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New and Featured DVDs for 10/31/13:

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Come and check out these and some of the other new DVDs and materials (or at least new to us) added to our library collection…

FICTION:

The Visitor

Conspiracy Theory

Spartacus

Annie Hall

Heart And Souls

An Alexander Korda film.

That Hamilton Woman

Blade

Twister

Mixed Nuts

Contact

Semper fi!

Jarhead

The Thing

NON-FICTION:

Black Gold: The Story Of Oil

The war on drugs has never been about drugs.

The House I Live In

Amazing Planet: Explosive Earth

Television: Window To The World

Alexander Graham Bell & The Telephone

George Carlin!

George Carlin: It’s Bad For Ya

Patton Oswalt: No Reason To Complain

Dave Chappelle: For What It’s Worth

Louis C. K.: Chewed Up

The historic first live concert performance.

Richard Pryor: Live In Concert

Rem Koolhaas: A Kind Of Architect

We Steal Secrets: The Story Of WikiLeaks

Salem Witch Trials

Master of lightning!

Tesla: Master Of Lightning

Deliver Us From Evil

Jesus: The Lost 40 Days

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Please note that DVDs could be checked out between the time they end up on the blog and when you come to check them out. If you don’t see the items you’re looking for then please come up to the front desk and we’ll put your name on the reserve list for when the item returns.

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Previous New/Featured DVDs:

10/24/13.

10/05/12.

06/28/12.

06/07/12.

Previous New/Featured books:

10/30/13.

10/25/13.

10/23/13.

10/21/13.

New and Featured DVDs for 10/05/12:

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Come and check out these and some of the other new DVDs and materials (or at least new to us) added to our library collection…

FICTION:

Murder By Death

The Sea Inside

The Great Outdoors

Blindness

Knight Rider

Stargate

Adaptation

The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life Is Not A Fairy Tale

The Road

Murder In Greenwich

The Seventh Seal

Liar Liar

Strange Days

I Am Love

The Dukes Of Hazzard

Raging Bull

Kiss Me Deadly

Thirteen Days

Gangs Of New York

Throne Of Blood

Disclosure

Payback

The Avengers

The Cabin In The Woods

Heathers

Downton Abbey, season 2

Babel

Good Will Hunting

NON-FICTION:

Banned From The Bible I

Mexico’s Great Pyramids

Frank Lloyd Wright

The Ancient Maya: Tools Of Astronomy

Ape To Man

Medal Of Honor

Liberty! The American Revolution

Bowling For Columbine

La Jetée/Sans Soleil

Islam: Empire Of Faith

The Wright Stuff: The Life Of Orville And Wilbur Wright

Holy Warriors: Richard The Lionheart & Saladin

The Mythology Of Star Wars

Ape To Man

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Please note that DVDs could be checked out between the time they end up on the blog and when you come to check them out. If you don’t see the items you’re looking for then please come up to the front desk and we’ll put your name on the reserve list for when the item returns.

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Previous New/Featured DVDs:

06/28/12.

06/07/12.

03/15/12.

02/14/12.

02/07/12.

Previous New/Featured books:

09/21/12.

09/06/12.

08/23/12.

08/15/12.

08/09/12.

08/02/12.

About Us/About You, and a: CONTEST!

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Here’s a little bit about us…

We’re the Robins Air Force Base Library, located in Building 905 on – where else? – Robins Air Force Base, in Warner Robins, Georgia. You are currently reading our blog, and you can find our hours of operations here. We have over 52,000 items in our collection, including books, audiobooks, magazines, newspapers, DVDs, research databases, foreign language help, and downloadable materials. We specialize in knowledge and entertainment, and lots and lots of both.

Our turn offs include: Inconsiderate people, rainy days, patrons who are somehow louder than us (which is a feat, we assure you), people are who are not curious, people who don’t use coasters or who do use too many napkins, being late, dirty keyboards, finding used chewing gum, not being able to find the second sock to your pair, especially when you’re already late, and… Well, our list of pet peeves could go on and on and on…

And besides:

Our turn ons include: CONTESTS!

Okay, that’s us. And now we would like to know a little about you…

And what better way to do that then a survey. A survey and a CONTEST. Prize: A $20 gift card from Best Buy. All you have to do is fill out the 50 questions below (which are short, simple, and easy, and will honestly take you very little time at all), and email us the answers at:

robinsbaselibrary@gmail.com.

It could not be any simpler than that, could it?

Well, we’re going to find out. But, without further ado, the questions…

01. How often do you use the library on base?

02. Would you say that you check out books and/or movies from the library on base more than any other service that we provide?

