Museums and Libraries

When museums and libraries collaborate, new viewpoints come to light. Our city has been graced with a new museum: Museo Alameda del Smithsonian (MAS), a new centerpiece for Latino culture and art. With 20,000 square feet of exhibition space, the Museo Alameda is now the largest Latino museum in the country. Several library staff volunteered during the grand opening weekend, which included a luminaria procession and mariachi music. Cynthia de León of the Central Reference staff had this to say about the MAS opening: “I saw a giant Claes Oldenburg-type box of yellow Q&Q vermicelli fideo. This made me yelp with laughter since this type of vermicelli is used to make fideo, a pasta dish with onion, pepper, ground beef, tomatoes and spices, that for me and many San Antonians is the ultimate comfort food.” Even the architecture is a “dish”: the upper part of the wall beside the entrance is peppered with molcajetes, a type of mortar and pestle often seen in Mexican kitchens. For more on MAS, its mission and upcoming exhibits, check out http://www.thealameda.org/

Due to the joint efforts of the Southwest School of Art & Craft, the San Antonio Museum of Art, the San Antonio Public Library Foundation and public television station KLRN-TV, the works of artist Fernando Botero are coming to our city. Botero is a Colombian artist who is best known for his exaggerated human and animal figures. His work is often whimsical, and sometimes satirical and political in nature. Our library collection has many books on Botero's paintings, sculptures and drawings. More information about related exhibits and city-wide events can be found at: http://www.boterosa.org/

Central Library is fortunate to have a permanent gallery, where works from notable artists are on exhibit. Past exhibits have included the artwork of actor Sir Anthony Hopkins and local art from Say Sí and Artpace. The Central Library even has permanent sculptures by internationally known artists, such as Dale Chihuly, Jesse Treviño and Sebastián. More information can be found on the library's website under “Exhibits.”  A yearly exhibit of staff artwork, called “Just for the Art of It,” honors the many artists who work among the shelves. Art is abundant in San Antonio, and the library is happy to color your paintbrush.

Whether you're learning to paint or trying to figure out how surreal life can get, explore our art collection at the library.
 

As library patrons spend increasing amounts of time on the Internet, it’s vitally important that library resources are also there for them to find. To that end, the San Antonio Public Library now offers downloadable audiobooks for play in your PC or supported portable media player.

In the collection of almost 1,600 titles, to which more are added monthly, you’ll find:

• The Pimsleur language series. Language courses offered are the usual suspects – French, Italian, Chinese, etc. – to the more off-the-beaten-path variety, such as Ghanaian Twi and Ojibwe. English language courses for non-native speakers are also available.
• The Modern Scholar series. If you’re interested in lectures by the nation’s top academics, this series will introduce you to a broad range of college course topics at an easily understood level.
• Your favorite fiction. Classics are well represented, from such authors as Herman Melville, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, as are contemporary mysteries, romance and science fiction.
• A wide array of nonfiction titles. Subjects covered include business, self-help, biographies and much more.

When you find a book you’re interested in, you can view its details and hear audio samples, but you’ll need an account to download the entire book. Visit our website for instructions for setting up a NetLibrary account.

Once they're downloaded, NetLibrary’s audiobooks are playable for three weeks and can be renewed once. There’s nothing to return once you’re finished listening, so there’s no need to worry about fines. Just delete the audiobook file. Because of the digital rights management used for these files, they are not playable on Apple’s iPod players. Check out NetLibrary’s FAQs for information on supported media players and any other questions you may have about the audiobooks.
 

Like many library users, you are probably also a book buyer. Do you have books you’ve read (sometimes even several times) sitting at home on your shelves collecting dust? Does the idea of sharing your books with the community and then tracking their travels sound interesting? If so, then you can help participate in making the whole world a library.

BookCrossing proposes that once you've read a book, you register it at their website (you can include comments and reviews), label it and then set it free. That’s right. Leave it. Place your labeled book on a park bench, in a café, a hotel lobby or on a bus, wherever it is sure to be found. Whoever picks up the book will be instructed to visit the website and enter in the unique book number to see who left it and his/her comments. The lucky book finder will then be encouraged to read the book, post a comment and then leave it for someone else to find.

BookCrossing also provides book reviews, discussion groups and is an interesting study in fate, karma and serendipity. San Antonio BookCrossing members have also listed on the website locations where they have left registered books, so you can go hunting for a book that was left in the wild.

It is free to join, so next time you buy a book, after you read it, set it free!
 

FEATURED Staff Recommendation

Diana Starrett (Librarian, Central Library) reads Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope.

Currently Reading Everything by Anthony Trollope, including The Three Clerks, John Caldigate, He Knew He Was Right, Barchester Towers

Favorite Suspenseful Page Turner
Murky Business by Honoré de Balzac

Favorite Children's Fiction as a Child
I Can't Said the Ant by Polly Cameron

Favorite Children's Fiction as an Adult
Abel's Island by William Steig

Favorite Nonfiction for Home Improvement
Residential Windows: A Guide to New Technologies and Energy Performance by John Carmody, Native Texas Plants by Sally Wasowski
 

FEATURED Event

Sat. May 26 · 2:00 p.m.
Thousand Oaks Library
Hula Halau Ohana Elikapeka
Hawaiian Dance
 

SAPL Events

If you have any questions about the library or would like to see something included in this newsletter, please contact our Web Administrator at librarywebadmin@sanantonio.gov.

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