There are many kings, queens, princes and princesses in fairy tales, but who is the most famous common man or boy?  It is Jack, as in Jack & the Beanstalk or Jack the Giant Killer.  Joseph Jacobs wrote the first English version of this oral tale as one of the stories in his book, English Fairy Tales (1890).  The “Jack tales” go back hundreds of years in Europe.  This everyman is called Hans in German, Juan in Spanish and Jean or Jacques in France, all variations on the name or nickname for John.  Juan migrated as Juan Bobo to Hispanic lands, in particular Puerto Rico.  JeanPetit is a popular trickster in Cajun stories.  The English Jack and German Hans spread to Appalachia, where Jack becomes an “all-American farm boy".    

The character, Jack, is always lucky and sometimes clever.  He is a trickster with a good heart. He is sometimes a reluctant hero, but he always wins the prize.  In the Grimm’s version, “Hans in Luck”, he is naïve and easily tricked.  Hans wins in the end because he is easily satisfied.  He personifies the idea that if you change your attitude, you can find happiness, even if your circumstances remain unchanged.  In most other versions of the “Jack stories”, the plot is more satisfying.  Jack is poor; he leaves home and through luck or pluck he improves his lot in life.  A few of these stories are:  Lazy Jack (British), Jack and the Fire Dragon (Cornish), Jack and the Animals (Appalachian), Jack & King Marock, Appalachian), Seven at One Blow (German), Juan Bobo Goes to Work (Puerto Rican) and Jacques & the Sugarcane (Cajun).   

The Florentine Opera will perform the children's Opera, Jack & the Beanstalk, at the Wauwatosa Civic Center auditorium on Saturday, February 27th, from 2:30-3:15 p.m.  This opera is most appropriate for children in Kindergarten through 8th grades.  For more information, call the Wauwatosa Public Library Children's Department: 414-471-8486.

Books

        Dark Matter by Peter Straub

Happiness Project: or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Craft Rubin

Historical Atlas of World Railroads by John Westwood

Investor’s Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between by William Bernstein

Knights: In History and In Legend by Constance Brittain Bouchard

Muscle Medicine: the Revolutionary Approach to Maintaining, Strengthening, and Repairing Your Muscles and Joints by Rob DeStefano

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick

Puttin’ on the Ritz: Fred Astaire and the Fine Art of Panache, a Biography by Peter Levinson

Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich

Snapshots in History’s Glare by Gore Vidal

Audiobooks

        China’s Megatrends: the 8 Pillars of a New Society by John Naisbitt

Complaint Free Relationships: How to Positively Transform Your Personal, Work, and

Love Relationships by Will Bowen

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris

Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog: the Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman

by Lisa Scottoline

Music on CD

         Chicago Blues: a Living History

Element of Freedom/Alicia Keys

Messa da Requiem/Giuseppe Verdi

            Recorded in concert at Sala Santa Cecilia, Auditorium Parco della Musica,
Rome, Italy, Jan. 8-13, 2009

39 Songs: Live at the Olympia in Dublin/R.E.M.

Twilight Saga.  New Moon: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

DVDs

District 9

Food, Inc.

Night at the Museum. Battle of the Smithsonian

Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks

True Blood.  The Complete First Season

       The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee’s own daily morning newspaper, is the largest newspaper in Wisconsin.  It was first printed on Sunday, April 2, 1995 after the consolidation of the local afternoon paper, the Milwaukee Journal and the morning paper, the Milwaukee Sentinel.  However, the roots of the paper go back to 1837.

Solomon Juneau, a fur trader, and later successful business man and first mayor of Milwaukee, began publishing the Sentinel as a weekly publication in 1837.  It became a daily in the mid 1840s.  After Juneau’s death, the paper’s ownership passed through several hands before the Hearst Corporation bought it in 1924.  Hearst operated the Sentinel until 1962 when, after a long and financially devastating strike, it was purchased by the Journal Company.

