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

Image credit

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

Image credit

The 2011 – 2012 Random Review season gets started this Wednesday, 9/14, with Rebecca Olson reviewing Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.

Feel free to bring your lunch and enjoy the review from 12:00 – 1:00 pm.  Coffee, tea, and cookies will be served.

On Thursday, September 15 at 7:00 pm, popular Klezmer and jazz performer Mike Curtis will play tunes on the sax, clarinet, and bassoon as well as read from his new book, Memories of a Musician in Mexico.  The book is both an homage to Mexico and an honest account of his own troubled path to maturity.  Read the blog post for more information.

Posted by Alex, a second floor librarian

Photo credit: “Telas de colores” by Lucy Nieto on Flickr

East 42nd by Thomas Hawk on flickr

The library will be closed Monday, July 4th in honor of Independence Day. Here are a few electronic tidbits to help celebrate…

A copy of the Declaration of Independence printed in 1776.

Sheet Music for Yankee Doodle from I hear America singing : 55 songs and choruses for community singing from 1917

Stars and Stripes Forever performed by the U.S. Marine Corps Band.

Have a happy and safe holiday!

Posted by Christopher, a second floor librarian

Most of us recognize the influence music has on our mood.  Why else do we listen to music at the gym, if not to harness its potency to make us exercise harder while enjoying  it more?

	Music, the brain, and ecstasy: how music captures out imagination.  By Robert Jourdain
	How music works.  The science and psychology of beautiful sounds, from Beethover to the Beatles and beyond. By John Powell

	The music instinct (DVD): science and song. written and directed by Elena Mannes
	Musicophilia: tales of music and the brain.  By Oliver Sacks

Posted by Alex, a second floor librarian

Consider for a moment the wealth of info on the Books page (www.thebestlibrary.net/books). Right at the top of the page, by clicking on the words below the book image, you can explore our fiction collection, get suggested reads for nonfiction, and even fill in a form to have a second floor librarian choose a reading list just for you! Scroll down a bit and you’ll see lists of staff picks for the month and new books in fiction and nonfiction. You can also browse lists of award winners.

How about Movies/DVDs next?

There you can also browse lists of staff picks, and see titles in the genre of the month. What I think is really cool is that you can browse our DVD collection by genre or director, just using the links on the page.

You can do something similar on the Music page. Want to see which 1960s soul albums we have? How about rock from the 1970s? Or whatever pop music is hot these days? It’s really easy, just use the links to browse our catalog with just one click.

I hope this post has encouraged you to explore the depths of amazing content hiding below the red bar on our homepage. Dive in! I think you’ll like what you see.

As always, if you get stuck or have any questions, let us know and we’ll be happy to help.

Posted by Lisa, a second floor librarian

Image credits:

(top) Geir I testing the flex on the diving board, by hufse on Flickr

(bottom) Cottage Dock and Water, by Melina. on Flickr

On Saturday, September 11th, at 3:00 PM, the Geminus Guitar Duo will be performing at the library.

Foti Lycouridis and Hideki Yamaya formed the ensemble recently, and they’re based in Portland.

For a preview of their work, check out their videos on YouTube. I’ve been listening to the videos as I write this post, and it’s been a lovely 15 minutes or so of music.You can also see photos of Foti and Hideki in action at their Flickr photostream.

For their event at the library, the Geminus Guitar Duo will present a concert/discussion on the historical evolution of the classical guitar. They will perform Classical, Romantic and 20th century compositions on a number of historical instruments dating from the 1800s, modern classical guitars and guitars with 10 strings.

Foti and Hideki will discuss the important innovations in guitar making during the 19th century that led to the emergence of the instrument we call a classical guitar today. After the concert the audience is very welcome to ask questions and come up to have a closer look at the instruments. This promises to be an event that is both educational and enjoyable. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

Thanks to the Friends of the Library for co-sponsoring this event.

Posted by Lisa, a second floor librarian

The Small World Band from Wootang01 on flickr

“So is music an asylum. It takes us out of the actual and whispers to us dim secrets that startle our wonder as to who we are, and for what, whence, and whereto.”

Think back to a great summer of traveling and adventure. That is what I like to do, especially when I don’t have an exciting summer vacation planned!

If you are looking for something to kindle your sense of travel adventure, why not take a listen to some of the great music the library offers? Not only do we have a great selection of Music CDs but we also have subscriptions to some world music databases.

• Contemporary World Music has nearly 30,000 tracks to explore.
• Smithsonian Global Sound World has about 19,000 tracks.
• Try out all of our music databases and find something you enjoy!

Posted by Christopher, a Second Floor Librarian

You now have access to more streaming music!American Song is a history database that allows people to hear and feel the music from America’s past. The database includes songs by and about American Indians, miners, immigrants, slaves, children, pioneers, and cowboys. Included in the database are the songs of Civil Rights, political campaigns, Prohibition, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, anti-war protests, and more.

Content from African American Music, another of our subscription databases is now a part of American Song, including 17,000 tracks from the original interface, plus 18,000 newly released tracks.

Get access to these databases as well as classical and world music resources on our music page.

Posted by Sharon,  a Second Floor Librarian

He will show and play flutes made of clay, as well as bamboo flutes, river cane flutes, cedar flutes, and bone flutes. The flutes John demonstrates come from all over the world, including India, Japan, China, Thailand, Sweden, and Mexico.

John is a renowned Native American flute instructor, and has facilitated contemporary Native American flute workshops from coast-to-coast for over 15 years.

We look forward to seeing you there! If you have any questions, please contact us.

Posted by Lisa, a second floor librarian