The Rock Springs Library will celebrate Shakespeare’s ‘birthday’ on Wednesday, April 23 at 6:00 pm. Though the true date of the Bard’s birth is unknown, the 23rd of April is traditionally given the honors. Join us over tea and pastries as we discuss favorites from Will’s repertoire.
Western literature scholar Linda Ross will explore the effects moving to and living on the Great Plains had on its women inhabitants at an April 19th presentation at Rock Springs Library located at 400 C Street. Ross’s program, “Tragedy and Triumph: Women’s Lives on the Great Plains” is presented by the Wyoming Humanities Council and sponsored by the Rock Springs Library.
Sickness, accidents, death, drought, hail, wind, heat, blizzards, isolation, loneliness, distance, and the seemingly monotonous landscape profoundly affected pioneer women. While many lived lives of tragedy, many more were and are successful, defying the elements, the living conditions, and the isolation. Ross will explore these women’s experiences through firsthand accounts, including journal and diary entries, personal memories, and the works of Mari Sandoz.
The free event begins at 2:00 PM and is open to the public. For more information, call Jon Harwood at 307-352-6667 x2410.
Sooth. Cæsar!
Cæs. Ha! Who calls?
Casca. Bid every noise be still: peace yet again! [Music ceases]
Cæs. Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music,
Cry ‘Cæsar.’ Speak; Cæsar is turn’d to hear.
Sooth. Beware the ides of March.
Cæs. What man is that?
Bru. A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.
Cæs. Set him before me; let me see his face.
Cas. Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Cæsar.
Cæs. What sayst thou to me now? Speak once again.
Sooth. Beware the ides of March. - JC I.ii.12-20
The Ides of March? ‘In the ancient Roman calendar the 15th of March, May, July, and October, and the 13th of the other months; always eight days after the Nones’ - Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable p. 583
However obscure the Ides have become in our own day, in previous ages it was an ominous date. Plutarch, in The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, reveals the foreboding origins of 03/15 - ‘One finds it also related by many that a soothsayer bade him prepare for some great danger on the Ides of March. When this day was come, Caesar, as he went to the senate,met this soothsayer, and said to him by way of the raillery , “The Ides of March are come,” who answered him calmly, “Yes, they are come, but they are not past.” Plutarch p. 601
What did the Soothsayer foresee? Both Plutarch and Shakespeare offer interesting accounts of that particular day of 44 B.C. Visit your local Library for more information.
Christopher ‘Kit’ Marlowe, a noted Elizabethan playwright, was christened this day in 
1564, Canterbury, England. A contemporary of Shakespeare, he won fame for his plays, poesy, and dissolute (?) life. Let us a take a moment and remember a talent of the age - reprobate, spy, poet, dramatist, rakehell - whose life ended as mysteriously as it was lived.
‘The Reckoning’ - Nicholl, CharlesFor those fans of mystery and intrigue, Nicholls takes the reader to darkest Deptford. Was Marlowe slain in a pub quarrel or were the reasons for his demise more nefarious? A fine work on a brilliant man.
‘The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus’ - Marlowe, Christopher
The author takes the legend of Faustus and creates a drama of fire and brimstone fame. The Devil will indeed have his due. A personal favorite.
‘The Portable Elizabethan Reader’ - ed. Haydn, Hiram
Hadyn collects excerpts from many notable works of the period. Included is a selection from ‘Tamburlaine the Great(The Sacking of Babylon)’, a drama of a shepherd turned conquerer with all the vicissitudes therein. The play was famed in its day for stylistic elements lacking in other dramas of the day.
‘A Book of English Pastoral Verse’ - ed. Barrell, John & Bull, John
‘Come live with mee and by my love…’ Yes, who recalls memorizing the ‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’ in school? The poem is a famed tribute to pastoral bliss and idyll. For the nymph’s reply, read Sir Walter Ralegh’s equally famous, ‘The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd’
‘A Dead Man in Deptford’ - Burgess, Anthony
A fictional account of Christopher Marlowe, secret agent in the Elizabethan government, who infiltrates the Catholic underground though he is more interested in atheism and the new pleasure of smoking tobacco.
‘Tamburlaine Must Die’ - Welsh, Louise
Another fictional account in which the author imagines the eve of Marlowe’s death. Beware nightly messengers from the Queen’s Privy Council…
Wyoming history is the focus of two books recently acquired by the Rock Springs Library. One is a comprehensive collection of maps, the other a photographic exploration of things left behind. Both would interest anyone with an interest in Wyoming that was.
‘Mapping Wyoming’ - Blevins, Bruce
‘Mapping Wyoming encompasses the discovery of America with maps from 1796 to 1991. Emphasis is on the initial exploration of the Wyoming territory until a fair amount of detail was recorded in all reaches of the state. Aspects of the mapping include: early conjectures, fur trapping era, military expeditions, geologic surveys, government boundaries, personal travel accounts, and atlas illustrations. Seven hundred and seventy-three maps are included in this history on the mapping of Wyoming’ - Blevins p. 1
‘Artifact: A Cultural Geography of Wyoming’
McLure, Michael
Mclure’s photographic essay captures the remnants of abandonment. The appeal of the book lay in the peculiarities of locale and the representations thereof - cenotaph, homestead, landscape, petroglyph, and ruin - McLure offers a stunning pictorial of Wyoming history.
