Connection: How much does Google know?

Advocates of privacy rights are leery of Google’s presence in our lives. Lots of news sources are covering this topic; national news outlets, sources in the information industry, business news analysts, politicians, academics, health professionals, and many, many more. PC Magazine Online published a summary article in 2007 that continues to encapsulate issues of concern. …

Political History

On July 9, 1850, Zachary Taylor died and Millard Fillmore became the 13th president of the United States. Beyond the books we have acquired on current politics, we continue to purchase material on the history of our country. New to our collection are two titles by Cokie Roberts: Founding Mothers and Ladies of Liberty. Both …

Armchair History

George Armstrong Custer died 132 years ago on this date during the Battle of the Little Bighorn, called the Battle of the Greasy Grass by the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne. Two years ago, when gasoline was less than $2.00 per gallon, I stood on the battle site and marveled at how little was actually there. …

Connection: Assessing Teach for America

Teach for America is a popular program among recent Hope College graduates and students thinking about “what next” as they reach their senior year. Critics and proponents of the programs have shared an interest in seeing Teach for America’s teachers assessed. The Urban Institute has done just that through a comparison of standardized test results …

A Classic

John T. Quinn was a good friend to the Hope College Libraries. He generously donated many wonderful and well-chosen resources from his own collection, helped me make decisions about some of our other donations, and served enthusiastically as liaison from his department. Recently, after discussing the reviews with John, I purchased the HBO series Rome …

One Hundred Years and Counting

On June 19, 1865 Union soldiers landed at Galveston,Texas with the news that the war had ended and the slaves were now free. This date became Freedom Day, Emancipation Day, or just Juneteenth: a day now recognized by 26 states, including Michigan, as a holiday. Almost one hundred years later people who would come to …

Connection: HSRT’s Production of "Forever Plaid"

Hope Summer Repertory Theatre opens the musical Forever Plaid on June 2oth. A look at musical groups in the 1950s, Forever Plaid made its debut as an Off-Broadway play in 1990. Read Stephen Holden’s review of it from The New York Times. Other production reviews are also available in the library’s online archive of content …

Prize lists

There are many lists in the literary world: bestsellers, prize winners, someone’s favorite. A fairly new prize is The Sami Rohr Prize, established in 2006 by Mr. Rohr’s familty to honor this businessman and philanthropist’s love of Jewish literature. We happen to have the winner: The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: My Family’s Exodus …