03. Would you say that you come in to enjoy our comfy chairs and couches and relax for a few moments glancing at one of our magazine subscriptions more so than any other service that we provide?

04. Or, would you say that you use our computers more than any other service that we provide?

05. Please give yourself an extra 10 points if you’re filling out this survey while using one of our computers right now.

06. How many books would you read in a given year? We’re talking about fiction and non-fiction, including anthologies or short story collections.

07. How many books would you say that you claim to read to strangers to look smarter? (It’s cool, we all do it.)

Edited to add: The specific wording of this question has proved problematic for some of our patrons taking this quiz. We meant to ask how many books have you told strangers that you read in order to look smarter and/or cooler. We didn’t mean to ask how many books have you physically read to a person who is a stranger to you. Although, if you have an answer to that question, we’d

08. Do you believe in love at first sight?

09. What is your favorite novel?

10. What is your favorite film adaptation of a novel?

11. What was the last movie that you saw in a movie theater?

12. Would you say that mankind in inherently good or evil, or neither and it doesn’t really matter?

13. If there was an apartment building or an office building that actually had a 13th floor, and your apartment or office was one of those un/lucky enough to be on that 13th floor, would you be okay with that?

14. The quick brown fox jumps over the _________?

15. Who is your favorite author?

16. Why?

17. What is the last book that you ever read by that author?

18. What is your favorite Michael Crichton book and/or movie?

19. What is your favorite Stephen King book and/or movie?

20. When was the last time a machine or a piece of technology really let you down?

21. Have you ever read any books by James Patterson?

22. Did you know that James Patterson has written or “written” (his name appears along side that of a co-author on the cover, but the co-author may or may not have done the actual “writing” contained within the book) books in the adult fiction, adult non-fiction areas, as well as fiction and non-fiction for young adults?

23. If you answered “Yes” to both questions #21 and possibly #22 as well, then how many books by James Patterson have you read?

24. How many of those books, if you don’t mind us asking, were checked out from the Robins AFB Library?

25. Why have you read so many James Patterson books?

26. The same question as question #21, but with Clive Cussler instead of James Patterson.

27. We have a puzzle set out in the library for our patrons to come and help us put together. Once completed, the puzzle will reveal itself to be a depiction of a famous work of art by a famous post-Impressionist artist. If you wanted to tell us the name of that work of art or the name of the artist, that would be great, but what we really want to know is: What is the one and only work of art that this artist sold in their lifetime?

28. Name one or more actors who have portrayed that artist in film or television.

29. Referring back to question #03, you did know that we have comfy chairs and couches, right?

30. Referring back to question #28, you did know that we have a wide variety of magazine subscriptions for you to peruse through, right?

31. If you win this contest, do you want the $20 gift card that is listed above as the prize?

32. Or, for your prize awarded for your hard work, would you rather instead win the chance to take a picture with your favorite library worker?

33. It’s a tempting offer, isn’t it?

34. What was the most played song on American radio in the 20th century and how many times was it played?

35. Now that you’ve found our blog, and we are so glad that you have, what kind of things would you like to see on our blog?

36. Can you cook?

37. And regardless of your answer to question #36, do you like to cook?

38. If you answered “yes” to question #36, or even if you didn’t, and regardless of your answer to question #37, do you like to read cook books or watch cooking shows on TV?

39. Count carefully: What number post is this on our blog? And, for an extra point, how many posts are there on our blog at the time of you answering this survey?

40. This is a funny picture:

Please write a funny caption for that picture.

41. We respectfully request that you do not fail to notice that that dog is wearing a top hat and a monocle, and is smoking a pipe. This is not a question.

But bonus points will be awarded if you can tell us what an appropriately funny name would be for this dog.

Further bonus points will be awarded if the name you choose starts with either Mr. or Mrs. i.e. “Mr. Bigglesworth.” Please do not submit “Mr. Bigglesworth” as your answer for this question.

42. What is, according to Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, the meaning of life? Or, put more simply, what is the answer to “the Ultimate Question to Life, the Universe, and Everything?”

43. What is a group of crows known as?

44. What is a group of frogs known as?

45. What is a group of unicorns known as?

46. Animals are not allowed to use human language in China. Seriously. It’s against the rules. This rule caused what famous book by a famous author to be banned in China?

Hint: This book is widely considered to be a work for children. You’ve seen movies made of it, some live action and some animated. Songs have been written about this book.

47. Other than the Robins AFB Library, what other FSS/Services facilities would you say that you frequent the most on Robins Air Force Base?