The Milwaukee Journal started its run in 1882.  Its first editor was Lucius Nieman.  Under Nieman and his successor, Harry Grant, the Journal won a number of awards and Pulitzer Prizes.  The Journal took a more serious approach to news reporting than the other local papers and developed a reputation for its liberal stance during the 1950s when it came out strongly against Senator Joseph McCarthy and the “red scare”.

The Wauwatosa Library has just acquired a subscription to NewsBank’s electronic edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel which provides full-text coverage of the newspaper from January 22, 1990 to date.  With a library card issued by Wauwatosa Library, you can access this resource in the library or from your remote computer.  Search by topic or browse newspaper issues by date. The Library also has microfilm archives of the paper from 1979-2008 and will, of course, continue to subscribe to the good old daily newspaper if you want to come in, settle into a comfortable chair and just read the paper.    

Books

            Cowboys Full: the Story of Poker by James McManus

Deeper than the dead by Tami Hoag

Dr. Suess & Co. Go to War: the World War II Editorial Cartoons of America’s Leading Comic Artist by Andre Schiffrin

Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman

Ford County: Stories by John Grisham

Hollywood Moon by Joseph Wambaugh

Invisible Kingdom: From the Tips of Our Fingers to the Tops of Our Trash, Inside the Curious World of Microbes by Idan Ben-Barak

Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It: and Other Cooking Projects by Karen Solomon

When Giants Walked the Earth: a Biography of Led Zeppelin by Mick Wall

You Having a Baby: the Owner’s Manual to a Happy and Healthy Pregnancy by Michael F. Roizen

Audiobooks on CD

        I, Alex Cross by James Patterson

Imperial Cruise: a Secret History of Empire and War by James Bradley

Murders in the Rue Morgue and Other Stories by Edgar Allan Poe

Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry

U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton

Music on CD

            Avatar: Music from the Motion Picture

Blood of Man/Mason Jennings

Never Been Gone/Carly Simon

Play On/Carrie Underwood

Soulbook/Rod Steward

DVDs

Every Little Step

Food, Inc.

Is Anybody There?

Julie & Julia

Terminator Salvation

Books always make great gifts.  The following books are recommended by the library staff and Little Read Book in Wauwatosa for the special people on your gift list.  All these books and more are on display in the library so you can take a look at them.  Happy holidays to you and yours!

     And Another Thing-- by Eoin Colfer
(6th installment of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne

Born to Run: a Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Ever Seen 
by Christopher McDougall

Christmas Blizzard by Garrison Keillor

  Dirt-Cheap Green Thumb: 400 Thrifty Tips for Saving Money, Time, and Resources as You Garden by Rhonda Massingham

Matchless: A Christmas Story: an Illumination of Hans Christian Andersen's Classic "The LIttle Match Girl" by Gregory Maguire 

1-2-3 Money Plan: the Three Most Important Steps to Saving and Spending Smart by Gregory Karp

Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones

     Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America by Jay Parini

NYT Practical Guide to Practically Everything

Two Coots in a Canoe: an Unusual Story of Friendship by David E. Morine

Uncommon History of Common Things by Bethanne Patrick

What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell

     When Everything Changed: the Amazing Journey of American Women, From 1960-To the Present by Gail Collins

Wisconsin Barns by Nancy Schumm-Burgess

Children's Books

     Beautiful Stories of Life: Six Greek Myths, Retold by Cynthia Rylant

Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Brett Helquist

Christmas Magic by Lauren Thompson

Emily Post's Table Manners for Kids by Peggy Post

     Goldilocks by Ruth Sanderson

Lego Star Wars: the Visual Dictionary by Simon Beecroft

Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

     Mama Says: a Book of Love for Mothers and Sons by Rob D. Walker

Mitten : a Ukrainian Folktale by Jan Brett (20th anniversary edition)

Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore, retold and illustrated by Rachel Isadora

Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook by Eleanor Davis

What Bluebirds Do by Pamela F. Kirby

     When the World is Ready for Bed by Gillian Shields

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead


 

The Rouse Simmons was one of the many schooners that shipped Christmas trees from Upper Michigan to Chicago in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  The captains and sailors loaded their fishing schooners with as many spruce trees as the ships could hold and sailed down Lake Michigan during the stormy months of November and December.  

