Have you ever thought about writing a novel? Panicked at the amount of time and effort it would take and just balked?

You are not alone.

Every year, thousands of novels aren’t written by people just like you and me. Why? Because we get overwhelmed by the idea of doing something so big. Because we’re worried about whether or not it will be good enough, or any good at all. Because we can’t think of the perfect way for the protagonist to walk into the bank in Chapter 4. Because it’s been said before. Because it’s laundry day. Because of Winn-Dixie.

There are a million excuses reasons not to start. But there’s still one good reason to do it: You want to.

This is where NaNoWriMo comes in. Never heard of it? It’s National Novel Writing Month—”Thirty days and nights of literary abandon!” Here’s how it works:

1. Register at NaNoWriMo.org.
2. On November 1st, start writing a novel. (It’s OK to plan and make notes before that day, but you cannot start actually writing before then).
3. By 11:59:59 on November 30th, finish that novel! (“Finishing” = reaching a word count of at least 50,000. Also, it’d probably be a good idea to reach the end of the story you’re trying to tell. Unless it’s an epic. Then maybe just reach a logical conclusion to the events in the first part. )

That’s it!

If you’re planning on participating, the library will be holding two write-ins during the month. The first will be this Sunday, November 6th, from 1-5PM (the whole time the library is open). The second will be on Tuesday, November 22nd, from 5-9PM. Both sessions will be held in the McCallum room, just outside the library doors on the fourth floor. We look forward to seeing you!

	Jake Gauslow
	Adult Services Librarian
	jgauslow@friscotexas.gov

Who?

While you may never have heard of Bob Kane (whose birthday we celebrate today), there’s no doubt that you’ve come across his work a time or two. In 1939, the 23-year-old comic book artist created a new character—the Bat-Man. Writer Bill Finger, who also worked in Kane’s studio, gave suggestions for changes to be made to the original idea, changing him from a Superman clone with red tights and wings to the scientist and detective who would become known as the Dark Knight and the Caped Crusader. Finger wrote the story, Kane provided the art, and Batman had his debut in Detective Comics (note the initials DC) #27 in May of 1939.

Now, several movies, an animated series, a campy 60s TV series, innumerable action figures, and countless comic books and graphic novels later, Batman is 72 years old. He has retired, died, returned, been cloned, gone through several sidekicks and nemeses, and had so many adventures that I can’t even begin to sum them up here. Fortunately for you, we’ve got plenty of ways for you to catch up on the action.

To the Batcave!

	Jake Gauslow
	Adult Services Librarian
	jgauslow@friscotexas.gov

Check out our new video book reviews, just in time for Halloween!

	Katie Breithaupt
	Library Assistant
	KBreithaupt@friscotexas.gov

Wait…what?

No, you’re not looking for Pat Sajak and Vanna White—that’s a different wheel. You’re looking for Robert Jordan—whose birthday we celebrate today—and Brandon Sanderson, who was drafted to finish Jordan’s epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time after Jordan’s death in 2007.

Jordan began writing the first book in the series, The Eye of the World, in 1984 and published it in 1990. He had conceived the series as a trilogy, but his editor, stating that Jordan had a tendency to run a little long, doubled it and gave him a contract for six books. Jordan eventually one-upped him and doubled the length again, aiming for a twelve-book series.

Just after finishing the eleventh book in the series, Jordan was diagnosed with terminal heart disease. While he fully intended to beat the odds, he also began preparing extensive notes so that another author could finish the series the way he wanted it to end if he was unable to complete it. After Jordan’s death in September of 2007, it was announced that that author would be fellow fantasy author and longtime fan Brandon Sanderson, who quickly realized that it was not one, but three books that he would be writing. Two of these have been released already.

As of today, The Wheel of Time spans thirteen books (plus a prequel), over eleven thousand pages, and over four million words! If you want to listen to the audiobooks instead, it’ll still take you about seventeen and a half days. You’d better get started right away—the final volume, A Memory of Light, is expected to add another 300,000 words to that total. You’ve still got some time, though; it’s not scheduled to be released until sometime in 2012. Come in and check them out—they’ll be on the fourth floor in the Science Fiction section.

