At a meeting in Nauvoo, to accept the loan from the state of Illinois of an original “sun stone” from the 19th century incarnation of the Nauvoo temple, President Gordon B. Hinckley remarked:

“One purpose of our gathering today, of course, is to unveil a sun stone which was once a part of the Nauvoo Temple. As state senator Laura Kent Donahue has indicated, it is now the property of the state of Illinois and the state of Illinois has graciously loaned it to us, placed it in our custody. I hope we have built the kind of enclosure around it which will preserve it for many generations yet to come. I express appreciation to the state and its officers. I express appreciation to Senator Donahue who had a very prominent part in making it available, and to Mr. Roy Ufgus.

“He has been a tremendous friend to this church and has had a very prominent part in the acquisition of the properties which we now own in Nauvoo, Carthage, and other areas.

“We reflect today in a particular way on the final project of the Prophet’s building of “Nauvoo the Beautiful.” The temple which rose on this ground was to be the crowning jewel of this city. When it was completed in 1846, a year and a half after the Martyrdom, it was looked upon as perhaps the finest building then in the state of Illinois. It stood on this eminence, a structure of gleaming limestone. Its tower reached 165 feet in the air, and it could be seen for many miles up and down the river, from the far interior of Illinois, and from far into Iowa. It was the last thing that our people saw as they began their long journey west. . .

“This building was to be concerned with the things of eternity. It was to stand as a witness to all who should look upon it that those who built it had a compelling faith and a certain knowledge that the grave is not the end, but that the soul is immortal and goes on growing. In March of the year he died—1844—the Prophet had amplified this doctrine in a monumental address which he delivered in the grove which was just below the temple site. The text of that address has become an important doctrinal document in the theology of the Church. It is known as the King Follett Sermon.”

President Gordon B. Hinckley’s Nauvoo speech points to one of the interesting aspects of the King Follett Sermon, the doctrine of immortality of the soul. Naturally, he does not address the issues that have clustered around this part of the sermon for the last century.[1] But I think that his reference to the sermon suggests a belief on his part in an eternal backward as well as forward existence. That, after all, seems to be the point of that part of the sermon.

The KFS takes up a large section of the book (chapter 7), as might be expected. There is a mountain of detail and I have not figured a way to really approach it in a way that would make sense here. So I won’t try it. I will tell you that there is a critical text version of the sermon, and several variorum texts since there are a number of distinct text traditions. Several texts compare the various traditions. The fascinating history of its reception and behind the scenes discussions are quite fun. The timeline for the sermon is the most complex of all the discourses in the book. The individuals involved in its present incarnation present a wonderfully interesting study in themselves.

But, back to President Hinckley. One of the ideas that was prominent in KFS (but not I think the one most violent to constructs of “majority” theism) was the nature of Deity. Still under discussion by Mormon thinkers, President Hinckley himself partially avoided the subject saying it was not fully understood.[2]

Briefly then, KFS has, historically, generated both internal and external discussion, but on essentially different points. This chapter was among the most fun and most difficult to write so far.[3]

One final point about President Hinckley’s remarks is the mention of two VIPs at the meeting, Roy Ufgus and Laura Donahue. What do you know about them?

—————–
[1] His remarks give March 1844 as the date of the sermon, it was of course April 7, 1844. It’s maybe just a little surprising that church editing types didn’t catch this, at least for printing purposes.

[2] In a number of interviews, Pres. Hinckley steered clear of the subject. The emphasis in the last few decades has been on the Mormon version of theosis, i.e., the future of man, not the past of God.

[3] I started with this chapter, since I had been collecting material for it for several decades. But of course the sheer bulk of material made it the most difficult to write (so far) in terms of cataloging text variations over imprints, etc.

At the risk of dating myself, I have actually used the ”oldstyle” library catalog. I’ve filed cards until I couldn’t remember the alphabet. I’d love to have one of the old card catalog drawer systems; just think of how many trinkets I could hide in the drawers!

Last week we read an interesting article, After Losing Users in Catalogs, Libraries Find Better Search Software, by Mark Parry. Parry gets right to the point fairly quickly: “The problem is that traditional online library catalogs don’t tend to order search results by ranked relevance, and they can befuddle users with clunky interfaces.”

In other words, library users want the ease of Google when they’re searching for materials in their library’s catalog.

We also heard guest lecturers discuss the pros and cons of modern cataloging systems. Bob, who probably remembers the old system, too, felt that a library’s catalog “should be a serious scholarly tool.”

Jason, on the other hand, felt that libraries “have failed to create a tool” that allows a patron to quickly get what he or she needs. “The onus is on the libraries and catalog vendors to develop easier tools,” he said, “or should we start earlier teaching students how to do serious research?”

