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.