All bookmobile stops are canceled this week. All library locations will be closed December 24 & 25.
Let us find your next great read!
Posted on Wednesday, August 28, 2019 by Alyssa
I struggled to pick a book for this prompt because there are just so many options. There are mythologies and folklore from every part of the world, and there are fun contemporary twists on familiar works.
Continue reading “Read Harder 2019: A Book of Mythology or Folklore”
Posted on Monday, August 26, 2019 by Katherine
Here’s a look at some of the most exciting books being published by first-time authors this August. For a longer list, visit our catalog.
“The Ventriloquists” by E. R. Ramzipoor
The Nazis stole their voices. But they would not be silenced.
Brussels, 1943. Twelve-year-old street orphan Helene survives by living as a boy and selling copies of the country’s most popular newspaper, Le Soir, now turned into Nazi propaganda. Helene’s world changes when she befriends a rogue journalist, Marc Aubrion, who draws her into a secret network that publishes dissident underground newspapers.
The Nazis track down Aubrion’s team and give them an impossible choice: turn the resistance newspapers into a Nazi propaganda bomb that will sway public opinion against the Allies, or be killed. Faced with no decision at all, Aubrion has a brilliant idea. While pretending to do the Nazis’ bidding, they will instead publish a fake edition of Le Soir that pokes fun at Hitler and Stalin — daring to laugh in the face of their oppressors.
The ventriloquists have agreed to die for a joke, and they have only eighteen days to tell it. Continue reading “Debut Author Spotlight: August 2019”
Posted on Friday, August 23, 2019 by Dana S
Graphic novels and comics are a great medium because they combine strong storytelling with visually appealing art. Plus, reading stories in this format can help you play catch-up on your reading goals, because they typically take less time to read than a standard novel! As a long-time student who never thought I’d have time to read anything non-academic while in school, I’m grateful that graphic novels helped me rediscover pleasure reading. Despite reading tons of other comics and graphic novels, I never delved much into manga until recently, but there are tons of great titles. Manga is a Japanese form of comics, including comics written in Japanese or made in Japan that adhere to certain stylistic elements. Manga is read from right to left, and may take some time to adjust to if you are used to reading from left to right. Continue reading “Manga: Read Harder 2019”
Posted on Wednesday, August 21, 2019 by Seth
The phrase “back to school” doesn’t just apply to kindergarten through college. Many older adults are starting new educational pursuits in order to finish a bachelor’s degree, complete a technical or professional course or even take a self-paced class in order to learn something new. Your local public library should be one of your first stops when looking into resources, databases, classes and programs for your ongoing education, and all you need is a library card! The best thing about these offerings is that they are absolutely free. Continue reading “Back to School for Adult Learners”
Posted on Monday, August 19, 2019 by JessB
Are you looking for ways to better organize your life, goals or daily schedule? Join us at the Columbia Public Library on Wednesday, August 21 for the Intro to Bullet Journaling program. This program will discuss the basics of Bullet Journaling and help you get started by providing a notebook and some supplies. If you’ve never heard of Bullet Journaling before, this will be a fun chance to explore how it works and see how you can use it in your daily life to get more organized. Or, maybe you are already a Bullet Journal enthusiast. If so, we encourage you to join us at the program. You might pick up some new techniques or get inspired in a different way! Continue reading “Intro to Bullet Journaling”
Posted on Friday, August 16, 2019 by Liz
Welcome to another entry for our 50th anniversary series f
ocusing on important events that happened in 1969.
Woodstock was a music and art fair held in Bethel, New York on August 15-18, 1969. Around 500,000 people attended and 32 bands and singers performed. Several major bands and singer that performed there including: Santana, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Crocker and Jimi Hendrix. For more suggestions on library materials about Woodstock check out this list. Continue reading “50th Anniversary: Woodstock”
Posted on Wednesday, August 14, 2019 by Decimal Diver
Here is a new DVD list highlighting various titles recently added to the library’s collection.
“Bisbee ’17”
Website / Reviews
Playing at the 2018 True False Film Fest, this film by Columbia, MO director Robert Greene follows several members of the close-knit community in Bisbee, Arizona, a former mining town, as they commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Bisbee Deportation, when 1,200 immigrant miners were violently taken from their homes by a deputized force, shipped to the desert on cattle cars and left to die. Continue reading “New DVD List: Bisbee 17, Little Woods & More”
Posted on Monday, August 12, 2019 by DBRL_Katie
It has been 10 years since Congress last raised the federal minimum wage to $7.25, and workers are still demanding better, family-supporting pay across America. Since 2012, movements like “Fight for Fifteen” have demonstrated that working for the current minimum wage cannot meet the cost of living, causing workers to call for incomes that reflect a “living wage.” This means pay that covers staple expenses like housing, child care, food, transportation, health care and other basic needs. Showing just how out of sync the minimum wage is with sustaining an ordinary lifestyle, the Living Wage Calculator* measures these average costs for different towns and family makeups to estimate the amount of money people should earn to afford their necessities. For the base-line single person in Columbia, that number is currently $11.13. Continue reading “Spotlight: A Living Wage”
Posted on Sunday, August 11, 2019 by Eric
This year’s One Read selection, “Nomadland” by Jessica Bruder, explores the lives of people left out of, or let down by, our financial system. Though their stories are often rooted in misfortune, they also display resilience, ingenuity and a sense of community. Bruder’s book, which started as a cover story for Harper’s Magazine called “The End of Retirement,” shows us a new 21st century iteration of migrant workers who are often older and retired. With their options limited by circumstance, they choose to live in RVs and retrofitted vans as they follow work opportunities across the country. Bruder buys her own van and ventures out with them, chasing temporary jobs in national parks, Amazon fulfillment centers and beet fields. The plight of these Americans might remind you of the Okies in “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck, and there are other excellent books that explore similar territory. If “Nomadland” whets your appetite, here are some suggestions for further reading. Continue reading “Literary Links: Nomadland”
Posted on Friday, August 9, 2019 by Liz
This is a continuation of my 50th anniversary posts focusing on important events that happened in 1969.
The Manson Family murders, also known as the Tate Murders, occurred on August 8-9, 1969 in Los Angeles, California. At 10050 Cielo Drive Roman Polanski lived with his wife, actress Sharon Tate. On the day of the murders, Tate, who was eight and a half months pregnant, was there along with three friends, and an 18-year-old visitor. Manson told four of his followers, Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian and Patricia Krenwinkel to go to the house and “totally destroy everyone in [it], as gruesome as you can.” To find out the whole story check out one of the items below from the library or check out this list for more suggestions about the Manson Family murders. Continue reading “50th Anniversary: Manson Family Murders”
Let us find your next great read!
