Free Library Blog

Take Five with . . . Margot Livesey

Communications Office — 2008-05-02T14:44:00-05:00

A native of the Scottish Highlands, Margot Livesey‘s thoughtful fiction showcases a keen wit and a wise heart. Her forthcoming novel, The House on Fortune Street, explores multiple perspectives on the life of a young London therapist while paying subtle homage to literary figures and works including Jane Eyre and Great Expectations. One of many critically acclaimed authors who will be appearing at the Parkway Central Library during the second annual Philadelphia Book Festival on Saturday and Sunday, May 17 and 18, 2008, Ms. Livesey recently took a moment to chat with us about some of our favorite topics.

What role have libraries played in your life?

A crucial one. I grew up in a place called Glenalmond--the valley of the River Almond--on the edge of the Scottish Highlands. The nearest town was ten miles away. From the age of seven I had a library card and when we went to town, perhaps once or twice a month, I would get out the maximum number of books allowed. At that time I could easily read a book a day. Later, at my secondary school, there was also a library from which I could borrow books but also enjoy the pleasure of reading amongst the stacks. And then in the libraries there were also librarians--understanding adults who seemed to think my longing for books was perfectly natural and who often guided me towards surprising and wonderful new authors. As an adult I seldom leave home without my library card and am even more seldom without a book.

What was your favorite childhood book?

I loved Daddy Long-Legs, Pippi Longstocking, and Ferdinand the Bull. I also adored the much more Scottish Kidnapped.

Who is your favorite fictional character?

The hero of the first book I ever read was Percy the Bad Chick, and I remain devoted to him. Also, and always, Jane Eyre.

Who are the three authors you think everyone should be required to read--which books would you start with?

This is such a hard question, and in order to attempt an answer I'm going to limit myself to dead British writers. George Eliot and Middlemarch. Ford Madox Ford and Parade's End. Elizabeth Bowen and The House in Paris.

If you couldn’t write, what other job would you like to have?

I've always envied and admired people who work for organisations like Oxfam or Amnesty. If that didn't work out I'd love to work in a florist’s.

Energy-Saving Disappearing Ink for a Not-Quite-Paperless Future

Communications Office — 2008-05-01T11:06:00-05:00

According to Michael Kanellos, writing for the CNET News Green Tech Blog, “The Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and parent company Xerox are experimenting with a type of paper and a complementary printer that would produce documents that fade away after 16 to 24 hours.” This technology, which uses special paper coated with photosensitive chemicals, could be available to consumers within the next few years.

“Not every document is right for reusable paper,” writes Kanellos. “Presentations and legal contracts probably need to be printed on something more permanent. But lunch menus, daily work summaries, and memos from meetings can all potentially take advantage of this. Xerox says that 44.5 percent of documents are printed for one-time use and 25 percent of all documents printed get recycled the same day.”

While these new papers and printers will be more expensive than those in common use today, the potential energy savings are substantial. In addition to the energy saved in lowering the production of new sheets of paper, Kanellos’ article suggests that reusing a sheet of paper with Xerox’s new system will consume between roughly a tenth and half as much energy as ordinary printing on a conventional 8 x 11.5 sheet of paper.

Take Five with . . . Gregory Maguire

Communications Office — 2008-04-28T15:12:00-05:00

Gregory Maguire writes novels in which classic villains turn out to be heroes--and supposed heroes disappoint. In Wicked, his bestselling novel and basis for the smash Broadway musical of the same name, he profiles Elphaba, the misunderstood Wicked Witch of the West. In Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, a retelling of Cinderella set in the Dutch Golden Age, Iris Fischer, Cinderella’s clever but painfully plain stepsister takes center stage. Maguire is also the author of Mirror Mirror, Son of a Witch, and most recently, What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy. One of many bestselling authors who will be appearing at the Parkway Central Library during the second annual Philadelphia Book Festival on Saturday and Sunday, May 17 and 18, 2008, Mr. Maguire recently took a moment to chat with us about some of our favorite topics.

What role have libraries played in your life?

