Lean on Pete is an unsentimental story about a 15-year-old boy who dreams of a normal home and the chance to play high-school football. Newly arrived in Portland with a mostly absent father, Charley hopes for the best and gets the worst. Suddenly homeless, he hangs out on the backstretch at Portland Meadows racetrack and finds a friend—an aging Thoroughbred named Lean on Pete (with thanks to Booklist).

Not only a writer, Vlautin is also the lead singer and songwriter for the Portland-based alternative country band Richmond Fontaine, which cites Husker Du, Willie Nelson, X, The Blasters, and The Replacements as musical influences. Vlautin’s story-based songs have often drawn comparison to the short stories of Raymond Carver, so it is natural that he is also a published author of three novels, of which Lean on Pete is his most recent.  The novel won two Oregon book awards last year: the Ken Kesey award for fiction and the Readers’ Choice Award. His first novel, The Motel Life, is currently in production to become a major motion picture starring Emile Hirsch, Stephen Dorff, Dakota Fanning and Kris Kristoffersen.

The Library has copies of Vlautin’s novels The Motel Life, Northline, and Lean on Pete, as well as Richmond Fontaine’s new song-novel CD, The High Country.

This event, which is sponsored by the Friends of the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, is free and open to the public.  We’re excited to have Willy Vlautin come to Corvallis and hope to see you on the 16th at 6:30!

Posted by Alex, a second floor librarian

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The Oregon Book award winners will be announced by Literary Arts on April 23, and the Oregonian is sponsoring a Readers’ Choice Award.  Click here to vote for your favorite book by an Oregon Book Award finalist.

In February you’ll have an opportunity to hear a reading and music by a 2011 Oregon Book Award winner.  Willy Vlautin will be here on Thursday, February 16th, at 6:30 PM, to read from Lean on Pete, which won two Oregon Book Awards last year: the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction and the  Readers’ Choice Award.  Since Vlautin is also an accomplished musician, he will also play music inspired by Lean on Pete.  Read more about Willy Vlautin here.

Posted by Alex, a second floor librarian

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Our focus will be getting new device owners up to speed with our ebook collection through Library2Go! We would love to have you bring your device with you and attend either hour (11:00 AM or 12:00 Noon).  Our patient librarians will be “standing by” to help you maneuver the ins and outs of downloading and enjoying library ebooks! If you need help before then, try our ebook help pages. See you on the second floor.

Posted by Christopher, a second floor librarian

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If you dropped by Friday but still have questions, or, if you missed the session, we are still available to talk with you.  Feel free to contact us in person, by phone, email, or chat.  And stay tuned for announcements about another clinic!  If you have comments and/or suggestions about improving the clinic, please let us know!

Posted by Alex, a second floor librarian

Thanks to the generosity of the Friends of the Library, we are happy to present a free concert by classical guitarist John Jarvie.  The concert will be on Thursday evening, November 10 at 7:00 pm.  Click on Corvallis Program 2011 to see the songs and composers he will be playing.

At noon on Wednesday, Gary Whitehouse will review Willy Vlautin’s novel Lean on Pete as part of Random Reviews.

On Wednesday, November 16th at 7:00 pm, Oregon hiking guru William Sullivan takes us on a tour of his favorite hikes and adventures in all parts of the state, recommending top trips for every month of the year. Based on his new book, Oregon Favorites, the show includes tips on new trails, as well as anecdotes about history, geology, wildlife, and people along the way.

On Friday, November 18th from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm we’re having an ereader drop in session just for you to ask your questions about library ebooks and ereaders.

All programs are free and open to the public.  All programs, (except for the ereader clinic, which will be in Conference Room C on the second floor) will be held in the Library’s Main Meeting Room.  Please call 541-766-6793 for more information.

Posted by Alex, a second floor librarian

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John has performed classical guitar music publicly for 30 years, in both casual and concert settings. In the words of Register Guard music critic Fred Crafts, “Jarvie is a spectacularly gifted artist who commands the fingers of a virtuoso and the sensitivity of a poet.”

Click here for a link to short videos of Jarvie’s, including one of him playing his own arrangement of Beethoven’s fur Elise, on a classical guitar he made himself.

The concert will be held in the Library’s Main Meeting Room from 7:00 -8:15 pm.  Please contact the Reference Desk at 541-766-6793 for more information.

Posted by Alex, a second floor librarian

Here’s the list of this year’s authors and their books.  Click on the links to locate copies of the books.

Suggested donation is $7, and all money raised goes to Linn Benton Food Share to alleviate hunger in our community.  For more information, go to the library’s literary events page .

Posted by Alex, a second floor librarian

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Tuesday and Wednesday are big days at the library next week! Expand your horizons  with presentations  about the culture of gay bullying, Italian travel, the importance of bees in our landscape.  We will also have a fun readers theater event.

Tuesday, October 11

	At 7:00 pm, writer, blogger, and speaker Lee Wind will talk about ending gay bullying in our culture . . . and in Corvallis. This will be an interactive, engaging presentation.
Italian flag vespa by hugocardoso on Flickr	At 12:00, bring your lunch and travel to Italy with Diego Falchi.  This presentation is part of LBCC’s lecture series “From Chile to China in Four Hours.”

Wednesday, October 12

	12:00 pm. Bring your lunch and enjoy Reader’s Theater: readings from nine books by nine outstanding presenters. Click here for a list of books and presenters.
Bee International! by Danny Perez Photography	Bee all you can be:a presentation by Bruce Newhouse about pollination and its importance.Sponsored by the Greenbelt Land Trust.7:00 pm.

All events will be held in the Library’s Main Meeting Room.  For more information please call 541-766-6793.

Posted by Alex, a second floor librarian

Kaleidoscope image credit: rubyblossom on Flickr

Travel to Chile, China, Italy and Japan with  Linn-Benton Community College’s finest language instructors.  Get insight from native speakers about culture, customs, and in-country travel.  Feel free to bring your lunch!

Lecture schedule:

October 4     Chile with Monica Schlechter
October 11   Italy with Diego Falchi
October 18   China with Chenhui Ho
October 25   Japan with Takashi Yoshioka

Lectures take place in the Library’s Main Meeting Room.

Please contact the Reference Desk at 541-766-6793 or  Shirley Lockhart at LBCC at 757-8944 X5126 for more information.

Posted by Alex, a second floor librarian

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This is the last week to send us your photo of you with your library card.  We are posting these photos to Facebook in celebration of library card sign-up month in September.

Posted by Alex, a second floor librarian