New murals by Baldwin High School artists in Children's
My Reading History
New Web Address for Baldwin Public Library
Playways are Here
New Acquisitions
Readers' Advisory
New Video & Audio Books Acquisitions
Atrium Displays
Web Sites of Interest

NEW MURALS IN CHILDREN'S ROOM

See the new murals in the Children's Arts and Crafts Room, painted by
talented students from Baldwin High School!

MY READING HISTORY

Can’t remember if you already read a certain book? Want to make a favorites list? MY READING HISTORY is now available online through the ALISweb catalog. This feature allows you to track your personal reading history. Simply log onto the Library’s website, www.baldwinpl.org, click ONLINE CATALOG and then click MY ACCOUNT. After logging into your account, click the OPT IN link to activate the Reading History option. The system will keep track of items checked out to your account. You have the choice of managing your list by deleting items, or choosing OPT OUT if you decide to discontinue your participation.

For detailed instructions on accessing your library account, click Reserve and Renew from the menu on the Library’s homepage, or call the Reference Desk at 223-6228.

CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEB ADDRESS!

It’s now easier to find the Baldwin Public Library on the web at www.baldwinpl.org. Can’t come to the Library? E-mail us with your questions at info@baldwinpl.org.

We’ll try to respond to your questions within 48 hours. We can provide short, factual answers to questions or give referrals to other sources where answers may be found. For assistance with more detailed or lengthy inquiries, please come into the Library, or contact the Reference Department at 223-6228. This service is for Baldwin Library cardholders only. Please include “Reference Question” as your subject and your library barcode number with your message.

INTRODUCING PLAYAWAYS

The Baldwin Public Library is proud to announce the addition of Playaways, the newest technology in audiobooks, to our collection. Playaway is the simplest way to listen to an audio book on the go. It comes preloaded with one book on it. No cassettes or CDs. No downloads. Simply plug in earphones or a car adaptor to Playaway’s universal jack and enjoy! And at a mere 2” x 3 ¼”, the Playaway is the ultimate in lightweight portability. Playaways may be borrowed for 28 days. Look for this new collection of best-selling titles in the Audio Books area. Read more about them here.

NEW ACQUISITIONS

CHECK HERE FOR NEW ACQUISITIONS OF SPECIAL INTEREST
(THESE TITLES ARE LOCATED IN THE NEW BOOK GALLERY)

The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce, and Obsession
by Adam Leith Gollner (641.34 G)

Delicious, lethal, hallucinogenic and medicinal, fruits have led nations to war, fueled dictatorships and lured people into new worlds. An expedition through the fascinating world of fruit, The Fruit Hunters is the engrossing story of some of Earth's most desired foods. Peopled with a cast of characters as varied and bizarre as the fruit -- smugglers, inventors, explorers and epicures -- this extraordinary book unveils the mysterious universe of fruit, from the jungles of Borneo to the prized orchards of Florida's fruit hunters to American supermarkets. Gollner examines the fruits we eat and explains why we eat them (the scientific, economic and aesthetic reasons); traces the life of mass-produced fruits (how they are created, grown and marketed) and explores the underworld of fruits that are inaccessible, ignored and even forbidden in the Western world.

Source: Book description

The Hundred-Year Lie: How Food and Medicine Are Destroying Your Health
by Randall Fitzgerald (615.9 F)

One hundred years ago, the promise of "better living through chemistry" was given to consumers, setting us on a slippery slope that introduced thousands of man-made chemicals into our food, water, medicine and environment. In The Hundred-Year Lie, Randall Fitzgerald shatters dozens of myths being perpetuated by the chemical, pharmaceutical and processed food industries. Find out why you would never be FDA-approved—and why humans are becoming one of the most polluted species on the planet.

Source: Book description

Governess: The Lives and Times of the Real Jane Eyres
by Ruth Brandon (305.4209 B)

Between the 1780s and the end of the nineteenth century, an army of sad
women took up residence in other people’s homes, part and yet not part of the family, not servants, yet not equals. Writers like Wilkie Collins, William Makepeace Thackeray, Henry James, and Jane Austen all recognized that the governess’s solitary figure, adrift in the world, offered more novelistic scope than did the constrained and respectable wife. Ruth Brandon weaves literary and social history with details from the lives of actual governesses, drawn from their letters and journals, to craft a rare portrait of real women whose lives were in stark contrast to the romantic tales of their fictional counterparts. Governess will resonate with the many fans of Jane Austen and the Brontës, whose novels continue to inspire films and books, as well as fans of The Nanny Diaries and other books that explore the longstanding tension between mothers and the women they hire to raise their children.

