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Libraries Build Community Partnerships in the Name of Economic Development

The Decatur Public Library, Forsyth Public Library, Mt. Zion Public Library, and several local entities joined forces in the name of economic development to offer DemographicsNow: Business & People, an online business tool that provides detailed demographic data on more than 24 million active businesses, and 206 million consumers. This new resource makes it easy for all types of users to collect, analyze and act upon information, all from a single location.

Watch this video from Decatur & Macon County to see how DemographicsNow can help local entrepreneurs.

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Asian Studies Students Find What They Need with Gale Offerings

“At a time when people, ideas, products and fashions are flowing between Asia and other parts of the world in unprecedented quantities and at unprecedented speeds, there has never been a more pressing time to understand this complex and diverse continent, whether one lives within or far beyond its borders.” — Jeff Wasserstrom, Editor, Journal … Read more

Fall into Great Titles

By Candy Jones-Guerin

Did you know? Geoffrey Chaucer, known as the Father of English literature, first used the word autumn in 1374 to name the brisk season after summer. Derived from the Latin word autumnus, meaning “the passing of the year,” Chaucer’s word, autumn, became popular around the 16th century. Meanwhile, in 1545, North America coined the term “fall” to describe the season when leaves are falling from the trees, which was previously known to them as “harvest.”

No matter which term you use, it’s time to bundle up, break out the sweaters, and get ready to enjoy the cool, crisp air that the season is known for. It’s also a great time to celebrate all things fall in your school, and we’re here to help with some great titles to get you started!

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National Bullying Prevention Month

By Debra Kirby

When my oldest daughter, now a middle school teacher, brought home her first essay, it was on the subject of bullying. She wrote it after reading Judy Blume’s Blubber for a school assignment. The essay, which I still have, provided a preview of what a kind, compassionate person and awesome teacher she would one day become. As the 10th anniversary of National Bullying Prevention Month approaches this October, I thought I’d do a little research on the subject, which was never the focus of national attention when I was a student. It’s only in relatively recent years that bullying has been commonly recognized as something other than a “natural part of growing up” or rite of passage.

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Keeping the Conversation Going

Malala Yousafzai, Svetlana Alexievich and Shakespeare

I think of literary criticism as a conversation: an author speaks to an audience, which responds with comments, questions, sometimes praise, and sometimes disparagement. The discussion can last for centuries. In the case of Shakespeare, for instance, in 1592, early in his career, he was dismissed by fellow writer Robert Greene as an “upstart crow beautified with our feathers” and mocked as a “Shake-scene” (whatever that is).

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eBook Search Tips on Travel Specifics

eBook Search Tips

GVRL is a unique eBook platform—the only one designed specifically for research—but sometimes it’s difficult to explain exactly what makes it great. So let’s show you, using four timely examples of how patrons can use GVRL to research exactly what they need to achieve the outcomes they desire.

With summer well under way, you may have a vacation right around the corner! Your next vacation could also still be down the road—it’s never too early to start planning. For this example, we’ve chosen Amalfi.

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Travel Back in Time with Historical Artifacts

edison-talking-doll
Edison Talking Doll 2

By Traci Cothran

Quick: What do these objects all have in common?

  • Feed-sack Dress
  • John Brown’s Sharps Rifle
  • Edison Talking Doll
  • Psychedelic Lunch Box
  • A Monkey listening to the Scopes Trial

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Studying the Classics with a Little Help from Technology

by Meghan Bogardus CortezTwitter Meghan is an associate editor with EdTech: Focus on Higher Education.   In this featured article in EdTech Magazine, proponents of digital humanities are discussed with the combination of art and literature and modern tech. At universities across the country, all types of students, whether they are majoring in literature or engineering, usually have … Read more

Binge-worthy Primary Sources You’ll Love

The public library is a place for creativity and innovation, a place for civil discourse and debate, a place for dialogue, and conversation. It’s where diverse groups of people can pursue curiosity.

Be the top-of-mind resource for all of your patrons’ discovery needs and empower learning and discovery.

Better support your patron’s curiosity about LGBTQ history and activism, nineteenth-century America, and American prose fiction from 1774-1920 with one-time purchase archives.

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And the Charleston Conference Scholarship Winner is…

Gale is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2016 Charleston Conference $1,000 Travel Scholarship is….. Karna, a Faculty Engagement Librarian at the University of Kansas. Keeping with Gale’s mission to connect learners to libraries and libraries to learners we asked applicants to submit an essay addressing the following topic, “How can librarians make the most out of … Read more