Friday, October 16, 2015

October book club selection...

AMERICAN NATIONS
a history of the eleven regional cultures of North America

by Colin Woodward

A history of North America's eleven rival cultural regions challenges popular perceptions about the red state-blue state conflict, tracing lingering tensions stemming from disparate intranational values that have shaped every major event in history. (NoveList)

Kirkus: /* Starred Review */ Forget about the United States and Canada. The true nations of North America, writes historian and Christian Science Monitor foreign correspondent Woodard (The Republic of Pirates, 2007, etc.), have little to do with those artificialities. Borrowing fruitful notions from Joel Garreau's Nine Nations of North America (1981) and David Hackett Fischer's Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in North America (1989), Woodard traces the differences in America's regions to cultural, ethnic, religious and political differences among various strains of settlers, many of them long in play back in the British Isles. What he calls The Midlands, for instance, extends from the central Atlantic Seaboard deep into the Great Plains, encircling "Yankeedom" by taking in the southern tier of east-central Canada. These regions are the historical purview of, respectively, the Quakers of the English Midlands and the Puritans of England's eastern coast, with their distinct views of human nature and how government had to be organized to respond to it. Some of his "eleven stateless nations of North America" descend from these two regions, representing the old divide between moderate conservatism, with its "middle-class ethos and considerable respect for intellectual achievement," and moderate liberalism, with its view that "society should be organized to benefit ordinary people." Other regions, though, are the product of an English elite that mistrusted any government that presumed to tell them what to do, even though they descended from feudalism. Behold, then, the South, both the aristocratic piedmont of Virginia and North Carolina and the hardscrabble, God-haunted, fearful Deep South. The author connects these regional differences to deep divisions in American life, noting that the old struggle between those moderate forces has been supplanted by the rise of that Deep South, perfected in the 2000 election, when it "established simultaneous control over the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives for the first time in forty-six years."Woodard offers a fascinating way to parse American (writ large) politics and history in this excellent book. (Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2011)

Chapter Two Book Club meets 
October 28 at 7pm. 
Call LIZA 612-8462 for more information

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Fall Journaling



The Journal Group meets tomorrow, the 14th, at 7pm.
  • When the colors of autumn are in full splendor, do you notice an electrifying feeling in the air? Do the colors saturating the atmosphere have an impact on your mood or outlook? If so, how would you  describe it?
  •  Write about one of the five senses (related to your autumn experience): 
    • The smells of autumn 
    • The sights of autumn
    •  The sounds of autumn 
    • The touch of autumn 
    • The tastes of autumn

  •  What is your favorite fall memory? Write about it.  Be sure to tell who it involved, what happened, when it happened, where it occurred, and why it is a favorite memory?
  • What are three experiences that you enjoy most about the fall season? Is it the colors? Cooler  temperatures? Kids going back to school? Pick three random things and write about them. If that gets you going and you want to write about more, have at it.  
  • What is your favorite fall holiday?  Why?  How does your family celebrate this holiday? 
  • What is your favorite fall activity?  Why? 
  • What is your favorite food made from apples?

This is a drop-in group that welcomes all new members... no commitment, but we think you'll be addicted to journaling! Call Liza for more information, 208.612.8462


Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Makerspaces... cancelled

Due to a scheduling conflict, we must cancel the Adult Makerspaces evening on September 30. 
We will be rescheduling the handmade coptic stitched books for a time in the near future, and we encourage you to watch the Blog and Facebook for the details.
If you have any questions, please call Liza at 612-8462, or email at levans@ifpl.org.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Celebrate Library Card Sign-up Month with us!



When you come to the Library and sign up for a NEW library card -- that is, you have never had a card (or you're no longer in the system), you will receive 2 entries into our Library Card Sign-Up Month drawing for a $50 Snake Bite Restaurant gift card or a couple of IFPL swag bags!!
Bring someone to the Library (a friend, a child , etc.) who doesn't have a library card to get one, they get 2 entries and so do you!

If you already have an IFPL card, you still get 1 entry just for coming to the Library!
"When I got my library card, that's when my life began."   
Rita Mae Brown

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Journal Group

Journal group meets again on September 9... 
and the theme for this month is LETTERS!

During the month, in your journal write notes or a letters to:
  • your mother
  • your father
  • your future child
  • your favorite teacher
  • your first boss
  • your current boss
  • your favorite co-worker 
  • your not-so-favorite co-worker
  • your significant other
  • a blogger you admire
  • the barista at your coffee shop
  • your future self
  • your past self
  • the author of your favorite book
  • your grandparents
  • a stranger with who you made eye contact this week
  • the artist whose work you admire
  • someone who hurt you
  • someone who made you smile this week
  • your best friend
  • the critic inside your head
  • the owner of your favorite local store
  • someone who taught you something
  • your high school sweetheart
  • someone who doesn't like you
These letters can stay in your journal, so feel free to pour out all of your thoughts!

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Book Club in a Box

Nominations are now being taken for titles to be included in the 2016 Book Club in a Box collection. You can get a nomination form from the 3rd floor desk at the IFPL, or download it from the Book Club Blog. We ask that all nominations be submitted on a nomination form.

We will add all nominations to the voting ballot that are available in a paperback format by December 5, 2015.

If you have questions, contact Jenniffer 612-8460 or jhentzen@ifpl.org