Come on, baby, light that fire

Turn on the propane.  Ignite the charcoal briquettes.  Marinade the chicken.  And season those steaks.

On your marks,  get set,  GRILL !

We’re off and running for another fabulous summer filled with good friends, good times, and good food.

One could say that the history of grilling began back in cave man times.  Cooking gradually moved indoors, but the desire to toss a slab of meat on the grill or a shrimp on the barbie still calls to us today.

Want to grill it up right?  Check out the following titles for tips and recipes that will make your eyes eager and your taste buds tingle:

The great American grilling book

How to grill everything: simple recipes for great flame-cooked food, by Mark Bittman

Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill cookbook: explosive flavors from the Southwestern kitchen, by Bobby Flay

Ultimate grilling cookbook: 250 sizzling recipes

Life of fire: mastering the arts of pit-cooked barbecue, the grill, and the smokehouse, by Pat Martin

How to grill vegetables: the new bible for barbecuing vegetables over live fire, by Steven Raichlen

The best barbecue on earth: grilling across 6 continents and 25 countries, with 170 recipes, by Rick Browne

Thank you for smoking: fun and fearless recipes cooked with a whiff of wood fire on your grill or smoker, by Paula Disbrowe

Project fire: cutting-edge techniques and sizzling recipes from the caveman porterhouse to salt slab brownie s’mores, by Steven Raichlen

Rodney Scott’s world of BBQ: every day is a good day, by Rodney Scott

Smoke & spice: cooking with smoke, the real way to barbecue, by Cheryl Alters Jamison

 

Feel The Wind In Your Hair!

Did you know that May 1st is Learn To Ride A Bike Day?  Perhaps you remember having training wheels when you first learned?  Or maybe you got the hang of it right away and started on two wheels?

I remember my initial experience with bike riding.  My childhood friend, Jill, was going to receive a Schwinn Sting-Ray bicycle for her 9th birthday.  She had been awaiting its arrival for weeks.  Boy, was it cool!  It was the color purple.  And it had a banana seat, which had enough room for two people to sit on it.   Sometimes I sat behind her as she wheeled around the Allendale parking lot.

One day she allowed me to try my hand.  Now, in fact, I did not know how to ride a bicycle at age 8.  This I told her, but she said that was okay; she would teach me.  I got on that banana seat, placed both hands on the handle bars, placed one foot on a pedal, and picked up my other foot as I pushed down on the first pedal.  I was bike riding!  Bang!  I ran into the Allendale’s brick wall.  I had forgotten about braking.  Or turning.  I fell off, but the bike was unharmed!  And, luckily, so was our friendship.

By age 12 I had mastered the art of two wheels.  On sunny days you could find me exploring every dead end and cul-de-sac in Moline.  This knowledge still serves me well as a car driver.  I know the fastest routes throughout the city.

Do you want to remember the joy you felt when you first learned how to ride?  Here are some titles to help you remember the feel the wind in your hair and the utter sense of freedom:

My bike / illustrated by Byron Barton.

The bike lesson / by Stan and Jan Berenstain.

Franklin rides a bike / written by Paulette Bourgeois ; illustrated by Brenda Clark.

Biking / by Cynthia Klingel and Robert B. Noyed.

The science of a bicycle : the science of forces / by Ian Graham.

Biking Iowa : 50 great road trips and trail rides / Bob Morgan

The cyclist who went out in the cold : adventures riding the Iron Curtain / Tim Moore.

A voyage across an ancient ocean : a bicycle journey through the northern dominion of oil / David Goodrich.

So in honor of this national holiday, I say to you, dust off your bicycle, pump up those tires, and go bike riding today!

 

Castor canadensis

Did you know that April 7th is International Beaver Day?  Yes, we have an entire day to celebrate the joy and wonder of the Castor canadensis, the North American beaver, and the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber).

Beavers are known for many things.  For example, they transform their surroundings building dams to create pools of water.  These dams typically are 32 feet to 100 feet long, although one dam was measured to be over 2800 feet long.  These dams create ponds of water behind them.  And in these ponds beavers will often build a home called a lodge, with entrances below water, and a roof above water, creating a nice, homey, dry space on the inside.

