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| Here are some 2003 OBNJ NEWS HIGHLIGHTS AT&T Employees and Pioneers read "Tacky the Penguin" to Students in Camden More than 50 AT&T employees and Pioneers participated in this wonderful experience, and AT&T provided roundtrip bus transportation for them from locations in Bridgewater and Middletown to the William F. Powell Elementary School in Camden. This event is an AT&T CARES approved project. Under the AT&T CARES program, all AT&T employees may use one paid workday per year - with supervisor approval - for community service. To learn more about AT&T CARES please visit their web site at www.attcares.com Sincere thanks from everyone at the NJLA and One Book New Jersey for this wonderful contribution of time, energy and funding to the program! Authors Come To New Jersey - Publishers Come Through For OBNJ! Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing will sponsor the visit by Margaret Peterson Haddix, author of Among the Hidden. HarperCollins Publishing will sponsor the visit by Kate Klise, author of Regarding the Fountain, and by M. Sarah Klise, the book's illustrator. Houghton Mifflin Publishing will sponsor the visit by Helen Lester, author of Tacky the Penguin. The three authors will be introduced to Conference attendees at 9:00 a.m. on April 2. The OBNJ program will also present an excerpt from a delightful videotaped interview with Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451. Please consult the NJLA Spring Conference Program to determine exactly where the OBNJ event will be held.
Ridgefield Park Sends OBNJ Into
The Wild!
The
following note comes from Eileen Mackesy-Karpoff, Director of the
Ridgefield Park Library: We're releasing half of our copies "into the wild" through BookCrossings.com and sending the other half to elected officials including three who recently participated in our Dr. Seuss Birthday Party: Ridgefield Park Mayor George Fosdick, Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan, and Bergen County Surrogate Michael Dressler, in hopes they will participate and encourage others to participate in One Book New Jersey activities. Thanks, Eileen! Great idea! Limited Edition OBNJ Tee Shirts For 2003! You
know you want at least one. You probably want two. And if you were
to be really, really honest with yourself -- ADMIT IT! YOU WANT
THREE! The only problem? There are only about 150 of them! (Sad, but true.) There are only about 150 of these 100% cotton One Book New Jersey tee shirts for 2003 (that would be the INAUGURAL year, of course), and they will ONLY be sold at the NJLA Spring Conference! But,
by presenting the paltry sum of $14.51 (any guesses on how we came
up with that figure?) and by saying the magic words, "Give
me my OBNJ tee shirt, NOW! (please)" you, too, may know what
it's like to be envied by every other librarian on the face of the
earth. Teaneck Promotes OBNJ To Local Government The following is a letter sent by Mike McCue, Director of Teaneck Public Library, to his Trustees and the Mayor and Council of Teaneck: Dear Colleagues: I am enclosing a copy of "Fahrenheit 451", a gift for you from BCCLS and this library, in hopes that you will join in One Book New Jersey (OBNJ) activities this spring. As you can see from the enclosed web page materials, OBNJ promotes reading and literacy among all ages. You now have the adult reading selection. There are three others geared for younger readers. The Teaneck Public Library will host Dr. Stephen Levy on Sunday, March 23 at 3PM in a talk about Ray Bradbury and his book. The Children's department plans activities as well. All will be publicized in the local media as well as on our web site at www.teaneck.org. When you are finished reading the book, please feel free to pass it along to a family member, a friend, or business associate. Enjoy! Sincerely, Mike McCue, Director, Teaneck Public Library Yay Mike! Pass it On! The
Long Branch Public Library has set a goal to purchase 250 books
as part of their OBNJ celebration, all
of which will be given away. They intend to add a book plate to
each copy, following the "BookCrossing" model. The LBPL book plate will be worded:
BCCLS Buys Books! It's
no secret that OBNJ was not able to buy
as many copies of the four selections as we would have liked. So,
taking the proverbial bull by the reading glasses, the good folks
at BCCLS (Bergen County Cooperative Library System) decided to buy
1,000 copies of Fahrenheit 451 for distribution to their
73 member libraries! Shortly thereafter, with books and newly printed "OBNJ / BCCLS" stickers in hand, the gang got together again to affix the stickers and distribute the books.
