Booktalk: A Visit with Dr. Vis on May 20

BOOKTALK: A VISIT WITH DR. VIS ON MAY 20

     Booktalk is a monthly discussion group for those interested in current and cultural topics in general and literary subjects in particular.

On Monday May 20 Dr. Byravan Viswanathan will discuss his memoir “On Being a Physician.”  Known as Dr. Vis here in Gettysburg, he was born in India and completed his medical education there.  For training purposes he spent short periods of time in Glasgow, Scotland and London, England.  Since 1965 when he arrived in the United States Dr. Vis has interned in various teaching hospitals in Ohio and Illinois. In 1972 he started a private practice in Kansas.  While there he also spent a year teaching medical students.  After eight years he moved with his family to Pennsylvania where he worked for five years at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Lebanon, PA.  Here in Gettysburg he practiced for seventeen years. Now in semi-retirement he continues a part-time office practice for other doctors during their absences.

           Dr. Viswanathan is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.  In addition to his memoir he has written several articles for medical journals.  Dr. and Mrs. Viswanathan who have two grown daughters live in Lake Heritage.

  PLEASE NOTE THE EARLY DATE FOR THIS PROGRAM IS DUE TO THE MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY.   

PREVIEW 

           On Monday June 24 Mr. Terry Burger will be the speaker at Bookalk.  He will discuss his book “Year of the Moon Goose,” a collection of columns, commentary, personal journal entries and poetry.  Terry has spent 30 years as a newspaper reporter in south central Pennsylvania.  In 2010 he retired from the Patriot-News in Harrisburg.  He presently writes occasional articles for the Gettysburg Times.  Look for more about Terry and his book in this space on Friday, June 21.

POSTSCRIPT

 On Monday April 22 Karen Bowling and Mary Furlong  discussed their book “Fifty Years in McSherrystown: Faith, Family and Community.”  It is a part of the celebration planned for the 250^th anniversary of that town. 

 On Monday April 29 I discussed Ludmilla Alexeyeva and Anna Politkovskaya, two Russian heroines of the human rights movement  in that country.

            The Booktalk programs are usually held on the last Monday of the month.  Booktalk begins at 12 PM, lasts for about an hour and is held in the USS Eisenhower Room in the Adams County Library in Gettysburg.  Admission is free of charge.

Displaying the Community at the Public Library

Displaying the Community at the Public Library

Been wondering how to showcase an art class’s talent? Perhaps trying to expand your wood whittling class? Have a collection to brag about? Or just an interest in raising awareness of an issue? In our ongoing efforts to both serve and be a part of the community, the Adam’s County Public Library in Gettysburg provides two display cases that are open to public reservations for one month intervals as a pair or individually. These cases are five feet tall and three and a half feet wide, with a depth of one foot and a third. They also have adjustable shelving. The first is located at the Baltimore St ramp lobby. The other is located right outside of the door at the base of the High Street stairwell. They enjoy a large number of passersby, as anyone who visits the first floor of the library walks past at least one of them per visit.

At present, they are showcasing the Audubon Society and art from the students of Delone Catholic High School. In the past they have been privy to a Lincoln Memorabilia Collection, the Adams County Land Conservancy, as well as Sexual Assault Awareness Month. One upcoming display to keep an eye out for is the Adam’s County Reads One Book which will be announced next month in this very column!

If interested in joining these groups as alum of library displays, stop or call in to the circulation department and ask for either Linda or Jacob. Unfortunately, not everything might be approved and space is limited and typically open to the first interested party.

And while still on the first floor, the book displays this month are featuring our science fiction collection, primarily focusing on Star Wars. These books run the gamut of the expanded universe from the enjoyable adventures of Rogue Squadron by Michael Stackpole to Episode I adventures such as Cloak of Deception by James Luceno. May the fourth be with you! After this, they will be switched over to both Adam’s County Reads One Book and the school summer reading lists.

Two Booktalks

TWO BOOKTALKS

Booktalk is a monthly discussion group for those interested in current and cultural topics in general and literary subjects in particular.

THERE WILL BE TWO BOOKTALK PROGRAMS IN APRIL

 On Monday April 22 Karen Bowling and Mary Furlong will discuss their book “Fifty Years in McSherrystown: Faith, Family and Community.”  It is a part of the celebration planned for the 250^th anniversary of that town.   Included in the book are topics such as “The Academy—Serving the Community Since 1884,” “The First Female Master Farmer in Pennsylvania,” “Baseball Forever,” “Fraternal Organizations---The Home, Knights of Columbus and The Moose” and  “Vietnam—a Community as Microcosm of the Country’s Divisions.”

Mary Furlong is retired from DeLone Catholic High School.  She has seen the McSherrystown community “grow and evolve from a somewhat insular place to a community which embraces people of different faiths and ethnic backgrounds.”   An international, national  and local activist Mary now serves as co-chairperson of the local Interfaith Center for Peace and Justice.

Karen Bowling grew up in McSherrystown in the 1950s and 60s.  She learned to love local history which her father encouraged by his avid interest in finding and preserving relics.  Karen has studied graphic design at the York Academy of Arts.

“Fifty Years in McSherrystown” is also the dedicated work of six people and two volunteers.  Mr. Daniel Greenholt (Mr. McSherrystown Historian) is a member of this group.

PLEASE MAKE NOTE OF THE EARLY DATE FOR THE PROGRAM.

 Because of a heavy snowstorm the March Booktalk program had to be postponed; therefore, on Monday April 29 I will discuss Ludmilla Alexeyeva and Anna Politkovskaya, two Russian heroines of the human rights movement in that country.

