Banned Books Week

Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library and the American Library Association are observing Banned Books Week from Saturday, September 27, through Saturday, October 4, 2008. We will have a display of challenged books in our Multi-Purpose Room at 39 Second Street in Presque Isle, Maine.

Here is a list of the most frequently challenged books through the first five years of the 21st Century (2000 -2005):

1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

2. "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier

3. Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

4. "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck

5. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

6. "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers

7. "It's Perfectly Normal" by Robie Harris

8. Scary Stories series by Alvin Schwartz

9. Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey

10. "Forever" by Judy Blume

More recently, these ten books were the most challenged in 2007:

1. “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell

Reasons: Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group

2. “The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier

Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Violence

3. “Olive’s Ocean,” by Kevin Henkes

Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language

4. “The Golden Compass,” by Philip Pullman

Reasons: Religious Viewpoint

5. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain

Reasons: Racism

6. “The Color Purple,” by Alice Walker

Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language,

7. “TTYL,” by Lauren Myracle

Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

8. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou

Reasons: Sexually Explicit

9. “It’s Perfectly Normal,” by Robie Harris

Reasons: Sex Education, Sexually Explicit

10. “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky

Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

Off the list this year, are two books by author Toni Morrison. "The Bluest Eye" and "Beloved," both challenged for sexual content and offensive language.

(Source: http://staging.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2008/may2008/penguin.cfm [Retrieved September 24, 2008])

The website DeviantArt is hosting a writing contest in observation of Banned Books Week as well. Writers may submit in either of two categories (or both): Fan Fiction (of challenged works) or Forbidden Themes (original works based on themes most frequently challenged). If you are interested in seeing what has been submitted or trying your own hand, please visit their guidelines page here. Deadline is October 6, 2008.

Club and Community Fair at UMPI

This was the second year that the Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library participated in the Club and Community Fair at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. On Tuesday, September 16th from 11-1, library staff hosted a booth where we answered questions about the library, handed out information about passports and notary services, and signed students up for library cards. We also raffled off a beautiful gift basket with a movie night theme that was created by Bonnie Smith and Debbie Brewer.

Senior Day at the Library

Join us on Wednesday, September 17th from 12-2 for Senior Day at the library. Rick Asam will be our guest speaker. Rick will give a presentation on Maine Memory Network and will also discuss other local history initiatives.

Light lunch will be served. We hope to see you there.

Summer Reading Program

Our summer reading program has ended. The winner of our raffle was Danielle Perry who won a lovely gift basket filled with goodies.

Here are some reviews from readers in the program this summer. Please feel free to add any recommendations you may have to share with other readers.

Girl in the Shadows / V. C. Andrews

After losing both parents, April Taylor found shelter from a mixed up life and from confusion with her sister.

Hard Truth / Mariah Stewart

Entertaining story, suspenseful as well as interesting plot.

Truth of Love / Jayne Ann Krentz

Kind of slow to get into at first, but story progresses to be quite entertaining.

Falling Awake / Jayne Ann Krentz

Well written, interesting topic regarding sleep study.

Sizzle and Burn / Jayne Ann Krentz

Slow to get started but I enjoyed the plot after the first few chapters. Book primarily about psychic powers.

The Dogs of Bedlam Farm / Jon Katz

Excellent story of an author and farmer who is transformed by love of his dogs and a renewed kinship with his sister. Great read!

Knitting Bones / Monica Ferris

Very good mystery. A page turner toward a great finish.

Three Cups of Tea / Greg Mortenson

Mr. Mortenson’s persistence and generosity are amazing. After a failed attempt to climb K2, Mr. Mortenson finds himself in a Pakistan village where he is nursed back to health. He promises to return one day to build the community a school . He exceeds that promise by building schools throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan in some of the poorest communities. This is a remarkable story of a great humanitarian.

The Painted Veil / W. Somerset Maugham

Good romance.

No Country for Old Men / Cormac McCarthy

Set in West Texas, the book starts slow but then is difficult to put down. Told from the view of the county sheriff, the book deals with drugs and money on the border and the toll it takes on the community. After you read the book, be sure to see the film.

Under Orders / Dick Francis

Another Sid Halley investigation turns dangerous as corruption invades the online gambling world.

Maine Archives

Maine State Archives Online Store

www.maine.gov/online/archivestore

For those with an interest in Maine history and artifacts, you'll find plenty to look at on the Maine Archives online store site. Replicas of old maps, posters and notecards, and copies of historical documents are just a few items you can view at their site. All are available for purchase. It is definitely a fun site to browse and a great place to look for an unusual gift from the State of Maine.

Something for Teachers

With the beginning of the school year, the staff at the library works with the school libraries and libarians in order to be prepared to meet the needs of area teachers and students. Here are a few resources for teachers.

Thank you for Being my Teacher / Melody Carlson / 371.1 CAR
Ms. Moffett's First Year/ Abby Goodnought / 372.9747.GOO
Classroom Management for Middle and High School Teachers/ Edmund Emmer / 373.1102.4EMM
Be a Teacher / Phillip Bigler/ 371.102 BEA
Teaching with Love and Logic / Jim Fay / 371.1 FAY
Courage to Teach / Parker J. Palmer / 371.102 PAL
The Laughing Classroom / 371.102 LOO
Discipline in the Secondary Classroom / Randall S. Sprick / 373.1102.4SPR

Teacher Reference Center in Marvel!
Teacher Reference Center provides indexing and abstracts for more than 270 periodicals. Topics include: Assessment, Best Practices, Continuing Education, Elementary Education, Higher Education, Instructional Media, Administration, and Teacher Education.