They also discussed the merits and limitations of open source ILS, which some libraries are using or would like to use.

At the prison library where I work, we use the GLAS system by EOSI. Unfortunately, it’s not web-based and trouble shooting includes long phone calls with EOSI’s tech people, who probably think we librarians (or at least this one) are blithering idiots.

Prior to the prison library, I had about six years of experience using Follett’s ILS, which I prefer, because it is much more integrated and easier to use; for example, GLAS requires that once catalog records are added, they must be processed so they will show up in the circulation program and the OPAC (online public access catalog). The same goes for overdue reports: the reports must be processed before the overdue shows up in circulation or before overdue notices can be printed out. Statistics are the same; with Follett, I could go in any time and retrieve stats from the previous year or farther back, or an individual month. With GLAS, we have to process the statistics, and once the report has run, we have to reset the program so that it will “dump” the old records and start keeping track of the new stats.

EOSI does have web-based ILS; however, having prisoners anywhere near the internet has been verboten. But, the diligence of some of the regional librarians, they were able to get a team of tech people together to subject the web-based system to scrutiny to make sure inmates can’t get out on the internet through the program, and it passed! We correctional librarians are ecstatic because the new system will be much more modern, will run faster and be easier to navigate. Best of all, the EOSI people will be hosting the server and will be able to go in and fix most problems instead of trying to explain what to do to us.

Some of the libraries have had their own servers, but the rest of us have our GLAS hosted by a server at headquarters, which has caused its own set of problems. We are really looking forward to be able to use EOS Web Express. This is a huge, huge jump for us.

We can hardly wait to demonstrate the new system to our inmate patrons, because we try to teach them what libraries “on the outside” are like, and encourage them to visit their local libraries when they get out, but our current card catalog is just a few steps up from the old card system, and we worry when they are released the newer ILS that most libraries have will be very different from what they’ve been using in the prison libraries. I think even Bob would agree that our current system is way outdated!

I think many libraries will look more toward open source software, although it probably will never “fly” in prison libraries. One of the gentlemen from the lecture mentioned “Scriblio,” which he said runs on top of WordPress, and each catalog record gets pulled into the WordPress database. I’d really like to see that in action, as it sounds very intriguing. LIke Jason, I think that there will continue to be “great opportunities” for libraries, their staffs, and their patrons, “to do interesting and creative things.”

The Pillars of the Earth

TYPE: Medieval – Periodic

RATING: 9/10

REVIEW:

This is a brilliantly written masterpiece of a novel I think this is one book which compares with Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings in giving reality to a period that may never have existed. This book brings you to the world of twelfth century England and the areas around it. It takes you through the course of one person, Tom, who sets out to build a beautiful cathedral for his wife who he lost while she was giving birth to his third child.

Considering the unfortunate circumstances that Tom was in, he conducts a decent burial, in those circumstances, in the forest and leaves the just-born child in the forest on the grave. However, guilt makes him come back to the grave but the child is no more to be seen. During the course of the story, he realizes that the kid is being well cared for in a monastery which is run by a monk, Philip.

As the story progresses, Philip comes to hire Tom Builder for making a new cathedral for Kingsbridge and the story continues from thereon with all the unexpected twists and turns and with even more expected twists.

The story is well crafted and there is no dull moment when you are reading. Other than a few places where the author seems to have stretched the emotional bit quite some more than necessary, the book is something that you just can’t put down. It is impossible not to get into those periodic times and getting involved with the characters as if they were right in front of you. The author makes you smile when they are happy, sad when something goes wrong and angry when injustice prevails.

A must read for anyone.

DESCRIPTION:

Selected by BBC viewers as one of Britain’s best loved books in the UK’s biggest ever celebration of reading, the Big Read.

Set in the turbulent times of twelfth-century England when civil war, famine, religious strife and battles over royal succession tore lives and families apart, The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of the building of a magnificent cathedral.

Against this richly imagined backdrop, filled with intrigue and treachery, Ken Follett draws the reader irresistibly into a wonderful epic of family drama, violent conflict and unswerving ambition. From humble stonemason to imperious monarch, the dreams, labours and loves of his characters come vividly to life. The Pillars of the Earth is, without doubt, a masterpiece – and has proved to be one of the most pouplar books of our time.

Enormous and brilliant … this mammoth tale seems to touch all human emotion – love and hate, loyalty and treachery, hope and despair. This is truly a novel to get lost in. — Cosmopolitan

A highly enjoyable tale … this book evokes its period brilliantly. — Sunday Times

A tale of human courage and perseverance. — Evening Times

A historical saga of such breadth and density … Follett succeeds brilliantly in combining hugeness and detail to create a novel imbued with the rawness, violence and blind faith of the era. — Sunday Express

Mini “earth” trend here after The Pillars of the Earth.

