New Items Added in March

If you'd like to see what new items have been added to the library collections during March, take this link to the catalog.  You can browse and place holds.  There's also a link over on the right side of this blog that will take you to the same place.  Don't forget to check out the downloadable ebooks and audios.  New titles are added every month.

Also take a look at the Friends of NPL book sale at the library located in the hallway to the Hecht Meeting Room. New items are added every week.  Great bargains!

Thank you, Julie!

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We had a great program last week with local author Julie Titone.  She spoke about the journey the book Boocoo Dinky Dow took, from a manuscript in the late 70s to its publication last year.  

She also read key passages from the book, and was joined by Victor Villanueva Jr., a Vietnam Vet who was in Vietnam at the same time as the Grady Myers.  After the formal part of the presentation, Victor shared some of his own stories.  His reading and reminiscence added even more depth to the evening.

We do appreciate Rachel from the Bookie also coming down.  We know our patrons appreciate being able to purchase on-site a copy of the book under discussion.

Here is a post from Julie about the event, hosted on the book's site.  Look for more author events coming up in April!

It's Today!

Remember!  5:30!  Write it on your hand, put it in your phone, do whatever.  There will be cookies!  This program is not to be missed!

 

Julie Titone Tomorrow!

Julie Titone, Local Author, to Visit

Julie Titone, local author and scholar, will present at Neill Public Library tomorrow, Thursday, March 21 at 5:30 pm, in the Hecht Meeting Room.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase on-site through The Bookie.

Julie is a former journalist for the Idaho Statesman and the Spokesman Review, and she is the coauthor for the recent publication Boocoo Dinky Dow: My Short, Crazy Vietnam War, a memoir by Grady C. Myers, who was drafted as a teenager.  Grady passed away in 2011.

We hope to see you there!

Clean and Find Green?

Spring Cleaning is the theme of this post again; this time, with something the library offers you! 

Have you found, perhaps stashed away in a closet or attic, something that may in fact be an antique?  Or maybe it's a collectible or some other rare find.  How can you know if it's worth selling?  Sure, you could Google it, but many sites for sales of art and antiques want you to pay to register to see much of anything.  You could look on eBay, but that just shows you what people have set as an asking price: you've no way of knowing if that's actually a fair price for the item. 

Take a look at one of the library's online resources, Price It! Antiques and Collectibles database. 

With more than 60 million images, 127 searchable categories, and intuitive search functionality, Price It! is the ultimate identification, research, and pricing tool for collectors, dealers, appraisers, and anyone in between.  Simple to use, this online resource delivers more than 41 million actual prices paid for treasures that you collect, buy and trade.

Price It! searches past sales through online retail and auction outlets, as well as physical auction houses.  You will be able to see the selling price of the item along with a description and frequently a photo. 

As an example, has someone in your family made an attempt to collect those little spoons you can get at touristy places in different states?  If you're ready to give up your collection, take a look: a collection of sterling silver spoons, property of Mrs. Vivian Heffran, was valued at $250-450.  The set of 25 spoons weighed a total of 14.35 ounces, with spoons up to 5 3/4 inches long.  This collection sold through an auction house in 2007 for $450.  That's nothing to sneeze at!

Do you have a box of old movie posters or action figures from your youth?  Did your mom squirrel away your metal lunchbox with the cool matching thermos that you used in school 40 years ago?  It could be worth something today, if you know where to look.

Want to take a look for yourself, see if any of the items gathering dust on your shelves could generate a little *cha-ching* for your bank account?  Log on for free anytime with your library card number.  Ask your reference librarian for more information!

Time for Spring Cleaning!

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The sun is shining, although in fits and starts, and many are feeling the drive to fling open windows and air out rooms that have been stuffy and close all winter long.  Clean, polish, and let everything sparkle in the intermittent sunshine!

We engaged in quite a bit of Spring Cleaning ourselves during our recent In House Work Week: carpets were shampooed, shelves cleaned, desks cleared, and closets, drawers, and cubbies sorted through.  We found quite a few gems hidden away: photos of staff who have moved on and of children long grown; reports from a decade ago, before computers were available for the public and Books on CD-- much less downloadables-- were an exciting new technology.  Much of what we found we recycled, either by sending the paper to the recycling center, or reused, by finding new uses for binders, folders, pens, tubs, and boxes.

If, as you are spring-cleaning your own domicile, you find things you no longer need, you have many options in and around town for the disposal of your disposables.  Whitman County Solid Waste Recycling Division is having their Spring Clean Up days April 8th and 20th.  Always available for free are recycling options for old appliances and metal, yard waste, oils and solutions, and the more traditional recyclables of glass, plastic, cardboard, etc.  Pullman Disposal will also offer a Clean Up Event sometime in April: watch their site for more details to come.

What about materials that could still be of use to someone else?  Pullman has a wealth of worthy causes to choose from: donate household goods to Palouse Treasures, The Thrift Shop, Second Chance Animal, or any of the many others in the community.  Why throw away something that could help so many?

Finally, don't forget the library!  Neill Public Library accepts donations of print and AV materials:

Materials donated to the Library will be added to the library's collection if they meet the criteria for materials selection. If donated items are not added to the collection, they will be placed in our Friends of NPL book sale, given to educational or charitable organizations, or recycled....
Once given, all gifts are the property of Neill Public Library and will be treated on an equal basis with the purchased materials concerning the inclusion, display, housing, circulation and disposition of the material.

