Hey Stout! #CheckThisOut — Staff Recommendation

Josh Steans

Today's Hey Stout! #CheckThisOut features a recommendation from library staff member Josh Steans. Josh has been with the library since 2007 and oversees interlibrary loan and other programs in Circulation. His selection is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's memoirs, Chronicles (Vol. 1). Check availability or place a request.

Dylan’s memoirs are a lot like his song lyrics: plain-spoken but literate, free but structured, devout but jaded. Through this veil of opposites, one thing Dylan makes clear is that the constant arrow of his life — from his earliest childhood awakenings, to an unwanted coronation as The Voice of His Generation, from his calculated efforts to shed that crown, right up to his recent albums and perpetual touring — is music. Music was and still is his path.

Chronicles by Bob Dylan
©2004 Simon and Schuster, publishers

Here’s Dylan on Hank Williams, “When I hear Hank sing, all movement ceases. The slightest whisper seems sacrilege.” His first reaction to Woody Guthrie’s songs, “It made me want to gasp. It was like the land parted. It was like the record player itself had just picked me up off the floor and flung me across the room.” Accounts like these are pretty typical.

A reader who picks up this book up expecting a confessional tell-all, or glittering reminiscences of golden career moments, should put it back down and look for something a lot different. (Keith Richards’ Life, also a fantastic read, might be better for you.) Dylan never mentions his most famous songs, albums, or performances. There’s nothing in Chronicles about “The Time’s They Are A-Changin,” “Like A Rolling Stone,” Blonde on Blonde, or Highway 61 Revisited. There is no talk of Newport or Royal Albert Hall. While we might identify Dylan with these monuments, and historians may partially ascribe the transformations of the post-war society to Bob Dylan’s music and messages, in Chronicles, Dylan barely even alludes to them. The only album (of his own) that he discusses in much detail is 1989’s Oh Mercy, produced in New Orleans by Danial Lanois. And I think the main reason he talks about this one so much is that it marked the end of his past and a musical rebirth of sorts. So I do think it’s useful to know ahead of time that Chronicles is mighty thin on revelry, and it’s completely devoid of nostalgia and gossip. This is more of a true literary work. But it’s a really good one and it happens to let us glimpse into to mind of one of the twentieth century’s great artists.

Review by Josh Steans

Young Adult Book Club — "Feed" — Feb. 25

Feed by M. T. Anderson
©2002 Candlewick Press, publisher

The Young Adult Book Club starts off its second semester in just a few weeks, so be sure to get your copy of February's selection, Feed by M. T. Anderson. The club will meet on Feb. 25 at 5:00 pm in the EMC area on 1st Floor. Come by for a discussion and pizza, or tweet your comments throughout the month using #StoutReadsYA.
Copies of the book are available through interlibrary loan. Contact librarian Kate Kramschuster at kramschusterk@uwstout.edu for more information.

Synopsis

In a future world where internet connections feed directly into the consumer’s brain, thought is supplemented by advertising banners, and language has gone into a steep decline, a little love story unfolds. Titus, an average kid on a weekend trip to the moon, meets Violet, a brainy girl who has decided to try to fight the feed. Assaulted by a hacker who interrupts their connection, they struggle to understand what has happened to them — and to everyone around them.

In his National Book Award Finalist Feed, M. T. Anderson has created a not-so-brave new world — and a smart, savage satire that has captivated readers with its view of an imagined future that veers unnervingly close to the here and now. (Synopsis from www.mt-anderson.com)

Blind Date with a Book

Stop by the library this week and next to take a chance on a lonely but loveable book. The twist is, you won't know what it is until you've checked it out!

It's called Blind Date with a Book, and includes a wide variety of selections from library staff and student employees, each wrapped to conceal its identity, with descriptive words to help you find a "date" that appeals to you! Visit the display in the lobby on 1st Floor.

Hey Stout! #CheckThisOut — Camera & Equipment Checkout

The University Library offers a wide variety of film, digital and video cameras for checkout by students, making the addition of photography and video to your projects convenient and free.

Equipment available for checkout include digital point-and-shoot and SLR still cameras, 35mm film SLR cameras, digital HD and film video cameras as well as tripods, microphones, and light kits.

Also available are laptops, computer accessories, and analog devices like VCRs, projectors, and record players.

Checkout length and availability varies, so visit the Equipment Checkout page or ask at Circulation for more info!

Hey Stout! #CheckThisOut — The Conjuring

Hey Stout! The University Library would like to welcome back students, staff, and faculty for the spring semester. Come on in for a warm up and learn about the variety of materials and services available to make your semester successful and enjoyable!

The Conjuring ©2013 New Line Cinema

If the frigid weather and first day of classes isn't frightening enough for you, take library student worker Scott's recommendation for this week's Hey Stout! #CheckThisOut and watch "The Conjuring", available in the DVD Browsing Area on 4th Floor (DVD CONJ).

According to Scott, "'The Conjuring' is a great movie if you're in need of a scare. The film is based on the true story of paranormal investigators who experience what they consider a demonic possession which takes place in the 1970s. This could be a great movie if you're watching it with friends. I would not, however, watch it alone!"

Check availability or place a request.

Come to one of the Library January Professional Development Sessions

Tuesday, January 21

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM, MSC Oakwood

Title: Outside the Search Box
Presenter(s): Ann Vogl, University Library
Linette Greske
University Librarians
Description: Drop in anytime during the session with your laptop and research question and the librarians will help you navigate the myriad of resources and tools available to you through the UW-Stout University Library.

Wednesday, January 22

11:15 AM – 12:00 PM, MSC Oakwood

Title: Streaming Video--The Future is Now!
Presenter(s): Cory Mitchell, Collection Development Librarian, University Library
Description: Do you need help finding streaming video for your courses? Come and discover streaming video resources for class integration. The UW-Stout Library now offers over 20,000 streaming videos via Films on Demand, Alexander Street Press Video, Swank Motion Pictures, New Day Films, Kanopy, and more! We will explore some of the advanced features available including creating custom playlists and clips, and how to integrate streaming video content into D2L.

Hey Stout! #CheckThisOut — Allegiant

Today's Hey Stout! #CheckThisOut post is from library student employee Selina, who has chosen to feature the novel Allegiant by Veronica Roth. Allegiant takes place in a dystopian future marred by violence and class struggle, and follows a young woman's escape to the unknown. This book is available in the EMC Young Adult on 1st Floor (PZ7.R7375 Al 2013)  Check availability or place a request.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth
© 2013 HarperCollins, publisher

 

Synopsis

This is the third and final book in the Divergent series [by Veronica Roth]. The book is told in two perspectives: Tris and Four. In this book, Tris and Four and some of the other members of the rebel group Allegiant travel illegally outside city limits. Inside the city there is a power struggle between the Allegiant group and the factionless dictator, Evelyn. The world outside the city limits and secrets it holds changes everything about what Tris and Four think they know about themselves and the city they left. (Synopsis by Selina)