Herman Schuenemann was only 18 years old when he first helped bring a load of Christmas
trees to Chicago in 1887.  He made his last trip in 1912, as captain of the ship, The Rouse Simmons. Schuenemann and his crew were last seen on November 22, 1912 off the coast of Kewaunee, Wisconsin flying a distress flag during a blizzard.  A bottle washed ashore a few days later along with many of the 4,000 evergreens.  Captain Schuenemann had written a note, “I guess we are thru.  Leaking bad.  Endwald and Steve fell overboard.  God help us.”  The next year, Captain Schuenemann’s wife and three daughters decided that they would continue his work.  Hannah Schuenemann hired a ship and crew.  The whole family helped load it with spruce trees and sailed with the crew to Chicago.

This tragic, yet inspiring story has become a legend over the years and the subject of the following books, films and musical.

Children’s books

The Christmas Tree Ship by Jeanette Winter

The Christmas Tree Ship: The Story of Captain Santa by Rochelle M. Pennington

Adult books

August and Herman Schuenemann : Tree Captains of Lake Michigan 
by Fred Neuschel

The Historic Christmas Tree Ship: a True Story of Faith, Hope and Love
by Rochelle Pennington

Lives and Legends of the Christmas Tree Ships by Frederick H. Neuschel

Audiovisual materials

The Christmas Tree Ship [videorecording] produced by WTMJ

The Christmas Tree Ship: A Holiday Storm Story [television program] produced by the
Weather Channel

Haunted Tales of the Great Lakes [DVD] produced by Southport Video Productions

Rouse Simmons: The Christmas Tree Ship [videorecording] produced by Southport Video Productions

Musical

The Christmas Schooner written by John Reeger with music and lyrics by Julie Shannon

The library has recently purchased subscription rights to Reference USA, an exciting online database that can help you with your business, employment and consumer research.

The Reference USA Business module contains over 14 million business listings.  These listings include full contact information, business characteristics and linkage to parent and subsidiary companies.  Information is comprehensive, up-to-date and searchable in many different ways including business name, type, size, owner and geographic area. The Lifestyles module contains over 111 million residential listings.  Search a particular address for residential information or retrieve data on the lifestyle interests of the population in any given area.   

What can Reference USA do for you?    

Jobseekers-

identify which businesses fit your job skills and location. 

Entrepreneurs and small business owners-

            research the market to start or grow your business.     

Marketing and sales representatives-

research the lifestyle characteristics of the population in certain areas to improve sales by targeting people that would be most interested in your product or service.

Consumers-

locate a business or company that provides a particular product or service.

Reference USA allows you to search for the information you need and if you wish, download it to generate mailing lists, spreadsheets and reports.  This valuable online resource is available for use in the library or from your remote computer, if you are a Wauwatosa resident.  Access it via the library’s webpage at http://tpublib.fp.execpc.com/.   

If you have any questions or comments, call the library Reference Desk.  We are interested in hearing what you think about Reference USA and how you are using it.

Books

        From Cronkite to Colbert: the Evolution of Broadcast News by Geoffery Baym

I’m Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-Up Comedy’s Golden Era by William Knoedelseder

In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect by Ronald Kessler

No Time to Wave Goodbye by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall by Kazuo Ishiguro

Parents’ Guide to the Middle School Years by Joe Bruzzese

Pilgrims: a Wobegon Romance by Garrison Keillor

True Compass: a Memoir by Edward M. Kennedy

Tweak It and Freak It: a Killer Guide to Making Windows Run Your Way by Paul McFedries

Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

Audiobooks

        Hardball by Sara Paretsky

Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder

That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo

Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer

Music on CD

         B is for Bob/Bob Marley

Blue Ridge Rangers Ride Again/John Fogerty

Get Lucky/Mark Knopfler

Joy/Phish

Music for Two Pianos/Debussy & Ravel, performed by Vovka and Vladimir Ashkenazy

DVDs

Brian Sewell’s Grand Tour of Italy: Volumes 1-4

I Love You, Man

State of Play

30 Rock. Season 2

Vampire Secrets

    The first volume of Grimm’s Fairy Tales was not written for children.  Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm collected and edited the fairy tales as a way to preserve German culture and heritage in the face of the French takeover of the German state of Hesse by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806. 

