How's the Library Doing? Part 2

In Part 1 of my look at the Starke County Library I tested the High School Age Literature book collection and the library got a B+. That was a very high achievement for a small-town library.

Now I will test a more sophisticated subject area, adult history/ current events. I will be using 2 lists. The first list is recent Amazon.com bestsellers in this subject area. The Second list is short list of classics. Of the 35 books we are missing 7. So we have 25 of 35, 71%. Let’s say, “room for improvement”. Grade C-

Missing Books that the Library should consider for our collection:
1. America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It by Mark Steyn, published Sep 16, 2006
2. The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion by Robert Spencer, published 15, 2006
3. Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty by Muhammad Yunus, published October 14, 2003
Comment by Knox Indiana: This book is a history of a 30 year successful experiment in microcredit started in Babgladesh and now spreading worldwide. From the book: "[...] the poor, once economically empowered, are the most determined fighters in the battle to solve the population problem; end illiteracy; and live healthier, better lives. When policy makers finally realize that the poor are their partners, rather than bystanders or enemies, we will progress much faster that we do today."
4. Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition by Milton Friedman, library has 1982 edition.
Comment by Knox Indiana: this updated edition would be a good addition to the collection and appropriate in light of Mr. Friedman’s recent death.
5. The Private Lives of the Impressionists by Sue Roe, published October 31, 2006
Comment by Knox Indiana: This book may be sold out and not available for another month from the publishers.
6. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York (1974)
Caro, Robert , (We do have other titles by this author)
7. The Making of the Atomic Bomb (1987)
Rhodes, Richard, (We do have other titles by this author)


Books we have in the Starke County Public Library.

ENJOY!
1. The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama There are 2 books by Barack Obama on this list, a remarkable achievement. He is the most charismatic leader in America today. He is giving us a pretty good look at what sort of plan he has. It would be a good idea to read these and start deciding how you would like him as President.
2. State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III by Bob Woodward
3. The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman
4. Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945 by Evan Thomas
5. Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas E. Ricks
6. Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
7. The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis
8. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson
9. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama
10. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
11. Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West by Hampton Sides
12. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
13. Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick
14. The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
15. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
16. The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
17. Night (Oprah's Book Club) by Elie Wiesel Note from Knox Indiana: A favorite of mine!
18. War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back by Lou Dobbs











19. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared M. Diamond
Note from Knox Indiana: We also have Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed by the same author. I think an somewhat better book. Although the subject is slightly different the book have considerable overlap. Knox Indiana considers these books to be a must read. If you don't read and respond to the ideas in these books, you will not be competent to speak on the important questions of growth and ecology being debated in Knox.
20. Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution (1989)
by Schama, Simon
21. A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century (1978)
by Tuchman, Barbara Note from Knox Indiana: A favorite of mine!
22. The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation (1975) by Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr
23. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany (1960)
by Shirer, William L
24. Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997) by Barry, John
25. This Hallowed Ground: The Story of the Union Side of the Civil War (1956)
by Catton, Bruce