Source: Amazon.com book description

The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker
by Steven Greenhouse (331.0973 G)

The Big Squeeze takes a fresh, probing, and often shocking look at the stresses and strains faced by tens of millions of American workers as wages have stagnated, health and pension benefits have grown stingier, and job security has shriveled.

Going behind the scenes, Steven Greenhouse tells the stories of software
engineers in Seattle, hotel housekeepers in Chicago, call center workers in New York, and janitors in Houston, as he explores why, in the world’s most affluent nation, so many corporations are intent on squeezing their workers dry. We meet all kinds of workers: white collar and blue collar, high tech and low tech, middle income and low income; employees who stock shelves during a hurricane while locked inside their store, get fired after suffering debilitating injuries on the job, face egregious sexual harassment, and get laid off when their companies move high-tech operations abroad. We also meet young workers having a hard time starting out and seventy-year-old workers with too little money saved up to retire.

Source: Book description

America's Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting
Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation
by Kenneth C. Davis (973.3 D)

Davis presents a collection of extraordinary stories, each detailing an overlooked episode that shaped the nation's destiny and character. Davis's dramatic narratives set the record straight, busting myths and bringing to light little-known but fascinating facts from a time when the nation's fate hung in the balance.

Spanning a period from the Spanish arrival in America to George Washington's inauguration in 1789, America's Hidden History details these episodes, among others:

The story of the first real Pilgrims in America, who were wine-making French Huguenots, not dour English Separatists

The coming-of-age story of Queen Isabella, who suggested that Columbus pack the moving mess hall of pigs that may have spread disease to many Native Americans

The little-known story of George Washington as a headstrong young soldier who committed a war crime, signed a confession, and started a war!

Source: Book description

Why a Curveball Curves: The Incredible Science of Sports
edited by Frank Vizard, foreword by Robert Lipsyte (613.71 W)

In Why a Curveball Curves, the experts at Popular Mechanics, along with
top athletes, coaches, and sports journalists, explore the science behind sports. Fluid dynamics, biomechanics, and technology determine everything from speed in cycling to protection in football to performance measurement in all sports. This book is designed for both the player and the fan, helping athletes become better-prepared and giving enthusiasts a more complete understanding and appreciation of the subtle nuances of competition.

The explanations are clear, entertaining, and written by people who really love their game. The issues discussed range from Tiger’s swing to Lance’s legs, from gene doping to the physics of why a seemingly straight kick curves drastically just before its target—in other words, how to bend it like Beckham—plus so much more.

Source: Amazon.com book description

The Story of Yiddish: How a Mish-Mosh of Languages Saved the Jews
by Neal Karlen (439.109 K)

Yiddish --an oft-considered "gutter language--is an unlikely survivor of the ages, much like the Jews themselves. Its survival has been an incredible journey, especially considering how often Jews have tried to kill it themselves. Underlying Neal Karlen's unique, brashly entertaining, yet thoroughly researched telling of the language's story is the notion that Yiddish is a mirror of Jewish, history, thought, and practice--for better and worse.

Source: Book description

April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Death and How It Changed America
by Michael Eric Dyson (323.092 D)

On April 4, 1968, at 6:01 PM, while he was standing on a balcony at a Memphis hotel, Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and fatally wounded. Acclaimed public intellectual and best-selling author Michael Eric Dyson uses the fortieth anniversary of King’s assassination as the occasion for a provocative and fresh examination of how King fought, and faced, his own death, and we should use his death and legacy. Dyson also uses this landmark anniversary as the starting point for a comprehensive reevaluation of the fate of Black America over the four decades that followed King’s death.

Source: Book description

American Nerd: The Story of My People
by Benjamin Nugent (305.9089 N)

Most people know a nerd when they see one but can't define just what a nerd is. American Nerd: The Story of My People gives us the history of the concept of nerdiness and of the subcultures we consider nerdy. Mixing research and reportage with autobiography, critically acclaimed writer Benjamin Nugent embarks on a fact-finding mission of the most entertaining variety. Why do the same people who like to work with computers also enjoy playing Dungeons & Dragons? How are those activities similar? This clever, enlightening book will appeal to the nerd (and antinerd) that lives inside all of us.

Source: Book description