St Kilda is an isolated archipelago 64 kilometres (40 mi) west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean.  It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.  The largest island is Hirta, whose sea cliffs are the highest in the United Kingdom; three other islands (Dùn, Soay and Boreray) were also used for grazing and seabird hunting.  The islands' human heritage includes numerous unique architectural features from the historic and prehistoric periods, although the earliest written records of island life date from the Late Middle Ages.  The medieval village on Hirta was rebuilt in the 19th century, but illnesses brought by increased external contacts through tourism, and the upheaval of the First World War contributed to the island's evacuation in 1930.  The story of St Kilda has attracted artistic interpretations, including Michael Powell's film The Edge of the World and an opera.  Currently, the only year-round residents are military personnel; a variety of conservation workers, volunteers and scientists spend time there in the summer months.  The entire archipelago is owned by the National Trust for Scotland.  It became one of Scotland's six World Heritage Sites in 1986 and is one of the few in the world to hold joint status for its natural and cultural qualities.  Parties of volunteers work on the islands in the summer to restore the many ruined buildings that the native St Kildans left behind.  They share the island with a small military base established in 1957.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Kilda,_Scotland

"Libraries are hazardous workspaces."  This is what my boss at the seminary library told me some years ago as she handed me a surgical mask and a pair of white cotton gloves.  For a few days one summer my job was to reorganize some of the older collections in the school archives--torn and well-handled family Bibles from the 18th century, rare hymnbooks from the time of the Protestant Reformation, random artifacts with no special value but their poor condition.  All of these items had two things in common; they were all old and they were all saturated with mold.  This latter detail is what makes libraries hazardous workspaces, at least according to the U.S. Department of Labor (which bestows this official designation).  If you have ever paid the price for cleaning out a long-neglected garage with days of constant sneezes, mysterious rashes and watery red eyes, you know what I mean.  Will Scott  http://www.daltondailycitizen.com/news/local_news/libraries-and-churches/article_997725fb-0fbc-51ca-971e-54d95b4273c7.html

In the old days, pants were two pieces of clothing, one cylinder for each leg.  And that was good enough.  A pair is a pair is a pair.  No need for fitting rooms.  A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg   See also Pair of pants at  http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pai1.htm and 11 Nouns That Only Have a Plural Form at http://mentalfloss.com/article/52672/11-nouns-only-have-plural-form

Meet the 2016 MacArthur Fellows  “While our communities, our nation, and our world face both historic and emerging challenges, these 23 extraordinary individuals give us ample reason for hope.  They are breaking new ground in areas of public concern, in the arts, and in the sciences, often in unexpected ways. Their creativity, dedication, and impact inspire us all.” — MacArthur President Julia Stasch  See pictures and biographies at https://www.macfound.org/fellows/class/class-2016/

A Quaker gun is a deception tactic that was commonly used in warfare during the 18th and 19th centuries.  Although resembling an actual cannon, the Quaker gun was simply a wooden log, usually painted black, used to deceive an enemy.  Misleading the enemy as to the strength of an emplacement was an effective delaying tactic.  The name derives from the Religious Society of Friends or "Quakers", who have traditionally held a religious opposition to war and violence in the Peace Testimony.   A similar idea was employed during the Doolittle Raid, which occurred in the early stages of the Pacific War of World War II, where Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle led a squadron of B-25 Mitchells to bomb Tokyo.  The early model B-25B had no guns installed in the tail section to help protect the planes from tail-end attacks.  While modifying the bombers for the mission at Eglin Field, Florida, Doolittle had fake machine guns consisting of a pair of broomsticks painted black mounted at the tail end of the fuselage to simulate tail guns.  See pictures at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaker_gun

