Like Kitchen Confidential Try, Prehistoric Fiction, and of course, the 2008 Librarians’ Choice. If you have teenagers, be sure to look in the newly expanded Teen Loft, where you will find book marks expressly for this age group.

"Poor Howard" Stith performs at the Library tonight!

Don't forget the Friends of the Library will be hosting "Poor Howard" Stith in the Lecture Hall of the Library, tonight, Tues., May 19 at 7:00pm. The program is called Leadbelly and the 12-String Blues--here is a description:

Both entertaining and educational, a journey through the music of Leadbelly ("Goodnight, Irene", "Midnight Special" and many more) and his contemporaries performed on 6 and 12-string guitar with commentaries on the songs and music style. This is where both jazz and rock-and-roll had their beginnings.

"Poor Howard" Stith was born in Kansas City, but settled in Dover some 25 years ago. Howard is a scholar of the pre-WW II blues styles and has performed at folk festivals and clubs around the country, as well as in Europe and Japan, and has taught a history of blues intersession course at Hampshire College in Amherst, Ma. He has also taught folk music at Windsor Mountain Camp in Hillsborough. His knowledge of blues, skill on the guitar, and his humor continue to draw new fans to this style of roots music.

More Evening of Poetry News

Visit our web site to see still photographs of the Evening of Poetry, and to access an adobe file of the winning poems. Here is the K-2 grade category winner:

Math

Difficult questions

that sometimes amuse you

a learning wonderland

with magical numerals

William Marchesi, 1st PlaceCategory

K-2, Grade 2

Eleventh and Twelth Grade Poets

The sole reader in this division offered a poet's perspective on New York City.

Ninth and Tenth Grade Poets

We had two readers in the Ninth and Tenth grade category.

Seventh and Eighth Grade Poets

Only one poet in this category wanted to read her poem.

Fifth and Sixth Grade Poets

Here are the Fifth and Sixth grade poets reading their work.

Third and Fourth Grade Poets

Enjoy the Third and Fourth grade poets reading their work.

An Evening of Poetry Video

The Library had its annual Evening of Poetry on Tuesday. Some of the talented poets consented to read their works. These are the youngest poets.

Cookbooks Only Booksale in June

In celebration of downtown Dover’s upcoming Restaurant Week, “Dover Dines ’09---Take a Bite Out of Dover”, the Friends of the Dover Public Library will sponsor a special “Cookbooks Only” booksale for one week only at the library’s main desk from Monday, June 1 through Saturday, June 6. Prices will range from $.50 to $3.00 and the selection will include hundreds of softcovers and hardcovers, local community cookbooks, exotic foreign cuisines, and everything in between.

Cookbooks are always among the most popular items at the Friends’ annual booksales and the library has recently received some wonderful cookbook donations in near-pristine condition. The Cookbook Booksale is open to all: a library card is not necessary to purchase items, but customers should come early for the best selection.

The Friends of the Library are still accepting additional cookbook donations for the sale, so if you’re cleaning out your kitchen bookshelf, please bring your old cookbooks to the library’s main desk before June 1. The sale will take place during regular library hours: Monday---Wednesday 9am to 8:30pm; Thursday---Friday 9am to 5:30pm; and Saturday 9am to 1pm. Proceeds from the sale will help the Friends of the Library continue to fund special library programs, museum passes, equipment, and furnishings.

Where the Wild Things Are- at the Cinema

Did you know they are making a live action movie out of the beloved children’s classic Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak? Some children’s books have translated beautifully to the silver screen and have been a pleasure to watch such as The Spiderwick Chronicles. I fear that Wild Things will not fare so well. Take a look at the trailer and weigh in with your opinion; enchanting or cheesy?

New Pass to Canterbury Shaker Village!

The Friends of the Library have purchased a pass to NH's Canterbury Shaker Village Museum which will open for the season on May 16.

It is one of the most intact and authentic surviving Shaker community sites, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1993. Canterbury Shaker Village is an internationally-known, non-profit museum and historic site with 25 original Shaker buildings, four reconstructed Shaker buildings and 694 acres of forests, fields, gardens and mill ponds under permanent conservation easement. Canterbury Shaker Village "is dedicated to preserving the 200-year legacy of the Canterbury Shakers and to providing a place for learning, reflection and renewal of the human spirit."

Visitors learn about the life, ideals, values and legacy of the Canterbury Shakers through tours, programs, exhibits, research and publications. Its renowned restaurant, The Shaker Table, serves traditional Shaker lunches and dinners spring, summer and fall.

This discount pass is available for borrowing and admits two people with a $5.00 service charge for adults and a $2.50 service charge for children. (Normal admission price is $17 per adult and $8 per child). For more information, visit www.shakers.org.

