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Programs Announced for Inside Writing & Publishing

Eleven libraries are teaming up to offer programs with speakers on writing and publishing for the 2010 Inside Writing and Publishing (DuPage branch) series.

2010 marks the group's third anniversary. This year, participating libraries include Addison Public Library, Bartlet Public Library District, Bloomingdale Public Library, Glen Ellyn Public Library, Glenside Public Library District, Helen M. Plum Memorial Library (Lombard), Hinsdale Public Library, Oak Brook Public Library, Villa Park Public Library, Warrenville Public Library District, and Wheaton Public Library.

The programs, held at the participating libraries, will feature local authors and publishers. The entire series is promoted at each session. This year's lineup includes programs on travel writing, tips for writing novels, writing for children, writing memoirs, and so much more.

Libraries are encouraged to download and print this brochure and share it with patrons.

Teens Pick their Favorites

More than 11,000 teens cast votes online between August 24 and September 18 for the Teen's Top Ten. They chose Paper Towns by John Green as their favorite.  Breaking Dawn (Stephanie Meyer) was second and The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins) was third.

The Teens’ Top Ten is a booklist created entirely by and for teens as part of YALSA’s Young Adult (YA) Galley Project, which facilitates access to advance copies of young adult books to national teen book discussion groups. These groups evaluated books published between January 2008 through April 2009 and then created a list of 25 nominations. Teen voters across the country then cast ballots for their favorites, creating the 2009 Teens’ Top Ten.

Final nominations for the 2010 Teens’ Top Ten vote will be posted on Support Teen Literature Day, April 15, 2010. To learn more about the teen book groups and participating in the YA Galley program or to view the complete 2009 and earlier lists visit the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) website.

Email and Electronic Marketing Services Vendor Demo

Date: Thursday, November 5, 2009
Time: 9 a.m. to 12 noon
Location: MLS (Metropolitan Library System) Burr Ridge office.

Is your library interested in email and electronic marketing services? Attend this free demo and meet the following vendors to hear about their service (more vendors to join shortly):

• BookLetters
• DearReader

The event will run from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, with 30 minute presentations by each of the vendors rotating in the MLS meeting rooms. There are two ways to attend this event:

1. You can attend from the start to the end and simply move from room to room.
2. Pick a time slot and a room when you arrive, and hear just the vendor you want to visit.

Schedule:
Registration: 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
Session 1: 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Session 2: 10:15 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
Session 3: 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Questions and visit with vendors again: 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon.

Register and get more information at the Library Learning website.

Interview With Laura Caldwell #3

This is the third and final in a series featuring the remarks of author Laura Caldwell.

DLS: Tell us about your latest work.

Laura Caldwell: The Izzy McNeil trilogy--Red Hot Lies, Red Blooded Murder, and Red, White & Dead--feature a sassy, redheaded Chicago lawyer, who keeps getting in trouble all over the city. In the first book, she is on top of the world (if a little burdened by her good fortune) when suddenly her fiance disappears, her main client is killed and it looks like the fiance stole millions of dollars from the client.

I'm fascinated by what people do when the rug gets pulled out from under them. And boy, does Izzy have to deal with that. In the second book, she begins to work for network called Trial TV, when the lead anchor is killed and she becomes a suspect. In the third, Red, White & Dead, someone in her life who she thought was dead is decidedly not. The books can be read in any order, although it is probably easier to start with the first. I wanted the characters to be very, very alive, and the character of Chicago to be even more so. Make no bones about it, these books are an ode to the city of Chicago.

DLS:  How do you find the artists to generate your attractive, attention-getting covers?

Laura Caldwell:  It's a process. My publisher has some great graphic designers in-house who usually come up with a couple of concepts. Everyone from me, to my agent and editor, to the sales and marketing people, weigh in on what they think, and the designers go from there. I'm thrilled with the "Red" covers.

Acclaimed Author to Speak in Lombard

On Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 2:00 p.m., the Helen M. Plum Memorial Library is hosting author Mary Doria Russell, the critically acclaimed author of The Sparrow, Children of God, A Thread of Grace, and Dreamers of the Day. The program will feature a lecture and book signing.

Mary Doria Russell has been called one of the most versatile writers in contemporary American literature. Her acclaimed novels are studied in literature, theology, and history courses in colleges and universities across the United States. Her novels have won nine national and international literary awards, including the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the James Tiptree Award, and the American Library Association Readers' Choice Award. The Sparrow was selected as one of Entertainment Weekly’s ten best books of the year and A Thread of Grace was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. The Sparrow and Children of God have been optioned for Hollywood movies starring Antonio Banderas and Brad Pitt. 

The author grew up in Lombard; attended Sacred Heart Catholic elementary school and Glenbard East High School. She worked as a shelver at the Helen M. Plum Memorial Library as a teenager. Russell went on to study anthropology and paleoanthropology before teaching gross anatomy at Case Western University. She
began writing fiction after leaving academia. During her visit to the Helen M. Plum Memorial Library, Russell will talk about her memories growing up in Lombard and discuss elements of her writing that come from her experiences here. 

This program is open to the public, however reservations are required. Call the library at 630/627-0316 to register.

Submitted by Helen M. Plum Memorial Library.

Interview With Laura Caldwell #2

This is the second in a series featuring the remarks of author Laura Caldwell.

