Sherman Alexie @ Delgado Library

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Book Review by Regina Gillam

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a really good book.  Sherman Alexie (screenwriter of the film Smoke Signals, available at these area libraries) weaves a semi-autobiographical tale of a 14-year old Spokane Indian named Arnold Spirit.  The book is a fast read due to the candor and self- deprecating humor of Arnold.  The characters and plot line are well developed. Several times while reading The Absolutely True Diary I had to remind myself that it is a work of fiction.  


The storytelling draws you in,  as if a friend is telling you a few anecdotes about his life. Although it is fiction it has very real themes dealing with such issues as abuse, poverty, alcoholism, individualism, community, and life on a reservation.  Overall, the book is more humorous than heavy, even with the aforementioned weighty themes.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who is up for enjoyable leisure reading. 

The book can be checked out from any of Delgado’s Libraries. Just click on the link above and it will take you to the item record in the library's catalog. If you need the book transferred to another Delgado location, then just ask a library staff person. It's normally shelved under call # 813.6 A38a, in case you want to browse around in that area.

Additional information about Sherman Alexie is available from a number of the library's databases, including Academic Search Complete, Biography in Context, and Literature Resource Center. 

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

Since its inception in 1970, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, commonly known as Jazz Fest, has grown into a culturally significant annual event. Jazz Fest is a celebration of New Orleans culture and music held during the last weekend of April and the first weekend of May at the Fair Grounds Race Course.

The first festival started out very small. It was held at Congo Square, over five days with a couple of musicians and bands including Mahalia Jackson, Duke Ellington and Fats Domino. Around 350 people were in attendance. By 1976, the festival expanded to two weekends. The 1990s brought about an addition of an international stage as well as a Native American Stage.

Over 40 years later, Jazz Fest has grown into an internationally known festival. Twelve different tents and stages host an array of musicians. Jazz isn’t the only music heard at Jazz Fest. The music ranges from traditional jazz, R&B, gospel, zydeco, and Cajun, to folk, rock, pop, latin and world music. There are also many cultural activities and presentations held throughout the Fair Grounds.  More than 400,000 music lovers will enjoy all that Jazz Fest has to offer over 7 days this year.

Artists playing at Jazz this year include: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, The Eagles, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Ne-Yo, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, Bon Iver, The Neville Brothers, Irma Thomas and more.

learn more @  http://dcc.libguides.com/jazzfest

National Library Week next week!

Whether you are a student researching a class assignment, a job seeker looking for resources to land a new job, or a local community member coming to share Delgado’s resources, you belong @ your library.

Today’s libraries help level the playing field by making both print and digital information affordable, available, and accessible to all people.  Libraries help students and faculty thrive in these tough economic times by providing resources tailored to meet their needs. This National Library Week, join our nation’s libraries and librarians by celebrating the place where we all belong. 

The Delgado Community College Libraries are celebrating National Library Week with FINE FREE WEEK! Bring back your overdue library books during this week and your fines will be forgiven. In addition, we are observing the week by offering programs for students, faculty, and staff such as: Trivia, Library Jeopardy, and Faculty Workshops!

Daily drawing at 4pm for Prizes.

City Park Library will be playing Jeopardy on Wednesday  April 11^th at 10am and Thursday April 12^th at 11am.

The DCC Reference Librarians will present a CCSS workshop from 9am-12pm on April 13^th.

“Today's libraries provide a wide range of opportunities for people with diverse needs and interests,” says Denise Repman, Dean of Library Services.  “That means providing their communities with tailor made collections and services for people of diverse backgrounds, language abilities and technological skills.”
First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April.  

For more information, visit one of our Delgado Community College Libraries, call 504-671-5317, or see the library’s Web site at http://dcc.libguides.com/library for library locations and hours.

Tennessee Williams and The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival

Playwright Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) was born Thomas Lanier Williams in Mississippi. He wrote many plays, short stories, novels, and more. He spent some time in New Orleans at various points in his life and it influenced many of his works including A Streetcar Named Desire and Vieux Carré.In 1986 a festival was created to honor Tennessee Williams and to promote literary programs and education. The festival is a five day long event and it includes panel discussions, music, plays, and other events like the Stanley and Stella Shouting Contest. The events are at several different venues throughout the French Quarter. This year the festival is March 21-25. More information about the festival can be found here http://www.tennesseewilliams.net/. 