Other museum passes available for borrowing from the library are:
The Currier Museum of Art, Manchester
Historic New England (SPNEA houses throughout New England)
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of NH History, Concord
The Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
The Portland (ME) Museum of Art
The Children's Museum of Maine, Portland
The Children's Museum of NH, Dover
The Museum of Science, Boston
The NH Farm Museum, Milton
The Seacoast Science Center at Odiorne State Park, Rye
The SEE Science Center, Manchester
Strawbery Banke Museum, Portssmouth

Cardholders may call the library, (603) 516-6050, to reserve any of these free or discounted passes. We thank the Friends of the Library for their financial support of the entire Library Museum Pass Program!!!

Isinglass Award Winner Announced!

The Isinglass Award is a state wide award for 7 & 8 graders. Each year a list of 20 books is selected by a committee, from suggestions by teens, and kids have a year to read the books on the list to get ready to vote in May. This year's winner is Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick. I was thrilled to hear the winner because this was my favorite book on the list. Here is a description of the book:

Thirteen-year-old Steven has a totally normal life: he plays drums in the All-Star Jazz band, has a crush on the hottest girl in the school, and is constantly annoyed by his five-year-old brother, Jeffrey. But when Jeffrey is diagnosed with leukemia, Steven's world is turned upside down. He is forced to
deal with his brother's illness and his parents' attempts to keep the family in one piece. Salted with humor and peppered with devastating realities, DRUMS, GIRLS, AND DANGEROUS PIE is a heartwarming journey through a year in the life of a family in crisis.

What Your Car Says About You

Normally I am not a big fan of those magnetic ribbons of support that people plaster all over their cars but today I saw one that I really like.


What does your car say about your interests?

Poetry Winners Announced!

The Dover Public Library would like to announce the winners of our 7th Annual Poetry Contest. We would like to thank our judges: Janice Alberghene, John Michael Albert, Maria Faskianos, and Marsha Pelletier.

Category 1:
1st Place: William Marchesi, Grade 2, Woodman Park

2nd Place: Chloe Noonan, Grade 2, Portsmouth Christian Academy
3rd Place : David Brackett, Grade 2, Portsmouth Christian Academy
Honorable Mention: Chase Amarosa, Grade K, Garrison School (tie)
Kieran Whitney, Grade 2, Woodman Park (tie)

Category 2:
1st Place: Caitlin Morrison, Grade 4, Garrison Elementary
2nd Place: Melanie Gouldthorpe, Grade 3, Horne Street
3rd Place : Vaughn Harmon, Grade 4, Woodman Park
Honorable Mention: Grace Indoccio-Kerr, Grade 3, Garrison School

Category 3:
1st Place: Grayson Tuttle, Grade 6, Dover Middle School
2nd Place: Emma Teague, Grade 6, Saint Mary Academy
3rd Place: Shaiteanna Ball, Grade 6, Dover Middle School
Honorable Mention: Bryce Berchulski, Grade 6, Saint Mary Academy (tie)
Kieran Lombard, Grade 5, Dover Middle School (tie)

Category 4:
1st Place: Lilah Cherim, Grade 7, Dover Middle School
2nd Place: Rachel Sobol, Grade 8, Saint Mary Academy
3rd Place: Meghan Hill, Grade 8, Dover Middle School
Honorable Mention: Elizabeth Malia, Grade 8, Dover Middle School

Category 5:
1st Place: Danielle Auger, Grade 10, Dover High School
2nd Place: Harry Slepian, Grade 9, Oyster River High School
3rd Place: Ashley Daigle, Grade 9, Dover High School

Category 6:
1st Place: Katy Sternberger, Grade 12, Portsmouth Christian Academy
2nd Place: Sarah Fitzpatrick, Grade 12, Dover High School
3rd Place: Kyle Lanzit, Grade 12, Berwick Academy
Honorable Mention: Lizzie Kinney, Grade 11, Saint Thomas

Please Donate Your Old Cookbooks!

In celebration of downtown Dover’s upcoming Restaurant Week, “Dover Dines ’09---Take a Bite Out of Dover”, the Friends of the Dover Public Library will sponsor a special “Cookbooks Only” booksale for one week only at the library’s main desk from Monday, June 1 through Saturday, June 6. Prices will range from $.50 to $3.00 and the selection will include hundreds of softcovers and hardcovers, local community cookbooks, exotic foreign cuisines, and everything in between.

Cookbooks are always among the most popular items at the Friends’ annual booksales and the library has recently received some wonderful cookbook donations in near-pristine condition. The Cookbook Booksale is open to all: a library card is not necessary to purchase items, but customers should come early for the best selection. Proceeds from the sale will help the Friends of the Library continue to fund special library programs, museum passes, equipment, and furnishings.

PLEASE NOTE: The Friends of the Library are still accepting additional cookbook donations for the sale, so if you’re cleaning out your kitchen bookshelf, please bring your old cookbooks to the library’s main desk before June 1. THANK YOU!!!

