The Library of America

While there is an accelerated movement toward ebooks, it is my belief that there will always be some amount of print books published. I predict there will be an increasing number of small, boutique publishers focused on providing collectible books with very high quality paper and bindings for collectors and libraries. A model already exists -- The Library of America. The Library of America series seeks "...to preserve the nation's heritage by publishing America's best and most significant writings in authoritative editions..."

Thanks to a donation by long-time friend to the Rensselaer Libraries, Ken Hoffman '73, we have been able to purchase a number of these Library of America classics, including those shown in these photographs from the "New Books" area on the main floor of the Folsom Library. See below for a photo of the bookplate Ken requested be inserted in each of the books purchased through his donation.

Click here for information on how you can donate to the Rensselaer Libraries.

Bob Mayo
Director, Rensselaer Libraries

John Irving

I subscribe to author John Irving’s Facebook page, and the other day he had a posting on his new novel, In One Person, to be published May 8, 2012. Irving notes “My thirteenth novel, In One Person, is about sexual identity. Billy the bisexual narrator and main character, tells the story of his life as a “sexual suspect” – from his adolescence in the fifties, through the AIDS epidemic, into the present…. In One Person is my most political novel since The Cider House Rules and A Friend for Owen Meany.”

Thanks to the generosity of a number of donors, we have every novel written by John Irving available in the Folsom Library including The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany.  And thanks to the Friends of Folsom Library, we have the DVD The Cider House Rules starring Toby Maguire, Charlize Theron and Michael Caine (who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor).   Irving has a cameo appearance in the film as the stationmaster in the train sequence.

A Prayer for Owen Meany is my favorite book of all time.  Touching, funny, and the best novel ending I’ve ever read.  The DVD adaptation of this book is called Simon Birch. I have a good friend, who I didn’t know was a John Irving fan, who has a one-year-old son named Owen.  I asked her how she came to name him Owen. “We named him after Owen Meany, my favorite character from my favorite novel of all time.”  

Irving has been involved in wrestling all his life. He is a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.  He mentions  RPI in his memoir The Imaginary Girlfriend (within the collection Trying to Save Piggy Sneed): “In the quarterfinals, I pinned a guy from R.P.I. – I remember where he was from only because Lee Hall or Caswell asked me what “R.P.I.” stood for and I realized that I didn’t know how to spell Rensselaer or Polytechnic. …”

Try some John Irving out during the upcoming holiday break!

Bob Mayo

Director, Rensselaer Libraries

 Cider House Rules - Trailer

Simon Birch - Trailer

Upcoming Lunch & Learn Programs

I'm happy to announce that so far we have four programs scheduled for 2012.  Here's the lineup:

• January - no program

• February 10 - Jim Evans, Director of MultiMedia Services, will report on his recent home solar cell installation

• March 9 - Professor Dan Lewis, leader of the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Research Lab, will educate attendees about the work performed in the lab

• April 13 - Library Dirctor Bob Mayo will talk about Granville Hicks, a former Rensselaer professor who was also a novelist, literary critic, and biographer. 

     

• May 11 - Senior Brandon Graham will talk about "W2SZ: The Amateur Radio Club of RPI"

Adrienne Birchler

Coordinator
Friends of the Folsom Library