A Visit from St. Nicholas" (also known as "The Night Before Christmas" and "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" from its first line) is a poem first published anonymously in 1823. It is largely responsible for the conception of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century to today, including his physical appearance, the night of his visit, his mode of transportation, the number and names of eight of his reindeer, and that he brings toys to children. Prior to the poem, American ideas about St. Nicholas and other Christmastide visitors varied considerably. The poem has influenced ideas about St. Nicholas and Santa Claus beyond the United States to the rest of the English speaking world. The only major change to our vision of Santa Claus was the addition of Rudolph in the 1940’s.
The poem was first published anonymously in the Troy, New York Sentinel on December 23, 1823, and was reprinted frequently thereafter with no name attached. Authorship was later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore and the poem was included in an 1844 anthology of his works. Moore was an author, a Hebrew scholar, a professor of Greek and Oriental languages who spoke 5 languages. However he is remembered for the Christmas poem which legend says he wrote on a sleigh ride home after buying a Christmas turkey for his family. There is some debate that Henry Livingston Jr. was the author of the poem.
In An American Anthology, 1787–1900, Edmund Clarence Stedman, editor, reprinted the Moore version of the poem, including the German spelling of "Donder and Blitzen" he adopted, rather than the earlier Dutch version from 1823, "Dunder and Blixem". Both phrases translate as "Thunder and Lightning" in English, though the German word for thunder is "Donner", and the words in modern Dutch would be "Donder en Bliksem". This explains why the confused reindeer has been known as Donner, Donder and Dunder.
Today, some printings alter the grammar and spelling of the poem and replace somewhat archaic words, such as ere, with ones more familiar to modern readers. The word courser in the poem means a very fast horse. The final line, originally written as "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night", has been changed in many editions to "Merry Christmas to all", in accord with the standard Christmas greeting current in the United States.
There have been many adaptations of the poem including the Librarian’s Night before Christmas, Cajun Night Before Christmas, the Night Before the Night Before Christmas and Heathcliff’s Night Before Christmas. Garfield, the Muppets, and Pokemon all have their own versions of the poem.
The library will be closed on the night before Christmas Dec 24 and on Dec 25. We will be open on Dec 26th.
We hope that you have a ‘Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night.’
Monday, December 22, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Talking Books
The mission of the Kansas Talking Book Service is to provide books and magazines in braille and recorded format and playback equipment to any Kansas Citizen unable to use standard print because of a visual or physical impairment.
The service, coordinated through the State Library of Kansas and the Library of Congress, National Library Service, provides for free home delivery of library resources designed to meet the cultural and recreational needs of eligible patrons by providing a well-rounded leisure-reading collections, equipment adapted to the reader’s needs and helpful responses to requests for information.
Persons who are unable to read or use standard printed materials due to blindness, low vision, missing arms or hands, lack of muscle coordination, prolonged weakness, or physically based reading disabilities (such as dyslexia) are eligible to use the service. An application signed by a certifying agent is required. You can get an application online at http://skyways.lib.ks.us/KSL/talking/ or at the library.
When a person enters the program they are sent a special player that is easy to use and will play the specially formatted tapes. The tapes will not play on a regular cassette player. Digital book players and cartridges will be coming in the near future. Descriptive videotapes are available. Descriptive videos are movies and television programs enhanced with narration that describes the actions, settings, gestures, and other key visual elements. A variety of popular free recorded and Braille magazines are also available.
Books are sent postage free, through regular U.S. mail, and are returned in the same manner. All have pre-addressed postage free mailing cards for easy return.
The Kansas Talking Book collection (more than 50,000 titles)contains a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction titles for adults and children, including best-sellers, mysteries, romance, biographies, christian fiction, science fiction, poetry, humor, westerns and suspense.A complete searchable list of available titles in Kansas is available at www.klas.com/kstb. The KLAS system allows registered users the ease of searching, determining availability and reserving the materials they want to read. Registered patrons also receive a list of recent releases (Talking Book Topics) and genre catalogs to aid in their selection. Patrons may request items found in these resources or titles recommended in newsletters simply by going on-line using KLAS in Kansas, calling Jaime Prideaux at the Southeast Kansas Library System 1-800- 279-3219 or emailing jprideaux@sekls.org.