Cover Art

This book's cover grabbed my attention, which is what all good book jackets should do. Never mind that old saying, never judge a book by its cover, we all do it, it is human nature. This particular book is aimed at teenagers and has some cool features that should attract them, including a see-through insert and a pink banner reading "Rest in Popularity". I hope the book lives up to its cool cover.

Ghost Girl by Tonya Hurley.

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

And if I should die before I awake,

I pray the popular attend my wake.

Charlotte Usher feels practically invisible at school, and then one day she really is invisible. Even worse: she's dead. And all because she choked on a gummy bear. But being dead doesn't stop Charlotte from wanting to be popular; it just makes her more creative about achieving her goal.

If you thought high school was a matter of life or death, wait till you see just how true that is. In this satirical, yet heartfelt novel, Hurley explores the invisibility we all feel at some times and the lengths we'll go to be seen.

Listen Up!

The New Hampshire State Library has ordered even more downloadable audiobooks.These are MP3 titles so you should be able to play them on an iPod or Mac as well as the usual MP3 players and PCs.

Title	Author
The Battle for the Rhine 1944	Neillands, Robin
A Brief History of Time	Hawking, Stephen W.
Windchill	Anderson, Melvin
The Anteater of Death	Webb, Betty
The Eiger Sanction	Trevanian
Firewall	Mankell, Henning
The Little Giant of Aberdeen County	Baker, Tiffany
The Onion Girl	Lint, Charles de
The Price of Silence	Wilhelm, Kate
The Secret Adversary	Christie, Agatha
Seven Kinds of Death	Wilhelm, Kate
The Stabbing in the Stables	Brett, Simon
Without Warning	Birmingham, John
The Amateur	Littell, Robert
The Copenhagen Connection	Peters, Elizabeth
Crimson City	Maverick, Liz
Crocodile on the Sandbank	Peters, Elizabeth
Death in Paradise	Parker, Robert B.
Double Play	Parker, Robert B.
In the Courts of the Crimson Kings	Stirling, S. M.
The Mummy Case	Peters, Elizabeth
The Sacred Book of the Werewolf	Pelevin, Victor
The Scarletti Curse	Feehan, Christine
A Taste of Crimson	Liu, Marjorie M.
The Women	Boyle, T. C.

"Marvelous Marionettes" Visit the Library

During school vacation week, "Dan Grady and his Marvelous Marionettes" performed their magic at the library to the delight of over 180 children, teens, caregivers, parents and grandparents. His fast paced string production, choreographed to lively music, was enjoyed by all.

The marionnettes we met, Conway Kitty, the three clowns, the leprechaun, Eanad Edarg, Fred & Ginny, the rabbit on roller skates, and Humphrey Dumpty, were all designed and crafted by Dan. Thank you, Dan, for a puppet-wonderful show!

2009 Indies Choice Book Award Winners

From the American Booksellers Association:

The new Indies Choice Book Awards reflect the spirit of independent bookstores nationwide through new categories and a broader range of winners and honor books.

The 2009 Indies Choice Book Award winners, chosen by the owners and staff at ABA member stores during more than four weeks of voting, are:
Best Indie Buzz Book (Fiction): The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (The Dial Press)

Best Conversation Starter (Nonfiction): The Wordy Shipmates, by Sarah Vowell (Riverhead)

Best Author Discovery: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski (Ecco)

Best Indie Young Adult Buzz Book (Fiction): The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman

Best New Picture Book: Bats at the Library, by Brian Lies (Houghton Mifflin)

Most Engaging Author: Sherman Alexie

"On behalf of independent booksellers across the country, we're proud to announce the first Indies Choice Book Award winners," said ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz. "Each perfectly represents the array of unique and thought-provoking titles championed by ABA members. We look forward to saluting the winning authors and illustrators at a very festive Celebration of Bookselling Luncheon at BEA."

Five Indies Choice Book Awards honor recipients were also named in each category:
Best Indie Buzz Book (Fiction) Honor Books
City of Thieves, by David Benioff (Viking)
The Given Day, by Dennis Lehane (Morrow)
Netherland, by Joseph O'Neill (Pantheon)
People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks (Viking)
Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri (Knopf)

Best Conversation Starter (Nonfiction) Honor Books
American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon, by Steven Rinella (Spiegel & Grau)
The Forever War, by Dexter Filkins (Knopf)
Hurry Down Sunshine: A Memoir, by Michael Greenberg (Other Press)
A Voyage Long and Strange: On the Trail of Vikings, Conquistadors, Lost Colonists, and
Other Adventurers in Early America, by Tony Horwitz (Holt)
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, by Haruki Murakami (Knopf)

Best Author Discovery (Debut) Honor Books
Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith (Grand Central)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)
Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan (Algonquin)
The Story of Forgetting, by Stefan Merrill Block (Random House)
White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga (Free Press)

