AT THE LIBRARY

February 19, 2009

March Titles

When March comes, the thoughts of many turn to spring or basketball or well-known commemorations, such as St. Patrick’s Day and, this year, Easter.

But March offers the opportunity to remember other important occasions, too, such as the celebration of the American Red Cross, whose founder Clara Barton figures as the central character in CUT TO THE HEART: CLARA BARTON AND THE DARKNESS OF LOVE AND WAR by Ava Dianne Day, a gripping historical thriller set against the violent upheavals of the Civil War come to Hilton Head, South Carolina. For a non-fiction account of the heroic service of "the angel of the battlefield," readers might want to choose A WOMAN OF VALOR: CLARA BARTON AND THE CIVIL WAR by Stephen B. Oates.

March is also "Women’s History Month," a good time to check out Harvard professor Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s WELL-BEHAVED WOMEN SELDOM MAKE HISTORY. Among their ranks are 15th-century French poet and scholar Christine de Pizan (advocate for women’s education), 19th-century American activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton (abolitionist and champion of women’s rights), and 20th-century English novelist Virginia Woolf. She also includes "four 19th-century Harriets" – ex-slaves Tubman, Jacobs and Powell, and novelist Stowe. In addition, two compelling DVDs explore the theme of women confronting hard circumstances: "Frozen River", starring Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, and Michael O'Keefe, in which desperate single mothers break the law; and, the documentary film "A Walk to Beautiful", the story of three Ethiopian women who suffer from a life-changing, but very correctible, physical deformity. Ostracized by family and community, they embark on a journey to a remarkable hospital in Addis Ababa where they are treated with respect and possessed of a new hope through corrective surgery.

A very special observance occurs on the 22^nd of March – "World Water Day". One of the foremost authorities on the world’s water supply is Maude Victoria Barlow, national chairperson of The Council of Canadians, co-founder of the Blue Planet Project, which works internationally for the right to water, and board chair of Washington-based Food and Water Watch. The Library holds two of her highly regarded books on this topic of critical and urgent importance: BLUE COVENANT : THE GLOBAL WATER CRISIS AND THE COMING BATTLE FOR THE RIGHT TO WATER, and, BLUE GOLD : THE FIGHT TO STOP THE CORPORATE THEFT OF THE WORLD’S WATER.

Numbers people might like to celebrate "World Math Day" on the 1^st, then follow up with a second festal observance on March 14^th for "Pi Day". After the cake is finished, they could kick back and enjoy COINCIDENCES, CHAOS, AND ALL THAT MATH JAZZ : MAKING LIGHT OF WEIGHTY IDEAS by Edward B. Burger. Other good choices might be YOU CAN DO THE MATH : OVERCOME YOUR MATH PHOBIA AND MAKE BETTER FINANCIAL DECISIONS by Ronald L. Lipsman, or THE JOY OF PI by David Blatner, or John D. Barrow’s PI IN THE SKY : COUNTING, THINKING, AND BEING. And anyone curious about how math might be applied to beating a betting establishment can take home the (Blu-ray) DVD "21" starring Kevin Spacey. It’s based on a true story recounted in Ben Mezrich’s book BUSTING VEGAS : THE MIT WHIZ KID WHO BROUGHT THE CASINOS TO THEIR KNEES, which the Library also has for those who find that the movie is rarely as good as the book.

All of these, along with 10 million additional items, are available to anyone holding a current valid library card. This wealth of borrowable riches comes through Rodman Library’s recent connection to "Search Ohio". For more information, please call or stop by the Library, or visit the Library’s home page at http://www.rodmanlibrary.com