Poetry of Wordsworth and Seamus Heaney to be Presented at the B.C. Library

Trenton Olsen, a student at Utah State University, will present “The Country of the Mind: Landscape, Absence, and Recollection in the Poetry of Seamus Heaney and Wordsworth” on 7 April 2009 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Brigham City Library.

Olsen will discuss the extent of Wordsworth’s influence on Heaney and his writings, also touching on the form and technique each poet used in creating his works. Poems under discussion will include “Tintern Abbey” by Wordsworth and “Changes” by Seamus Heaney.

Copies of these poems may be picked up in advance at the library’s circulation desk. The Brigham City Library is located at 26 East Forest Street. For more information about this program please call Elizabeth, 435-723-5850.

Note about the speaker:

Trenton Olsen is currently working on his senior honors thesis "The Country of the Mind: Landscape, Absence, and Recollection in the Poetry of Seamus Heaney and Wordsworth" with Dr. Brian McCuskey. The project compares the poetry of the contemporary, Nobel Prize-winning, Irish poet Seamus Heaney to the famous Romantic writer William Wordsworth. While scholars have long been interested in Wordsworth's influence on Heaney, Trenton has demonstrated a stronger correspondence than has yet been indicated through a close reading of Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" and Heaney's "Changes." Heaney's poem, he argues, though largely overlooked by critics, engages most directly with Wordsworth's best-known piece. His analysis provides important insights into the similarities as well as the oft-neglected differences between these two prominent writers. Trenton will be presenting his research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in April and plans to submit his work for publication later in the year. His presentation will emphasize the poetic form and technique of the two writers and will be of general interest to all literature enthusiasts in attendance. Participants are encouraged to read the two poems in advance. There will be ample opportunity for questions and discussion.

Sister Of My Heart

"Sister of My Heart" by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni was suggested by a friend and it was a winner! I couldn't put it down. The book is about two women in Calcutta, India, who were born on the same day, in the same household, to different mothers. They grow up as sisters and best friends until arranged marriages turn their lives in opposite directions. Every other chapter is written from one woman's point of view and is insightful to the culture in Calcutta during the current time period. We currently only have one other book by her "The Conch Bearer" which is in the children's section.

You can read more about Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and what she has written at http://www.chitradivakaruni.com/

Free Gardening Class at Library

Free Gardening Series at the Brigham City Library

Spring seems to have come to Brigham City. The snow is melting. Bulbs are starting to peak their heads out of the ground. It is time to start thinking about our gardens. The library will be hosting a three part gardening series starting on Wednesday, April 15, at 7 p.m. The library is located at 26 East Forest. The program is free and open to the public. For more information call Sue at 435-723-5850.

April 15th, 7 p.m., Glen Bradbury from Alpine Gardens, will be teaching “Creative Landscaping.

April 22, 7 p.m., Barney Barnett, Willard Bay Gardens, will be discussing “Colorful Annual and Perennial Combinations.

April 29th, 7 p.m., Nedra Secrist of Secrist Gardens will be discussing “Soil Preparation for Perennials” .

Bring your questions and your notebooks and learn how to garden Utah style. These classes are all on Wednesday and are free and open to the public.

We hope to continue these series of classes on Wednesday with a class on vegetable gardening and fruit tree propagation. Check back in a few weeks for further classes.

sue

Earth Hour: Saturday 28 March 2009 at 8:30 p.m.

Concerned about the Earth? Global Warming? Using our energy and natural resources conservatively and effectively? Earth hour is coming up and you can participate on Saturday, 28 March 2009 at 8:30 p.m. (local time) from the comfort of your own home.

For more information, or to sign up, please visit the Earth Hour website.

Elizabeth

Earth Hour at UN sites around the world (Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General)

A Classic Everywhere

Poky Little Puppy Across the Globe

This picture was taken in Freetown, Sierra Leone, by Cindy McIntire, who is working there as a missionary. She sent it on to her cousin, Diane Muldrow, editorial director of Little Golden Books. The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey, illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren, was originally published in 1942, as one of the original 12 Little Golden Books; it has sold more than 15 million copies.

A good book in timeless and ageless, and apparently knows no boundries. Children everywhere have been enjoying this title for 67 years! Have you read it to a child in your life?

