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Happy St Patrick's Day

Practice Random Acts of Green!

Buy a green book!
Give a green book!
Give a book on green issues!
Enjoy a green book on gardening, nature or flowers!

We're waiting for you in the Friends' Bookstore!

St Patrick's Day

Get Your Green On!

by Helen McIver

A good way to celebrate any holiday is with a good book! Stop into the Friends Bookstore for a wide selection of Celtic books.


St Patrick (born c. 387 in Wales - d 17 March, 493) was a Romano-Briton, brought Christianity to Ireland, and is recognized as a patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland. Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints.


St. Patrick's Day is the feast day of the man who brought Christianity to Ireland. It is celebrated both in and outside of Ireland, as both a solemn church holiday and especially outside of Ireland, as a celebration of Ireland itself. There will be parades and celebrations in cities all across the world, but the holiday has always been most popular in the United States, especially in cities with large Irish-American populations.In Chicago, they dye the Chicago River green every year. And in New York City, there's a huge parade that goes up Fifth Avenue from 44th Street to 86th Street, past St. Patrick's Cathedral.


Saint Patrick (Latin: Patricius; Primitive Irish: Qatrikias; Old Irish: Cothraige or Coithrige; Middle Irish: Pátraic; Irish: Pádraig;British: *Patrikios; Old Welsh: Patric; Middle Welsh: Padric; Welsh: Padrig; Old English: Patric; ) (St Paddy, if you must use a diminuitive, but never St Patty!)

National Book Awards

(From their Website:) History of the National Book Awards: On March 16, 1950, publishers, editors, writers, and critics gathered at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City to celebrate the first annual National Book Awards, an award given to writers by writers. The American Book Publisher’s Council, The Book Manufacturers’ Institute, and The American Booksellers’ Association jointly sponsored the Awards, bringing together the American literary community for the first time to honor the year’s best work in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. As the Boston Herald reported the following day, “literary history was indeed in the making.”


The National Book Awards (NBA) quickly established a reputation for recognizing literary excellence, awarding William Carlos Williams the first poetry prize for Paterson: Book III and Selected Poems. Within a mere decade the NBA would acknowledge the work of writers such as William Faulkner, Saul Bellow, Wallace Stevens, Rachel Carson, Ralph Ellison, W.H. Auden, Marianne Moore, and Bernard Malamud – authors who have helped shape the foundation of American literature.

From the mid-sixties through the seventies, the NBA expanded, adding new award categories for Science, Philosophy and Religion, History and Biography, Arts and Letters, Translation, Contemporary Thought, Autobiography, First Novel, Original Paperback, and Children’s Book.

In 1980, various publishers who sponsored the event sought to broaden further the audience for American literature by honoring an even wider range of American writers. As a result, the 30-year-old National Book Awards was discontinued and The American Book Awards (TABA) established. TABA gave a total of 28 prizes in 16 separate categories, recognizing a hardcover and paperback Winner in most categories. Winners and Finalists were chosen by a committee of publishers, booksellers and distributors, librarians, and authors and critics.

With its expanded scope, it soon became obvious that so many categories diffused the Awards’ impact. By 1984 the Board had reduced the number of awards categories to three and, in 1987, reestablished the National Book Awards with an emphasis that the Awards are given by writers to writers. Since 1996, independent panels of five writers have chosen the National Book Award Winners in four categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature.

Now, over a half-century since its inception, the National Book Awards continues to recognize the best of American literature, raising the cultural appreciation of great writing in the country while advancing the careers of both established and emerging writers like Richard Powers, Jonathan Franzen, and Lily Tuck.

Today in History - March 12, 1901

Andrew Carnegie
1835-1919

Andrew Carnegie Donates $5.2 Million to NYC Libraries
by Catherine H. Armstrong


If you're a book lover and have spent very much time at all in libraries, then the name Andrew Carnegie isn't new to you.  Many libraries across the nation still bear his name; my own library growing up in the small town of El Reno, Oklahoma, was named in his honor - The El Reno Carnegie Library.


A native of Scotland, Carnegie came from humble beginnings and was the son of a handloom weaver.  Though he had very little formal education, his family believed strongly in the importance of books and learning; a belief that must have stayed with him throughout his entire life.


After moving to the United States at the age of 13, Carnegie worked a series of odd jobs including work in a factory, telegraph messenger and then later as a telegraph operator for the Pennsylvania Railroad.  There he learned the railroad industry and general business principals and, within three short years, was promoted to Superintendent.  Eventually, his experience in the railroad allowed him to broaden his interests and eventually became a self-made man and steel tycoon, making him one of the wealthiest businessmen in the 19th Century.

The Chatfield Public Library
Built with funds from a Carnegie Grant of $6,000

In 1901, Carnegie sold his steel company to the United Sates Steel Corporation for $200 million, and then began taking steps that would dramatically change the course of his life.  As a philanthropist and a life-long lover of books and learning, Carnegie had spent many years building libraries through a variety of financial donations.  On this date in 1901, however,  Carnegie made a $5.2 million donation to New York City Libraries for the construction of 65 branch libraries, arguably the most important financial donation to a library of that time.  While substantial for a single donation, it was only one of many Carnegie would make throughout his life.  Between 1886 and 1919, Carnegie donated more than $40 million that paid for more than 1,600 libraries in communities of all sizes throughout the United States, many of which still operate today.


A huge "thank you" to Mr. Carnegie for paving the way for the readers, writers and book lovers of today.




Sources:


" Andrew Carnegie." 2012. Biography.com 25 Feb 2012, 01:13,  http://www.biography.com/people/andrew-carnegie-9238756

"Carnegie Libraries:  The Future Made Bright." 2012. NPS.gov 25 Feb 2012, 01:19, http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/50carnegie/50carnegie.htm

"Andrew Carnegie Offers New York $5.2 MIllion to Build Libraries." Timelines.com 25 Feb 2012, 01:31, http://timelines.com/1901/3/12/andrew-carnegie-offers-new-york-52-million-to-build-libraries

Don't Forget - Our Blog is Moving!

Don't forget!  The Friends of the Rochester Public Library blog will be moving Tomorrow, March 5th!  Please take a moment to check out our new blog-hosting site at www.friends4rpl.com. 

We'll continue to bring you the same great information and book reviews to which you've become accustomed, but there's just so much more!  We'll offer easy to view tabs with information about upcoming events, Friends' Membership and other valuable information.

Take a look this weekend and then come back tomorrow to help us celebrate our new home!

A Reminder - "Civil War Weapons" Tomorrow at 3:00