Did you know that the Empire State Building is built with limestone from Monroe County? The Soldiers and Sailors Monument on the Circle in Indianapolis, the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, Tribune Tower in Chicago, the Lincoln Memorial in D.C., and a host of other buildings and statues, including our own Library Bears—all use limestone from local quarries. You can travel all over the country to see some of these amazing creations—or you can stay right here in Monroe County, and enjoy a perfectly awe-inspiring view of beautifully crafted stonework.
Think Library: Blog
PHOTO: ROHIT TANDON
We like our media on the go—and ad-free, quality content is yours* from the Library on your phone, tablet, or computer, at no cost, with no overdue charges. Use these free apps for eBooks, eAudiobooks, eMagazines, movies, music, language learning, and more.
Many in the media and politics keep trying to figure out why our new President attracts so many Rust Belt and Appalachian voters. This memoir of a young man’s coming of age in both regions may offer some insight.
At only thirty-one, J.D. Vance admits he's way too young to have penned a memoir. He hasn’t done anything extraordinary (though he did graduate from Yale Law School, a major accomplishment for a kid from a single-parent home in a working-class town in Ohio, where many did not finish high school).
Vance writes most vividly of Jackson, his dirt-poor but beautiful ancestral home in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. He also describes his people: a great-grandmother who once killed someone, and his own Mamaw who often threatens to do the same to her husband when he comes home drunk. In fact, J.D. relates, one night he saves his Pawpaw after Mamaw poured gasoline over him and lights a match.
Limestone stories are built into the foundation of our community. Read or watch a few to find out how limestone has shaped Bloomington, Indiana, and beyond.
So much great stuff is in Level Up—free to use with your Library card—for people of all ages and skill levels. But how do you know how to match up your creative interests with the amazing equipment and software here waiting for you?
Level Up’s useful Resources page is what you want. We've scoured the web for the best free guides to digital creativity and posted them there for beginners, experts, and everybody in between (and don't forget collection of books and magazines in Level Up!).
Summer is a great time to take your favorite companions on a road trip. Book lovers take some companions to the beach. The best companions don't need a beach at all. Here's to summer and good friends.
LGBTQ Pride Month has been nationally recognized in June for almost two decades, taking a positive stance against discrimination toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people to promote equal rights, increase visibility, build community, and celebrate sexual diversity and gender variance (Wikipedia).
Mega Girl was the best superhero around—until she gave up her lifestyle of punching bad guys and saving the world. Now, ex-Mega Girl Alison Green is trying to live a normal life, go to college, and figure everything out. As she works to save the world without a mask, finish her homework, and attempt to cope with the past, Alison learns that heroism can take many forms.
An ancient god of war out for vengeance, a lonely bartender, and an angry fire demon all walk into a bar. Sounds like the start of a joke, right? Well, that's almost correct.
The Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award winner for 2017 is All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. Winners are decided by Indiana high school students who choose from twenty-five nominated titles [P
PHOTO: VERKEORG
Author Alert and New Arrivals, two great free services from the Library, keep you up on all the books, movies, and music as they're added to our collection. I use both of these all the time for the latest by my favorite authors and filmmakers, and they're great for personalized updates with minimal effort—I just set up my accounts, chose my preferences, and now get them automatically. These services also allow me to place holds on items as they're purchased by the Library, instead of waiting for them to hit the shelves.
Celebrate World Baking Day by exploring one of humanity’s oldest sources of nutrition—bread! Although modern grocery store bread has little in common ancient Egypt’s first flatbreads, this dietary staple has remained popular through millennia and across the world.
It’s officially backyard garden and Farmers' Market season! If you’re looking for some fresh new recipes to liven up your cooking repertoire, check out one of these vegan cookbooks. Vegan cooking is entirely plant based, using no eggs, dairy, or other animal products.
This is the second novel from Bloomington-born author John Darnielle, known also for the past twenty-five years as the songwriter in his band the Mountain Goats. While Universal Harvester’s trailer video [YouTube] suggests a horror story, the only slight chills come from the unexpected shifts between third and first person narration. And the eeriness is almost comforting, providing a profound depth and hopefulness to lives that may outwardly appear unremarkable.
Your Mom's special—shouldn't her Mother's Day card be too? Mother's Day is next Sunday, so you've got a week to find a message that really captures your love and appreciation for all Mom's done for you.