Visit with Author Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary Great Neck Library

LIBRARY LIBRARY NEWS
NEWS
A Message from the Board President, Andrew Greene
Your Board has continued to be proactive in its
oversight and governance of the Library. We are
extremely proud of the fact that work has been
commenced upon the Station Branch expansion in
its new space. We are confident that the new
construction will proceed on course and be
completed on schedule, resulting in the early
availability of this marvelous space and the saving of substantial
monies. The Main Library project continues on schedule and we
anticipate bringing the expansion to a public referendum by the end of
the year or early in 2011. A new avenue for funding through the Town
of North Hempstead has emerged as a possibility. Your Board is
exploring this possible funding source, which would result in
financial savings to the community and the utilization of local monies
that support local institutions. The public will be kept abreast of all
developments in this regard.
This summer and fall will see great activity at the Great Neck Library.
The first of our “Authors @ GNL” series took place in July with the
appearance of Susan Isaacs. This event was attended by an overflow
crowd. In late August, Levels presented “Into The Woods,” a
wonderful new show produced, directed by and starring Levels
students. In October, we will host Oscar Hammerstein III, whose
book celebrates the great musical legacy of his family. These are only
some of our offerings, which, I believe, reflect the creativity and
dedication of our Director and staff, whose hard work has brought
these activities to fruition.
The Board is constantly reviewing proposals to realize operational
savings by reorganization of our staff and better utilization of our
facilities. We have implemented early retirement incentives, which
have been accepted by numerous senior personnel, modified Library
hours and changed staffing levels. Each of our Board committees,
most notably personnel and finance, are continuously looking at
procedures with an eye towards realizing savings for the taxpayers in
the operation of the Library.
Lastly, I wish to extend my personal thanks to our Director and staff
for their exemplary skills in reacting to the severe weather event
known as a “micro-burst” which occurred in June. Our staff and
administrators remained level-headed in the face of this extreme event
and assisted the Library in recovering. The public should rest assured
that the Board is carefully studying the response to this extreme
weather event in an effort to further perfect our emergency
preparedness and procedures.
See you in the fall.
Our Staff Recommends blog, updated monthly, includes fiction,
nonfiction, mystery, biography and short story titles. A few of the entries are
listed below. For a full list, please click on Staff Recommends from the
Library's home page under Research Resources.
This Body of Death by Elizabeth George, 2010
A multi-layered jigsaw puzzle of a story, this sixteenth Inspector Lynley
novel may be George's smartest and most impassioned mystery yet. Just
back from leave after the tragic murder of his wife, Lynley joins a former
colleague in a high profile and densely-plotted investigation. Also available
in Large Print.
Why the Dreyfus Affair Matters by Louis Begley, 2009
Abuse of power, judicial corruption and treason set the stage for the
conviction of an innocent man. This is the true story of Captain Alfred
Dreyfus. The book reads like a stunning work of modern fiction.
Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich, 2010
When Irene discovers her artist husband has been reading her diary, she adds
entries to manipulate him, and begins a second notebook recording
the truth about her life and marriage. Although the novel starts slowly,
it continues to grow, exploring the complex nature of love and a family's
struggle for survival.
Page 4
Books to Look For @GNL
Music, Milestones and More
Mark a Busy Fall @ GNL
Some of the highlights at the Library include Socrates’ Salon hosted by
Ron Gross, which will be celebrating its 20th Anniversary with the
Great Neck Library this September. The Salon has been energizing its
audiences with discussions of intriguing topics of all kinds. Please join
Ron at the Salon on Monday, September 27 at 3:00 pm for this
momentous occasion when the discussion will be “I was Wrong,” which
will examine ways to improve our lives by realizing that “to err makes
us more human,” both intellectually and emotionally.
“Now We Can Sing,” on Sunday, September 26 at 2:00 pm., is an
inspiring musical event that centers on music banned to Jewish
musicians by the Nazis in 1930’s Germany. Juilliard-trained flutist
Barbara Siesel and singer, songwriter, guitarist and storyteller Keith
Torgan recreate the times through the music of Bach, Schumann,
Hindemith, Copland and others.
On Sunday, October 3 at 2:00 pm, a concert of Chamber Music for
violin and piano will be presented by Philip Malamud and
Dr. Isadore Horowitz with the music of Bach, Mozart, Schubert
and Beethoven. On Wednesday, October 6 at 2:00 p.m., join us for
Bernstein on Broadway, a discussion and video presentation of
Leonard Bernstein’s Broadway musicals presented by Marc Courtade,
in the Main Library’s community room.
On Tuesday, October 5 at 1:30 pm, music historian and executive,
Morton Wax, will present The Music Game, a behind-the-scenes look at
the history of popular music.
On Monday, October 11th, don’t miss a celebration of Judy Garland
with “Judy Garland Part I, Beyond the Rainbow” presented by Jack
Schnur, who was a videotape editor at CBS for 30 years. He will pay
tribute to Garland’s talent from vaudeville through the 1940’s. Part II
of this tribute will take place on Tuesday, October 19th in which
Mr. Schnur continues his Garland tribute with highlights of her later
movies and television career. Both programs take place at 1:30 pm in
the Main Library’s community room.
The continuation of screenings from the Metropolitan Opera’s
monumental production of Wagner’s opera series, Ring of the Nibelung,
with Part 3, “Siegfried,” will be held on Thursday, October 7th at 1:00
pm, and Part 4 (conclusion), “Gotterdamerung,” on Thursday, October
14th at 1:00 pm in the Main Library’s community room. Gabe Chieco
will provide commentary and introduction and Sina Kiai will play
musical interludes on the piano.
What I Thought I knew: A Memoir by Alice Eve Cohen, 2009
Told with humor, intimacy and brutal honesty, this memoir about
motherhood reads like a thriller. Cohen writes grippingly of surviving a
personal catastrophe in a moving book you can't put down.
The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell, 2010
With a similarity of tone and setting to the novels of Stieg Larsson, this
compelling story by the author of the Kurt Wallander series of thrillers is
highly readable. Birgitta Roslin, a Swedish judge, unravels a labyrinthian
history of crime and murder that takes the reader to 19th-century China and
America, to Europe, Africa and China today.
Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the
Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, 2010
A fascinating insider's view of the pivotal race between Obama and Clinton,
and then between Obama and McCain. The book reads like a novel with a
fascinating plot unfolding that you might not believe if you didn't already
know it was fact. From the upheaval in the Clinton camp to the story of the
infamous Palin wardrobe, every juicy detail is included.