Friday, October 3, 2014

Daily Thoughts 10/03/2014

The owl of wisdom on one side, hooded Death the other. A sculpture of the dilemma facing students in Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University, Picture by Henry Trotter, 2005.
Daily Thoughts 10/03/2014

I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.

Last night, I read some more of Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker.  In many ways, the main character, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley is a tragic figure who suffers tremendously in silence.  This is what make her interesting.

I am also reading Real Happiness at Work Meditations for Accomplishment, Achievement, and Peace by Sharon Salzberg.  This is a book on mindfulness, it focuses on subjects like awareness, meditation, and compassion.  The book uses a lot of cognitive psychology with some buddhist thought.  Trying to present this outside of a religious context as self help is a bit interesting.  There have been some new books that have come out that are trying to do the same thing like Waking Up a Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris which is on the New York Times Bestseller List.  I find this approach a bit troubling.  Meditation and spiritual practice having a religious origin does not bother me.

I checked the gift books and the displays.  I put out a few more of the holiday books this morning. October is also Family Heritage Month.

I am in the Computer Lab today from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., the cybercorner (computer center) for the public is being upgraded outside by the Westchester Library System, so I am opening the lab for two hours.  I spent a little time working on flyers and programming.

We are having a book reading of Dr. Larry Spruill and Donna Jackson's book, Mount Vernon Revisited which has over 200 historic images of Mount Vernon, New York in it on Thursday, October 23, 2014 between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

I also read the October copy of Bookpage which is a giveaway for library patrons with book reviews.

Web Bits



Librarians Who Write: How Librarian/Authors Will Thomas and Eleanor Kuhns Juggle Two Careers

We’re Reading More Than In Previous Decades – Story From CBS Local In Minnesota

DIY: Building an Author Websites

Harvard Library The Future of the Book

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