Best Indie Young Adult Buzz Honor Book (Fiction)
Graceling, by Kristin Cashore (HMH)
Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow (Tor)
My Most Excellent Year, by Steve Kluger (Dial)
Savvy, by Ingrid Law (Dial)

Best New Picture Book Honor Books
Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken, by Kate DiCamillo; illustrated by Harry Bliss
(HarperCollins)
Monkey and Me, by Emily Gravett (Simon & Schuster)
The Pout Pout Fish, by Deborah Diesen; illustrated by Dan Hanna (FSG)
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, by Mem Fox; illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
(Harcourt)
Wave, by Suzi Lee (Chronicle)

Most Engaging Author Honor Recipients
Michael Chabon
Ann Patchett
Jon Scieszka
David Sedaris
Terry Tempest Williams

Winners and honor books are all titles appearing on the 2008 Indie Next Lists, which launched last July, and on the Book Sense Picks Lists from the first half of the year. Most Engaging Author honorees are being recognized for being engaging at in-store appearances, as well as for having a strong sense of the importance of independent booksellers to their communities at large.

Most Challenged Books of 2008

From the American Library Association:

For a third consecutive year, Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell's award-winning "And Tango Makes Three," a children's book about two male penguins caring for an orphaned egg, tops the American Library Association's (ALA) Top Ten list of the Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2008.

Four books are new to the list: "Bless Me, Ultima," by Rudolfo Anaya; "Uncle Bobby's Wedding," by Sarah S. Brannen; "The Kite Runner," by Khaled Hosseini; and "Flashcards of My Life," by Charise Mericle Harper.

Alvin Schwartz's "Scary Stories" series returns after being dropped from the list in 2007.
"Books, magazines, and other reading materials should reflect the diverse views and the rich multicultural tapestry of our Nation," said Deborah Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom. "While not every book is right for each reader, every reader has the right to choose reading materials for themselves and their families and should be able to find those materials in libraries, classrooms, and bookstores. Our goal is to protect one of our most precious fundamental rights - our freedom to read."

For nearly 20 years, the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) has collected reports on book challenges. A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school, requesting that materials be removed or restricted because of content or appropriateness. In 2008, OIF received 513 reports on efforts to remove or restrict materials from school curricula and library bookshelves.

Though OIF receives reports of challenges in public libraries, schools, and school libraries from a variety of sources, a majority of challenges go unreported. OIF estimates that its statistics reflect only 20-25% of the challenges that actually occur.

The ALA's Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2008 reflect a range of themes, and consist of the following titles:
1. "And Tango Makes Three," by Justin Richardson/Peter ParnellReasons: Anti-Ethnic, Anti-Family, Homosexuality, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group
2. "His Dark Materials Trilogy" (Series), Philip PullmanReasons: Political Viewpoint, Religious Viewpoint, Violence
3. "TTYL"; "TTFN"; "L8R, G8R" (Series), Lauren MyracleReasons: Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group
4. "Scary Stories" (Series), Alvin SchwartzReasons: Occult/Satanism, Religious Viewpoint, Violence
5. "Bless Me, Ultima," by Rudolfo AnayaReasons: Occult/Satanism, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Sexually Explicit, Violence
6. "The Perks of Being A Wallflower," by Stephen ChboskyReasons: Drugs, Homosexuality, Nudity, Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Suicide, Unsuited to Age Group
7. "Gossip Girl" (Series), by Cecily von ZiegesarReasons: Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group
8. "Uncle Bobby's Wedding," by Sarah S. BrannenReasons: Homosexuality, Unsuited to Age Group
9. "The Kite Runner," by Khaled HosseiniReasons: Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group
10. "Flashcards of My Life," by Charise Mericle Harper Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group

Curled Up With a Few Good Books

In 2007 the National Endowment for the Arts released their findings of a study they conducted called To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence. The results had some pretty depressing statistics concerning teens. Here is a small sampling of their findings:

Americans are reading less - teens and young adults read less often and for shorter amounts of time compared with other age groups and with Americans of previous years.
Less than one-third of 13-year-olds are daily readers, a 14 percent decline from 20 years earlier. Among 17-year-olds, the percentage of non-readers doubled over a 20-year period, from nine percent in 1984 to 19 percent in 2004.1
On average, Americans ages 15 to 24 spend almost two hours a day watching TV, and only seven minutes of their daily leisure time on reading.

See what I mean--pretty depressing. That's why, when I came across the young girl pictured to your left with a large stack of books to keep her busy during school vacation, I just had to take a picture. I wish that I saw more of this, but I will take what I can get!

Pulitzer Prize in Literature Announced

The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced this afternoon at 3:00. Here is the list in literature (how many have you read?):

Fiction - Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (Random House)
Drama - Ruined by Lynn Nottage
History - The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed (W.W. Norton & Company)
Biography - American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham (Random House)
Poetry - The Shadow of Sirius by W.S. Merwin (Copper Canyon Press)
General Nonfiction - Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon (Doubleday)

Silver Donated to the Library

Barbara and Henry Wing were antiquing recently when they came across this old silver spoon with the Dover Public Library etched into the bowl. They kindly purchased it and donated it to the Library. None of the Librarians has heard anything about commemorative spoons being made of the Library. We are intrigued with this treasure. Does anyone else have a Library spoon?

