Notes from Collection Development

Now showing at a library near you!

Harvey Shine (Hoffman) is a struggling jingle writer who risks losing his job to attend his daughter's London wedding, only to discover he is not exactly welcome at the ceremony. While seeking refuge in the airport bar, Harvey meets a lonely statistician named Kate (Thompson) and soon finds himself happily thrust into an unexpected romance. Hoffman and Thompson both picked up Golden Globe nominations for their roles.

The prequel story traces the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires known as Death Dealers and their onetime slaves, the Lycans. In the Dark Ages, a young Lycan named Lucian (Sheen) emerges as a powerful leader who rallies the werewolves to rise up against Viktor (Nighy), the cruel vampire king who has enslaved them. Lucian is joined by his secret lover, Sonja (Mitra), in his battle against the Death Dealer army and his struggle for Lycan freedom.

Paul Blart (James) is an overzealous security guard who finds himself in way over his head when he attempts to thwart a criminal mastermind's (O'Donnell) plot to rob an entire shopping mall.

It's Teen Time at Mandarin Branch Library

Don Carpenter, Library Associate, is in charge of the Teen Programs at the Mandarin Library and many fun teen events are happening there this summer!

PLAYSTATION Games on THE BIG SCREEN are every Thursday, 3:30 p.m - 5 p.m.

TEEN ADVISORY GROUP meets on Monday, June 8 at 2 p.m., to advise and assist on books, movies, CDs, decoration and programming.

TEEN ANIME CLUB meets on Tuesday, June 9, 6p.m. & Saturday, June 20, 4p.m.

BEDTIME STORIES, starring Adam Sandler, will be shown on Tuesday, June 16 at
3 p.m.

TEEN WRITERS WORKSHOP will be held on Monday, June 29, 12 p.m. - first in a 3 part seminar which will include: an introduction to creative writing for teens, strategies for generating creative writing, strategies for creative writing development, tips on being a peer reader, and, sessions on the ULTIMATE CREATIVE WRITING PROJECT.

Rove with M.A.P.H.A.T.: Six Steps to Excellent Customer Service

Have you “roved” lately? Do you know the six steps of roving?

Meet and greet the customer – make them feel welcome!
Ask a quick question – let them do the talking!
Probe for clarification – be sure you’re on the same wave-length!
Hear the customer – use active listening!
Assist them – help them find the resources they need!
Thank them & invite them back – we need them!

Click on the YouTube video, “Roving Librarians”, by Ontario-based Mentor Group Training, Inc., to get your “rove” on!

Argyle Branch's Children's Department Makes Something Out Of Nothing

This close-up of a dog's face is part of an art project DeLon Rowan did for the Jax Reads Campaign, Call of the Wild, and was part of a Family Art Fun Program recently. Toddlers to eight year old children constructed their own individual interpretation of the sled-dog character, Buck, the main character in the book. Children learned about facial features and expressions using this three-dimensional design. Ms. Rowan always uses recycled materials in her art programs. In this case, shredded tires were used to create textural fur. Scrap poster board and used cups were used to create other features. Click on the picture for an enlargement that shows the intriguing details.

Sunset Artist Inspiration Trip on the St. Johns River & YOU Are Invited

In partnership with the St. Johns Riverkeeper, JPL is hosting a Sunset Artist Inspiration Trip on the St. Johns River, Friday, June 12, 6:30 - 8:30 PM. The cruise is free and will depart from Friendship Fountain.

Joining us that evening will be poet, teacher, and author of Endless Nights, Felton “KnightKrawler” Stergis who is a JPL staff favorite to work with. He has participated in several poetry jams with the Main Library’s Teen Department and will be teaching a writers workshop this summer as part of the Adult Summer Reading Program. For this excursion, Stergis has written an original piece of poetry celebrating our river. He will also share inspiring works by other poets infused with elements from the natural world. The Riverkeeper will partner with our poet by providing participants with a naturalist’s perspective on the St. Johns. This event not only celebrates the Year of the River, it will launch a renewed JPL poetic spirit. It is the first in a series of several programs highlighting the “Language of Conservation”, a three year project in partnership with the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens and Poets House. Over the three year period, JPL will host eight poetry programs that specifically recognize the importance of conservation through poetry.

Library employees are invited to join us on this cruise. Bottled water and granola bars will be offered free of charge, and you are welcome to bring your own snacks/dinner. Please contact the Community Education & Enrichment Office, 630-0495, to register; or email: ArtofReading@coj.net. Seating is limited so it is important to reserve your seat now.

