February is Library Lover's Month

Last Updated on Wednesday, 12 January 2011 11:54

Pioneer Library System - Monthly Picks

February offers a month long celebration of school, public and private libraries of all types.

This is a time for everyone to recognize the value of libraries and to work to ensure that the nation's libraries will continue to serve. The Pioneer Library System is proud to connect you to the joy of reading and information for life long learning. With nine branches and over 200 staff to serve you, we are happy to celebrate our month!

Here are some fun and interesting books about libraries, librarians, books and reading.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Hanna Heath, an Australian book conservator, has been called on to analyze the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a 600-year-old Jewish prayer book that was salvaged from the destroyed Bosnian library. While doing so, she discovers a series of artifacts inside. Investigating the items carries her into the past, to Bosnia during World War II, Vienna in 1894, Venice in 1609, Barcelona in 1492, Seville in 1480, and into the lives of the people who wrote, illustrated, and protected the book at great personal peril.

Ice Queen: a novel by Alice Hoffman
A small town librarian lives a quiet life without much excitement. One day, after muttering an idle wish while standing in her house, she's struck by lightning. But instead of ending her life, the event sparks it into a new beginning. She goes in search of Lazarus Jones, another survivor of a lightning strike. When she finds him, he's her opposite, and a love affair begins. But they both hide a dangerous secret. A secret that would reveal what turned one to ice and the other to fire.

Open Season by Linda Howard
When a bored librarian transforms herself into a femme fatale, her life becomes more than interesting. It becomes danger-filled when she witnesses something she shouldn't have seen. She has to put her manhunt on hold, but the very moment she stops looking for the love of her life, she finds him. Trouble is, before he can be the love of her life, he has to save it.

Library: an unquiet history by Matthew Battles
Battles shows how throughout history libraries have been places of controversy and change. Much like today, libraries of the past had to deal with access issues, cataloging, weeding, and censorship (fortunately for modern librarians, we don't have to be concerned with being buried or burned with our 'questionable' collections!). Preservation librarians may feel a bit anxious as they read Battles's vivid accounts of how fires, wars, and other acts of destruction have shaped the library's current face. This is a great read, flowing over many time periods and geographic regions, from the great library at Alexandria to the war-ravaged libraries of Bosnia.

How to Talk about Books You Haven't Read by Pierre Bayard
In this hilarious and elaborate spoof, Bayard proves once again that being almost ridiculously erudite and screamingly funny are by no means mutually exclusive. In grand Swiftian style, the author offers a staunch pseudodefense of the art of what he calls 'non-reading,' in which one must claim as all but divine the right to hold forth about books that one has skimmed, forgotten, or failed to read at all. With tongue firmly in cheek, he argues that it's more than enough--indeed, preferable in virtually all respects--to be familiar with a book's reputation and in particular to understand its place in the bibliographic pecking order.

Classics for Pleasure by Michael Dirda
In these delightful essays, Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Dirda introduces nearly ninety of the world's most entertaining books.

Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life by Steve Leveen
Do you love to read but never seem to have enough time? Leveen, an avid reader and book lover, provides suggestions for making more time to read and for getting more enjoyment from your books. His personal experiences seep through in his discussions of book love, personal reading libraries, book clubs, and the art of reading, among other topics. The strongest theme throughout is the idea of having book love, which he describes as being enthralled with a book and learning to find that excitement for reading over and over again.