Basque (Euskara) is a language with no known linguistic relatives spoken by about 660,000 people mainly in the Basque country (Euskal Herria) in the north of Spain and the south west of France.  An ancestral form of Basque known as Aquitanian appears in Roman inscriptions in Aquitaine, in the southwest of France.  The inscriptions consist of the names of people and gods plus a few other words and were inscribed during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.  Basque first appeared in writing in Latin religious texts, the Glosas Emilianenses, dating from the 11th century.  The first published book in Basque was a collection of poems entitled Linguae Vasconum Primitiae, published by Bernard Detchepare in 1545.  Link to Basque dictionaries and a video of a person speaking Basque at http://www.omniglot.com/writing/basque.htm 

Basqueland begins at the Adour River with its mouth at Bayonne-the river that separates the Basques from the French pine forest swampland of Landes-and ends at the Ebro River, whose rich valley separates the dry red Spanish earth of Rioja from Basqueland.  The entire area is only 8,218 square miles, which is slightly smaller than New Hampshire.  Within this small space are seven Basque provinces.  Four provinces are in Spain and have Basque and Spanish names: Nafaroa or Navarra, Gipuzkoa or Guipuzcoa, Bizkaia or Vizcaya, and Araba or Alava.  Three are in France and have Basque and French names:  Lapurdi or Labourd, Benafaroa or Basse Navarre, and Zuberoa or Soule.  An old form of Basque nationalist graffiti is "4 + 3 = 1."  http://rciasia.tripod.com/euskara.html

Basque Country is known for many things, among them meat and fish, but also cherries.  That makes sense in that it’s a mountainous region located right at the far-Western edge of where France and Spain meet, where the Pyrénée mountains hit the Bay of Biscay.  Basque black cherries thrive all around the area in the cool high-altitude climate, however the most famous come from a town called Itxassou.  Itxassou cherries come in three varieties:  peloa, xapata and the rarest of the rare, the beltxa.  http://joepastry.com/2012/on-basque-cherries/

Gâteau Basque recipe  http://gourmetpedia.net/recipes/gateau-basque-arrambide/

The National Book Festival, an annual event held in Washington, DC, is a celebration of the joy of books and reading that is sponsored by the Library of Congress and gives attendees the opportunity to visit with more than 175 award-winning authors, illustrators and poets who will talk about and sign their books.  In addition to author talks, book-signings and children’s activities, the 2016 event will include an evening panel discussion with experts and film-industry figures, followed by a screening of a classic movie that was made from a classic book.  The festival is free and open to the public.  Saturday, September 24, 2016, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW Washington, DC  The event features a wealth of authors, poets and illustrators for readers of all ages.  Stephen King will open the Main Stage of the 2016 Library of Congress National Book Festival with a presentation and recognition by the Library of his lifelong work promoting literacy.  Tickets will be required for the King presentation.  Tickets will be free and will be issued electronically beginning Sept. 14.  Seating will be first-come, first-served.  There is a limit of two tickets per person.  Representatives from across the United States and its territories will celebrate their unique literary offerings in the Pavilion of the States.  Guests are invited to collect state stickers and stamps and "Discover Great Places Through Reading."  The Let’s Read America area will offer reading activities that are fun for the whole family.  The Washington Post will host a bookmark-creation station and a festival-themed photo backdrop.  The Poetry & Prose pavilion will feature performances by award-winning students in Poetry Out Loud, an NEA and Poetry Foundation program that encourages high-school students to memorize and perform great poems.  The Library of Congress Pavilion will showcase treasures in the Library’s vast online collections and offer information about Library programs.  Special exhibits will be on view and Library representatives will discuss their work to collect, share and preserve the creative and intellectual heritage of the nation at the world’s largest library.  Rachel Cooper  Find a list of 2016 National Book Festival authors at http://dc.about.com/od/specialevents/a/NationalBookFes.htm

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1530  September 23, 2016  On this date in 1845, the Knickerbockers Baseball Club, the first baseball team to play under the modern rules, was founded in New York.  On this date in 1909, The Phantom of the Opera (original title: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra), a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux, was first published as a serialization in Le Gaulois.