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National Culinary Arts Month
This month-long celebration held each July promotes awareness of professional cooks and chefs and their contributions to new culinary trends and dining excellence. It’s also a good time to offer food-related programming at your library. Here are some cooking-related programs libraries have offered that you can adapt for your own National Culinary Arts Month events as well as additional culinary resources, including cooking for kids, food-related fiction, and ethnic food.
Also in July: Don’t forget National Ice Cream Month and Independence Day.
From the Blog
New for February at EDSITEment
This February, EDSITEment offers a collection of Black History Month resources, takes a look at the history-changing events of February 1968, goes on a Flight to Freedom, builds a fire with Jack London, introduces the members of Thoreau’s Circle, and celebrates Presidents’ Day.
Happy Birthday, Charles Dickens!
Charles Dickens was born two hundred years ago today, and in celebration, I’m offering a roundup of Masterpiece’s Dickens-related resources. First, check out the Charles Dickens Film and Book Club.
Feature
Overcoming Challenges: Civil War Programming in a Rural Library
While the Civil War was all about conflict, as programming librarians we’re all on the same side now—facing the challenge of getting more patrons into our libraries to enjoy the diverse, quality programming we offer. Rural libraries, though, may face a few additional challenges in programming—limited resources, increased travel expenses in bringing in speakers or programs—but there’s a silver lining, too. Your library can become the cultural center of the community or region without having a lot of competition from other venues.
Our library is located at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in southeastern Kentucky. We moved into our new library facility nearly nine years ago, and immediately began offering adult programming, starting out with just a couple of programs each month, and eventually growing into a schedule offering as many as twenty per month. Through the years, we’ve found that our community has a craving for both the entertaining and the intellectually focused programs we offer here at our library. Living in a small town doesn’t mean that people’s interests are limited—we have every bit the breadth of curiosity that urbanites do. We’ve also noticed that the community is anxious to show support of the library’s programs so they can continue, and they’re very willing to give new things a try because they trust that we work hard to offer quality opportunities. Read more | Overcoming Challenges: Civil War Programming in a Rural Library
Poll
Quote of the Week
I myself spent hours in the Columbia library as intimidated and embarrassed as a famished gourmet invited to a dream restaurant where every dish from all of the world’s cuisines, past and present, was available on request.—Luigi Barzini