Also, check out the new FSS website: http://www.robinsfss.com

48. What was the last book you read that you’d really recommend to a stranger if you had to, or if you were asked to in a survey much like this one?

49. How did you first discover our blog?

50. Make up a question and give us the answer. We’re not so concerned with the question, but we’d really like to know the answer…

Okay, that’s our survey! And again, all you have to do to enter our contest is to answer these questions, #s 1 thru 50, and email those answers to us at robinsbaselibrary@gmail.com. Please put some variation of “Survey” or “Survey Answers” or “CONTEST!” in the subject line. The contest closes on 04/01/12 at midnight, and we’ll announce the winners the following week.

Wait, did that say “winners” and not just “winner” on it? That’s right, it did. Not only will we be giving out our award to the person who gets the most answers right, but we’ll also pick a random entry, or perhaps the person who’s answers amuse us the most, and make them a winner too. Gotta love those odds.

When you send us your questions, please include your name, your email address (of course), and possibly your phone number. And your phone number, especially if you don’t check your email that often. Please be at least 16 years old, or older, or have a parent or guardian’s permission to participate (regardless of how old you are). If you win, we ask that you please come in and pick up your prize and let us take a picture of you to share with the world here on our blog, and perhaps interview you about how you got to be so smart.

Donations.

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This post is really about two things…

The first is: Several of our patrons have come in recently asking if we’ll take donations. The simple answer is:

Yes. Yes, we will. In fact, donations from patrons like you is a big part of how we function.

So if you have any books that you just would like to find a new home for, especially those in the “gently used” category, then please consider us. And the same goes for DVDs, audiobooks, and things like that. We can always use them.

(If you’re looking for tax credit for your donations, especially during this time of year, just let us know.)

But if for some reason we can’t, we have a giveaway shelf where they can go to somebody who can use them.

And that’s part two: We have a giveaway shelf! Someone came in the other day and said to me that it was too bad that we didn’t have a paperback exchange, and I said, “Well… actually, we do!” We have a giveaway shelf where you’re free to come and find some items, and if you’d like to to exchange or just borrow those items, that’s fine too, of course.

And I gotta say, you’ll find some perpetually interesting choices on the giveaway shelf. They’re mostly in the aforementioned “gently used” paperback form, which is perfect for quick reads or if you’re traveling. You’ll find some pictures from several of the paperbacks currently on the shelf in this post, but no promises on how long they’ll be there, or what will take their place.

So please keep us in mind if you’re ever looking to donate some of your books, DVDs, or audiobooks and stop on by to check out our giveaway shelf when you get a chance.

New and Featured Books for 12/15/11:

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Come and check out these and some of the other new books and materials (or at least new to us) added to our library collection…

FICTION:

Kill Alex Cross by James Patterson

Reamde by Neal Stephenson

The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin

The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson

Micro by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston

Micro is the second posthumous book from Crichton. Apparently about a third of it was written before his death in 2008 and when it was found in his archives (along with 2009’s Pirate Latitudes, which we also have), his publisher hired author Richard Preston to finish the book based on Crichton’s notes and research.

Little Big Man by Thomas Berger

11-22-63 by Stephen King

As The Pig Turns by M. C. Beaton

Kill Me If You Can by James Patterson

Three new James Patterson books!? That’s crazy, right?

The Litigators by John Grisham

Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder with art by Jock and Francesco Francavilla

A Clash Of Kings by George R. R. Martin

Shock Wave by John Sandford

NON-FICTION:

Back To Work: Why We Need Smart Government For A Strong Economy by Bill Clinton

Skyjack: The Hunt For D. B. Cooper by Geoffrey Gray

A fun look into this fascinating bit of true crime history. You can find reviews at The Washington Post and USA Today and check out the book’s official website.

Boomerang: Travels In The New Third World by Michael Lewis

Seriously… I’m Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres

One Nation Under AARP: The Fight Over Medicare, Social Security, And America’s Future by Frederick R. Lynch

The Swerve: How The World Become Modern by Stephen Greenblatt

The winner of the 2011 National Book Award for Non-Fiction. Here are some book reviews from NPR and The New York Times. And you can listen to the author reading from his book over at Vanity Fair.

Columbus: The Four Voyages by Laurence Bergreen

I Didn’t Ask To Be Born (But I’m Glad I Was) by Bill Cosby

Empty Pleasures: The Story Of Artificial Sweeteners From Saccharin To Splenda by Carolyn De La Peña

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Please note that books could be checked out between the time they end up on the blog and when you come to check them out. If you don’t see the items you’re looking for then please come up to the front desk and we’ll put your name on the reserve list for when item returns.