From Child Star to Greater Success: Dr. Danielle Spencer-Fields

Dr. Danielle Spencer-Fields, who played Raj's sassy sister, Dee from the 1970's hit show, What's Happening!! (1976) will be at the Main Library to discuss her book, Through the Fire...Journal of a Child Star. She will also be available for book signing.

With her love of animals, Danielle Spencer attended the University of California-Davis for two years  to pursue her degree in veterinary medicine. She then took a break from her studies to play her character, Dee, in What's Happening Now!! (1985).

Danielle Spencer went back to school and attended Tuskegee University Veterinary School, in Tuskgeee, Alabama and became a veterinarian in 1996. She also portrayed a veterinarian in several films. Danielle now lives in southern California with her husband, dogs and cat.

In this memoir, she talks about the tragedies and challenges she faced growing up and how she changed her life around and became a successful vet.

 

She is in this month's issue of Ebony and People Magazine's June 5th online article.

Danielle is also speaking at a fundraiser for Tim Kaine on the 28th of July.

This program will be held at Main, July 23rd from 7-8:30 p.m.

Saturday Events@ Main

If you are out and about this weekend and looking for something to do, the Main Library is the perfect place to be. Come join us for these programs.

The Chamber Music for the River City will be having a free concert, Legends, in the Gellman Room at 12 noon. The concert will be depicting watery tales of beauty and mystery told through the music of Debussy, Szymanowski and Richard Strauss.









As part of the event series, Why Children's Books, Anita Silvey, author of Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Children's Book, will be here Saturday at 2 pm. This will be the last program for the event.


 

"Why Children's Books" Events

"WHY CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Inspiring Generations" is an exhibit on display now at the Main Library. It explores the power of children's books through stories shared by notable Richmonders. If you want more information on the exhibit and the people involved, you might enjoy reading this article written by Bill Lohmann for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The "Why Children's Books" exhibit will be on display through May 29th. If you enjoy reading the stories and hearing about the experiences of the Richmonders featured, you might like to attend some of the events associated with the exhibit.

On Tuesday, April 24th at 6:30 and on Tuesday, May 8th at noon, Dr. Leila Christenbury will be in the Main Library's Special Collections Room to lead a community discussion about favorite children's books and the future of children's literature in the digital age.

On Saturday, May 12th from 10:30 to 2:30, we'll be holding "Children's Day" at the Main Library. Celebrate Children's Book Week and the exhibit with authors Meg Medina and Gigi Amateau, Megan Hicks and her storytelling magic show, crafts with the Children's Museum of Richmond, readings from the exhibit, and more. This event promises to be fun for the whole family.

Anita Silvey, author of Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Children's Book, will be at the Main Library on Saturday, May 19th at 2 pm. Silvey's book is what inspired the Friends of the Library to sponsor the "Why Children's Books" exhibit, and we can't wait to hear her discuss the topic of children's literature.
 

"Series"ly, folks . . .

Stephanie Plum, Harry Bosch, Kinsey Milhone . . . Harry Potter, Sookie Stackhouse, Bella Swan, Harry Dresden . . . Jack Reacher, Gabriel Allon, Alex Cross . . . Mitford, Thrush Green, Middle Earth, Winterfell . . .

For those of you who eagerly await the latest installments of your favorite series, there are always new arrivals at RPL. Right now there seems to be a holiday rush of thrillers and detectives:

Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone is back with V is for Vengeance.
Lee Child’s latest Jack Reacher, The Affair, has been wait-listed for a month.
Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum is in trouble again in Explosive Eighteen.
John Sandford’s Virgil Flowers is in for a Shock Wave.
James Paterson is ready to Kill Alex Cross.
The Drop is next month for Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch.

Can’t keep track? Check out http://www.blogger.com/goog_74332351 , a website designed by a fantasy series lover to “Track your series”.


Series have been popular as long as they have been around (Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot), particularly in children’s literature, where familiar characters become friends and fantasy worlds seem as real as the backyard.  I remember walking out of my branch library with a stack of Moffat books as long as my arm, and I believe I read them all in a week. I did the same with Pippi Longstocking, the Rescuers, and Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. When I discovered a new series, I gobbled it all up at once: from the beginning, in order, and with nothing in between.

As an adult I also enjoyed reading series, for a while. I tired of Sue Grafton’s alphabet at around  L (is for Lawless). Ayla’s adventures in Jean Auel’s romantic version of prehistory no longer interested me by the time The Land of Painted Caves was finally released eight years after Shelters of Stone.  Dismas Hardy (John Lescroat) became just one more lawyer, and no longer a particularly interesting one. I now avoid most series completely, suspecting that I will lose interest sooner rather than later, and not wanting to start something I know I won’t finish.

There are a few exceptions to my series avoidance. Kate Atkinson’s private investigator Jackson Brodie, introduced in Case Histories, is the protagonist of four books so far (which have been made into a 6 episode BBC miniseries, now available on DVD.)  I followed Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus all the way through his retirement in Exit Music, and now await the continued police work of his younger colleague Siobhan Clarke. I have my fingers crossed that Lev Grossman turns The Magicians and its sequel The Magician King into a series (how many books make a series?)  

