FKCC Library Blog

Good reads

2008-05-15T12:43:00.000-07:00

The National Book Critics Circle spring list of Good Reads is out and a decent number of them are books we have in our collection (though some haven't made it onto the shelves yet) -- in any event, it's always interesting to see what people who read a lot of books recommend.

Speaking of good reads, I was really interested in this piece from last Sunday's New York Times magazine -- it seems the latest printed edition of the venerable Oxford English Dictionary may be the last (in print, anyway). We've got it at the library and it does come in handy but you can also see why such a massive and always-updating enterprise might be better suited to a more nimble format.

Six reasons the FKCC library rocks

2008-05-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

-- Great hours (8:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Mon-Thurs., 8:30-4 Fri., 9-3 Sat.)
-- Ample parking
-- Terrific book selection. Old? New? Brain candy? Serious thought? History? Mystery? Biography? Fiction? Try us. And coming soon: graphic novels! (By "graphic" we mean illustrated, not dirty. Just so you know.)
-- Movies. We've had a great VHS collection for some time; now we're getting into DVDs. Check out what we've got, including cool documentaries, movies that were made here (including "Reap the Wild Wind," "Operation Petticoat" and "Beneath the 12-Mile Reef"), along with a bunch of great films from the American Film Institute's list of best movies.
-- Periodicals. We've got Artforum. We've got Science News. We've got Newsweek. We've got People. As with the books, it runs the gamut from brain candy to Serious Thought. Sometimes those are the same! Comfy reading chairs, too.
-- And the number one reason, now that we're rounding spring and heading into summer: AIR CONDITIONING.
Note to all: anyone is welcome at the FKCC library! Local residents can sign up as community borrowers and take out books and movies. Students have free use of the computers. Community members who want to use the computers can do so for a $10/month charge. Questions? Stop by or give us a call at 809-3194.

Some cool stuff

2008-05-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

A couple sites worth checking out:
1) The Gallery & Public Display Class spring art show, "Piece of Mind," is slowly leaving the library -- but lives on in cyberspace, in an online gallery created by a class member. Check it out here.

2) Miami Herald Book Editor Connie Ogle, on her excellent blog Between the Covers, reports some excellent news: People are, too, still buying (and, one presumes, reading) books! Take that, all you "reading is dead" gloom-spreaders ...

Poetry in motion

2008-04-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

It was a full house here at the FKCC library on Wednesday when National Library Week and Poetry Month converged for a reading featuring students from English Professor E.J. Miller Laino's Poetry Workshop, followed by readings from faculty and an open mic. One student even performed an original song. There were more than 70 people here and the readings were well-received.

It was great to see so many people enjoying the library and enjoying poetry -- we've got a display up showing a small selection from our poetry collection -- stop in and check it out.

Happy Library Week!

2008-04-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

It's National Library Week, something you can read all about at the American Library Association website -- or check out a video from Library Week Chair Julie Andrews at the Monroe County Public Library's site. We're celebrating all this week at the FKCC library, starting with a talk Monday from Key West resident and esteemed writer Robert Richardson. Richardson recently won the prestigious Bancroft Prize for his biography of William James. He talked about libraries, his experience doing research in them, the experience of others (including the guy who found notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci that had been lost for 500 years but had been hiding out unnoticed in a library).
Richardson also addressed the much-debated question of whether, in the age of Google, libraries are still necessary. He says they are. He's no Luddite: Google is wonderful for many things, he said, but in some cases you can't beat good old Bartlett's Familiar Quotations or other printed reference material. Plus there's the physical experience of reading and consulting a printed book. This is very different from reading on screen -- and in some cases it's actually easier to find information in a book. Richardson said computers are actually a throwback in reading technology to the scroll -- you read in order -- while books are codexes.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11 a.m. is our first annual student poetry reading and at 6 p.m. art students will show us their digital book projects. Read on!

Countdown to Library Week ....

2008-04-11T12:21:00.000-07:00

We're still adding events to our celebration of National Library Week here at FKCC -- two students from Lynne Bentley-Kemp's Digital Camera Work course will be presenting their projects -- books they've created -- at 6 p.m. Wednesday here at the library. As with all the events, everyone's welcome and refreshments will be provided.

And don't forget our other events: Biographer/literary scholar Robert Richardson will speak at 6 p.m. Monday about libraries and why they matter and at 11 a.m. Wednesday, E.J. Miller-Laino's poetry workshop students will do a reading, followed by an open mic. Free entertainment! Free food! Libraries rock!