I was happy to see that I would be reading non-fiction again.  I wasn’t too put off by it seeming to be a self-improvement book; I think reading The Artist’s Way this spring helped inspire me to start the Book Club project and I like to read about cycling training lately.  Self-improvement is a good thing and books can definitely be helpful and inspirational.

Initially, A New Earth resonated with some things I had thinking about.  Tolle talks a lot about meditation and observing your own consciousness.  I am a failed meditator (so far, keep meaning to try some more), but I see a lot of value in it for quieting the running monologue and putting the day’s stresses in perspective.

Tolle’s formulation is unappealing, however, because he says that the goal of meditation is to let go of everything that makes one an individual (interests, intelligence, values) because it is “of the earth” and to get in touch with a universal consciousness.  He challenges readers to look past the actions and characteristics of others to see the universal consciousness in them as well.  But how can I be interested in one person rather than another if I only see their fragment of a universal constant?  The things I love about the people in my life are what make them unique, even if flawed.  I found this aspect of the philosophy recognizable as an outgrowth of various religious traditions of seeking God or the universal in everyone, but taken too far, diminish the meaning of human relationships.

Where  really wrote off Tolle was his leap to the global effect of a lack of higher consciousness.  First, he seems to believe global warming is one such effect, not in the sense that if people were more in tune with themselves they would be more conscious of their effects on the earth, but in the literal sense that lack of transcendance has an effect on natural phenomena.  He also indulges in some “law of attraction” nonsense, which I think is more like blaming the victim.

At times I wanted to put this book down because it so frustrated and annoyed me, but I couldn’t help wondering where it was going.  I found myself mentally rewriting sections to turn Tolle’s ideas into something reasonable and palatable to me.  As with Follett, I know Tolle is immensely popular, but on the basis of this book, I can’t see why.

Up front I have to admit, I didn’t finish this one.  I didn’t even come close.  While I was debating whether to go on, a law school friend posted on Facebook about his love of Follett’s books and encouraged me to keep reading, but I just couldn’t.

Why?  I am very picky about fiction, and I hadn’t read much historical fiction before.  I like the concept, but this book felt like it was cramming in history at the expense of the fiction.  Not so much historical facts as historical color about what the cathedral town might be like.  That’s interesting, but you could have an entire book about the rhythms of life in a cathedral town, and it feels excessive to jam it into 10 pages that are also supposed to be a chase scene.

But the real probably was that I just didn’t like the fiction.  The actual or near death of 2 seemingly main characters in the first 2-3 chapters was unwelcome toying with my emotions (part of why I avoid fiction – life is hard enough without grieving over the fates of fictional characters).  The relationship between two other characters was so spelled out, along the lines of “he felt a stirring in his loins” and “who was this strange woman”, that I felt like a 14 year old me, trying to write a romance novel, would have produced similar work.  Actually, the novel overall reminded me strongly of an actual 8th grade social studies project, “A Day in the Life of a Noblewoman”.  The only characters about which I felt curiousity were the monks, but it wasn’t enough to face another 500 pages.

I know Follett’s books are wildly popular, but I just don’t see it.  Anyone want to explain?

Ho quasi finito di leggere “I pilastri della terra” di Ken Follet e sono combattuta. Per alcuni aspetti trovo che sia un libro bello, scorrevole e scritto bene, pur essendo molto lungo; per altri versi l’ho trovato un po’ ripetitivo nella descrizione di fin troppe scene di sesso violento che a mio parere non danno nessun valore aggiunto alla storia in sé, se non tentare di accattivare il più possibile il lettore. Penso che sarebbe una storia adatta ad essere rappresentata in un film americano, con grandi attori e scintillanti scenografie. Rimane d’altro canto l’affetto che instillano nel lettore i personaggi buoni del libro ai quali subito ci si affeziona e che si desidera vincano nonostante le peripezie che devono affrontare. E’ indubbio interessante la descrizione che l’autore fa della vita di quel tempo, di come vivevano gli abitanti di questi paesini protetti per lo più da mura e da fossati, di cavalieri e dame al servizio dei Re, del potere ecclesiastico che eguagliava quello di principi e sceriffi, del ruolo della donna e della facilità di cadere nel fango e nella miseria che avevano i potenti di quel tempo. Ancora non l’ho finito ma spero nel lieto fine.
Elisa

First, read two of Ken Follett’s books: “The Pillars of the Earth” and “World Without End”. His prose is clean and direct, but it gets the job done. Both books are pretty hefty, but at no point will you be bored.That’s exactly what I want with my books. They need to be long enough for me to relish their environment, be absorbed with their story and their characters. I’ve read many great short novels, but there’s nothing I appreciate more than knowing that after a long day’s work, I can go home and be at peace, engrossed in a novel for days and days and days.

