Bass Reeves - Deputy US Marshal - Black Gun, Silver Star online book

By Dwight Hunter

I grew up watching Gunsmoke and reveling in the anti-hero Marshal Matt Dillon saving the day. But I wished I had known about real-life Marshal Bass Reeves earlier in life. What a great study his life would have been for a college research paper. Reeves was a black deputy marshal dubbed the "baddest deputy marshal" for Judge Isaac Parker's court in Forth Smith, Arkansas. Reeves jurisdiction was the Oklahoma territory where no law existed except the deputy marshals and Judge Parker.

Many times Reeves would wear disguises or create tricks to get his outlaws. This would lead the author and researcher Art T. Burton to surmise in his book that the TV show character Lone Ranger may have been influenced by the deeds of Bass Reeves.

That book is available online at the Kolwyck Library: Black gun, silver star the life and legend of frontier marshal Bass Reeves. Access the book online.

Burton was a passionate researcher for this topic: he looked everywhere including finding family members, interviews, researching old court records to write this book. His subject Reeves was fascinating American history. Reeves was born a slave, but after settling down as a farmer, he became the first black US marshal west of the Mississippi River. It was his life as a deputy marshal that makes the story so interesting. Reeves was feared by outlaws in the Oklahoma territory. He would invent the best disguises to out trick outlaws. Hence, the suggested Lone Ranger connection.

This electronic book and many more may be found using OneKLIC. KLIC has several electronic books that cover a wide area of subjects and many academic disciplines.

The KLIC Shelf Elf -- Award-winning Children's Literature

Recently, the American Library Association awarded one of its highest honors for children’s literature, the Caldecott Medal.  In honor of that presentation, the Shelf Elf showcases some new titles with Caldecott connections and are available to check out.

World is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid by Jeanette Winter (JUV NA1469.H33 W56 2017) honors the award-winning architect Zaha Hadid, who lived in Baghdad but dreamed of designing her own cities.  In colorful, round drawings, Zaha used nature as her inspiration for her designs.  One can get a sense of her style from the architecture that intermingles with the natural scenes of waves, mountains, or jungle.  The book shows the specific buildings which Hadid designed at the end along with a nice but short list of other resources to give more detail. 

 

Out of Wonder:  Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth; illustrations by Ekua Holmes (JUV PN1031 .O98 2017) In various sections, contemporary children’s authors pay homage to poets that have influence on their poetry.  The poems feature traditional poets such as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou as well as unique formats like haiku.  Ms. Holmes’ illustrations almost take the focus away from the poems with their vibrant colors and interesting items in the collages.  However, the artwork is uniquely suited for each poem.  The nicely-sized volume includes brief biographies of the featured, diverse poets.

Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham; illustrations by Paul O. Zelinsky (JUV PZ7.B51181685 Zai 2012) Zebra gets the alphabet starting with an expected “A is for apple” but when “D” comes, Moose steps into the picture.  Zebra loudly informs Moose that this is not the correct place for anything about the letter “M.” Moose continues to try and enter in places where he does not belong, to the annoyance of other creatures, especially Zebra.  Moose loses his spot for “M” as Zebra tells him they are using “Mouse” instead.  Zebra’s solution to Moose’s disappointment and sadness leads to a cute and satisfying ending for Moose and Zebra.

King Alice by Matthew Cordell (JUV PZ7.C815343 Kin 2018) – As another snowy day looms for a father, his daughter, calling herself “King Alice” rules over her day.  She decides to make a book about herself and her brave knights.  With some helpful questions about her story, King Alice begins writing a book showing her and her family in various wild adventures.   Illustrations from Caldecott winner Matthew Cordell show’s her pretend story and when King Alice gets too carried away and her unicorn bonks Daddy.    As the day ends, Alice’s rule and her real life intermingle with a bath and bedtime; time may tell if a sequel comes with more adventures for King Alice.  Cordell’s illustrations show the gentle humor and excitement of Alice’s story.

Blue on Blue by Dianne White, illustrations by Beth Krommes (JUV PZ8.3.W58735 Bl 2014) Rhymed couplets throughout the gentle description of a day in the country, no specific place open this picture book.  The colors of a day and its changing moods as the family adjusts to a storm.  When the rain stops and the sun reappears, the illustrations expand as the family can resume spending time in nature.  This gentle story works well with the beautiful watercolor and scratch-ink drawings; also, the perspective gradually shifts towards a larger one which shows how things become larger when nature can play a part.

Amanda Roper - The Stars at KLIC: Journey Story of our Staff

  

In her journals the poet Sylvia Plath wrote, “I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life. And I am horribly limited.” 

