Video: Questions for a Librarian

Loud Library spent some time this week with Niamh McGuigan, a reference librarian at Loyola University's Cudahy library, to ask about everything from her job responsibilities to her favorite type of music.

Watch the video below to learn about how technology, book sales, and the economy are affecting what kinds of books are getting published.

• The 1st book mentioned is The Statistical Abstract of the United States.  Visit the online version here.
• The 2nd book mentioned is On Elegance While Sleeping by Viscount Lascano Tegui. 
• Song is "Humming Birds" by MyNameIsJohn.
• Video shot and edited by Loud Library.

On the Bookshelf #1: The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales

By Albert Weisgerber
Photo by emmeffe6

The crystal mountain, the glass coffin, the wise fool, the brave tailor, the prince under a terrible curse - these are just a few of the unforgettable places and people that populate the pages of The Complete Grimm's Fairytales.

Regarded by many as the greatest work of German literature, the stories are short and strange, long and twisted, enigmatic, and wonderful.

It was while working as librarians in Kassel, Germany, that brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm became fascinated with folk poetry and tales.  

After collecting stories for six years, they published Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children' and Household Tales) in 1812.  Two years later, they came out with a second volume.  Today, those two books are known as The Complete Grimm's Fairytales.  

Commoners told folk tales then to explain confusing events, teach important morals, and express their deepest fears and desires.  These lessons continue to resonate with readers young and old.

• Click here to learn more about the life and times of the Brothers Grimm.
• Start reading The Complete Grimm's Fairytales at Project Gutenberg.

The Where: 7 Settings in Literature

A lonely beach on an overcast, dreary day.

A cramped but cozy apartment in the heart of New York City.

A quiet field, filled with daisies.

Authors choose their settings for for specific reasons.  They create worlds out of words, but sometimes it helps the reader to have a visual apart from black letters on a white page.

With this in mind, Loud Library presents a few snapshots of famous settings in literature to help your imagination get a jump start:

1. The character of Robin Hood.  Traditional hero of English folklore.  Photo by AP Images.
2. Wuthering Heights.  By Emily Brontë.  Photo by Tim Green.
3. Walden.  By Henry David Thoreau.  Photo by Phillip Capper.
4. Little House on the Prairie.  By Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Photo by Sheila Scarborough.
5. The character of Sherlock Holmes.  Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Photo by José María Mateos.
6. One Hundred Years of Solitude.  By Gabriel García Márquez.  Photo by AP Images.
7. A Streetcar Named Desire.  By Tennessee Williams.  Photo by AP Images.

Photo editing and slideshow by Loud Library.

Look, Ma, "I Can Read" a Nook!

Lat week, HarperCollins launched its "I Can Read" series for early readers in iPad and Nook e-book format, in addition to the traditional paperback.

The digital line includes over 80 titles with interactive sound effects and read-along recordings.

By the San Jose Library.

HarperCollins is marketing the e-books as convenient, fun, and accessible to a generation with a commercial break attention span, but a certain technological affinity.

While many applaud HarperCollins for embracing the digital age, others remain concerned about the effects of high technologoical exposure on young children.  

• The squinting, blind-as-a-bat WoW geek [World of Warcraft, for those of you not in the know]
• The head banger gone deaf in his early twenties
• The 700 lb. couch potato next door

These are just a few of the PYTs of the information age.

An early reader on a computer screen may seem counter-productive, but if the popularity of the Nintendo DS is any indication, digital Fancy Nancy will soon supersede her paper counterpart.

 
By Joseph Choi.

Just make sure your child doesn't get too carried away in a frenzy of interactive excitement.  The sensory overload might just cause her to spill her apple juice on that expensive electronic device, and that simply wouldn't do.

Can't imagine a picture e-book?  Watch below for a touching, low-tech rendition of I Can Read With My Eyes Shut by Dr. Seuss.