Speak Softly and Carry a Guitar: The Bitch Magnet Reissues

The 1970s and 80s were full of loud rock and metal bands with larger-than-life personalities.  Or to put it more bluntly, let’s say image-conscious bands full of egomaniacs, on stage with oversize drum sets, walls of amplifiers, and elaborate light and stage shows.  There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that.  I love Van Halen, for instance.

But what was special about the band Bitch Magnet in the mid-to-late-80s is that they could totally rock loudly with bombast and complexity but had really unassuming personalities as people and musicians.  They met at Oberlin College.  The two front men, guitarist Jon Fine and bassist Sooyoung Park, were both bespectacled nerds in casual clothes.  The band name was surely ironic.  Sooyoung’s vocals were more spoken than sung.  But over the stunningly great drumming of Orestes Morfin was a wonderful wash of guitar volume.

Fine wrote last year in an article for The Atlantic about his rock-induced hearing loss and stated:

Extreme volume is nerd-macho. I couldn’t bench-press 250 pounds—actually, I couldn’t bench-press half of 250 pounds—but my band was much louder than yours.

I implore you to not follow in Fine’s footsteps and to please wear earplugs.  But I recommend his music.

Amongst indie rock fans, Bitch Magnet and Slint also were known for having some songs using the soft-loud formula: usually very restrained verses with almost mumbled or whispered vocals and then choruses where the guitarist hits the distortion pedal and everything gets really loud.  Of course, soon after, this formula was turned into one of the most successful songs of all time by Nirvana with “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

Bands in Pittsburgh’s 90s indie rock scene such as Hurl and Don Caballero were clearly influenced by Bitch Magnet.  In fact, Don Caballero and Battles guitarist Ian Williams is quoted on the back cover of last year’s reissue of all three Bitch Magnet albums.  The reissues are long overdue and contain extras: unreleased songs, old photos, flyers, etc.  But perhaps the best part about a comprehensive reissue is that you can experience a band freshly out of context and in reverse chronological order.  I’d advise starting with Ben Hur, the majestic final album and working backwards through Umber before listening to the inchoate Star Booty.  Enjoy!

– Tim

American Originals

Among the composers represented at the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra ”American Originals” concert I attended on May 12, two stand tall for their groundbreaking work.

Charles Ives (not Burl Ives), composer and insurance executive, was the son of Civil War bandmaster George Ives. George Ives was a musical tinkerer, who taught his son to actively listen to whatever was going on around him. Born in 1874, Charles Ives grew up in rural New England. The music of his youth—hymn tunes, parlor ballads, marches—appears as quotes throughout Ives’ compositions. The intense listening his father taught is there, too. If the choir of his home church sounded like it was singing in two keys at the same time, then Ives wrote music that incorporated two simultaneous keys.

Saturday night the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra performed Ives’ ”The Unanswered Question.” A string orchestra played on stage, while a woodwind quartet and solo trumpet performed from the back of the auditorium. The three groups kept their own tempo and key, the trumpet asking and the flutes responding to questions that have no answers. Ives’ biographer Jan Swafford wrote of Ives, “Obsessed by the past, he wrote a music of the future.”

The Edgewood Symphony Orchestra presented a new arrangement of Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady,” made by John Wilson for trumpeter Roger Dannenberg and the Orchestra.

Duke Ellington was born in 1899, twenty-five years after Ives. While Ellington and Ives both shared a belief in the importance of the vernacular—melodies “hummed while men are at work and at play, and that are handed down from generation to generation,” as an Ellington interview from 1930 states—it is the contrasts between these two creators that feeds my curiosity. Specifically, each composer worked in a method unique to his temperament.

Ives composed in virtual isolation. Much of his music was imagined and lived in his own fantasies before taking form on the page. In contrast, Ellington’s creative output nearly always reflected his daily work with his orchestra. Rehearsals with his players shaped his compositions. Pieces were continually tempered and amended by his musical associates.

Ives musical laboratory was the whole world around him, his experiences steeped in the cauldron of memory. He invited no one else to share his musical pondering. Ellington tried out his compositions on everyone with whom he worked. Today we would say he workshopped his music.

Though neither of these men represented mainstream ideas about how a composer works, Ives and Ellington have emerged as two of our greatest American originals.