Not too long ago, I participated in a photo shoot with the actresses then playing Elphaba and Glinda on the stage in New York. The caption of the advertisement read something like “Great American theater began in the public library.” I talked, in a brief line or two, about how affected I was by my childhood reading of The Wizard of Oz and other fantasies discovered on library shelves like gems and treasures (packed in their cellophane dust jackets next to dross and dreck, sometimes). My family was not prosperous, so the public libraries in Albany, New York, seemed nearly hallowed to us as a place to become revived, inspired, challenged, consoled, amused, and befuddled. I serve on the Board of Associates of the Boston Public Library now, in part to honor the debt I owe to public libraries, and also in part to help libraries continue to do that same work for toda’s young readers (and readers not so young).

What was your favorite childhood book?

Yesterday my 8-year-old Alex said at breakfast, “Ba,” (the Cambodian word for father) “do you know what? Every day when I wake up it seems like a dream.” I know what he means--sort of. Every day of childhood is different. Every day is stuffed with different passions. So there can be no one favorite childhood book, as all the days and years of childhood are different. Still, from the adult perspective, some books stand out: here are just a few. Jane Langton’s The Diamond in the Window, a fantasy set in Concord, Massachusetts. (Do you think that book influenced my decision to live in Concord as an adult? You're right.) Maurice Sendak’s Higglety Pigglety Pop! for its mystical overtones cut with a vaguely Borsch-belt comedy. Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy--I began a spy notebook in sixth grade, and 40 years later I still keep it, though now I call it my journal. Finally, in high school, T.H. White’s gallimaufry of Arthurian legends, The Once and Future King--which would serve as a kind of template for my own work in reimagining the history behind The Wizard of Oz, which has become the cycle known as the Wicked Years.

Who is your favorite fictional character?

Probably Merlin the Magician, in all his variety and multiple manifestations in ancient and contemporary literature, though I also like the Russian witch called Baba Yaga. My tastes haven’t changed much since childhood.

Who are the three authors you think everyone should be required to read—which books would you start with?

Since one should start reading in childhood, I would say Mother Goose for nonsense if not insanity; Grimm and Perrault and the Greek myths and Old Testament stories for a stable foundation in archetypes; Dr. Seuss for his marriage of ethics and anarchy; Sendak for psychological honesty; and Beatrix Potter, Arnold Lobel (the Frog and Toad books) and James Marshall (George and Martha) for object lessons in loyalty, friendship, and perseverance. If you missed any of these books because you are too old to have got them in childhood, go back and start over. It’s never too late. Everything else descends from these, including usefully wise behavior as a citizen.

If you couldn’t write, what other job would you like to have?

Over the past 30 years I have often taught literature and writing to children and adults. I don’t do this much anymore due to my obligations to my young children. If I had a better singing voice I would like to be an actor in musicals. If I had longer legs I wouldn’t mind being a dancer. Oddly enough, I am preternaturally well-organized, and so I have always said that if and when my career as a writer ever tanks, I will hire myself out to be an executive assistant in some hot shot law firm or something. I love to file and I also love to boss people around, especially myself. (That’s what makes me a productive self-employed writer: I am both labor and management, and as management I drive a hard bargain.)

Customizable Catalog Searches for Your Aggregator

Communications Office — 2008-04-25T11:17:00-05:00

The Free Library's website has a new RSS feature--customizable catalog search feeds. To check it out, perform a search in the Library's catalog interface by entering terms in the Find box on the homepage. Play around, and when you are satisfied with the results, click on the RSS icon that appears above the Refine menu. Then select the Free Library catalog feed that you want to use. Customized search feeds will notify you whenever the Library adds a new item that meets your search criteria. For more info on this new feature, as well as the Library's other RSS feeds, click on the RSS link at the bottom of any page.

Laura Forthcoming

Communications Office — 2008-04-23T14:47:00-05:00

It looks like The Original of Laura, the novel that Vladimir Nabokov was working on at the time of his death, will soon be published. As Kate Connolly of the Guardian's books blog puts it, "Having kept the literary world in a state of suspense for years over whether he was prepared to carry out his long-standing threat to burn his father's last novel, Dmitri Nabokov has finally announced that he is prepared to save it from destruction."

