Dragon's Pages

Displays: April is National Poetry Month!

APRILis the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain. - T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland Those are the opening lines to T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland. And while April may be the cruelest month to some (thank you April 1st snowstorm), April is also National Poetry Month, a month long celebration of poets and poetry!  This year we have compiled in the large display window some fantastic poetry anthologies and some works by some lesser known poets that you may be interested in. Some personal favorites of mine include T.S. Eliot (obviously!), Walt Whitman (is there anything better than Song of Myself?), Seamus Heaney, Eavan Boland, Emily Dickinson, Sean Janson, and Sylvia Plath. Check out these websites to learn more about poetry and national poetry month Poets.org gotpoetry? poetribe

 

CAPS FOR GOOD!

                                
After nearly three months of deligent baby cap knitting, Dana Hall faculty, staff and students made 188 adorable baby caps. Ms. Lechan shipped all the caps off to Save the Children Friday morning and from there they will be distributed to new born babies all over the world. All of us here in the library want to offer our sincere gratitude for all of your hardwork knitting these past three months. And please KEEP KNITTING! Many of you have developed a new hobby through this community service project. We have so many books on knitting and crocheting in the library (and on display in the case down the hall) and we'd love to see you keep knitting and creating hats, scarves, sweater, whatever!

 

BOOKS THAT ROCK!!

This is an exciting time in Rock n' Roll. The Beatles have finally made their way to iTunes, Patti Smith just won the National Book Award for nonfiction (incase you are wondering who Patti Smith is, she's the queen of punk rock) and Keith Richards new biography has been dominating the New York Times Bestseller list (he's the guitarit for this little known band called The Rolling Stones, you may have heard of them.) There was a time when Rock n Roll dominated the airwaves; it was more than just a form of music, it represented a culture of change. We've chosen our best books on Rock n Roll, hip-hop, reggae, soul and the blues and put them on display in the big case in the library. Come check out some awesome books that rock. Sorry ladies, Justin Bieber didn't make the cut. 

Faculty Favorites!

I know we just got back from Thanksgiving break but winter break is just two weeks away which means we'll all  hopefully have some time to relax and read that book thats been sitting on our night stand for the past month. In preparation for the break, I asked all faculty and staff to recommend a book for our students to read over the winter break. I recieved back an impressive list of books that you are sure to love. Take a look in the display case outside the library to see what books your teachers and advisors are excited to share with you. Here are the books the librarians recommend:

Full Dark, No Stars-Ms. Gray's pick

The Neverending Story-Ms. Musher's pick

 Gathering Blue-Ms. Klasson's pick

Blankets- Ms. Lechan's pick

Cutting for Stone-Ms. Kaplan's pick

Check out the display and read the books that have gotten us all talking!

Displays: Food Glorious Food

Are you a foodie? Do you love to eating, baking and cooking?? I DO! I love all kinds of food. I get excited just talking about food! If you're like me and love everything about food come and check out the new mouthwatering display in the big window in the front of the library. We have picked out some great books, movies and magazines all about this tasty topic. We picked out titles that cover everything from how to cook vegetarian Greek cuisine, how to live with a nut allergy, where our food comes from, who eats what around the world, and how to cook like Julia Child. The library also just got in Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential in audiobook format! Want to learn more? The food network has some great shows on how to cook some delicious meals ( I'm a fan of Rachel Ray, her meals are never too complicated and always tasty) Check out the website for more info. The Travel Channel is also great for learning about food around the world. Watch Bizarre Foods, No Reservations, Man V. Food and Food Wars to learn more about this delicious topic. And now I'm hungry...

                                  

Displays: Audiobooks!

 

We all know that the students here at Dana are very busy. Girls pack their schedules with clubs, sports, plays, college prep, on top of the piles of homework they get every night. It's no surprise that when students say they don't have time to sit and read they really have no time. Luckily, there is the audiobook. A great way to listen to a story rather than read.  This is a wonderful way to enjoy literature without having to sit for hours (although stopping everything and just sitting and reading is possibly the best thing ever). Check out the audiobook titles we have on display in the hall. And we're constantly getting more in (like The Hunger Games series we just got last week!!)

 

Displays: Watch a Documentary!

I secretly love rainy days because I don't feel that bad staying inside and being a couch potatoe. If you've been in the library recently I'm sure you've noticed the growing DVD collection. Our library not only has the latest and greatest hollywood blockbusters but we also have quite an impressive documentary collection and we've showcased a few gems in the display in the hall outside the library. These aren't just the boring films that you watch in class (although we do have those if you're interested) these documentaries have been heralded for their uplifting true stories about topics ranging from the Lost Boys of Sudan to the evil empire known as Wal-Mart. Personally, I am a huge fan of the Planet Earth series and I just recently rented Man in Wire about Phillip Petit, a tight rope walker who walked a tightrope between the world trade center towers in 1974. These documentaries are truly captivating and a wonderful way to hear someone's story. Come down and see what we have and have a documentary night with your firends!

Displays: It's LGBT History Month!

In addition to October being breast cancer awareness month, it is also LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) history month and lucky us, our library is chock full of books about coming out and being a part of the LGBT community. This past monday, October 11th, marked the annual "National Coming Out Day" and it was back in October of 1979 that the first LGBT march for civil rights took place in Washington DC. We've displayed some great books in the large display window in the front of the library on LGBT topics like GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer or Questioning Teens by Kelly Huegel, Family Outing by Chastity Bono and The Shared Heart: Portraits and Stories Celebrating Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Young People by Adam Mastoon along with many, many more.

Looking for support on LGBT issues or just someone to talk to? Come check out BRIDGE, Dana's lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender alliance.

 

Check out these websites for more information:

American Civil Liberties Union 

Queer Attitude

Displays: October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Every October I notice that I start seeing a lot of pink things (pink newspapers, pink ribbons, pink yogurt lids...) And then I remember that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It's more than likely that we all know someone close to us who has been diagnosed with the disease. So this month bust out your pink clothing and show your support to make strides against breast cancer.

We've put together a display outside the library that showcases some great books on the topic like
Lopsided: How having breast cancer can be really distracting by Meredith Norton, The Red Devil: To hell with cancer and back by Katherine Russell Rich and The Victoria's Secret Catalog Never Stops Coming: and other lessons I learned from breast cancer by Jennie Nash. Both poignant and funny these books are great for anyone who is or knows someone who is battling breast cancer. Come by and check 'em out!

  
 
Check out these websites for breast cancer information and support

The Pink Agenda

Time For a Cure
National Breast Cancer Awarness Month

Displays: SUMMER VACATION

Our last display of the year features a theme near and dear to all our hearts: SUMMER VACATION.  Be sure to stop by and look at the books up there for some excellent recommendations of summery books to read while you are having a most excellent adventure this summer vacation!

Just remember: don't forget the sunblock!