Library News

You may want to know about the newest writer’s group in town, The Minnie Howard Writers. Read their blog for more information, including details about the Feb. 21, 2009 meeting, 4 to 6 p.m., at Marshall Public Library in the Minnie Howard Room.

Writers should also know about the Pocatello Readings calendar, and the Rocky Mountain Writer’s Festival. It will be held April 8-11 this year. Simon Ortiz will be the featured writer, and Oboler Library has several of his books. If you are an ISU student, you may want to submit something to Black Rock and Sage before the Feb. 13 2009 deadline. You can read back issues of Black Rock and Sage at the library.

April is National Poetry Month. So far, in addition to the Rocky Mountain Writer’s Festival, I have heard about one other event. Marshall Public Library will be having a Poetry Wall–call the Reference Dept. there for more information.

As you are working on your writing, you may want to check some of the many books about writing, and literature in all genres that Oboler Library has. I am currently reading The Practice of Poetry by Robin Behn and Chase Twitchell. If it’s still on the shelf, I’ll head for Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg next. Find these and many other books for writers in our catalog. Good subject headings for writers are “Creative Writing,” “Poetics,” “Poetry Authorship,” “Fiction Authorship,” “Fiction Technique,” and “Authorship.” Ask at the reference desk if you need more help finding the books you need.

The library will be closed Monday, January 19 for the Martin Luther King/Idaho Human Rights holiday. The library will be open the usual early session hours over the rest of the weekend: Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Sunday 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. While the library is closed, you can still do considerable research: the library web page contains over 212 electronic databases, and access to 76,425 electronic journals.

There are many other ways you can observe the holiday. There is a Martin Luther King. Jr. March and other activities scheduled on campus. There are an additional several days of Human Rights Celebration events. There are also other volunteer opportunities for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, a government program. When I searched it, I found 18 Idaho opportunities (travel?), but nothing in Pocatello. If you just want to do your own thing, here are some suggestions: help out an elderly neighbor, find some items to donate to charity, pick up the litter around your block, or think of something else to do of service to your community.

And the library can help with some of the common tax forms. Near the circulation desk there is a shelf for the 1040, 1040A and 1040EZ booklets and forms, plus the Idaho tax booklets. Nearby there is a shelf for some of the other common forms: Schedule 1, Schedule 2, Schedule A, the Education Credits form, and many more.

If this doesn’t provide the all the forms you need, you can also go to the web site and download the form: click on the appropriate link: Internal Revenue Service, Idaho State Tax Commission, and here for other states tax form list, if you were a part-year resident in another state.

ISU’s Oboler Library and the American Red Cross are sponsoring a blood drive on Wednesday Jan. 28 2009, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

To schedule your appointment or for more information contact the Circulation Desk at 208-232-3248.

Thank you for your help with this important cause.

The Inauguration, Shakespeare, Arctic Life, the Digital TV Transition, Success in Life, Work & College, Welcome to 2009, and Giving the Gift of Life are the new displays up in the library now.

First Floor:

Display case 1: The Inauguration. Find information about the new president, the presidency in general, and Barack Obama in this display.

Shakespeare is the topic of display case 2. The library has a lot of information on Shakespeare, and the case contains DVDs, books, pictures of Shakespeare’s London, quotes, pictures from plays, swords, a costume, Shakespeare on film, etc. Shakespeare is still up in the Current Display Art Area–read the story here.

Second Floor:

Display case 3-Winter means Ice! Arctic Life and the Poles are covered in this display.

The Digital TV Transition: Ready or Not? is the topic of display case 4. Are you ready for the transition? Find more information here, see how to hook up a converter box, and get ideas on how to live without TV if you decide to go that way.

Success in Life, Work, and College is the subject of display case 5. It covers study skills, six ways to make people like you, and more.

Third Floor:

Welcome to 2009 is the topic of display case 6: innovation, goals, respect, attitude, flexibility and more.

Health Science display case—Giving the Gift of Life This display covers donating blood, what happens, what to tell the interviewer, and more. Oboler Library is having a blood drive on Jan. 26th. See the article about it in Library News for more details.

The latest edition of The Writing on the Stall is now up in restrooms inside the library. This issue contains articles on help with research, the resource CQ Researcher, the contest winner for naming this publication (also see the Library News article about the contest), the A to Z Journal List, Technol-O-Tip on USB Flash drives, and January celebrations.

Welcome to Spring Semester at ISU! The library will be open shorter hours the first two weeks of the semester (January 12-26, 2009), and then resume general library hours. For a listing of the hours and the exceptions, check the Library Hours page.

If this is your first semester at ISU, you may want to check out the Oboler Library Tour under the Pages section on the right of the Library News page. It explains what is on each floor of the library, and gives you information about where to find things in the library. If you have any questions, ask at the Reference Desk on the First Floor.

Check Library News regularly to find out about the many interesting events and information available here. You can sign up for RSS feed of this blog. See the previous Library News article for information on doing that.

The photographs were provided by Regina Koury, Electronic Resource Librarian.

Public Safety recently mentioned the snow-closure policy in their newsletter. Public Safety will put a message on their snow closure line, x3936. “Local radio and television stations will be notified. An additional notice will be posted on the ISU homepage and on the ISU Public Safety Web page For information specific to the Idaho Falls campus call x 7825.”

If you need to know road conditions, Idaho Transportation Department has a new 511 Information page. It has been enhanced and expanded. My favorite part of their web page is the web cam section It is interesting to actually see the road conditions. The All Advisories page shows road closures and alerts Be sure to select the Southeast Idaho region if it defaults to a different area.

If you don’t have internet at home, you can just dial 511 on your telephone for the new Idaho Transportation Department’s new road report and information. They have a web page for help with the phone menu .

Photographs provided by Regina Koury, our Electronic Resource Librarian.