Kudos from Customers

Beaches Branch - Over the years I have been assisted often and with amazing skill by Katherine Daye. My children have benefited by her skills and experience; I am grateful for her presence at MY library.

Main Library - Reference/Periodicals - Mrs. Lilia Simonton went further than the normal call of duty and found some information and printed out what was necessary to complete a legal matter. Thank you.

Southeast Branch - I just want to let someone know, Ms. (Deborah) Wainwright is/was a wonderful help in tracking down a double charge of late fees. Ms. Deborah was very friendly, saw the error right away and apologized for an error she did not create. Please let her know we are very grateful for her helping us.

South Mandarin Branch - Ms. Nicole Veal was amazing today. She helped me get books for Read-a-Thon next week. She gave me several options and was very patient.

West Regional Branch - I use the conference rooms 11 times out of the year and the lady (Yuri Jewitt per Ms. Harris) who makes the schedule has always responded back in a timely manner if there were any problems or conflicts in scheduling.

Director's Town Hall Meeting Notes

Greetings:

Notes and Q&A from the April 2009 Director's April Town Hall meetings have been posted to the Team Site on the Portal:
http://inside.coj.net/li/dnext/imp/Shared%20Documents/Town%20Hall%20Meeting%20Notes

To leave questions or comments, click on the word "comments" below.

Melonee Slocum

Mandarin Branch Reaches Out To The Community

Staff at the Mandarin Branch Library had a busy month last month! The Mandarin Senior Center hosted an Arts and Crafts Fair, Saturday, April 18, from 9-5, and featured a table with information on library services and programs. The seniors were very interested in Mandarin Branch's programs, especially the movies they offer.

On April 25, several staff members had a booth at the Riverside Arts Market. An attractive display with flyers and pamphlets promoted activities at the Mandarin Branch. The weather was beautiful and the setting was wonderful, right by the river. Shown in the picture, left to right, are Lisa Veal, part-time clerk, and Margo Crafton, children’s librarian senior.

Notes form Collection Development

Summer is around the corner so that must mean new books on the American Past time and the Boys of Summer (some of them bad boys!)--

A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez

Documents the life and controversial career of the baseball star, including his childhood in New York and the Dominican Republic, his rise to stardom with the Seattle Mariners, his record-breaking contract, his marriage, his relationship with Madonna, and the revelation he used performance-enhancing drugs.

Straw: Finding My Way

PW Reviews 2009 March

Website: http://www.publishersweekly.com/

From the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, Strawberry was one of the most feared sluggers in baseball, a perennial All-Star who was dubbed "The Black Ted Williams." Sadly, his effortless production on the field belied his troubles off it. Growing up in South Central L.A. with an abusive, negligent father left Strawberry unsure on "how to become a man," and playing pro baseball provided the foundation and means to become an alcohol and drug addict. Thanks to Strawberry's hard-living lifestyle, his attempts at domestic stability are colossal failures, and his halfhearted attempts at rehab lead to jail time and a damaged reputation. At his lowest point, Strawberry turns to God, leading him to redemption. The sheer turbulence of his life which also includes two bouts of cancer in his 30s certainly makes for a readable book, though not a probing one.

The Road to Omaha: Hits, Hopes & History at the College World Series

Booklist Reviews 2009 May

McGee delivers an all-embracing profile of the College World Series and its historic setting, Omaha's 60-year-old Rosenblatt Stadium, which, sadly, is scheduled for demolition after the 2010 season. Focusing on the 2008 series, won by upstart Fresno State University, McGee had exceptional access to coaches and players in covering every game played by the eight-team field, culminating in Fresno State's best-of-three win over favored University of Georgia. He complements his play-by-play with a loving, if at times tedious, portrait of the principal players and coaches, fans both locals and out-of-towners and the "Blatt" and its colorful south-side locale, leaving readers a memento marking what is soon to be the end of an era. Copyright 2009 Booklist Reviews.

Bottom of the Ninth: Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball from Itself

PW Reviews 2009 March

Website: http://www.publishersweekly.com/

In 1958, after the Dodgers and Giants had both left New York for California, a group of investors sought to bring the city a new baseball franchise, and their proposal was a bold one. Led by former Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, they sought to create an entire new major league. Meanwhile, as the advocates for the would-be Continental League tried to make their case before the existing major league owners, New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel struggled to keep America's most popular team in championship form. Shapiro (The Last Good Season) parallels these two stories, arguing that they represent a hinge point when team owners could have taken radical steps to reclaim the sport's hold on the public imagination, but chose instead to cling tightly to their near-monopoly, paving the way for other sports, like football, to rise in popularity. The history, filled with colorful personalities, is told in a straightforward manner. While its two halves don't always fit together neatly, they offer a lively perspective on backstage dealings that almost changed the course of professional sports in America.

