Louisa May Alcott » Uncategorized

Alcott bio makes ALA Notable Videos List

LMA Staff — Tue, 03 May 2011 21:27:33 +0000

The American Library Association (ALA) Video Round Table Notable Videos for Adults Committee has compiled its 2011 list of Notable Videos for Adults, a list of 15 outstanding programs released on video within the past two years and suitable for all libraries serving adults. Its purpose is to call attention to recent video releases that make a significant contribution to the world of video recordings.

The Notable Videos for Adults committee selected 15 outstanding titles from among 55 nominees for this year’s list of Notable Videos for Adults. The Committee called the film “a lively biography of an independent woman with ideas ahead of her time who supported her impoverished family by writing romantic fiction and creating some of the most beloved characters in American literature.”

Daniel Shealy, noted Alcott scholar, to Guide ALA Library Programmers

LMA Staff — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 01:41:45 +0000

Professor Daniel Shealy of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte will lead the thirty scholars advising librarians in the ALA Alcott programs in a discussion of the project themes, topics, and related reading at the national workshop in Boston on March 4. Dr. Shealy’s areas of expertise include 19^th-century American literature, the American Transcendentalists and the Concord Authors, and children’s literature. An advisor to the Alcott documentary, he can be seen in extended interviews on this website at Extended Scholar Interviews

David Weinstein of NEH to address library meeting

LMA Staff — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 01:17:30 +0000

David Weinstein, Senior Program Officer, Division of Public Programs, National Endowment for the Humanities will be coming from Washington DC to Boston to greet the grant-winning participants in the American Library Association’s Louisa May Alcott project. The National Endowment for the Humanities funded the project. Mr. Weinstein was also the Program Officer for the documentary film Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women.

Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women Library Project Workshop in Boston March 4

LMA Staff — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 01:09:04 +0000

Thirty librarians and thirty scholars representing the grant-winning libraries will meet at the Omni Parker House for an all-day workshop organized by the Public Programs Office of the American Library Association program.

Opened in 1855 by Harvey D. Parker, the original Parker House hotel was home to the Saturday Club, which consisted of literary dignitaries such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

ALA announces 30 libraries to receive Louisa May Alcott library outreach grants

LMA Staff — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:47:25 +0000

CHICAGO – The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced that 30 libraries will receive $2,500 grants to support five reading, viewing and discussion programs featuring the documentary “Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women” and the companion biography of the same name.

The library outreach program for “Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women,” a collaboration among NEH, the ALA Public Programs Office and Nancy Porter and Harriet Reisen for Filmmakers Collaborative, has been designated as part of NEH’s We the People initiative, exploring significant events and themes in our nation’s history and culture and advancing knowledge of the principles that define America. Funding was provided by a major grant from NEH to the ALA Public Programs Office.

The selected libraries, listed in alphabetical order by state, are:

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, San Jose State University, San Jose, Calif.
Oceanside Public Library, Oceanside, Calif.
Poudre River Public Library District, Fort Collins, Colo.
Broward County Library, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, Atlanta.
Berry College Memorial Library, Mount Berry, Ga.
University of Idaho Library, Moscow, Idaho
Milner Library, Illinois State University, Normal, Ill.
Rooney Library, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind.
Drake Community Library, Grinnell, Iowa
Western Kentucky University Libraries, Bowling Green, Ky.
Hingham Public Library, Hingham, Mass.
Rochester Hills Public Library, Rochester, Mich.
Mid-Continent Public Library, Independence, Mo.
Wayne Public Library, Wayne, N.J.
Octavia Fellin Public Library, Gallup, N.M.
Oneida Public Library, Oneida, N.Y.
University at Buffalo Libraries, Buffalo, N.Y.
New Hanover County Public Library, Wilmington, N.C.
Sandusky Library, Sandusky, Ohio
Noble Public Library, Noble, Okla.
Multnomah County Library, Portland, Ore.
Elizabethtown Public Library, Elizabethtown, Pa.
Snowden Library, Lycoming College, Williamsport, Pa.
Providence Public Library, Providence, R.I.
Ned R. McWherter Library, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tenn.
Austin Public Library, Austin, Texas
Orem Public Library, Orem, Utah
Brownell Library, Essex Junction, Vt.
Raynor Memorial Libraries, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis.

Louisa May Alcott is recognized around the world for her novel “Little Women,” but Alcott is scarcely known as the bold, compelling woman who secretly wrote sensational thrillers, lived at the center of the Transcendentalist and Abolitionist movements and served as a Civil War army nurse. The film, biography and library programs will re-introduce audiences to Alcott by presenting a story full of fresh insights, startling discoveries about the author and a new understanding of American culture during her lifetime. The 30 selected libraries will present five reading, viewing and discussion programs focused on Alcott, her body of work and her era. Libraries will enlist a lead project scholar with expertise in 19th-century American history or literature to help present and plan programs. For more information, visit www.ala.org/louisamayalcott.

The ALA Public Programs Office promotes cultural and community programming as an essential part of library service in all types and sizes of libraries. Successful library programming initiatives have included “Let’s Talk About It” reading and discussion series, traveling exhibitions, film discussion programs, the Great Stories CLUB, Live! @ your library and more. Recently, the ALA Public Programs Office developed www.ProgrammingLibrarian.org, an online resource center bringing librarians timely and valuable information to support them in the creation of high-quality cultural programs for their communities. For more information on the ALA Public Programs Office, visit www.ala.org/publicprograms.

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports learning in history, literature, philosophy and other areas of the humanities. NEH grants enrich classroom learning, create and preserve knowledge and bring ideas to life through public television, radio, new technologies, exhibitions and programs in libraries, museums and other community places. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at www.neh.gov.

Alcott biography on New Hampshire Public Radio’s List of the Year’s Best

LMA Staff — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:56:40 +0000

Alcott biography on New Hampshire Public Radio’s List of the Year’s Best

Read the FULL ARTICLE

And The Birthday Book Give-Away Contest Winner Is…

LMA Staff — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:30:41 +0000

People Magazine asks, “Who Knew?”

LMA Staff — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:31:59 +0000

“The Little Women author smoked hash, had a crush on Thoreau and may have been manic depressive,” says People’s November 23, 2009 issue.

“Who knew?”

Reisen to guest at WETA Book Studio November 23

LMA Staff — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:27:52 +0000

Book Studio is a great site featuring author interviews with, for example, Deborah Tannen, Mary Gordon, Zoe Heller, and even some guys! Let’s see….Richard Russo, Michael Pollan, Tom Perrotta, etc. Host Bethanne Patrick asks good questions, and was named after Beth March. Watch beginning November 23, or log in now to hear past episodes.

Elizabeth Marvel Joins Parks’s ‘Book of Grace’

LMA Staff — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:09:05 +0000

By DAVE ITZKOFF

Suzan-Lori Parks has found a leading lady for her latest play at the Public Theater: Elizabeth Marvel will star as the title character in “The Book of Grace,” a new dramatic work about a conflict in a southern Texas family, the Public said in a news release. Ms. Marvel has previously appeared at the Public in “Troilus and Cressida” and “King Lear,” as well as in its Shakespeare in the Park production of “Henry V,” and on Broadway in “Top Girls.” “The Book of Grace,” to be directed by the “Top Girls” director James Macdonald, is to begin previews on March 2 at the Public, with an official opening scheduled for March 16.