Newsletter (Apr 2008)

APRIL 2008 LIBRARIAN FUN

Monthly newsletter pertaining to the topic of librarians.

NEWS STORIES: Fact or Fiction?

Which of the following recent news stories are real, and which are fictitious?

News Story #1: Florida librarian arrested for posing as a cop.

News Story #2: Librarian wins $87 million lottery prize.

News Story #3: Some streets in New Orleans were recently closed while scenes for the upcoming The Librarian: the Curse of the Judas Chalice movie were being filmed.

News Story #4: Deceased reference librarian leaves $2 million dollars to West Hartford Public Library.

News Story #5: Theatrical production “Arthur and Esther” is a dark comedy about a librarian.

News Story #6: California librarian seeks Congressional seat.

News Story #7: Former Texas school librarian competes in Miss Universe pageant

News Story #8: Librarian seeks a win in the West Michigan Golden Gloves Championship.

News Story #9: Library director confirms library addition to be made from dirt.

News Story #10: Librarian assaulted by family members of “reprimanded” pupil.

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ANSWERS

News Story #1: Fact
The March 13, 2008 Orlando Sentinel ran an article about a librarian with the Pompano Beach detention center of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office who was charged with impersonating a cop, and stealing a BMW.

News Story #2: Fiction
I wish this were true, and that I was the winning librarian. I have discovered two past news stories about librarians who have one small lottery pools, but that was several years ago. So isn’t it about time for a librarian to win big cash in the lottery again?

News Story #3: Fact
Yes, The Librarian is Back!
Harrison Ford returns to the big screen this May in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. So it’s only fitting that Noah Wylie has returned to the small screen as The Librarian again in The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice. No word yet on the date the film will air on TNT. More information on the movie is available at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1146438/.
(Note: If you remember the opening scene of The Librarian: Return to King Solomon’s Mine, one of the bad guys finds the Crystal Skull, a precognitive medium which is supposedly one of the lost treasures of Atlantis. The Crystal Skull reference in the title of the forthcoming Indiana Jones movie is supposedly this same treasure.)

News Story #4: Fact
Thomas Kilfoil, a former reference librarian at the West Hartford Public Library passed away in 2005. According to the March 18th Hartford Courant, Kilfoil, who worked for the library for over 30 years, left $2 million to the library. You can read the article here.

News Story #5: Fact
The March 21st Anchorage Daily News reported this dark comedy was coming to the valley. “The plot: Arthur Huey is facing a crisis. His job as community librarian is evaporating and his marriage is on the rocks. What’s left to live for?”
You can read the article online at http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/351899.html

News Story #6: Fact
The March 5th Oakland Tribune reported Cynthia Papermaster, a law librarian and peace activist will oppose U.S. Representative Pete Stark (California’s 13th Congressional District) and seek the Democratic nomination.

News Story #7: Fiction
This is fiction, but it’s very plausible!

News Story #8: Fact
The March 23rd Grand Rapids Press reported “Grand Rapids Community College librarian Gerado Jilote started building a new reputation among patrons by scoring a 5-0 judge's decision over light welterweight Jake Shanks of Traverse City in the novice division” of the West Michigan Golden Gloves Championship on the first night of the three night event.

News Story #9: Fact
A March 24th story in the Caper Star Tribune reports the new wing of the Sublette County Library is being constructed literally out of dirt. It reportedly is the first ever rammed-earth public building in the U.S. “Rammed earth building is a construction technique that has been used for thousands of years. The green-building process involves compacting moist earth into pre-set molds to form walls and ceilings.” You can read the article at http://tinyurl.com/2uktpl

News Story #10: Fact
The March 25th Gulf News ran this headline for a story from Dubai about a librarian who was beaten up in her classroom by the mother, grandmother, and domestic help of a 3rd grade pupil at the Apple International School located in Al Ghusais.

For more information about librarians…

Be sure to purchase a copy of my new book, Casanova Was a Librarian: a Light Hearted Look at the Profession, by Kathleen Low, available from McFarland (www.mcfarlandpub.com), Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, and other retailers.

Thanks for reading along with me!

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