Monthly Archives: September 2015
Guest Post: National Food Safety Month
By Patsy Watkins MPS, CFCS
Family & Consumer Sciences Agent, UT/TSU Extension, Williamson County
Did you know? Food poisoning not only sends more than 100,000 Americans to the hospital each year, but it can also have long-term health consequences. Follow these 4 steps to keep your family safe from food poisoning at home.
- Wash hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water.
- Wash surfaces, cutting boards, dishes, and cooking utensils with hot soapy water after each use to prevent bacteria from spreading.
- Wash produce under running water, but not meat, poultry, or eggs.
- Don’t cross-contaminate! Keep raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs separate from other foods in the grocery cart, grocery bags and in your refrigerator.
- Use separate cutting boards/plates/utensils for produce and raw meat.
- Cook to the right temperature. Use a food thermometer.
- Keep food hot after cooking (at 140oF or above). Bacterial growth increases as food cools.
- Microwave food thoroughly (to 165oF).
- Refrigerate perishable foods at or below 40oF within 2 hours, or 1 hour if in weather over 90oF
- Never thaw or marinate foods on the counter. Bacteria grows rapidly.
- Know when to throw food out. Be sure to toss expired foods.
Food Safety myths
Myth #1:
When cleaning my kitchen, the more bleach I use, the better. More bleach kills more bacteria
Fact:
There is no advantage to using more bleach than needed. Use 1 teaspoon of bleach to 1 quart of water.
Myth #2:
I don’t need to wash fruits and vegetables if I’m going to peel them.
Fact:
You can transfer bacteria from the peel or rind you’re cutting to the inside of your fruits and veggies.
Myth #3:
Leftovers are safe to eat until they smell bad.
Fact:
The kind of bacteria that cause food poisoning do not affect the look, smell, or taste of food.
Myth #4:
Cross- contamination doesn’t happen in the refrigerator – it’s too cold for bacteria to survive!
Fact:
Bacteria can survive and some can grow in cool, moist environments like the refrigerator.
How can you benefit from the Tennessee Electronic Library?
By Stephen McClain, Reference Department
Whether you are a student of any grade level, preparing for the ACT, SAT, GRE or GED, an undergraduate or graduate scholar, looking for a new career or are interested in researching your heritage, the Tennessee Electronic Library has something for you.
The Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL) is an online library that provides everyone in the state with access to a vast selection of resources. These resources are available free of charge at any time, all you need is Internet access. Whether you are at home, in a computer lab or on your smart phone, a wealth of information is available to help with any of your research and data needs.
TEL shortcuts will take you directly to resources for Homework, Research, Test Prep, Career Tools and Genealogy.
For younger students, click on the link “TEL Kids Page” to access resources for grades K-5.
Homework
If you have a school paper or project due, the Student Resources in Context will help provide primary source materials for many subjects. Within this area, there is a brand new “Research in Context” button that is designed specifically for middle school students. This link is an invaluable, easy to navigate tool for many projects with topics ranging from Cultures, Government, Science and History.
There is an extensive alphabetical database with information on most any topic. Including…
Biography — Learn about the lives of Bill Gates, Duke Ellington, Edgar Allan Poe, LeBron James and Walt Whitman, just to name a few.
Business and Economics — Here you will find a broad scope of information on everything from advertising and fashion to what made Facebook a global phenomenon.
Geography — We live in an age of globalization where it is increasingly important that we know what is going on in the world. From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, learn about current events and issues that are facing each country and how it can affect you. There are many links to NPR podcasts, videos and academic journals. Each link also provides maps and statistical data for each country, which includes individual states of the U.S.
Social Issues — This section provides links to diverse and important topics and current world events. There are many articles, audio recordings and interactive maps relating to an extensive list of social issues.
Research and Test Prep
The Tennessee Electronic Library also provides users with access to popular magazines, videos, ebooks, scholarly articles, newspapers, podcasts and much more through their Gale Power Search.
TEL can also help with test preparation, starting at Grade 4 through college. Resources include information on ACT, SAT and Graduate School Entrance exams. Clicking on “ACT, SAT” will take you to the College Preparation Center where you will find practice tests, tutorials and other resources for college admissions. The “Graduate School Entrance Exams” link takes you to the College Center, where you can prepare for graduate school admission exams by reviewing math, reading, writing and science skills. There are also video tutorials on how to download and use an ebook, how to take a test, as well as resources in Spanish.