Southeast Branch Welcomes Its New Branch Manager, Theresa Barmer

During lunch time on Wednesday, May 13, Southeast Regional Library welcomed the arrival of its new Branch Manager Theresa Barmer, with a late spring cookout and paper flight competition. Grilled hamburgers were served, as well as a variety of side dishes for the occasion. Mrs. Barmer was able to meet with most of the staff and also participated in the paper airplane contest. Pictured above is newly arrived Manager Barmer completing a toss of her personally designed paper airplane, with Radhika Kandlakunta, Library Associate Senior, in the background.

Pictured from left to right are competition winners Bob Silkett, Librarian Senior, (third place with a 37 foot flight), Carisia Rooney, Children's Librarian (first place with a 44 foot flight), and Michael Platzer, Librarian, (second place with a 43 foot flight.), who are standing in Olympian order after receiving their winners certificates from Manager Barmer.

JPL's Center for Adult Learning Recognized for "Exemplary Project"

The Center for Adult Learning was recently recognized by the Division of Library and Information Services for a project targeting lower-level adult readers and their tutors. This initiative, Volunteers as Special Educators, was selected as the “FY 08-09 Exemplary Project” among those supported by LSTA funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Volunteers as Special Educators received accolades for its innovative way of teaching syllable division and syllable types to literacy tutors and adult new readers. CAL has provided training throughout the state and recently demonstrated components of this new curriculum at the 2009 Florida Literacy Conference in Clearwater.

JPL’s Center for Adult Learning first began providing reading instruction to adult learners in 1985. They currently offer small group and computer-assisted instruction in reading, math, pre-GED and English language skills to more than 800 adults annually.

Happy Mother's Day

Beware: This May Be Your Mother
By: Latosha Franklin from Northwest

This is an All-Points-Bulletin
Be on the look out for a woman approximately
20 to 30 years your senior.

She may be carrying a belt or a wooden spoon in her oversized handbag.
Now, don’t be alarmed and don’t run for cover,
This woman may very well be your mother.
If she’s ever braided your hair so tight that you looked surprised all day long,
She may be your mother.

If you ever had to endure wardrobe readjustments in front of your friends at the bus stop
The culprit may just be your mother.

If you ever had to wear a sailor suit for your class picture,
The woman responsible for this heinous act may be your mother.

If she tortured you by sitting and watching to make sure you ate your most hated food,
You can be sure that this woman is your mother.

If she ever almost came to blows with another woman over whose kid hit who first,
She might be your mother.

If she ever chaperoned your first date
This traumatic experience may have been caused
By your mother.

If she ever caught you smoking and beat you with her shoe,
Then she’s definitely…my mother
However…
If she ever stayed up all night with you because you had a fever,

Or sat and watched cartoons with you on Saturday mornings,

Or let you keep your favorite stuffed animal when she gave all the other ones away,

Or let you sleep in her bed during a storm,

Or let you lick the spoon,

Or took you to church and taught you how to pray,

She may be your mother.

If you see this woman, call a florist, call a candy maker, and call Jesus
And tell HIM , thank you for this lady
And while you’re at it, don’t forget to tell her you love her.
Rise up and call her blessed
Because this woman is your Mother.

Staff Profile

Natacha Leftwich has a bright smile that enhances her service at the Murray Hill Branch.

Q: How long have you been working for the Murray Hill Library?
A: I have been working at the library for two and half years.

Q: What is your current position?
A: I am a part-time clerk.

Q: Are you currently in school or college?
A: I am a full-time student at the University of Florida.

Q: What is the one thing that you want people to know about you?
A: I am a nice, sociable person and people can always ask me for help.

Q: What are you reading or what is your favorite book?
A: My favorite book is The Guardian, by Nicholas Sparks. I am currently reading Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, by Steve Harvey

Notes from Collection Development

Personal Finance

330.973 DENT 2009

The great depression ahead : how to prosper in the crash following the greatest boom in history / Harry S. Dent, Jr.

