LEg GOdt

by April Everett  Rowan Public Librar

LEGOs, twice-named “Toy of the Century”, are undeniably one of the most iconic toys on the market.   The name “LEGO” is a conjunction of two Danish words, “leg godt”, meaning “play well”.  Aptly enough in Latin, the word means “I put together”.

The LEGO Group was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, master carpenter and joiner.  In the early years, the business manufactured stepladders, ironing boards, stools, and wooden toys.  It was not until 1934 that Kristiansen and his products adopted the name LEGO.  About a decade later, the LEGO Group was the first in Denmark to buy a plastic injection-moulding machine, which allowed for the production of Automatic Binding Bricks, a forerunner to the LEGO bricks we know today.

LEGOs are such ageless, timeless, and universal toys in large part due to the product characteristics the company established in the mid-1960s.  They wanted LEGO products to provide: unlimited play potential; appeal for girls and boys; fun for every age; year-round play; healthy, quiet play; long hours of play; development, imagination, creativity; and quality in every detail.  With no batteries required, limitless construction possibilities, and exceptional durability, the LEGO Group clearly exceeded their expectations with the modern LEGO brick, patented in 1958.

Today, LEGO products are sold in more than 140 countries.  In 2015, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, current President and Chief Executive Officer, estimates that approximately 100 million children “had a LEGO® experience – be it through playing with great LEGO products, in schools via LEGO® Education materials or by participating in local community activities or receiving product donations driven by the LEGO Foundation across the world” (www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus). 

Locally, hundreds of children have participated in LEGO Saturdays at Rowan Public Library, monthly programs where children of all ages are invited to free play time with the library’s LEGOs.  Our next round of LEGO Saturdays are scheduled for April 9, 2016, at RPL East Branch (Rockwell) and April 16, 2016, at RPL Headquarters (Salisbury) and South Rowan Regional (China Grove).  Free play begins at 10:00 AM, and all ages are welcome.

In addition to creative programs offered in the Spring and Fall, Rowan Public Library has more than 50 LEGO books, ebooks, and DVDs in our collection including LEGO Adventure books (step-by-step breakdowns of how to build anything from cars to dragons), the LEGO  Mindstorms EV3 Idea Book (how to build mechanical gadgets), and The LEGO Movie.  Stop by your local library or visit www.rowanpubliclibrary.org and “LEg GOdt”.

The Bracket Reveal

by Melissa J. Oleen Rowan Public Library

As I write, I am awaiting The Bracket reveal.  That’s right, THE Tournament, March Madness, the Big Dance, the NCAA Championship or, as we think of it on the Great Plains, “How you get through the last month of winter”.  When you read this, some fans will be wiping brows with relief that their top picks made it through round 1, some crying tears over a tournament finished way too soon, others cursing the games that trashed their office bracket, and a few secretly smiling at the loss that will free up the TV again for the next few weeks.

No matter your team’s status, RPL has books to compliment your family’s basketball interests.  Here I am focusing on books for young readers.  For the statisticians and dinner table debaters, new titles include: All Ball, Basketball’s Greatest Players.  This book highlights the sports greatest players by position and includes female players.  Ruling the Court: Basketball’s Biggest Wins covers the big tournaments: NBA, WNBA, Basketball World Cup and Paralympics.  Who’s Who of Basketball: A Guide to the Games Greatest Players uses statistics, facts and Sports Illustrated photos to discover the best of the best.

Basketball’s Greatest Players is an eBook available via the NC Digital Library.  This title covers six of the biggest names in professional basketball with great overviews of their careers and interesting personal information.  These players sometimes go by the following nicknames: Secretary of Defense, The Big Dipper, Cap, Hick From French Lick, His Airness and King James.  How many can you identify?

Trying to tie your youngster’s love of basketball to schoolwork?  Try Math on the Court.  This title explains how math applies to the game of basketball “from the length of the court to the calculation of players’ stats”.  The Science of Basketball: Top Ten Ways Science Affects the Game includes chapters on hardwood and concrete, mass and momentum, loud arenas and basketball shoes.

                Hoop Genius: How a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball by John Coy is a wonderful non-fiction picture book that reveals the true story of why and how James Naismith invented it.  Parent’s will enjoy the end covers on which the original first draft of Naismith’s basketball rules which hung in the gym “that the boys might learn the rules”.  H.O.R.S.E a Game of Basketball and Imagination by Christopher Myers is a modern basketball picture book about two kids who play perhaps the most challenging game of H.O.R.S.E. ever.  Children will enjoy the characters trying to outdo each others’ basketball shots.  Both of these titles are available via the NC Digital Library as eBooks.

The Crossover, 2015 Newberry Medal Winner by Kwame Alexander is an exceptional middle grade novel told in verse through the voice of the contemporary main character, dread-locked twelve year old Josh Bell.  Josh and his twin brother JB are tight-knit basketball stars at their junior high school and like many in Rowan County “I want to go to Duke, he flaunts Carolina Blue.  If we didn’t love each other, we’d HATE each other.”  The Crossover takes us through a basketball season during which the boys grow apart for the first time, yes – there is a girl.  The NC Digital eAudio edition of The Crossover takes full advantage of the verse.