The initial collection of 86 stories had a lengthy introduction, many footnotes and no illustrations--not very appealing to children.  When critics pointed out that the stories were inappropriate for children, Jacob Grimm said that they were not intended for children “though it fills a need for them.”  He believed the book, Children’s and Household Tales edited by him and his brother, was more important as “a source of poetry, mythology, and history.” 

Wilhelm Grimm saw the value of making the Fairy Tales more appropriate for children although he opposed cutting out depictions of violence and sexual matters, stating “you can fool yourself into thinking that what can be removed from a book can also be removed from real life.”  In 1823, Edward Taylor translated the fairy tales into English and published the book, German Popular Stories, with illustrations by the famous English cartoonist, George Cruikshank.  The success of this book encouraged the Grimms to publish a softer, shorter version with illustrations by their younger brother, Ludwig Grimm.

The debate about the child appropriateness of the original Grimm’s Fairy Tales continues to this day.  Middle and high school students and adults are invited to Grimm Night at the Wauwatosa Public Library on Monday, October 19, 2009 from 6:30 – 7:15 pm to hear a few of the real Grimm’s Fairy Tales with all their gruesome detail.  To register or for more information, please call the Children’s Library: 414-471-8486.

 Books 

     Amigoland by Oscar Casares 
Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller 
Compost Specialist: the Essential Guide to Creating and Using Garden Compost, and Using Potting and Seed Composts by David Squire 
Coolest Race on Earth: Mud, Madmen, Glaciers, and Grannies at the Antarctica Marathon by John Hanc 
Even Money by Dick Francis 
Nation of Farmers: Defeating the Food Crisis on American Soil by Sharon Astyk 
One Square Inch of Silence: One Man’s Search for Natural Silence in a Noisy World
by Gordon Hempton
Riped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music by Greg Kot 
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella 
Woman Behind the New Deal: the Life of Francis Perkins, FDR’s Secretary of Labor and his
Moral Conscience by Kirstin Downey 

Audiobooks 

   Excuses Begone! How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking Habits by Wayne Dyer 
My Father’s Tears and Other Stories by John Updike 
Plain, Honest Men: the Making of the American Constitution by Richard Beeman 
Rain Gods by James Lee Burke 
Sweeping Up Glass by Carolyn Wall 

DVDs 

Confessions of a Shopaholic 
Great Buck Howard 
Happiness Prescription: the Secret to Experiencing a Joyful Life 
Soloist
Watchmen 

Music on CD

      Battlefield/Jordin Sparks 
Doctor Atomic Symphony/John Adams 
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 
Leave This Town/Daughtry 
No One’s First, and You’re Next/Modest Mouse 

Birds aren’t the only ones heading south for the winter.  Monarch butterflies gather for their annual migration to their wintering grounds in Mexico in late August through September. These butterflies are special; they are the “migration generation” of a 4-generation cycle. Unlike other butterflies, monarchs cannot survive northern winters, even as caterpillars or pupae. 

Somehow, monarchs that hatch in late summer are able to live 6-8 months, long enough to make a journey all the way to Mexico for the winter.  Traveling 50-100 miles a day, they can take up to two months to reach the mountains in Mexico where they will spend the winter.  The following spring, they will leave Mexico and start the return journey to North America.  However, very few of them make it back to Wisconsin.  Most will mate and lay eggs on the way back.  “Generation 1” is the offspring of the monarchs who wintered in Mexico.  When the Generation 1 caterpillars become butterflies, they live only 2-6 weeks, but continue to fly north.  Generations 2 and 3 do the same.  They are the monarchs we see in our gardens during the summer.  Generation 4 will be another “migration generation” and will gather in “flocks” to begin the mass migration to Mexico. 

