Louisiana Libraries

On Sunday afternoon during football season, we grab our hotdogs and chips and salsa and we sit in front of TV’s cheering for our favorite team.  But behind the muscles, underneath the plays, the schemes, and the well oiled machine that is a football team is just a man, an ordinary man in search of purpose and meaning in life.  This is exactly what Rob Maaddi’s book, “Football Faith:  52 NFL Stars Reflect on Their Faith” is all about.   Brady Quinn, NFL quarterback commented on the book,  “Football Faith illustrates the true motivation behind many of today’s athletes. No different than in life, we will be faced with many adverse circumstances, and these stories help to shed light on the faith and perseverance necessary to succeed on and off the field.”   

In “Football Faith”, the author interviews 52 former and current NFL stars who talk about their faith in the Lord which keeps them going and not giving up whenever things go wrong. This book is very inspirational because faith, family and football are defined as the 3 F’s to those stars and other people will begin to feel the same way when they start reading this book!  

Football players would not point up to the sky after throwing a touchdown pass or making a field goal if they did not have faith. Football and faith go hand in hand because it touches so many lives and they willingly express gratitude for the Lord’s grace and generosity in allowing them to perform at the peak of their abilities. 

One thing that I did not know about Seattle Seahawks, Russell Wilson is that he wears number three on his jersey because it represents the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Even if you are not a Seattle Seahawks fan, you have to admire him because he believes that God granted him a gift to play professional football and it does not matter what the critics say. That faith in God lead him to win his first Super Bowl in 2014. 

Many people might not realize that former Denver Broncos Quarterback, Tim Tebow wore John 3:16 on his eye black during the 2009 BCS Championship game and it was a very good marketing tool because that verse generated 94-million searches on Google over the next 24 hours. 

For those of you that love classic nineties football, the book mentions that Emmitt Smith used to play for the Dallas Cowboys from 1990-2004 and faith is his number one priority because he is always helping people. Have you ever watched NFL Network analysts Deion Sanders talk about football? He used to play for the Dallas Cowboys and it took him years to realize that money is not the answer to everlasting peace. Deion was forever changed thanks to his faith in Jesus Christ. Former Dallas Cowboys, Michael Irvin received spiritual help from Pastor T.D. Jakes and fellow believer, Deion Sanders and his favorite quote is God is the only one that can save us. 

This book will continue to keep the fans of any team happy because it does not just talk about just one team or one player and it also lists their favorite bible verse and you will also say, well that’s mine too! Readers can read a lot about faith and football so much that the author does not have anything that he left out or to add. 

For the Green Bay Packers fans, Aaron Rodgers mentions that he does not push his beliefs on people, but says let your actions talk about your beliefs. Actions must speak louder than words for him. 

Current Los Angeles Chargers Quarterback, Phillip Rivers believes that faith, church, and family remain right at the top of his agenda when everything is at his best. Backup Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback, Nick Foles mentions that he listens to Christian gospel music and reads the bible. I like how the book gives football trivia such as former Indianapolis Colts Coach, Tony Dungy being the first African American Coach to win a Super Bowl in 2002 and puts God first in everything he does. 

My favorite football player of all time is New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees who accepted Jesus Christ into his heart when he turned seventeen. I like what he said about God has a plan for our lives and his story reminded me about the time I was baptized. Drew believes that being a good man means that you put your trust in the Lord. 

Have you ever had struggles? Before the New Orleans Saints, Drew hurt his shoulder playing for the San Diego Chargers and started asking God: 

“Why Me? Why Now? After questioning God, he realized that when his should healed and the New Orleans Saints signed him on March 14, 2006 which was the best thing that ever happened to him. 

The best New Orleans Saints game that I ever watched was when they won the Super Bowl on February 7, 2010 against the Indianapolis Colts. Watching Drew Brees on television throw touchdown passes was the reason that I first started watching the New Orleans Saints in 2009 and became a fan of them ever since. Drew Brees is widely regarded as one of the best passers in the NFL and what is so unique about him is that he overcame adversity and considered playing baseball in college before choosing football. Do you have a favorite football player that puts God first in their everyday lives? “Football Faith” is that type of book.  One that will help the reader see how 52 ordinary men of football made an everlasting change in their everyday lives. 

Do you like being creative and do you live in a rural area where you do not have time to check out books at the Union Parish Library? The Union Parish Library has numerous patrons that are working at their jobs all day, students that go to school, retirees and those that have never checked out a book! Those type of patrons need to realize that the Union Parish Library has placed twenty “Little Free Library” locations throughout the parish. Patrons can take a book, leave a book or return a book. Your neighborhood sharing library even has a location at the old Alabama Methodist Church in the Weldon Community and there is also one at Shiloh Baptist Church right beside the cemetery. There is also one at the Conway Baptist Church in Conway. Christian-themed books are a must for readers at those three churches. 