Michele, Children's Librarian

International year of Astronomy 2009

I was just preparing a new bulletin board for the International Year of Astronomy and see that I am behind the news! Things are already happening, or over, so I'd better get on the ball and let you know about this weekend because you might want to be involved in "Globe at Night". This started March 16th and runs through March 28th. Participants choose a clear night on which stars are visible, take measurements of stars in a portion of the sky using GLOBE's Magnitude Charts, and enter observations into the GLOBE at Night Web site. You can find their site at http://www.globe.gov/GaN/ From this data, scientists can begin to explore the concept of light pollution and to research the patterns of light pollution across the globe.

Did you know that two-thirds of Americans, those living in cities and suburbs, can no longer see the Milky Way from their own backyards and must seek it out elsewhere? At a truly dark location over 10,000 stars can be viewed over the course of a night and the Milky Way is perceived as a breath-taking band spanning the sky. But these places are becoming a rarity as light creeps its way across the United States and pollutes the purity of the night. Many national parks have begun to realize the need to preserve the black, untainted night sky for future generations of stargazers. Bryce Canyon National Park realized the importance of the night sky as a resource nearly four decades ago and as a result has become a leader in night sky protection and appreciation. The park is holding their 9th annual Astronomy Festival June 17-20 this year. Find out more about this at http://www.nps.gov/brca/planyourvisit/9thastrofest.htm

The University of Utah started their celebration March 13th, but there are still things going on throughout the year. They'll have public star parties at the theater in the A. Ray Olpin University Union every Wednesday after dark and on the first Monday of every month at 7:30 p.m. They also have a film festival with NOVA documentaries once a month, check at http://www.physics.utah.edu/calendar/IYA.html for times.

If you want to know more about the International year of Astronomy, check their site at http://www.astronomy2009.org/

Susan

From My Point of View - Book Review

This one really got me. I'd been starving for a really good crime novel to just bury myself in and this was it. I loved it so much that I bought myself a copy of another book in the same series.

The book is Nemesis by Jo Nesbø. It starts out with a bank robbery in Oslo, which ends in murder, bring Harry Hole from the crime squad into the investigation. But is it just a simple bank robbery or is there more to it than that? Then there's the suicide of his ex-lover, or is it suicide? Where was Harry when she died after all? Harry doesn't remember, he just remebers that he was supposed to have dinner with her. And what about the cop we all know is bad? When's he going to get caught? The story quickly draws the reader into a tangled web of deception and murder that stretches to Brazil and back again.

I love Nesbø's writing. He tells the story so well, I felt like I was right there. The odd thing was that this book had several humorous moments and I don't usually go for mysteries with humor. I like them very serious, but I loved Nesbø's use of humor. I found myself telling people about the funny parts more than the main storyline. I guess his use of humor just appealed to me. The story itself was complex and satisfying. I absolutely LOVED IT.

It's part of the Harry Hole series, and when I say 'part of' I do mean that it is not the first book in the series. I've read online that some readers didn't think the books should be read out of order, but I disagree. Nemesis was the first book of the Nesbø's that I've ever read and I didn't feel lost for a second. When a previous book was referred to there was just enough context given that I knew a little about what had gone on before and was able to continue Nemesis without any confusion at all. It might be nice to read them in order, but not necessary.

Two things are really killing me. First, not all of his books are out in English yet. And the second relates to the first, I can't move on to the the next book - and the end of Nemesis does make you wish you could just keep reading. We already have a copy of The Redbreast, and one of his books, The Devil's Star, is out in English, but is also out-of-print. I'll find a way to get my hands on it though, even if I have to use interlibrary loan. As for the rest of the series, I'm eagerly awaiting the U.S. release dates of his other books.

Elizabeth

NEW AUDIOBOOKS AT THE LIBRARY

Check out a new audiobook.

NEW BCD JAC
Comfort food [sound recording]

Kate Jacobs.
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Television cook Augusta Simpson, trying to avoid being forced off the air by a younger chef, assembles her family to take part in a new program and in the process improves her career, family, and love life.


NEW BCD FLU
Cream puff murder [sound recording] : a Hannah Swensen mystery with recipes

by Joanne Fluke.
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Like most women in town, Hanna Swensen is not a fan of Ronni Ward--the man-stealing fitness instructor. With a big party to get thin for, Hannah heads over to Heavenly Bodies gym, only to find Ronni lifeless in a jacuzzi.


813/.54
Dead silence [sound recording]

Randy Wayne White.
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Doc Ford manages to save his attractive senator friend from an abduction attempt outside the Explorers Club meeting in New York City, but the fifteen-year-old essay contest winner in the car was not as lucky, and Ford has thirty-six hours to rescue the boy who has been buried alive.