Tennessee Williams was an American writer from the South. Many of his characters were based on his own family and life. His first real success was the play The Glass Menagerie in 1944. His next work, A Streetcar Named Desire, won him a Pulitzer Prize. Later in life, he was insecure that he could not duplicate his early works' success and used sleeping pills and liquor to quiet his restless mind.

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Mardi Gras is almost here!

The season of Mardi Gras begins on or after the Epiphany and ends the day before Ash Wednesday. It means “Fat Tuesday” in French. This refers to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the Lenten season starts. Governor Warmoth of Louisiana signed the “Mardi Gras Act” making it a legal holiday in 1875.

       Zulu is one of the main Mardi Gras Day parades to roll through New Orleans. This organization started with a group of men who belonged to a Benevolent Aid Society. These societies were the first forms of insurance in the Black community. In 1973, the Zulu president started recruiting professionals, educators, and prominent businessmen from all ethnic backgrounds to increase its membership. Zulu became the first parading organization to racially integrate. The most sought after throw is the coconut or “Golden Nugget”. Their traditions are black facing, wearing grass skirts, and keeping the King’s identity a secret.

       This year the Krewe of Endymion will have their first African American King. George LaFargue is a New Orleans native. He has been a member for the past six years.

See more @ http://dcc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=301387  

National Book Award Winner

National Book Award Winner, Jesmyn Ward

In 2008, the book review magazine Kirkus Reviews published a short review of Jesmyn Ward’s first book, Where the Line Bleeds. The review said her book “serves up a world that has been little depicted: the rural African-American South, a place of grinding poverty but enduring loyalties, tragic but somehow noble at the same time.” It also called the book “[a] promising debut” (Kirkus Reviews link to be hyperlinked to ‘Kirkus Reviews’ above: http://libraryproxy.dcc.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=35359358&site=ehost-live ).

That promise was in part filled Wednesday evening November 16, 2011, when the winners of this year’s National Book Awards were announced at the Cipriani restaurant on Wall Street in New York, and Jesmyn Ward’s name was called for her new novel about life during Hurricane Katrina, Salvage the Bones (book link in our catalog to be hyperlinked to “Salvage the Bones” https://delgado.louislibraries.org:7003/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/57/5/3?searchdata1=1685800{CKEY}&searchfield1=GENERAL^SUBJECT^GENERAL^^&user_id=WEBSERVER ).

Ward’s reaction to the announcement was recorded in an interview with the Wall Street Journal’s blog, Speakeasy: “I was shocked. I couldn’t believe my name had been called because the whole time I was sitting there thinking, okay, just breathe. Whatever is happening, just breathe through it” (WSJ Speakeasy link to be hyperlinked to ‘Speakeasy’ above: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/11/17/reactions-from-national-book-award-winners/ ).

Now that we have moved beyond the peak in activity on the internet generated by the announcement of this year’s National Book Award winners, it will be interesting to see how these writers – and more writing about them – develop. As of this writing, there is very little literature on a writer as new and young as Jesmyn Ward. But that will probably soon change.

With previous winners of this award including some of America’s greatest authors – i.e. William Faulkner, Ralph Ellison, Alice Walker, Susan Sontag, Don DeLillo, and Jonathan Franzen – it is all the more remarkable that Jesmyn Ward grew up poor, and that she was the first member of her family to attend college. She learned her craft from reading the greats that came before her. In a recent Times-Picayune article (http://www.nola.com/books/index.ssf/2011/11/national_book_award_nominee_je.html ), she discusses the influence some of them had on her development.

In the speech she delivered after winning the award (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/11/national-book-awards-2011-video.html ), Jesmyn Ward reflected on life’s shortness and unpredictability. She says she chose to commit herself to writing because “I wanted to do something with my time here that would have meaning.” To celebrate her accomplishment, the Library will display her books through the month of January in the company of some previous National Book Award winners.

Thanksgiving 2011

The holidays are a time of cooking, eating, feasting, sharing and celebrating with food.  For most people food is far more than the calories we consume, it is bound up with culture, tradition, family, history,  lifestyle, place, and identity.  Celebrate the holidays with Delgado Community College Libraries and devour a book about FOOD!

http://dcc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=269065