And ... we're back!

2008-04-08T06:02:00.001-07:00

Spring Break is over, the college and library are back in session and things are hopping -- the library is gearing up to celebrate Poetry Month and, next week, National Library Week. Some special events already planned:
* Monday, April 14, at 6 p.m., special guest Dr. Robert Richardson, Bancroft Prize-winning biographer, will give a talk about why libraries matter
* Wednesday, April 16, from 11 a.m. to noon, Dr. E.J. Miller Laino's Poetry class will be presenting a reading, featuring students and faculty. And refreshments!
* No Limits, the Haitian art show presented by Dr. Lynne Bentley-Kemp's Gallery & Display class is still up at the Library Gallery and well worth checking out. Come on in!

A study in contrasts

2008-03-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

Over break, Library Director Juana Careaga says she plans to finish reading "The New Year's Quilt," a part of the Elm Creek Quilts series, and start Jim Cramer's "Stay Mad For Life: Get Rich, Stay Rich (Make Your Kids Even Richer)."

Spring Break reading

2008-03-26T07:15:00.001-07:00

For some people, Spring Break means getting serious beach time and/or serious bar time. For some of us, it means serious reading time. So we're polling FKCC people to ask what they plan to read over Spring Break. Personally, my list includes the new Library of America volume collecting the poetry, fiction, translations and letters of Elizabeth Bishop, "The Right Hand of Sleep," a historical novel by John Wray and -- in preparation for Library Week which is coming right up in April -- a book from our collection called "Library: An Unquiet History."
The first person to respond to my highly unscientific email survey this morning was former librarian/current distance learning maven Gavin McKeirnan who has more ambitious plans: "Other than catching up on my epicurean magazines, National Geos and Self (yes, I have to fit a little attempt at health in there somewhere) I’ll be reading Tolle’s "A New Earth" and books in my Pema Chodron for some Zen while gazing at the volcano in Costa Rica next week. It’s that time of the year for renewal and refreshing! I’ll also be reading my textbooks for my Educator’s Prep Institute classes that begin when we return from break. Beyond that I won’t have time for much else but really need to get back into some serious fun reading soon!"
Stay tuned here for future posts on what FKCC people plan to read over break.

Chess game

2008-03-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered about that cool chess game in the reading area of the library? It actually does get played sometimes -- especially now that a missing pawn has been replaced, courtesy of FKCC student and library volunteer Abalyn, shown here trouncing library specialist Nancy Klingener in a quick game.

Gatherings

2008-03-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

Most people think of libraries as a place to get books, periodicals and, these days, use computers -- but the FKCC Library is also host to a wide variety of college events. Yesterday there were two -- a meeting of the Student Government Association about leadership and a talk from distinguished Florida writer Sudye Cauthen, author of "Southern Comforts: Rooted in a Florida Place." What's coming up? Watch this blog, look in the library window or ask a library staffer, like Kevin McGarry or Director Juana Careaga, pictured here. We're happy to help!

March birthdays

2008-03-03T14:42:00.000-08:00

It's the start of a new month, so we're changing the display in the corner of the library, in the lounge area where you first walk in. March is a little harder to come up with material for than February (Black History Month and Valentine's Day), so I got to thinking about writers with March birthdays. There's got to be a website, I thought, and no doubt there is, but I didn't find it in my initial stumblings in Google. So I decided to take a radical step and look in ... a book! An actual reference book, right on our shelves. The World Almanac and Book of Facts, right near the start of our reference collection (REF AY 67.N5 W7 in Library of Congress-speak) and wouldn't you know they have a listing of modern writers and their birthdays. So I wrote down all the ones for March -- and even better, the vast majority are represented on our shelves! The list is posted now in the monthly display area -- but for those of you following along at home, here it is: *Edward Albee, *Russell Banks, *Billy Collins, *Dave Eggers, James Ellroy, *Gabriel Garcia Marquez, *Alice Hoffman, *John Irving, Horton Foote, *John McPhee, *James Patterson, *Marge Piercy, *David Rabe, *Philip Roth, *John Updike, *Mario Vargas Llosa, *Tom Wolfe.
(* means they have at least one book in our collection)