For further reading:

The Duke Ellington Reader

Composers’ Voices from Ives to Ellington: An Oral History of American Music

—Julie

Happy birthday to them!

I can’t write a blog post about my child’s birthday, mainly because I don’t have any children. Instead I will celebrate the birthday of my cats! Today is (approximately) the ninth birthday of Ham and Eva, my matching cats.

Ham is on the left and Eva is on the right.

Ham and Eva were born to a beautiful longhaired calico who decided to raise her kittens in my parents’ backyard. The family spent their first summer living on the back porch, scampering about the yard, and learning important cat things like bird chasing and tree climbing (one day I stumbled upon a tree-climbing lesson and found mom and her five kittens in the same tree – true story).

Eventually, we nabbed the kittens and they all found homes. Their mother, who was too feral to come indoors, was spayed by a local cat colony management organization and spent the rest of her days living in a comfy cat-sized barn designed by my father (retired electricians will do some crazy things).

Ham and Eva are indoor only cats now, so their tree climbing days are safely behind them. Their current hobbies include napping, eating smelly tuna cat food, destroying furniture, running around madly for no apparent reason, staring into space, throwing up smelly tuna cat food, killing bugs, purring, and being adorable. Basic cat stuff, really. But still, I’m happy to share my home with them. Happy birthday, cats!

- Amy

There and Back Again

“Since I sleep in the shadow of my to-read pile, it would feel dangerously irresponsible to read the same book twice” – Joe Dunthorne

Dear readers, I’m sitting here reflecting on that quote (and also wondering who Joe Dunthorne is), and finding myself agreeing with its sentiment but totally ignoring it in execution. The act of a rereading can be conflicting to a reader, but it is one I consider greatly when stuck in the doldrums of a tedious “new” read. Why am I wasting my eye sockets on this bland original work when I know that I can pick up something tried and true just as easy. I suppose it’s for the same reason I don’t just watch Die Hard 3 endlessly (perhaps that’s a bad example because as I’m thinking about it that sounds like something I could totally do). I guess what I’m saying is that while perfection is a wonderful thing in a book, the search for it is better, and nothing will recapture that.

I’ve been thinking about this topic since I read this piece in the Guardian, which in turn reminded me about this being covered in the NY Times previously. Some of my favorite authors are guilty of being notorious rereaders, yet they view it as a means of discovery. I decided to dive back into a book I’ve been thinking about a lot recently, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Now I’m a big LOTR fan, but Tolkien’s “prequel” has never meant as much to me. I had hoped rereading would kindle my interest in the upcoming film, while also reaffirming my adoration for the author. I immediately remembered what a quick and enjoyable read Tolkien can be, but why I had not had the urge to pick the book up again – it’s so trivial in the scope of the expansive story, and it doesn’t help that J.R.R doesn’t seem to be taking the world he has created seriously just yet.

“I decide to reread something I read 20 years ago and then give up because the original experience, presumed forgotten, turns out to have been mysteriously preserved, like a leaf between the pages.” – Geoff Dyer

Geoff Dyer, ladies and gentleman. A smart man. I didn’t want to wait 20 years to pick up Roberto Bolaño‘s 2666 again, as it has been pestering me since I finished it soon after its release in late 2008, so I just went for it. Ask me to name a favorite author and Bolaño is almost certain to be named straightaway near the top of the list. His ability to draw out a story that is at once experimental and almost rambling (his run-on sentences are legendary and inspiring), yet compact, is consistently engaging. A giant work like 2666 is like counter to what I enjoyed most about him previously, but because the book is divided into five parts that casually intersect, it never feels daunting. I pressed on, with optimism similar to Dyer’s, and remembered some things that are absolutely flawless about this work (Book one: “The Part About the Critics”, is especially strong in my opinion, and most relative to Bolaño’s other great work, The Savage Detectives), I ultimately ended up simply skimming through the rest of the work – something was lost from that original experience that I couldn’t recapture.