Contest Winners Announced!

Our first Peeps Show Contest was very successful. We were pleased to receive 81 entries; many more than we dreamed of getting! We were astonished by the creativity and ability of the Peeps artists. It was extremely difficult to pick a winner for each division.

Winner of the Adult Division is Michele Albion with Peeps Fair.
Winner of the Teen Division is Jackie Mazzone with The Other Boleyn Peep.


Winner of the Kids Division is Mayson Smith with Sponge Bob's Easter Egg Hunt.

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all the artists who participated. We hope to see you again next year!

Peeps Show Contest Honorable Mentions

We had 69 entries in the Kids Division of the Peeps Show Contest.They were so impressive that just one winner was not sufficient. We felt that we needed to award Honorable Mentions to some outstanding Peeps dioramas. They are as follows:

Miracle on Ice by Garrett Swan.









Goodnight Moon by Zoe Albion.









Power to the Peeple by Mary Provencal-Fogarty.









King Arthur by Chloe Knierim.









Tennis Peeps by Noah Albion.

The President & the Queen Visiting the Library!

President Obama, the Queen, Lincoln, Uncle Sam, and other notable figures, are currently perched atop our magazine shelves in the addition of the library. This is part of the Dover High School art show currently on display at the library. The show includes drawings, paintings, sculpture, photography, jewelry and pottery. There are some amazing works to be seen, and you have until April 30th to come and take a look.

7th Annual Poetry Contest Deadline Fast Approaching

The deadline for the 7th Annual Poetry Contest is this coming Monday, April 13th--so get those poems in before it's too late! The contest is for kids in grades k-12. Visit our website at http://www.dover.lib.nh.us/ for more information. Here is last year's winner in the 3rd and 4th grade category.

Autumn Tree

A bold, beautiful eagle
finds a place to rest on a bare tree branch.
The orange evening sky surrounds her mossy trunk.
She only can dream of the warm days of summer.
No longer can she feel the sun beating down on her.
All she can feel is her branches
Swaying in the freezing wind.
Her colorful leaves are yet to be blown away.

Where Are the Teen Peeps?

We are starting to get some wonderful entries in the Adult Division of the Peeps Show contest but we are desperate for some Teen entries. So far only one Teen has an entry. I know you teens are really creative, I have seen the art display from the High School, so let's see what happens when you set your creativity loose upon the peeps! You still have two days to enter.

The Night Villa

The Night Villa by Carol Goodman
Classics professor Sophie Chase is drawn against her better judgment to the isle of Capri to participate in the excavation of the Night Villa, which was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius. She hopes to find a journal written by the young slave girl she wrote her thesis on who was embroiled in a fight for her freedom in the Roman Courts.

The sultry atmosphere of Capri was so beautiful described I felt I had escaped from New Hampshire’s harsh spring weather. I couldn’t wait to get back to the book to find out what new twist had developed amongst the devious crew of characters; the software millionaire, the brilliant, beautiful yet insecure student, the worldly professor who is Sophie’s former lover, and the ex-husband who had disappeared into the mysterious Pythagoras Cult. All this and secret pagan rites too. You will find this literary thriller difficult to put down.

We Need Some Adult Peeps!

You still have time to enter The Peeps Show Contest. The Kids division (through age 12) is getting good participation, but the Teen division (ages 13-17) and Adult division (age 18 and up) is extremely sparse. You could win a $25 gift Target card simply by creating a peeps diorama in a shoe box! How easy it that? You have through April 10th to get your entries in.

Keep on Truckin'

I just read in the New York Times that R. Crumb is coming out with a comic-strip retelling of the Book of Genesis. Whoa--this is the Keep on Truckin' guy! Should be interesting and strange. It is not coming out until October so I'm sorry to get you all excited months in advance.

"In the footsteps of the master… "
A voyage back 400 years to discover Galileo’s 1st recorded telescopic observations in 1609

A Lecture and Slide Show by
John S. Gianforte of the Blue Sky Observatory at UNH
in hononr of the International Year of Astronomy


Tuesday, April 14
7pm
Library Lecture Hall

Libraries to Start Lending Money

"In its latest bid to kick-start the nation’s ailing economy, the government has announced that public libraries will extend their current range of services to include the lending of money. From today, customers borrowing books will also be able to take out financial loans for a period of three weeks, though it may be possible to renew the terms of these agreements provided no other customer is waiting to borrow the cash."

Want to know more? Read this fantastic article by Newsbiscuit or else you may be "fixed with a chastening stare by the beady-eyed old lady on the checkout desk."

Oh, yes, happy April 1st.