ISBN: 1416588981

Booklist (Monday , December 01, 2008)

Dent, author and consultant, predicts the economy is moving toward a major depression, with the deflation of bubbles in stocks, real estate, and commodities between mid- to late 2009 and mid- to late 2012, and it could last for a decade or more. Rather than offering only a gloomy outlook, Dent presents a road map for the difficult times ahead, suggesting cash and money-market investments initially and then highest quality U.S. Treasury, municipal, and corporate bonds and that same quality of bonds in stable Asian and European economies. When assets eventually fall in value, there will be unprecedented buying opportunities for those who are lean and mean. Theories and forecasts abound in the financial turmoil facing the U.S. and global markets in late 2008, and everyone may not agree with Dent. However, he makes a compelling case for his predictions and this is an excellent book to challenge a broad range of library patrons.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

THE NEW COFFEEHOUSE INVESTOR : how to build wealth, ignore Wall Street, and get on with your life / Bill Schultheis

ISBN: 159184245X

Booklist (Sunday , March 01, 2009):

This little how-to-invest book, which elegantly summarizes our common worries about how to build wealth, was initially published 11 years ago. This updated, revised, and revamped edition stands the test of time and of updating. Seattle-based Schultheis states his three principles of investing allocate assets, approximate stock-market average, and save then proceeds to expand and expound with personal stories and provocative questions. When is enough enough? What’s behind this Wall Street obsession to beat the market? Why do we need to lead a penny-pinching life today for a high retirement style tomorrow? Forget the complicated formulas, the diversity of spreadsheets. Concentrate instead, he advises, on understanding your burn rate, the meaning of diversification, and the value of being on financial autopilot. Like his peers (Suze Orman et al.), the author exposes two myths: no load mutual funds and great companies make great investments. All in all, solid and comfortable investment counsel that will help balance (and, eventually, grow) your balance sheet. Appended: partial list of index funds; notes; additional reading. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

330.9 EPPING 2009

The 21st century economy : a beginner's guide : with 101 easy-to-learn tools for surviving and thriving in the new global marketplace / Randy Charles Epping

ISBN: 0307387909

Booklist (Wednesday, April 15, 2009):

The economic upheaval of 2008 has left many investors and ordinary citizens stunned and confused, as it seems like none of the normal rules apply in this fast-paced world of electronic trading and instant information. We hear many terms thrown at us, but few understand their meaning or why they have any relevance to our own financial health. Epping, author of A Beginners Guide to the World Economy (1992), has created this beginners guide to fundamental economic terms and concepts to help the average person understand and navigate the rapidly changing twenty-first-century economy. Oft-heard but confusing terms such as credit default swap and collateralized debt obligation are defined in concise, easy-to-understand language to help readers make sense of the information overload coming via media sources like CNBC and the Internet. There is no guarantee that this guide will make you a better investor, but today more than ever it is essential that more citizens become economically literate, and this is a great place to start. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

332.024014 PARNESS 2009

Rule your freakin' retirement : how to retire rich by actively managing your assets / Michael Parness

ISBN: 0312375751

Booklist (Sunday , March 01, 2009):

The advice given here prompts every American, wealthy or not, to not only understand finances but also to manage money not invest it for the long term. It begins, as most financial planners agree, with a firm analysis of ones assets, liabilities, and needs, including all types of insurance, estate planning, and an objective look at Social Security. Then the usual content follows, including discussions of 401(k)s, mutual funds, bonds and bond funds, cash, and asset allocation. Yet the author does dive into the kinds of tips usually known only by financial pros, such as possible fleecing in terms of management fees from mutual fund companies, the differences between mutual funds and the advantages of ETFs, and defining the bond ladder with a few simple how-tos. Part 3, then, clinches the deal, where Parness shares some ideas and tricks used by traders and inveighs against investors. With end-of-chapter quizzes and an approachable colloquial writing style, Parness helps ensure his future as a TV and radio expert. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

332.02401 FISHER 2009

The ten roads to riches : the way the wealthy got there (and how you can too!) / Ken Fisher, with Lara Hoffmans

ISBN: 0470285362

Booklist (Wednesday, October 15, 2008):

There’s not enough space to list all 10 roads, but here are 5 of them: start a successful business, become a CEO of an existing firm, turn celebrity into wealth, capitalize on other peoples money, and this reviewer's favorite marry well. Fisher, a self-made billionaire, chronicles how some of today’s millionaires made their fortunes and how you can, too. He offers case histories of famous and not-so-famous examples of success and failure. In his final chapter, The Road More Traveled, Fisher says that the first step is saving, and the second is to invest in something that offers substantial returns. He warns that bonds are a riskier investment than stocks, and he provides a five-step guide to saving and investing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