If you’re interested in more about Robert Jordan’s life and work, you’ll want to check out the documentary The Wit of the Staircase: The Life and Work of Robert Jordan, which is scheduled to be released tomorrow.

	Jake Gauslow
	Adult Services Librarian
	jgauslow@friscotexas.gov

Four score and fift–well, six and three-quarters score ago, 103 of our fathers and mothers brought forth on this continent a new association, conceived in Liberty to Read, and dedicated to the proposition that access to information and library services should be equal for all.

From October 4th through the 6th in 1876, 103 men and women gathered at a Convention of Librarians at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. I won’t bore you with a full list of names that mean very little to you if you haven’t gone to library school, but you probably won’t be surprised to learn that, among the group that called this meeting (which was to discuss the formation of a professional organization) was Melvil Dewey. From this convention was born the American Library Association, the very first library association in the world.

Now, 135 years later, it’s also the largest library association in the world, with over 62,000 members! And not all of them are librarians—you just need to love libraries! The ALA Annual Conference is also one of the biggest professional conferences in the world! Over 25,000 people attend each June; again, not all of them are librarians. There are also publishers, writers, teachers, and members of Friends of the Library organizations. There are countless workshops, speakers, and other programs on just about any library-related issue you can think of.

The whole point of the ALA is to make libraries better. They strive toward this goal through library advocacy, promotion of literacy and intellectual freedom, policies that support equal access to information and library services for all people, and scholarships and library job resources, just to name a few ways.

So, what does this mean for you? While you may never see or even hear about the ALA’s work (at least not directly) you reap the benefits of better libraries—proof of their devotion to the cause that the best reading, for the largest number, at the least cost shall not perish from the earth.

	Jake Gauslow
	Adult Services Librarian
	jgauslow@friscotexas.gov

A few months ago, I told you about a major announcement by OverDrive and Amazon. Well, it’s here! If you own a Kindle, you probably got an email from Amazon about a week ago making this announcement; over that week, Kindle book capability began rolling out in OverDrive, which, we’re proud to say, included your very own Frisco Public Library! From our digital site, just click the “Now Available: Library eBooks for Kindle^®” link on the left side (you may need to scroll down a bit to see it):

Here’s a brief rundown of what you need to know:

• Almost all of our current eBook collection is available for checkout on the Kindle. I say “almost” because there is a possibility that a very small number of books fall into the category of “books Amazon doesn’t have the rights to distribute.” We’re not really fans of large fines or jail time, and it doesn’t appear that Amazon is, either. They are currently working on getting the rights to these titles, and the number is very small, so hopefully this won’t even affect you. All of these titles will continue to be available on other devices.
• On our end, browsing, searching, and checking out titles should remain the same. After you check out a book for Kindle, you will be given a link to Amazon’s page to log in to your account, where you will choose the device or Kindle app you want the book delivered to and download the title. You can either download them directly via your Wi-Fi connection, or download them to your computer and transfer them via USB.
• Kindle books checked out from the library will work exactly like the ones you purchase from Amazon; they will just expire at the end of the lending period. Whispersync will still be available; you can highlight, make notes, and keep track of the last page you read. When the book checks back in, all your notes stay with you, so the next person won’t be able to see them (this is frowned upon in our print collection, BTW). Even better, if you check the book out again later (or if you buy it from Amazon), you’ll be able to see all your notes again!

Although we don’t have a tutorial for the Kindle yet (don’t worry, we’ll let you know as soon as we do), you may want to head over to our Downloads page to learn more about how eBooks and eReaders in general work at the library. And, of course, if you’ve got any questions, feel free to contact us. We’d be glad to help.

Happy Reading!

	Jake Gauslow
	Adult Services Librarian
	jgauslow@friscotexas.gov

Is your first language something other than English?

Do you want to improve your English language skills?

Well, you’re in luck!

We are proud to announce that the Frisco Public Library is currently offering a series of free ESL (English as a Second Language) classes!

