FRIENDS OF COAST COMMUNITY LIBRARY
225 Main Street  PO Box 808
Point Arena, CA 95468
(707) 882-3114
coastcommunitylibrary@yahoo.com
Of Interest to Readers
This page will be devoted to sharing information that may be of interest to
you if you describe yourself as a READER. They come from many sources
and will mostly be presented as links to other web pages or PDF documents.
We hope they enrich your reading experience.
New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2011 & 2012
New York Times Notable Books For 2011
www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/books/review/100-notable-books-of-2012.html

If you like Mysteries in Foreign Lands check out this link :
www.dartmouth.edu/~gjdemko/mysteries_foreignlands.htm
www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/  is a very useful fiction site. It provides a brief bio of
authors and lists their titles by publication date and organizes titles by series. The series
information is especially helpful for patrons who want to read an author's works in
order. Some authors have more that one series going on at the same time!
Read about another library on the
other side of the country that is in
similar financial circumstances in this
NY Times article
            Library Lines column by Julia Larke in The Redwood Coast Review, Vol. 14, No. 3, Summer 2012

DEMOCRATIC VISTAS
Mendocino County Library is currently participating in California Reads, a new program of Cal Humanities developed in partnership with the
California Center for the Book and the California State Library. Cal Humanities’ mission is to promote humanities by helping to create “a state
of open mind” and to “inspire Californians to learn more, dig deeper, and start conversations that matter.” This year’s California Reads
program is part of a statewide initiative, Searching for Democracy, which is designed to lead into the 2012 elections and invites people to
think about and talk about democracy and civic values and about the future of democracy.  

Libraries and other institutions participating in California Reads chose from five books selected from a pool of over 300 titles.  Mendocino
County Public Library is reading A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster by Rebecca Solnit. Other
titles are The Penguin Guide to the United States Constitution, Farewell to Manzanar, It Can’t Happen Here, and Lost City Radio. Discussion
guides for all of the titles are available at www.calhum.org.

Rebecca Solnit is a California writer, historian, and activist whose works include Wanderlust: A History of Walking and A Field Guide to
Getting Lost.  A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster is a thought-provoking account of disasters
(earthquakes, a bombing, 911, a major storm) viewed with the premise that positive, socially beneficial emotions surface among citizens in
response to a disaster.  She speaks of purposefulness and connectedness that bring joy even amidst the chaos and fear of extreme crisis. To
quote from the California Reads website, Solnit “reaches some surprising conclusions about our need for community and common purpose,
which she argues are fundamental to democratic forms of social and political life.” www.calhum.org/programs/california-reads

Melanie Lightbody, Mendocino County Librarian, who was instrumental in the county’s participation in California Reads, says that “programs
developed around A Paradise Built in Hell will engage people in discussion about the meaning of community and democracy.”  She encourages
people to attend “art exhibits, poetry readings, and book discussions throughout the county to be hosted by libraries in collaboration with arts
and cultural organizations.” At each branch, a local coordinator is leading discussions of the book and organizing other Searching for
Democracy events. At Coast Branch, Pearl Watts, a longtime community supporter and library volunteer, is the person to contact.      

Eliza Wingate, Ukiah Branch Librarian, who has developed various discourses and events on democracy for the Ukiah Branch, has added a
Searching for Democracy tab to the County Library’s webpage with postings from the five branches -www.co.mendocino.ca.
us/library/democracy.htm As part of California Reads, Rebecca Solnit will discuss A Paradise Built in Hell on Saturday, October 21 at 1:00 pm
in Ukiah at the Saturday Afternoon Club House.                        
Library volunteer Laura Schatzberg has just left the coast to teach English in the Ukraine.
Follow her journey on http://travelswithschatzy.wordpress.com/