Beavers originally populated the Quad-City area, and can still be seen today in our area.  One day last summer as I was walking on Sylvan Island I encountered a beaver running along the levee.  He was faster than I was, but I followed his path and found his lodge built in the river abutting the levee.  I looked and looked for any sign of him, but he was gone.  Probably, inside his lodge, I thought.  As I walked on I did notice the stumps of trees that he had created, pointing skyward.

Interested in learning more about beavers?  Then check out these titles:

Beavers:  radical rodents and ecosystem engineers / by Frances Backhouse.

Beavers / by Wil Mara.

Beavers / by Elizabeth O’Sullivan.

Awesome animal builders [videorecording] / National Geographic ; Robert Goldberg, producer and writer.

 Beavers / by Aaron Frisch.

 Here are some beaver fun facts to impress your friends with:

  • Beavers are the largest rodents in North America, averaging 40+ pounds.
  • Beavers are primarily nocturnal.
  • Beavers’ teeth are orange.
  • There are an estimated six million+ beavers in North America.
  • When they sense danger, beavers slap their tails on the water.
  • Beavers live about 10+ years in the wild.
  • Baby beavers are called kits.

Wishing you a happy International Beaver Day!

 

Enhanced Children’s Areas at Davenport Public Library

Please enjoy this guest blog by Jeff Collins, Library Director:

Even now, after her passing last summer at age 85, beloved children’s librarian Rochelle A. Murray is helping Davenport kids fall in love with reading.

“Miss Rochelle,” as she was known to generations of children, bequeathed to the Library a generous gift, which will help kids discover the fun of reading for many years to come.

Rochelle was a longtime children’s librarian, and although she had long since retired by the time I began my tenure as director, I have seen her touch throughout the Library and in the community. Now, her legacy will be indelibly marked, as Davenport Public Library embarks on an audacious $1.08 million-dollar private-donor funded project to bring vibrant new activities to the children’s areas at all three of our libraries: | Main | Fairmount | Eastern.

Davenport Public Library will add interactives, kiosks, wall panels, and more to our children’s areas in the coming year, helping kids to develop the early literacy skills so vital to their success in school and life. These vivid new spaces will allow children to engage in fun, multi-sensory activities that support early literacy and include letters and words, gears, magnetic pieces, song lyrics, varying textures, and other elements that are perfect for hands-on play. And of course, we will incorporate plenty of cozy nooks where children and their parents/caregivers can read books together!

Artist example of learning kiosk. ©2023 Burgeon Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Artist example of learning kiosk. ©2023 Burgeon Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Educational Learning Spaces
These enhanced spaces are educational and based on Every Child Ready to Read®, a research-based series of practices developed by the Public Library Association and the Association for Library Service to Children. Designed to help kids develop essential literacy skills and get on the right path to school readiness and student success, this program is based on two core concepts: 1) Reading begins at birth; and 2) Parents are a child’s first and best teacher. Every Child Ready to Read® focuses on emergent and early literacy development in the five practices of talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing. Public libraries provide opportunities for young children and their parents/caregivers to develop these skills in safe, non-commercial environments, with free access for everyone in the community. Davenport Public Library already utilizes Every Child Ready to Read® practices in our early literacy programming, including storytimes, 1000 Books Before Kindergarten, parent education workshops, and supporting materials to help parents/caregivers prepare children for reading.

Access to these free, educational spots, gives everyone living in Davenport a strong start in early literacy to ensure that they are ready for kindergarten and beyond. Each newly designed children’s area will reflect the theme of nature, with each library branch featuring aspects of its local ecosystem:
| Main will feature a water/riparian habitat due to its proximity to the Mississippi River.
| Fairmount will feature woodlands/wetlands due to the Duck Creek watershed.
| Eastern will feature a prairie theme as it is situated at Prairie Heights Park.

