424 Central

NEIBORS Releases Digital Audiobook Application for Windows Mobile(R)

2009-09-10T09:29:00.003-05:00

First in a Series of Mobile Apps for Over-the-Air Downloading From Libraries

(Cleveland, OH) - September 9, 2009 - NEIBORS announced the release of the first in a series of free digital book applications for mobile devices. OverDrive® Media Console(TM) for Windows Mobile® (http://overdrive.com/software/omc) enables users with Windows Mobile phones to wirelessly download audiobooks, music, and video to their devices and play the titles with the same superior navigation features of OverDrive's desktop software. To view a list of supported devices including Sprint Palm Treo(TM), AT&T Samsung Jack(TM), and Verizon HTC Touch Pro(TM), visit http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/devices/default.mspx.
With OverDrive Media Console for Windows Mobile, audiobook readers can now instantly download over the air from the Fort Dodge Public Library. Patrons can find libraries that offer digital audiobooks, music, and video for over-the-air downloading at http://search.overdrive.com.
"OverDrive Media Console for Windows Mobile is the first in a series of free mobile applications that will enable readers to access and enjoy digital audiobooks on the go," said David Burleigh, director of marketing for OverDrive. "This further expands mobility and access to audiobook downloads for library and retail partners, and sets the stage for future support on additional platforms including iPhone(TM) and BlackBerry®."
The free OverDrive Media Console for Windows Mobile application provides the same superior audiobook listening experience as the desktop version of OverDrive Media Console, which boasts millions of PC and Mac® users worldwide. Users can navigate downloaded parts using MediaMarkers(TM), create bookmarks, and resume from the last point played. Audiobooks, music, and video downloaded from a public library automatically expire so there are no late fees.
OverDrive also operates the Digital Bookmobile (www.digitalbookmobile.com), a high-tech 18-wheeler traveling across North America on behalf of public libraries to raise awareness about free library downloads. Follow the Digital Bookmobile national tour on Twitter (@digibookmobile) and Facebook (http://facebook.com/digitalbookmobile).

About OverDrive
OverDrive is a leading full-service digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video. We deliver secure management, DRM protection, and download fulfillment services for hundreds of publishers and thousands of libraries, schools, and retailers serving millions of end users. OverDrive provides the largest collection of iPod®-compatible audiobooks to libraries worldwide. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, OH. www.overdrive.com

Small Engine Repair Reference Center

2009-08-05T11:13:00.003-05:00

The Small Engine Repair Reference Center has schematics, drawings and step-by-step repair instructions for all types of small engines.

If you need help with All Terrain Vehicles, Generators, Boat Motors, Motorcycles, Outdoor Equipment, Personal Water Craft, Snow Machines, Snow Blowers or Tractors, the Small Engine Repair Reference Center has everything in one easy to use location.

The Small Engine Repair Reference Center does require a username and password. Contact the Reference Desk at 515-573-8167 x224 for your free username and password.

Websites for Kids

2009-07-27T15:37:00.003-05:00

The American Library Association maintains a list of websites that are appropriate for children. The sites have information that may be used to help childrens explore the world, satisfy their curiosity, or use for school work. Click the icon above to explore Websites for Kids.

New Download Center for iPod, iPhone, and MP3 Players

2009-07-08T10:17:00.005-05:00

One-Click Audio has introduced more than 1,000 eAudiobook titles in the MP3 file format that are compatible with virtually all MP3 players, including Apple’s iPod® and iPhone® and many other portable audio devices.

More Information Here

New From Film Movement

2009-06-11T17:07:00.009-05:00

The library has received Window from Film Movement.

The movie has received the following honors:

WINNER— FIPRESCI, Valladolid International Film Festival

NOMINATED— Golden Spike, Valladolid International Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION— Toronto International Film Festival, Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, Rome Cinema Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION— Cairo International Film Festival, Havana International Film Festival, Gotenborg International Film Festival

Click here for more information.

WHY WE WEED!!

2009-05-20T11:20:00.002-05:00

Have you ever wondered why libraries remove books from their collections. The following web site will give you great examples of why we do what we do.

Awful Library Books

New Books @ Your Library

2009-04-07T13:51:00.007-05:00

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

by Alan Bradley

It's the beginning of a lazy summer in 1950 at the sleepy English village of Bishop's Lacey. Up at the great house of Buckshaw, aspiring chemist Flavia de Luce passes the time tinkering in the laboratory she's inherited from her deceased mother and an eccentric great uncle. When Flavia discovers a murdered stranger in the cucumber patch outside her bedroom window early one morning, she decides to leave aside her flasks and Bunsen burners to solve the crime herself, much to the chagrin of the local authorities. But who can blame her? What else does an eleven-year-old science prodigy have to do when left to her own devices? With her widowed father and two older sisters far too preoccupied with their own respective pursuits and passions—stamp collecting, adventure novels, and boys—Flavia takes off on her trusty bicycle Gladys to catch a murderer. In Alan Bradley's critically acclaimed debut mystery, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, adult readers will be totally charmed by this fearless, funny, and unflappable kid sleuth. But don't be fooled: this carefully plotted detective novel (the first in a new series) features plenty of unexpected twists and turns and loads of tasty period detail. As the pages fly by, you'll be rooting for this curious combination of Harriet the Spy and Sherlock Holmes. Go ahead, take a bite. By Lauren Nemroff for amazon.com review.

The Color of Lightning

by Paulette Jiles

In 1863, the War Between the States creeps slowly yet inevitably toward its bloody conclusion—and eastern thoughts are already turning to different wars and enemies.
Searching for a life and future, former Kentucky slave Britt Johnson is venturing west into unknown territory with his wife, Mary, and their three children—wary but undeterred by sobering tales of atrocities inflicted upon those who trespass against the Comanche and the Kiowa. Settling on the Texas plains, the Johnson family hopes to build on the dreams that carried them from the Confederate South to this new land of possibility—dreams that are abruptly shattered by a brutal Indian raid upon the settlement while Britt is away establishing a business. Returning to face the unthinkable—his friends and neighbors slain or captured, his eldest son dead, his beloved Mary severely damaged and enslaved, and his remaining children absorbed into an alien society that will never relinquish its hold on them—the heartsick freedman vows not to rest until his family is whole again.
Samuel Hammond follows a different road west. A Quaker whose fortune is destroyed by a capricious act of an inscrutable God, he has resigned himself to the role the Deity has chosen for him. As a new agent for the Office of Indian Affairs, it is Hammond's goal to ferret out corruption and win justice for the noble natives now in his charge. But the proud, stubborn people refuse to cease their raids, free their prisoners, and accept the farming implements and lifestyle the white man would foist upon them, adding fuel to smoldering tensions that threaten to turn a man of peace, faith, and reason onto a course of terrible retribution.
A soaring work of the imagination based on oral histories of the post–Civil War years in North Texas, Paulette Jiles's The Color of Lightning is at once an intimate look into the hearts and hopes of tragically flawed human beings and a courageous reexamination of a dark American history. From the Publisher.

All the Living

by C.E. Morgan

Morgan's enchanting debut follows the travails of a young woman who moves to Kentucky with her bereaved lover in 1984. Aloma, herself an orphan from a young age, leaves her job at the mission school where she was raised to help her taciturn boyfriend, Orren, with his family farm after his family is killed in a car accident. Once at the farm, he retreats into himself and working the land, leaving Aloma to wrestle with her desire to pursue her dream of being a concert pianist. As her relationship with Orren becomes more collision than cohabitation, Aloma finds in a local preacher a deep friendship that complicates her feelings for Orren, who drags his feet on marrying her. Young Aloma's growing understanding of love and devotion in the midst of deep despair is delicately and persuasively rendered through the lens of belief—be it in religion, relationships or music. Morgan's prose holds the rhythm of the local dialect beautifully, evoking the land, the farming lifestyle and Aloma's awakening with stirring clarity. From Publishers Weekly, Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Forgotten Garden

by Kate Morton

A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book -- a beautiful volume of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. On her twenty-first birthday they tell her the truth, and with her sense of self shattered and with very little to go on, "Nell" sets out on a journey to England to try to trace her story, to find her real identity. Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell's death that all the pieces of the puzzle are assembled. At Cliff Cottage, on the grounds of Blackhurst Manor, Cassandra discovers the forgotten garden of the book's title and is able to unlock the secrets of the beautiful book of fairy tales. From the Publisher.

