Gardening E-Books
We’re highlighting Library e-Resources! Whether you are hard at work gardening this summer or just want to garden vicariously, check out out virtual display of gardening e-books available from the Library!
That’s Hilarious!
We’re highlighting Library E-Resources! Check out this virtual display of comedy albums available through the Library!
2020 Pulitzer Prize Winners and Finalists
The winners of the 2020 Pulitzer Prizes were announced this week! Check out the Pulitzer Prizes website for a full listing of winners and finalists for 2020.
If you want to explore these titles in more depth, several of the winners and finalists are available in our digital collections:
Jericho Brown’s book The Tradition, which won the Poetry prize, is available as an e-book and an e-audiobook.
The history category winner, Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America, by W. Caleb McDaniel, is available as an e-audiobook.
One of the history finalists, Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, is available as an e-book.
Greg Grandin’s The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America, which won the General Nonfiction category and was finalist for History, is available as an e-audiobook.
The General Nonfiction finalist Solitary by Albert Woodfox (which was recommended last year by librarian Sharon) is available as an ebook.
There is Still Time to Respond to the 2020 Census!
The 2020 Census is in full swing, but only 38.4% of American households have responded!
While Illinois has a slightly higher response rate than the current national average, less than half Illinois households have responded to the 2020 Census! But there is still time to respond!
The 2020 Census marks the first Census with an online response option, so you can respond from home and maintain social distancing!
At some point over the last few weeks, you most likely received an invitation to respond to the 2020 Census (It probably looked something like this.) Your invitation will have complete information about ways to respond to the Census remotely (online, by phone, or by mail).
If you did not receive the first invitation, keep an eye out in April; the Census Bureau will follow up with households that have not yet responded.
It is especially important to respond to the invitation as soon as possible because of the current Covid19 crisis. At some point, Census workers will have to seek out household that have not responded to their 2020 Census invitations. Given current and projected social distancing guidelines, this is not ideal for households or for Census workers.
So, keep an eye out for you 2020 Census invitation and respond remotely! The 2020 Census will determine the distribution of federal funds to Illinois for the next decade, affecting health care, education, infrastructure, and more!
There is Still Time to Respond to the 2020 Census! Read More »
2020 Census Update: Census Invitations are Coming!
The 2020 Census is a bit different from previous Census years. For the first time, it is possible to submit your household’s Census response online! Beginning on March 12th, households will receive an invitation from the 2020 Census to respond online, by phone, or to request a paper response form.
The invitation your household receives in the mail should look something like this and include a Census ID number to use in your household’s response.
If you are unsure about any correspondence you receive related to the 2020 Census, check out this article from the U.S. Census Bureau on verifying Census-related mailings, surveys, or contacts.
The U.S. Census Bureau–and any people or correspondence related to the 2020 Census–will never ask for your Social Security Number, bank account details, or passwords.
You can also contact the Chicago regional office by phone at 800-865-6384, the national Census Bureau helpline at 301-763-4636, or check out ask.census.gov.
2020 Census Update: Census Invitations are Coming! Read More »
Prepare for the Primary: Find Your Polling Place and Research Candidates
The Illinois Primary Election is next week on Tuesday, March 17th! Here are a few links that may be useful as you prepare to vote:
- Look up your polling place on the Illinois State Board of Elections site.
- Find early voting locations, dates, and times near you.
- Research the candidates:
- The Chicago Bar Association offers an evaluation of judicial candidates’ professional qualifications, regardless of political affiliation. Read about their extensive evaluation process and download the Pocket Guide.
- The Chicago Sun Times has put together an extensive voter guide for the March 17th Primary, with detailed information on local primary races.
- Ballotpedia offers an easy tool to view all the races and candidates, from federal to municipal, on your ballot.
Want to do even more research? Check out our Voting Research Guide!
Prepare for the Primary: Find Your Polling Place and Research Candidates Read More »
60th Anniversary of Civil Rights Sit-Ins
This February marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of sit-in campaigns during the Civil Rights Movement. On February 1st, 1960, four students staged a sit-in at a Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina. The idea to stage sit-ins spread, led by student activists across the country.
Interested in learning more? The Library has a number of books about the history of nonviolent protest in the United states, or check out the ebook Civil Rights Sit-Ins, for a comprehensive history of the sit-in movement.
Prefer a visual history? John Lewis (then a student organizer, now a congressman) describes his experience as a leader of the Nashville Sit-Ins in the first book of his award-winning graphic novel series March.
The 2020 Census: What You Need to Know
2020 is a Census year!
The US Census is a constitutionally required decennial (once every ten years) count of all persons living in the United States.
The data collected during the Census determines representation on a federal, state, and local level, the distribution of billions of dollars of funding, and provides information used to make decisions about education, business, health care, and many other issues that affect the MVCC community.
Activities related to the Census will take place throughout 2020, but most people will only have to actively participate in March. Here is how the 2020 Census will look for most households:
- March 2020: Receive an invitation to respond to the Census online, by mail, or by phone.
- March-April 2020: Receive periodic reminders to respond, if your household had not yet participated in the Census.
- April 1st 2020: Census Day!
- May-August 2020: Census workers will follow up in person, if your household had not yet responded.
- December 2020: Results of the Census are compiled and officially presented.
Learn more on the 2020 Census website, a great resource to learn more about participating in the 2020 Census. The Library also offers a Census 2020 Research Guide with helpful links and research tips.
It’s not too late to apply for a 2020 Census Job! For more information and to apply online visit the 2020 Census Jobs page.
Bored Over Break? Check out an E-Book from the Library!
Did you know? Even when the library is closed, you can still access e-books and other streaming content!!!
We even have books to read for fun!
Browse the Library’s selection of e-books through the library catalog, or choose an e-book service to search (We recommend Hoopla and E-Read Illinois for recreational reading!).
Not feeling like an e-book? Try streaming or downloading an e-audiobook!
Questions about accessing E-Books or E-Audiobooks? Check out our E-Books and Streaming Video page for in-depth information about accessing e-content or Ask a Librarian.
Bored Over Break? Check out an E-Book from the Library! Read More »
Frankenstein Friday!!!
Did you know that the last Friday in October is Frankenstein Friday, a day devoted to Mary Shelley’s iconic novel Frankenstein? Since Frankenstein’s original publication in 1818, Shelley’s Dr. Frankenstein and his monstrous creation have captured the popular imagination, inspiring countless adaptations and reinterpretations.
In honor of Frankenstein Friday, we’ve pulled together some of the library’s Frankenstein-related resources:
The Original Text
You can access the original text as a book, an ebook, and an audiobook.
We also have the Dean Koontz graphic novel retelling of the classic story.
Film and TV
Find the 1931 classic Frankenstein with Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster, and the 1935 sequel The Bride of Frankenstein on DVD.
For a lighter take, check out Young Frankenstein, the Mel Brooks parody, also on DVD.
You can stream the Addams Family Halloween Special; the character Lurch is inspired by Boris Karloff’s interpretation of Frankenstein’s monster.
Adam, the villain of Season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is a part-human, part-robot, part-demon, all-Frankenstein monster.
Other Interpretations
This summer, the library podcast I, Robot, Frankenstein & the 2019-2020 one book, one college program discussed some of the connections between I, Robot and Frankenstein.
The Monster Mash song features a Frankenstein’s monster-like narrator (You can also stream the animated Monster Mash movie!)
The eponymous It in Steven King’s novel is a Frankenstein-esque monster.