“I reread in order to remind myself how good you have to be in order to be any good at all.” – Edmund White

Now dear readers, don’t get the impression that rereading has been a poor experience for me as a result of these two prior examples. I actually came here to praise its value (I just seem to be not very effective). My main case in point is Michael Chabon. I make a point of rereading The Mysteries of Pittsburgh every year at the beginning of the summer, and have reread Wonder Boys on more than one occasion. I just finished The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and plan on taking the time to go over it again in the near future. The reason is just as Mr. White explained above. Whether you are a writer or a reader, one that is fond of literature knows what their threshold for quality is, and occasionally we need that reminder. Chabon is my shining example. Sometimes we need to pick up those books we hold high in our canon – serves right that I have read Vonnegut over and over, that Hemingway and Bukowski lend themselves to regular visits, and that the mere mention of East of Eden will have me itching to pick it up yet again.

Yet all of this has still led me to reading something new – or more definitively, the new collection of short stories by Jon McGregor, an author who I would have forgotten about had I not reread If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things after seeing passages copied into journals of mine. So perhaps reflection is a means of discovery after all.

What do you think, friends? Are there some books you can’t shake and have to revisit? Post below into comments for interactive fun!

- Tony

Snapshot, World War II*

I seem to stumble upon wonderful historical non-fiction rather than actively seek it out. A review will capture my interest or a book on display at the library will catch my eye and I will devour it in mere days. I haven’t read much about the history of the second World War but, what I have read has been bits and pieces, not about battles but about the ordinary people and the daily life during the war.

  Twilight at the World of Tomorrow: Genius, Madness, Murder and the 1939 World’s Fair on the Brink of War by James Mauro. I’m fascinated by world’s fairs; the first one I read about was the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 in Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City; Bill Bryson’s At Home also has a chapter about another in 1851; that was my initial interest in this book. But the 1939 World’s Fair is merely the jumping off point. You’ll read about pacifist Albert Einstein’s concern over Germany stockpiling uranium and his decision to encourage the president to develop the atom bomb, the daily security threats that erupted in tragedy at the fair, and the surreal atmosphere of simultaneous excitement and innovation set against the tensions of a world at war. One interesting caveat: a time capsule was buried during the fair and a book was published which listed the contents and other information about the time capsule. This book was sent to all major libraries around the country; we own that book!

 In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson. I don’t think Larson will ever top The Devil in the White City but this is still good. College professor William Dodd was desperate to finish his epic account of southern history but felt that the responsibilities of his teaching career were keeping him from his work. Somehow, he thought that being an ambassador to a small European country would give him the leisure time and freedom to complete his life’s work. But the post assigned to him during a time of fierce German patriotism saw the rise of Adolph Hitler and the coming of a second world war. This is the story of his family’s fearful four years in Nazi-controlled Berlin, their exposures to violent anti-Semitism (and the conflicts within the U.S. government to recognize and act on it), and the toll it took on the family’s life ever after.

Anne Frank: the Book, the Life, the Afterlife by Francine Prose. Teenage diarist and Holocaust victim Anne Frank’s story of life  hidden in an attic in Holland to avoid discovery by the Nazis has been written about extensively. Literary writer Prose pens an elegant, poignant, and informative history of the diary itself and its history and publication snafus (including the difficulty Anne’s father, Otto, had in initially publishing it).

Our Mother’s War: American Women at Home and at the Front During World War II by Emily Yellin. To me, this is  the most fascinating part about history and wartime: what was everyday home life like in the United States during that time? What about women in the workplace and those who chose to serve and their experiences? Yellin explores the prejudices women encountered and more in this excellently researched book told in a readable style.

~Maria

*This is the eighth post in my ongoing series of recommended historical non-fiction.

Whooping it up

Photo from official P&R website at: http://www.nbc.com/parks-and-recreation

Into every life a little rain must fall. We all get a little down sometimes, and we all have our own way of dealing with the blues. Some people turn to sad songs and comfort food, while other (more proactive types) get out and do things for other people or exercise. I’ll never turn down the comfort of a delicious cheese sandwich, but my own method for dealing with the sads is just to watch (and listen to) a whole lot of dumb comedy. Currently my go-to show is Parks & Recreation, which has been pretty unstoppable lately. The library also has a ton of other comedy available for check out if P&R is not quite your style. Behold, we have:

Sketch comedy

Stand-Up Comedy

Television comedies

British television comedies

Ridiculous movies

Comedy albums

After all, even with the grayness outside lately, it’s hard not to smile at comedy gems like this:

How about you? Do you have a favorite genre or activity you turn to when you’re feeling under the weather?