Prayers for Sale

by Sandra Dallas

The idea of selling prayers conjures images of pre-Reformation Catholicism or, at the very least, stops you in your tracks to think a bit. When Nit Spindle, a newcomer to Middle Swan, Colorado, spots Hennie Comfort’s sign, “Prayers for Sale,” she stops to buy a prayer and gains a friend. At 86, Hennie has a passel of stories to tell (one is how she got her name) and finds in Nit an eager listener and kindred spirit. In the telling of Hennie’s life—her two marriages, her brush with evil, her dead babies—and in the gradual elicitation of Nit’s lonely ponderings, the reader is treated to an oral history of a mountain town and the women who run it while the men are chasing their dreams of gold. Hennie considers passing along her stories and her knowledge of mountain life to Nit a fit pastime, in preparation for her departure from town. Like the lives narrated, this novel, by the author of Tallgrass (2007), runs the gamut of heartache, hardship, and happiness as Dallas skillfully weaves past into present and surprises everyone at the end. Fans of Lee Smith (Fair and Tender Ladies, 1988), Sue Monk Kidd (The Secret Life of Bees, 2002), and Kaye Gibbons (Charms for the Easy Life, 2003), will love this book. From Jen Baker for Booklist.

All Other Nights

by Dara Horn

All Other Nights is a gripping epic about the great moral struggles of the Civil War. How is tonight different from all other nights? For Jacob Rappaport, a Jewish soldier in the Union army, it is a question his commanders have answered for him: on Passover in 1862 he is ordered to murder his own uncle, who is plotting to assassinate President Lincoln.
After that night, will Jacob ever speak for himself? The answer comes when his commanders send him on another mission—this time not to murder a spy but to marry one.
A page-turner rich with romance and the history of America (North and South), this is a book only Dara Horn could have written. Full of insight and surprise, layered with meaning, it is a brilliant parable of the moral divide that still haunts us: between those who value family first and those dedicated, at any cost, to social and racial justice for all.

One Click Audio! Go Portable!

2009-04-01T23:21:00.008-05:00

Something for Everyone

Over 1,000 Titles Are Ready To Go

Now you can download free audiobooks to your IPod or MP3 player

Accounts must be created on a Fort Dodge Public Library computer.

Click here for more information.

Contact the Library at 515-573-8167 x224 for assistance.

New Books @ Your Library

2009-03-06T11:00:00.008-06:00

The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell
"Oh my human brothers, let me tell you how it happened." So begins the chilling fictional memoir of Dr. Maximilien Aue, a former Nazi officer who has reinvented himself, many years after the war, as a middle-class family man and factory owner in France.
Max is an intellectual steeped in philosophy, literature, and classical music. He is also a cold-blooded assassin and the consummate bureaucrat. Through the eyes of this cultivated yet monstrous man, we experience in disturbingly precise detail the horrors of the Second World War and the Nazi genocide of the Jews. During the period from June 1941 through April 1945, Max is posted to Poland, the Ukraine, and the Caucasus; he is present at the Battle of Stalingrad and at Auschwitz; and he lives through the chaos of the final days of the Nazi regime in Berlin. Although Max is a totally imagined character, his world is peopled by real historical figures, such as Eichmann, Himmler, Göring, Speer, Heyrich, Höss, and Hitler himself.
A supreme historical epic and a haunting work of fiction, Jonathan Littell's masterpiece is intense, hallucinatory, and utterly original. Published to impressive critical acclaim in France in 2006, it went on to win the Prix Goncourt, that country's most prestigious literary award, and sparked a broad range of responses and questions from readers: How does fiction deal with the nature of human evil? How should a novel encompass the Holocaust? At what point do history and fiction come together and where do they separate?
A provocative and controversial work of literature, The Kindly Ones is a morally challenging read; it holds up a mirror to humanity—and the reader cannot look away.
American Rust by Phillip Meyer

Set in a beautiful but economically devastated Pennsylvania steel town, American Rust is a novel of the lost American dream and the desperation--as well as the acts of friendship, loyalty, and love--that arise from its loss. From local bars to train yards to prison, it is the story of two young men, bound to the town by family, responsibility, inertia, and the beauty around them, who dream of a future beyond the factories and abandoned homes.
Left alone to care for his aging father after his mother commits suicide and his sister escapes to Yale, Isaac English longs for a life beyond his hometown. But when he finally sets out to leave for good, accompanied by his temperamental best friend, former high school football star Billy Poe, they are caught up in a terrible act of violence that changes their lives forever.
Evoking John Steinbeck’s novels of restless lives during the Great Depression, American Rust takes us into the contemporary American heartland at a moment of profound unrest and uncertainty about the future. It is a dark but lucid vision, a moving novel about the bleak realities that battle our desire for transcendence and the power of love and friendship to redeem us.

Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese
Lauded for his sensitive memoir (My Own Country) about his time as a doctor in eastern Tennessee at the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 80s, Verghese turns his formidable talents to fiction, mining his own life and experiences in a magnificent, sweeping novel that moves from India to Ethiopia to an inner-city hospital in New York City over decades and generations.
Sister Mary Joseph Praise, a devout young nun, leaves the south Indian state of Kerala in 1947 for a missionary post in Yemen. During the arduous sea voyage, she saves the life of an English doctor bound for Ethiopia, Thomas Stone, who becomes a key player in her destiny when they meet up again at Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa. Seven years later, Sister Praise dies birthing twin boys: Shiva and Marion, the latter narrating his own and his brothers long, dramatic, biblical story set against the backdrop of political turmoil in Ethiopia, the life of the hospital compound in which they grow up and the love story of their adopted parents, both doctors at Missing.
The boys become doctors as well and Vergheses weaving of the practice of medicine into the narrative is fascinating even as the story bobs and weaves with the power and coincidences of the best 19th-century novel. From Publishers Weekly, Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Reliable Wife by Gerald Kolpan
Rural Wisconsin, 1909. In the bitter cold, Ralph Truitt, a successful businessman, stands alone on a train platform waiting for the woman who answered his newspaper advertisement for "a reliable wife." But when Catherine Land steps off the train from Chicago, she's not the "simple, honest woman" that Ralph is expecting. She is both complex and devious, haunted by a terrible past and motivated by greed. Her plan is simple: she will win this man's devotion, and then, ever so slowly, she will poison him and leave Wisconsin a wealthy widow. What she has not counted on, though, is that Truitt — a passionate man with his own dark secrets —has plans of his own for his new wife. Isolated on a remote estate and imprisoned by relentless snow, the story of Ralph and Catherine unfolds in unimaginable ways. With echoes of Wuthering Heights and Rebecca, Robert Goolrick's intoxicating debut novel delivers a classic tale of suspenseful seduction, set in a world that seems to have gone temporarily off its axis. From Publishers Weekly.

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
In 1925, renowned British explorer Col. Percy Harrison Fawcett embarked on a much publicized search to find the city of Z, site of an ancient Amazonian civilization that may or may not have existed. Fawcett, along with his grown son Jack, never returned, but that didn't stop countless others, including actors, college professors and well-funded explorers from venturing into the jungle to find Fawcett or the city.

