April 14, 2014  Each day, thousands of AmeriCorps and Senior Corps national service members devote themselves to service that directly impacts the lives of children around the country.  Whether it is teaching kids how to make healthy food choices, working with them on educational skills, or helping families rebuild after a disaster, national service is there.  Recently, some of the good works that national service programs have been doing to make a difference were featured on national television.  As a part of NBC's Education Week, the Today Show joined Foster Grandparents (a Corporation for National and Community Service Senior Corps program) in Washington, D.C., as they mentored students and helped enforce academic concepts.  One Foster Grandparent, 104-year-old Virginia McLaurin, talked about the importance of helping kids learn both traditional topics like math and reading, but also social graces like respect.  Adriana Lopez  Link to toolkits to help you with service projects or events at http://www.serve.gov/?q=servegov-blog-article/americorps-senior-corps-serving-america%E2%80%99s-youth-every-day

The infinity symbol  (sometimes called the lemniscate) is a mathematical symbol representing the concept of infinity.  In mathematics, the infinity symbol is used more often to represent a potential infinity, rather than to represent an actually infinite quantity such as the ordinal numbers and cardinal numbers (which use other notations).  John Wallis is credited with introducing the infinity symbol as a sideways figure eight with its mathematical meaning in 1655.  In areas other than mathematics, the infinity symbol may take on other related meanings; for instance, it has been used in bookbinding to indicate that a book is printed on acid-free paper and will therefore be long-lasting.  See images at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinity_symbol

USS Shangri-La (CV/CVA/CVS-38) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers completed during or shortly after World War II for the United States Navy.  It was launched in 1944, decommissioned for the second time in 1971, and scrapped in 1988.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Shangri-La_(CV-38)

Camp David, known formally as the Naval Support Facility Thurmont, is the President’s country residence.  Located in Catoctin Mountain Park in Frederick County, Maryland, Camp David has offered Presidents an opportunity for solitude and tranquility, as well as an ideal place to host foreign leaders.  Adapted from the federal employee retreat Hi-Catoctin, President Franklin Roosevelt established the residence as USS Shangri La, modeling the new main lodge after the Roosevelt winter vacation home in Warm Springs, Georgia.  President Eisenhower subsequently renamed the institution in honor of his grandson David.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/camp-david

Like every aspect of the Detroit bankruptcy, the legal issues surrounding The Detroit Institute of Arts and its multibillion-dollar collection remain a landscape of uncharted territory and foggy complexities.  For example, the Michigan attorney general has issued an opinion that the art can’t be sold because it’s held in the public trust, but experts disagree whether this would hold up in court.  A key question is whether the arguments of creditors making a play for the art will be potent enough to convince U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes to deny emergency manager Kevyn Orr’s restructuring plan for the city — including its centerpiece $816-million rescue plan for art and pensions.  Mark Stryker  Read much more at http://www.freep.com/article/20140417/ENT05/304170029/detroit-institute-arts-bankruptcy-pension

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place (such as a forest, mountain, lake, island, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that is listed by UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance.   The programme was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, which was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972.  Since then, 190 states parties have ratified the Convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments.  Only the Bahamas, Liechtenstein, Nauru, Somalia, South Sudan, Timor-Leste and Tuvalu are not Party to the Convention.  As of 2013, 981 sites are listed:  759 cultural, 193 natural, and 29 mixed properties, in 160 states parties.  By sites ranked by country, Italy is home to the greatest number of World Heritage Sites with 49 sites, followed by China (45), Spain (44), France and Germany (both 38).  UNESCO references each World Heritage Site with an identification number; but new inscriptions often include previous sites now listed as part of larger descriptions.  As a result, the identification numbers exceed 1,200 even though there are fewer on the list.  While each World Heritage Site remains part of the legal territory of the state wherein the site is located, UNESCO considers it in the interest of the international community to preserve each site.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_List

The Berlin State Library (German: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; colloquially Stabi) is a universal library in Berlin, Germany and a property of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.  It is one the largest libraries in Europe, and one of the most important academic research library in the German-speaking world.  It collects texts, media and cultural works from all fields in all languages, from all time periods and all countries of the world, which are of interest for academic and research purposes.  The library has an extensive collection of important music manuscripts, including 80% of all the autographs of Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the largest collection in the world.  Famous examples include Bach's Mass in B Minor, the St. Matthew and St. John Passions, and nearly all of Mozart's operas.  In addition to Ludwig van Beethoven's 4th, 5th, and 8th Symphonies, the Library also holds the autograph score, autograph leaves, and historic records of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, which was added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 2001.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_State_Library 

The Queen Elizabeth Islands (formerly the Parry Islands) are the northernmost in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.  They are split between the Canadian provinces of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.  Ellesmere, the largest island in the Queen Elizabeth archipelago, is actually the 10th largest island in the world.  It is covered by the Arctic Cordillera mountain range.  http://www.redorbit.com/images/pic/19791/queen-elizabeth-islands/

Sea smoke, frost smoke, or steam fog,  is fog which is formed when very cold air moves over warmer water.  Arctic sea smoke is sea smoke forming over small patches of open water in sea ice.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_smoke

KATABATIC WIND

A wind that is created by air flowing downhill.  When this air is warm, it may be called a foehn wind, and regionally it may be known as a Chinook or Santa Ana.  When this air is cold or cool, it is called a drainage wind, and regionally it may be known as a mountain breeze or glacier wind.  The opposite of an anabatic wind.  http://www.weather.com/glossary/k.html

Peeps season  Find diorama 2014 contest winner and finalists, Peeps shows I through VII,  Peeple's choice, and A year in Peeps at http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/peeps/

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1138  April 21 2014  On this date in 1898, the United States Navy began a blockade of Cuban ports.  On this date in 1934, the "Surgeon's Photograph", the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, was published in the Daily Mail (in 1999, it was revealed to be a hoax).  In 1962, the Seattle World's Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opened.  It was the first World's Fair in the United States since World War II.