At the library: Take a trip back in time
Periodically, I get curious about what happened this day, this week, or even this month in history and due to the fun I’ve had with this recently, I’m going with a “this month in history” theme.
I admit that these historical facts aren’t actually from that long ago — for most of us anyway — but they remain fun. For instance, back in January 2007 Apple announced the first iPhone; now its 12 years later and smartphones are everywhere. But, did you know that technically the first of what we would now term as a “smartphone” was actually invented back in 1992 by IBM? It wasn’t until 1994 that the Simon Personal Communicator was released for consumers with a touchscreen, email and fax capabilities, as well as notes and calendar “apps.” The downside was its one-hour battery life; the upside is that it obviously helped get us to the smartphones we enjoy today.
My second reminiscence from the recent past is actually something you probably wouldn’t think a librarian would be fond of, but in January 2001, the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia was launched by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. As most students know, teachers and professors don’t allow Wikipedia to be used as a source, however, in my professional opinion, you can use it as a starting point for a topic that you are completely unfamiliar with. Researching an unfamiliar topic can be daunting, so using Wikipedia to give you some keywords to search isn’t a bad idea. But make sure you then go to reliable sources for the facts you’ll use in your paper. Or, if you’re not sure where to go for reliable sources, you can ask your friendly neighborhood librarians. Our skills are pretty impressive.
Make a note:
Sunday, Jan. 27 @ 2 p.m. – Kids Crafternoon, ages 3-12
Friday, Jan. 25 @ 10 a.m. – Baby Laptime, ages 0-2
Bossier Central, 746-1693
Thursday, Jan. 24 @ 5 p.m. – Lyon’s Pride Coffee Demonstration, ages 18 and up
Tuesday, Jan. 29 @ 5 p.m. – Financial Literacy Series: Budgeting, ages 18 and up
East 80, 949-2665
CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS – Update: Noticeable progress on the parking lot is slated to begin in January 2019 (barring more weather delays)! Thank you for your continued patience.
Friday, Jan. 25 @ 10 a.m. – Trivia Through the Decades, ages 18 and up
History Center, 746-7717
Thursday, Feb. 7 @ 6 p.m. – Pages Past Book Club: Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly, ages 18 and up
Plain Dealing, 326-4233
Monday, Jan. 28 @ 5 p.m. – As the Page Turns Book Club: read a book with a person’s name in the title, ages 18 and up
Thursday, Jan. 24 @ 4:30 p.m. – Little Bookworms Book Club: Calendar Mysteries: January Joker by Ron Roy, ages 6-12
• The Angel in the Glass by Alys Clare (Fiction; Book)
• The Best of Us by Robyn Carr (Fiction; Book)
• Craftily Ever After: Breaking the Piggy Bank by Martha Maker, illustrated by Xindi Yan (Children’s Fiction; Book)
• The Distance Between Dreams by Sherry L. Brown (Fiction; Book)
• First, Kill the Lawyers by David Housewright (Fiction; Book)
• The Hangman’s Secret by Laura Joh Rowland (Fiction; Book)
• The New Iberia Blues by James Lee Burke (Fiction; Book)
• Through Fiery Trials by David Weber (Fiction; Book)
• Turning Point by Danielle Steel (Fiction; Book, Audiobook)
• Untouchable by Jayne Ann Krentz (Fiction; Book, Audiobook).
Annie Gilmer is community engagement librarian at Bossier Parish Libraries.