The first you should read is Pillars, followed by World, which is set in the Kingsbridge two centuries after the Pillars of the Earth tale. Notice I how I didn’t really talk about anything in the books, except that they’re good? That’s right! Because you have to read them!

It was pretty good..

Next suggestion. Sunday night after church, my friend had wanted to get gelati, and so we headed to a gelati parlour. We got side-tracked, though, and decided that we want “food food”. We walked around, and noticed this Japanese restaurant with a really quaint, pretty patio space. It was a bit secluded, which made it even more appealing. To make a long story short, the food wasn’t bad in any way (which is really as good as it gets when it comes to my critiques of restaurants and their food), and I wouldn’t mind bringing my boss there, say. I don’t want to mention the name of the restaurant, because I don’t want to give them free advertisement! Instead, examine the two photos, and then maybe you can find the restaurant yourself. Cool?

Pretty lamp.

Okay, go get the books and read them. You won’t be disappointed!

I have given it my best shot, but it is just too long. I’m talking about Sharon Penman’s book ‘The Sunne in Splendour’. I don’t know whether it is the subject matter ie ‘The War of the Roses’, or whether it’s that I just don’t like the narrative. I have read two of her other books, which were really good. ‘When Jesus and all His Saints Slept’, which was about the titanic struggle for power between Stephen and Maud/Mildred, I thought was superb. Then read ‘The Queens Man’. That was about a spy in the pay of the old queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, which was just as good.

So what to read now ? I have a couple of Cadfael  books, a whole fantasy trilogy by Robin Hobb, a Ken Follett novel about the plague and a biography by someone I’ve never heard of. I’ve also still to finish Gone With The Wind and The Name of The Rose (again). There is also a Hugh Cornwell about Stonehenge. I don’t know, I may give the biog a crack. Change and rest kind of thing.

Destiny, our library catalog, has a new visual interface called Destiny Quest.  The new look features the top ten books, new arrivals, a visual search of the library shelves, ability to drag and drop books in your list, to post and share reviews, save your resources in My Info and so much more.  Log in to Destiny and take the Destiny Quest.

Directions with Screenshots

The Bookseller, Publishers Weekly e France’s Livres Hebdo hanno condotto una analisi delle classifiche dei libri di fiction più venduti in nove nazioni, da cui è emersa una coppia di vincitori: sono Khaled Hosseini con i suoi due romanzi, e Ken Follett con Il mondo senza fine -Wolrd without end, presenti nelle classifiche di 7 nazioni su 9. Dietro di loro troviamo Stieg Larsson e John Grisham. Beffato Roberto Saviano: il suo GOMORRA in alcune nazioni è catalogato tra la saggistica, in altri tra la narrativa. L’altro italiano in lista è Valerio Massimo Manfredi, che troviamo piazzato in tre stati. Larsson guadagna invece la seconda posizione nella graduatoria che somma i piazzamenti mensili nelle liste dei bestsellers

Ecco le classifiche:

List of authors and the number of countries they had top 10 hits in:
1 country (or more) 387 authors
2 countries 27 authors
3 countries 12 authors (Bennett, Gavalda, Paolini, Baldacci, George, Picoult, Weisberger, Connelly, Sparks, Cornwall, Coelho, Manfredi)
4 countries 5 authors (Meyer, Barbery, Zafón, Rowling, Mankell)
5 countries 2 authors (Larsson, Grisham)
7 countries 2 authors (Hosseini, Follett)

Global top 20 book bestsellers (fiction) 2008*
1 Khaled Hosseini
2 Stieg Larsson
3 Ken Follett
4 Stephenie Meyer
5 Muriel Barbery
6 Carlos Ruiz Zafón
7 Anna Gavalda
8 John Grisham
9 J K Rowling
10 Henning Mankell
11 Alan Bennett
12 Jodi Picoult
13 Christopher Paolini
14 David Baldacci
15 Nicholas Sparks
16 Elizabeth George
17 Lauren Weisberger
18 Michael Connelly
19 Patricia D. Cornwell
20 Paulo Coelho
* Ranked by chart positions on the monthly bestseller lists.

L’articolo completo è disponibile qui:
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/74749-hosseini-and-follett-are-global-hits.html

1. Martial Law Babies – a graphic novel by Arnold Arre. Seemed interesting, specially for those born during the martial law era. The note at the back stated it is for mature readers. Bought it for PhP500.00 at Comic Alley. Martial Law Baby, this book is about you.