Unwanted Money Creating An Unsightly Mess Around Your Library? Any contributions for One Book New Jersey should be made payable to New Jersey Library Association. OBNJ should be noted in the memo area of the check, and checks should be mailed to: NJLA OBNJ Live Performance Resource! Chuck Bennett and his associates at Twilight Productions have developed live performances, ideal for library programming, of portions of all four of the OBNJ Selections. Chuck developed the OBNJ related programs with the assistance of Judi Ingis of the Camden County Library System. According to Judi, "I can't say enough good things about Chuck. He is a guaranteed HIT!" Pat Collins of the Gloucester County Library has also hired Chuck and his friends on several occasions, and reports consistently great responses from GCL audiences. Check the OBNJ calendar for Chuck's numerous April performances at many of Camden County's branches. And you can learn more about Chuck and the wholesome, family-oriented entertainment he offers at his website: www.twiprod.com, or by calling Chuck at 215-612-9018. Critique of Interest The following is an excerpt from a journal article by Rafeeq O. McGiveron; in Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction 39.3 (Spring 1998): 282-87, published by the Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation (Heldref). "To
Build a Mirror Factory:
Coming directly after the idea that they also must "build the biggest goddamn steam shovel in history and dig the biggest grave of all time and shove war in and cover it up", the notion of the mirror factory might at first seem merely a throwaway line. Indeed, John Huntington suggests, with no little justification, that the whole passage is "confused by its vagueness, ambiguity, and misdirection." Despite that, however, Bradbury shows throughout Fahrenheit 451 the necessity of using a metaphorical mirror, for only through the self-examination it makes possible can people recognize their own shortcomings. The novel's first use of the mirror, a failed one, emphasizes the need for self-examination. After a book burning, Montag, the unsettled "fireman," knows "that when he returns to the firehouse, he might wink at himself, a minstrel man, burnt-corked, in the mirror." Montag's winking acceptance of himself here is not reflective but reflexive, for his glance is superficial rather than searching. Montag has the opportunity truly to examine himself, and if he did, he might see a glorified anti-intellectual storm trooper. However, the situation, the surroundings, and even the mirror itself are too familiar, and he does not see himself as he really is. Instead of recognizing the destructiveness of his book-burning profession, his gaze is merely one of self-satisfaction. Bradbury uses Clarisse, Guy's imaginative and perceptive seventeen-year-old neighbor, as a metaphorical mirror to begin reflecting truths that Montag otherwise would not see. The imagery of mirrors and reflection is very clear: He saw himself in her eyes. Transit Twist Takes Tomes To Tarrytown or Lost Literature Lets-down Loyal Librarians Members of the NJLA PR Committee met at the East Brunswick Public Library on 3 February to assemble packages of One Book New Jersey posters, postcards and bookmarks, and prepare them for shipping to New Jersey's 464 main and branch libraries. The gathered troops were also prepared to pack copies of Fahrenheit 451 and Among the Hidden into the heavy plastic bags with which most librarians are familiar. But, thanks to a trucking company snafu, the copies of the latter book apparently decided to visit Tarrytown, New York, instead! Having sorted out the shipping issues, the books made their way to East Brunswick a day or so later and were packed in plastic with their paperback partners. (Remember: Alliteration can be fun, but dangerous in the wrong hands!) Copies of these two OBNJ selections arrived at libraries all over New Jersey the following week. OBNJ is sincerely grateful to Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing for 1,000 copies of Among the Hidden, and to Ballantine Books for 451 copies (no kidding) of Fahrenheit 451. The very generous contributions of these books by these publishers has helped this inaugural year of One Book New Jersey get off the ground! RealPlayer
Conversation with Ray Bradbury Bradbury's Other Burning Books If he could save only one book from a burning house, the author Ray Bradbury would rescue a 1943 edition of Prefaces by George Bernard Shaw, because the playwright was "a fantastic man, and a huge influence on my life." John Baxter, writer, raconteur and, most importantly, book collector, was appalled by Bradbury's choice when he posed this question to him. It's not even a first-edition Shaw. Surely, Bradbury would risk the flames to rescue the legendary limited edition of his book-burning novel Fahrenheit 451. But as Baxter explains in the second appendix to his new book-collecting memoir, A Pound of Paper, wherein he asks several people which book they would save, "When it published the first edition in 1953, Ballantine also produced 200 signed and numbered copies bound in Johns-Manville Quintera, a form of asbestos. It is therefore one of the few books likely to survive a fire - as well as being a rare example of a book that's actually dangerous to ones health! A first hardcover edition of Fahrenheit 451 signed by Bradbury is worth $5,500. For a copy of the asbestos cover (none of which has come on the market in years) multiply by 10." (from The Age 1/11/2003) OBNJ is Officially Launched! One Book New Jersey got off to an enthusiastic start on Tuesday, January 21, 2003 with a Press Conference at the Plainsboro Public Library in Plainsboro, New Jersey. The First Lady of New Jersey and official spokesperson for OBNJ, Mrs. Dina Matos McGreevey, was warmly received by over 60 representatives from the New Jersey Library Association and members of the New Jersey press corps. Other guests included State Librarian Norma Blake, State Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, Plainsboro Mayor Peter Cantu and Jeanne Marie Ryan, the new executive director of the Department of State's Office of Early Childhood Literacy, representing New Jersey's Secretary of State, Regena L. Thomas. Ms. Charlene Brown of AT&T ably represented her company, which is a major sponsor of OBNJ. Other major sponsors include Borders Books, Prestige Graphics, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Ballantine Books and the New Jersey State Library. OBNJ is grateful to all of these organizations for their invaluable support. A New Jersey Network News crew and photographers from several New Jersey newspapers gathered images of the Press Conference. Still more photos caught Mrs. McGreevey as she read to a group of small children from the OBNJ selection for Young Readers & Listeners, Tacky the Penguin, by Helen Lester. Thanks to all the members of the press who came to help publicize OBNJ. And, Plainsboro Library Director Jinny Baeckler and Children's Librarian Rachel Camporeale were extremely gracious and helpful in making the event successful. A good time was had by all, and OBNJ received many kind words of encouragement. Many thanks to all who were there, and for your continued support of One Book New Jersey! |
The
New Jersey Library Association is honored by the participation of First
Lady of New Jersey Dina Matos McGreevey as the official spokesperson for
One Book New Jersey.