Watching TV online

YouTube is a great site to watch amateur videos online, and now they are adding professional content to their site, according to the New York Times.

This will be in direct competition with Hulu, another professional content site that is not available to viewers in Bolivia. Hulu offers NBC and Fox content, and hence shows from these networks will not be available through YouTube, but CBS and other network shows will be available.

Library career?

Have you ever thought about working in a library? Did you know that Casanova (yes, that Casanova) was a librarian, too? Here's a list of ten "Surprising Famous Librarians," from Mental Floss. Do you want to join their ranks? (And did you know that we have the paper version of Mental Floss in the library?)

Also, here's a quick look at libraries and librarians in popular culture, movies, etc., from PopWatch.

iTunes new music info

Do you use iTunes to download and buy music? Their new version came out on April 7th, and here are eight things you should know when using the DRM-free music, from PC Magazine.

Download responsibly!

Bicycle delivery?

In Ames, Iowa one library makes the environmentally conscious decision to deliver books by bicycle, instead of by vehicle. Read an article here.

Earth Day is coming up. What other innovative ideas can we come up with to lessen our impact on the environment?

Bolivian culture and bits from abroad

This weekend there is a culture and artisans' fair at the Parque Urbano. If you are interested in this topic, we have plenty of related books in the library. General books about Bolivia are in the 984 Dewey section. Travel books, which will include some information on culture and handicrafts, are at 918.4 in our library. There are also books on specific artists, like Roger Ortiz Mercado's Traces. This book is in the Spanish section, at 779, and has many beautiful portraits of Bolivian people.

If you are interested in foreign culture, you should stop by the feria to see the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit (if you didn't get to go on one of the field trips, that is). Then come to the library to see all the great books we have on the master's life, inventions and art. Also, take a look at the Da Vinci Code, for a good fiction read, or any of the Renaissance books for more information about the era in which he lived.

Finally, today is St. Patrick's day! If you're interested in Ireland, luck, leprechauns or other related tidbits, you'll find resources in the library.

Slumdog Millionaire was a book first!

Have you seen Slumdog Millionaire, yet? (It's playing at CineCenter right now, under the name Quisiera ser millionario?) Did you know that it was based on a book by Vikas Swarup, called Q&A (that means "question and answer")? Sadly we do not have this book in the SCCS library, but Abebooks recommends 19 Other Indian Novels, if you've been bit by the bangra bug!

We have the following from the list:
God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy
In a Free State, by V.S. Naipaul
Clear Light of Day, by Anita Desai

If you're interested in reading other titles from this list, please recommend them to the librarian. If you're interested in books by Indian authors, or about India, come to the library and we can find them!

March is Women in History month

March is Women in History month. If you're interested in a female perspective, or women actors in global history, please come to the library to take a look at our display. We have a variety of non-fiction and fiction books on the subject.

If you'd like to do some deeper research on women in American History, check out this link to Discovering American Women's History Online. It's a great resource to search the web!

Never Let Me Go movie

Keira Knightley is to star in another book-to-movie production called Never Let Me Go. The original book, by Kazuo Ishiguro, is about a future in which teens are cloned for organ harvesting.

A Pale View of the Hills, another book by Kazuo Ishiguro, is in the library's fiction section. Sadly, however, we do not currently have Never Let Me Go. It has been ordered for the future.

Keira Knightly was also in a recent production of Pride and Prejudice, based on the Jane Austen novel. That book is in the library, and also has an accompanying AR quiz for high school readers.

Postcrossing

Do you like postcards and penpals? Are you interested in what the rest of the world looks like? Postcrossing is a great project where you can send and receive postcards from countries all over the world!

All you have to do is sign up with your postal address, send a postcard to the address supplied by Postcrossing, and you will receive a card in the mail in a few weeks! There aren't many Postcrossing members from Bolivia, so people around the world are always really excited to receive a card from here.

Ask Ms. Battistoni or Ms. Hanneman for more information if you're interested in the project!

movies and books, and books and movies!

Cine Center is currently showing two movies that came from great books! Twilight, a romance story with vampires, and The Tale of Despereaux, a mouse's adventures, are both showing right now. If you'd like to read the books on which the movies were based come to the library.

Also, Coraline is coming soon! The movie should be at Cine Center in a few weeks, but, sorry, the book won't be in the library until August. If you'd like to see other Neil Gaiman books, though, we have quite a few available in the library.