April is National Poetry Month!

The Academy of American Poets invites libraries across the nation to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American Culture during National Poetry month this April.  Since it's inception in 1996, the national celebration of poetry looks to widen the attention of individuals and the media to the art of poetry through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops and other events.  

As part of the celebration the Academy has designated April 26th as Poem in Your Pocket Day.  The idea is for individuals to select a poem and carry it with them through out the day to share with co-workers, family and friends.  Some ideas for libraries to participate include starting a "poems for pockets" giveaway in your library and/or posting a poem on your blog or social networking page.

For more information, celebration ideas and sample poems visit www.poets.org. 

Capitol Reads

March's Capitol Read is A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the aging Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of the guillotine.

Visit the Capitol Reads page on the WVLC website for more information and future discussion titles.

New Titles for Libraries

These titles just arrived at the Library Commission and are available for libraries to interlibrary loan:

• A book sale how-to guide: more money, less stress by Pat Ditzler and JoAnn Dumas.
• ISBN: 0838910742
• Call number: 025.11 DITZLER
• Description: The authors provide a tested and successful formula for making money for local libraries in a practical and fun way-- a library book sale.
• Disaster response and planning for libraries by Miriam B. Hahn.  3rd edition.
• ISBN: 9780838911518
• Call number: 025.82  KAHN
• Description: Fire, water, mold, construction problems, power-outages—mishaps like these can not only bring library services to a grinding halt, but can also destroy collections and even endanger employees. Preparing for the unexpected is the foundation of a library’s best response. Expert Kahn comes to the rescue with this timely update of the best step-by-step, how-to guide for preparing and responding to all types of library disasters.
• Transforming information literacy programs: intersecting frontiers of self, library culture, and campus community edited by Carroll Wilkinson and Courtney Bruch.
• ISBN: 9780838986035
• Call number: 025.52777 TRANSFORMING
• Description: Brings together a broad array of issues and themes that academic instruction librarians must manage including the intellectual, psychological, cultural, definitional and structural issues that are present in higher education environments.

Writers' Toolkit

Writers' Toolkit

A FREE intensive creative writing skills workshop.

Sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the West Virginia Library Commission

Friday, March 16 -7:00pm Norman L. Fagan West Virginia State Theater, Culture Center

"Bright Street and Dark Paths: The Often-Painful, Sometimes Glorious Journey from Rough Draft to Polished Manuscript" with Author Sarah Sullivan (Reception to follow)

Saturday, March 17 -10am-3pm

Featured Authors: Sarah Sullivan, Danny Boyd, Karin Fuller, Sandy Tritt

9:-9:45am Registration (Pre-registration not necessary)
Noon-1pm Networking and book sales (Bring a Bag Lunch)

For more information call 304-558-0220

www.wvculture.org