Books Blog : north park branch

What Stories are For

kiya@evpl — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:03:00 GMT

"Forty-three years old, and the war occurred half a lifetime ago, and yet the remembering makes it now. And sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That's what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story."

-Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried, p.36

War and Our Communities: the 2012 Community Read

The Community Read is a community project where various groups read The Things They Carried, written by Vietnam War veteran Tim O'Brien, and discuss the effects of serving in an active combat zone, how it affects soldiers and their families, and how the community can help ease veterans' reintegration.

The Reader's Guide describes the book:

Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried (1990) is considered one of the finest books about the Vietnam War. Far from a combat story of pride and glory, it is a compassionate tale of the American soldier, brimming with raw honesty and thoughtful reflection.

The book's narrator follows a platoon of infantrymen through the jungles of Vietnam. We see them trudge through the muck of a constant downpour, get hit by sniper fire, pull body parts out of a tree, laugh while they tell their stories to each other, and fall silent when faced with making sense of it all-both in the moment and twenty years later.

The book is available at EVPL. Book discussions are being held at two EVPL locations:

Tuesday, March 6, 6:30 pm at North Park Branch Library
Monday, March 12, 3:30 pm at Oaklyn Branch Library

If you are interested in joining another group and are curious what groups are accepting new members, contact Helen D. Azarian by phone at 812/759-7635 or by email. If you are a veteran looking for a group, contact Greg Wagoner. Join an online discussion at the Community Read's Facebook page, or learn how to start your own online discussion.

Many other events are planned for the month of April.

Are you App Happy?

kiya@evpl — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:43:00 GMT

EVPL is presenting two programs on Apps for your Apple and Android products.

Apps Galore! is this coming Monday, March 5^th, at North Park Branch, 6:30 pm.
Amazing Apps will be Thursday, April 19^th, 6:30 pm at Red Bank Branch.

Come join us to learn more about cool stuff for your smartphone or tablet! Share your favorite app!

In the meantime, take a look at these books to learn more:

If you are in to developing Apps, there are even more books available!

Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives by Thomas French

lit.fic.reader@evpl — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:23:00 GMT

"Eleven elephants. One plane. Hurtling together across the sky." From these opening sentences, I was captivated by this account of the inner workings of zoos, in particular Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. The author is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and currently a professor of journalism at Indiana University.

There are many elements that combine to make this such an absorbing narrative. Woven throughout the book is discussion of the issues surrounding the pros and cons of holding animals in captivity and the attendant political implications, local and international. The daily challenge of providing for the well-being of the zoo's residents as well as the safety of its human visitors falls on the shoulders of a largely young, poorly paid, and overworked, if dedicated staff. The author intersperses these considerations with the histories of two of the zoo's most celebrated residents: a chimp who has never fully recovered from his separation from the human family that raised him until adolesence, and a stunningly beautiful but ferocious Sumatran tiger. The ultimate fates of these two animals, the "king" and "queen" of the Lowry Park Zoo, are sadly reflective of the shortcomings of institutions housing animals. Finally, a lighter tone is introduced with an amusing comparison of the behavior of the two-legged power brokers of the Tampa area and the zoo's overreaching director with that of the four-legged denizens of the zoo.

This is as enjoyable a nonfiction title as I've read in a long time and I highly recommend it for its thoughtful examination of the complexities of human-animal interactions.

In discussing the dangers of working with animals, the author makes brief reference to the Christmas Day 2007 attack by an escaped tiger at the San Francisco Zoo, resulting in one human death and another serious mauling; and to the horrific killing, in view of a shocked audience, of a trainer by an orca at Orlando's SeaWorld in February, 2010. An excellent article on the SeaWorld tragedy, "The Killer in the Pool" is in the July 2010 issue of Outside magazine, available at Central and North Park libraries, and is also highly recommended.

Celebrate with us!

myzticrhythmz@evpl — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:48:00 GMT

On December 9, 1968, Meadow Park Branch Library opened. In June of 1984 its name was changed to North Park Branch. And in April of 2005 the new North Park Branch was dedicated at its present location, 960 Koehler Dr, next to Central High School.

On Tuesday, December 9, North Park Library will celebrate 40 years of serving Evansville's North Side. From 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm join us for refreshments, and a concert of Jazz and Dixie Land music with Evansville's own DixieLanders.

Hope to see you there!

"Mockingbird" author Charles Shields coming to North Park Branch

myzticrhythmz@evpl — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:31:00 GMT

Author Charles Shields will visit North Park Branch's Popular Books Discussion Group to discuss his book Mockingbird: a Portrait of Harper Lee next Tuesday, October 7, at 6:30 p.m. Seating is limited, so please register online, or by calling 428-8237.