HURRICANE KATRINA I YEAR ANNIVERSARY

One year ago today, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, devastating parts of Mississippi and Louisiana outright and precipitating the levee breaks and subsequent flooding that destroyed much of New Orleans. Recovery is continuing, but has been slower than originally predicted. Remembrances and reflections can be found in much of the media today, here and abroad.

Several books and films are available at the Elk Grove Library concerning this momentus occurence:

Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City by Jed Horne (NEW 976.335 HOR)

The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Douglas Brinkley (NEW 976.335 BRI)

Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster by Michael Eric Dyson (NEW 363.3493 DYS)

Katrina: State of Emergency [CNN] (NEW 363.34922 KAT)

Hurricane Katrina: The Storm That Drowned a City [NOVA] (NEW VHS 363.3492 HUR) (NEW DVD 363.3492 HUR)

Inside Hurricane Katrina [National Geographic Channel] (NEW DVD 363.3492 INS)

There's also a benefit jazz CD:
Our New Orleans 2005: [a benefit album] (NEW CD MJ COLL ONO)

PLUTO DEMOTED TO "DWARF PLANET"

Yesterday, the International Astonomical Union declared the planet Pluto to be reclassified as a Dwarf Planet, since it no longer meets the new qualifications of a planet in our solar system. There has been some controversy over its classification since its discovery in 1930.

It is unlikely, however, that libraries will immediately toss all their materials listing Pluto as a planet; what information there is on this "Dwarf" planet will still be found at 523.482.

EDGAR GUEST

American poet Edgar Guest was born on this date in 1881 in England (via Writers'Almanac), but was raised in Michigan. As a teen, be began working at the Detroit Free Press and stayed there until his retirement. He reputedly wrote a poem a day for 30 years. Although his poems are sometimes described as folksy and sentimental, he was chosen as the first--and only Poet Laureate of Michigan. Here are links to some of his verses on-line. It Couldn't Be Done is one of his most famous poems.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE 2006 BOOK AWARDS

Joyce Carol Oates has been named the winner of the Chicago Tribune's Literary Award, a "Lifetime Achievement Award". Also announced were the winners of the Tribune's Heartland Awards:
Non-fiction: At Canaan's Edge by Taylor Branch
Fiction: The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich
Young Adult Literary Prize: Kate DiCamillo

TOP 2 DCI WINNERS FROM ILLINOIS

Congratulations to the Rosemont Cavaliers for taking First Place at this past weekend's Drum Corps International finals, held in Madison, Wisconsin. And, a special congratulations to the Phantom Regiment, from Rockford/Loves Park, who took Second Place over the Blue Devils from Concord, California.

NAGASAKI BOMBING REMEMBRANCE

Just a few days after the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, The Japanese leaders had still not declared the war over. As a result, the Americans dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, on this date in 1945. This second disastrously devastating event forced Japan to surrender. Eyewitness accounts bring to our notice the horror of the day. Modern day Nagasaki, like Hiroshima, has a Memorial, the Nagasaki Bombing Memorial.

HIROSHIMA BOMBING REMEMBRANCE

On this day, August 6, in 1945, the Atomic Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, leading to the end of World War II. Online archives and collections of pictures and stories help to remind us all of that day and it's long-reaching results. (More eyewitness accounts can be found at Eyewitness History and Voice of Hibakusha.) Information can also be found at the website of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

Materials that are connected to this event can be found at the Elk Grove Library, including:
Hiroshima: Why the Bomb Was Dropped (2002) [ABC News] (DVD 940.5426 HIR)
Shockwave: Countdown to Hiroshima (2005) by Stephen Walker (940.5425 WAL)
Rain of Ruin: A Photographic History of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1995) by Donald M. Goldstein, Katherine V. Dillon, and J. Michael Wenger (940.5425 GOL)

One of the most famous stories about the results of the bombing is that of the little girl Sadako and her attempt to make 1000 origami paper cranes before she died of leukemia 10 years afterwards. These books are available at the Library for those interested in reading more:
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (1977) by Eleanor Coerr (J Biography SASAKI)
One Thousand Paper Cranes: The Story of Sadako and the Children's Peace Statue (1997) by [Takayuki Ishii] (J Nonfiction 362.1 ISH)

Why not make a paper crane today in remembrance?