Career Tools
Make the most of your experience and knowledge when looking for a new career by clicking on the Career Tools tab. Here, you will find powerful tools to organize job searches and match your expertise with new career opportunities. You will also find help to build your resume and write a cover letter.
Genealogy
Find information on your heritage and family history through digitized census records starting in 1790. There is also a special link to Tennessee State Library and Archives, which is partnered with Ancestry.com. Here you will find free historic Tennessee information on births, deaths and tax records.
These are just a few of the ways that the Tennessee Electronic Library can help you with many of your research and data needs. Visit TEL and explore!
Celebrate National Hispanic Month with Some Great Books
By Liz Arrambide, Children’s Department
Celebrate National Hispanic Month Tues. Sept. 15 thru Thur. Oct. 15, 2015 with a few titles that will put an “¡Ole!” into your day!
Picture Books:
Flutter and Hum: Animal Poems/ Aleto y Zumbido.: Poemas de Animales by Julie Paschkis
This Poem book is “sabroso”, Mmmm! delicious! I can easily picture a child in my lap and each of us studying the wonderful detailed drawings and the animal poems that make us smile. It doesn’t matter if we are reading about a snake that only can say one letter “SSS” or a turtle that moves slowly so rubies and emeralds do not fall from her shell. In both English and Spanish the book is “muy rico”/ very rich with delightful illustrations to savor.- Green is a Chile Pepper: a Book of Colors and Round is a Torilla: a book of shapes by Roseanne Greenfield Thong
In this lively picture book, children discover a world of colors all around them: red is spices and swirling skirts, yellow is masa, tortillas, and sweet corn cake. Many of the featured objects are Latino in origin, and all are universal in appeal. 
Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match/ Marisol McDonald no combina by /por Monica Brown.
Marisol has flaming red hair like her Scotch American dad and nut brown skin like her Peruvian mom. She loves dressing in a wild mixture of polka dots and stripes. Peanut butter and jelly burritos are her favorite lunch food. One day she decides to dress and act like everyone else, so she will match. Is it worth making the change? A great bilingual English/Spanish read aloud for grades 1-3.- Musicians of the Sun by Gerald McDermott
This is based on an Aztec legend. The Lord of the Night was worried because the people worked all day and night in the dark. They did not laugh or sing. So the Lord of the Night asked the Wind to help free the Three Musicians from the Lord Sun. This is a well told and beautifully illustrated version of this Mexican legend. 
Playing Loteria/ El juego de la Loteria by/ por Rene Colato Lainez.
A Young boy from the U.S. is visiting his grandmother in Mexico. He only knows a little bit of Spanish and she speaks only a little bit of English. How will they be able to talk to each other? This is a lovely bilingual story where they learn each other’s language through the Mexican version of Bingo. This is called Lotería. They discover that loved ones have a special way of understanding each other.- Sip, Slurp, Soup, Soup/ Caldo, Caldo, Caldo by Diane Gonzales Bertrand
In Houston, Texas a family gets ready for Caldo Day. “Caldo de res” is a Mexican soup with lots of vegetables, potatoes, cilantro, stew meat and garlic. The special soup calms a cough, soothes sore muscles and makes everyone feel better. While mom makes the soup, the rest of the family buys the tortillas at the Tortillería, where tortillas are made. You can almost taste the fresh tortillas and delicious soup. A recipe for caldo is included. ‘¡Disfrute! Enjoy! 
Up and Down the Andes: A Peruvian Festival Tale by Laurie Krebs and Aurelia Fronty.
Children from all over Peru come by bus, boat, train, truck and walking for the Sun King’s Festival in Cusco, Peru on June 24. They participate in the dancing, the parades and the wonderful parties. This is a beautiful book that shows the different areas of Peru.- Yum! ¡MmMm! ¡Que Rico! By Pat Mora.