Artist example of wall. ©2023 Burgeon Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Artist example of wall. ©2023 Burgeon Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Help us reach our goal!
So, while we are deeply saddened by the loss of Rochelle Murray, it is with enormous gratitude that we honor her legacy by embarking on this mission to bring opportunities to play and learn at the Library.

We welcome the participation of all citizens in this campaign. As of March 31, 2023, this project is 58% funded, but we still need $450,000 to bring it to success. Gifts of all sizes are welcome. Anyone interested in making a gift can do so online, or gifts can be mailed to FRIENDS of the Davenport Public Library (321 Main Street, Davenport, IA 52801). Please designate your gift as for “Children’s Areas”. Donations of $5,000 or more will receive mention on a plaque at each library.

We need everyone in our community to help. Please join us in making early literacy a reality for Davenport children!

DONATE!

Thank you to our major donors!
(accurate as of March 31, 2023):

$200,000 and more
Rochelle A. Murray Bequest
FRIENDS of the Davenport Public Library

$150,000 and more
Regional Development Authority

$5,000 and more
Community members

You can learn more about Rochelle’s life at Primary Selections from Special Collections and her obituary.

I’m with the Band

To celebrate the release of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s book Daisy Jones & the Six as a television miniseries on Amazon Prime, we have gathered a list of some of our favorite music themed novels! Let us know your favorite music novels in the comments below!

Have you read Daisy Jones & The Six ? If not, check out the previous blog written by one of our librarians about this book.

The descriptions listed below were provided by the publishers.

Music Themed Novels!

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton

Opal is a fiercely independent young woman pushing against the grain in her style and attitude, Afro-punk before that term existed. Coming of age in Detroit, she can’t imagine settling for a 9-to-5 job—despite her unusual looks, Opal believes she can be a star. So when the aspiring British singer/songwriter Neville Charles discovers her at a bar’s amateur night, she takes him up on his offer to make rock music together for the fledgling Rivington Records.

In early seventies New York City, just as she’s finding her niche as part of a flamboyant and funky creative scene, a rival band signed to her label brandishes a Confederate flag at a promotional concert. Opal’s bold protest and the violence that ensues set off a chain of events that will not only change the lives of those she loves, but also be a deadly reminder that repercussions are always harsher for women, especially black women, who dare to speak their truth.

Decades later, as Opal considers a 2016 reunion with Nev, music journalist S. Sunny Shelton seizes the chance to curate an oral history about her idols. Sunny thought she knew most of the stories leading up to the cult duo’s most politicized chapter. But as her interviews dig deeper, a nasty new allegation from an unexpected source threatens to blow up everything.

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The Violin Conspiracy  by Brendan Slocumb

Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian’s life is already mapped out. But Ray has a gift and a dream—he’s determined to become a world-class professional violinist, and nothing will stand in his way. Not his mother, who wants him to stop making such a racket; not the fact that he can’t afford a violin suitable to his talents; not even the racism inherent in the world of classical music.

When he discovers that his beat-up, family fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach, and together, Ray and his violin take the world by storm. But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition—the Olympics of classical music—the violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in its place. Without it, Ray feels like he’s lost a piece of himself. As the competition approaches, Ray must not only reclaim his precious violin, but prove to himself—and the world—that no matter the outcome, there has always been a truly great musician within him.

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Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell

Utopia Avenue is the strangest British band you’ve never heard of. Emerging from London’s psychedelic scene in 1967, and fronted by folk singer Elf Holloway, blues bassist Dean Moss and guitar virtuoso Jasper de Zoet, Utopia Avenue embarked on a meteoric journey from the seedy clubs of Soho, a TV debut on Top of the Pops, the cusp of chart success, glory in Amsterdam, prison in Rome, and a fateful American sojourn in the Chelsea Hotel, Laurel Canyon, and San Francisco during the autumn of ’68.

David Mitchell’s kaleidoscopic novel tells the unexpurgated story of Utopia Avenue’s turbulent life and times; of fame’s Faustian pact and stardom’s wobbly ladder; of the families we choose and the ones we don’t; of voices in the head, and the truths and lies they whisper; of music, madness, and idealism. Can we really change the world, or does the world change us?