Get Ready for the Friends' Big Book Sale

Communications Office — 2008-04-21T10:00:00-05:00

On Friday, April 25, from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, April 26 and 27, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., the Friends of the Free Library will host their annual Big Book Sale--located right outside the Book Corner--with thousands of fiction and nonfiction titles priced at $2.00 and under. (All in-store stock will be 35% off, excluding new children's books and select consignment items).

Like When the Library of Alexandria Burned Down, But Slower

Communications Office — 2008-04-16T14:20:00-05:00

According to Scottish newspaper the Sunday Herald, a Strathclyde University professor of applied chemistry is working with British Library staff to devise a machine that will be able to "smell" the chemicals given off by decaying paper, with the hope that such an apparatus will be able to "test the 'health' of valuable or ancient books and ensure their survival."

The Sunday Herald piece quotes Professor Jim Levicki as saying, "The problem is that libraries have massive collections of old books, historical documents or newspapers, and very little is known about how they break down over time. ... We're starting from the bottom up to find out exactly what happens to books when they age. We lose part of our history and cultural heritage through the decay of these things. Look at what happened when the library of Alexandria burned down. This is the same process, but slower."

Take Five with . . . Anne Perry

Communications Office — 2008-04-09T16:31:00-05:00

Anne Perry is the author of several bestselling mystery novels featuring famed protagonists Inspector William Monk and Special Services Detective Thomas Pitt. Buckingham Palace Gardens is her latest novel featuring Detective Pitt, who is called in to investigate the mystery behind a mutilated body found among the Queen’s monogrammed sheets in a Buckingham Palace linen closet the morning after a raucous party. Ms. Perry will be appearing at the Parkway Central Library’s Montgomery Auditorium at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15. (This event is free--no tickets required.) She recently took a moment to chat with us about some of our favorite topics.

What role have libraries played in your life?

They make it possible to reach a large number of readers I could not otherwise, and that is extremely important. I have been made welcome at terrific library events. I don't borrow from them myself as we do not have a large public library anywhere near us. Occasionally my researcher goes to the local library to consult newspapers and magazines of the Victorian era.

What was your favorite childhood book?

Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll.

Who is your favorite fictional character?

That depends on which day you ask me! At the moment, Alex Delaware from Jonathan Kellerman’s crime stories--for his humanity and compassion.

Who are the three authors you think everyone should be required to read--which books would you start with?

Dante (begin with The Inferno) for his profundity and ease of reading (in translation!). Oscar Wilde, for his unsurpassed wit and compassion. His short stories are excellent--start with “The Happy Prince.” G.K. Chesterton for his sublime joy and use of the language--begin with his poetry or fantasies.

If you couldn’t write, what other job would you like to have?

I would like to direct films--it is another way of telling a story.

Aesthetic Collisions

Communications Office — 2008-04-07T12:12:00-05:00

Yesterday Libby Rosof of roberta fallon and libby rosof's artblog posted a piece on the When Photography and Printmaking Collide exhibition currently on view in the Parkway Central Library’s West Gallery. “There are some beautiful works in the exhibition,” writes Rosof, “including Andy Warhol’s Jacqueline Kennedy II, 1966 which is printed with a mesmerizing, silvery lavender color.” On view through June 27, When Photography and Printmaking Collide features pieces by photographers, printmakers, and book artists whose works combine the media of photography and printmaking.

Will Internet Book Piracy Drive Authors to Stop Writing?

Communications Office — 2008-04-04T09:54:00-05:00

Quite possibly, says Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with a Pearl Earring and chair of the London-based Society of Authors. A recent piece in the Times quotes her as saying that the traditional model for compensating authors with a combination of cash advances and royalties is "a dam that's cracking" as we progress further into the internet age. "It’s hitting hardest the writers who write books that you dip in and out of: poetry, cookbooks, travel guides, short stories--books where you don't have to read the whole thing," she continues. “For a while it will be great for readers because they will pay less and less but in the long run it’s going to ruin the information. People will stop writing. There’s a lot of ‘wait and see what the technology brings’ but the trouble is if you wait and see too long then it’s gone. That’s what happened to the music industry.”

Comments:

Salas in Philadelphia, Mon 4/14/2008 5:22 PM:
I couldn't disagree more--more authors than ever are getting an audience thanks to the efficient distribution of the Internet.