In September 2015, the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates selected the dates and locations for the 2016 debates.  First presidential debate (September 26, 2016, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY)  The debate will be divided into six time segments of approximately 15 minutes each on major topics to be selected by the moderator and announced at least one week before the debate.  The moderator will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond.  Candidates will then have an opportunity to respond to each other.  The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a deeper discussion of the topic.  Vice presidential debate (October 4, 2016, Longwood University, Farmville, VA)  The debate will be divided into nine time segments of approximately 10 minutes each.  The moderator will ask an opening question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond.  The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a deeper discussion of the topic.  Second presidential debate (October 9, 2016, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO)  The second presidential debate will take the form of a town meeting, in which half of the questions will be posed directly by citizen participants and the other half will be posed by the moderator based on topics of broad public interest as reflected in social media and other sources.  The candidates will have two minutes to respond and there will be an additional minute for the moderator to facilitate further discussion.  The town meeting participants will be uncommitted voters selected by the Gallup Organization.  Third presidential debate (October 19, 2016, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV)  The format for the debate will be identical to the first presidential debate.  All debates will be moderated by a single individual and will run from 9:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time without commercial breaks.  As always, the moderators alone will select the questions to be asked, which are not known to the CPD or to the candidates.  The moderators will have the ability both to extend the segments and to ensure that the candidates have equal speaking time.  http://www.debates.org/index.php?page=2016debates

Life Behind the Stacks:  The Secret Apartments of New York Libraries posted on July 3, 2016 by CAIT ETHERINGTON   For many book lovers, there is nothing more exciting than the idea of a home library.  What most of the city’s book lovers don’t know is that until recently, there was an affordable way to fulfill the dream of a home library—at least for book lovers who also happened to be handy with tools.  In the early to mid twentieth century, the majority of the city’s libraries had live-in superintendents.  Like the superintendents who still live in many of the city’s residential buildings, these caretakers both worked and lived in the buildings for which they were responsible.  This meant that for decades, behind the stacks, meals were cooked, baths and showers were taken, and bedtime stories were read.  And yes, families living in the city’s libraries typically did have access to the stacks at night—an added bonus if they happened to need a new bedtime book after hours.  See pictures and read about apartments in libraries--including The New York Society Library, not only the oldest library in the United States but also one of the nation’s few remaining subscription libraries--at http://www.6sqft.com/life-behind-the-stacks-the-secret-apartments-of-new-york-libraries/

When Fisk University, the historically black school in Nashville, tried to sell two paintings several years ago from its storied Alfred Stieglitz art collection, a firestorm erupted.  The proposed sale violated conditions of the gift of the collection from Stieglitz’s widow, Georgia O’Keeffe, according to her foundation.  A drawn-out legal challenge ended in a compromise in 2012 that allowed Fisk to share its collection with Crystal Bridges, the Arkansas museum founded by Alice Walton, the Walmart heiress, bringing the struggling university an infusion of $30 million.  But what was not revealed at the time, and has only recently come to light, is that before the agreement was completed—and with the debate over the future of Fisk itself swirling around her—Hazel O’Leary, then the university’s president, on behalf of the school quietly sold off two other paintings owned by Fisk.  The institution was “under duress,” said Patrick Albano of Aaron Galleries, an art dealer from Illinois whom Ms. O’Leary asked to broker the sale.  One painting was Florine Stettheimer’s exuberantly detailed “Asbury Park South.”  Its sale represented the first time a major work by Stettheimer, the beloved New York modernist artist and salon hostess, had come on the market in 20 years.  Painted in 1920, “Asbury Park South” is set at a restricted beach in New Jersey.  Most of the figures are African-American, but Stettheimer included herself and white friends like Marcel Duchamp and the writer and critic Carl Van Vechten in the crowded and lively scene.  A central figure in the Harlem Renaissance, with close ties to Fisk, Van Vechten suggested to Stettheimer’s sister Ettie that the painting be donated to the university, just as he encouraged O’Keeffe’s larger gift from her husband’s collection of modernist art.  Both gifts were made in 1949.  Susan Mulcahy  Read more and see pictures at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/arts/design/florine-stettheimer-painting-fisk-university-sold.html?_r=0