As I was walking to work this morning, the surrounding winter storm brought to mind a few books in which the authors explore the possiblilties of snow. Whether building snowflakes or snow shelters, these books allow for that certain sense of wonder that comes with each snowfall.
‘How to Build an Igloo and Other Snow Shelters’ - Yankielum, Norbert E.
Though ice blocks may not be commonplace in our area, the reader may find this book useful when wondering about slab shelters, drift caves, and snow quality as a building factor. The author explores a variety of snow structures and directs the reader in their construction. Happy building…
‘The Snowflake: Winter’s Secret Beauty’ - Libbrecht, Kenneth
Perhaps you have pondered unsuccessfully, as have I, the intricacies of ice nucleation and snow-crystal morphogenesis. Prepare to be enlightened. This book will answer your questions by deciphering those ‘hieroglyphs from the sky’. A well illustrated work, Libbrect’s field guide to falling snow is a must read for those who love the stuff.
‘The Snowflake Man: A Biography of Wilson A. Bentley’ - Blanchard, Duncan C.
The Snowflake Man is a biography of “Snowflake Bentley”, the farmer from Jericho, Vermont, who pioneered the technique of photographing snowflakes and who then went on to take over 5000 photomicrographs of snowflakes, ice, dew, and frost. Although his photographs were taken between 1885 and 1931, they have never been equaled and are still much admired today.– Most extensively researched biography on Bentley to date– Bentley coined the phrase, “No two snowflakes are alike”.
Have you ever finished a good book and found yourself wondering what you should read next? Yes, you could consult your comrades, coworkers, friends, and kin for advice. You could browse bookshelves, seek solace from media hype or commune with a book club. But there are other tools, other ways to divine an answer to that burning question: What shall I read next??
The Library offers its patrons some help when wrestling with this dilemma. Nextreads is a reader’s advisory subscription service which allows subscribers to choose genres of interest and have book and audiobook newsletters delivered monthly by email. Each Newsletter is composed of a series of titles, summaries, and links to our catalog wherein the subscriber can check availability and request said title at his or her leisure.
Another resource is Novelist, available both at home and at all Library locations. This fiction database includes over 125,000 fiction entries which can be searched by title, author, series, or plot characteristics. Tell Novelist what you like - plot, settings, locale - and it will provide recommendations on the criteria you’ve selected. A tutorial from the Wyoming State Library is available for those interested.
Contact your local library for further assistance.
The Rock Springs Library has been designated by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality/Abandoned Mine Land Division as a depository for their published materials concerning the various subsidence projects now underway. We currently have a city wide mine subsidence risk map with accompanying documentation and a map of mines in tract H (AML 6A-X Phase 1). A map is also provided online by the city of Rock Springs. Also online are the latest new releases from the WY DEQ/AML. Contact the reference department at the Rock Springs Library for more information - 352-6668.
The Reverend Scott Shields is scheduled to give a talk about his experience with his Tlingit family in a special program at Rock Springs Library on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 2:00. The program is in conjunction with Rev. Shields’ exhibit in the Clarence and Mary Samuels Resource Room at the Community Fine Arts Center. The exhibit consists of Northwest Coast Native artwork including woodcarving and appliqué that he created along with clothing and artifacts. The focus of Rev. Shields’ talk at the library will include a description of the materials used in traditional clothing and accessories like harbor seal skin, ermine fur, felted wool, moose and deer hide and hooves, red and yellow cedar, alder and abalone shell. Rev. Shields will also explain how the Native people of South East Alaska are very unique from the tribes of the lower 48 with artwork and culture that does not really borrow from other Native tribes and each piece tells a story in their oral tradition. Shields will also touch on the interaction of the early Christian missionaries to the area who did not understand the meaning of totem poles and how these misunderstandings resulted in their destruction.
Are you returning from a successful hunt and wondering how best to prepare your bounty? SCLS has many books on the subject - field dressing, recipes, preservation. Whether fried porcupine legs or innards on a spit, the Library can help make your meal a memorable one.
‘Dressing and Cooking Wild Game’ - Marrone, Teresa
‘Rocky Mountain Cache: A Western Wild Game Cookbook’ - Duffala, Sharon
‘Making the Most of Your Deer’ - Walrod, Dennis
‘The Venison Cookbook: More Than 200 Tested Recipes for Deer, Elk, Moose, and other Game’ - Zumbo, Jim
‘Jerky: Make Your Own Delicious Jerky and Jerky Dishes Using Beef, Venison, Fish, Or Fowl’ - Livingston, A.D.
‘Preparing Fish and Wild Game’ - CPI
‘Field Dressing and Butchering Big Game: Step by Step Instructions, From Field to Table’ - Burch Monte
‘The Art of Wild Game Cooking’ - Clarke, Eileen