If requested, the Talking Books library staff will automatically select titles by genre, such as biographies or poetry. They also provides Readers Advisory Service that will be happy to provide suggestions.
Because reading is more than a visual experience
The service, coordinated through the State Library of Kansas and the Library of Congress, National Library Service, provides for free home delivery of library resources designed to meet the cultural and recreational needs of eligible patrons by providing a well-rounded leisure-reading collections, equipment adapted to the reader’s needs and helpful responses to requests for information.
Persons who are unable to read or use standard printed materials due to blindness, low vision, missing arms or hands, lack of muscle coordination, prolonged weakness, or physically based reading disabilities (such as dyslexia) are eligible to use the service. An application signed by a certifying agent is required. You can get an application online at http://skyways.lib.ks.us/KSL/talking/ or at the library.
When a person enters the program they are sent a special player that is easy to use and will play the specially formatted tapes. The tapes will not play on a regular cassette player. Digital book players and cartridges will be coming in the near future. Descriptive videotapes are available. Descriptive videos are movies and television programs enhanced with narration that describes the actions, settings, gestures, and other key visual elements. A variety of popular free recorded and Braille magazines are also available.
Books are sent postage free, through regular U.S. mail, and are returned in the same manner. All have pre-addressed postage free mailing cards for easy return.
The Kansas Talking Book collection (more than 50,000 titles)contains a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction titles for adults and children, including best-sellers, mysteries, romance, biographies, christian fiction, science fiction, poetry, humor, westerns and suspense.A complete searchable list of available titles in Kansas is available at www.klas.com/kstb. The KLAS system allows registered users the ease of searching, determining availability and reserving the materials they want to read. Registered patrons also receive a list of recent releases (Talking Book Topics) and genre catalogs to aid in their selection. Patrons may request items found in these resources or titles recommended in newsletters simply by going on-line using KLAS in Kansas, calling Jaime Prideaux at the Southeast Kansas Library System 1-800- 279-3219 or emailing jprideaux@sekls.org.
If requested, the Talking Books library staff will automatically select titles by genre, such as biographies or poetry. They also provides Readers Advisory Service that will be happy to provide suggestions.
Because reading is more than a visual experience
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Book Sale
The Library Foundation will be hosting a book sale on Friday December 5 from 9:00 to 5:00. Come and find some hidden treasures as you explore our book sale room.
We have fiction, nonfiction, large print, paperbacks, children books, young adult books and audio-books.
So if you are looking for a great stocking stuffer at a low price, come to the book sale!
We have fiction, nonfiction, large print, paperbacks, children books, young adult books and audio-books.
So if you are looking for a great stocking stuffer at a low price, come to the book sale!
Holdiay Display
In a hurry to find something about Christmas? You can find a good selection of fiction and nonfiction titles on the display table in the library. The table is just in front of the new books. You are welcome to take these books and DVD's.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Library Fundraiser
The Library Foundation is raffling an awesome iPod Touch. If you want to listen to music, watch movies, connect to the Internet via WiFi or look at photos, this is the iPod to have. It has 16 Gigabytes of memory so it will give you hours and hours of fun. You can go to Apple.com to see more about this prize
The iPod touch would make a great gift!
The tickets sell for $1.00 each or 6 for $5.00. You can buy them at the library or from any Library Foundation member.
The raffle will be held at noon on December 19, so buy your tickets soon.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Food For Fines
In the month of November, you can pay your fines at the library with non-perishable food items. All of the items will go to the Salvation Army. The value of the food should be roughly equal to the amount of the fine. You are, of course, welcome to donate more than your fine's worth if you wish.
This is a great way to share in the season of giving!
This is a great way to share in the season of giving!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
SEK-n-Find
We have something great coming for you! We will be upgrading to a new computer library catalog and circulation system next week called SEK-n-Find.
In 2006 we joined with other libraries in Southeastern Kansas in a consortium to purchase a library computer system that would enable us to share resources with these libraries, receive updates to the system, and to keep the costs down. We have been working hard with these libraries to provide a system that will be people friendly and easy to use.
With the SEK-n-Find you will be able to search the catalog from the library or from home to see what book, DVD, audio book etc .you would like to check out. You can also place holds, review your account and renew items at your convenience. The system will send automated overdue notices by email when possible. You will also be able to see if the Independence, Chanute or Iola libraries have what you are looking for.