Since childhood I have wanted to be all of the things: a marine biologist, a writer, and Mary Queen of Scots. As a teenager and college student my dream career list was only slightly more practical: poet, social worker, an English professor, a historian studying the Victorian era, bookstore owner, rebel-rousing zine maker, a scone baker, and an owner of a cat café.

I stumbled into a job at a library a few months after graduating with my undergraduate degree in English with a concentration in creative writing and an undeclared minor in Gender Studies. I had one English professor who told me she thought I should become a librarian. This happened shortly after I explained my unfettered love for compiling annotated bibliographies. I remembered that conversation and after graduation decided to apply for a job at my alma mater’s library. My original plan was to work in a library while I figured out what I wanted to do with my life.

I was seeking a meaningful career, but I was also very aware that I had obligations and responsibilities to others. My oldest daughter was born during my freshman year of college and I was a single mother throughout my undergraduate program. I  was happiest using my brain and creativity, but I also needed practical things like sick leave and medical insurance. I knew that a library job would afford me a set schedule and insurance and working in a university appealed to me and I thought I'd have to wait on creative job. What I didn’t realize is that my library work would be so deeply fulfilling. While working at my first library, I realized that I could integrate many aspects of my dream careers into librarianship. Writing and creativity, caring deeply for people and issues of social justice, teaching college students, researching, organizing and displaying books, using zines in library reference and instruction, and yes, I even delight in baking and sharing treats with students and staff. I haven’t quite worked out how to include cats in my work life, but it is always good to have future goals.

Although I loved working in a library, I wasn’t quite convinced that I wanted to go to graduate school for library science, which is the master’s level degree one needs to become a librarian. Sure, I loved working in a library, but for some reason I thought that there would be an absence of creativity in a library degree. I spent a solid year writing a poetry collection and applied to a highly competitive, low-residency creative writing program. My application was rejected and so I bit the bullet and applied to library school.

Sometimes rejection is a very good thing indeed. Once I was in my program and introduced to the magical world of library instruction, I knew that librarianship is what makes my heart sing. Being a librarian takes a smack ton of creativity, research, thoughtfulness, and helping others. As I approached graduation, I started looking for jobs that would allow me to work closely with students, apply creative thinking, and give me the space to address issues of social justice and equity. I applied at ChattState because it ticked all of those boxes and I’m so glad I got this job. I moved from Georgia to Tennessee in October with my husband, Sam, and my two youngest children, Atticus and Persephone. Chattanooga already feels like home and ChattState feels like family. 

Professional Presentations:
Paraprofessional Development: Growing Through Mentorship and the Georgia Library Association, Georgia Libraries Conference, 4 October, 2018, co-presenter

Bring your brains: Information Literacy and Zombies in the Library! Georgia Library Association Carterette Webinar, August 2018, co-presenter

But I want to do it all! Social media strategies for the small academic library,     Library Marketing and Communications Conference, November 2017,  presenter

Fantastic student employees and where to find them: Using gamification and the world of Harry Potter to engage student employees, Georgia COMO, October 2016, co-presenter

Maximizing outreach without maxing out: No-to-low cost ways of getting your library’s message out there, Georgia Library Association Carterette Webinar, August 2016, co-presenter

Leadership:
Georgia Library Association
     Vice President of Marketing and Branding, 2019
     Chair, Paraprofessional Division, 2018
     Vice-Chair, Paraprofessional Division, 2017
     Marketing and Branding Committee, 2016-Present

Paperclips Documentary and Holocaust Remembrance Book Display

On Tuesday, 29 January, the documentary The Paperclip Project will be shown at the Kolwyck Library and Information Commons from 4pm to 8pm. This documentary details Whitwell Middle School’s mission to teach their students the impact of the loss of six million Jewish lives during the Holocaust. To help the students understand the enormity of six million deaths, the school began a quest to collect 6 million paperclips.  

This documentary coincides with International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January, when we remember the millions of Jewish, Roma, disabled, gay, Serbian, Soviet, Polish, and others who were murdered during the Holocaust (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). In remembrance, we’ve displayed some books about the Holocaust at the front of the library. Some of the books you’ll find on display include:

Living On: Portraits of Tennessee Survivors and Liberators

by the Tennessee Holocaust Commission and Rob Heller

Six Million Paper Clips: The Making of a Children's Holocaust Memorial 

by Peter W. Schroeder & Dagmar Schroeder-Hildebrand

The World Must Know: The History of the Holocaust as Told in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 

by Michael Berenbaum

The Librarian of Auschwitz

by Antonio Iturbe

The Complete Maus

by Art Spiegelman

These books and many more are available for check-out. For online resources, we recommend The National Archive's collection of primary sources and the online exhibitions curated by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 

We hope to see you for the documentary viewing next Tuesday.