Among the wannabe explorers is Grann, a staff writer for the New Yorker, who has bad eyes and a worse sense of direction. He became interested in Fawcett while researching another story, eventually venturing into the Amazon to satisfy his all-consuming curiosity about the explorer and his fatal mission. Largely about Fawcett, the book examines the stranglehold of passion as Grann's vigorous research mirrors Fawcett's obsession with uncovering the mysteries of the jungle. By interweaving the great story of Fawcett with his own investigative escapades in South America and Britain, Grann provides an in-depth, captivating character study that has the relentless energy of a classic adventure tale. A Starred Review from Publishers Weekly.
Little Bee by Christ Cleave

The publishers of Chris Cleave's new novel "don't want to spoil" the story by revealing too much about it, and there's good reason not to tell too much about the plot's pivot point. All you should know going in to Little Bee is that what happens on the beach is brutal, and that it braids the fates of a 16-year-old Nigerian orphan (who calls herself Little Bee) and a well-off British couple--journalists trying to repair their strained marriage with a free holiday--who should have stayed behind their resort's walls. The tide of that event carries Little Bee back to their world, which she claims she couldn't explain to the girls from her village because they'd have no context for its abundance and calm. But she shows us the infinite rifts in a globalized world, where any distance can be crossed in a day--with the right papers--and "no one likes each other, but everyone likes U2." Where you have to give up the safety you'd assumed as your birthright if you decide to save the girl gazing at you through razor wire, left to the wolves of a failing state. From Mari Malcolm for Amazon.com

Eldorado Directed by Bouli Lanners

2009-02-17T09:17:00.002-06:00

Eldorado, Directed by Bouli Lanners, Belgium

Yvan and Elie are two loners who wander aimlessly through their lives. Yvan is a quick-tempered 40-year-old vintage car dealer, while Elie is a young burglar and ex-junkie. One day Yvan catches Elie trying to rob him. Instead of beating him up, he becomes strangely attached to him and agrees to drive him home to his parents in his old Chevrolet. Yvan and Elie are both nostalgic about lost relationships, which is what leads them to undertake a bizarre journey through a region that is as spectacular as it is crazy. Both are trying to find the pieces of a puzzle that they want to put back together, but it might be too late.

WINNER —Alfred Bauer Prize and FIPRESCI Award, Berlin International Film Festival

WINNER —Mayahuel Award; Best Director, Guadalajara Mexican Film Festival

WINNER —Special Jury Prize, Transylvania International Film Festival

NOMINATED —Golden Berlin Bear, Berlin International Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION —San Sebastian Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION —Karlovy Vary Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION —Helsinki International Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION —AFI Film Festival•

COMING SOON FROM FILM MOVEMENT

The film listed below is a title we plan to release. Due to contracts, director timetables and release dates, this film could be delayed or deleted.

Lake Tahoe, Directed by Fernando Eimbcke, Mexico

Teenage Juan crashes his family’s car into a telegraph pole on the outskirts of town, and then scours the streets searching for someone to help him fix it. His quest will bring him to Don Heber, an old paranoid mechanic whose only companion is Sica, his almost human boxer dog; to Lucía, a young mother who is convinced that her real place in life is as a lead singer in a punk band, and to “The One Who Knows,” a teenage mechanic obsessed with martial arts and Kung Fu philosophy. The absurd and bewildering worlds of these characters drag Juan into a one-day journey in which he will come to accept what he was escaping from in the first place—an event both as natural and inexplicable as a loved one’s death.

Lift Every Voice and Sing and Dance!

2009-02-10T17:14:00.003-06:00

Dr. Jacqueline Thompson will present a program for children in grades Kindergarten to Fifth Grade. She will share stories of the men and women whose poetry still sings of a new day.

Seating is limited to 50 participants.

New Issue of BookBrowse Available Online

2009-01-30T08:54:00.002-06:00

The February issue of BookBrowse is available online.

BookBrowse may be viewed by all Fort Dodge Public Library cardholders.

Click on the link below for more information.

http://www.fortdodgeiowa.org/egov/docs/1233327118_710388.htm

The Big Read Continues at the Fort Dodge Public Library

2009-01-23T10:33:00.003-06:00

The Fort Dodge Public Library is one of seven Iowa libraries partnering with the African American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa and the National Endowment for the Arts to present The Big Read centered on the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston.
A one-woman play entitled Queen Zora, written and performed by Ruth Anne Gaines, will be offered at the Fort Dodge Public Library on Sunday, February 22, 2009 at 2:00 pm. The play is based upon the life of Zora Neale Hurston, from her childhood of poverty in the rural south to her rise in the Harlem Renaissance.

Recorded Books Launches the NetLibrary Media Center

2009-01-09T11:40:00.003-06:00

E-audiobooks from Recorded Books are easier to download with the new NetLibrary Media Center. The following links will help you to use your existing Recorded Books username and password to download and install the NetLibrary Media Center.

Media Center Installation

The NetLibrary Media Center Installation link gives you step-by-step instructions for downloading and installing the NetLibrary Media Center.

Media Center Demo Video

The NetLibrary Media Center demo video provides a short overview of the NetLibrary Media Center. The video will guide you through the process of selecting your e-audiobook, downloading the e-audiobook to your computer or portable device and listening to it.

Media Center Help Desk

The NetLibrary Media Center Help Desk provides detailed information on several topics. You may also click on Contact Us in the Need More Help? section on the right of your monitor.

You must come to the Library and create an account to download e-audiobooks from Recorded Books. If you have an account with Recorded Books you may use your current username and password for the NetLibrary Media Center.

The Iowa Center for the Book Announces All Iowa Reads for 2009

2008-12-26T15:52:00.003-06:00

The Iowa Library Association and the Iowa Center for the Book announce The Rope Walk by Carrie Brown as the All Iowa Reads selection for 2009. In The Rope Walk a ten-year-old girl in Grange, Vermont broadens her horizons while confronting the harsher reality presented by her new friendship with Theo, a young boy of mixed-race, and Kenneth Fitzgerald, an artist dying of AIDS.

The Library has a set of books available for book clubs and discussion groups.

Iowa Center for the Book

The Big Read Comes to Fort Dodge

2008-12-11T11:32:00.004-06:00

Big Read Grant from The National Endowment for the Arts

The African American Museum of Iowa will partner with libraries in seven communities around the state of Iowa to present the Big Read. The Big Read is a national campaign to encourage Americans to read for fun and enlightenment. It provides innovative reading programs, and gives citizens an opportunity to read and discuss a single book within their own communities.
The featured book is Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, and the Museum will host programs in Des Moines, Fort Dodge, Waterloo, Davenport, Keokuk, Mount Pleasant, and Cedar Rapids. We will work with libraries and schools in these communities to present programs between January and March 2009. For a detailed list of events in your community please go to http://www.neabigread.org/events.php.

NEIBORS Adds Ipod Compatible Audiobooks

2008-12-04T07:35:00.004-06:00

NEIBORS is proud to announce the addition of OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks to our Downloadable Media collection! The OverDrive MP3 Audiobook offers iPod®, iPhone™, and iPod Touch support!

To download our MP3 content, please make sure you have OverDrive Media Console v3.0 (or newer) for Windows or OverDrive Media Console v1.0 (or newer) for Mac installed on your computer.

A complete list of titles is available here.

For more information checkout the NEIBORS website at http://neibors.lib.overdrive.com.

Amy's Picks for October

2008-09-24T10:36:00.003-05:00

The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam

Kiriyama-winner Aslam (Maps for Lost Lovers) takes an ambitious and moving look at the human cost of Afghanistan's war-torn reality. Marcus, a British doctor, lives near Jalalabad and quietly mourns the loss of his Afghan wife, their grown daughter and his hand to the Taliban and tribal warring. His houseguests includes Lara, a Russian woman searching for the truth about her soldier brother's disappearance, and David, a formerly zealous CIA operative whose love for Marcus's murdered daughter binds him to the older man as they search for her missing son. There's a tremendous tension in the first half of the book as the connections between the characters and the country are built up, and Aslam exploits the setup perfectly when a cast of younger characters—a fervent jihadi, a charismatic but arrogant American soldier, a rebellious local schoolteacher—arrive at the house and bring danger with them. Lyrical but not overwritten, the novel creates an unflinchingly clear picture of a country whose history of strife is still being written. From Publishers Weekly.