2. Vector by Robin Cook, Proof by Dick Francis, Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett – got a bargain for these. 3 for Php100.00 at a Cubao X second hand shop.

Plus, I like their stories.

3. Christ the Lord by Anne Rice. From the same second-hand shop. That December day I discovered this shop, I was like a child in a candy store. My sisters had to drag me away just so I don’t clean out their stock. Oh, I’m definitely going back there.

4. The Man From St. Petersburg by Ken Follett. Found this in one of the shelves back home. I’m not sure if I have read this already a long time ago.

5. Wonka Mania by Kris Rasmussen -a gift. Maybe, it has the lyrics to Pure Imagination.

6. Gossip by Marc Olden. No idea what this book is about. Just randomly plucked from our shelf of old books in my parents’ house.

7. The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki – read this book several years ago. I don’t remember the story so i am going to read it again.

8. Demons Don’t Dream by Piers Anthony – a re-reading because I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

This works out to about a book a week, maybe even less.

Other Lists via kwout

If you use Follett Titlewave, you will be glad to know the School Library Journal Best Books lists for 2008 were posted yesterday!  Just log into your account, and from your Titlewave “home” page, click on the link to SLJ lists in the lower left hand corner.  Next, click on 12/2008, and you will see all the great lists just featured as “Best Books for 2008″ in School Library Journal!

Tomorrow we will be installing our new (to us) library management software from Follett.  This has been a long time coming, and I’ll be happy when it’s up and running (it seems more than just a bit inefficient for me to be constantly answering emails about what we do or do not have in our collection).

While I’m happy that the new platform will be web-based, I can’t say that I’m really pleased with its interface.  Unfortunately Follett has kind of begun to take over the world when it comes to library management software, so there aren’t a lot of alternatives out there at the moment (not that I vehemently dislike their products or anything, I just always like to have other options).  Hopefully something more user-friendly and visually appealing will come along eventually.  I’m pretty sure the IT department here would have my head if I look for something different too soon, but for now this will have to work as a first step in the right direction.

Break week next week.  I’ll be on my first trip south of the equator – tough life, I know.

First off, I must admit that my library currently has no ebooks in its collection.  Neither did the last one I worked at.  Fundamentally, it all comes down to one big problem – logistics.

• How can we make our circulation systems work with ebooks?
• How can we ensure that these materials don’t get copied?
• How can we easily distribute these holdings to only our patrons?

There are various solutions out there, and I will pursue one eventually.  For now, our impending migration to a new circulation system has meant that projects like this are temporarily on hold.

Stanza has been suggested as a possible solution.  People have talked before about Amazon’s Kindle.  Sony has a similar product.  To me they all present the same problem – cost.  I really don’t think it’s practical for any library to pay the same (or often higher) price for a printed title and then to also pay three hundred dollars for readers to view them.

So we’ll likely stick with the system that will integrate best with our new circulation software, and that’s Follett’s ebooks.  They don’t integrate seamlessly with handheld devices (they run on PalmOS or PocketPC – apparently Follett has not yet heard of that new fangled gadget called an iPod).  They’re limited in title selection, and they cost just as much as print copies.

Can you see why I’m hesitant to hurry up and buy these things?

Apple, please save me (and my rapidly decreasing AAPL shares) and make a library solution for iTunes.

This is a reminder that Follett is not down. We have not yet gotten the dates from the school district for when the upgrade will take place. So please continue to use Follett until it is Announced that it is down.

Thanks~Rebecca

As you may have read in Susan’s email, and in the Announcment Blog. The Follett System being used at General Beadle is being updated to a different system (also a Follett Product) called Destiny. We do not have a date yet as to when this process will start; but when it does Follett will be down for about a week.

In order to continue checking items out to patrons we have developed an Excel sheet (which is saved on the S drive as Follett Offline Circulation), what we will be doing for checkout is  putting in the date, scanning in the patron’s barcode, and scanning in the item barcodes. There is also a sheet for checking in items, where staff will just scan in the item barcode. ~Rebecca Thanks for posting this information in the GB blog and in the announcments Rebecca! mb 07/22/08

I mean big as in heavy books to lug to the beach this summer. I wrote earlier about oral history books leading up to the Oral History Association conference in October, 2008. The Dayton Teachers History Book Club is reading Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals as a companion to following the nominating conventions and presidential electioneering this summer. Fortunately, I already read that one because it weighs in around 900 pages. Let me know if you are in Dayton, Ohio and want to join us for this discussion come September.