Migrating monarchs fly during the day and gather together at night on trees.  Depending on weather and other factors, you can expect to see monarchs gathering throughout Wisconsin in September but there is one tree in Milwaukee they seem particularly fond of – a sycamore tree on the “Monarch Trail”.  The Monarch Trail starts in the Milwaukee County grounds at the Milwaukee County Parks Building parking lot near 94^th and Watertown Plank Road. More information and a map can be found at the Monarch Trail website: http://www.themonarchtrail.org/.

The Wauwatosa Public Library has a number of books on monarch butterflies.  We recommend Four Wings and a Prayer: Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly by Sue Halpern (595.78 H163) and Last Monarch Butterfly: Conserving the Monarch Butterfly in a Brave New World by Phillip Schappert (595.78 Sch16L) in the Adult library and in the Children’s library, Monarch and Milkweed by Helen Frost (595.78 F929) and Magnificent Monarchs by Linda Glaser (595.78 G462).

Most young children have one:  it is often a blanket, a little pillow or a stuffed animal.  There are a number of terms for these treasured friends: comfort object, transitional object, security object, security blanket and blankie are the most common, even when it isn’t a blanket. 

Charles M. Schulz’s Linus van Pelt in the popular Peanuts comic strip, Kevin Henkes’ Owen in a book of the same name, Marc Brown’s D.W. in the Arthur series and Paulette Bourgeois’ Franklin from Franklin’s Blanket are popular characters who love and carry security blankets.  Mo Willems wrote two charming picture books about the mayhem that ensues when a little girl loses her “knuffle bunny” in Knuffle Bunny, A Cautionary Tale and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity.   

When a “security blanket” is lost, the family, often frantic, will spend a serious amount of time trying to find it.  Not so with everyday items such as coats, sweaters, hats, boots, shoes, toys and school supplies.  Every three to four months, a librarian from the Children’s Department has to remove items from the “Lost & Found” bin that have been left in the library for longer than four months.  The same happens in the Circulation Department.  If possible, library staff will attempt to identify and contact the owner of an item.  Since that isn't always possible, if you think you have lost something in the library, give us a call, we would be happy to help you try to find it.   

 More picture books about security objects: 

The Blanket That Had To Go by Nancy Evans Cooney
The Blanket by John Burningham
Caillou : Where is Teddy? by Joceline Sanschagrin
I Lost My Bear by Jules Feiffer
La La Rose by Satomi Ichikawa
Love, Your Bear, Pete by Dyan Sheldon
Night-night, Emily! by Claire Freedman
Brother by Kathy Mallat
Olivia-- and the Missing Toy by Ian Falconer
Pippo Gets Lost by Helen Oxenbury
Plaidypus Lost by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

August is a big month for state fairs!  23 states hold their fairs in August (or mostly in August, some run over Labor Day into September).  According to average daily attendance, the Minnesota State Fair is the largest but, because the Texas State Fair runs for a longer period of time, its overall attendance is greater.  Last year 872, 458 people attended our Wisconsin State Fair.  Our fair may not be the biggest, but size isn’t everything.  Where else can you get a delicious cream puff, an 85 year tradition at our fair?  In 2008, 381,926 cream puffs were sold!  Of course, there are other attractions at the fair; champion livestock and poultry, prize-winning crafts and produce, interesting exhibits and killer rides in the midway.      

The first Wisconsin State Fair was held in Janesville in 1851.  The fair was held in various towns until it settled in West Allis in 1892.  This year the fair runs from August 6^th to the 16^th.   There are all kinds of promotions and discounts that make admission very affordable and kids ages 7-11 receive a coupon from the library for a free ticket when they complete their summer reading card. Pick up a fair schedule at the library or visit www.wistatefair.com.    

So go to the fair and have fun.  You haven’t done the job unless you come home dirty, full, tired and happy. 

