News From the Library

by Sherrie Simmons and
Margaret Woodruff

THANK YOU!
In a recent library column we requested the donation of a previously owned digital camera; much to our delight we were given a new HP Photosmart M637 by an anonymous donor. We don’t know who you are, but please know that your gift will be put to good use. Thank you.
Grant awarded
SCHIP’s Treasure Resale Shop, located in the heart of Shelburne Village, awarded the library a $500 grant to upgrade the juvenile DVD collection and to purchase a portable DVD player. With the economy struggling, the demand for DVDs has been substantial.
Thanks to SCHIP we are now able to provide an ever-expanding collection to all patrons, including those in Charlotte and neighboring towns. Listed below are some recent arrivals, with more to come:
Chicken Run
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Ring of Fire
Second Hand Lions
Stuart Little
Wallace and Gromit: Three Amazing Adventures
The Wind in the Willows – The Complete First Series
The Wind in the Willows – The Complete Second
Series

New Adult Books
Fiction
About Face, Donna Leon
All Other Nights, Dara Horn
Borderline, Nevada Barr
Color of Lightning: A Novel, Paulette Jiles
Corsair: A Novel of the Oregon Files, Clive Cussler
Coventry: A Novel, Helen Humphreys
Cutting for Stone: A Novel, A. Verghese
Drowning Pool, Jacqueline Seewald
Every Demon has His Day, Cara Lockwood
Execution Dock: A Novel, Anne Perry
Figures in Silk: A Novel, Vanora Bennett
Forgotten Garden: A Novel, Kate Morton
Long Fall, Walter Mosley
Murder in the Latin Quarter, Cara Black
Shatter, Michael Robotham
Smooth Talking Stranger, Lisa Klepas
The Sound of Building Coffins, Louis Maistros
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built, Alexander
McCall Smith
Weight of Heaven: A Novel, Thrity Umrigar
World to Come, Dara Horn
Nonfiction
Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable
Optimist, Michael J. Fox
Happens Every Day: An All-Too-True Story, Isabel
Gillies
Cartwheels in a Sari, A Memoir of Growing Up Cult, Jayanti Tamm
Champlain’s Dream, David Hackett Fischer
Fight for Your Monday: How to Stop Getting Ripped
off and Save a Fortune, David Bach
Healing and Preventing Autism: A Complete Guide,
Jenny McCarthy
I’m Perfect, You’re Doomed: Tales From a
Jehovah’s Witness Upbringing, Kyria Abrahams

Georgia Edwards, Circulation Librarian, Reviews Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley.
Supreme Court Justice J. Mortimer Brinnan is old, his mind is failing, and he’s covering his ears with tin foil to tune out alien voices. It’s time for his resignation from the bench, and President Donald P. Vanderdamp calls for replacement hearings.
Senator Dexter Mitchell is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and secret aspirant to the presidency. He and the Senate veto Vanderdamp’s favored nominee on the grounds that he did not adequately appreciate To Kill a Mockingbird. In retribution, Vanderdamp then nominates the popular Judge Pepper Cartwright, the star of the hit television series “Courtroom Six” and a younger version of Judge Judy, replete with Southern accent.
What follows is a hilarious account of what goes on in America’s highest court when the outspoken Texan joins its ranks. The halls of justice are hallowed no more when Pepper Cartwright argues an unpopular constitutional hearing, Dexter Mitchell gets his own television show, and President Vanderdamp runs a campaign to lose the next election.
Author Christopher Buckley, a political satirist and author of 13 books, has been awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor. He has once again proven his talents and edgy political humor with Supreme Courtship.

Youth Library News
Change of date: The Teen Advisory Board Meeting moved to May 21 at 5 p.m.
We’ve got plans to put together a Facebook site for the library, and we need your help. And, if you’re a Young Writers Project fan, come meet Lee McIsaac, content coordinator for YWP. You can learn more about the YWP blog as well as the workshops and projects offered, including the Green Mountain Book Award forum for 2009-2010. As always, we’ll provide dinner and dessert…just bring yourself!
RSVP to youthservices@charlottepubliclibrary.org or call 425-3864.

Picturing America: American Art at the library
Thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Charlotte Library received a wonderful collection of poster-size art reproductions. Spanning the length of American history, from Anasazi baskets of the 12th century to abstract paintings of the 20th, the artwork was selected “to show how visual works of art are valuable records for revealing important aspects of our nation’s history and culture.” The accompanying resource book goes on to explain the pieces of art are “not only …aesthetic achievements and a pleasure to look at and think about, but they are part of our historical record…” Look for a new selection from the collection each month and join us for upcoming educational programs inspired by them. The art selected for May: Albert Bierstadt, Looking Down Yosemite Valley, California, 1865 and Black Hawk, “Sans Arc Lakota” Ledger Book, 1880-1881, as well as Childe Hassam, Allies Day, May 1917.

Interactive Books
Have you heard about 39 Clues and Skeleton Creek? These two new series are among the latest trends in juvenile fiction. Not only do you get to read an exciting adventure, you also get to experience the story online. For both series, you can visit websites to search for clues, see video clips and share in the excitement as the stories unfold. Stop by the library to check out the books and then hop online to learn more.