Southeast Branch Honors Its Volunteers

On Tuesday, April 21, Southeast Regional Library held a Volunteers Appreciation event for the branch volunteers. Light snacks were served and each volunteer was presented with a volunteer t-shirt and notebook/pen set. Volunteers are indispensable members of the Branch family, helping to provide assistance with a variety of tasks necessary for the efficient operation of the library. Southeast greatly appreciates the hard and valuable work our volunteers perform for the Branch each day. Pictured are a few of the volunteers and employees who participated in the event. Shown from left to right are Neeraja Jampani (Volunteer), Joyce Myllykangas (Clerical Service Aid II), Tiffany Losco (Volunteer), Annah Bowser (Volunteer), Anthony Martin (Volunteer), Marie Boyer (Librarian - Volunteer Coordinator), Bill Richer (Volunteer), Arlene Wilson (PT Shelver), and Lauren Banks (PT Shelver).

Take the Genealogy Collection Virtual Tour

Last week, the Genealogy Collection placed their new virtual tour of the collection on the JPL website and debuted the tour in front of a large audience at the Spring Seminar & Genealogy Fair. The virtual tour highlights the resources of the Genealogy Collection. David White, David Fuller and Kate Holmes worked together to create the tour. David Fuller wrote the script; David White provided all the photography and narration and Kate Holmes edited the tour with the Training Department’s Adobe Captivate software.

This is a narrated tour, so headphones or speakers are recommended. You can view the virtual tour at http://www.jaxpubliclibrary.org/training/narrated-tour-all.htm

Interlibrary Loan Employees Celebrate Service

On April 1, Special Services invited the JPL staff to help them celebrate the 5th anniversary of ILLiad at JPL, the 30th anniversary of OCLC's online ILL service, and the debut of Lyrasis--created from the merger of SOLINET and PALINET-- and to thank them for their contributions to the success of Interlibrary Loan at JPL.

Notes from Collection Development

The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced on April 20, 2009.

The Pulitzer Prize is an U.S. award for achievements in newspaper journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City. Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories.

JPL owns copies of each of the winning titles below.

The 2009 winners for literature are!

Fiction - Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (Random House)

Booklist Reviews

*Starred Review* Hell. We’re always alone. Born alone. Die alone, says Olive Kitteridge, redoubtable seventh-grade math teacher in Crosby, Maine. Anyone who gets in Olive’s way had better watch out, for she crashes unapologetically through life like an emotional storm trooper. She forces her husband, Henry, the town pharmacist, into tactical retreat; and she drives her beloved son, Christopher, across the country and into therapy. But appalling though Olive can be, Strout manages to make her deeply human and even sympathetic, as are all of the characters in this novel in stories. Covering a period of 30-odd years, most of the stories (several of which were previously published in the New Yorker and other magazines) feature Olive as their focus, but in some she is bit player or even a footnote while other characters take center stage to sort through their own fears and insecurities. Though loneliness and loss haunt these pages, Strout also supplies gentle humor and a nourishing dose of hope. People are sustained by the rhythms of ordinary life and the natural wonders of coastal Maine, and even Olive is sometimes caught off guard by life’s baffling beauty. Strout is also the author of the well-received Amy and Isabelle (1999) and Abide with Me (2006). Copyright 2008 Booklist Reviews.

History - The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed (W.W. Norton & Company)

Booklist Reviews

*Starred Review* In the long-awaited sequel to Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy (1997), Gordon-Reed delivers a powerful composite portrait of the African American family whose labors helped make Jefferson's Virginia residence a fountainhead of American culture. Primary interest naturally attaches to Sally Hemings, the gifted black woman who chose?at age 16?to live as Jefferson's enslaved mistress in America rather than as a free woman in France. But Gordon-Reed highlights the family role of Sally's mother, Elizabeth Hemings, whose experience in bearing children to both black and white fathers schooled her in the racial dynamics of early America. Biracial relationships immensely complicated life at Monticello, where the Virginia planter famous for declaring the equality of all men counted among his slaves four of his own children, fathered in a union he never publicly acknowledged. Gordon-Reed teases out telling clues from correspondence and journals of the Hemingses' struggle for dignity despite the cruel constraints of slavery. That Jefferson finally freed his children by Sally does not obscure those restraints, nor does it hide the tragedy visited upon other Monticello slaves when Jefferson's posthumous debts licensed the auctioneer to break up black families to increase their market value. A must-have acquisition for every American history collection. Copyright 2006 Booklist Reviews.

