Here is another reason to love 

Points of View Reference Center™ is a full-text database designed to provide students with a series of essays that present multiple sides of a current issue. The database provides more than 270 topics, each with an overview (objective background/description), point (argument), counterpoint (opposing argument), and Critical Thinking Guide. Topics covered include: affirmative action, cloning, DNA profiling, HIV/AIDS status disclosure, immigration, Iraq, Israel & the Palestinians, Katrina and FEMA response, nuclear proliferation, separation of church and state, standardized testing, stem cell research, tax cuts, voting machines, and many more.

Points of View Reference Center contains a balance of materials from all viewpoints, including more than 1,200 main essays, leading political magazines from both sides of the aisle, newspapers, radio & TV news transcripts, primary source documents and reference books. The database also offers guides to debate, developing arguments and writing position papers. Additionally, this database contains the Video Encyclopedia of the 20th Century, providing students with a searchable collection of some of the most important social, political, and cultural moments of the 20th century. Points of View Reference Center provides the basis from which students can realize and develop persuasive arguments and essays, better understand controversial issues and develop analytical thinking skills. Critical Thinking Guides for every topic covered helps the student judge Fact vs. Opinion and enhances the student’s ability to read and think critically.

The newest newsletter has just gone out in the mail.  If you just can’t wait to “read all about it”, you can get a copy of the current newsletter online.  Click here for the PDF version.

For your information - FamilySearch (the free genealogy website found at www.familysearch.com) recently announced the addition of over 200 million new searchable historic records representing 18 countries to its online database. The new records were added to the hundreds of millions FamilySearch published earlier this year. The latest deluge of records includes 53 new or updated collections from the United States and over 100 million new records from Europe, Scandinavia and Mexico. The United States collections include the 1910 U.S. Census and states’ birth, marriage and death records. There are 10 million new records from New Jersey and Michigan, 4 million from Tennessee, an amazing 41 million from Massachusetts, and many more from other states.  So, if you haven’t been to familysearch.com lately, you might want to check it out!

Curtis Friends and Sisters in Crime are pleased to announce the authors and dates for the Fall 2010 Mystery Author Series at Curtis Memorial Library.

• September 21:  Award winning author Leslie Wheeler who will discuss her departure from non-fiction into the world of mystery with her Miranda Lewis “living history” series.
• September 28:  Leslie Meier, the well-known creator of Lucy Stone, the reporter and amateur sleuth from Tinker’s Cove, Maine will speak.
• October 5:  Barbara Ross,  known for her short stories, has her first full-length novel, “The Death of an Ambitious Woman” coming out in early September.
• October 12:  The series will conclude  with J.S. Borthwick, author of the popular Sarah Deane mysteries.

All events will be held on Tuesdays at 7 pm in the Morrell Meeting Room.  Gulf of Maine Books will have copies of books for sale at the event.  Free refreshments will be provided by the Bohemian Coffee House.  For more information, call 725-5242, email friends@curtislibrary.com

Curtis Memorial Library is introducing a brand new automatic checkout system, nicknamed Self-Check Selma!  The new system, funded by Curtis Friends,  gives library patrons the option of checking out books on their own, instead of waiting for someone to assist them. 

Selma will NOT replace the friendly circulation staff at Curtis, but she will make life easier for staff and patrons alike.  Interested patrons can choose to check out books on their own using Selma, enabling staff to assist other patrons or focus on additional responsibilities.

New to is a database ( an assemblage of hundreds of full-text magazines and journals)  dedicated to hobbies and crafts appropriately named, Hobbies and Crafts Reference Center. Categories covered are:

Arts & Crafts
Collecting
Electronics & Games
Home & Leisure
Model Building
Needlecrafts & Textiles
Outdoors & Nature
Scrapbooking & Paper Crafts

From MARVEL! scroll down to the Hobbies & Crafts database and click into your passion.

The first of the new welded rail for the Downeaster was delivered this morning.  The video clip shows how they offload the rail.

We have a new addition to our Brunswick History page.  Rebecca Roche of the Pejepscot Historical Society has created a blog that fleshes-out the Pine Grove Cemetery. It features biographies of individuals buried there, Brunswick & regional history, funerary practices and mourning art & culture.

Curtis Memorial Library is looking for short “testimonials” from library users. We will collect them and publish some statements in the upcoming Annual Report. We need your words to help show how the library is important in your life and learning, and that of your family.

Our deadline is August 31, 2010

Please write a few sentences about one or more topics and tell us how you feel about the library. Topics to consider:

• Which library services do you value, and why?
• How often do you come to the library and what do you do here?
• How long have you had your library card at Curtis, how much do you use it?
• How has the library enriched you and your family?
• How helpful are the staff and what do they do for you?
• How well does the collection (books, magazines, DVD and other materials) meet your needs?
• How do you or your community groups use the meeting spaces?
• How important is the library to the quality of life in Brunswick and Harpswell?

You can leave your statement(s):

1. Library lobby
2. Email to: mike@curtislibrary.com
3. Write a Comment here on the website.

Thank you!

The Curtis Library, in cooperation with the Harpswell Historical Society and Blackberry Books has released our new publication of the first complete history of the town of Harpswell by Richard Wescott.  Wescott spent more that a decade researching and recording the story of his town. We have copies to borrow at the library or you may purchase a copy (for $15.00) at Gulf of Maine Books or the Harpswell Historical Society.