I have also found that I enjoy listening to some series, although I don’t read them. I read The Sorcerer’s Stone, but listened to Harry grow up in Jim Dale’s extraordinary performances. The first four books in David Baldacci’s “Camel Club” series were fun (and I love Baldacci’s favorite reader, Ron McLarty), but by Divine Justice its quirky heroes and conspiracy-driven plots had, alas, became too predictable even for half-attended audio. I have kept up with Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller in Michael Connelly’s popular series, and am looking forward to listening to the the fourth (and final) installment of Gregory Maguire’s “Wicked Years” saga, Out of Oz, its 23 discs on order here at RPL.

Local Author Discusses Lewis Ginter

"Brian Burns tells the story of the man who was the first major marketer of the hand-rolled cigarette in the United States, developed the streetcar suburb of Ginter Park (and helped bring Union Theological Seminary, now Union Presbyterian Seminary, there) and built The Jefferson Hotel. And Burns does more. By using many original sources, he writes of details of Ginter's life that even longtime Richmond-history buffs may not know." --Richmond Times-Dispatch

Local author Brian Burns will be visiting RPL locations during the next three upcoming Saturdays to talk about his new book, Lewis Ginter: Richmond's Gilded Age Icon. Mr. Burns will share the evolution of his passion for Lewis Ginter. He will also discuss his research in uncovering Ginter's phenomenal career along with his inspiring, lifelong devotion to Richmond and its welfare.

Learn more about this Richmond icon and discover how Brian Burns delved into the fascinating life of Lewis Ginter. This program is scheduled at three branches on the following days:

• Main Library  -  Saturday, October 29th  -  2-3 PM
• Ginter Park Library  -  Saturday, November 5th   -  2-3 PM
• West End Library  -  Saturday, November 12th  -  2-3 PM

May First Friday Happenings

On the first Friday of every month, there are exciting cultural events happening all around the city. But I'm especially excited about what's going on at the Main Library this Friday, May 6. There will be art exhibits, of course, and also a visit from a local author and a traditional Japanese drumming performance.

There will be some wonderful art exhibits opening. In the Gellman Room, you'll find art by Maria Guimoye-McCarthy in an exhibit titled "Raices: Return to My Peruvian Home." These oil landscapes are emotive and vivid reflections of the artist's childhood in Peru.

In the Dooley Foyer and Hall, see Keith M. Ramsey's "Diluted Loss," an exhibit that illustrates the racism and discrimination that was directed toward African American troops in World War II, both from the United States military as well as German and Japanese troops.

Upstairs in the Second Floor Gallery, work from three artists will be on display in an exhibit called "Friends Sharing Their Love of Art." This will be a spring collection of oils, acrylics, and watercolors by Richmond artists Jacquelin Vaughan Gant, Dorethia Brown, and Kenneth Brown.

The Richmond Writers Series, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, will continue with a visit from Ellen F. Brown, co-author of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind: a Bestseller's Odyssey from Atlanta to Hollywood. We are so excited to have Ms. Brown come talk to us about what it was like to create a "comprehensive overview of how this iconic novel became an international phenomenon." The book has been well-received by critics and is sure to excite anyone with a passion for Gone With the Wind. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing. The discussion will start at 7 pm and will take place in the Davenport Special Collections Room. A big thank you goes out to our amazing Friends of the Library for making this free event possible.

On top of an already exciting evening, we'll have some really awesome musical entertainment. River City Taiko, an ensemble from University of Richmond, will be giving a traditional Japanese drumming performance in the Dooley Foyer. Note that this performance was going to be held on the front portico (outdoors), but there's word of rain, so it has been moved inside. If you don't know much about Taiko (like me), check it out on YouTube. Watching the drummers online is exhilarating, so I can only imagine what it's going to be like to watch River City Taiko in person in the Library. The performance starts at 6:30 and will last for about 30 minutes. After the performance, anyone who wants to play on the drums will get a chance to try their hand at Taiko. So this event will be especially fun for kids. River City Taiko will also be collecting donations for the Red Cross disaster relief in Japan--even more reason to come see this concert.

It's going to be a pretty exciting Friday night at the Library. Something for everyone, right? We hope you'll be able to stop by!

Exciting new nonfiction for the popular science & psychology reader

My list of new nonfiction must-reads is as long as it has ever been! First (and at 400+ pages, the longest) is James Gleick’s The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood. Gleick’s previous works (Chaos, Genius, and Isaac Newton) have been best sellers short-listed for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, and it is easy to see why. Gleick, a former New York Times science reporter, presents complicated math and science (quantum teleportation, anyone?) in a way that, if not always completely understandable, is always interesting. The Information traces the evolution of information and its communication from African drums to our contemporary state of information overload, concentrating on the years and developments since 1948, when Bell Labs mathematician Claude Shannon first described a concept he called a “bit.” Gleick enlivens his subject with colorful stories about the people and places involved in the technological changes that have transformed our world. Even when it’s heavy going (entropy!), The Information carries you along.