Numerous people that live in Union Parish love to spend time outdoors. Your Neighborhood Sharing Library caters to campers at D’Arbonne State Park and Lesters on Lake near Lake D’Arbonne. Those working for local government should know that there are Little Free Libraries at Town Hall in Bernice, Union Parish Courthouse in Farmerville and the fire stations in Marion- Rocky Branch. Firefighters love to read too! The Recreation Center in Farmerville also has Little Libraries for sports enthusiast.

Various convenience stores at Boyd’s One Stop in Downsville and Simpson’s One Stop in Sterlington also have Little Free Libraries. There is also one at the Council on Aging in Spearsville and Foster Farms processing plant. Little Free Libraries are also located at Union General Hospital for doctors, nurses, patients and patients’ families to read. Reading a good book is always good after customers shop for groceries at Antley’s Grocery at Point and Antioch Grocery at Antioch.  

Yak’s Watermelon near D’Arbonne also has Little Libraries for people that want to read after shopping for produce. As you can see, the Union Parish Library cares about its patrons who are unable to visit the library to check out books.  

Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization that inspires people to read and helps build communities by sparking creativity which fosters neighborhood book exchanges around the world. Millions of books are exchanged each year for the Public Libraries that let people share books. That concept increases access to books for readers of all ages and backgrounds.  

Little Free Libraries matter because statistics show that children growing up in homes without books are an average three years behind children in homes with lots of books. The most successful ways to improve the reading achievement of children is to increase access to books. Sixty-one percent of low-income families do not have any age appropriate books for their kids at home. Little Free Libraries play an essential role by providing people with books every single day and encouraging a love of reading in places where books are scarce. 

There are 75,000 Libraries that take part in Little Free Libraries and they are also found in 88 countries. Three out of four people have read a book they normally would not have read because of a Little Free Library. Seventy-three percent of people say they have met more neighbors because of a Little Free Library. Ninety-two percent of people say their neighborhood feels like a friendlier place because of a Little Free Library. Little Free Libraries are for people that love books and allows for people to be creative by exchanging books.

In thirty seconds we can get a gourmet cup of coffee from a Kureg coffee machine.

In two minutes a bowl of ramen noodles can be heated up in the microwave.

And in just one click, a frantic college student can pull together an essay in a matter of minutes.

In today’s world, we like everything fast, easy to use, and right at our fingertips. Technology does that and it can benefit every citizen across the globe because people love to get data quickly from everything from ebooks to music to videos to yes–even school work. 

Come follow me as I explore the Union Parish Library for today’s #Technology Tuesday into one my favorite databases, EPSCO Host!  What is EBSCO Host you ask?  Well EBSCOhost, supplies is a fee-based online research service with 375 full-text databases, a collection of 600,000-plus ebooks, subject indexes, point-of-care medical references, and an array of historical digital archives.  The good news is that for those of us living in Louisiana–it’s free through the library!  And even more importantly to write a paper, research an essay, or gather data for a class assignment—it’s quick, easy, and at my fingertips–just like a college student likes it!  

Patrons can go to www.unionparishlibrary.com and click on links. Once you see links, begin to arrow down and click on Academic Educational Databases.

The Louisiana Library Connection website is the second website you will see once you click on Academic Educational Databases. Click on book index with reviews and you will see an EBSCO Host icon. EBSCO host is very useful for me as a ULM college student doing assignments, but it’s really good for anyone seeking reliable data! You can even look up cd’s of your favorite music artist.   Just type in a name in the search box such as Elvis Presley and you will see a lot of Elvis Presley’s music along with the price, the name of the artist, publisher, date and genre.   

Books tell a story and patrons can look up biographies for assignments or just to learn about your favorite hero such as John Wayne. EBSCO Host also has a tools category where you can cite an article using nine formats.  The one I use most often for school is the American Psychology Association or APA. It lists the name of the magazine which is Official John Wayne, publishing year, title which is John Wayne Almanac: A Comprehensive Guide to Duke’s Movies, Quotes, Achievements and More. All this data is easy to access whether for school or just for an afternoon of browsing.  

The best thing about EBSCO Host is that it allows you to print.  When I had a memo to do in one of my public administration classes, I picked the article and printed it out and I also printed the APA Style format references page to use on my bibliography page.  Emailing the article is a good tool also because people that like a certain topic can send it to a friend or students in a group study. Saving citations to a file formatted for any type of bibliographic management software such as Easy Bib, End Note, Pro Cite, Reference Manager and Zotero saves time, but I suggest copying and pasting the Style format references page and printing it out. Remember to staple it to your article of choice. 