Ladbybug Picture Book Award Nominees for 2009

The Ladybug Picture Book Award is designed to promote early literacy and honor the best in recent children's picture books. A committee of children's librarians from around New Hampshire selects 10 picture book titles early in the year. Then, during Children's Book Week in November, New Hampshire children from preschoolers to those in third grade vote to select the award winner. The award is a project of the Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library.

Nominees for 2009 are:

A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker

Bedtime at the Swamp by Kristyn Crow (on order)

Tadpole Rex by Kurt Cyrus

Big Chickens Fly the Coop by Leslie Helakosk
Bats at the Beach by Brian Lies

Bear's Picture by Daniel Pinkwater
Those Darn Squirrels by Adam Rubin (on order)

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle

Too Many Toys by David Shannon
Waking Beauty by Leah Wilcox (on order)

Check them out and let us know your favorite!

The Teen Corner Needs a New Name

The Teen Corner is the section of the library where we keep all the young adult materials: fiction, paperbacks, magazines, graphic novels, comic books, suggested reading bookmarks.... Recently we moved some books around to be able to give the Teen Corner more breathing room. This means that the Teen Corner is no longer a mere corner so we need your bright ideas for a new name. Please submit suggestions at the DPL by April 18th. The winning entrant will receive a $25 gift certificate to Target.

A Novel That Leaves No Regrets

Alan Brennert has returned with another superb historical novel about Hawaii, this one titled Honolulu. The novel begins in Korea where daughters are not appreciated, and are given names like Anger, Pity, Sorrow, and Regret. Regret becomes a picture bride who leaves a bleak future in Korea in the hopes of a better life in the paradise of Hawaii. She arrives in Hawaii in 1914 and is married to the man who paid for her. The struggle to build a life together on the pineapple plantation ends when he begins to beat her. Regret flees to Honolulu, changes her name to Jin, is taken in by a wise cracking prostitute, and learns how to make her way in the bustling island city. History provides an panoramic backdrop of racial intolerance, Spanish Flu, the Depression, and World War II.

I had a hard time putting this book down. The characters were all so beautifully developed that it felt like saying farewell to friends when the novel finished. Make sure to read this intriguing history of Honolulu, and the Hawaiians, Koreans, Japanese, and Americans who built it. You won't regret it.

Friends of the Library Membership Saves You $10 in Overdue Fines!

The Friends of the Dover Public Library will be recruiting new members for their organization during National Library Week, April 12-18. It’s just $10 annually to join and only $7.00 for seniors. Plus, an exciting new membership benefit has just been added. Anyone joining the Friends during the month of April 2009 will receive a Friends’ Coupon Book with ten coupons, each one good for $1.00 off your overdue library fines. So if you sometimes owe the library money, redeem these coupons (one per visit) and the cost of your Friends of the Library membership will turn out to be free!

The Friends of the Library help raise funds for library programs and equipment through their book and book-related merchandise sales and last year contributed nearly $15,000 to the library, purchasing such items as museum passes, window shades and drapes, youth contest prizes, carts and stools, computers, carpeting and lighting fixtures. The Friends also pay for all speakers’ fees for special library programs. The Dover Public Library is seeking a few dozen new Friends and, with the new coupon book, your membership could turn out to be cost-free! Please consider joining the Friends of the Library during their annual membership campaign this month. For more information please call the Dover Public Library 516-6050.

Downloadable Audio Books Become More Apple Friendly

The NH Downloadable Audiobooks Consortium has released this exciting news:

"We are happy to announce that the NH Downloadable Audiobooks Consortium is now able to purchase MP3 audiobooks! MP3 audiobooks contain no DRM (Digital Rights Management) and are compatible with any music player, including iPods and Mac computers.
Up until this point, our current collection of digital audiobooks contains approximately 2400 unique titles in WMA (Windows Media Audio) format. These titles cannot be played on iPods or Mac computers. Only soon-to-be-purchased MP3 titles will be compatible with iPods and Macs.
Mac users will need to download a Mac-compatible version of the OverDrive Media Console prior to using the service and will only be able to checkout MP3 audiobook titles.
At this point of time, not all publishers provide their content in MP3 format. The Consortium will still purchase much of its content in WMA format, but if there is a choice between the two formats for any given title, the MP3 format will be purchased."

OverDrive Media Console For Macs

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You can download audiobooks using your home computer and your library card. Go the Library’s homepage and click on Download Audio Books. You can also click here to see a list of compatible devices.

Listen Up!

Have you looked at the downloadable audiobooks recently? More titles were added this month.

