Food in Rural China

FIRST WEDNESDAYS PROGRAMS
FEBRUARY 6, 2008 at 7pm ~ The Culture of Food in Rural China. Drawing on her own fieldwork, Middlebury College Professor Ellen Oxfeld explores the social and cultural importance of local foodways in rural China. Despite the fact that globalization has brought "fast food" and other western food habits to urban China, local foodways still flourish in rural China. Food in rural China is used not only for nourishment, but also to create and sustain social relations, and as a token laden with symbolic meanings.
A Single Pebble of Burlington is a sponsor of this program. Chef Steve Bogart will be in the library, too!
Dr. Oxfeld is a Professor of Anthropology at Middlebury College. She is a graduate of Williams College and holds a Master’s Degree and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.
Dr. Oxfeld recently returned from a sabbatical year in rural China.
First Wednesdays is a program of the Vermont Humanities Council hosted by the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.

Philip Baruth

Author Philip Baruth attended legislative day for Vermont's public libraries. His remarks can be found on his blog, or you can listen to them at VPR. An excerpt:

When I was a kid, there was always one job that had to be done before you could string the lights on the Christmas tree: you had to check every single bulb individually because if one was bad, the circuit wouldn't close, and the whole string would remain dark. It was a hassle but it prevented an even worse hassle — getting the lights all wound into the evergreen branches, plugging it in, and then having no idea which one of a hundred bulbs needed to be pulled.

I applaud the Legislature's attempts to wire up the state of Vermont, and it's going to be a beautiful thing when the job is done. For God's sake, though, don't skimp on the State's libraries as you do so, because they are already set-up institutionally to fill the digital gap; they're in place, they've rethought their mission, and they're performing the job admirably as we speak. But unless we support them financially in that role, this vast string of fiber-optic Christmas lights we're working on isn't going anywhere, not really, not in any ethical or moral sense. In that sense, the system will remain dark until everyone has access to the light.

And we're not here today to kid ourselves. Bringing the light to those without it costs money: 1.6 million dollars, and an absolutely spectacular bargain at that price.

State aid news article

The Times Argus ran a front-page article on state aid for libraries on Saturday January 12.

Legislative Day for Vermont’s Public Libraries

Friday January 18, 2008, 8:30 am – 11:30 am

Statehouse in Montpelier

Come to the Statehouse on January 18th for an important kick-off to our state funding initiative! We will meet in the Card Room, on the second floor. (The Card "Room" is really the hallway before you enter the cafeteria.)

Arrange to meet with your lawmakers and ask them to support state funding for public libraries and the statute that enhances library patron confidentiality. The best way to do this is to contact your lawmakers in advance and set up a time to meet them in the cafeteria. The VLA government relations committee has prepared a three-page case statement for state aid. Copies will be available on January 18; e-mail Martin Hahn (see below) if you would like a copy in advance. Follow this link to obtain contact information for your senators and representatives: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/legdir/legdir2.htm.

Bring as many people as possible – patrons, trustees, friends, and supporters.

Schedule

8:30 – 10:30 Meet with your legislators.

8:30 – 11:30 Come to the card room and distribute flyers and stickers. Meet and greet legislators.

10:30-11:00 Brief remarks, card room.

Wear Red!

Parking – Take exit 8 from I89; take second left to Green Mountain Drive. A shuttle runs frequently to the statehouse from behind the Department of Labor building. Follow this link for map: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/sthouse/locate4.htm.

See you on January 18^th!

For more information, contact either of the co-chairs of VLA's government relations committee:

Martin Hahn, mhahn[at]kellogghubbard.org

Lisa von Kann, lvkann[at]stjathenaeum.org

Have lunch in a foreign language at the library!

In 2008, we thought that we'd try a new idea for those of us who would like to revive our rusty foreign language skills:

LUNCH IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
AT THE KELLOGG-HUBBARD LIBRARY
Starting January 8th, 2008

Want to brush up on your foreign language skills? Come to the Kellogg-Hubbard Library with a bag lunch and a dictionary. We’ll open the Hayes Room to a different language group each day, from 12 noon to 1 p.m. This is a do-it-yourself program. Tell your friends! (Monday is still open to another language group upon request.)

Monday : (to be announced)

Tuesday: Italian

Wednesday: Spanish

Thursday: French

Friday: German

Snow!

The library will close at 5:00 today (Monday Dec. 3) due to the weather conditions.

Early closing on Saturday

The library will close at 1:00pm on Saturday December 1st so that we can set up for An Evening at the Library which starts at 7:00pm.

Silent auction

What follows is a list of silent auction items that are on display at the library. The first dollar amount is the value of an item and the second is the minimum bid. Final bids will be accepted this Saturday night, December 1^st, at An Evening at the Library. Bid early and bid often to support the Kellogg-Hubbard Library!

