July is French-American Heritage Month, a celebration spearheaded by the Alliance Française to acknowledge the many contributions of French immigrants to the history and culture of the United States. While the French did not immigrate to these shores in great waves, as did other groups, the Huguenots did arrive here as far back as 1538, seeking the freedom to practice their Protestant faith.
June is National Audiobook Month, a celebration created by the Audio Publishers Association (APA) to promote the flexibility, excitement and value of audiobooks. Why choose an audiobook over a print edition? Reading a print book is an immersive but ultimately stationary experience while listening to an audiobook frees you to multitask, exercise or even give your tired eyes a break.
Juneteenth - a term combining June and nineteenth - is our newest national holiday, following the creation of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day in 1983. President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law on June 17, 2021, officially making June 19 a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Also known as the “second Independence Day,” or “Emancipation Day,” Juneteenth is a holiday of freedom, hope and commitment to equality.
May is rich in reasons to rejoice, including Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month – an annual tribute to the many cultural and historical contributions of Asians and Pacific Islanders to the diverse tapestry of the United States. In common with the other commemorative months, the yearly celebration originated in Congress.
There’s a lot to celebrate in May - spring flowers, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, and, since 2006, Jewish American Heritage Month. Following a concerted effort by Jewish leaders to establish a national month of commemoration, Jewish American Heritage Month was inaugurated in 2006 by a Congressional Resolution and a Presidential Proclamation by George W.
Overdrive to Libby
On May 1, 2023, the OverDrive app will be discontinued. We encourage you to make the switch to Libby, the newer reading app.
Download Libby or visit libbyapp.com to get started.
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Carol Ann Duffy, the United Kingdom’s Poet Laureate from 2009-2019, wrote: “You can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what’s in your heart.” Her message that poetry is everywhere and that it is accessible to everyone is one of the reasons this literary form will always be an integral part of our lives and culture.
On March 12, 1987, Congress passed Public Law 100-9, designating March as National Women’s History Month. Each year, the President issues a special proclamation in recognition of the enormous contributions made by women to every aspect of American life, history and culture. Why was March chosen for the celebration?
Presidents’ Day, a Federal holiday which is celebrated this year on February 20, was originally established in 1885 to honor the February 22 birthday of our first president, George Washington. Over time it also became associated with the February 12 birthday of 16th President, Abraham Lincoln. Thanks to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which created additional three day weekends for the country’s workers, the holiday will always fall on the third Monday of February but, ironically, never on th
February is Black History Month, an annual tribute to generations of African Americans whose invaluable contributions to this country were achieved in the face of tremendous adversity. Originally a week-long observance created in 1926 by prominent scholar and historian Carter G. Woodson, the celebration was expanded to a month in 1976 by President Gerald R.
Who hasn’t yearned for a “do-over,” an opportunity to correct missteps, undo wrongs, take a different fork in the road or even rewrite history? As the saying goes, “hindsight is always 20/20.” Of course, we inhabitants of the real world cannot travel to the past and reset the future but writers are not constrained by the limitations of the space-time continuum; they venture wherever their imaginations take them. The cusp of the new year, when the slate for 2023 is still blank, is the perfect time to conjecture about what it would mean to possess a prescient advantage.
Resolutions: Inherent in every ending is a beginning; in December, we reflect back on the past year while in January we anticipate the future with cautious optimism. In the spirit of a new year, who has not committed to resolutions for a better life, a better self, a better world?
As the year draws to a close we reflect back on goals achieved and goals left unrealized. For many of us, the wish list of unread books just kept growing. So many wonderful books were published in 2022 that choosing became a daunting challenge. Which ones to read? Why not start with the literary prize winners - the best of the best!
December can be daunting - holidays, family gatherings, cooking and decorating are exhilarating but they can also result in exhaustion and sensory overload. Add on the psychological impact of early sunsets and you have a perfect storm for stress. How to decompress? Escape into a good book, the ideal way to reboot your psyche and re-center your soul. What to read?
November is Native American Heritage Month, also known as American Indian Heritage Month. While the annual month-long celebration has only been in existence for 31 years, efforts to honor America’s indigenous peoples go back more than a hundred years to “American Indian Day,” which was declared a holiday by the Governor of New York State in 1916 and celebrated on the second Saturday in May. Fast forward to 1986, when Congress declared the week of November 23-30 as “American Indian Week.” This weeklong commemorati