Title	Author
A Darker Place	Higgins, Jack
A Feast for Crows	Martin, George R.R.
A Lion Called Christian	Bourke, Anthony
A Storm of Swords	Martin, George R.R.
Among the Mad	Winspear, Jacqueline
An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England	Clarke, Brock
Beyond the Gap	Turtledove, Harry
Blood and Ice	Masello, Robert
Corsair	Cussler, Clive
Dark of Night	Brockmann, Suzanne
Don't Look Twice	Gross, Andrew
Envy	Godbersen, Anna
Fault Line	Eisler, Barry
First Comes Marriage	Balogh, Mary
Happy for No Reason	Shimoff, Marci
How We Decide	Lehrer, Jonah
Jesus, Interrupted	Ehrman, Bart D.
Locked Inside	Werlin, Nancy
Mary, Mary	Patterson, James
Never Give Up	Bruschi, Tedy
Night and Day	Parker, Robert B.
Promises in Death	Robb, J.D.
Rumors	Godbersen, Anna
Safer	Doolittle, Sean
Suite Scarlett	Johnson, Maureen
Swine Not?	Buffett, Jimmy
Terminal Freeze	Child, Lincoln
The Ascent of Money	Ferguson, Niall
The Breath of God	Turtledove, Harry
The Butcher's Boy	Perry, Thomas
The Interpretation of Murder	Rubenfeld, Jed
The Last Stand of Fox Company	Drury, Bob
The Lost City of Z	Grann, David
The Luxe	Godbersen, Anna
The Sign of the Beaver	Speare, Elizabeth George
The Survivors Club	Sherwood, Ben
The Underneath	Appelt, Kathi
Wait Till Helen Comes	Hahn, Mary Downing
While My Sister Sleeps	Delinsky, Barbara
Whisper to the Blood	Stabenow, Dana

Come Read to Goldie

Dover Public Library will be offering Paws For Reading again in the Children's Room. Children ages 6 - 10 can read to Goldie, a Certified Therapy Dog, for a fifteen minute session.

Paws For Reading is designed to allow kids the chance to read to a non-judgmental listener who will accept the story exactly as they read it. This gives kids a chance to experience stress free reading. Children find themselves relaxing and having fun while reading! They come to think of themselves as good readers, which helps their self esteem and makes them eager to read. And eager readers practice their reading more often, leading to improved reading skill.

If you would like to come read to Goldie, she will be here:
Saturday, April 4 (10:30-11:30)
Tuesday, April 21 (6:30-7:30)
Saturday, May 2 (10:30-12:00)
Tuesday, May 19 (6:30-7:30)

Make sure to sign up in advance in the Children's Room. Goldie is a very popular visitor!

Crafty Toddlers

You may be stopped in your tracks by the outlines of children in the downstairs hallway. Fear not, it is not part of a CSI: Dover episode.

The artwork is part of the "Wonderful Me" storytime for toddlers which also offers songs, rhymes, and fingerplays. Both parents and kids were able to participate in this storytime craft. Parents traced the outline of their child, and the children got to decorate their portraits. Some of the life-size drawings are hanging in the hallway by the Children's Room.
Make sure to stop and admire the artwork, it will bring a smile to your face.

Paws for Reading

Paws for Reading was a smashing success with every session full. Everyone enjoyed reading Goldie a good book and Goldie loved hearing the stories. We have plans to have Goldie visit us again so watch here for news of her return.

Enter the Peeps Show!

The Dover Public Library is looking for some creative peeps to enter our Peeps Show contest. Build a diorama using peeps of any color in a standard size shoe box. The theme is up to you; recreate a favorite scene from a movie or book, re-enact current or historical events, or use your peeps as social commentary.

Harry Peeper and the Deathly Mallows by Erica Perl

Children through age 12 can compete in the Kids Division, peeps, er, people ages 13- 17 can compete in the Teen Division, anyone 18 or older is invited to compete in the Adult Division.


On the back of your shoe box, please include your name, address, phone, age, and e-mail (if applicable), and title of your Peeps Show. The Peeps displays can be dropped off at the Dover Public Library beginning April 1st through April 10th. The Peeps will be displayed during National Library Week, April 12th through April 18th.


Peeps can be picked up Monday, April 20th - Friday, April 24th. All Peeps not picked up by the deadline will be discarded or eaten. Prizes in all categories will be awarded April 17th. The winner in each division will be awarded a $25.00 Target gift card.


Judging will be based on originality and creativity.

Have You Visited A Library Lately?

A front page story in the Sunday, March 15th issue of Foster’s Daily Democrat reported on the fate of the Rollinsford Public Library. Though very pleased about the vision and insight of those residents who voted to keep the town’s fledgling library open, and happy for the volunteers who worked so hard to make this dream come true, I was most distressed by one resident’s comment that a public library is “an institution rendered obsolete by the Internet.” My question is: Have you visited a public library lately?