The new system will also allow you to tag or make very short descriptive comments about the library material. You may say that the book you read is a romantic comedy and use that description as a tag. Then when you want to find other books that are like it, you can go to the tags and find other romantic comedies. You will also be able to make comments about the material that you use.
We will be closed on November 4th to install the system. At that time we will be making sure that most the bugs are out of it and all will go smoothly for the rest of the week. On Nov. 3 we will be open, but we will not be able to check any items out, as the records will be migrating to the new system. However on the 3rd you can still read magazines and/or books at the library and you can use the computers.
With the coming of the new system we will have new library cards. You can come in anytime after Nov 4th to exchange your old card for a new one. You may also buy a keychain card for $1.00 when you get your free library card. If you don’t have a library card this would be a perfect time to get one! You will need to have your library card with you to check out materials.
As a thank you for your patience as we make the transition to the new computer system we will have Fine Free Week from Nov 3-7. So if you have any books that you have been thinking you should return to the library this would be a great time to do so.
SEK-n-Find will provide you with new opportunities to discover new library materials quickly and easily.
In 2006 we joined with other libraries in Southeastern Kansas in a consortium to purchase a library computer system that would enable us to share resources with these libraries, receive updates to the system, and to keep the costs down. We have been working hard with these libraries to provide a system that will be people friendly and easy to use.
With the SEK-n-Find you will be able to search the catalog from the library or from home to see what book, DVD, audio book etc .you would like to check out. You can also place holds, review your account and renew items at your convenience. The system will send automated overdue notices by email when possible. You will also be able to see if the Independence, Chanute or Iola libraries have what you are looking for.
The new system will also allow you to tag or make very short descriptive comments about the library material. You may say that the book you read is a romantic comedy and use that description as a tag. Then when you want to find other books that are like it, you can go to the tags and find other romantic comedies. You will also be able to make comments about the material that you use.
We will be closed on November 4th to install the system. At that time we will be making sure that most the bugs are out of it and all will go smoothly for the rest of the week. On Nov. 3 we will be open, but we will not be able to check any items out, as the records will be migrating to the new system. However on the 3rd you can still read magazines and/or books at the library and you can use the computers.
With the coming of the new system we will have new library cards. You can come in anytime after Nov 4th to exchange your old card for a new one. You may also buy a keychain card for $1.00 when you get your free library card. If you don’t have a library card this would be a perfect time to get one! You will need to have your library card with you to check out materials.
As a thank you for your patience as we make the transition to the new computer system we will have Fine Free Week from Nov 3-7. So if you have any books that you have been thinking you should return to the library this would be a great time to do so.
SEK-n-Find will provide you with new opportunities to discover new library materials quickly and easily.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Hello
Hi, I am Jennifer Dalton.
I am excited about being in Coffeyville. My dad, Claude Kimbrel, was born and raised on a farm near Dearing. I fondly remember coming to Coffeyville every summer as a girl to visit my grandparents and cousins.
I became interested in library work as a volunteer in my daughters' school library. I worked as an associate in the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library for 5 years. In 1998 I earned my Masters of Library Science degree from Emporia State University. For the past 10 years I have worked in Topeka as a librarian.
I have been a member of the Kansas Library Association's Council, the William Allen White Children Book Award Section Committee and Executive Committee.
My husband is Bob Dalton, and yes he is distantly related to the Dalton gang. He says these family ties give him a very great knowledge and interest in western history, but not any desire to rob a bank.
I have been made very welcome by the staff at the library and the people in town. I am looking forward to working at the Coffeyville Public Library.
I am excited about being in Coffeyville. My dad, Claude Kimbrel, was born and raised on a farm near Dearing. I fondly remember coming to Coffeyville every summer as a girl to visit my grandparents and cousins.
I became interested in library work as a volunteer in my daughters' school library. I worked as an associate in the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library for 5 years. In 1998 I earned my Masters of Library Science degree from Emporia State University. For the past 10 years I have worked in Topeka as a librarian.
I have been a member of the Kansas Library Association's Council, the William Allen White Children Book Award Section Committee and Executive Committee.
My husband is Bob Dalton, and yes he is distantly related to the Dalton gang. He says these family ties give him a very great knowledge and interest in western history, but not any desire to rob a bank.
I have been made very welcome by the staff at the library and the people in town. I am looking forward to working at the Coffeyville Public Library.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