DLS: Do you have any memorable library experiences to share?

Laura Caldwell:  I grew up a library rat. My mom would take us kids there, and I would disappear, hoping she would never find me. I ate books as a kid. I was reading mysteries by the time I was eight.

DLS:  What is your view of the importance of literacy?

Laura Caldwell:  Everyone in our world--whether you live in Manhattan or a village in Africa--is in some ways limited in their thinking by the fact that they live in a certain environment, with certain people, certain problems. There are only a few ways we can expand our consciousness and realize how many different people are out there, and ultimately how we are mostly the same at our core. One is to travel to these places. This is often tough, and not everyone can afford or arrange such travel. Another is to view photos or film about those places and people. And the last is to read about other cultures, other worlds.

I think reading has such a special place in this process because it's the one tool that allows, and requires, the participant to use their imagination, not just to see those places in their heads, but to feel what those other people are going through. Quite simply, reading is a consciousness expander, even if you're reading about someone close to you in age and location, because you usually find a way of thinking about something you hadn't before. In short, reading allows us to expand and yet connect.

Interview With Laura Caldwell #1

Author Shares Opinions and Thanks Librarians

The DuPage Library System's Scholarship Committee looked forward to hearing the remarks of attorney turned mystery writer Laura Caldwell at this year's Scholarship Dinner. Unfortunately, due to the weak economy, the event was canceled. The Scholarship Committee remains dedicated to advancing the careers of those in the library profession as well as hosting other events in the future.  

In preparing for the dinner, DLS had the opportunity to obtain some interesting perspectives from the author. In this interview series, you'll learn more about Caldwell's writing career, her latest work, her take on the importance of libraries, and more! 

DLS: You’re a successful attorney. How did you get into the mystery writing business?

Laura Caldwell: I went to a great writing school for undergrad - the University of Iowa - but I really only majored in Football and Beer (with a minor in cheerleading). I didn't start writing until after law school when I wanted a creative hobby to balance out my work as a medical defense litigator. I took it up the same way people do scrapbooking or painting. I took a class and wrote on the weekends, and found it was making me feel more rounded out, happier. I wrote women's fiction at first, and ultimately, Burning the Map, was the first book I sold (it didn't come out until roughly nine years after I started writing). The book was about a woman  who takes a trip to Rome and Greece and the entire vacation changes her life. I had an agent by that point. She sold some other women's fiction (or "chick lit") books for me, but I told her I had some mysteries I wanted to work on as well. Ultimately, she was able to sell three for me - Look Closely, The Rome Affair and The Good Liar.

DLS: How important is it, in these times, to offer scholarships and help people advance in the library profession?

Laura Caldwell: So hugely important! Librarians are the community gatekeeper to the literary world. They end up knowing not just what they love but what their patrons will love. The good ones also keep a strict eye out for what will rouse people in that particular community, what might help at difficult times in that community. And the ability to have such people in places where the patrons are not paying for the service is so massively significant in these times. Thanks to all of you!

Watch the DLS Here & Now blog for the next entry in the series: Laura Caldwell discusses literacy and creativity.

Opinions expressed in this post are entirely those of the author. Any mention of products and/or services is for informational purposes only and does not constitute endorsement.

GSLIS Annual McCusker Lecture

The Book: Past, Present, and Future
Speaker: Nicolas Barker
Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Time: 6 p.m., reception to follow.
Location: Dominican University, Fine Arts Building, Martin Recital Hall, 7900 West Division Street, River Forest, Illinois.
Sponsored by GSLIS (The Graduate School of Library and Information Science), Dominican University.

This event is free and open to the public. RSVP to gslis@dom.edu, or call 708/524-6845.

It is often said that the book is obsolete, or even dead, and there is a great deal of publicity about the new devices that are going to take over from it. Usually, the prophets of gloom have not paused to consider the evidence around them that the book is still alive, still less that it has survived previous changes of format. Perhaps the 'digital revolution' is not quite as complete, or as revolutionary, as its publicists suggest. Perhaps, too, we can learn something from the previous revolutions that will help us find out what is really going to happen to the book in the future.

Nicolas Barker has been editor of the Book Collector since 1965. He has written many books and he is the editor of recent editions of John Carter's classic book ABC for Book Collectors.

2009 Fox Valley Read Program Kick-Off Event

Date: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Time: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Location: Oswego Public Library District, Montgomery Library Campus, 1111 Reading, Montgomery, IL.

Refreshments will be served during the kick-off event. Entertainment will be provided by the Windy City Performing Arts.

The theme for this year’s program is: Celebrate Chicago 100 Years of Bold Plans and Big Dreams 1833-1933.

The three book titles selected for this year’s program include:

• The Devil in the White City, by Eric Larsen.
• Haymarket, by Martin Duberman.
• The Sinking of the Eastland: America’s Forgotten Tragedy, by Jay Bonansinga.

Special programs will feature and highlight the “Centennial 1909-2009 of Daniel Burnham’s Plan of Chicago.”

The Messenger Public Library of North Aurora is partnering with the Aurora Public Library, the Oswego/Montgomery Public Library District, Waubonsee Community College, and the Illinois Math and Science Academy for this annual fall reading and public program event.

Visit the Fox Valley Reads web site for additional information.