Author, teacher, historian, and political activist Howard Zinn died of a heart attack on Wednesday at age 87. Famous for his bestselling look at history—A People’s History of the United States—Zinn was born in New York in 1922 and attended his first political rally at age 17. After a stint with the Army Air Corps during World War II, Zinn attended New York University and Columbia University. As a department chairman at an all-black women’s school in 1956, Zinn was deeply involved in the civil right movement. Later, at Boston University, he opposed the Vietnam War. Since its publication in 1980, A People’s History of the United States has been taught in schools across the country and reached the 1 million sales mark in 2003. His other books include The Southern Mystique, LaGuardia in Congress, and You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train.

Friend Noam Chomsky offered his respects and commented on Zinn’s “amazing contribution to American intellectual and moral culture.” Chomsky also said, “He’s changed the conscience of America in a highly constructive way… Both by his actions, and his writings for 50 years, he played a powerful role in helping and, in many ways, inspiring the Civil Rights movement and the anti-war movement.”

Have you read any of Howard Zinn's books? Did you pick it up on your own, or were you assigned to read it in school? What are your thoughts on his writings? As always, let us know in the comments section below!
 

POWER Library has provided the public and school libraries within Pennsylvania with access to many valuable resources for years.  The Office of Commonwealth Libraries has just announced that the following resources will be provided under the POWER Library Network this year:

• General Periodical Resources  (H.W. Wilson)
• Newspaper Resources (Gale)
• Business Resources (ProQuest ABI Inform)
• Contemporary Authors
• AP Photo Archive

We’ve been told that Contemporary Authors and AP Photo Archive will continue to be available uninterrupted.  We should know more details about the new additions to our resources next week.

This also means that some of the electronic resources and databases that the Free Library has been able to offer will no longer be available. 

 The EBSCO Host titles that will be gone as of today include:

• MasterFILE Premier
• Business Source Premier
• MAS Ultra – School Edition
• Middle Search Plus
• Primary Search
• Newspaper Source
• Teacher Reference Center
• Auto Repair Reference Center

 Please stay tuned here for announcements and feel free to comment about the impact of these changes!

Tags: databases

The literary world lost an important player on Wednesday when J.D. Salinger passed away at the age of 91. The author of The Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey, Nine Stories, and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction, Salinger died at his home in Cornish, N.H. from natural causes. As the New York Times wrote, he was “famous for not wanting to be famous” and lived a life of seclusion for more than 50 years. His last printed work, Hapworth 16, 1924, appeared in the June 19, 1965 issue of The New Yorker. For more details on Salinger’s life and influence, check out the extensive New York Times obituary. And be sure to browse the Free Library catalog for our many Salinger-related materials!

Were you a fan? Did any of his books play a significant role in your life? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
 

Through generous funding from the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), the Free Library of Philadelphia is offering free SAT & ACT prep workshops, financial literacy, and FAFSA workshops at five locations.

As part of the program, trained college student coaches are available on Saturdays to assist with SAT prep and other aspects of the college application process. No registration is necessary for meetings with college student coaches; they are informal drop-in sessions where you can discuss your school options, your dream career path, how your extracurricular activities can help, and what you are most excited about when it comes to going to college.

The College Prep Initiative (and the college student coaches) can be found at these five Free Library branch locations every Saturday through May:

Parkway Central Library from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Northeast Regional Library from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Joseph E. Coleman Northwest Philadelphia Regional Library from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Widener Branch from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The next SAT test date is March 13^th! Use the time wisely by meeting with our college student coaches.

If you would like information on how to contact a college student coach please email Collegeprep@freelibrary.org.

We welcome your comments!

Tell us: Where are Philly teens going to college?

Tags: College Prep

Want to feel really smart? Then listen to podcasts by Nobel Laureates@Central including:

• Amartya Sen
• Barack Obama
• Doris Lessing
• Elie Wiesel
• Eric Kandel
• Harold Varmus
• James Watson
• Joseph Stiglitz
• Muhammad Yunus
• Paul Krugman
• Toni Morrison
• Wole Soyinka

You can listen to our podcasts directly from your computer (click the link Listen to MP3 audio) or subscribe via iTunes.

Happy listening!

 

Tags: podcasts