Ludmilla Mikhailovna Alexeyeva is the doyenne of Russia’s human rights community.  In her eighties, the one-time chairperson of the Moscow Helsinki Group is one of the few veterans still active in the Soviet dissident movement.  She is presently involved in the struggle against the Putin government’s efforts to stifle social activism.

Anna Stepanova Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist, author and human rights activist well known for her opposition to the violence and brutality of the Russian-Chechen conflict which President Putin carried out during his first term.  Working for the newspaper “Novaya Gazetta”  her articles became anathema to the Putin government.     On October10, 2006 Anna Politkovskaya was assassinated in the elevator of her apartment building.  

PREVIEW: On Monday May 20 Dr. Byravan Viswanathan will discuss his memoir “On Being a Physician.”  Known as Dr. Vis here in Gettysburg, he was born in India and completed his medical education there.  Since 1965 when he arrived in the United States Dr. Vis has served in private practice and with the Veterans Administration.  He has practiced here in Gettysburg and is now semi-retired.  

PLEASE NOTE THE EARLY DATE DUE TO THE MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY.  THE LIBRARY WILL BE CLOSED  

            The Booktalk programs are usually held on the last Monday of the month.  Booktalk  begins at 12 PM, lasts for about an hour and is held in the USS Eisenhower Room in the Adams County Library in Gettysburg.  Admission is free of charge.

Culture and the Library

Culture and the Library

     If you have not yet seen the April 2013 issues of Smithsonian Magazine, you should really come to the library and check it out.  Gettysburg was named THE Best Small Town in America to Visit.

Alright, I know that most of us already know this, but it is really heartwarming to have it confirmed in a national magazine.  

     Looking a little closer at the article, the selection of the Best Small Town in America to Visit was based upon a statistical analysis of towns with less than 15,000 residents who have a great concentration of museums, art galleries, orchestras, theaters and historic sites.  So the criteria were heavily weighted on access to cultural activities and not specifically on demographics.

     So in my opinion, the selection of the Best Small Town to Visit has gone up a few notches on the value scale.  It is a great honor to be recognized for the hard work our community has put into increasing our cultural offerings and the work which the business community has done to offer a wider variety of eateries and shopping.

     Recently, the library has been getting a lot of recognition because of the donation to the library of the Lincoln Statue.  This is not just a new monument, but a real cultural addition to the downtown.

He will stand at the south end of the library on the first flat area on the stairs.  The library is excited to accept this generous gift and we think that it is going to be a popular photo opportunity within the downtown of Gettysburg and it should also attract new visitors to the building.

     Some people have asked about how this gift has come to the residents of Gettysburg.  Stan Watts is the sculptor of the statue.  Many of you may not know his name, but you most definitely know his work. 

     Mr. Watts had visited Gettysburg and realized that there were no monuments commemorating Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.  To many people in the world, Gettysburg is only known to them from those moving few words spoken here in November 1863.  Mr. Watts felt that the address needed to be recognized in some way.

     So, he began a search for a patron and location for the statue.  It took a few years and a number of locations were discussed, but it then became clear that the best place for the statue would be at the Library.  Some people also ask why the library. 

     Although we as residents of Adams County know that the county has had a long history full of literary achievements, to everyone else, Gettysburg is the Address. 

     As the library, we embrace this literary achievement and are proud to be the place that this address, and the man who wrote it, will be recognized for years to come.  What a great addition to the Gettysburg experience!

eBooks and the Library

eBooks and the Library

              If you purchase eBooks from any of the online stores to read for your personal pleasure, the process is easy.  You find the title, click purchase and, for the most part, the book appears on your chosen device.  You can read that book as many times as you like, and if you upgrade to a different reader or tablet, the title should move with you.  Unfortunately, the process to buy eBooks for libraries isn’t that simple.

              A few things impede our work in creating the best eBook collection that we can.  The first issue that you may not be aware of is that not all publishers are selling eBooks to libraries.  There are many popular books and authors that we would love to purchase for our eBook collection, but we simply can’t. 

              Probably the largest issue facing libraries that are purchasing eBooks is the cost.  Every publisher that is selling eBooks to libraries has a different model and cost structure.  Of the “Big Six”  publishers, four of them are now selling to libraries.  Here’s how their pricing models are structured:

One publisher’s model is, we pay list price, the same that you would.  However, we only get 26 circulations from a title that we purchase from them.  Once it’s circulated for the 26^th time, we have to buy the title again. 

The second publisher charges a little bit more than list price, and allows libraries to circulate their titles for one year.  Once that year is up, we again have to purchase the title if we want to keep it in our collection. 

The third publisher sells each book at a fixed cost and allows the libraries access for two years or 52 circulations, whichever comes first. 

And finally, the last of the Big Six that sells to libraries allows unlimited circulation of their titles, but has raised the price of their eBooks to 300% greater than the list price.  If you purchased an eBook from them for $24.00, the library is paying over $80.00 for that same title.

              You can help the library as we strive to build the best eBook collection we can by making a donation to eBook Support.  Donations can be made by credit card using the Donate page on the library website.  Any donations for eBook Support will go directly to purchasing new titles for the collection.

              So be aware, as your use the eBooks, placing holds and adding titles to your wish list.  We are doing the best we can to keep up with the demand.  New titles are added weekly.  We purchase from your wish list and do add extra copies of a title if the demand warrants.     

              We began offering eBooks in June of 2012 and are very excited about offering this new service to the residents of Adams County.  Our eBook circulation has doubled since the program has been implemented.  We are striving to create an eBook collection that is diverse and up-to-date.  As with all of our purchasing, the end user, you, is always taken into account.