Finally, EBSCO Host offers the public numerous articles for respectable publishers. In the world of “fake news” it’s not always easy to tell what stories are real and which ones are grounded in facts. All of EBSCO information is reviewed for accuracy which is one of the reasons academic institutions rely on this data for research purposes.  As a student myself pursuing a degree in public administration, the Public Administration Review found in EBSCO has been very helpful because it has a lot of government related articles about ethics, social services and public affairs. EBSCO Host is very private and safe to use for everybody. 

In a world where we are driven by technology…having a research library at the tips of my fingertips is not only easy and fast—for a college student, it’s better than chicken ramen noodles and a cup of french vanilla coffee! 

If you would like to be a United States Marshal chasing desperadoes with your posse by horseback across a dusty Arizona trail or settler claiming cattle land for your home where the deer and antelope play then I suggest you take a look at the Western Genres at the Union Parish Library! They currently have 2,431 Westerns and 1,260 Westerns based on fictional short stories like authors by the name of Louis Lamour and Zane Grey. Various Westerns in American literature came from 19^th century novels such as James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales and Last of the Mohicans. Westerns always have a theme about heroism and doing what is right for the people.  

The Western Genre really started becoming popular in June 1860 thanks to Maleska: The Indian Wife of the White Hunter. As you can see, most Westerns have to do with Native Americans, lawmen and cowboys who helped tame the American frontier. Various fictionalized stories were based on real people such as Billy the Kid, Buffalo Bill, Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok and Jesse James. 1900s-1930s: Owen Wister wrote the Virginian in 1902 and Zane Grey wrote Riders of the Purple Sage in 1912 which became very popular.  

The Inspiration Channel also airs The Virginian Television Show starring James Drury. What is so unique about “The Virginian” is that he does not even have a name, but he works as a ranch foreman and helps everyone that needs it. Author Max Brand did very well in writing Western short stories such as The Seventh Man and Bull Hunter. Western magazines started to emerge in the 1930s and continues to be very popular to this day. 1940s-1960s: Walter Van Tilburg Clark wrote The Ox Bow Incident and A.B. Guthrie JR wrote The Way West which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1950.  

Shane was written by Jack Schaefer in 1949 and was made into a movie in 1953. The movie, Shane has aired on Turner Classic Movies a few times. It is based on a gunslinger played by Alan Ladd who helps a family defend their home. Louis Lamour began writing his own Western short stories in 1950. Actor John Wayne first started acting in the 1930s, but his movies started to become even popular in the 1950s-1960s.  

Louis Lamour’s unique way of writing started to attract a following of Western enthusiast in the 1970s and continues to dominate the Western genre to this day. Larry McMurtry and Cormac McCarthy are two notable authors with McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove and McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. Both were published in 1985. Lonesome Dove was made into a four-part series starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones that aired in 1989. What is so unique about Western books is that they are so popular among the public that they are made into movies so the people can enjoy them even more. Elmer Kelton was most known for writing The Good Old Boys and The Time it Never Rained which was voted by the Western Writers of America as the Best Western writer to ever attract an audience.  

1990s and 2000s resulted in low circulation of Western readers, but Western movies started to make a comeback with Unforgiven in 1989, Dances with Wolves in 1990 and Open Range in 2003. Most of the Westerns that are made into movies today are not made for young teenagers because of profanity and violence, but my favorite Western movies are the ones that John Wayne and James Stewart made.  

If you are interested in reading any of the Westerns that I mentioned or into movies, I suggest stopping by at the Union Parish Library and checking out numerous titles of books and movies on Westerns. Pick an author and set by the fire and read at a time when Native Americans, outlaws and lawmen ruled the West! 

The Story of Baseball in 100 Pictures Book Review

The Story of Baseball in 100 Pictures is a very good book for any baseball enthusiast that loves sports history. This book will also bring back memories of your first baseball game. I went to see  my first Texas Rangers baseball game in 2009 with my Dad when I was 26 years old and we both ate a hotdog for a dollar. The best time to go to a Texas Rangers baseball game is when they have dollar hotdog Wednesdays. The Texas Rangers lost to the New York Yankees though, but I got to see Texas Rangers Shortstop, Elvis Andrus play that evening. 

The chapters in the book are based on defining moments of what made baseball so very special. 1869 to 1918 is listed as the Beginnings Chapter. I did not know that the Cincinnati Red Stockings were the first professional baseball team in 1869. Kostya Kennedy appreciates the game of baseball and loves the history like myself. He states a lot of facts for readers to tell their family and friends. Honus Wagner who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates became the first baseball player to bat 222 in the postseason after leading both leagues with a .355 batting average. Detroit Tigers, Ty Cobb is in a very fascinating and surreal picture that shows him stealing third base at a baseball game in New York City on July 23, 1910. 1920 to 1947: From Ruth to Robinson describes how Shoeless Joe Jackson and seven of his teammates were accused of conspiring to throw the 1919 World Series to Cincinnati. Shoeless Joe Jackson was on the ineligible list to be on the Baseball Hall of Fame. The article about Shoeless Joe Jackson reminded me about the “Eight Men Out” movie starring John Cusack who played Shoeless Joe Jackson which is a very good baseball movie. 

