Centre County Reads - CDT

The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of

Nathaniel — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:26:00 -0500

Join us at the State Theatre this weekend to see the classic film version of The Maltese Falcon, starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet. Admission is only one dollar! It’s at 1 p.m. on Sunday the 21^st. Dr. Jim West, a distinguished English professor at Penn State will be introducing the film (in the style of Robert Osborne from Turner Classic Movies). We’ll also be announcing the winners of the Dashiell Hammett writing contest. Come and see who will win the $200 cash prize for the best Hammett-inspired writing. And there will be food! A reception will follow the movie and everyone is invited. How do the book and the film compare? Come and find out on Sunday.

Another chance to solve the crime

Nathaniel — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:16:00 -0500

Everyone seemed to have a great time at the murder mystery kickoff event! I didn’t know we had so many aspiring detectives in State College. Some of you really grilled our suspects to find the identity of the murderer. The Daily Collegian covered the event and wrote a nice article about it. If you couldn’t make the event at Schlow, you’ll have another chance to test your powers of deduction tomorrow at the Centre Hall Library. Drop in any time (Tuesday the 26^th) and you can investigate the clues to solve the murder. Intrigue awaits you!

Murder at the Kickoff Event!

Nathaniel — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:43:00 -0500

A murder has been committed-- are you ready to solve it?

This Thursday (the 21^st) at 7 p.m., Centre County Reads will kick off our 2010 program season with a murder mystery party at Schlow Centre Region Library. In honor of this year’s reading selection, The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, you will have the chance to use your best detective skills to investigate the clues, interview the suspects and figure out the identity of the murderer. There will be food and prizes to encourage your inquiring mind.

The crime: A cranky, anti-teen, music librarian was somehow put in charge of organizing a battle of the bands concert at the library for high school students, even though she thinks that rock and roll was “a collection of loud vulgarities and as such the enemy of civilized culture.”

She’s found dead in the meeting room.

The suspects: Teen-aged musicians with discipline problems, a librarian scorned and left out of the planning committee, the young adult librarian who saw her great programming idea taken over by a “wicked witch,” and several other suspicious characters.

Join us on Thursday to figure out who-done-it!

Centre County Reads announces the 2010 book

Nathaniel — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:46:00 -0500

Ready to read and discuss with all your friends and neighbors? This year Centre County Reads' book selection is The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. This classic mystery started off the hardboiled detective fiction genre. It's an action-packed book with great characters. We've got a lot of exciting events planned this year, starting with our kickoff event at Schlow Library at January 21st at 7 p.m. It's an interactive murder mystery where you get to be the detective and solve the crime. We'll also be showing the classic film with Humphrey Bogart at the State Theatre on February 21st. Visit our website for more information and stay tuned for updates here!

www.centrecountyreads.org

The sky's the limit

Nathaniel — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:45:00 -0400

I hope many of you are reading the Breakfast Serial, Reading the Sky in the Centre Daily Times. It started me looking at the sky and realizing what a beautiful sky we have in Centre County. Almost every day we have big fluffy clouds and, when it rains, we have big fluffy dark clouds. Anyway, back to the story, if you haven't been reading it and want to catch up, we have a hard copy of the story at Schlow Library. If you are reading it, I hope they catch up to that little girl soon! Let me know if you like it. If you do, try other books by Avi.
As I said before, I found a few other books with "clouds" in the titles, so I decided to read those. Clouds Without Rain is an Amish mystery that starts with a tragic truck/buggy accident. Of course, all is not what it seems and is sorted out in the end.
I also started The Theory of Clouds. I like this because it has an interesting back story about the first person, Luke Howard, who classified clouds the way we do today with cumulus, stratus and cirrus designations. I like it when a book takes me into new fields and I get to learn more about them. Sometimes I just read with my computer next to me so I can find out more about the subject.
Summer Reading is in full swing. Join a program (for children, teens or adults) at your local library or get some paperbacks at your local bookstore. Books are still your most portable entertainment and they don't require batteries!
Keep reading,
Pat
Schlow Librarian