Now, get back to the tournament and good luck with your brackets!

INSPIRING FRIENDSHIPS

by Pam Everhardt Bloom Rowan Public Library

“Fate chooses your relations. You choose your friends.” This quote from Jacques Delille, a French poet and classicist, may aptly describe what we enjoy most about friends - choice. Friendship could be defined as a personal connection with people you like and with whom you share similar interests. What makes long term friendships special?  Do they survive because of similarities or do real friendships thrive with friends that push us out of our comfort zone? The following books explore many aspects of friendship and include selections for all ages.

An Improbable Friendship, the Remarkable Lives of Israeli Ruth Dayan and Palestinian Raymonda Tawil and Their Forty Year Peace Mission by Anthony David is both biography and a story of friendship. As Ruth Dayan, 99 and former wife of the late Israeli military leader and statesman Moshe Dayan and Raymonda Tawil, 76 and mother-in-law to the late Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization confirm, “We love each other. Enemies can be friends and friends can be enemies in this country.” After reading the saga of Ruth and Raymonda’s behind-the-scenes friendship, you may nod at the author’s sentiment “that with empathy and common sense, the seemingly insolvable Middle-Eastern conflict can have an end.” Theirs is an amazing story not to be missed.

A Young Adult non-fiction selection, I Will Always Write Back, How One Letter Changed Two Lives by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda with Liz Welch is a book appropriate for many ages. This friendship began in September 1997 when Pennsylvania seventh grader Caitlin chose Zimbabwe as her country of choice for a pen pal because it sounded cool. Fourteen year old Martin Ganda received her letter and replied. Their correspondence continued for six more years and they are friends to this day. This dual memoir demonstrates how friendship, love and awareness of others can change our world and may leave you thinking about your place in the world long after finishing the last page.

Another book for older juveniles and young adults, We Beat the Street, How a Friendship Pact Led to Success by Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt with Sharon M. Draper, tells the true story of three street-tough Newark boys whose friendship was their sustaining guidepost as they become doctors in spite of insurmountable odds. Dr. Rameck Hunt explains how difficult it could be in his community to actually “choose” your friends; “We forged bonds with those who lived around us. We had no other choice…unfortunately…it became the norm to do the wrong thing instead of the right thing.”  And then in tenth grade he met Sampson Davis and George Jenkins and formed a friendship that changed their lives. Today they are cofounders of the Three Doctors Foundation and are still friends. If you enjoy this book, you might also like two more adult oriented books by these authors, The Pact, Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream and The Bond, Three Young Men Learn to Forgive and Reconnect with Their Fathers.

Friendships happen when we connect. And although we may choose our friends, these wonderful connections may happen in surprising ways. Delve into the following books for more stories of friendship: Adults: The Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait of a Friendship: Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social Justice by Patricia Bell-Scott; So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger; Friends for the Journey by Madeleine L’Engle and Luci Shaw. Older Juveniles to Adult:  Born to Bark, My Adventures with an Irrepressible and Unforgettable Dog by Stanley Coren; Wonder by R.J Palacio; Wild Things by Clay Carmichael; Hold Fast by Blue Balliet. Younger children and up: Owen & Mzee, the True Story of a Remarkable Friendship, told by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff and Dr. Paula Kahumbu; Help by Holly Keller; Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller.

Digital Magazines through Overdrive

 by Edward Hirst Rowan Public Library

Rowan Public Library is pleased to offer a new service for our customers: free access to over seventy-five digital magazines in full-color and a familiar magazine print layout. This service is made possible through our partnership with Overdrive, our digital ebook supplier and North Carolina Digital Library. For those who aren't familiar with OverDrive, it is the platform used by Rowan Public Library to lend digital books the same way we lend physical books. This can include items like audio books, ebooks, streaming video and will soon include Nook Newsstand titles, one of the leading providers of digital magazines. Rowan Public Library is a member of North Carolina Digital Library, a consortium of libraries from across the state. Membership in this consortium allows the library to offer a wider selection of materials at a lower cost then we could on our own.

Library customers can check out these digital magazines with a valid library card and PIN. Magazines can be read on a NOOK tablet or by using the free NOOK Reading App available for a multitude of smartphones and tablets. A free NOOK account is required and can be created at www.barnesandnobles.com.

Titles that will be available for checkout include the following favorites: Motor Trend, Bloomberg Business Week, Do It Yourself, The Family Handyman, Newsweek, American History, Vanity Fair, Elle, Food Network Magazine, Outside, and Wired. The titles never expire and don’t go away until you delete them. There are never any overdue fines associated with electronic titles.

Be sure to check out this great new resource from Rowan Public Library.