NEW BCD FLY
Extreme measures [sound recording] : a thriller

Vince Flynn.
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The latest pulse-pounding thriller by #1 "New York Times"-bestselling author Flynn explodes onto the scene with a deadly and charismatic hero, in this work that delivers an all-too-real portrayal of an intelligence war that is waged every day by a handful of brave souls.


NEW BCD PIC
Handle with care [sound recording] : a novel

Jodi Picoult.
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"Handle with Care" explores the knotty tangle of medical ethics and personal morality. When faced with the reality of a fetus who will be disabled, should a parent have the right to consider termination? Bestselling author Picoult explores a timely yet controversial issue in her latest novel.

NEW BCD GRE
The illumination [sound recording]

Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori.
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Natalie Landau, a museum urator, has recieved a puzzling gift rom her sister, Dana--a necklace with a blue evil-eye pendant. When she learns that Dana was murdered only hours after sending the gift, she begins to think her evil-eye amulet has something to do with her sister's death.

NEW BCD FAI
Lethal legacy [sound recording] : a novel

Linda Fairstein.

(Series: Alex Cooper mysteries)
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Assistant district attorney Alex Cooper and her crew are drawn into the strange and privileged world of rich collectors, eccentric library trustees, and the treasures of the great New York Public Library.

NEW BCD HAR
Letter from home

Carolyn Hart.
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World-renowned journalist Gretchen Gilman is forced to confront her past head-on when she gets a letter that offers insight into a gruesome murder that changed Gretchen's life forever.

NEW BCD RIC
The letters [sound recording]

Luanne Rice & Joseph Monninger.
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In this unique collaborative novel, "New York Times" bestselling author Rice and fellow author and friend Monninger create a couple's emotional journey as revealed through fictional letters.

NEW BCD LIP
Life sentences [sound recording]

Laura Lippman.
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When Cassandra was a girl, growing up in a racially diverse middle-class neighborhood in Baltimore, her best friends were all black: elegant, privileged Donna; sharp, shrewd Tisha; wild and worldly Fatima. A fifth girl orbited their world—a shy, quiet, unobtrusive child named Calliope Jenkins—who, years later, would be accused of killing her infant son. Yet the boy's body was never found and Calliope's unrelenting silence on the subject forced a judge to jail her for contempt. For seven years, Calliope refused to speak and the court was finally forced to let her go. Cassandra believes this still unsolved real-life mystery, largely unknown outside Baltimore, could be her next bestseller. But her homecoming and latest journey into the past will not be welcomed by everyone, especially by her former friends, who are unimpressed with Cassandra's success—and are insistent on their own version of their shared history. And by delving too deeply into Calliope's dark secrets, Cassandra may inadvertently unearth a few of her own—forcing her to reexamine the memories she holds most precious, as the stark light of truth illuminates a mother's pain, a father's betrayal . . . and what really transpired on a terrible day that changed not only a family but an entire country.

NEW BCD DEL
The onion girl [sound recording]

Charles de Lint.
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Jilly Coppercorn has always lost herself in the magical paintings of a fictional city she creates, but she soon learns in order to move on with her life, she must face the real world and the demons she has tried to keep hidden.


NEW BCD WIL
The temptation of the night jasmine [sound recording]

Lauren Willig.
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After twelve years in India, Robert, duke of Dovedale, returns to his estate in England to avenge the murder of his mentor during the 1803 Battle of Assaye. Robert plans to infiltrate the infamous, secretive Hellfire Club to uncover the murderer’s identity— but he has no idea that an even more difficult challenge awaits him—one Lady Charlotte Lansdowne. Having cherished a romanticized view of Robert since childhood, Charlotte is thrilled by his return. To Charlotte, Robert is all the knights of the Round Table rolled into one. That’s not exactly the case, but she can’t help but search for the man she loves inside this less-than-pristine package. And while Robert works to dissuade Charlotte from her delusions, he can’t help but be drawn to her innocence and inner beauty. When Charlotte is approached by Lady Henrietta Selwick to join her in a bit of espionage—investigating a plot to kidnap the king—Robert soon realizes that Charlotte is not only the perfect partner in crime; she’s the perfect partner, period. Caught in a dangerous game with deadly flower-named spies and secret members of the Hellfire Club, Robert and Charlotte must work together to reveal the villain…and confront their true passion for each other.

sue

Very Hungry Caterpillar 40th Anniversary

Happy Birthday Very Hungry Caterpillar!