August 1st often feels like the beginning of the end of summer.  The days are becoming noticeably shorter and the gardens no longer look lush and green.  Many school start dates are in August, marking the last day of summer for school children.   

August 31st is the last day of the “Be Creative @ your Library Summer Reading Program” at the Wauwatosa Public Library.  If children read ten books at their reading level and write down the titles on their reading folder or a sheet of paper, they will receive coupons for free admission to Old World Wisconsin, Discovery World, a Milwaukee Brewers Game, the Milwaukee County Zoo and other area attractions.  The children will also receive a Noodles & Company reading sheet with a coupon for a free bowl of noodles, soup or salad.   

Children who are too young to read by themselves may listen to ten books and receive the same rewards.  Names of both readers and listeners will be posted on the Children’s Library main bulletin board.   

After the readers and listeners have finished their ten books, they have the opportunity to receive additional recognition and prizes by completing seven fun activities from the list on the back of the reading folder.   Activities include read a book and see the movie, bring a friend to the library and read a recipe book and make one of the recipes.  For more information, please call 414-471-8486.     

Books

Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner 

Chasing Icarus: the Seventeen Days in 1910 that Forever Changed American Aviation
by Gavin Mortimer 

Defector by Daniel Silva 

Einstein’s Telescope: the Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe by Evalyn Gates 

Free Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry
by Lenore Skenazy 

Noticer: Sometimes All a Person Needs is a Little Perspective by Andy Andrews 

Runner’s World, the Runner’s Body: How the Latest Exercise Science Can Help You Run Stronger, Longer, and Faster by Ross Tucker 

Twitter: Tips, Tricks, and Tweets by Paul McFedries 

Wood-Fired Cooking: Techniques and Recipes for the Grill, Backyard Oven, Fireplace, and Campfire by Mary Karlin 

You Majored in What?: Mapping Your Path from Chaos to Career by Katharine Brooks 

Audiobooks

 Apostle by Brad Thor 

Guardian of Lies by Steve Martini 

Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Vols. 1, 2 and 3 by Stephen King 

There’s Something About St. Tropez by Elizabeth Adler 

Winter World: the Ingenuity of Animal Survival by Bernd Heinrich 

Music on CD
     (The Album)/Wilco 

American Saturday Night/Brad Paisley 

Classic Protest Songs From Smithsonian Folkways 

Mosaic/Kendra Shank Quartet 

Wait for Me/Moby   

DVDs 

Defiance 

Edge of Love 

Grey Gardens 

New in Town 

Two Lovers

If you have yet to engage your young child in a library program, now is the time to start.  Rhyme Time, a 20 minute program for babies through 3-year-olds, begins August 5^th and runs until the 20^th.   

This fun and social activity for you and your child will promote early literacy skills such as an interest in new vocabulary, numbers, reading, stories and books.  Skills are encouraged through the use of books, puppets, oral stories, shadow theatre, games, music, movement, and more. 

Rhyme Time is on Wednesdays or Thursdays at 9:30 and 11:00.  No registration is required during the summer session and older siblings are welcome to attend.  

   You may be interested in knowing that the Wauwatosa library has an extensive collection of Wauwatosa high school yearbooks dating back to 1912; Wauwatosa High School and Wauwatosa East's Cardinal Pennant as well as Wauwatosa West's Olympian starting in 1962.  For many years now, the library has gotten the yearbooks directly from the high schools in pristine condition.  Most of the collection, however, is made up of copies that have been donated over the years; old, worn and, at one time, treasured yearbooks, signed by teachers and friends.

As the school year comes to an end, I am reminded of how much I looked forward to receiving my yearbook and passing it around to my friends to sign.  This past weekend, I got together with a few old friends from high school, and yes, the yearbooks came out.  We laughed at the inscriptions, and were reminded of some long forgotten names and faces (it was a little shocking how dated the pictures looked!).

Because of their irreplaceable value, the yearbooks don't circulate, but they are available, whether you are trying to remember the name of the guy you sat next to in homeroom, planning a reunion or just feel like reminiscing.

Jess Brown