- Tara

“If You Eat Your Bed, Where Will You Sleep?!?!” Notes on Adjusting to Life with a New Dog

The newest member of my household is a sinewy, energetic, pit/lab/mystery mutt from the Animal Rescue League.* Frida Sweet-a Face, or Frida for short, has been a handful. But the love, joy and health that a dog brings into the home  is worth far more than every toy shredded during puppyhood. She’s been with us for only about four months, and with plenty of patience and advice from various dog training books, Frida is slowly becoming a well-mannered young lady.

The day Frida came home – she was a bag of bones then.

She had been surrendered to ARL at about age one, because her previous owners believed she was “too much to handle.” Many dogs of Frida’s age are given over to shelters. I learned in Bruce Fogle’s Dog that this is the canine stage of development most closely related to human adolescence. “Dog body, puppy brain,” is what I apologetically say to strangers in the street when she jumps on them. (Jumping happens less often these days, I promise!)  These dogs learned the rules as young pups. However,  in their adolescence, they question authority, i.e. chew up their beds and steal cheese from the counter. Adolescent dogs can be gangly, awkward and clumsy. They don’t realize that their bodies are wielding more power than before. A ten pound puppy jumping in your lap is adorable.  A sixty pound adolescent doing the same is a little painful.  Many owners just give up on these dog-hooligans.

“I can do this,” I thought. I worked with teens for a long time, and the age group is very close to my heart. “I’m a very patient person,” I thought. Despite all of that, there was an extended adjustment/figure-this-whole-energetic-dog-thing-out period. She lunged at cars, people, birds, cats. She crashed into tables; she attacked shoes. One day she sneaked out of the fence and ran next door, where our two year old neighbor Charlie was playing with his mom.  Frida kissed him on the cheek, and sneaked back under the fence, quite proud of herself. Charlie giggled. (Charlie’s family has dogs of their own and so his mother was most gracious about the whole incident.)

What baby-kissing dog is all bad? We just needed to help her get good.  We read piles of dog books; we signed her up for classes at ARL. We learned the hard way that if Frida doesn’t expend enough energy, she goes a little, shall we say, nuts. All dogs are working dogs, so every dog needs a challenging job, whether the job be walking, running, playing, fetching, or another activity. Two forty-five minute walks a day weren’t quite enough for Frida’s “work ethic.” So I started running with her, building up her endurance a little bit at a time, and that seems to keep her shenanigans to a minimum.

In addition to expending energy, she must also practice her manners. New dog owners are encouraged to introduce their pet to as many new situations, people, and animals as possible. So we’ve traveled with Frida all over Western PA: hiking, walking, dog parking, and visiting family and friends.  Dogs are not born with instincts that tell them to interact with other beings; they must be taught.  Frida used to greet everyone with  a hearty jump, a bump/crash,  and a maybe a few bats of the paw.  These days, she is a more mellow greeter, and all the dogs, cats and humans on our block are rejoicing.

Some folks swear by a specific dog trainer or book to train their dog, but we use a hybrid of different techniques.  I definitely recommend reviewing more than one source of dog advice. We go over the commands we learned at ARL’s basic training class at least once a day. We use Cesar Millan’s methods in some cases, but “calm assertive energy” is tougher than it looks on TV. I’m currently examining the presidential route by reading Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz; she trained Obama’s dog. My father swears by the Monks of New Skete; they’ve been successfully raising German Shepherds at their monastery for decades.  If you are interested in pursuing a homeopathic, herbal approach to dog wellness, then I highly recommend reading all of Juliette de Bairacli Levy; she learned from the Roma. Bruce Fogle is my favorite.  He has written extensively on dog health, dog psychology and dog breeds.

Frida with some meat on her bones

Best of luck in all of your doggie endeavors!

Holly

*A note on shelters -  Animal Rescue League is not the only game in town, there are plenty of other good shelters and organizations dedicated to dog adoption, such as Animal Friends and the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society.

What’s in That Pile Beside My Bed

You know how you have that pile of books you’ve checked out from the library and want to read, but just can’t seem to get to? They form a nice pile next to–or on the bottom shelf of–your bed’s nightstand. Or maybe they have become your nightstand.  You renew them a couple of times, if you are able. And then maybe return them and check them out again later. It’s not that you don’t want to read them, really you do, but “stuff” keeps getting in the way like dinner, chores, kids, work, life.