Biography - American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham (Random House)

Booklist Reviews

There are numerous books on the seventh president, but this one is distinguished by its particularly fluid presentation. As the subtitle indicates, it has special appeal for those readers who may be uninterested in a complete cradle-to-grave treatment but are looking for a particular focus on the Jackson presidency. The “evolution of presidential power” is the basic theme around which Meacham constructs his riveting account of the freshness Jackson brought to the White House—meaning, before his advent into the chief executive office, political power was considered to be best left in the hands of the landed elite, but Jackson believed in the “primacy of the will of the common people,” and during his administration, “democracy was making its stand.” This was a difficult time for the American republic; the issue of slavery was developing into a major political issue, and with that, the rise of southern questioning of just how strong the union of states was and what rights individual states possessed to safeguard regional interests. But Jackson administered the ship of state with good instincts and wisdom. Copyright 2008 Booklist Reviews.

Poetry - The Shadow of Sirius by W.S. Merwin (Copper Canyon Press)

Booklist Reviews

With no punctuation and a solitary launching capital letter, Merwin's elegant poems are built to the measure of breath and sweep the page like palm fronds. Yet each word is old, lustrous, and solid. Only a poet as seasoned as Merwin can wrest so much meaning from dark, moon, wake, river, and song. The questions he poses are as old as night, and the answers are forever elusive. The contrast between airiness and earthiness is intrinsic to master poet Merwin's newest poems, lithe works steely in their testing of the mesh of memory and sensuousness; the coil of time, our continuing fiction; and the ripple of shadows attendant upon the brightest star, the most radiant life. Childhood reminiscences summon the dead and recall the now obsolete; the underworld masquerades as a coal mine or a shadow without form or the darkness that is the mind of day. And Merwin contemplates the earth's verdant singularity in the vault of darkness, our entreaties straying far out past the orbits and webs. Copyright 2008 Booklist Reviews.

General Nonfiction - Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon (Doubleday)

PW Reviews

Wall Street Journal bureau chief Blackmon gives a groundbreaking and disturbing account of a sordid chapter in American history—the lease (essentially the sale) of convicts to “commercial interests” between the end of the 19th century and well into the 20th. Usually, the criminal offense was loosely defined vagrancy or even “changing employers without permission.” The initial sentence was brutal enough; the actual penalty, “reserved almost exclusively for black men,” was a form of slavery in one of “hundreds of forced labor camps” operated “by state and county governments, large corporations, small time entrepreneurs and provincial farmers.” Into this history, Blackmon weaves the story of Green Cottenham, who was “charged with riding a freight train without a ticket,” in 1908 and was sentenced to “three months of hard labor for Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad,” a subsidiary of U.S. Steel. Cottenham's sentence was extended an additional three months and six days because he was unable to pay fines then leveraged on criminals. Blackmon's book reveals in devastating detail the legal and commercial forces that created this neoslavery along with deeply moving and totally appalling personal testimonies of survivors. “Every incident in this book is true,” he writes; one wishes it were not so. (Mar.)

Mandarin Branch Honors Its Volunteers

The Mandarin Branch Library has many dedicated and loyal volunteers. Many have volunteered there for years, starting when the library opened in 1986! In appreciation of their service, the staff of the library hosted a Volunteer Appreciation Day on Wednesday, April 22. Volunteers enjoyed a wonderful luncheon with a Honey Baked ham and plenty of delicious sides. Featured are (clockwise from lower left) Arthur Martin, Kathy Reiff, Barbara Permenter, Dorothy Hill, Leslie Smith, and Dot Gray.

Kudos from Customers

Argyle - My son loves the family art. We never miss a week. Ms. DeLon (Rowan) always has great projects planned and she does a great job with the kids.

Main - Florida Collection & Remote Reference - I got exactly the information I required (online) from Catherine L. Currier and I received another email from Michael Shell checking that I had in fact received the information that had been sent. Very good service & thanks.

San Marco - I would like to comment about Erica Brown. She was by far the most helpful and pleasant librarian I've spoken with at the San Marco Branch and has given me a new Grade A opinion here.

University Park - Your staff is like family. Mina Figuerrez is always helpful.

Webb Wesconnett - The Children's Department is great--Jackie Bartha, Jack Betancourt, and Tenesha Anderson.