Dreams & Swords

May 2006 issue

April 2006 issue
March 2006 issue
February 2006 issue
November 2005 issue

Dreams & Swords
All books are either dreams or swords,
You can cut, or you can drug, with words.
- Amy Lowell (Sword Blades and Poppy Seeds)

Check the Library's website for the archives of the Dreams & Swords column.

First things first - final exams and the Library:

Check the Library's website or the front doors for extended library hours during final exams. On those evenings before a final exam day, the Library will remain open until 11:30 p.m., and we will have extended hours during finals weekend. We also will be providing refreshments in the evenings during finals, as we did last fall. Come by and enjoy coffee, lemonade, and a variety of snacks … we'll do what we can to help keep you going.

If you read the last issue of the Gargoyle, or have been in the Library this month, you know that the first week of April was celebrated as National Library Week. A number of faculty and staff submitted "reader" polls sharing their favorite (or not) books, films and websites. Students participated in a trivia contest for a chance at a prize including books, CDs, a dvd, gift certificates and movie passes (including the Capri and 10 Rave passes), literary action figures, and our personal favorite, the first issue of a new comic book Rex Libris. Congratulations to Kyle Kreutzer for winning the contest. And congratulations to Dr. Tami Olds for winning the drawing for faculty/staff to be featured on her own READ poster. As many of you know, Dr. Olds is leaving us after this year, but you'll still be able to visit her in the Library.

Now, as for that trivia contest … if you've been lying awake at night wondering about the answers, read on (you'll have to come to the Library for all the answers) and maybe you'll finally get a good night's sleep:

So who is the DC superhero who is also a librarian? It's Batgirl, otherwise known as Barbara Gordon, who after being shot and paralyzed by the Joker became the information mastermind for the DC universe going by the new name of Oracle.

What famous eighteenth-century lover was also a librarian? Casanova, of course.

In the film Ghostbusters, the first ghost Bill Murray and his comrades face is found in what famous library? Answer: The venerable New York Public Library.

Both Katherine Hepburn and Bette Davis played librarians, Hepburn in Desk Set and Davis in Storm Center (we have both in our collection). How many Oscars did each actress win in her career? Hepburn won 4 - and still holds the record. Davis won 2.

"He gave River City the library building, but he left all the books to HER." Who is "HER"? Marion the Librarian in The Music Man.

In addition to the answers to the full trivia contest, you can also still come by and discover what our faculty and staff like to read (or not) and have enjoyed (or not) at the movies. Here are some examples:

Who is the faculty member that, in responding to the inquiry "What is your favorite time to read?" responded, "Always, but especially when I'm driving at high speeds and listening to reggae music." Hint: She drives a little green car that always fakes you out when from afar you think you've found an empty parking space! And who is the faculty member who responded, "In about 15 years after my kids fledge the nest."

Which two books were listed as both the best and worst books read by separate faculty or staff? Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway and Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice.

What book was most frequently given as the most influential? You can probably guess this one - the Bible. But here's some further trivia: The Bible is the title most held by libraries internationally (according to OCLC, the Online Computer Library Center, in a survey of its member libraries worldwide) and it also holds the #1 spot on the most banned list.

Most favorite places to read? The beach, the tub, bed or a comfy chair (frequently by a fireplace).

Favorite children's book? Eloise, Little House on the Prairie, Green Eggs & Ham and Wind in the Willows were the titles most often given.

Scariest film? Psycho and The Exorcist were frequently listed.

Who is the faculty member who said that the scariest book he ever read was Night Shift by Stephen King, by headlamp, alone in the wilderness? (Sounds like a biologist to us.)

Who is the staff member, in response to the question about favorite time to read, recalled his experience in Vietnam when he would read " … in the lingering light of dusk at sunset atop a different hill in the jungle each day. … I carried in my 50 pound backpack a paperback book I got from the special services mobile unit library at Camp Evans back in the rear area. It was Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast."

Thanks to all who participated in our National Library Week events. In the early fall semester we'll once again observe Banned Books Week (September). We'll also be making some changes (good changes) in the Library over the summer in time to welcome you back in August. In the meantime, good luck to student (and faculty) with finals and have a great summer!

Eric A. Kidwell
Director of the Library