duncanpubliclibrary

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It’s National Punctuation Day! We’re big fans here at the library. 

The 5 Best Punctuation Marks in Literature By Kathryn Schulz

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Happy Birthday, Sir Terry Pratchett! 

This amazing author thrilled the world over with his Discworld series (41 books strong!), his children's books, and his collaborations with authors such as Neil Gaiman and Stephen Baxter. His first novel, The Carpet People, was published when he was just 23! Despite living with a rare form of Alzheimer’s, Pratchett continued to work on his novels and campaigned to raise awareness about Alzheimer's. Terry Pratchett passed away in 2015. His last book, The Shepherd's Crown, was published posthumously. The rest of his unfinished work was destroyed (via steamroller) as per the author's last wishes.

Featured Reads:

Small Gods

Wyrd Sisters

Going Postal 

Good Omens with Neil Gaimen (we just got this in as a physical copy, and we have multiple ebook copies as well)

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We learn about the world through stories. It is humanity's go-to tool for explaining and remembering just about anything. Why there's thunder, how things grow, why we do things one way instead of another.

So, what is your favorite story?

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Getting organized can mean a lot of things, and with spring in the air, it's time to go through our lives and set things to rights. And it's not just your home that can be organized! Check out some of our other books on organizing your digital life or setting up a good journal experience!

Hoopla Books on Organizing 

The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

Declutter Your Data: Take Charge of Your Data and Organize Your Digital Life by Angela Crocker

Dot journaling--a practical guide : how to start and keep the planner, to-do list, and diary that'll actually help you get your life together by Rachel Wilkerson Miller

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Sometimes, you just gotta buy a book. We, of course, recommend trying the library first, but if it's something that you just NEED to own, please consider buying from a local independent bookstore! We've got a used bookstore on Main Street, or you can support independent bookstores across the state and nation by shopping online at bookshop.org!

*Link to the local bookstore in Duncan: Books Galore*

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Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare! 

Somehow this "upstart crow" (as he was called by his contemporary Robert Greene) has invaded all kinds of modern media!

What is your favorite work of Shakespeare or connected media?

Library Recommended Pairings: 

10 Things I Hate About You  & The Taming of the Shrew

The Lion King & Hamlet

Gnomeo and Juliet & Romeo and Juliet

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Indeed.

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Today is National Hanging Out Day! 

Save your dryer some work today and hang your laundry to dry. It can save you a little on your electric bill each month, it decreases the likelihood of appliance fires, it gets you out in the fresh air, and more!

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Library Updates

Hey everyone! I'm sorry to say that the page is going to be going dark for a little while. Things are getting hectic leading up to Summer Reading. Everything that was scheduled for this month will go up, but that's going to be it for a little while.

Hopefully, I'll be back soon!

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Self-soothe with this video of a 120-year-old book of fairy tales being restored.

(via LitHub)

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It’s like a time machine for words!

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In honor of Chaucer Day (the first day of the pilgrimage and the day that Chaucer first preformed it for the King), I wanted to share with you the ENTIRE GENERAL PROLOGUE in Middle English! If you think that Shakespeare was tough, you'll find that he had nothing on Chaucer.

Most people only really memorize and listen to the first 18 lines. The neat thing about Middle English (at least to me) is how close it actually is to Modern English. The longer you listen to it, the more sense it makes.

Now, I'm not saying that you gotta watch ALL of this. (It's nearly an hour after all, even if I did make sure it would skip to the good bit.) But I do think it's worth listening to at least a few minutes.

"Recreation of the first performance of Geoffrey Chaucer's General Prologue of the Canterbury Tales, imagined as having taken place on 6 June 1389 in Sheen Palace, London. Colin Gibbings is Geoffrey Chaucer. With original Middle English text, edited by Barbara Bordalejo, and translation by Terry Jones, introduced by a conversation between Terry and Barbara. Recorded at the Greystone Theater, the University of Saskatchewan, 9 April 2015. Colin Gibbings is a MA student at the University of Saskatchewan. Devised and presented by the Canterbury Tales Project, Saskatchewan and KU Leuven, in co-operation with Richard North, University College London." (credit from YouTube)

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It's Chaucer Day!

You may not have known it, but Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is considered one of the most important stories in English. Before Chaucer, literature with a capital "L" was in Greek, Latin, or French. This was the first important story told in English. If you think Shakespeare's a trip, check out a tik tok of the first 18 lines of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in Middle English!

You can borrow the Canterbury Tales from the Library, Libby, or Hoopla!

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Library Updates

Hey everyone! I'm sorry to say that the page is going to be going dark for a little while. Things are getting hectic leading up to Summer Reading. Everything that was scheduled for this month will go up, but that's going to be it for a little while.

Hopefully, I'll be back soon!

[duncanpubliclibrary]

It's Cowboy Poetry at the Library!

Saturday is Cowboy Poetry Day, and we are happy to be celebrating it again this year. Ron is back, and he's bringing Don with him this year! Join us at 1 PM on Saturday for a reading of poetry (and possibly a give away?!)

As always, we are asking you to stay home if you aren't feeling well, observe social distancing (the library has the upstairs to overlook and we have wonderful acoustics), and to wear a mask so that we may continue to have these wonderful events in the future.

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It’s National Poetry Month!

You can tell I’m super excited because we got displays up everywhere! There’s one when you walk in the front doors, one upstairs on the Young Adult task bar (with supplies for black out poetry!), and finally one in the kid’s section next to the New Books!

If you get the chance, put some of our poetry books on hold for pickup or come in a grab one real quick. Libby and Hoopla also have quite a collection going themselves!

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Happy Scrabble Day!

As usual, we've got a book for that! Check out 101 Two-Letter Words by Stephin Merritt for an education on the 101 two letter words allowed in a game of Scrabble to up your point total and a celebration of National Poetry Month witty poems dedicated to each word.