The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library is dedicated to championing the literary, artistic, and cultural contributions of the late writer, artist, and Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.  It opened in January 2011 and was located in The Emelie, a structure on the National Register of Historic Places at 340 North Senate Avenue in Indianapolis, Indiana, until January 2019.  Funding for a new building at 543 Indiana Avenue was secured, and the library reopened to the public on November 9, 2019.  The library serves as a cultural and educational resource facility, museum, art gallery, and reading room.  It supports language and visual arts education through programs and outreach activities with other local arts organizations to foster a strong arts network for both the local and national communities.  Ball State University along with partner contributors granted the library $76,710 to digitize rare archival material and make the content more accessible to the general public via a digital display.  On September 26, 2021, AP News reported that the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library in Indianapolis has been designated a Literary Landmark by the Literary Landmarks Association.  Highlighted attractions of the library include a museum, art gallery, and reading room.  The museum features rare remnants from Vonnegut's life, including the author's Purple Heart medal awarded to him for his service in Dresden, Germany during World War II; the author's Smith-Corona Coronamatic 2200 typewriter; an unopened box of the author's Pall Mall cigarettes discovered by his children behind a bookcase following his death; an unopened letter sent overseas (in the course of World War II) to the author from his father; a series of rejection letters sent to the author by magazines which are periodically rotated; and a complete replica of his writing studio.  The library's art gallery displays art by local and national artists.  A small reading room with a selection of books by Vonnegut sits in the corner of the library.  On the wall of the reading room is a quote by the author:  "We are what we pretend to be so we must be careful what we pretend to be."  The new building also features a permanent Slaughterhouse-Five exhibition, and a new Freedom to Read exhibit that celebrates First Amendment rights will open soon.  The library functions as an educational resource to schools ranging from grade school to high school levels.  Resources for high schools include support for the Shortridge High School newspaper, the same newspaper Vonnegut edited as a teenager.  Teachers can also look to the library for continuing education through the “Teaching Teachers to Teach Vonnegut” program, a program designed to assist educators in learning key methods of teaching Vonnegut's works to teenagers.  The library holds an annual writing contest for high school students, and winners receive scholarships such as the Kurt Vonnegut Writing Award and the Jane Cox Vonnegut Writing Award.  Resources are also available to local professional and amateur writers including a variety of writing events and discussions.  The library is an active opponent of banning books.  When the Republic High School in Missouri banned Vonnegut's classic 1969 novel Slaughterhouse Five, the library offered students of the high school a free copy of the novel so they could read it themselves and draw their own conclusions.  In regard to the book giveaway, a library representative stated: "We have up to 150 books to share thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor … We’re not telling you to like the book … we just want you to read it and decide for yourself."  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut_Museum_and_Library   

LAND’S END IN CALIFORNIA  

From viewpoints at Lands End, you can see the remains of three shipwrecks:  the Ohioan (1937), Lyman Stewart (1922), and Frank Buck (1937).  Ironically, the latter two tankers—which struck the exact same rock off Lands End—also began their days together, side by side in the same shipyard.  To see the freighter Ohioan’s stern post and boilers at low tide, take the stairs down from the Merrie Way parking lot and look over the edge of the northwest vista point.  To see the Lyman Stewart’s steam engine and the Frank Buck’s stern post and steam engine, keep an eye out as you walk the Coastal Trail between the vista point and the Palace of the Legion of Honor.  https://www.parksconservancy.org/parks/lands-end   

LAND’S END IN UK

Land's End (Standard Written Form: Penn an Wlas or Pedn an Wlas) is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about eight miles (13 km) west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road.  To the east of it is the English Channel, and to the west the Celtic Sea.  Land's End is the most westerly point of mainland England.  However, it is not the westernmost point on mainland Great Britain, as this title narrowly goes to Corrachadh Mòr in the Scottish Highlands.  The actual Land's End, or Peal Point, is a modest headland compared with nearby headlands such as Pedn-men-dhu overlooking Sennen Cove and Pordenack, to the south.  The present hotel and tourist complex is at Carn Kez, 200 yards (180 m) south of the actual Land's End.  Land's End has a particular resonance because it is often used to suggest distance.  Land's  End to John o' Groats in Scotland is a distance of 838 miles (1,349 km) by road and this Land's End to John o' Groats distance is often used to define charitable events such as end-to-end walks and races in the UK.  Land's End to the northernmost point of England is a distance of 556 miles (895 km) by road.  The westernmost promontory at Land's End is known as Dr Syntax's Head.  The character Dr Syntax was invented by the writer William Combe in his 1809 comic verse The Tour of Dr Syntax in Search of the Picturesque, which satirised the work of seekers of the "picturesque" such as William Gilpin.  A nearby promontory is called Dr Johnson's Head after Samuel Johnson, who referred to a hypothetical Cornish declaration of independence in his 1775 essay Taxation no Tyranny.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land%27s_End 

See other popular uses of the term at:

Land's End (album), a 1974 album by Jimmy Webb

Land's End (novel), a 1988 novel by Jack Williamson and Frederik Pohl

Land's End (play), a 1935 play by F. L. Lucas

Land's End (TV series), a 1995 television series starring Fred Dryer

The Birds II: Land's End (1994), a horror film

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land%27s_End_(disambiguation)   

Merriam-Webster's word of the year for 2023 is one that saw an increase in searches this year--in a world where it's sometimes hard to tell what is fake and what is real online.  The word they chose for 2023 is "authentic".  "Authentic" isn't a new, trendy word like "rizz," which was also considered for word of the year.  Merriam-Webster said "authentic" has a high volume of look-ups most years, but it saw a substantial increase in 2023.  The dictionary says stories about things like AI and social media drove people to look up the word, which it defines as:  "not false or imitation" and "true to one's own personality, spirit, or character" and a synonym of "real" and "actual."  Caitlin O'Kane  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/word-of-the-year-2023-authentic-other-words-merriam-webster-dictionary-list-rizz/ 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2751  December 1, 2023