Get into those closets and cupboards and clean!

Pullman author to read at NPL, 3/21/13

March 21 at Neill Public Library

Pullman author to read from ‘short, crazy’ Vietnam War memoir

Julie Titone will read from the memoir that she co-authored with the late artist Grady Myers, “Boocoo Dinky Dow: My short, crazy Vietnam War,” on March 21 in Pullman.

The event will take place at 5:30 p.m. at Neill Public Library, 210 N. Grand Ave.

Joining her in reading from the book will be Washington State University professor of English and Vietnam veteran Victor Villanueva Jr.

The book takes its title from soldiers’ slang pronunciation of “beaucoup dien cai dau,” meaning very crazy. A reviewer for the Vietnam Veterans of America called the memoir “Lucid ... well-told ... beautifully illustrated ... infused with humor.”  Washington State Magazine praised it as "Part ‘M*A*S*H’ and part ‘Full Metal Jacket.’ ”

Myers was an aimless Idaho teenager, when, desperate for troops, the U.S. Army overlooked his extreme nearsightedness and transformed him into Hoss, an M-60 machine gunner. In “Boocoo Dinky Dow,” he recounts his military initiation at Fort Lewis, Wash. He describes the intensity of Vietnam, where an old man carrying a bundle of sticks posed a moral dilemma and where his explosives-happy comrades in Charlie Company sometimes posed the greatest danger.

Myers returned from four months in Vietnam with a Purple Heart and spent the rest of his Army career recovering from his war wounds. He went on to a professional art career. His employers included the Idaho Statesman in Boise, the Spokesman-Review in Spokane and the Idaho Panhandle National Forests in Coeur d’Alene. He died in 2011.

Myers and Titone were newspaper colleagues when they produced the first manuscript of his memoir in the late 1970s. They eventually married, had a son, divorced yet remained friends. When he became bedridden several years ago, they revived the manuscript to give him a project to work on. This time, they added Myers’ drawings that had become part of the National Veterans Art Museum collection.

Titone has worked as a journalist and university communicator. Her writing and photography have appeared in regional, national and international publications; her essays have been published in three college textbooks and two literary collections. Her novel, Deadline Affairs, was recorded by Books in Motion.

For more information, visit: www.shortcrazyvietnam.com. 

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We're Back!

Beginning at 1pm March 11th, the Library resumes its regular operating hours.
Monday--1-7
Tuesday--10-7
Wednesday--9-6
Thursday--9-6
Friday--1-5
Saturday--1-5 

We had a productive In House Work Week, as will be readily visible when you come back in!  

Another Daily News Gem from Joanna!

There’s a saying in my family that “nothing is certain in life but death and taxes.”  Several weeks ago, I, like many thousands of other Americans, cleared some time to focus on the latter of these elements…taxes.  The kids had been warned in advance “Mommy’s doing taxes, so this is her alone time.”  My husband had been prepped to run interference and was adequately equipped with a variety of meal and snack options with which to feed our offspring when they got hungry.  So, hunched over my computer, 10-key by my side and surrounded by piles of files and receipts, I steeled myself to the task at hand and dug in.  

I had gotten the tax forms and booklets I needed from Neill Public Library.  The library has a tax table set up with free hardcopies of many of the popular forms and information booklets people need to file their taxes.  Delivery of these items to the library had been slowed by the recent passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, but in my case, I was lucky the forms I needed had arrived.  

Paperwork in hand, I methodically worked my way through the income, deductions, and credits sections on the form.  Several long hours later, I emerged exhausted, but victorious; another year of taxes had been filed.  I wanted to shout my victory from our rooftop, but decided to settle, instead, for another cup of coffee and some hard-won breakfast.  Coming from someone who doesn’t have a personal tax accountant to help me with taxes, let me offer a suggestion to those that do.  Thank your accountant.  Take them some flowers or chocolate to express your gratitude for their assistance.  They just saved you from countless hours, numerous paper cuts, and an otherwise mind-numbing experience that could have left you reeling.

If you have not yet filed your taxes and you are over the age of 50, or are of any age in a low to middle income tax bracket, pay close attention.  The AARP Foundation Tax Aide program is offering free help at two locations in Moscow.  Representatives will be on hand to answer your tax-related questions and in some cases, to actually prepare your taxes for you.  Sessions are held at the 1912 Center in Moscow, from 9:30 am – 2 pm on Wednesdays and Fridays, and the University of Idaho College of Law building, from 5 – 7pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 8 am - 12noon on Saturdays.  Walk-ins are welcome at both locations, with sessions scheduled to end by mid-April.

If you are already a seasoned filer and just need the forms or instruction booklets, stop by Neill Public Library to pick up what you need.  If the material has not yet arrived from the IRS, our information staff can help you print out what you need directly from the IRS website at www.IRS.gov. 

Joanna Bailey

Library Director, Neill Public Library

3/02-03/13 Moscow Pullman Daily News

New Items for February

If you'd like to see what new items were added to the library collections during this short month of February, this link takes you to the catalog. Browse and place holds on the new materials.  New downloadable eBooks and eAudios are added every month as well.