I recently finished three novels—Noah Charney’s The Art Thief, Louise Erdrich’s The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse and Michael Ondaatje’s Divisadero. All three are good reads that I recommend. Charney’s is a debut novel and it’s a kind of mash-up of sociologist Howard Becker’s Art Worlds and mystery writers Janwillem Van de Wetering and Georges Simenon (“Maigret” for PBS watchers). Now I realize that I read the short, easily portable books first and have the weighty tomes to carry on vacation. By the way, if you haven’t read Van de Wetering–take one of his mysteries to the beach.

What I want to haul around, to the dismay of my husband, are John Mack Faragher’s A Great and Noble Scheme: the Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French Acadians from their American Homeland and Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth. I noticed that a Canadian blog, Gen X at 40, linked to my earlier piece on the Acadian Bank Museum in Rustico and I was embarrassed because a local historian in Rustico had to correct so much of my first draft. I want to get the Acadian story right. I also liked Faragher’s Daniel Boone a lot. Some how the lottery of books on hold at the public library landed the second big book in my lap this weekend – Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth. I know there will be a hold on this when I get back so I’ll try to shoe horn it into my suitcase as well. Perhaps I should just download the audio book? I’m also taking Jon Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven because recent events in Texas have so many people talking about it.

I’m saving Elliot Jaspin’s Buried in the Bitter Waters: The Hidden History of Racial Cleansing in America and Christopher M. Kelty’s Two Bits: the Cultural Significance of Free Software for my return. Kelty’s book is available free online but I couldn’t seem to wean myself off of a book to hold in my hands. Perhaps the new One Laptop Per Child computer that also functions as an ebook will solve that problem. These two did not sound like vacation reading. Looks like I’ll facilitate a Center for Teaching and Learning book discussion of Two Bits at Wright State in the fall.

If you like photographs, I recommend a book that is both beautiful and serious. Gary Harwood’s Growing Season: the Life of a Migrant Community will remind you where your fresh vegetables come from this summer. You can see many of his photographs online but buy the book.

I find myself eagerly awaiting the next addition to Louise Erdrich’s children’s book series (The Birchbark House and The Game of Silence). Some adults got hooked on Harry Potter but not me. I should go back and read more of her adult novels but I don’t think there’s room in my suitcase or my two-week vacation.

Quiet morning.

As mentioned by Ron, the work area behind the desk cannot be used due to floor waxing. Thanks for posting this information. mb 07/13/08. This is another reason to get the Epson receipt printer attached to the school computer we use with the Follet system. Dave from the school completed this task except for making the font bigger. Amylee worked on that problem. The font won’t change and the receipts have personal info. printed on them as well. This is probably all settings in Follett so I sent a trouble ticket to the School IT. Our conflicting “confidentiality” policy issues( RCPL/School )probably will need to be discussed in regards to what prints out on the receipt. Thanks for routing the trouble ticket. I hope we can get the receipts to print without personal information. mb 07/13/08

Unable to lock the locker door. Key does not seem to be working. Did not submit a work order yet. LO

Lucy installed the 2.1 version of Connexion but did not have time to test it all out and make sure it was working properly. I (LO) brought some lightweight music CDs to catalog but did not get a chance to work on them. It was fairly busy this afternoon. Thanks for getting Connexion on that computer. Let me know if you have any issues with it. mb 07/13/08

A reminder mostly for CTS staff that don’t normally register patrons for programs. Here is the process: Go to the p or r (at GB) drive /reference services/ need to know/youth tournament.Take the information- name, age, phone # and level of expertise.
Thanks for sharing this information. mb 07/13/08

At this time, this might be the only solution, but for self-service holds, we would not want the patron to have to show their card to staff. However, we might not want to leave the item on the hold shelf if it is already checked out in Follett. This is an interesting dilemma. mb 07/13/08

L’intervista di questa settimana vede come protagoniste Laura Costantini e Loredana Falcone, curatrici del seguitissimo blog Laura&Lory. Una coppia di scrittrici, una sorta di “Fruttero e Lucentini” al femminile.

Ciao Laura, ciao Lory, grazie di avere accettato il mio invito. È una bella sfida per me intervistare un duo. Iniziamo comunque con la domanda di rito con la quale apro le mie interviste. Questo Blog si chiama “Dalle prime battute”; a quando risalgono le vostre prime battute nel mondo letterario?