This year marks the 40th anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which was published in 1969. On March 20th we can celebrate“The Very Hungry Caterpillar Day”! The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of the more than 70 picture books that Carle has written.

He was born in the U.S. and was raised in Germany during Hitler's reign. His background is in graphic design but since the late 1960's when he illustrated Bill Martin Jr's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? he has been creating books for children. His illustrations are collages made with hand-painted tissue papers, a technique many children have replicated and enjoyed in their classrooms and at home.


Carle is the cofounder of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA. To learn more about this author and his influence on children's literature visit his web site: http://www.eric-carle.com/

Celebrate by reading to your child!
Happy Birthday Caterpillar,
Michele, Children's Librarian

Frank & Ernest

Poetry of Wordsworth and Seamus Heaney to be Presented at the B.C. Library

Trenton Olsen, a student at Utah State University, will present “The Country of the Mind: Landscape, Absence, and Recollection in the Poetry of Seamus Heaney and Wordsworth” on 7 April 2009 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Brigham City Library.

Olsen will discuss the extent of Wordsworth’s influence on Heaney and his writings, also touching on the form and technique each poet used in creating his works. Poems under discussion will include “Tintern Abbey” by Wordsworth and “Changes” by Seamus Heaney.

Copies of these poems may be picked up in advance at the library’s circulation desk. The Brigham City Library is located at 26 East Forest Street. For more information about this program please call Elizabeth, 435-723-5850.

Note about the speaker:

Trenton Olsen is currently working on his senior honors thesis "The Country of the Mind: Landscape, Absence, and Recollection in the Poetry of Seamus Heaney and Wordsworth" with Dr. Brian McCuskey. The project compares the poetry of the contemporary, Nobel Prize-winning, Irish poet Seamus Heaney to the famous Romantic writer William Wordsworth. While scholars have long been interested in Wordsworth's influence on Heaney, Trenton has demonstrated a stronger correspondence than has yet been indicated through a close reading of Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" and Heaney's "Changes." Heaney's poem, he argues, though largely overlooked by critics, engages most directly with Wordsworth's best-known piece. His analysis provides important insights into the similarities as well as the oft-neglected differences between these two prominent writers. Trenton will be presenting his research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in April and plans to submit his work for publication later in the year. His presentation will emphasize the poetic form and technique of the two writers and will be of general interest to all literature enthusiasts in attendance. Participants are encouraged to read the two poems in advance. There will be ample opportunity for questions and discussion.

Editorial Assistant from Deseret Book Company/Shadow Mountain Publishing to Speak at Library’s Writing Group Tonight at 7

Derk Koldewyn, Editorial Assistant at Deseret Book Company/Shadow Mountain Publishing, will be the speaker at the Brigham City Library’s writing group on 17 March 2009 at 7 p.m. in the library’s auditorium.

Koldewyn will discuss the publishing industry and answer questions writers in attendance may have.

The Brigham City Library is located at 26 East Forest Street. For more information about this program please call Elizabeth, 435-723-5850.

Note about the speaker: Derk Koldewyn started reading at three and a half, and hasn’t stopped since. After majoring in English in college, he managed a bookstore and eventually landed at Deseret Book, working in the mailroom for ten years, and as the editorial assistant for the past two years, where his responsibilities include acquisitions and editing all music product for Deseret Book.

Personal Library Accounts

I know we've touched on this before, but how many library patrons are taking advantage of the ability to have access to their library account at home? You wonder what fun is that or what good will it do you. The thing I love, is the ability to add books to a wish list. I just don't have time to read all the books I want to. I can't put them all on hold when I see one I like, because they'll all come in just when I'm not ready. With your account, you can make any type of list you want - a "to read list" or a list of ones you've already read so you can remember and not get them again. All you have to do to get access to your account, is to ask the next time you are in at the library and we'll set you up. Come prepared with a user name and password.

You can also sign up for another site called LibraryThing any time you want from home. This site lets you keep track of what you have read, want to read, or invite friends to join and see what they are reading too. It will even help you catalog your own book collection! You can find that function on our homepage -then the library catalog and under "find a book" and then "Brigham City Reads - Online book discussion". I also use "GoodReads" which is the same type of site.