The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran

With her second historical novel (after Nefertiti), also set in ancient Egypt, Moran continues to delight. Following the murder of Nefertiti and most of her family for their heretical beliefs, the sole survivor, Princess Nefertari, is raised in the household of Pharaoh Seti I. Although much loved by the crown prince, Ramesses II, Nefertari is feared and hated by the people of Egypt because of her birth family's unpopularity. But, young as she is, Nefertari discovers that there is great power in her love for Ramesses and her gift for languages and political maneuvering, and she uses both to carve a place for herself as queen of Egypt. As readers of the Bible may recall, it is Ramesses II who is credited with releasing the Hebrews from slavery following the demands of Moses. Moran puts a twist on this story and uses it as a subplot in a wonderfully original way. It's all here: palace intrigue, politics, romance, warfare, and religion. As beautifully written and engrossing as her first novel, this should enjoy wide readership. Recommended for all popular fiction collections. From Jane Henriksen Baird, The Library Journal.

Goldengrove by Francine Prose

[Prose's] modest-sounding book turns out to be beautifully wrought. And it blossoms into a smart, gimlet-eyed account of what 13-year-old Nico sees happening around her after the loss of the more alluring, glamorous and manipulative Margaret. Nico's experience goes well beyond the realms of adolescence and family dynamics and yields an unexpectedly rich, tart, eye-opening sense of Nico's world…Goldengrove is one of Ms. Prose's gentler books—far more so than the bitingly satirical A Changed Man. But it's not a sentimental one. It draws the reader into and then out of "that hushed and watery border zone where we live alongside the dead," and it does this with mostly effortless narrative verve. And it scorns the bathos of its genre, so it does not become an invitation to wallow in suffering. It prefers the comforts of strength, growth and forward motion. From Janet Maslin, The New York Times.

City of Refuge by Tom Piazza

A passionate ode to the Big Easy's "cracked bowl," the latest from Piazza (Why New Orleans Matters) offers two alternating perspectives on Katrina and its aftermath. For Craig Donaldson-a white Michigan transplant who edits local culture organ Gumbo, who has a tidy house near Tulane University and whose two-child marriage appears "headed for divorce"-Katrina becomes a pressure valve for his own stifled emotions, as Craig rants about the "despicable" lies of George Bush, the "man-made" nature of the Katrina disaster, and his own marriage. Much more effective are sections that focus on SJ, a black Vietnam vet and widower from the Lower Ninth Ward, who is taking care of his invalid sister, Lucy, as the hurricane strikes. Craig's and SJ's approaches to evacuation couldn't differ more, and while their competing narratives occasionally illustrate the city's race and class divide a little too schematically, the point that thousands were left to rot is brought home with kinetic intensity. In stark contrast to Craig's bluster-and to some of the stereotypes handed to Lucy's character-SJ's methodical approach to the disaster and his ability to rebound from devastating loss speak volumes. From Publishers Weekly.

A Country Called Home by Kim Barnes

From the author of the acclaimed memoir In the Wilderness (finalist for the Pulitzer Prize): a luminous novel of youthful idealism, of faith and madness, of love and family.It is 1960 when Thomas Deracotte and his pregnant wife, Helen, abandon a guaranteed future in upper-crust Connecticut and take off for a utopian adventure in the Idaho wilderness. They buy a farm sight unseen and find the buildings collapsed, the fields in ruins. But they have a tent, a river full of fish, and fields overgrown with edible berries and dandelion greens: they can survive happily until the house is rebuilt. Thomas discovers he isn’t a natural farmer, but there’s a local boy, Manny—a sweet soul of eighteen without a family of his own—who agrees to manage the fields in exchange for room and board. Their optimism and desire carry them again and again.Until: the traumatizing circumstances surrounding the birth of their daughter, Elise, test them in ways they could never have anticipated. And soon, in the aftermath of a tragic accident to which only Manny bears witness, suspicion, anger, and regret come to haunt the already shattered family. It is a legacy that Elise will inherit, will struggle with, and, against all odds, will ultimately overcome. From the Publisher.

A Map of Home by Randa Jarrar

Jarrar's sparkling debut about an audacious Muslim girl growing up in Kuwait, Egypt and Texas is intimate, perceptive and very, very funny. Nidali Ammar is born in Boston to a Greek-Egyptian mother and a Palestinian father, and moves to Kuwait at a very young age, staying there until she's 13, when Iraq invades. A younger brother is born in Kuwait, rounding out a family of complex citizenships. During the occupation, the family flees to Alexandria in a wacky caravan, bribing soldiers along the way with whiskey and silk ties. But they don't stay long in Egypt, and after the war, Nidali's father finds work in Texas. At first, Nidali is disappointed to learn that feeling rootless doesn't make her an outsider in the States, and soon it turns out the precocious and endearing Arab chick isn't very different from other American girls, a reality that only her father may find difficult to accept. Jarrar explores familiar adolescent ground-stifling parental expectations, precarious friendships, sensuality and first love-but her exhilarating voice and flawless timing make this a standout. From Publishers Weekly.
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2008-09-15T16:30:00.005-05:00

Duffy Hudson Presents:

"In the Shadow of the Raven"

. . .a dramatization of the life and work of Edgar Allen Poe

Sunday, October 12, 2008

2:00 pm

Fort Dodge Public Library

Free Admission

New Videos from My Library DV

2008-09-11T17:00:00.002-05:00

MyLibraryDV has added exciting programs to the Channel Guide. 34 Additional Antiques Roadshow Episodes have been added to the How-To Channel!

Albuquerque, Hour 1 - 3

Seattle, Hour 1 - 3

Oklahoma City, Hour 1 - 3

Savannah, Hour 1 - 3

Roadshow Favorites

Greatest Finds

Hawaii, Hour 1 - 3

Philadelphia, Hour 1 - 3

Tucson, Hour 1 - 3

Mobile, Hour 1 - 3

Salt Lake City, Hour 1 - 3

Jackpot!

Milwaukee , Hour 1 - 3

Uniques Antiques

Look for these award-winning authors in Literary Highlights:

Michael Dirda

Jane Smiley

Gregory McGuire

Brought to you by Recorded Books 270 Skipjack Road • Prince Frederick, MD 20678

New From

2008-08-08T09:57:00.006-05:00

The following titles were recently added to NEIBORS!

A$$hole by Martin Kihn

After Chancellorsville by Judith A. Bailey

Billingsgate Shoal by Rick Boyer

Black Wave by John Silverwood

Bowl of Cherries by Mildred Kaufman

The Bride of the Wilderness by Charles McCarry

Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles

Death Goes on a Retreat by Sister Carol Anne O'Marie

Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

The Eagle Heist by Raymond Austin

Flory by Flory Van Beek

Forbidden by Suzanne Brockmann

Happiness is an Inside Job by Sylvia Boorstein

The Haunting of Josie by Kay Hooper

Keeping the House by Ellen Baker

Noble Lies by Charles Benoit

The Price of Silence by Kate Wilhelm

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Skeletons by Kate Wilhelm

Summer in Tuscany by Elizabeth Adler

The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss

Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes-Courter

To Shield the Queen by Fiona Buckley

The Unbidden Truth by Kate Wilhelm

The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum

To listen to these titles:

Go to NEIBORS.
Select Fort Dodge from the list of libraries under sign in.
Type in your FDPL Library Card number. (Do not enter the "A" or "B" if your
card number has them).
If you are new to NEIBORS download the software for the Overdrive reader at
the bottom of the left sidebar.
Choose your title and follow the onscreen directions to download.