Distingueremmo tra le prime battute nella scrittura, che risalgono al lontanissimo 1978, a quelle nel mondo letterario, che sono parecchio più recenti. Il nostro primo romanzo, New York 1920 – il primo attentato a Wall Street, è stato pubblicato dalla Maprosti&Lisanti a settembre del 2006 e, nonostante la casa editrice sia piccola e senza altra distribuzione che la vendita online, il libro ha riscosso pareri lusinghieri e buone vendite. E’ stato anche recensito dal Corriere della Sera a settembre del 2007, a firma Severino Colombo. Se poi ci chiedi cosa è successo dal 1978 al 2006, possiamo rispondere che, oltre a scrivere ed elaborare idee, siamo cresciute. Lory ha avuto due figli. Laura ha seguito la carriera giornalistica.

Ogni scrittore segue un suo metodo di lavoro. Stephen King ha diviso rigidamente la sua giornata in funzione della scrittura. Voi quale metodo usate?

Il nostro metodo è il lunedì. Cascasse il mondo, noi il lunedì ci si vede e si scrive. Da sempre. Poi se c’è qualche scadenza impellente (tipo qualche concorso letterario), gli incontri si moltiplicano.

Qual è il vostro metodo di lavoro in coppia? Come avviene la scrittura a quattro mani dei vostri libri?

La domanda che ci fanno sempre e alla quale, da sempre, non sappiamo rispondere. Non ci dividiamo i personaggi, non ci dividiamo i capitoli. Ci mettiamo davanti al computer e scriviamo: insieme.

Che cosa significa per voi scrivere?

E’ nato come un gioco da adolescenti. Il nostro primo manoscritto era un romanzo di fantascienza che vedeva protagonisti tutti i nostri compagni di classe. Poi la scrittura è diventata un rifugio contro le delusioni, le difficoltà, la fatica stessa di vivere. Oggi è uno scopo, forse non il solo, ma sicuramente uno dei principali per entrambe. All’atto pratico per noi non ha molta importanza sfornare il bestseller quanto piuttosto raggiungere i lettori, condividere le nostre emozioni con loro. Per questo abbiamo messo online romanzi inediti, uno dei quali, Le colpe dei padri, è stato poi pubblicato da Historica – Il Foglio letterario e messo in circolazione nelle librerie dell’Emilia Romagna.

Sono convinta che la lettura sia importantissima, soprattutto per chi vuole tentare la strada della scrittura. Qual è la vostra opinione in merito? Tu Laura, nel vostro blog, ti sei posta un traguardo ambizioso al riguardo: leggere 50 libri nel 2008.

E sono già a quota 22 su 50, nonostante gli impegni di lavoro e la scrittura. Leggere è fondamentale. E’ l’unica vera scuola di scrittura creativa che esista. Sono convinta che il lettore accanito, onnivoro, sedimenti dentro di sé gli strumenti necessari per poi creare a propria volta. Non è detto che lo faccia, ma la lettura lascia una traccia profondissima in tutti coloro che la coltivano. Anche Lory è una divoratrice di libri, ma lei è più anarchica e non aggiorna il quantitativo di pagine macinate.

Quali sono gli autori che più vi hanno influenzato?

Tutti e nessuno. Non abbiamo un modello. Molti dei nostri lettori hanno riscontrato nella nostra scrittura echi nord-americani ed è innegabile, vista la nostra passione per King, Follett, Connelly, Grisham. Ma non ci siamo mai poste limiti di gusto e di provenienza. Negli ultimi tempi, auspici anche gli incontri via blog, abbiamo scoperto autori italiani che ci hanno appassionate, come Remo Bassini o Maurizio de Giovanni.

Qual è il vostro atteggiamento nei confronti del POD o dell’auto produzione in genere?

Ci sono scrittori, anche affermati e detentori di record di vendite, che si stanno rivolgendo al POD o addirittura alla pubblicazione online con gli e-book. Noi non abbiamo niente in contrario. L’editoria italiana è malata, le logiche di mercato trancianti nei confronti di chi non abbia un potere contrattuale da mettere in campo, gli editor hanno assunto per lo più atteggiamenti da guru detentori di verità assolute e regole inderogabili sulla scrittura. Tutto questo porta gli autori emergenti a trovare nuove vie di sbocco, nuove vetrine. Il POD è sicuramente un mezzo che può dare dei frutti e riservare belle sorprese. Certo, chiunque può pubblicare on-demand e questo significa che non c’è alcun filtro. Ci è capitato di leggere cose (pubblicate a pagamento, però) veramente atroci. L’autoproduzione può generare mostri, ma i lettori hanno in mano un’arma efficacissima: il passaparola che, a ben guardare, è anche il miglior battage pubblicitario attualmente esistente. Alla faccia di critiche griffate, premi prestigiosi e vetrine inzeppate dei soliti nomi.