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Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie

A scintillating debut from a major new voice in fiction, Songs in Ursa Major is a love story set in 1969, alive with music, sex, and the trappings of fame.

Raised on an island off Massachusetts by a mother who wrote songs for famous musicians, Jane Quinn is singing in her own band before she’s old enough to even read music. When folk legend Jesse Reid hears about Jane’s performance at the island’s music festival, a star is born–and so is a passionate love affair: they become inseparable when her band joins his on tour. Wary of being cast as his girlfriend–and haunted by her mother’s shattered ambitions– Jane shields her relationship from the public eye, but Jesse’s star power pulls her into his orbit of fame. Caught up in the thrill of the road and the profound and lustful connection she has with Jesse, Jane is blind-sided by the discovery she makes about the dark secret beneath his music. Heartbroken and blackballed by the industry, Jane is now truly on her own: to make the music she loves, and to make peace with her family Shot through with the lyrics, the icons, the lore, the adrenaline of the early 70s music scene, Songs in Ursa Major pulses with romantic longing and asks the question so many female artists must face: What are we willing to sacrifice for our dreams?

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The Ensemble by Aja Gabel

Jana. Brit. Daniel. Henry. They would never have been friends if they hadn’t needed each other. They would never have found each other except for the art which drew them together. They would never have become family without their love for the music, for each other.

Brit is the second violinist, a beautiful and quiet orphan; on the viola is Henry, a prodigy who’s always had it easy; the cellist is Daniel, the oldest and an angry skeptic who sleeps around; and on first violin is Jana, their flinty, resilient leader. Together, they are the Van Ness Quartet. After the group’s youthful, rocky start, they experience devastating failure and wild success, heartbreak and marriage, triumph and loss, betrayal and enduring loyalty. They are always tied to each other – by career, by the intensity of their art, by the secrets they carry, by choosing each other over and over again.

Following these four unforgettable characters, Aja Gabel’s debut novel gives a riveting look into the high-stakes, cutthroat world of musicians, and of lives made in concert. The story of Brit and Henry and Daniel and Jana, The Ensemble is a heart-skipping portrait of ambition, friendship, and the tenderness of youth.

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Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau

In 1970s Baltimore, fourteen-year-old Mary Jane loves cooking with her mother, singing in her church choir, and enjoying her family’s subscription to the Broadway Showtunes of the Month record club. Shy, quiet, and bookish, she’s glad when she lands a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a local doctor. A respectable job, Mary Jane’s mother says. In a respectable house.

The house may look respectable on the outside, but inside it’s a literal and figurative mess: clutter on every surface, Impeachment: Now More Than Ever bumper stickers on the doors, cereal and takeout for dinner. And even more troublesome (were Mary Jane’s mother to know, which she does not): the doctor is a psychiatrist who has cleared his summer for one important job—helping a famous rock star dry out. A week after Mary Jane starts, the rock star and his movie star wife move in.

Over the course of the summer, Mary Jane introduces her new household to crisply ironed clothes and a family dinner schedule, and has a front-row seat to a liberal world of sex, drugs, and rock and roll (not to mention group therapy). Caught between the lifestyle she’s always known and the future she’s only just realized is possible, Mary Jane will arrive at September with a new idea about what she wants out of life, and what kind of person she’s going to be.

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The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith

Right after the sudden death of her mother—her first and most devoted fan—and just before the launch of her high-stakes sophomore album, Greta James falls apart on stage. The footage quickly goes viral and she stops playing, her career suddenly in jeopardy—the kind of jeopardy her father, Conrad, has always predicted; the kind he warned her about when he urged her to make more practical choices with her life.

Months later, Greta—still heartbroken and very much adrift—reluctantly agrees to accompany Conrad on the Alaskan cruise her parents had booked to celebrate their fortieth anniversary. It could be their last chance to heal old wounds in the wake of shared loss. But the trip will also prove to be a voyage of discovery for them both, and for Ben Wilder, a charming historian, onboard to lecture about The Call of the Wild, who is struggling with a major upheaval in his own life. As Greta works to build back her confidence and Ben confronts an uncertain future, they find themselves drawn to and relying on each other.