Contact the Library at 515-573-8167 x 224 for assistance.

Rebuild Iowa Task Forces

2008-07-11T10:36:00.001-05:00

Adam GrossOutreach Coordinator/Volunteer Liaison
Office of Governor Chet Culver and Lt. Governor Patty Judge1007 E. Grand AvenueDes Moines, Iowa 50319
Direct: 515/281-0159
Main: 515/281-5211Fax: 515/281-6611E-mail: adam.gross@iowa.govWebsite: www.governor.iowa.gov
One Iowa, One Unlimited Future

GOVERNOR CULVER, LT. GOVERNOR JUDGE CALL ON IOWANS TO APPLY FOR REBUILD IOWA TASK FORCES

To apply, Iowans should complete and return attached application form, also available on-line at flood2008.iowa.gov

Governor Chet Culver and Lt. Governor Patty Judge are inviting Iowans to apply for a position on one of the nine new Rebuild Iowa task forces, which will help create a vision for Iowa’s recovery efforts.

“As the flood waters rose, we saw the strength, resilience and determination of Iowans shine through as our state joined together to save our homes, businesses, and communities,” said Governor Chet Culver. “Now, we must tap into this same spirit of service as Iowans begin down the road to recovery. I call on Iowans from across the state to help our friends and neighbors in need, and serve on one of these nine Rebuild Iowa task forces. By locking arms and working together, I am confident that we can rebuild our state, stronger and better than before.”

Last month, Governor Culver signed his seventh executive order, which created the Rebuild Iowa Advisory Commission. To be chaired by Gen. Ron Dardis of the Iowa National Guard, the 15 member commission is designed to help guide our state’s recovery efforts. The Executive Order specifically calls for the creation of task forces to help guide the commission’s work.

“These task forces are an important step in helping Iowans recover from this year’s historic and severe flooding,” said Lt. Governor Patty Judge. “The Governor and I look forward to working with the Rebuild Iowa Commission, the nine task forces, and all Iowans as we begin the difficult work of rebuilding our state and returning life to normal for all Iowans.

The nine task forces created are:

Housing
Flood Plain Management and Hazard Mitigation
Infrastructure and Transportation
Economic and Workforce Development
Cultural Heritage and Records Retention
Public Health and Health Care
Long-Term Recovery Planning
Agriculture and Environment
Education

Iowans interested in applying should complete and return attached application form, also available on-line at flood2008.iowa.gov

Fort Dodge Public Library Accredited

2008-07-03T17:08:00.002-05:00

The State Library of Iowa has announced that the Fort Dodge Public Library has met the conditions for state accreditation as outlined in "In Service to Iowa: Public Library Measures of Quality, 4th ed."

Achieving accreditation requires a significant, ongoing local commitment to high quality library services. Of Iowa's 543 public libraries, 331--including the Fort Dodge Public Library--are accredited. The Fort Dodge Public Library has been recognized for its efforts in all areas of library administration including governance and funding; staffing; library collection; services; public relations; and access and facilities. The accreditation is valid through June 30, 2011.

Iowa's accredited public libraries are recognized for being responsive to their communities and for exhibiting excellence in their provision of library services. Libraries are cornerstones of our communities. They reflect and help strengthen the economic health of communities, as well as the people who use them.

Accredited libraries receive a higher rate of compensation through the State Library of Iowa's Enrich Iowa/Direct State Aid program. They also receive an official Certificate of Accreditation signed by Governor Chet Culver, State Librarian Mary Wegner, and Iowa Commission of Libraries Chairwoman Monica Gohlinghorst.

Said Wegner, "The Director and Board of Trustees of the Fort Dodge Public Library and the city of Fort Dodge are to be commended for this achievement and their commitment to excellence in public library services for their community."

Flood Recovery Assistance for Public Libraries

2008-06-26T09:08:00.003-05:00

Due to the damage from this month's flooding several libraries in eastern Iowa have established accounts for donations to help with recovery.

Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation
500 First Street Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA. 52401

----------------------------------------
Friends of New Hartford Public Library
P O Box 292
New Hartford, IA. 50660

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National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library
30 Sixteenth Avenue Southwest
Cedar Rapids, IA. 52401-5904
http://www.ncsml.org/

The University of Iowa Libraries have also created a website with information that will help anyone who has suffered flood damage.

http://guides.lib.uiowa.edu/floodrecovery

Updated Information on Iowa's Flooding

2008-06-17T08:14:00.001-05:00

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Governor Chet Culver
Lt. Governor Patty Judge

So many of you have mentioned that you want to help the victims of the 2008 floods. This came this morning from the governor's office.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 17, 2008 Contact: State Emergency Operations Center (515) 323-4222 07:30 AM

UPDATED INFORMATION ON IOWA'S FLOODING New way to donate

One issue that constantly comes up during and after a disaster involves people wanting to help. While officials stressed that the best way to help is to make a cash donation to a charity of your choice, a new way to donate has been announced. By visiting the flood 2008 web site and clicking on the donations link on the upper left side, Iowans and others can donate cash, volunteer and supply their time. This will help both those that want to donate and emergency managers and responders often faced with the task of managing donations. The donation link was coordinated by the Safeguard Iowa Partnership, an agency established to help coordinate private and public response and preparedness efforts. During this disaster, Safeguard Iowa is at the State Emergency Operations Center coordinating private and public efforts.

The flood 2008 website is at http://flood2008.iowa.gov/.

Tuesday Morning Adventures

2008-06-04T13:47:00.008-05:00

The Fort Dodge Public Library annunces the schedule for this summer's Tuesday Morning Adventures.

Tuesday Morning Adventures are held Tuesday mornings at 10:00 am. This is a parent/child and each child must be accompanied by an adult.

Adventures last approximately 45-60 minutes. These is no charge, but most Adventures required a free ticket. All tickets are given away on a first come first served basis. Tickets will not be held or saved. You may pick up tickets for members of your household only. Ticket giveaways begin at 9:00 am the week prior to the event

Check out the complete schedule at www.fortdodgeiowa.org/library.

2008-05-10T09:39:00.008-05:00

Look What’s Cookin’ is the theme for this year’s Summer Reading Program at the Fort Dodge Public Library. The Friends of the Library are once again sponsoring this fun program for parents and children.

Sign up begins on Monday, June 2nd and continues throughout the summer. Children will be given a reading log to record the library books they read or that have been read to them. When the log is full and the child has made four visits to our library, the log may be turned in for a special prize.

We will also hold our Annual School Reading Challenge. The Fort Dodge public or parochial school with the highest percentage of students who finish the program will receive a trophy for their school. Students grades K-5 will be counted.

We will also be having our Tuesday Morning Adventure programs again this year. This program will feature a variety of storytellers, magicians and craft times that children of all ages will enjoy.

Watch for a complete list of Adventures in early June.

See you this summer at the Fort Dodge Public Library!

New Titles Have Been Added to NEIBORS

2008-05-06T10:28:00.002-05:00

The following new titles have been added to NEIBORS for the month of May.