North and South America grow delicious foods. When Columbus and other explorers brought to Europe some of these new foods, the people all gained needed weight and became healthier. Find out about some of these wonderful vegetables and fruits that started here in the Americas. These are described in short poems called haikus with brief descriptions of these foods; corn, blueberry, chile, chocolate and more! Yum!
Books for Grades 4-8:
90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis J F FLO Grades 5-8
The author came to the U.S. in 1961 from Cuba with his two brothers. He was 9 years old and part of Operation Pedro Pan, where 14,000 children were sent to the United States without their parents to escape the Castro regime. This novel is based on his experience. This is a fascinating book.- Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan Grades 4-7.
Naomi Soledad Leon is 11 and has been brought up by her grandmother. Life is not perfect, but she and her younger brother, who is slightly deformed, are doing fairly well in a trailer park in California. Then her alcoholic mother, who has been gone for 7 years returns with a no good boyfriend. Gran gets into the car and takes the two children on a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico in search her father who is a fine man. This way her daughter, will not have legal custody of the children. This gives an amazing look into life in Mexico. 
Enchanted Air: Two Cultures/ Two Wings by Margarita Engle. Grades 5-8
This book of memoris is told through poems. Ms. Engle lived in Los Angeles and spent summers with her mother in Cuba. She finds herself divided because the two countries she loves are at war. Will her family in Cuba be alright after the Invasion of the Bay of Pigs? Ms. Engle was the first Latina to win a Newbery Honor with her book, Surrender Tree.- How Tia Lola Came to Visit/ Stay by Julia Alvarez. Grades 3-6.
Miguel Guzman lives with his sister and mom in Vermont after the divorce. In comes a crazy aunt, his mother’s sister, from the country of the Dominican Republic. Miguel is afraid that his friends will meet his nutty aunt. In time, all of the town warm to Tía Lola, as she cooks exotic foods and learns English. The story is full of humor as Tía makes a lot of mistakes in her new language and her visit becomes permanent. 
The Revolution of Eveyln Serrano by Sonia Manzano. Grades 5-8.
Written by the actress who plays Maria on Sesame Street, this is a very special inside view of what life was like in the Puerto Rican Part of New York City during the civil rights movement in 1969. Fascinating!- Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 miners from 2,000 feet below the Chilean desert by Marc Aronson J 363.11 ARO Grades 4-8.
This is a true account of the miners that were trapped in 2010 in a copper mine in Chile. You’ll be amazed at the diagrams of the mine. There is only one safe place for the men in the miles of the mine. The world didn’t have the technology to save the men. They had to invent it. Oil drillers, astronauts, submarine specialists and experts around the world came together and tried different ways to get the men out. Whose way will work? Or will any of them be able to reach the men in time? A breath taking, true life thriller. 
Under the Same Sky by Cynthis DeFelice Grades 5-8.
Joe Pedersen’s family owns a large farm in New York State. The workers all are from Central America. Joe has never paid attention to the operation of the farm until he wants to earn money for a motorcycle. He learns a lot that summer as he picks strawberries and cares for cabbage along with the migrant workers who tend his farm. He realizes that life for his friends is far more complicated than he imagined. His life too becomes difficult because he wants to help, but he may have to break the law. A great read!
DH Lawrence: More than just “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”
By Lindsay Roseberry, Reference Department
David Herbert Richards Lawrence was born 130 years ago this September, on September 11. Most people only know the name DH Lawrence because two of his novels, Sons and Lovers and Lady Chatterley’s Lover, were censored. A few people would probably admit to reading these two books under the covers with a flashlight! He was much more than just a novelist though– he was a noted poet, playwright, literary critic and painter.
Lawrence was born in Newcastle, England. His parents were from the working class—his father was a miner and his mother was a tutor. Early on, he contracted tuberculosis, which plagued him all his life. This disease made him sickly and he often bullied at the schools he attended. He did go a local school early on, won a scholarship to primary school, and then won another scholarship to Nottingham High School. He had to be a writer after this—he kept winning scholarships! He didn’t do so well at the high school though, and dropped out to go to work. His mother, realizing his intelligence and looking for someone to teach, began tutoring him at home. Her attention paid off; he was hired as a student-teacher at the University College, Nottingham. He also started writing in his spare time. He always wrote.