No Limits opening

2008-02-29T11:40:00.000-08:00

The reception for the No Limits show of Haitian art was held at the Library Gallery Thursday evening and was a great success, attracting a range of college staff, students and visitors (and, toward the end of the evening, a troop of Girl Scouts). Distinguished guests included San Carlos Institute President Rafael Penalver, former Miami Herald Keys staffer Susana Bellido Cummings, bookbinder/conservator Bob Muens, Mark Hedden (aka Florida's Most Powerful Birding Columnist (TM)) and two well-traveled ladies from New Jersey. A highlight of the evening was a talk about Haiti from FKCC's own Rev. Ebenson Michelin. Here are some photos of the event, courtesy of Library Specialist Nancy Klingener and the Diva Vogue. In the bottom right photo, Professor Lynne Bentley-Kemp, whose Gallery and Display class is responsible for the show, greets Boris and Marie from the Haitian Art Company, who provided the work for the show. No Limits is up until April 3 -- stop by and see it!

From page to screen

2008-02-29T10:36:00.000-08:00

Weekends are a great time to read -- and to go to the movies -- and this weekend, three movies at The Tropic Cinema in Key West are literary adaptations. The first is "The Kite Runner," based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini(we have a large-print copy that is, of this writing, checked out). The second is the much-lauded "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" -- we have a copy of that as an audio book (two cassettes, unabridged -- it's a short book), ready and waiting to be checked out. And the third is a documentary, "The Rape of Europa," based on a nonfiction book about how the Nazis pillaged Western art during World War II. Read, watch, listen: So many options.

To your health

2008-02-27T08:47:00.000-08:00

Ever used a library to find information about your health? Woman's Day magazine and the American Library Association are collecting stories about how readers have used libraries to get information on their own or a family members health. Find out more by following this link.

Elizabeth Bishop

2008-02-26T14:29:00.001-08:00

Some exciting news about Elizabeth Bishop, the late poet who lived in Key West in the 1930s -- she is the first woman poet to be featured by the Library of America in a one-volume edition featuring her poems and selections from her prose and letters.
We haven't gotten the new volume in the library -- yet -- but we do have in our circulating collection several of her works, including the "Complete Poems," "The Collected Prose," a recent collection of her previously unpublished work called "Edgar Allan Poe & the juke-box" and "One Art," a generous selection of her letters. We also have some works of literary criticism about her work, which you can find by searching our catalogue with "Elizabeth Bishop" as the subject.
Even if you're not a poetry fan, Bishop is worth checking out -- the prose is especially accessible and includes several pieces about Key West, including an essay about a painter named Gregorio Valdez, whom Bishop hired to paint a portrait of her house. I've only seen one work by Valdez and it's hanging right here at the FKCC Library. Stop by and check it -- and Bishop's work -- out.

From the archives

2008-02-22T11:53:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about libraries is that we keep things around so in case you missed them when they appeared, they're available. Take, for example, the
Spring 2007 edition of The Paris Review, which includes an interview with Key West's own Harry Mathews, author of "My Life in the CIA." It's a fascinating interview -- this and other volumes of The Paris Review and other journals are available in the library stacks for perusal (in the library). For students, there are lots more available through our databases.
We don't have any of Mathews' books in our collection -- but we do have almost all the books he mentions as influences, including "A Journal of The Plague Year" by Daniel Defoe, "The Aspern Papers" by Henry James and "Twice-Told Tales" by Nathaniel Hawthorne (of that last one Mathews says, "I've always said that I was greatly influenced by Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales, although I've never read them.").

No Limits: A Selection of Works from the Haitian Art Co. at FKCC

2008-02-19T07:12:00.000-08:00

The Library Gallery at Florida Keys Community College will begin hosting a special exhibition of Haitian Art that will be sure to entice a wide audience. Haitian Art Company co-owner Boris Kravitz and his wife and gallery manager Marie Coine have shared their collection of refined folk art with the college from Feb. 21 through April 3. A reception is planned for Feb. 28 beginning at 5 p.m.

Dr. Lynne Bentley-Kemp’s Gallery and Display students have been busy with the planning and the hanging of the show and in the process have learned a great deal about the political and spiritual history of Haiti. There will be a selection of prominent Haitian artists represented. The works of artists like Carlo Jean- Jacques, Agathe Aladin, Murat St. Vil, Jean Sylvestre, Chrysler Bruno and Jean Albert Bernard have been capturing the imaginations of the students as they assemble the exhibit.

