I found something yesterday I didn’t think the library needed but I may have just changed my mind. A friend of mine who works at the tarsands (no, it is not “ethical oil” by any stretch of the imagination, unless, of course, you run this country) is thinking of spending the winter in the Dominican Republic and was wondering the best way to learn Spanish. He has been there before and already knows the way to the beach — and who among us doesn’t know how to say beer in the language of any foreign country we visit? — however, he does seem to think he might need a better command of the language if he is going to spend an extended period of time in a solely Spanish environment. Five months with no conversation could be difficult.
Libraries are inundated by companies offering free use of their databases for a trial period in the hopes the library will then invest in the product. The product is usually very expensive. Mango Languages have been by far the most aggressive in their push for attention and I have never really taken a look at it until now. Technology, of course, has made learning language a more varied and interactive process than trying to do it on one’s own with a book or a CD. The written language is presented with the spoken language and you speak and listen at your own rate and at your own time. There are 34 foreign language courses and 14 English as a second language courses. Here is a surprise: There is an app for it! If the library decides to add this database to what we have now, I will let you know. I think it might just be an advantage to have it available to patrons even though those travelling south really don’t need much Spanish for Yuma.
Two weeks ago the movie Forks over Knives was shown in the meeting room to a large and very receptive audience and we are pleased to be able to say the movie Oceans of Plastic has arrived and will be the next presentation for the Films that Make You Think. If you are not already aware of the British Columbia-sized island of plastic circling in the Atlantic Ocean, this film will enlighten you to the monster we have created that will never disappear, never disintegrate and never be assimilated into the environment. It will only grow. The film starts at 2 p.m. Nov. 19 in the meeting room at the library.
Midnight in Paris was the last Friends of the Cinema film screened at the Tivoli Theatre and we are still hearing how much the audience enjoyed it. After seeing the trailer for the upcoming film, Buck, my sense is the audience will come away extremely satisfied and find it as enjoyable.
The story is about Buck Brannaman, whom the movie, The Horse Whisperer, was based on. Visually stunning and richly textured is how the critics have described it. The film runs Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at the Tivoli.
It was not until a trip to Kelowna that I had the chance to listen to the audio format of the extremely popular book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Like the audio version of The Help, each of the characters has a different voice; the book does not depend on one reader. I love radio and especially radio drama, which hardly exists anymore, and this book is so well done I sat in my driveway when I got home to finish off the CD started at the top of the pass. After that I listened to Patricia Cornwall’s latest book, also in audio format, Flash and Bones. It has a great reader and if you are the least bit interested in NASCAR racing and Charlotte, N.C., you will probably enjoy it. I think she mentioned the words Diet Coke and iPhone several hundred times. I did feel as if I was in the middle of an extended ad for both. I honestly don’t think I would read any of her books again for that reason.
Ann Day is chief librarian at the Creston and District Public Library.