Oggi il web è considerato uno strumento molto importante. La maggior parte di coloro che aspirano a scrivere aprono un sito o un blog. Voi siete andate oltre. Avete addirittura aperto un blog “dedicato” alla pubblicazione a puntate di un vostro nuovo romanzo, “Via Anapo numero 13”. Perché avete optato per una scelta così particolare e quali riscontri state ottenendo?

Abbiamo aperto il blog http://lauraetlory.splinder.com subito dopo aver pubblicato il nostro primo romanzo. Volevamo farci conoscere. Poi abbiamo capito che molti blogger sono dei lettori accaniti e quindi abbiamo voluto aprire anche http://lestoriedilauraetlory.splinder.com dove pubblicare inediti che le attuali logiche di mercato editoriale escludevano a priori dalla pubblicazione. Le colpe dei padri è ambientato in Wyoming. Via Anapo numero 13 ha una struttura seriale quasi da sceneggiatura. Attualmente siamo andate ancora oltre e abbiamo creato un gruppo di lettura, grazie a www.anobii.com per un nostro inedito dal target adolescenziale. Il manoscritto viaggia su e giù per l’Italia, tra coloro che hanno fatto, e continuano a fare, richiesta di leggerlo. Abbiamo pensato che per una volta possano essere i lettori, e non gli editori, a decidere cosa vada letto e cosa no.

Il vostro romanzo “Le colpe dei padri” – pubblicato anche questo prima sul blog – è uscito a marzo 2008 allegato alla rivista “Historica – Il Foglio letterario”. Come mai questa scelta di legare il libro alla rivista?

La scelta è stata fatta da Francesco Giubilei, il promotore dell’iniziativa e della rivista, e noi l’abbiamo condivisa in pieno perché Historica nasce come laboratorio di sperimentazione e spazio aperto a tutti coloro che amano scrivere e sanno farlo, nonostante non siano dotati di nomi altisonanti o iscrizioni a cenacoli blasonati.

Avete da poco realizzato il booktrailer del vostro romanzo “New York 1920”. Mi ha molto colpita la qualità tecnica della realizzazione. Potete raccontare ai lettori di DPB il Back Stage del video?

L’idea ci è venuta grazie al blog Bitletteratura che parlò del fenomeno dei booktrailer. A quel punto ci siamo messe a tavolino e abbiamo fatto uno studio di fattibilità. Il tema ci permetteva di lavorare con materiale di archivio presente in grande quantità su Internet. Si trattava soltanto di scrivere uno storyboard accattivante e cercare una colonna sonora che desse la giusta suggestione. Il lavoro di Laura in Rai ci mette in condizione di usufruire della professionalità di una serie di amici che si sono prestati con assoluto entusiasmo, a partire dal montatore Alessandro Pampanini, per arrivare ai doppiatori Daria Gallarino, Alessandro D’Alessandro e Salvo Carrara.

E’ stato un lavoro di squadra nella scelta dei materiali e delle musiche. Alla fine il prodotto ci ha soddisfatte in pieno e contiamo di preparare un booktrailer anche per il sequel di New York 1920, il romanzo Roma 1944 – lo sposo di guerra uscito a gennaio di quest’anno sempre con Maprosti&Lisanti.

Qual è il vostro libro che ha ottenuto maggiore successo? Di quante copie vendute stiamo parlando (se si può dire)?

Di sicuro le vendite maggiori le ha ottenute New York 1920 – il primo attentato a Wall Street anche grazie al tempo che abbiamo avuto a disposizione per continuare a promuoverlo sul sito www.lauracostantini.it e sul blog. Inoltre abbiamo fatto molte presentazioni in giro per l’Italia di questo romanzo, mentre ci è mancato il tempo di presentare gli altri al meglio. NY1920 ha superato le 500 copie, risultato di cui andiamo fiere non avendo accesso nelle librerie. Il bello della vendita online è che non ha limiti di tempo, quindi i nostri libri non sono finiti nei magazzini come sta succedendo a quelli di altri autori, anche più quotati, che dopo tre mesi vengono ritirati dagli scaffali.

A cosa state lavorando ora?

Abbiamo da poco terminato un romanzo al quale teniamo moltissimo. Si intitola Il puzzle di Dio, è un giallo ecologico con un pizzico di mistery e lo stiamo sottoponendo a case editrici importanti. E’ un prodotto nel quale crediamo e, ovviamente, se non dovesse trovare credito, troveremo il modo di farlo comunque arrivare ai lettori.

Per concludere, quali consigli dareste a chi ambisce diventare scrittore?

Uno solo: armarsi di entusiasmo a prova di bomba e di tanta, tanta, tantissima pazienza.

Grazie Laura e Lory e buon lavoro.