The paintings of Voltaire Hector have had a significant impact on the students. Hector is considered one of the best contemporary Haitian folk artists. His paintings are generally autobiographical, often accompanied by a line or two of narrative text. They reflect his experience of daily Haitian life: family life, Voudou ceremonies and icons, medical procedures, political events - especially the events following the fall of Aristide, are important elements of his work and have given the Gallery class extensive insight into the political history of Haiti.

Frantz Zephirin is a featured artist whose work is characterized by its bright colors, patterns, tightly compacted compositions; and by the human figures with animal heads, which represent his cynicism for the ruling body. His inspiration comes from Haitian history, politics, the bible, and vodou. The title of the exhibit comes from Zephirin’s characterization of his art. “There are no limits” sums up the overall effect of the show.

Many of the artists in the show reveal a world that is fanciful and spiritual. The influence of Vodou is powerful and all of the works convey a sense of wonder. Some of the most arresting and beautiful imagery in Haitian painting comes directly from Vodou. There are approximately 80 original works of art on display that include metal sculpture made from oil drums, an intricately beaded spirit flag and a selection of paintings that will enlighten and delight everyone who comes out to visit FKCC’s Library Gallery.

The Library is open from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. The library is upstairs over the main office in Building A at the Key West Campus, 5901 College Road. The library's main number is 809-3194.

"No one lives of the flesh.
Everyone lives of the spirit."
-Andre Pierre

What's new

2008-02-15T11:10:00.001-08:00

Some recent titles added to the circulating collection from McNaughton, the service the library leases books from:

All Through the Night by Suzanne Brockmann, Bleeding Kansas by Sara Peretsky, The Chameleon's Shadow by Minette Walters, Diary of a Bad Year by J..M. Coetzee, The Fighting 69th by Sean Flynn, Heroes Among Us, Hogs in the Shadows by Milo Afong,
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin, Memo to the President Elect by Madeleine Korbel, Now & Then by Robert Parker, The Race by Richard Patterson, Salt River by James Sallis, Students for a Democratic Society by Harvey Pekar, World Without End by Ken Follett

Also some new audiobooks:

Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon (4 CDs), People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (12 CDs), T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton (10 CDs)

To see if these books are available for checkout and where they are in the collection, check our online catalogue.

A Distinguished Guest

2008-02-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

The FKCC Library is honored and delighted to be hosting Sudye Cauthen, author of "Southern Comforts: Rooted in A Florida Place" at 6 p.m. March 5.
Carthen is the founder of North Florida Center for Documentary Studies and directed Florida’s First Folk Arts in the Schools program. You can find her work published in Chattahoochee Review, the Florida Review, International Quarterly, and Kalliope. She is a proud recipient of a state of Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in Literature award.
The book, which chronicles Cauthen’s life after her divorce and her father's death, opens the reader to her view as she returns to five generations of her life in a small town north of Gainsville. Cauthen traces the history of the region back to the late 1540s weaving family and oral histories together into community fabric being smothered by concrete as so called progress evaporates what was once it’s soul. This cautionary tale of progress and pain at least allows what was once to live on in the pages of this captivating book.
The author will read passages from her book and be available to those attending to answer questions about her career and her book.
Light refreshments will be served.

Philip Burton

2008-02-15T09:40:00.001-08:00

A new archive of material by and about the late Shakespeare scholar Philip Burton -- a longtime Key West resident -- is available online here and will soon be catalogued as part of the library collection.
Burton was the adopted father of actor Richard Burton -- the photo shown here shows Philip with Richard and his occasional daughter-in-law Elizabeth Taylor.

Welcome to the new FKCC Library Blog!

2008-02-15T07:30:00.000-08:00

This is the new blog for the Florida Keys Community College Library, the learning resource center for America's southernmost institution of higher learning. The library offers books, periodicals, movies, recorded books and more for students at the college -- and the community as a whole. You do not have to be enrolled to use the library. We also have wireless internet access, so you can bring your own laptop and get online. We offer computer use for enrolled students; community members can also have computer access for a $10 monthly fee.
The library is also home to the college's art gallery; a new exhibit of Haitian art is due to open Thursday, Feb. 21. Come on in and check us out -- we're open 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays and 9 to 3 on Saturdays -- we're upstairs over the college's main office, 5901 College Road, Building A (the blue one).