Taught by Kelly Jamal, an ELS instructor at nearby Collin College, these ESL classes will help English language learners improve their conversational and communication skills. The classes take place every Monday and Wednesday evening from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in Conference Room 3A. Please see library staff for directions. Classes run through Wednesday, October 5.

We are very excited to offer these classes to the Frisco community and hope you can join us!

Avast, me hearties! Today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! This be a worldwide holiday dedicated to talkin’ like ye be a pirate. Now, ye may think we all be landlubbers, what with the lack of ocean in Frisco, but we be all swashbucklers and scallywags aboard this ship.

I reckon ye landlubbers be unprepared to join the carousin’. Ye likely be afraid o’ walkin’ the plank. But ye be in luck. Even if ye don’t know bow from stern, we’ll give ye some pirate trainin’.* Some of ye already be usin’ Mango Languages to learn a language like Spanish or French. Ye can also use it for learnin’ to talk like ye be a pirate! Here be the map to this treasure.

For those of ye that be old salts already, there be a more advanced way for ye to carouse, if ye have a Facebook. Firstly, ye need to be clickin’ on the “Account” menu on the starboard side of yer page. Then ye’ll click on “Account Settings.” Find ye the menu that say “Language,” and click “edit.” Ye’ll then be scrollin’ through the drop down menu until ye find “English (Pirate).” That’s the one ye’ll be pickin’. Don’t be forgettin’ to save, or ye’ll have a mutiny on yer hands. Savvy?

If ye be interested in revisitin’ the adventures o’ that fine gentleman o’ fortune, Jack Sparrow, ye can find them here.

*Eye patch, peg leg, cutlass, and parrot be not included.

	Captain Jake Sparrow
	Librarian
	jgauslow@friscotexas.gov

Quick, name all nine current Supreme Court justices! (OK, name as many as you can.)

Source: Wikimedia via the Oyez Project

Here they are:
Chief Justice: John G. Roberts
Associate Justices: Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan

How did you do?

I’ll give you partial credit if you mentioned any of these retired justices: John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Sandra Day O’Connor.

I’ll give you extra credit if you have any idea why I’m asking you about Supreme Court justices in the first place.

Answer: 30 years ago today, the Senate Judiciary committee approved Sandra Day O’Connor’s nomination to the Supreme Court; she officially took her seat 10 days later. What’s so significant about that? That’s happened basically every few years for the last two centuries or so!

Why, yes, it has. BUT: When Sandra Day O’Connor was confirmed, she became the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, after nearly two hundred years of being an all-male institution! (Two years later, O’Connor somewhat famously replied to a New York Times editorial that had referred to the Supreme Court as “the nine men” who interpret the laws. We won’t get into a heavy political debate here, but whether or not you agree with any her opinions, her influence is hard to deny. Over the 25 years she served on the Supreme Court, she gained a reputation for being the deciding vote in many cases.

If you’re interested in further reading about Sandra Day O’Connor, here are some suggestions:

	Jake Gauslow
	Adult Services Librarian
	jgauslow@friscotexas.gov

I know that a lot of you have been patiently waiting, counting the days until our computer classes start again. Today, your countdown reached zero.

Registration opens today for the first class in our fall lineup—Facebook: Getting Started. The class will be run from 7-8:30 PM on Wednesday, September 7th, and will be held in the computer lab on the first floor.

Here’s a look at the rest of the classes we’ll be offering this fall:

Wednesday, 9/14: PowerPoint I

Monday, 9/19: PowerPoint II

Wednesday, 9/21: Googling Smart: Searching the Internet

Thursday, 9/29: Excel I

Tuesday, 10/18: Excel II

Wednesday, 11/2: Publisher I: Calendars & Newsletters

Thursday, 11/10: Twitter: Getting Started

Monday, 11/14: Word I

Thursday, 12/8: Word II

All classes are held in the first floor computer lab. They begin at 7 PM and end around 8:30 PM. Registration is required for each class, and will open two weeks in advance. Space is limited, so remember to register early! Also, as a courtesy to other patrons, if you are registered for a class, but cannot attend, please contact us so we may open that space for someone else to attend. We’re excited to see you all back!

	Jake Gauslow
	Adult Services Librarian
	jgauslow@friscotexas.gov