Friday, January 31, 2020


In October 2019, Book Riot reported on the $41 million newly opened Hunters Point Library in Queens, which has three floors that are only accessible by stairs.  This construction project began in 2010 and was completed and opened on September 12th, 2019.  It is astonishing to think that in the approximately nine years of this project, planners seemingly did not consult with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) experts, advocates for people with disabilities, or even librarians who work with a wide range of patrons each day—any of whom would likely flag the accessibility issues with the design.  When this story originally broke, the Hunters Point Library first claimed their library did meet ADA legal requirements, because their plan was to have librarians retrieve books for patrons who could not access the top three floors of the library by walking.  Alice Wong, the Founder and Director of the Disability Visibility Project says:  “Architects and developers should be humble enough to ask the actual communities that will be using the space what they want from it.  I think public libraries are especially obligated to reach out to marginalized communities for their feedback and expertise.”  Usually in big renovation projects for these public spaces there is an “imagining” phase where a group of decision makers consult with architects and designers both about architectural design and the community needs before a single brick is laid.  For libraries looking for a model, under the direction of the San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services, the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability surveyed and developed ideas for the nation’s first city-run center devoted to disability culture.  Alice Wong served on the planning committee for this project as a disability advocate.  She highly recommends the committee’s final report, which provides a blueprint of what people with disabilities and other stakeholders prioritized when it comes to diversity, access, and inclusion.  This report contains both process and methodology, field research, and findings.  Perhaps it can provide guidance and a model for public libraries and architectural firms consulting their communities in a meaningful way before beginning a construction project.  Seeking diverse community input is already a standard practice in the D.C. Public Library system, which is currently on its 23rd library construction or renovation project.  Jaspreet Pahwa, from the Capital Planning & Construction team with the D.C. Public Library, explained that community engagement is the starting point of all their funded library projects.  In fact, “focus groups with library patrons who have faced barriers using our libraries have informed the design for the modernization of Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, as well as the Facilities Master Plan that will inform the future of the library built environment over the next decade.”  Emily Stochl  Read more at https://bookriot.com/2020/01/03/library-renovations-and-accessibility/

Rules are the tools we use as parents to teach our children values as well as develop self-discipline.  There are three basic categories of rules that parents use.  These are (1) rules for how to conduct oneself in specific situations, (2) rules for how to behave toward others, and (3) rules regarding one's responsibilities.  Measure your rules for behavior toward others against your value system.  Also, be sure that these rules reflect your own behavior toward your children and spouse.  (Don't make rules you can't follow yourself.)  Negotiation consists of a two-way conversation between you and your child where each is allowed to state his or her point of view.  If for example you have set an 11 p.m. curfew for your 16-year-old son, and he thinks the curfew is too restrictive, give him a chance to state his case.  Allow him to tell you the reasons why he believes the curfew is too early.  Ask questions as he speaks to help him elaborate and show your interest in his point of view.  If he makes a case of any kind, consider a compromise that takes into consideration his needs and desires and your concerns for his safety.  State your case to him also pointing out why you believe a curfew is necessary and remind him of your concern.  http://www.thesuccessfulparent.com/categories/discipline/item/how-to-make-rules-and-gain-cooperation#.XhIkekdKiUk

Five Books that Invoke Invisibility:  JEROME CHARYN, THE AUTHOR OF CESARE:  A NOVEL OF WAR-TORN BERLIN, SHARES FIVE BOOKS IN HIS LIFE by Jane Ciabattari 

How to Imitate George Saunders by Benjamin Nugent   For much of my twenties, what I’d wanted, more than almost anything else, was to get inside Saunders’s mind, learn how it worked, and steal his secrets, so that I could write short stories that were as good as his short stories.”  https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/01/06/how-to-imitate-george-saunders/

Twin Cities-based chef and TV personality Andrew Zimmern has a new food show coming to an unlikely place, the news and politics channel MSNBC.  “What’s Eating America” premieres Feb. 16, 2020 at 8 p.m. CT, and will air Sundays through March 15.  From Zimmern's Minnesota-based production company Intuitive Content, the five-episode series follows Zimmern around the country during the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, as he talks to voters about social and political issues via the subject of food.  Shows will cover immigration, climate change, addiction, voting rights and healthcare, and the impact those issues have on what America eats.  "Food touches everything we do in our lives," Zimmern told the Star Tribune.  "We look through it, as a lens to other cultures."  Instead of titillating viewers with the unusual bites he'd sample on the "Bizarre Foods" series for which he's famous, "What's Eating America" positions him as a "correspondent," he said, "out on the road in search of answers to the questions everyone is asking."  Sharyn Jackson  http://www.startribune.com/andrew-zimmern-announces-new-msnbc-show-on-food-and-politics/567235312/

limn  verb  From Middle English limnenlimynelymmlymnlymne (to illuminate (a manuscript)), a variant of luminen (to illuminate (a manuscript)), short form of enluminen (to shed light on, illuminate; to enlighten; to make bright or clear; to give colour to; to illuminate (a manuscript); to depict, describe; to adorn or embellish with figures of speech or poetry; to make famous, glorious, or illustrious), from Old French enluminer (to brighten, light up; to give colour to; to illuminate (a manuscript)), from Latin illūminō (to brighten, light up; to adorn; to make conspicuous), from il- (a variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside’)) + lūminō (to brighten, illuminate; to reveal) (from lūmen (light; (poetic) brightness) (from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (bright; to shine; to see)) +  (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).  
limn (third-person singular simple present limns, present participle limning, simple past and past participle limned)  (transitive, also figuratively) To draw or paint; to delineatequotations ▼
Synonym:  depict  (transitive, obsolete)  To illuminate, as a manuscript; to decorate with gold or some other bright colourquotations ▼ Synonym:  enlimn (to illuminate (a manuscript))

Can you live your life with what The Twilight Zone has to teach you?  Yes, and maybe you should.  The proof is in a lighthearted two-person show based on the book of the same title by Mark Dawidziak.  This one-act play performed by Dawidziak and Largely Literary Theater company co-founder Sara Showman is a tribute to Rod Serling's timeless fantasy anthology series, but, on another level, it is a celebration of the life lessons, morality tales, inspirational guidelines and practical guidelines found in those classic episodes.  The book of the same title by Mark Dawidziak (published by Thomas Dunne Books, with a foreword by Anne Serling) features 50 life lessons drawn from classic Twilight Zone episodes.  Mark Dawidziak and Sara Showman are the co-founders of the Largely Literary Theater Company, founded in 2002 to promote literature, literacy and live theater.  Showman, an east Tennessee native, also is a storyteller with a wide repertoire of programs for adults and children.  Dawidziak, who has been the TV critic at Cleveland's The Plain Dealer since 1999, is the author or editor of about 25 books.  https://attend.cuyahogalibrary.org/event/2718439

Lamb heart is inexpensive, economical and easy to prepare.  It is also rich in protein and essential vitamins and minerals like vitamin B-12, iron, copper, selenium, zinc and riboflavin.  Use a low-fat method like broiling to prepare lamb heart and consume it only occasionally and in moderation, especially if you have high cholesterol or heart disease, as a 3-ounce serving of cooked lamb heart is high in saturated fat and cholesterol.  A cooked lamb heart yields one serving.  If you're cooking for a group, plan on one lamb heart per person.  Michelle Kerns  Find recipe at https://www.livestrong.com/article/476840-how-to-cook-lamb-heart/

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY  To blame the poor for subsisting on welfare has no justice unless we are also willing to judge every rich member of society by how productive he or she is.  Taken individual by individual, it is likely that there's more idleness and abuse of government favors among the economically privileged than among the ranks of the disadvantaged. - Norman Mailer, author (31 Jan 1923-2007)

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2218  January 31, 2020

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