I confess. I have one of those piles. Well actually, it’s grown now to three piles of about 18 inches high each. They have begun to take over that corner of my room. I think I can say with about 99% certainty that most library staff members have at least one pile similar to mine. Heck, I know one person who had to have their own hold shelf made for all the books they reserve. (As opposed to sharing one with the rest of the people who alphabetically fall around your last name.) And Jess keeps her to-read list in online form, rather than holding the books hostage.

What follows are some of the items in my piles. Because I figure if I like them enough to make them furniture in my home, I must like them enough to recommend to you.

What Chefs Feed Their Kids: Recipes and Techniques for Cultivating a Love of Good Food by Fanae Aaron – As I may have mentioned before, my son is a great eater. He eats lots of things and is always willing to try something new. I may, however, be having two other rugrats join me for a good part of this summer, who I don’t think are used to eating that way. Any help this book could offer would be appreciated…

The End of Everything by Megan Abbott – This is another one of my experiments with branching out of my genre comfort zone. I have been trying to find teen novels that appeal to me. This one has all of that teen angst, but with a suspenseful and very grown-up lesson that is learned by all. Plus when I skimmed it, it creeped me out a little.

The Grave Gourmet by Alexander Campion – This is the book we are reading for May’s meeting of the Mystery Book Group, so I will have to read this one very soon. But because I think I’m going to like it, I already have the next one in the series, Crime Fraîche, in the pile too.

Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie – I LOVE Jennifer Crusie. I have read most of her books. (I drew the line at her collaborations with Bob Mayer. I didn’t like the way they were written or the themes.) But for some reason, I just can’t seem to get into this one.  I keep it, thinking I’ll change my mind, but it might be time for this one to go back to the library. Maybe it’s the paranormal aspect. Maybe it’s the ex-husband who might not stay an ex. I am a firm believer that an ex-husband is probably an ex for a reason, no matter how rich or good-looking he is.

How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm: And Other Adventures in Parenting (from Argentina to Tanzania and Everywhere in Between) by Mei-Ling Hopgood – People in other countries raise their children differently than we do. Really!  Did you know that? And their kids turn out just as good as ours do, and sometimes better. I wish I had read this earlier and I just might have done one or two things differently…

Before They’re Gone: A Family’s Year-Long Quest to Explore America’s Most Endangered National Parks by Michael Lanza – Last summer we visited several national parks out west. Some of the most beautiful were the ones no one ever talks about. Those are the parks I am most glad that I got to see. I have a feeling this book will lead me to several more.

I Am Maru by Mugumogu – Have you seen that cat from Japan on YouTube? The one that likes to slide into boxes? Well, like so many blogs and stars of the do-it-yourself online set, he now has his own book. Warning: kitty cuteness overload is imminent!

Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez – I saw a review for this book online and was intrigued. I knew southern male slave owners often had a female slave as their mistress, but the idea of taking a yearly vacation with that slave, to a resort in the North?  Shocking!

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures by Caroline Preston – This is another keep-reading-outside-of-my-comfort-genres pick. But I love looking through people’s old scrapbooks, vintage postcards and spunky female protagonists, so I think this will be a winner.

Winged Obsession: The Pursuit of the World’s Most Notorious Butterfly Smuggler by Jessica Speart – There’s a black market in butterflies?!? Get out! This novel about the pursuit and capture of one of the most notorious butterfly smugglers sounded like it would have me on the edge of my seat. Plus, butterflies are pretty.

So, those are a few of the items in my pile. What’s in yours?

-Melissa M.

P.S. I’ll be moving soon. Then the dilemma will be: move the pile or return it all and start again…

May The 4th Be With You!

Today (May 4th) marks Star Wars Day! Yes, a while back some ardent fans got together and decided that this clever play on words would make an excellent day upon which to honor the seminal works of George Lucas. Many people hold very strong opinions on Mr. Lucas’ prequel trilogy films, and I am among them, but in the interest of civility on this august day, I will simply state that they were not to my liking and move on.

   The Star Wars marketing juggernaut has spawned a host of side stories and products in dozens of different formats. Check them out in the catalog here. I am quite partial to the Dark Horse Omnibus edition that collects the first twenty-seven issues of the old Marvel Comics Star Wars series.  This post may jog your memory and cause you to dig out some of your old Star Wars stuff.  If so you might also want to check out Stephen Sansweet’s excellent book  entitled Star Wars : 1,000 Collectibles : Memorabilia And Stories From A Galaxy Far, Far Away.