It’s here in this unlikeliest of places—at sea, far from the packed city venues where she usually plays and surrounded by the stunning scenery of Alaska—Greta will finally confront the choices she’s made, the heartbreak she’s suffered, and the family hurts that run deep. In the end, she’ll have to decide what her path forward might look like—and how to find her voice again.

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The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce

It is 1988. On a dead-end street in a run-down suburb there is a music shop that stands small and brightly lit, jam-packed with records of every kind. Like a beacon, the shop attracts the lonely, the sleepless, and the adrift; Frank, the shop’s owner, has a way of connecting his customers with just the piece of music they need. Then, one day, into his shop comes a beautiful young woman, Ilse Brauchmann, who asks Frank to teach her about music. Terrified of real closeness, Frank feels compelled to turn and run, yet he is drawn to this strangely still, mysterious woman with eyes as black as vinyl. But Ilse is not what she seems, and Frank has old wounds that threaten to reopen, as well as a past it seems he will never leave behind. Can a man who is so in tune with other people’s needs be so incapable of connecting with the one person who might save him? The journey that these two quirky, wonderful characters make in order to overcome their emotional baggage speaks to the healing power of music—and love—in this poignant, ultimately joyful work of fiction.

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If you have any favorite music books, let us know below! We can’t wait to see what you’ve read and what you plan to read!

Do You Read eMagazines?

You should.

In addition to eBooks and eAudio titles OverDrive offers a wealth of magazines that are available to you 24/7.

That’s right, with our OverDrive magazine subscription our patrons have access to over 4,000 magazine titles, many with three years of back issues.  You’ll be able to see the magazines just as they appeared in print.  All the images and all the advertisements, viewable right on your device’s screen.

Magazines do not count toward your OverDrive title limit, so check out as many as you want.   You could have 5 eBooks/eAudio items checked out and, say, 30 magazines.  You also can determine your own loan period, 7, 14, or 21 days.

You will likely never need to wait to check out a title, because issues can be used by multiple simultaneous users.

OverDrive has titles for young and old on topics such as:  sports, new & current events, finance & business, home & garden, celebrities & gossip, and much more.

Seeking non-English language titles?  OverDrive has them.    

Practice your French with Vogue France, L’Ami des Jardins, Closer France, or Marie Claire Maison.

How about Spanish?  OverDrive offers ¡Hola!, Maxim Mexico, Horoscopos, and TvNotas.  And that is just to name a few!

Magazines can be viewed by using OverDrive Read in your favorite browser or in the Libby app.

Give it a try!  Check out the eMagazine section the next time you are using OverDrive (Libby).

Hispanic Heritage Month Reading Challenge

Summer Reading might be over, but we have a new challenge open now! September 15th – October 15th, patrons can participate in our Beanstack exclusive Hispanic Heritage Month Reading Challenge. National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated each year from Sep. 15 to Oct. 15. This year, the theme is “Unidos: Inclusivity for a Stronger Nation.” Honor diverse voices, unique perspectives, and rich cultural traditions through activities and book recommendations. Log your reading and complete activities to earn badges throughout the challenge. Enter your tickets into the prize option of your choice for a chance to win! Visit davenportlibrary.beanstack.com to sign up or join in the Beanstack app!

Unlike past off-season reading challenges, we have prizes for this one! It’s an all ages challenge with two prize drawing options listed below.

Adult & Teen Prize:
A Mercado on Fifth gift basket including

  • a $25 gift certificate to Restaurante El Mariachi in Moline
  • Mercado on Fifth t-shirt
  • Mercado on Fifth cantarito
  • Group O magnetic koozie
  • two books on Latino leadership
  • a Mercado on Fifth lanyard

This prize was generously donated by Maria Ontiveros – co-founder of Mercado on Fifth.