Silent Auction

Glass Jewelry Box by Gail Lacy $150 $75

Flower Bouquet Quilt $600 $250

Polar Bear Whistles by Mary Stone $250 $125

Three Teddy Bears $75 $30

Painted Pet Portrait by Jody Stahlman $50 $20

Pond Village Home in Brookfield - rental $575 $200

72 piece Set of Polish Bone China $250 $100

Craftsman Chainsaw $160 $60

Norton Pond Cottage- rental $400 $150

2008 Betty Lord Wedding Planner $2,500 $900

Clay Pet Portrait by Georgia Landau $85 $42

Dessert of the Month for a year by J. McCullough $250 $75

Nine Dozen Cookies from KHL staff priceless priceless

Ansel Adams at 100, book $40 $15

Mountaineers family season pass $100 $40

Grand View Winery event for 10 $60 $20

Doug Wilhelm Book Mention priceless priceless

Wardian Case $200 $75

Royal Tour of Statehouse with David Schutz priceless priceless

Plaster Sculpture of Ceres by Jerry Williams $200 $75

Two Hours of Plumbing, Fred Blakely $188 $65

12 personalized T-shirts, Beavin & Son's $126 $45

Reeve & Anne Morrow Lindbergh Adult Books $75 $30

Marlowe and Barnaby Rudge, books $35 $15

Abstract painting by M.F. Bartlett $1,000 $400

Reeve Lindbergh Children's books $140 $65

Native American Doll by Charlene McManis $75 $30

Trip for Two to Montreal Food Markets $200 $80

Holland Pewter Tea/Coffee set $160 $70

An Evening Out Print by Christa Kieffer $80 $30

A Gift from the Sea 1st Ed. by Anne Morrow Lindbergh $25 $10

Ski Tour with Paul Costello $150 $75

Merchant of Venice, book $100 $50

All Men Are Brothers, book $35 $15

Gingerbread House by Roberta Tracy $200 $100

NBA Sports Bag Collection $200 $100

Evening at the Library Honors Reeve Lindbergh

This Saturday, December 1st at 7 p.m., the Kellogg-Hubbard will be fortunate to host its second annual "Evening at the Library", hosted by Lola Aiken. Last year we honored the beloved children's author Katherine Paterson. This year, we'll be honoring another noted Vermont author, Reeve Lindbergh. Both Katherine and Reeve are not only outstanding authors. They were each chosen as the evening's honorees because they have been outstanding in their support and promotion of reading, libraries and literacy.

Reeve Lindbergh lives in St. Johnsbury and is an accomplished author of family memoirs, novels and children’s books. She is the youngest daughter of aviator Charles Lindbergh and writer Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Reeve is Honorary Chairman of The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation and she has had deep involvement in supporting public libraries. Reeve and her husband Nathaniel Tripp were recently chosen as the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce's 2007 Citizens of the Year.

We are all looking forward to lighting up this beautiful building and opening it to one of the most inspiring events of the year. If you don't have your ticket yet, call 229-0912 to have tickets held for you.

Montpelier Flood 80th Anniversary

The following post is from Claire Gilbertson who oversees Kellogg-Hubbard's Vermont collection.

November 1927-2007, 80th anniversary of the 1927 Flood

Eighty years ago a natural disaster happened in Vermont that still marks it as a major event in Vermont's history. People in the community who remember the 1927 flood say it's something you won't ever forget.

Two storms, a cold one from the west and a warm one from the south locked over Vermont. The rain they produced after a very wet summer and fall caused 10 to 12 feet of water at the corners of State Street and Main Street in Montpelier. The Kellogg Hubbard Library has a medallion next to the adult circulation desk that marks the height of the water in the library on the first floor, over 5 feet.

Many of Vermont's rivers overflowed their banks and caused an incredible amount of damage, roads washed out, houses pushed off their foundations, lives lost. But the pictures speak for themselves. We've blown-up 5 historic postcards of the flooding in Montpelier. They are set-up in the room that houses the Vermont Collection at the library.

Just in time for the 80th anniversary, Deborah and Nicholas Clifford published an incredible book on the flood, 1927-1931. They have the pictures and first-hand narratives but also include an analysis of what it took to get Vermont back to normal. This important work explains how the flood changed the landscape and the people of Vermont.

For information on the flood, the following is a list of some of the items the library has.

VERMONT 974.3 C Clifford, Deobrah Pickman. The troubled roar of the waters: Vermont in flood and recovery, 1927-1931. Lebanon [NH]: University Press of New England, 2007.

VERMONT 551.489 M Minsinger, W.E. M.D. The 1927 Flood in Vermont and New England November 3-7, 1927, an historical and pictorial summary. Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory and Science Center, 2003.

VIDEO VT 551.489 V Vermont Public Television. Vermont's great flood. [videorecording]. Vermont Public Television, 2003. "In 1927, a huge flood swept away houses, roads, railways and farms. Torrential rains flooded the rivers, which rushed through towns as high as 18 feet above normal…"

VERMONT REF 974 K623 Kinnison, Harvey Banks, 1890- The New England flood of November, 1927. Washington: Govt. Print. Off., 1929.

CD VERMONT 551.48 R Remembering hell and high water: the flood of '27: the 75 anniversary radio special. Using interviews of people who experienced the 1927 flood and author Pat Belding, Michael Thurston retells what happened during the flood and how people were affected by it.

VERMONT 551.489 J Johnson, Luther Burnham, 1869- The '27 flood. Randolph Center, Vt.: Greenhill Books, 1996, c1928.