Thomas Jefferson's Library

For all you book lovers here is a link to an interesting article. For the past decade, a group of rare book experts have been recreating to Thomas Jefferson's library. The entire collection of more than 6,000 volumes will go on display tomorrow at the Library of Congress, looking much as it would have 200 years ago. One of the things that I found interesting was that Jefferson built his library in a U shape so that when you walked into the room you would be surrounded by books!

The Baseball Season Begins (Sort Of)

The Oakland A's and Boston Red Sox opened the 2008 baseball season in Japan. Each team one a game to split the series.

Cesar Chavez Book Drive

Got this from the Sacramento Bee:

The seventh annual Cesar E. Chavez Children's Book Drive begins Monday and runs through May 5. The drive is co-sponsored by the California Highway Patrol, Department of Housing and Community Development, Department of Financial Institutions and the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency...New and gently used children's books, in all languages, can be dropped off at the CHP's headquarters, 2555 First Ave. Books will be distributed to schools, shelters and other charitable organizations.

More Library News

Another article about the Sacramento Public Library appeared in the Sacramento Bee. Unfortunately it continues the saga of the Hagginwood scandal. Today is there is also a library board meeting where they will discuss a raise for the library director. It will be interesting to see what happens and the following public outcry.

The sad part about all this is that due to the financial crunch there is talk about possible layoffs. It would be very sad to see a low level employee loose their job because of budget reasons.

Bad Press for the Library

This was front page news in today's Sacramento Bee:

Arrest warrants charging grand theft and bribery have been issued in connection with an overbilling scandal at the Sacramento Public Library, The Bee has learned.
Sources say the arrest warrants were issued Tuesday and target three people -- two of them former library officials and the third, the wife of one of them.
District Attorney Jan Scully's office would not comment Tuesday, but an announcement on the case is expected to be made Wednesday.

One Book Sacramento

Got this from the Sacramento Public Library site:

Three Cups of Tea Chosen for One Book Sacramento Community Read

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote . . . One School at a Time is the book selected for the Sacramento Public Library’s fourth-annual One Book Sacramento: Connecting Our Communities. Throughout October, community members will be encouraged to attend local library book club discussions, writers’ workshops, programs featuring local authors, and other interesting events whose themes are based on the book.

The War on Terror

This week was the 5th anniversary of the war in Iraq. To coincide with this I read Nick Solly Megoran's book, "The War on Terror: How should Christians respond?" The book can be summed up with Jesus' command in the Sermon on the Mount to "love our enemies." This isn't a suggestion from Jesus, it is a command. It is just as applicable today as when he said it 2,000 years ago.

Some points that I really liked in the book were

• War is a product of sin


• We have a dual citizenship (heavenly & earthly)


• Be peacemakers (not just peace lovers)

Each chapter of the book is meant to be read with a corresponding selection of scripture. Although the book is informative it is set up to be more a spiritual study guide.

So how are Christians to respond to the war on terror? By glorifying God and using this time as an opportunity to share the good news of Christ.