Click to see his his interesting fact***
During his first job, teaching at a school in Croydon, which he surprisingly did well, his first works of literature, poems, were published in the prestigious English Review. He was asked about other works he had, and soon became known for his writing. His mother passed away, which devastated him and had a major impact upon his life and writing—directly influencing his novel Sons and Lovers. While reconnecting with a former professor of his, he fell in love and ran away with the professor’s wife. She left behind three small children! Since the former Mrs. Weekley (Frieda) was German, they had a hard time finding a place to live during World War I—they fell under suspicion constantly. After the war, he nearly died from influenza, got fed up with hateful reviews (and the suspicion) and moved out of England for good. He was living in Italy when Women in Love was published.
Frieda von Richthofen
He and Frieda, the former Mrs. Weekley, tried living in Sardinia, then Ceylon. He was working his way toward the United States, where they wanted to live. He figured they would be easier on him—or at least not as cruelly critical. They stayed in Australia for a time then finally made it to North America. They found a place in Taos, New Mexico, which is known as The D H Lawrence Ranch. It belongs to the University of New Mexico, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
They visited Mexico, where he contracted three horrible diseases, one after another—typhoid, pneumonia and a recurrence of tuberculosis. He nearly died again. A recurring theme… He returned to Italy, where he wrote and edited Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Failing health kept him from traveling back to the United States. He spent the rest of his life vehemently defending his censured works, especially Lady Chatterley’s Lover. He died on March 2, 1930.
Frieda, the former Mrs. Weekley, and now Mrs. Lawrence, continued living at the ranch until her death in 1956.
***Interesting fact: D H Lawrence has a Facebook page! Truly! It is maintained by http://www.dh-lawrence.org.uk/
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._H._Lawrence
- http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/d/d_h_lawrence.html
- http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/d-h-lawrence
- https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17623.D_H_Lawrence
- http://www.dhlsna.com/Influence.htm
- http://www.dhlsna.com/index.htm
- http://www.dh-lawrence.org.uk/
- https://www.facebook.com/DHLawrenceAuthor/info?tab=page_info
- http://britlitwiki.wikispaces.com/D.H.+Lawrence
- http://danielhalford.deviantart.com/art/DH-Lawrence-and-Freud-117161690
What Good Is A Library Card?
By Lance Hickerson, Reference Department
Welcome to September, also known as National Library Card Sign-up Month. And yes, I know that it feels like no matter where you go, everyone’s always trying to sell you something. But don’t worry, I’m not going to try and sell anything, because library cards are FREE! Bonus: we’ll also SAVE you money! Typically, all you have to do to get a library card is live in the area. And while there are thousands of books you can borrow, there’s also free computer use with access to software such as Microsoft Office and Abbey Finereader, amazing programs, use of highly useful databases, ebooks and audiobooks, and so much more. Patrons of the library tell us they get much more from their cards than the privilege of checking out books.
Here are 12 comments we hear from time to time:
- I didn’t know my card could give me free online magazines from Zinio. That saves me going to the newsstand.
- You mean my card gives me free access to the Reference USA research database. That saves me money on my business prospecting plans.
- I like being able to get an older DVD free that I can’t even find in Redbox.
- Rosetta Stone was too expensive for me at the time, but your free online language program, Powerspeak Languages, helped me get ready to visit Spain.
- You mean I don’t have to pay $2.00 an hour to be on the computer? That’s neat you have free access.
- I like being able to use the library computer software. I don’t have a photo editing program so I used the basic Irfanview and worked my way into the more advanced Gimp photo editor, both on the library computer. I also used the library Powerpoint program to set up my presentation.
- We needed to scan our personal documents; the library made it easy, and it was free.
- I thought you only had a few electronic books to download on my ipad. I had been paying for ebooks the last two years. I will now be saving by using READS.
- We were going on a trip and wanted to listen to an audiobook. Most of the time we check out the library’s books on CD. But we just learned there are free electronic audio books too. We downloaded three and enjoyed them as we traveled across the country.
- I come to the library, check out the new books, and like the access to your HP printers. They are better than mine at home.
- I have a limit on my data downloads, so I use the free library Wifi to update my tablet.
- We recently got to visit the Dyer Observatory on the special night for library card holders. A great program.
