We've got a new book display out for the next few weeks, featuring people we've found inspiring, interesting, or perhaps a dreadful warning.  Stop by and grab the life story of

-- a favorite celebrity

-- someone who came through hard times

-- a person who accomplished something amazing

-- or someone who made some unwise choices.

Below are a few books and ebooks we like.  Drop by to see many more or to put one of these on hold.

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

 The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime story of one man's coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed.  Trevor Noah's unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents' indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa's tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.

 

U2 by David Kootnikoff

This is the story of the phenomenally popular, critically acclaimed Irish band from its Dublin beginnings to the present.

 

Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien

Stacey O'Brien adopted Wesley, a baby barn owl with an injured wing who could not have survived in the wild. Over the next nineteen years, O'Brien studied Wesley's strange habits with both a tender heart and a scientist's eye. She watched him turn from a helpless fluff ball into an avid com­municator with whom she developed a language all their own. Eventually he became a gorgeous, gold-and-white macho adult with a heart-shaped face who preened in the mir­ror and objected to visits by any other males to "his" house. As O'Brien gets close to Wesley, she makes astonishing discoveries about owl behavior, intelligence, and communication, coining the term "The Way of the Owl" to describe his noble behavior. When O'Brien develops her own life-threatening ill­ness, the biologist who saved the life of a helpless baby bird is herself rescued from death by the insistent love and courage of this wild animal.   Soon to be a movie!

 

Gulag Boss by Fyodor Vasilevich Mochulsky

The searing accounts of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Evgeniia Ginsberg and Varlam Shalamov opened the world's eyes to the terrors of the Soviet Gulag. But not until now has there been a memoir of life inside the camps written from the perspective of an actual employee of the Secret Police.

 

The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale

Winner of the 2017 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime Book!  From the internationally bestselling author, a deeply researched and atmospheric murder mystery of late Victorian-era London In the summer of 1895, Robert Coombes (age 13) and his brother Nattie (age 12) were seen spending lavishly around the docklands of East London. The boys told neighbors they had been left home alone while their mother visited family in Liverpool, but their aunt was suspicious. When she eventually forced the brothers to open the house to her, she found the badly decomposed body of their mother in a bedroom upstairs....With riveting detail and rich atmosphere, Kate Summerscale recreates this terrible crime and its aftermath, uncovering an extraordinary story of man's capacity to overcome the past.

Full Tilt by Dervla Murphy

The diary of Dervla Murphy's bicycle trek from Dunkirk, across Europe, the Middle East, and the Himalayas, to India. An amazing narrative from an amazing woman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Come by for the last day of National Library Week at Butte College. Grab a few freebies, read book recommendations, and enter one of our contests. 

Read more about the impact of libraries below:

Ten Reasons Libraries Are Still Better Than the Internet

Community Centered: 23 Reasons Why Your Library Is the Most Important Place in Town

The Importance of Libraries in Our Digital World

How Public Libraries Help Build Healthy Communities

"You want weapons? We're in a library! Books! The best weapons in the world! This room's the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourself!" - Doctor Who, Season Two, Episode Two

Libraries Are Surprisingly Popular, and Oh Yeah, They Also Make You Awesome

"That's what Hermione does," said Ron, shrugging. "When in doubt, go to the library." - J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

15 Reasons Why Libraries Are Still Important to Generation Z

Each day for National Library Week we will be sharing an inspirational quote about libraries along with a fun library related read. Enjoy! 

Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming

National Library Week is a yearly celebration of the importance of libraries.  Libraries are an important part of a strong community and a robust democracy!  Come into the Butte College Library this week and find:

• Fill out a recommendation for your favorite book -- there will be a drawing for prizes!
• Is there something or someone you love at the Library?  Give them a star by filling out the form. 
• Check out displays about libraries
• Pick up some fabulous library swag
• There will be cookies!

Looking for proof that libraries are important for communities?  We'll be posting articles to read, and here are a few books you can find at your friendly neighborhood Butte College Library:

Palaces for the People by Eric Klinenberg

Call Number: HC79.C3 K55 2018 (or ebook)

An NPR Best Book of 2018 -- New York Times Book Review: Editors' Choice. An eminent sociologist and bestselling author offers an inspiring blueprint for rebuilding our fractured society. ... In Palaces for the People, Eric Klinenberg suggests a way forward. He believes that the future of democratic societies rests not simply on shared values but on shared spaces: the libraries, childcare centers, bookstores, churches, synagogues, and parks where crucial, sometimes life-saving connections, are formed. These are places where people gather and linger, making friends across group lines and strengthening the entire community. Klinenberg calls this the "social infrastructure": When it is strong, neighborhoods flourish; when it is neglected, as it has been in recent years, families and individuals must fend for themselves.

 

BiblioTech: Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever in the Age of Google by John Palfrey

Call Number: Z674.75.I58 P38 2015

Libraries today are more important than ever. More than just book repositories, libraries can become bulwarks against some of the most crucial challenges of our age: unequal access to education, jobs, and information. In BiblioTech , educator and technology expert John Palfrey argues that anyone seeking to participate in the 21st century needs to understand how to find and use the vast stores of information available online. And libraries, which play a crucial role in making these skills and information available, are at risk.

 

 

Part of Our Lives by Wayne A. Wiegand

Call Number: Z731 .W734 2015

Despite dire predictions in the late twentieth century that public libraries would not survive the turn of the millennium, those libraries continue to thrive. Two of three Americans frequent a public library at least once a year, and nearly that many are registered borrowers.  Part of Our Lives paints a clear and engaging picture of Americans who value libraries not only as civic institutions, but also as social spaces for promoting and maintaining community. Whether as a public space, a place for accessing information, or a home for reading material that helps patrons make sense of the world around them, the public library has a rich history of meaning for millions of Americans.

 

Welcome to our new online newsletter!  Instead of publishing a newsletter twice a year, we'll be putting out library news more frequently, and featuring our resources so readers can get to know all the services we have to offer.  We'll kick off with National Library Week and continue to bring you news on events and new features, as well as tips on developing research skills and navigating the digital world.

Meet our mascots, Gadget and Gizmo: