The Hunger Games

There has been a huge amount of media attention surrounding the new movie The Hunger Games.  The merchandise tie-ins include t-shirts, pins, buttons, books and even a line of nail polish!  All of this began, of course, with the young adult book by Suzanne Collins. Ms. Collins, a Connecticut resident, says she got the idea for the story when she was watching television, and switching between channels showing the war in Iraq and reality TV.  Collins’ story of a dystopian world where the government forces teens to fight in televised battles certainly struck a chord with readers: the 2008 book sold more than four times its initial print run and The Hunger Games and its two sequels, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, are consistently on best sellers lists. The Ridgefield Library owns twenty copies of the trilogy, and with the release last week of the film, we are hard pressed to keep any on the shelf! The film looks like it will be faithful to the spirit of the book – author Collins herself wrote the script and was a consultant throughout the filming.  We know many patrons, both teens and adults, who have read and enjoyed Ms. Collins’ books.  Why not check out what all the hubbub is about for yourself?

Contributed by Geri Diorio, Teen Services Librarian and Head of Children's Services

Draw On! @ the Library

Draw On! is a community program started by The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in 2006. It is designed to bring together people of all ages through something as simple as drawing, while also fostering new and imaginative ways to draw.  Draw On! brings together entire communities to celebrate drawing, and to discover the potential inherent in drawing to encourage learning, communication, and understanding. Events take place across the country in schools, libraries, senior centers and businesses, and involve people of all ages and abilities. The Ridgefield Library has taken part in the program every year since its inception and we are once again proud to partner with the Aldrich for this celebration. Draw On! will take place from Saturday, March 24 through Saturday, April 7, and we invite people of all ages to come to the Library’s Children’s Services Department and draw their favorite character from a book.  We will have paper, crayons, and colored pencils available for you, and all drawings will be on display in the Library throughout the two weeks of the program.  Please stop in at the Library and Draw On!

Contributed by Geri Diorio, Teen Services Librarian and Head of Children's Services

Gateway to Health Information

Finding reliable, up-to-date health information can be daunting .  Two of the Library’s online databases,  Health Source: Consumer Edition  and Health & Wellness Resource Center, provide authoritative, comprehensive medical and consumer health information that you can trust from a wide range of magazines, academic journals, and reference books.  

Coverage includes diseases and conditions, alternative medicine, drugs and herbal remedies, diet and healthy living as well as links to recommended websites, such as the National Library of Medicine’s Medline Plus and the American Diabetes Association.   Additional features include a medical dictionary, and directories of contact information for various service agencies, offices, companies, people and health products. 

Access Health Source: Consumer Edition and Health & Wellness Resource Center from the Library’s homepage at http://www.ridgefieldlibrary.org  by clicking the “Research & Reference” tab and then selecting “Health & Fitness.”  

In addition to online resources,  the Library offers books on a variety of health and medical topics and subscribes to two monthly newsletters, Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter and Consumer Reports onHealth, which can be found in the magazine display area.

To learn more about the Library’s consumer health resources , speak with a reference librarian at x1015 or x1016 or visit the reference desk.

Contributed by Reference Librarian Carole Clark