Big Boned by Meg Cabot; read by Justine Eyre
Chasing Windmills by Catherine Ryan Hyde; read by Jesse Bernstein
City of the Sun by David Levien; read by Scott Brick
Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman; read by John Rubinstein
Death Walked In by Carolyn Hart; read by Kate Reading
Degrees of Separation by Sue Henry; read by Lee Adams
Guilty by Karen Robards; read by Joyce Bean
The Highlander's Touch by Karen Marie Moning; read by Phil Gigante
Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein; read by Bernadette Dunne
Killer Riff by Sheryl J. Anderson; ready by Kirsten Potter
Make the Impossible Possible by Bill Strickland
One Door Away From Heaven by Dean Koontz; read by Ann Twormey
Reconciliation by Benazir Bhutto; read by Rita Wolf
Souvenir by Therese Fowler; read by Kimberly Farr
The Spiderwick Chronicles, Volume 1 by Holly Black; read by Mark Hamill
Stink and the World's Worst Super Stinky Sneakers & Stink and the Great Guinea Pig Express by Megan McDonald; read by Nancy Cartwright
Stop Whining, Start Living by Dr. Laura Schlessinger; read byLily LoBianco
Taken By Storm by Tami Hoag; read by Donna Rawlins
Trapped by Chris Jordan; read by Cassandra Campbell
Unaccustomed Earth by Debbie Ford; read by Debbie Ford
Wild Nights by Joyce Carol Oates

For information about NEIBORS or other online services please contact the Library at 515-573-8167 x224 or email.

Book Review for May 2008

2008-04-25T15:57:00.007-05:00

Dervishes by Beth Helms

The richly textured, panoramic story of an American mother and daughter stuck in the expatriate community of Ankara, Turkey, in 1975--each of them trying to discover a life in the larger world, each in way over her head.Grace and Canada are the wife and twelve-year-old daughter of an American diplomat stationed in Ankara. While he disappears for long stretches, mother and daughter are forced into a fiercely gossipy, isolated community of Western ladies and wealthy Turks. Fed up with each other during the hot summer months, when the electricity shuts down throughout the city from dusk to dawn, each ventures out beyond the embassy swimming pools and cocktail parties into Ankara. But neither is quite equipped to navigate on her own in Turkey, and they are soon lost in a society they can't possibly comprehend. Their transgressions threaten to strand them between the safe island of expatriates and a city still hostile to the presence of foreigners. Dervishes is a psychologically complex, richly atmospheric story of a mother and daughter cut loose from their foundations, hungry for experience but dangerously naïve.

Resistance by Owen Sheers

Resistance is the governing idea of the novel. But its motor force and inner poetics have another name: reversal. The women have to step into the men's shoes, the enemy becomes the friend, lonely and desolate places become opportunities for regeneration.
In a polyphonous novel filled to bursting with evocative images, the most graphic is itself a piece of writing. One of the women writes letters to her missing husband in the back of their farm accounts. She gradually fills in the book from both ends until there is no more space, and she has to find another way forward. The novel starts with an ending - the disappearance of the husbands. Its quest throughout is for an ending that might be a fresh start. By Ingrid Wassenaar from The Telegraph.

The Resurrectionist by Jack O’Connell

Part classic noir thriller, part mind-bending fantasy, The Resurrectionist is a wild ride into a territory where nothing is as it appears. It is the story of Sweeney, a druggist by trade, and his son, Danny, the victim of an accident that has left him in a persistent coma. Hoping for a miracle, they have come to the fortress like Peck Clinic, whose doctors claim to have "resurrected" two patients who were lost in the void. What Sweeney comes to realize, though, is that the real cure to his son's condition may lie in Limbo, a fantasy comic book world into which his son had been drawn at the time of his accident. Plunged into the intrigue that envelops the clinic, Sweeney's search for answers leads to sinister back alleys, brutal dead ends, and terrifying rabbit holes of darkness and mystery.O'Connell has crafted a mesmerizing novel about stories and what they can do for and to those who create them and those who consume them. About the nature of consciousness and the power of the unknown. About psychotic bikers, mad neurologists, and wandering circus freaks. About loss and grief and rage. And, ultimately, about forgiveness and the depth of our need to extend it and receive it.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Thirteen linked tales from Strout (Abide with Me, etc.) present a heart-wrenching, penetrating portrait of ordinary coastal Mainers living lives of quiet grief intermingled with flashes of human connection. The opening "Pharmacy" focuses on terse, dry junior high-school teacher Olive Kitteridge and her gregarious pharmacist husband, Henry, both of who have survived the loss of a psychologically damaged parent, and both of who suffer painful attractions to co-workers. Their son, Christopher, takes center stage in "A Little Burst," which describes his wedding in humorous, somewhat disturbing detail, and in "Security," where Olive, in her 70s, visits Christopher and his family in New York. Strout's fiction showcases her ability to reveal through familiar details-the mother-of-the-groom's wedding dress, a grandmother's disapproving observations of how her grandchildren are raised-the seeds of tragedy. Themes of suicide, depression, bad communication, aging and love, run through these stories, none more vivid or touching than "Incoming Tide," where Olive chats with former student Kevin Coulson as they watch waitress Patty Howe by the seashore, all three struggling with their own misgivings about life. Like this story, the collection is easy to read and impossible to forget. Its literary craft and emotional power will surprise readers unfamiliar with Strout. From April Publishers Weekly, Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

The Outcast by Sadie Jones

It’s 1957 and Lewis Aldridge is traveling back to his home in the South of England. He is straight out of jail and nineteen years old. His return will trigger the implosion not just of his family, but of a whole community.
A decade earlier, his father’s homecoming casts a different shape. The war is over and Gilbert reverts easily to suburban life — cocktails at six-thirty, church on Sundays — but his wife and young son resist the stuffy routine. Lewis and his mother escape to the woods for picnics, just as they did in wartime days. Nobody is surprised that Gilbert’s wife counters convention, but they are all shocked when, after one of their jaunts, Lewis comes back without her. Not far away, Kit Carmichael keeps watch. She has always understood more than most, not least from what she is dealt by her own father’s hand. Lewis’s grief and burgeoning rage are all too plain, and Kit makes a private vow to help. But in her attempts to set them both free, she fails to predict the painful and horrifying secrets that must first be forced into the open. From the Publisher.

Top Ten Reasons to Support Libraries

2008-04-16T16:46:00.005-05:00

1. Public libraries are partners for vibrant and educated communities. They provide a dynamic array of resources, services and programming that help make their communities attractive, vital places for businesses and their employees.

2. Libraries are places of opportunity. They help people of all ages and backgrounds to lead better, more satisfying lives. Many libraries offer English classes, foreign language collections and other services to help newcomers adjust to life in a new country.

3. Libraries are essential for a free people. They protect our right to know by providing access to a full spectrum of ideas, resources and services. Admission is free. No questions are asked.

4. Libraries preserve our past, inform our present and inspire our future. Libraries connect us with books and other materials that help us to learn from the past and prepare for the future. Not just books, but photographs, artifacts, historical documents and other pieces of our heritage that the Internet will never offer.

5. Libraries support lifelong learners. From cradle to grave, libraries provide books, classes and other resources to help us keep learning. "Tuition" is free. All it takes is a library card.

6. Libraries are a great American bargain. Check out a couple of novels and audio books, some picture books for the kids, some CDs and DVDs and the savings quickly add up. Libraries are paid for with less than 2 percent of all public tax dollars and used by almost two-thirds of the population.

7. Libraries level the playing field. Libraries provide resources and services that help people of all incomes learn to read, use computers and develop other skills they need to succeed. A report titled "Toward Equality of Access" from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says ". . . if you can reach a public library, you can reach the Internet."

8. Libraries are great places for kids. Starting with picture books and storyhour and continuing with summer reading and other programs, the library opens doors to learning, imagination and wonder. Kids learn both the thrill and responsibility of owning their own "charge card"--one that lets them borrow books, movies, music, games, and more.

9. Libraries support a community of readers. Libraries promote a lifelong reading habit starting with storytimes for preschoolers and continuing with special collections and programs for teens. Many libraries offer book discussion groups, presentations by authors and other book-themed programming for children and adults, also literacy classes for adults.

10. Libraries have librarians! Librarians teach children the joy of reading and seniors how to surf the 'Net. They save time and money by helping to find the best, most current information for your needs--in print and online. Librarians are the ultimate search engines.

From the American Library Association and the Public Library Association.

2008-04-16T16:46:00.001-05:00

The Caregiver's Corner

2008-04-08T09:25:00.002-05:00

Now Available at

Fort Dodge Public Library

Provided by

Elderbridge Agency on Aging

Elderbridge has provided a collection of books to the Fort Dodge Public Library. The Elderbridge collection has information for people with aging parents, grandparents raising grandchildren, and others who are providing care for others.

The Collection includes:

Choices at the End of Life

Nursing Homes: Getting Good Care There

The Complete Guide to Alzheimer's-Proofing Your Home

Comfort of Home: An Illustrated Step-By-Step Guide for Caregivers

Is your Parent in Good Hands?

Taking Care of Dad

Caring for the Parents Who Cared for You

The Complete Guide to Managing Your Parents' Finances

Eldercare 911

Long-Term Care

My Mother's Hip

Caregiving: The Spiritual Journey of Love, Loss and Renewal

Caregiver's Essential Handbook

Learning to Speak Alzheimer's

Aging With Attitude

Grandparents as Parents

& Thou Shalt Honor

Today's Caregiver magazine

Please stop by and ask about The Caregiver's Corner.

Breakfast to Benefit the Library's Winter Reading Program

2008-03-25T14:41:00.003-05:00

The Fort Dodge Junior Women's Club will be holding its annual breakfast on Sunday, April 20th at Citizen's Central located at 617 Central Ave. in Fort Dodge. The Junior Women have selected the Fort Dodge Public Library as the recipient of this year's proceeds.

The Children's Department, which runs the Winter and Summer Reading programs, Holiday Open Houses and Storytime programs relies on donations. The 2008 Winter Reading Program was funded by an anonymous donor. The Junior Women will provide funding for the 2009 Winter Reading Program.

The Junior Women's Club would like to encourage members of the Fort Dodge community to support the Winter Reading program through the breakfast. The breakfast will feature all you can eat Dad's Waffles, a silent auction, and a raffle. The breakfast is from 9:00 am till 1:00 pm on Sunday, April 20th. Carryout is available.

Tickets may be purchased at Hy-Vee, Daniel's Pharmacy, at the door, and from club members. Ticket prices are $5.00 for adults in advance and $6.00 at the door. Children 12 and under are $3.00.

If you would like to know more about the breakfast or would like to donate to the silent auction, please contact Brianne at 515-570-1146.

Fun Website for Parents

2008-03-19T11:13:00.005-05:00

Here's a time saver for parents with young children.

LookyBook is a website that allows you to browse through the latest children's picture books. Although not a substitue for an actual book, LookyBook allows parents to make informed decisions on purchasing (or borrowing from the library!) current picture books. Books can be reviewed, rated, shared and put on your bookshelf.

LookyBook requires you to register, but it is a free service. Click on the banner above to access LookyBook

Meet the Authors

2008-03-10T16:23:00.006-05:00

Also Called Sacajawea
by Thomas H. Johnson and Helen S. Johnson

The Friends of the Library present Thomas H. Johnson and Helen S. Johnson as the next authors in the popular "Meet the Authors" series. Tom, a native Fort Dodger, and Helen will present a program on his new book at the Fort Dodge Public Library Meeting Room on Monday 17, 2008 at 7:00 pm.

Tom Johnson, a long-time fieldworker among the Eastern Shoshone Indians, unfolds a captivating story of mistaken identity, manipulated facts, and disputed legend involving Sacajawea, the young Shoshone who accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition. For over 100 years, many have believed Sacajawea rejoined her people at Wind River where she died and was buried in 1884. Conclusive evidence surfaced in the 1950s that the woman in that grave was not Sacajawea. Through his careful unraveling of Shoshone oral tradition, bolstered by the discovery of a key historical document, Johnson strips away decades of cover-up to reveal the Wind River Sacajawea's true identity without discrediting Shoshone history and values.

Anthropologist Tom Johnson is a graduate of Fort Dodge High School, Augustana College, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champagne, and the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. He first came to Wind River Reservation in 1966. Tom teaches at the University of Wisconsin.

Helen Johnson holds degrees from Stanford and UC Berkeley. She has worked with Tom Johnson at Wind River for the past decade.

For more information visit their website at http://www.tomandhelenjohnson.com/.

There will be reading from the book, a discussion of the research with the Eastern Shoshone Indians, and a question and answer period.

Sponsored by The Friends of the Library.

Admission is free.

One Iowa Report

2008-02-29T09:44:00.003-06:00

One Iowa Report is a newletter that is released by the Governor's office every other month. The January/February newsletter has just been released. To see the new report or to check out the back issues go to http://www.governor.iowa.gov/administration/newsletter/

2008-02-12T16:29:00.000-06:00

New Titles for March

The Reserve

Russell Banks

It all begins on July 4, 1936, in the achingly beautiful and unspoiled Adirondack Mountains, where the wealthy built their summer retreats. Vanessa Cole is one of the lucky ones: her family inherited land on "the Reserve" before the implementation of building restrictions, and as such, it owns a secluded lodge that can be reached only by boat and plane. On that July night, Vanessa's father invites local artist Jordan Groves to the lodge to see his art collection, but it's the meeting between Jordan and Vanessa that will show just how destructive this seclusion and sense of privilege can be. Known for his complex and conflicted characters, Banks (Rule of the Bone) here reveals how the mentally unbalanced Vanessa and Jordan, a wealthy, married socialist, are attracted to these contradictions in each other. The plot gets off to a slow start, but the breathtaking scenic descriptions create a setting central to the story. As the chain of events builds to an inevitable and tragic conclusion, we are left with the feeling that no one, not even the well-to-do, can escape the laws of nature. Recommended for all libraries. From Kellie Gillespie, Library Journal, 10-15-2007.

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The Boys in the Trees

Mary Swan

Newly arrived to the countryside, William Heath, his wife, and two daughters appear the picture of a devoted family. But when accusations of embezzlement spur William to commit an unthinkable crime, those who witnessed this affectionate, attentive father go about his routine of work and family must reconcile action with character. A doctor who has cared for one daughter, encouraging her trust, examines the finer details of his brief interactions with William, searching for clues that might penetrate the mystery of his motivation. Meanwhile the other daughter's teacher grapples with guilt over a moment when fate wove her into a succession of events that will haunt her dreams. In beautifully crafted prose, Mary Swan examines the volatile collisions between our best intentions-how a passing stranger can leave an indelible mark on our lives even as the people we know most intimately become alienated by tides of self-preservation and regret. In her nuanced, evocative descriptions a locket contains immeasurable sorrow, trees provide sanctuary and refuge to lost souls, and grief clicks into place when a man cocks the cold steel barrel of a revolver. A supreme literary achievement, The Boys in the Trees offers a chilling story that swells with acutely observed emotion and humanity. From the Publisher, Holt Paperbacks.

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The Opposite of Love

Julie Buxbaum

"Harvard law grad Buxbaum makes an appealing debut with this tale of Yale law graduate Emily Haxby, eager to break through the emotional and professional ties that bind her. 'It's like you get pleasure out of breaking your own heart,' best friend Jess tells Emily after her bustup with her doctor boyfriend. But Emily isn't through self-destructing; she also implodes over her fast-failing Grandpa Jack, from whom Emily learned 'everything... about life'; chilly relations with her lieutenant governor father, Kirk; and a precarious career as a litigator defending big, evil corporations for a Manhattan law firm. This single-gal-in-the-city finds her white-knuckle hold on life and love slowly slipping as it dawns on her that the opposite of love isn't hate, it's emptiness. Grandpa Jack and his retirement home pal, Ruth, help steer Emily to a soft landing, but the big disappointment is that the resolution is far less interesting than the unraveling that precedes it." Publishers Weekly Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.
The Farther Shore by Matthew Eck.