Is anyone out there reading our blog? How about commenting with the name of a book you are reading right now or one you thought was good? I'm reading "The Shack" by William P. Young and I'm not sure about it but I know lots of people who loved it - what about you?

Susan

Editorial Assistant from Deseret Book Company/Shadow Mountain Publishing to Speak at Library’s Writing Group

Derk Koldewyn, Editorial Assistant at Deseret Book Company/Shadow Mountain Publishing, will be the speaker at the Brigham City Library’s writing group on 17 March 2009 at 7 p.m. in the library’s auditorium.

Koldewyn will discuss the publishing industry and answer questions writers in attendance may have.

The Brigham City Library is located at 26 East Forest Street. For more information about this program please call Elizabeth, 435-723-5850.

Note about the speaker: Derk Koldewyn started reading at three and a half, and hasn’t stopped since. After majoring in English in college, he managed a bookstore and eventually landed at Deseret Book, working in the mailroom for ten years, and as the editorial assistant for the past two years, where his responsibilities include acquisitions and editing all music product for Deseret Book.

Memories of a Jewish Life

Thursday, March 19, 2009. 7 p.m.Dr. Steve Siporin, Utah State University.
Dr. Steve Siporin, Professor of English and history from Utah State University and director of the Utah State Folklore Program will speak on his new book published by University of Nebraska Press. This presentation is part of the Neighbor's Program that has been happening every two weeks at the Brigham City Library, 26 East Forest, Brigham City Utah.
Professor Siporin serves on the editorial board for the Jewish Cultural Studies Series of the Littman Library of Jewish Civilization (UK). His central research interest is the traditional is the traditional culture of Italian Jewry.
Come enjoy an evening with Dr. Siporin as he discusses his book as part of this series that examine Neighbors as they relate to Judism,
MEMORIES OF JEWISH LIFE: ITALY TO JERUSALEM, 1918-1960, by Augusto Segre (University of Nebraska Press, 2008 translated by Dr. Steve Siporin. This memoir is about the fate of the small Jewish minority in Italy in the turbulent 20th century, as seen through the eyes of a participant. Segre's memoir is unusual in that it chronicles the "piccolo mondo" (small world) of traditional, observant working-class Italian Jewry in a minor, provincial city.

sue

Dinosaurs on the web

Dinosaurs

Dinosaur books are always very popular at the library so here are some websites that might be fun to try out too.

Dinosaur Dig http://sdnhm.org/kids/dinosaur/index.html
From the San Diego Natural History Museum. Grade 3-8 An interactive "Name That Reptile" game, FAQs about Jurassic Park and DNA and fossil-hunting clues.

The Dinosauria http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/dinosaur.html
From the University of California Museum of Paleontology. Grade 3-8 Sophisticated information with hyperlinks and subject buttons.

Dinosaurs http://paleobiology.si.edu/dinosaurs/
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Grade 5 and up. The first stop for report writers, this site offers extensive photos, good general information, and details on the museum's collection.

Dinosaurs: Fact and Fiction http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dinosaurs/
U.S. Geologic Survey. Grade 3-6. Short, straightforward text entries answer 20 common questions and dinosaurs and cover topics such as habitat, diet, appearance, names, and extinction.

Sue at the Field Museum http://www.fieldmuseum.org/sue/index.html
Chicago Field Museum. Grade 4-8. Learn about Sue, the museum's superlative T. rex fossil exhibit, with an interactive virtual dig, photo gallery, timeline and more.

Editorial Assistant from Deseret Book Company/Shadow Mountain Publishing to Speak at Library’s Writing Group

Derk Koldewyn, Editorial Assistant at Deseret Book Company/Shadow Mountain Publishing, will be the speaker at the Brigham City Library’s writing group on 17 March 2009 at 7 p.m. in the library’s auditorium.

Koldewyn will discuss the publishing industry and answer questions writers in attendance may have.

The Brigham City Library is located at 26 East Forest Street. For more information about this program please call Elizabeth, 435-723-5850.

Note about the speaker: Derk Koldewyn started reading at three and a half, and hasn’t stopped since. After majoring in English in college, he managed a bookstore and eventually landed at Deseret Book, working in the mailroom for ten years, and as the editorial assistant for the past two years, where his responsibilities include acquisitions and editing all music product for Deseret Book.