Children’s Prize:
Win a mini home library of picture books by Hispanic and Latinx authors and illustrators including:

  • Bright Star by Yuyi Morales
  • ¡Vamos! Let’s Cross the Bridge by Raul the Third
  • Strollercoaster by Matt Ringler
  • My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero
  • ¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market by Raul the Third
  • Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika A. Denise
  • Carmela Full of Wishes by Matt be la Peña
  • Islandborn by Junot Díaz
  • Niño Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales
  • Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor
  • Where Are You From? by Yamile Saied Mendez
  • Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh

Seed Library Opening at 11:45am Today!

Tiger’s Eye beans. Swenson Swedish snowpeas. Dragon carrots. Wapsipinicon Peach tomatoes. Grandma Einck’s dill. Grandpa Ott’s morning glorys. French Breakfast radishes. These are all names of heirloom seeds and all of them – and many more! – are now available from the Davenport Library’s Seed Library!

There will be a brief ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, April 19 at 11:45am to kick off this new library program.

The Seed Library has 107 varieties of vegetables, 42 different flowers and 29 herbs. Currently, all of our seeds are from Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa and all of them are heirloom varieties (some seeds were purchased and some are from a grant from Seed Savers). Many of these varieties have interesting stories about how they were handed down through different generations and how they were prized for their delicious flavors and ease of growing.

Sometime after World War II, the US population moved away from a largely agriculture background and to a more urban one. Farming and gardening habits faded away just as Madison Avenue advertising executives decided Americans only wanted to buy perfect, unblemished vegetables and only flowers suitable for bouquets. To meet these imagined desires, plants were bred to produce vegetables and flowers that were uniform in color and size and able to withstand long-distance shipping without damage. This meant that flavor (and in the case of flowers, fragrance) was sacrificed for uniformity and many heirloom seeds were in danger of disappearing altogether. Seed Savers is dedicated to preserving  unique varieties before they are lost. By growing some of these heirloom seeds in your own backyard you too are helping to keep them alive.

To participate in this program, stop by the Davenport Library Main library at 321 Main Street and browse our notebook which has entries for every seed that we carry, plus basic growing tips. Choose up to five varieties of seeds per family per month (we have checklists that you can use to mark your choices) Library staff will pull your seeds for you. Be sure to log your choices in the Seed Log – there will be a drawing for a garden gift basket on May 1 from the names listed in the log! Now the fun begins – growing your seeds! If you post about your seeds on social media, be sure to tag us @davenportlibrary and use #dplseeds.

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New at the Library!

We’re so excited to tell you about another new service at the Davenport Library!

Want to add some instant curb appeal to your house? Is your yard looking tired and worn after the winter months? Spring is (mostly) here which makes it the perfect time to turn your attention to your yard! Become the envy of the neighborhood with a little help from the library! Freshen up your space with our new Garden Library service!

The Garden Library is easy to use. Simply look through our catalog of available plants – which include trees, shrubs and perennials – and choose your favorites. (TIP: If you need help deciding, you can use our Book a Librarian service for expert design advice!). Our inventory includes ornamental and fruit trees, shrubs of all kinds and perennials such as peonies, daylilies, hosta and black-eye susan. Your yard will become vibrant and colorful in no time!

Plants are available at all three of our locations – check the catalog for availability. Plants check out for three weeks and can be renewed one time if no one else has reserved it. To return the plant, please dig it up and return it to the library building that you checked it out from – be mindful of the plant’s root system! Any damaged foliage or infestation of disease or insects will be billed to your account. Overdue fees are $1 per day per item.

Now get out there and start dreaming up your perfect yard!

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Haha! April Fool! We do not – I repeat, do not – have live garden plants for you to check out! Libraries have a huge variety of products and services to borrow (for instance, we have wi-fi Hotspots, video games, e-books, guitars and movies among many other items!) but it’s unlikely we’ll be lending out trees (imagine having to dig it up again after three weeks!) anytime soon/ever!