Readers will enjoy a picture of Baseball legend Babe Ruth who made 60 home runs in 1927. Kostya Kennedy does a good job of naming the greatest men who ever played the game of baseball. Yankee slugger, Lou Gehrig had to end his baseball career because he contracted amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, later Lou Gehrig’s disease. Seeing a picture of him lets the reader sympathize with his character because he did not live long after he contracted the disease. I highly recommend watching The Pride of the Yankees which is a biographical movie about Lou Gehrig. The Turner Classic Movies Channel airs that particular movie a lot. Remember to check local listings. Many people might not know, but 1948 was the year when women started playing baseball and they formed their own professional baseball teams which lasted for twelve years. 

Jackie Robinson broke Baseball’s color barrier because he was the first African American to play professional baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Various readers might be able to remember seeing Jackie Robinson stealing home because he did so many times. Any reader that sees a picture of Roger Maris might realize like me that he had the personality to break Babe Ruth’s record of sixty home runs. 

I love how the author wrote an article about the Astrodome opening in 1965 and was one of baseball’s first enclosed and air-conditioned stadiums for the Houston Astros. Just looking looking at the picture made me realize that Houston had a change in mind because it was very unique in design. I remember going to my first Houston Astros baseball game to see the Atlanta Braves in 1997. I got to see Ryan Klesko hit a home run and a sports crazed girl holding up a sign saying: “ Take me to the Senior prom Ryan.” The only disappointment I had during that game was not being able to get an autograph from a Houston Astros player.

One of my favorite pictures in the book besides the one with Ty Cobb is New York Yankees, Mickey Mantle throwing his helmet when he grounded out. It must have been very frustrating for him to not make a home run which is a picture that is very unusual because most of his baseball pictures shows him smiling. That is one thing thing in the book that I did not know about Mickey Mantle , but highly recommended for the reader to look at. Mickey Mantle was my Dad’s favorite baseball player. 1969 to 1993 had Pete Rose leading the way until he was banned for playing baseball because of gambling. 

One of the most defining moments in Baseball history was when Atlanta Braves, Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s record of 714 home runs on April 8, 1974. The Baby Boomer generation will probably remember what they were doing when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s record. The author still keeps the reader engaged with New York Yankees, Reggie Jackson being known as “Mr October” for hitting three home runs in a World Series and Houston Astros, Nolan Ryan for being known as a no-hitter pitcher in baseball. Many Texas Rangers fans might remember seeing Chicago White Sox, Robin Ventura charging the pitchers mound after Nolan Ryan hit him with a pitch on August 5, 1993. 

1994 to 2018. Any Atlanta Braves fan would be impressed with the Arms of Atlanta article that mentioned about the Braves pitchers and how they dominated baseball in the late nineties. The only thing I did not like about the book was it did not show a picture of Atlanta Braves, David Justice since his home run helped the Atlanta Braves win the World Series. That was my favorite game of all time. Another good article has to do with the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series on November 2, 2016 because it has been since 1908 since they won a World Series. This book is very delightful because any baseball fan will find one article more appealing and suitable just for them. This is an adult nonfiction book, but teenagers can read it and also remember the first baseball game they went to see with their Dad just like I did. The game of baseball will always have a lot of memories and will continue to do so in the upcoming 2019 season. 

Here is a picture of me standing beside a statue of Texas Rangers Nolan Ryan who is one of my favorite baseball players.

Come visit the Union Parish Library to check out a good book, use one of the computers and also view the local newspapers such as The Bernice Banner and The Gazette for your local news. Reading magazines such as Field and Stream, Guns and Ammo will help deer hunters determine the best ways to harvest a whitetail deer or look at the new rifles that Remington is coming out with. The Southern Living Magazine is very good because it has a lot of cooking recipes and lists numerous tourists sites to visit. National Georgraphic and Popular Mechanics are two of my favorites at the library. January is the month of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Birthday and to get a young person interested in reading, each parent should get their young child or teenager to stop by and check out a library book about the Civil Rights Leader. The Library also has digital archives which means you can view newspapers on microfilm. Reference books also lets a patron print out copies for 0.25 per page. Those type of books cannot be checked out. Reading is the gift of knowledge and it helps you learn. The end of a book is like a rainbow. It leaves you wondering why did that happen? There is also a beautiful painting that an artist painted of Farmerville.
The Library is located on 202 W Jackson St Farmerville, Louisiana 71241.