Oral Histories at Brigham City Library

The Brigham City Library has over 400 oral histories on file available for research. Kathy Bradford, our historian will be highlighting different ones on the blog and through the Box Elder News Journal. Kathy is available to do presentations on these oral histories at your club or church. The first one will highlight World War II, the Idle Isle Cafe and the Knudson Family.

Verabel Knudson and her husband Percy were the original owners and managers of the Idle Isle Cafe in Brigham City. During World War II, the War Department built Bushnell General Hospital, a 60-building medical facility, just south of town to treat servicemen wounded in the war. In a 1983 oral history interview, Verabel described the impact of Bushnell on the small community and on the Idle Isle specifically. Here is an excerpt from that interview:


Everybody had to open their homes to the influx of people that came – even when they were building the place. I used to get up at 5 o'clock in the morning and go down and open up the Idle Isle in order to feed the workmen breakfast and then put up their lunches. We used to have to put up about a hundred and some odd lunches every morning at the store. I used to get up first and go down and get things going. Then I'd go pick up my girls. The workmen came in for breakfast before 7 o'clock because they had to be on the job at 7. Oh, my daughters didn't like the idea of getting up every morning that early, but we would have to close up then for two or three hours during the day in order to get food prepared for the workmen when they'd come back from work to eat.

Later on after the hospital opened, my daughter Dorothy really had been working hard, and she had been invited to go to San Francisco to visit friends. We decided that she'd better go. I took her down to Ogden to catch the train. When they called that the train was going, I noticed a young couple sitting on a bench with a little child about two years old. The three of them were asleep, and I thought, Well, I'll bet they're going out on that train. I stopped and woke them up and said, “Are you going on this train to San Francisco?”

The man said, “No, we're going up to a place called Brigham City to Bushnell Hospital.” They'd had a blanket over them. He threw the blanket back, and I saw that heonly had one leg.

He said, “I'm a patient.” He explained that they were going to amputate part of his leg and get him a new one. He said, “We came in, and there was no way until in the morning that we could get up to Bushnell.”

I said, “If you want to go back to Brigham with me, I'll take you as soon as this train leaves.” So I put them in the car, and I said, “Have you got a place to stay?”

He said, “Yes, they know I'm coming. I imagine that my wife and baby here can find a place to stay.”

I said, “I don't think there's an empty bed in Brigham City.”

The Red Cross had a place where they had put beds for people to stay. When we got to Brigham, I called them and said, “I've got a young wife and her baby and this patient of the hospital that I brought up from Ogden. What am I going to do with them?”

The person answered, “Well, we're full. I don't know of a bed in Brigham that's vacant, and you brought them. Now it's your responsibility.”

We had about 20 different ones staying at our house, but I thought, Well, there's Dorothy's bed that she just vacated. So I took them down to the house. I put them to bed, the three of them, in Dorothy's bed. Then I went back to work.

Marcell, my sister from California, was living there because her husband was overseas and she didn't want to be alone. She later said, “Oh, I've never been so embarrassed! I went into Dorothy's bedroom, and I could see somebody in bed, so I yelled at her and said, “I thought you went to San Francisco. What happened?”

A strange man sat up in bed and said, “I'm going out to Bushnell Hospital in a little while.”

There I was in my pajamas, and there were three strangers in the bed!

Kathy Bradford, historian.

Shuttle Launch Update

Time for the shuttle mission STS-119 came and went in February. Delays have kept me at home, and at work waiting to go to Florida and see the launch. Originally scheduled for February 12th, the mission is now tentively scheduled for March 12th. What has caused all the delay?

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a technician holds one of Discovery's gaseous hydrogen flow control valves after its removal. The valves channel gaseous hydrogen from the main engines to the external tank. So what exactly does it do? When I asked my local expert (aka husband) he said think of it like this; have you every sucked the water out of a water bottle? What happens? It collapses right? Same thing happens with the fuel tanks on the shuttle because so much fuel is burned so quickly. So the valves replace mass in the tank to keep the vacuum from collapsing the tank in on itself. So why the delays? Of the three valves located on the shuttle one was found to have failed during one of the previous flights. The other two compensated for the loss of the first, but what if two were to fail? To make sure they have a successful flight they are replacing the valves with newer ones from another shuttle. Valves on all the shuttles were checked my NASA.

So I will be here for Storytime classes this week and if all goes well Connie will be substituting for Storytime classes on March 10th and 11th. What if we get delayed yet again? The launch window may be lost and we may have to wait until April. Hope that NASA can fix the problem and get off the ground this time.

Michele, Children's Librarian