La Quinta Public Library

ICYMI: Here's our final recap featuring all the amazing women we shared about on our social media this week.  (In order of the picture below starting from center and then clockwise) Queen Arawelo  took the throne after the death of her father and changed the stereotypical gender roles from her kingdom by packing her government with women while the men stayed at home. While critics say she was a bit of a man hater, Somalia experience a long period of prosperity under her rule and she is regarded as one of the greatest rules in Somali history. Carla Hayden  is the 14th Librarian of Congress, appointed by President Obama and sworn in on September 14, 2016. She is the first woman and the first African American to lead the national library. The Librarian of Congress manages a vast national collection of some 160 million works. While it's a somewhat obscure post, the Librarian wields considerable power behind the scenes, particularly in the area of copyright. Hayden recei...

ICYMI: Here's a recap for you featuring all the amazing women we shared about on our social media this week.  (In order of the picture below starting from the top left) Alice Ball became the first woman and the first African American to graduate with a master’s degree from the University of Hawaii in 1915. While working on her thesis, she developed the leading treatment for leprosy but sadly died two years after her discovery and the director of her program took credit for the findings. Historians discovered the truth in the 1970s and worked to ensure that she got the credit for her important discovery. On February 29, 2000, the University of Hawaii recognized her for her work and dedicated a plaque to her on campus. To read more about her, visit:  http://womenrockscience.tumblr.com/post/68918185810/meet-alice-ball-the-pharmaceutical-chemist-who Dorothea Lange (1895–1965) was a documentary photographer best known for her work during the Great Depression, bringing the ...

Our Mystery Book Club met yesterday and shared some great reads. Here is a quick description of the books we talked about, plus the opinion of the person who read it : The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware This book is about Hal, a down-on-her-luck young woman who reads fortunes at the pier. She is struggling to pay the bills and owes a debt to a loan shark. She receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance from her late grandmother. She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person—but also that the cold-reading skills she’s honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money. Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased…where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the center of it. While it was a page-turning read,the explanation of the mystery towards the end was difficult to follow and I had to reread it at least three times for it ...

Did you know that March is also Irish-American Heritage Month? Here's a list of adult nonfiction and fiction written by Irish-American or Irish authors! Click on the titles to learn more about the books or you know...place a request on one.  Happy Reading, Jade, Reference Librarian Books written by Irish-American or Irish authors The Gathering - Anne Enright The Witch Elm - Tana French The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde Brooklyn - Colm Tóibín The Love Object: Selected Stories - Edna O'Brien Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt The Ninth Hour - Alice McDermott We Are Not Ourselves - Matthew Thomas The New York Stories - John O'Hara Let the Great World Spin - Colum McCann Tender - Belinda McKeon The Wonder - Emma Donoghue Asking For It - Louise O'Neill Unraveling Oliver - Liz Nugent The Lesser Bohemians - Eimear McBride Skippy Dies - Paul Murray

ICYMI: Here's a recap for you featuring all the amazing women we shared about on our social media this week.  March 10th: In 300 BCE Athens it was forbidden for women to be physicians, so Agnodice disguised herself as a man to learn midwifery. Her popularity incited the jealousy of male physicians, who accused her of corruption and brought her to court. At trial, Agnodice revealed herself and, supported by leading women of the city, was acquitted. Then a law was passed allowing freeborn female citizens to practice medicine. Whether or not she was an actual historical figure, her story inspired midwives from the late seventeenth century onward who saw in it a justification for female practitioners grounded in antiquity. March 11th:  Octavia Butler (1947-2006) found a love of writing at the age of ten after her mother bought her a typewriter. Though she had dyslexia, it didn’t prevent her from reading or writing. Her published works challenged the industry’s perceptions o...

ICYMI: Here's a recap for you featuring all the amazing women we shared about on our social media this week.  March 1st: In 1972, at the age of 80, Alma Woodsey Thomas became the first African American woman artist to have a solo exhibition at one of America's most important museums, the Whitney Museum of American Art. To learn more about her and see her work, visit https://buff.ly/2GMuxza  . Photograph of Alma Thomas at Whitney Museum of American Art exhibition opening, 1972/unidentified photographer. Alma Thomas papers, circ 1894-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institute. March 2nd: Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) was a Mexican artist known for her self-portraits and bold, vibrant colors that depicted themes such as identity, the human body, and death. Her paintings illustrated Mexican and indigenous culture and the female experience and form. For deeper thoughts, read https://buff.ly/2EzKg2j .   Portrait of Frida Kahlo on the patio of the Blue Ho...

There are so many awesome books we could recommend for Women's History Month but we've picked a handful for a variety of ages that we think you'll really enjoy written by or about a woman or featuring a female lead! Click on the titles to learn more about them! Happy Reading, Jade, Reference Librarian Children's Books Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio    The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke  Bloom: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli by Kyo Maclear  Princess Princess, Ever After by Katie O'Neill The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency series by Jordan Stratford Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson Not one damsel in distress: heroic girls from world folktales collected and told by Jane Yolen   Malala's Magic Pencil by Malala Yousafzai Young Adult Books Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi  Femme Magnifique: a comic ...

Hello! March is Women's History Month so all month long we'll be sharing posts across our social media pages that highlight women in history or offer resources where you can find more info! If you're a podcast fan, I've got quite a few recommendations for you if you want to listen to some by or about women. Click on the titles below to head to their webpages. You can find all of these on various podcast platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, etc. Deviant Women Rebel Girls (iTunes only) Bodies Terrible, Thanks For Asking Side Hustle Pro Super Women in Science Talk Nerdy Invisibilia My Favorite Murder You Must Remember This Hysteria Radio Cherry Bombe 2 Dope Queens Unladylike She Does Only Girls Feminist Folklore Black Chick Lit Reading Women Nevertheless Happy listening! - Jade, Reference Librarian