Sarah Josepha Hale Award

Each year since 1956 the Trustees of the Richards Free Library in Newport give the Sarah Josepha Hale Award to an outstanding writer who maintains a connection to New England. Hale was a Newport native, author of several books and the influential editor of Godey's Lady's Magazine for forty years.

This year's recipient is Jay Parini, a resident of Vermont and professor of English at Middlebury College. Mr. Parini is a novelist, poet, and historian. We are fortunate to have several of his works in our collection:

RC 25401 The Patch Boys Growing up in 1920s mining area of Pennsylvania
RC 33399 Last Station novel about Tolstoy
RC 41413 John Steinbeck: a biography
RC 45501 Benjamin's Crossing novel of Germany between the wars
RC 55653 The Apprentice Lover a coming of age novel

NFB Conference

The annual conference of the New Hampshire chapter of the National Federation of the Blind will take place November 15, 2003.

Wings of Knowledge

The New Hampshire Technical Institute, in Concord, is sponsoring a series of lectures and cultural events during the school year in the Library Living Room. For more information on the lectures below, call NHTI at 271-7186.

• Barbershop 101. A History of Barbershop Entertainment. Led by 'Round Midnight, a barbershop quartet. December 1, 2003 at 6:30 p.m.
• Spies in Time a history of spying by Douglas Wheeler, Professor of History Emeritus, UNH. February 3, 2004 at 6:30 p.m.
• Environmental issues by Steve Curwood, host of NPR's Living on Earth. March 4, 2004 at 6:30 p.m.
• Poetry readings and discussion by poet Robert Bly. March 8, 2004 at 2 p.m.
• Culture in Many Societies NHTI students will share their cultural heritages. April 6, 2004 at 6:30 p.m.
• The Vanishing Rain Forests by Alfred Lau, botanist in Belize. May 4, 2004 at 6:30 p.m.

We encourage all patrons to return their cassette books in a timely fashion. Patrons may keep books for three months from the date of issue. In addition, books can be renewed if not reserved by others. There is no fee for returning books late, but there are long waiting lists for many books. So the sooner you return your books, the sooner the next person can receive them.

JFK

November 22, 2003 marks the 40th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The tragic event released a torrent of publications from the Warren Commission report to a variety of conspiracy theories. We have many books covering all aspects of the assassination.

RC 25100 The Day Kennedy was Shot
RC 29233 Final Disclosure: the full truth about the assassination of President Kennedy
RC 29409 Contract on America: the Mafia murder of President John F. Kennedy
RC 32041 High Treason: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the new evidence of conspiracy
RC 34315 Plausible Denial: was the CIA involved in the assassination of JFK?
RC 34692 Act of Treason: the role of J. Edgar Hoover in the assassination of President Kennedy
RC 34712 Crossfire: the plot that killed Kennedy
RC 34762 On the Trail of the Assassins: my investigation and prosecution of the murder of President Kennedy
RC 34864 High Treason 2: the great cover-up: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
RC 35269 The Texas Connection: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
RC 35676 JFK: conspiracy of silence
RC 38062 Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the assassination of JFK
RC 40436 Oswald's Tale: an American mystery
RC 43096 Deep Politics and the Death of JFK

U.S. Poet Laureate

The Librarian of Congress has appointed a new poet laureate. Louise Gluck will serve in this honorary position for a year, helping to promote poetry throughout the country. Ms. Gluck has published nine volumes of poetry and received the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award for her 1985 work The Triumph of Achilles. To read her works try out these books:

RC 37600 Wild Iris
RC 43058 Meadowlands

Golden Age of Radio

In addition to the many fine recorded books we receive through the National Library Service, we do have a special collection of old radio programs from the 1940's and 1950's. We have 20 comedy radio classics available on loan. These cassettes are two track recordings, not the usual four track recordings you are used to. They can be played on our cassette players, but you must change the speed control toggle switch to 1 7/8 speed to listen. To borrow any of the programs listed below please call us 1-800-491-4200.

RCA 97067 Red Skelton Show
RCA 97068 Ozzie & Harriet
RCA 97069 My Favorite Husband
RCA 97070 Lum & Abner Show
RCA 97071 Jack Benny Program
RCA 97072 Fred Allen Show
RCA 97073 Duffy's Tavern
RCA 97074 Burns & Allen Show
RCA 97075 Bickersons
RCA 97076 Aldrich Family
RCA 97077 Abbott & Costello
RCA 97078 Amos 'n' Andy Show
RCA 97079 Bob Hope Show
RCA 97080 Charlie McCarthy
RCA 97081 Fibber McGee & Molly
RCA 97082 Great Gildersleeve
RCA 97083 Life of Riley
RCA 97084 Milton Berle Show
RCA 97085 Our Miss Burns
RCA 97086 Phil Harris & Alice Faye Show

Federal Equipment

The cassette player we sent you is the property of the federal government. It is on free loan to you for as long as you need it to listen to our recorded materials; it must be returned to us if you no longer receive books or magazines from our library. If you want to cancel the service for any reason, tell us this, and then send the machine back to us. It goes "Free Matter" through the US Mail. Call 800-491-4200 if you have any questions.

Books in Series

Reading books in a series in correct order can be tricky. Perhaps the best way to do this is to ask for a list of the titles in the series and the order in which they should be read. When you're ready, call us to request the next book in the series. In this way you can receive each book in the proper order. Don't have us put the titles in your request file, as our automated system will mail them in random order.

Award Winning Children's Books

Several recent children's and young adult books have won prestigious awards.

The 2003 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature for young adults went to Postcards from No Man's Land by Aidan Chambers (RC 56042).

The 2002 John Newbery Medal for most distinguished contribution to children's literature was awarded to Avi, author of Crispin: the cross of lead (RC 55295).

Nikki Grimes, author of Bronx Masquerade (RC 55776) was the recipient of the 2003 Coretta Scott King Award to African American authors of children's books.

The 2003 Robert F. Sibert Award for most distinguished informational book for children went to James Cross Giblin for The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler (RC 56034).

The 2003 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction was given to Shelley Pearsall, author of Trouble Don't Last (RC 55900).

And The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke (RC 55343) won the Mildred L. Batchelder Award for the most outstanding children's book originally published in a foreign language.