MARVEL! Maine's Virtual Library
http://libraries.maine.edu/mainedatabases/

Health Sites

We all have our favorite places to search online for health information. Here are a few sites for a variety of health issues. If you are searching for health information and are not finding what you need, contact the library and we will be happy to assist you. Many community hospitals also have medical libraries staffed by medical librarians. These are usually open to the public.

Once you find the information you need, it is always best to discuss it with your healthcare provider.


DailyMed
http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/about.cfm

DailyMed provides high quality information about marketed drugs. This information includes FDA approved labels (package inserts). This Web site provides health information providers and the public with a standard, comprehensive, up-to-date, look-up and download resource of medication content and labeling as found in medication package inserts.

Pubmed
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/
PubMed is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine that includes over 18 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles back to the 1950s. PubMed includes links to full text articles and other related resources.

Genetics Home Reference
http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/
Genetics Home Reference provides consumer-friendly information about the effects of genetic variations on human health.

Household Products Database
http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/
What's under your kitchen sink, in your garage, in your bathroom, and on the shelves in your laundry room?
Learn more about what's in these products, about potential health effects, and about safety and handling.

Tox Town
http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/
Environmental health concerns and toxic chemicals where you live, work, and play.

Clinical Trials
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/
ClinicalTrials.gov is a registry of federally and privately supported clinical trials conducted in the United States and around the world. ClinicalTrials.gov gives you information about a trial's purpose, who may participate, locations, and phone numbers for more details.

Evaluating Health Information Online - a tutorial
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/webeval/webeval.html

Dietary Supplements Database
http://dietarysupplements.nlm.nih.gov/dietary/
The Dietary Supplements Labels Database offers information about ingredients in more than two thousand selected brands of dietary supplements. It enables users to determine what ingredients are in specific brands and to compare ingredients in different brands. Information is also provided on the health benefits claimed by manufacturers. These claims by manufacturers have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Companies may not market as dietary supplements any products that are intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

International Information on Dietary Supplements Database
http://ods.od.nih.gov/Health_Information/ibids.aspx

Recalls FDA and USDA
http://www.recalls.gov/food.html

FDA
http://www.fda.gov/

AIDS info
http://www.aidsinfo.nih.gov/

Mayo Clinic
http://www.mayoclinic.com/

Merck Manual Online
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/index.html

National Institutes of Health
http://health.nih.gov/

Teens Health
http://kidshealth.org/teen/

Teen Health MedlinePlus
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/teenhealth.html

National Women's Health Information Center
http://www.4woman.gov/

CDC Women's Health
http://www.cdc.gov/Women/

WebMD Men's Health
http://men.webmd.com/

Family Doctor
http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home.html

New Database in Marvel!
Lexi-PALS Drug Guide

The Lexi-PALS Drug Guide, published by Lexi-Comp and available as part of the Health Source database, covers over 1,000 generic medications, 100 natural products and 19 vaccines. It is updated every six months.

Legal Forms Online

A question that comes up often at the reference desk is, "Where can I find online legal forms?"

Here are some sites where you can easily search for the form you need.

Pine Tree Legal Assistance Court Forms

http://www.ptla.org/ptlasite/forms

http://www.ptla.org/ptlasite/forms/interactive/htm

State of Maine Courts Forms

http://www.courts.state.me.us/court_info/forms/index.html

http://www.courts.state.me.us/rules_forms_fees/pub_forms.html

Maine State Bar Association

http://www.mainebar.org/public_forms.asp

Washburn University School of Law Legal Forms

http://washlaw.edu/legalforms/

Maine Health and Human ServicesOffice of Elder ServicesAdvance Directives Forms

http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/beas/resource/rit2chew.htm

If you still don't find what you are looking for at the above sites, contact us and we'll be happy to help locate the form you need.

A Literary Map of Maine

If you happened to read the Maine Sunday Telegram on August 31st, you would have seen the pull-out section entitled, "A Literary Map of Maine." Many people worked on this project to create this map which lists 50 locations throughout the state and indicates a book set there or a book that was inspired by the location.

Our own town, Presque Isle, is listed with the work, "Almost Maine" by John Cariani.

We have a copy of the map in the library and you can also go online to see it.

Literary Map of Maine

Go directly to online version of the map

An eight member selection committee is listed on the front page. The idea for this project began when Shirley Helfrich, district consultant for the Southern Maine Library District had seen a version of this done in the New York Times as a literary map of Manhattan. Shirley immediately thought that a map of Maine's literary locations would be a worthwhile project.

Large Print Books

Are Large Print Books Right for You?

If you always thought of large print books as something for people with vision disorders or for those over a certain age, think again. Today, large print books are being read by a diverse audience. Many choose them because the larger text is easier on the eyes and makes it possible to read without reading glasses.

Our library has a large selection of these books and here are just a few recent arrivals:

8 Sandpiper Way / Debbie Macomber

Devil Bones / Kathy Reichs

Silks / Dick Francis and Felix Francis

Labor Day

The library will be closed on Monday, September 1, 2008 for Labor Day.

We will reopen on Tuesday at 9:00 a.m.

Accidents Happen

Sometimes bad things happen to good books and we understand that it isn't always your fault.

This is Sue and this is Duster, Sue's new puppy. Sue works at the library and decided to do a little reading about training her new dog. She picked an excellent book, Cesar's Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems by Cesar Millan. Sue left the book on a table in her house and Duster got a bit curious. Duster had great fun chewing up the corner of the book. Luckily Sue caught him in the act and saved the book from total destruction. Sue has decided to continue reading about dog training. As for Duster, we hope he decides to start chewing on bones instead of books. If you find yourself in a similar situation, just stop in and let us know what happened and return the book. We can be pretty understanding when accidents happen. Just ask Duster.