Mark Sarvas, who writes the literary blog The Elegant Variation, says Matthew Eck's The Farther Shore isn't your grandfather's war novel. It's a story about a group of soldiers separated from their unit, trying to survive until they can rejoin it. It shows how combat has changed, and what it's liked to be dropped in hostile countries. Sarvas describes it as a new kind of military novel, which in its sensibility and approach belongs in the continuum of books like All Quiet on the Western Front and some of the works of Hemingway. He says there's something lovely and harrowing about this work. From NPR.org.

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The Age of Shiva

Manil Suri.

India, 1955: as the scars of Partition are just beginning to heal, seventeen-year-old Meera sits enraptured on the balcony of a college auditorium in Delhi. In the spotlight is Dev, singing a song so infused with passion that it arouses in her the first flush of erotic longing. She wonders if she can steal him away from Roopa, her older, more beautiful sister. When Meera's reverie comes true, it does not lead to the fairy-tale marriage she imagined. Dev's family is steeped in the very kind of orthodoxy her father has spent his life railing against. Meera has no choice but to obey her in-laws, tolerate Dev's drunken night-time fumblings, even observe the most arduous of Hindu fasts for his longevity. She must also fend off Dev's brother, Arya, whose right-wing zeal and lascivious gaze she finds repellent. Her only solace is in her sister-in-law Sandhya, with whom she comes to share a tenderness that is as heartbreaking as it is fleeting.A move to Bombay, so that Dev can chase his dream of success as a Bollywood singer, seems at first like a fresh start, but soon that dream - and their marriage - turns to ashes. It is only when their son is born that things change. For the first time, Meera feels fulfilled. She is finally ready to shape her own destiny, to take control of her world. A sweeping epic that traces the fortunes of a family in the aftermath of Indian independence, "The Age of Shiva" is the powerful story of an ancient society in transition and an extraordinary portrait of maternal love. From Waterstones.com.

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Gods Behaving Badly

Marie Phillips.

From Marie Phillips, hailed by the Guardian Unlimited website as a “hot author” destined to “break through” in 2007, comes a highly entertaining novel set in North London, where the Greek gods have been living in obscurity since the seventeenth century.Being immortal isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Life’s hard for a Greek god in the twenty-first century: nobody believes in you any more, even your own family doesn’t respect you, and you’re stuck in a dilapidated hovel in North London with too many siblings and not enough hot water. But for Artemis (goddess of hunting, professional dog walker), Aphrodite (goddess of beauty, telephone sex operator) and Apollo (god of the sun, TV psychic) there’s no way out… until a meek cleaner and her would-be boyfriend come into their lives and turn the world upside down. Gods Behaving Badly is that rare thing, a charming, funny, utterly original novel that satisfies the head and the heart. From Random House.

Governor Culver's Proposed Budget for 2009

2008-01-23T08:52:00.000-06:00

Governor Culver has presented his proposed budget for 2009 to the State Legislature. In his proposed budget there is a 75% cut in funding for programs administered by the State Library of Iowa. The funding cuts will have a profound effect on the amount of state money that will be available to the Fort Dodge Public Library. Estimates are that $5,514.00 less money will come from the State to the Library.

The money we receive from the State Library funds programs that give Fort Dodge Public Library card holders borrowing privileges in most Iowa libraries (Open Access) and the Interlibrary Loan program (Open Access Plus). In addition, we receive a state grant (Direct State Aid) that may be used to purchase new computers, additional books and other materials, and programming.

The State Legislature still must act on the proposal before a final budget is developed. The Library needs your held to insure that these budget cuts are restored. Please contact Governor Culver, Senator Daryl Beall, and Representative Helen Miller. Tell them how important the Library is to you. Ask them to consider restoring the funding to the State Library so that we may continue to offer the programs that are funded by the grants we receive from the State Library

If you agree that Direct State Aid to public libraries, Open Access, Access Plus, the State Library, and the Library Service Areas are important, please express your opinion to Governor Culver and ask your local legislators to restore state funding for library services to at least FY2008 levels.Thanks for your support!

The Des Moines Register has an excellent editorial on the Governor's proposal. Click here to read the editorial.

Small Engine Repair Reference Center

2008-01-04T17:08:00.000-06:00

Small Engine Repair Reference Center is now available to library cardholders. The database includes in-depth information on repairing small engines of all types. Categories include All Terrain Vehicles, Generators & Other Small Engines, Marine/Boat Motors, Motorcycles, Outdoor Power Equipment, Personal Water Craft, Snow Machines/Snow Mobiles, and Tractors.

Contact the Fort Dodge Public Library at 515-573-8167 x242 or email us here for your free username and password.

Small Engine Repair Reference Center

Digital Sanborn Fire-Insurance Maps Are Available @ The State Library of Iowa

2007-12-19T16:15:00.000-06:00

The State Library of Iowa has added another online database for its customers: the Digital Sanborn Maps. Sanborn fire-insurance maps are a very useful tool for local historians, demographers, city planners, genealogists, and anyone studying the history of an urban area. These fire-insurance maps were developed by the Sanborn Company in the latter part of the 19th Century for the purpose of showing fire hazards for each building in a town. The digital maps cover more than 360 Iowa towns from the 1870's through the1950's. Some types of information that can be found on these maps include: building construction details (building materials, number of stories, elevators and stairs, date of construction); building use details (building name, commercial or residential, type of business located on the premises); location details(current address, past addresses, alleyways and prominent natural features); and, land use details (parks, railroad tracks, underground pipes, street widths, land elevations).

Search the maps at http://www.statelibraryofiowa.org/services/resources/sanborn-login,

or go to the State Library's Web site at http://www.statelibraryofiowa.org/ ,

click on "Log in to Online Resources" in the left side bar, and select "Sanborn Maps".

Use your State Library card number for access. If you don't have a State Register for a State Library card at http://www.statelibraryofiowa.org/services/state-library-card/library-card-application-1. Anyone who lives in the State of Iowa is eligible.

For more information contact Barbara Corson at the State Library of Iowa, 800-248-4483, mailto:barb.corson@lib.state.ia.us.

Families That Read Together--Succeed Together

2007-12-05T09:40:00.001-06:00

Grab a book, cozy up with your family or all by yourself and get ready to read away the winter cold! Families are encouraged to read together – it doesn’t have to be the same book- just read or be read aloud to. Log your daily reading time and earn chances at prizes! All children registered will receive a Winter Treat Bag after four stamps.

Drawings for great prizes for the whole family will be held every two weeks.

For more information contact the Children's Department at 515-573-8167 x242 or email at lhotz@fortdodge.lib.ia.us.

Iowa Literary Landscape

2007-12-03T11:40:00.001-06:00

Mount Mercy College's reference staff is pleased to announce two recent expansions to "Iowa: A Literary Landscape," the largest bibliography of fiction, for children and adults, using Iowa as the setting. The work, available at http://www.mtmercy.edu/iafiction/iowafic.htm now offers a
section of folklore resources that includes general reference books, Iowa-specific titles, and sources pertaining to Native Americans in Iowa.

Do you remember that Paul Bunyon is responsible for Iowa's landscape?

The project is periodically updated to reflect recently published and newly found works. These new titles are featured on the page named "Recent Project Additions." Listings are ordered chonologically; an item's full entry will be found in its applicable category. The bibliography now offers over 600 titles and some new inclusions in the short story and novella category.

The staff welcomes feedback and possible additions to the project at any time. We are grateful to the libraries that have cataloged and added this resource to their holdings and to those people who have suggested works for the bibliography.

Send messages to Kristy Raine kraine@mtmercy.edu>, or Marilyn Murphy mmurphy@mtmercy.edu.

424 Central

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Small Engine Repair Reference Center

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Recommended Reading

Small Engine Repair Reference Center

Digital Sanborn Fire-Insurance Maps Are Available @ The State Library of Iowa

Recommended Reading

Families That Read Together--Succeed Together

Iowa Literary Landscape