Next up is Eduardo Porter’s The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do. Porter, another New York Times reporter, explodes the myth that rational decisions determine supply and demand, and that “value“ is an objective term. In chapters such as ”The Price of Faith,” “The Price of Women,” and “The Price of Culture,” we are provoked, entertained, and enlightened about economic questions and issues that affect us as individuals and as a society. If you enjoyed Daniel Ariel’s Predictably Irrational or Levitt’s and Dubner’s Freakonomics, you will want to read The Price of Everything.
 

I’m not likely to forget Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything. This book’s memorable title is a mnemonic device used by its author, Joshua Foer (yes, Jonathan’s brother) in the 2006 U.S. Memory Championship, which he “trained for” and entered after covering it as a journalist. Foer reminds us that before the age of Google and iPhones, memory was an invaluable art, and that it was developed through the exercise of techniques dating back to the ancient Greeks. We may no longer need to remember facts that are now at our fingertips, but we would all like to better remember the faces, places, and events of our lives. This book assures us that with some practice we can get better at it.

In The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement, New York Times op-ed columnist David Brooks creates the fictional characters Harold and Erica and follows them from birth through adulthood and death (all of which occurs “in the current moment”) to illustrate his theory that our behavior, decisions, and ultimately our success or failure are determined largely by unconscious forces beyond our control. Brooks presents a broad swath of the current research by cognitive scientists, behavioral economists, neuroscientists, and evolutionary biologists in fluent and accessible language which you are bound to appreciate whether you agree with his conclusions or not.

February First Friday Events

Happy February! Yep, it's already the first week of February, and that means this Friday is First Friday. Come by the Main Library between 7 and 9 pm to celebrate the opening of our February art exhibits. On top of all the new art on display, the Richmond Writers Series will continue with a discussion of Secretariat's Meadow: The Land, the Family, the Legend, and the Richmond Peace Education Center will be holding their annual "Generation Dream" concert in the auditorium.

Works by Richmond artist Virginia Coleman will be on display in the Gellman Room. Her exhibit, titled "The Flow of My Music" will contain colorful, mixed-media jazz interpretations.

Look for "Experiments in Color and Shape Potential" in the Dooley Foyer. In this exhibit from Petersburg artist and retired VSU professor Eugene Vango, you'll find non-objective forms in acrylic.

In the Dooley Hall, black and white photographs from area photographer Lorrie Curley will be on display in an exhibit titled "Surfaces." And in the Second Floor Gallery, you'll see oil paintings and woodcarvings in Wali Muhammad's exhibit, "Knowledgeable Art."

At 7 pm, co-author Leeanne Ladin and publisher Wayne Dementi will discuss Secretariat's Meadow: The Land, the Family, The Legend. This beautiful book tells not only Secretariat's story, but the story of an enduring piece of land in Caroline County, where an "empire built on broodmares" produced an immortal son. Copies of the book will also be available for purchase. This event will be held in the Davenport Special Collections Room.

Also starting at 7 pm, the Richmond Peace Education Center will hold their annual Generation Dream Educoncert in the basement auditorium. During this program, you'll experience music, dance, drumming, and spoken word, performed by young people as well as professional adults. Every year, the concert honors the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Watch a video of last year's performance or check out the Richmond Peace Education Center's website for more information on this event.

There are several reason to make it to the Main Library this Friday night, and we're excited about them all! We hope you'll be able to make it downtown to check it out.

Rescheduled First Friday Tonight!

Source

Due to the extraordinary weather that has inundated Richmond, we've rescheduled last week's First Friday artwalk for tonight, February 12th from 7 - 9pm. Click here to view the previous post detailing our new artists.

Additionally this evening, the Friends of the Library present local author Margaret Edds, who will be speaking at the Main branch at 7pm about her new book, Finding Sara.

We hope to see you at the Main branch this evening for both events!

Author visit!

Join us as the 2007 Friends of RPL Richmond Writers series comes to a close with local author Stacy Hawkins Adams. Adams will read from her second novel Nothing but the right thing.

Main Library
Davenport Special Collections Room
Friday, July 6 at 7:00pm

Friends Annual Meeting

Friends Annual Meeting

featuring Pulitzer Prize winning poet

Claudia Emerson

Friday, May 4

7:00pm

Join us as we welcome Ms. Emerson as the guest speaker for our annual meeting and the second author in the Friends Richmond Writers series. Ms. Emerson was awarded the prize in recognition of her 2005 book, Late wife. The meeting will be held in the Martha Orr Davenport Special Collections Room.

Book Discussion & Signing

The Friends 2007 Richmond Writer Series begins during First Friday @ Main with a program by Selden Richardson, author of Built by blacks: African American architecutre & neighborhoods in Richmond, VA. This will be held in the Special Collections Room. Note that the library is closed Friday, April 6, but will be open in the evening for First Friday events.

Main Library

Special Collections Room

Friday, April 6

7:00pm

Book talk and signing

Best selling authors Candice Dow and Daaimah Poole read from their newest novels and discuss what inspires them to write. Books will be available for sale and a signing will follow the talk.
Main Library Auditorium
Friday, March 2
7:30pm