This fallacy that the Internet would kill the use of libraries arose in the mid-90s, but was quickly dispelled. Tech-savvy librarians rose to the challenge and wisely embraced the Internet’s potential and integrated its use into our core services. Anyone who takes the time to discover the services in today’s modern public library will find things a far cry from the dusty archives of old. The Dover Public Library began to offer free Internet to its patrons beginning in late 1996 and just over 1800 people used the World Wide Web at the library in 1997. Today we have 10 Internet workstations which registered over 30,000 public Internet sessions during 2008. (And this doesn’t even count our Wi-Fi users who also get free Internet here on their own laptops.) Our librarians teach Internet searching skills and email basics; we offer 22 specialized online databases for researchers; there are thousands of free downloadable audio books available through our website (http://www.dover.lib.nh.us/ which had over 1.7 million hits last year). And of the 18,117 patron requests we filled last year in Dover, nearly 13,000 of these were placed online through our electronic card catalog.

So, if everyone is now using the Internet for everything, even in the library, well then book circulation must be down, right? Wrong! Use me as an example: I use the Internet probably as much as the next person, but my reading habits haven’t changed in the slightest. I still read printed books as much as I ever did (although I also admit to loving my Kindle!). Media- and book-related websites also do their part to spur good old-fashioned reading, a wonderful and rewarding pastime that will never be “obsolete”. The Dover Public Library’s circulation in 1998 was 267,785 items; in 2008, we lent 298,956 items, an 11.6% increase---all in the era of the Internet! So while we still fulfill our traditional role as book providers, libraries have managed to incorporate many cutting-edge, web-based services at the same time.

The library plays an even more important role as Americans face tough economic times. Patrons are visiting their library in even greater numbers to borrow free books, CDs, and movies and to attend free programs. Many studies have shown that in economic downturns, libraries become even busier. We are certainly experiencing this phenomenon in Dover as we hear about patrons dropping Netflix subscriptions to borrow our DVDs for free; checking out our paperbacks rather than spending $8 on a one-time read; getting their music and audio downloads from our CD collections for free; or attending our no-cost Saturday afternoon first-run-movie matinees.

Libraries everywhere are meeting the educational, informational and entertainment needs of their communities by providing a broad range of services for people of all ages and backgrounds. The citizens of Rollinsford are to be congratulated for recognizing that they have put in place not just a library, but a brand new community center and a valuable and important contributor to the quality of life in their town. I urge everyone who hasn’t been to their local library lately to come and “check us out”!

Cathleen Beaudoin
Director of the Dover Public Library

Grey Skies and Empty Book Shelves

Things were looking pretty bleak a few weeks ago; the skies were grey and the ground was covered with snow and ice. Worst of all, I was down to one book to read and there were no other novels around that caught my interest. Things are looking up now; the days are sunnier, things are melting, and some of my favorite novelists have released new titles!

Lisa Lutz has written another smile-inducing novel about the lunatic family of detectives, the Spellmans. In Revenge of the Spellmans, Izzy is hiding from her family in her brother's secret apartment, in danger of losing her bartending job, has a car that constantly goes missing, her sister Rae is accused of cheating on the PSATs, her brother David looks unkempt and is missing a lot of work, and Izzy's parents are pressuring her to commit to the family business.

Deanna Raybourn, who is a great favorite with many of the librarians, has written another novel about Lady Julia Grey, Silent on the Moor. The impulsive, strong willed Julia chases down the reclusive Brisbane and confronts him at his decrepit manor house on the isolated moor. My only complaint so far is the perfectly dreadful cover which makes it look like a frothy romance novel, rather than the dark Victorian mystery loaded with undercurrents and fascinating characters that it is really is.

Virgil Flowers is back in John Sandford's Heat Lightning. I have grown to vastly prefer the laconic, cool Flowers to the overblown ego of Sandford's other character, Lucas Davenport. This time Flowers is tracking down a killer who inserts a lemon into his victim's mouths, and has a connection to a disturbing incident during the Vietnam War. The audio book is terrific.

Last, but not least, is another entry in Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher series. These are some of the best audio books I have heard. The narrator is wonderful, the opening music sets the mood of the roaring twenties, Australia makes for a vivid backdrop, and the clever, unconventional Phryne Fisher is a joy to follow. In Murder in Montparnasse, Phryne must find out killed two of friend's of Bert and Cec, which leads to events that happened in Paris during the first World War, and some dark memories from Phryne's past.

Things are definitely looking up; Spring is coming and I have a nice comforting stack of books to plow through.

7th Annual Dover Public Library Poetry Contest

The Dover Public Library is pleased to announce the 7th Annual Dover Public Library Poetry contest for grades K-12. Prizes will be awarded in six different categories: Grades K-2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6, 7 & 8, 9 & 10, and 11 &12. Deadline for entry is April 13th. Students may pick up information about the contest at the Dover Public Library, any Dover school library, or at our website at http://www.dover.lib.nh.us/. All participants are invited to attend an “Evening of Poetry” on Tuesday, May 12th at 6:30pm; refreshments will be served. Students are invited to read their poetry at this event, but this will be purely voluntary. For more information about the contest please contact Denise LaFrance at 516-6082.