However, we DO have a new garden-related service which will be arriving on April 19 – a Seed Library! Our Seed Library, which will be housed at the Main library, is made up of envelopes that contain a small number of seeds, which you will be able to take to plant in your own garden. You are not required to return the seeds! We have (through a combination of purchasing and a grant) a wide variety of vegetable, herb and flower seeds, all of which have been obtained from Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa. These seeds are all heirloom varieties, many of which you won’t find in seed racks at the store and many of which have interesting stories, having traveled from across the world and preserved for generations in family gardens.

Watch this space and other Library media outlets for more information and plan on stopping by the Main library starting on  April 19 to take a look at the Seed Library and pick up a few gems for your own garden!

 

How to Educate a Citizen by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.

I remember writing an essay once making the argument that what a person knows isn’t as paramount as their willingness and ability to learn. Never have I called that idea into question as much as after reading How to Educate a Citizen: the Power of Shared Knowledge to Unify a Nation. In it, E.D. Hirsch articulates the philosophy that a shared, core knowledge base is a very important component of a peaceful, productive society. Perhaps 2020 is good evidence of that, or at least the pitfalls of the failure to achieve it.

As someone who loves information, it is perplexing to me that we seem to have arrived at a place where the collected body of knowledge, often acquired at great cost, is regarded disdainfully, if not outright rejected, by so many people. Hirsch, an educator, literary critic and author of other books, such as Cultural Literacy, is concerned about the Constructivist approach the American educational system has largely followed since the 1960s. Sometimes called child or student-centered education, it has become the norm in most classrooms across the country. This approach relies on the student to guide or “construct” their own educational experience by asking questions and doing research and experiments as they are motivated. It does not necessarily teach them how to do the research or give them a jumping-off point from the apex of collective knowledge.

You may have heard it lauded in the expression, “Be a guide on the side not a sage on the stage.”  Hirsch argues that a so-called sage can entice students in a variety of interesting ways. Additionally, it avoids the frustration of expecting students to inherently know what questions to ask in directing their own educational path, as necessitated by the child-centered method.

The readers should not misunderstand Core Knowledge as simply a discrete list of facts. The facts, Hirsch says, must be tied into the context of culture. Understanding culture, including the depth of its histories which shape it, is essential.

What, then, is a concerned citizen to do?

Consider this excerpt, which will likely be relatable to readers with children in their lives: “A parent in the [child-centered] schools, when a child comes home, says ‘How was your day? Okay, what’d you learn?’ The child says, ‘Uh.’ In [Core Knowledge] schools, the parent knows specifically what to ask the child. ‘What did you learn about the solar system today? What did you learn about the Bill of Rights today?’…In other schools, parents don’t know what role to play. I don’t want parents selling cookies and all that nonsense. I want them to be responsible for learning, and having them demonstrate their knowledge.”

This would suggest taking an interest in the curricula in your community’s schools. If you’ve ever read through any state’s latest educational standards, you’ll find vague statements that leave a wide berth for variations in curricular implementation across classrooms, even in the same communities at the same grade levels. It is lacking in “specific subject-matter details.” This, according to Hirsch, is problematic because it leaves society devoid of a unifying set of understandings. Without that, different people see the same events and come to vastly different conclusions.

Hirsch cites empirical evidence that the child-centered approach, when contrasted with the content-based approach he calls Core Knowledge, is lacking. The success of schools who commit to a content-based model is evidenced in their above-average test scores, their level of improvement after switching from another method, even their victories over competitors in debate championships, including students living in poverty or other oppressive life circumstances. The level of unity and competence rises in students who receive content-based instruction.

Hirsch also points out that living in society requires cooperation among people. He challenges the reader to consider the threats to democracy that individualism poses. I appreciate that Hirsch’s style is devoid of self-righteous certitude and moral indignation that makes some nonfiction reading burdensome. I recommend thoughtfully reading How to Educate a Citizen: the Power of Shared Knowledge to Unify a Nation.  When you’re done, you can check out Hirsh’s Core Knowledge series shelved in the Learning Collection of the Davenport Public Library. A list of the Learning Collection books can be found in the LibGuide here.