Setting all feelings of Nerd Rage on the prequels aside, sci-fi fans do owe Mr. Lucas and his formidable franchise a huge thank you for so many years of amazing entertainment.  I’ve come a long way from the halcyon days of 1978 and standing in line outside of old Mt. Oliver Theater waiting for my chance to see movie magic.  I’ve consumed a lot of Star Wars product during that time, and while not all of it was great, much of it was, and it served to stoke the fires of my imagination and make me the sci-fi fan I am today.

So if you’ve got any Star Wars favorites please share them in the comments section!  And may the 4th, er, the Force, be with you!

–Scott

When A Plan Comes Together: CLP, The Next Five Years, and You

Just so you know, library workers think about you a lot.

Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons, by travelinlibrarian

Not in a creepy-stalker way, of course. It’s just that we take the “public” part of “public service” pretty seriously. Libraries are built to serve communities, and communities are made up of people. Last time we checked, you’re a person; ergo, we think about you. A lot. Just to make sure we’re on track with what you really want and need from a library.

Right now the Carnegie Library is specifically thinking of you in the context of its strategic planning process.  We asked Pittsburghers for their input on how we should craft our vision of library service for the next five years. Many of you responded, and we took what you had to say very seriously. Here’s a quick recap of what we’ve done so far, with links to summary documents in .PDF format that you can read to see what your friends and neighbors had to say about the future of the Carnegie Library.

February 24, 2012: The library hosted two workshops whose participants were drawn from for-profit and non-profit organizations all over Pittsburgh. The fine folks who attended are considered community stakeholders, people whose own organizations and services are a vital part of Pittsburgh, and we wanted to make sure we included them in the process so that we could work together for the common good.

February 25th through March 31st, 2012: The first of many community meetings was held in Oakland on February 25th, and over 100 Pittsburghers turned up to give their opinions on what was important to them as library users. We also collected feedback online, with a live survey that ran from March 1st through March 31st, 2012. You can read about the kinds of questions we asked and the sort of feedback we were looking for in the official discussion guide, which was used by both in-person and online participants. All the information we collected during that time was collated into a summary document that will now drive our next moves.

And what might those be, you ask? Good question!

Everyone on the Carnegie Library staff–from the clerks who shelve your books all the way up to the lady at the helm–has had a chance to read the community feedback and work together in small groups to generate ideas of their own. We’ve had more meetings than you can shake a very large stick at, and a healthy dose of brown-bag lunch conversations to boot. All that togetherness gave us a chance to shape your feedback into a vision of the library’s future that you will now have an opportunity to comment on.

When and where?  Your first opportunity is coming soon: join us in person on Monday, May 7th, 2012 at the Main Library in Oakland. We’ll be meeting in Classroom B, in the Center for Museum Education, so you’ll want to use the Portal Entry in the Carnegie Museum of Art parking lot. When you walk through the first set of glass doors, Classroom B is on your right. You’ll get a brand-new discussion guide that contains the vision, which you’ll have a chance to read and comment on in small groups. We want to make sure that the vision we came up with matches the direction you told us you wanted to go, so your response to what we’ve come up with is a vital part of the process; we just can’t move forward without you.

Can’t make it on Monday? Don’t worry–you’ll have options. Bookmark the Strategic Plan section of our website and check back frequently for information on upcoming community meetings in other city locations, plus more opportunities for online feedback. If you haven’t already liked us on Facebook or followed us on Twitter, you’ll want to link up with us there as well, because we frequently share information via our social networks. If you’re more of a face-to-face type person, please don’t be shy: head to the nearest CLP branch, locate someone with a big orange and purple “L” on his/her badge, and have them bring you up to speed on strategic planning news.

There are a lot of different ways to be a library in a rapidly changing world, but the best way to be a library is to be the library your community actually needs. As smart as we are, and as skilled as we are at what we do, we can’t do our jobs without you. You’re the missing link, the secret ingredient, the 39th step–you get the picture. So please come be part of the bigger picture, and help us with the next phase of the strategic plan.

–Leigh Anne