Category Archives: Education

Music Hath Charms…

Singer/Songwriter Emilia Dahlin
CC Photo by: Ctd 2005 via Flickr

If you’re a crooner, a diva or a wedding singer, we’ll make you want to sing about our resources.

Like what?

Photo: Chance Agrella

Sheet music: We’ve got hundreds and hundreds of books of sheet music (classical, rock, pop, historical, patriotic, and Christmas carols, to name a few). Don’t see the song you need for your instrument? Music can be a little tricky to search, so just ask!

Instruction: We have books, CDs and DVDs on mastering everything from piano to ukelele. You can even take music appreciation online (see Universal Class).

Shopping: If you need a new cello, piano, or guitar, we have books to help you buy the right instrument, or even build your own.

Online:  Check out our Naxos sheet music database to download sheet music–legally! While best for classical pieces, it has a great feature for singers–transpose (change the key) online before you print most pieces. Hobbies & Crafts database features thousands of articles (with pictures) on everything from mixing your music in a studio to violin restoration.

Listening: Of course we have thousands and thousands of CDs, plus streaming and downloadable music. There are books to help you choose your next great listen or to learn about music styles and history. Don’t forget DVDs of musical performances, and all of the concerts at the library, too!

Seeking inspiration? Check out print or online biographies of musicians.

Whether you like to dabble or are trying to make it as a musician, let’s make beautiful music together.

   

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What do these books have in common?

The American Library Association released a list of books in April that included these titles:  The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

What do these books have in common?  They were included in the ALA’s list of the 10 most frequently challenged books of 2011.

Banned Books Week extends from September 30 – October 6.  This will be the 30th anniversary for this event.  The American Library Association promotes everyone’s freedom to read.  Choose a book and celebrate your freedom to read.

 

 

 

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Choosing the Right College for You

St. Charles Public Library IL - Choosing the Right CollegeSt. Charles Public Library IL - Four Year CollegesSt. Charles Public Library IL - How To Get Money For College

St. Charles Public Library IL - ACT Premier 2012St. Charles Public Library IL - Barron's AP United States History

Are you starting the college application process and need info on colleges, financial aid, the dreaded ACT and SAT tests, and more?  The library has many resources in print and online that can help you.

A good place to start is the library’s online catalog or you can browse the shelves in the 370 area.  For online resources try our topic guide on colleges which includes practice tests, information on scholarships, and more.

Questions?  Ask Us!

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On Little Cat Feet…

St. Charles Public Library IL - Apple Computer Cat
What do cats have to do with technology (besides the fact that 1/3 of the Internet is made up of adorable kitties doing adorably funny things)? In this case, the little cat feet lead us to our online research database, LitFinder. Another librarian reminded me that LitFinder used to be called Poem Finder. And in fact, you may use it to find full-text poems, in this case “Fog,” by Carl Sandburg:

 The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

 I found the poem by typing in just the bit of it I could remember for certain.

In addition to poems, LitFinder has the full text of short stories, literary criticism and poem explication, and author biographies. It has lots of ways to search, including by era, the type of work (poem, ballad, essay, etc.), and includes about 2,000 works in Spanish.

In addition to LitFinder, we have several other literary databases that would appeal to literature lovers, or those struggling to understand it before their upcoming test or essay (hi students!).

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❝To have another language is to possess a second soul.❞ – Charlemagne

Google agrees with Charlemagne and is helping researchers and native speakers try to save over 3,000 endangered languages.  That’s nearly 50% of the world’s languages. Losing a language is akin to losing a species. With it goes rich cultural, and even scientific, knowledge.

You might not be able to find someone to teach you the endangered Koro (spoken in India), but if you’ve been thinking about learning a language for travel, work, or simply the pleasure of it, the Library is a great place to start.

Besides thousands of items to check out, we also have complete language programs online to help you learn anything from Afrikaans to Zulu (see Transparent Languages), or Biblical Hebrew to Pirate (see Mango Languages). If you’d like to make a friend in another part of the world who can help you learn to speak their language, or if you’d like to teach someone English, we have a program for that, too (Live Mocha).

If you’re learning on the go download the Mango app on your tablet or smartphone. First set up your Mango account through our website. Then you’ll login with your library account via the app, and you can learn for free. Nice!

Want to learn more about how Mango teaches languages?

Dictionaries and additional resources can be found on our Language Learning page, including resources just for kids.

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