Christine “Chris” Costner Sizemore, 89, the woman whose challenge with multiple personalities inspired the book and movie “Three Faces of Eve,” died July 31, 2016 in Ocala, Florida.  Her story led to a book by two Augusta psychiatrists focusing on Sizemore’s struggle, and became a movie for which a young Georgia actress named Joanne Woodward won an Academy Award.  Sizemore went on to become a lecturer and acclaimed author, writing several books about her illness.  She was also an accomplished artist specializing in two dimensional paintings including landscapes and portraits.  Bill Kirby  http://www.albanyherald.com/news/local/woman-who-inspired-three-faces-of-eve-dies/article_fcaf9ffb-5299-5b35-88f7-e141620a81de.html

Will & Jane:  Shakespeare, Austen, and the Cult of Celebrity, a free exhibit running August 6-November 6, 2016 will take a close look at these two celebrated authors’ literary afterlives—and find some surprising parallels.  For both, adaptations and parodies in different eras helped popularize their work and make it more approachable (think Shakespeare Undead and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies).  Milestone events also increased their fame:  for Shakespeare, the much-heralded 1769 Shakespeare Jubilee, and for Austen, a burst of 1990s films and a watershed BBC production.  Explore their stories and the nature of celebrity in the 400th anniversary year of Shakespeare's death and the 199th anniversary of Austen’s in 2016.  Find contact information at http://www.folger.edu/exhibitions/will-and-jane

"Make America Great Again" is a campaign slogan used by American politicians.  It was first used by Ronald Reagan during his 1980 presidential campaign.  The term was created in 1979 during a time in which the United States was suffering from a worsening economy at home marked by high unemployment and inflation.  The phrase "Let's Make America Great Again" appeared on buttons and posters during Reagan's 1980 campaign.  Prior to the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump, the phrase was used as a reference to the Presidency of Ronald Reagan.  Since Reagan left office, the slogan has been used by Donald Trump; Trump applied to trademark the slogan for his 2016 campaign.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_America_Great_Again

Portuguese is a descendent of Latin, which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by Roman soldiers, settlers and merchants from 218 BC.  The earliest records of a distinctly Portuguese language appear in administrative documents dating from the 9th century AD.  A reformed Portuguese orthography (nova ortografia), in which words were spelled more in accordance with their pronunciation, was adopted is Portugal in 1916.  A slightly modified form was adopted in Brazil in 1943 and revised in 1970.  Portuguese has the same 26 letters as English, but the letters K, W and Y are used only in foreign loanwords.  http://www.omniglot.com/writing/portuguese.htm

Rio August 5, 2016 Opening Ceremony Pictures | Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2016 Olympic Games  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWqDr2d5rSM  8:27

During the Parade of Nations within the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes and officials from each participating country marched in the Maracanã Stadium preceded by their flag and placard bearer.  Each flag bearer had been chosen either by the nation's National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves.  In keeping with Olympic traditions, Greece, the birth place of the olympic games that started in 1896, entered first, while Brazil, the host nation, went last.  The Refugee Olympic Team, composed of refugees from several countries, went second to last and received a standing ovation.  Other countries entered in an alphabetical order in the language of the host country (Brazilian Portuguese).  Out of 207 countries marching, the United States (Estados Unidos da América) was 70th.  Find names of countries in order--plus standard bearer and sport--at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Summer_Olympics_Parade_of_Nations  See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Summer_Olympics_opening_ceremony

The Washington Post will leverage artificial intelligence technology to report key information from the 2016 Rio Olympics, including results of medal events.  “Heliograf,” which was developed in-house, automatically generates short multi-sentence updates for readers.  These updates will appear in The Post’s live blog, on Twitter at @WPOlympicsbot, and are accessible via The Post’s Olympics skill on Alexa-enabled devices and The Post’s bot for Messenger.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/pr/wp/2016/08/05/the-washington-post-experiments-with-automated-storytelling-to-help-power-2016-rio-olympics-coverage/?postshare=4301470536696402&tid=ss_tw

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1509  August 8, 2016  On this date in 1876, Thomas Edison received a patent for his mimeograph.  On this date in 1908, Wilbur Wright made his first flight at a racecourse at Le Mans, France.