Knox County Public Library, Knoxville, TN

Ebook help sessions

We now have over 8500 ebooks for children, teens and adults, with more being added on a regular basis. With a Knox County library card, ebooks can be downloaded to an e-reader, smart phone, or computer, and you'll have access to them for up to 3 weeks.

Need a little guidance? Join us for a help session where you'll be able to see a demonstration showing how to install and register the required software, and download an ebook to a device. Bring a wireless-equipped laptop and e-reader (with some mobile devices, no laptop or PC is required), and we will help you through the download process on your own equipment, time permitting.

Ebook help sessions:
February 6, 6:30 p.m. at Powell Branch Library
February 16, 5:30 p.m. at Lawson McGhee Library
February 28, 6:30 p.m. at Bearden Branch Library

Learn more, see what devices are supported, and view our ebook collection.

For more information, troubleshooting and download support, please contact the Reference Department at 215-8700.

Brown Bag, Green Book: Moral Ground

The current debate about the causes of climate change is polarizing enough. When we extend the discussion to what our moral response to it should be, the discussion becomes even more challenging. Nina Gregg, Independent Organization Consultant, contemplates the book Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril, edited by Kathleen Dean Moore and Michael P. Nelson.

Download [10 MB mp3]

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2011 Some Rights Reserved.

Ebooks that don't expire

Did you know that we have ebooks you can download that don't expire? They don't have a due date because they don't get checked out--they are reference books.

Our extensive collection of online reference books in the Gale Virtual Reference Library offers downloadable ebook and audiobook features. You can download the books in sections, usually one chapter or article at a time.

Of course you can search the entire collection, but also you can browse the bookshelves by subject, select a volume and view the table of contents, and go to an article or chapter. Then you can download a PDF of the section. You can send to a Kindle by emailing the section to your @kindle address.

If you prefer to listen while you do other things, the built-in ReadSpeaker technology turns the text into speech. You can listen as you read along, or download an MP3 to play later. The mechanized voice sometimes has odd pitch and pronunciation, but after you get used to it, you'll be able to listen fairly comfortably.

(Downloading PDFs and MP3s directly on some devices can be problematic, but it always works to use a PC and save the files to your device over a USB connection. On Android devices, you may need to use the Firefox browser for direct downloading and saving to work. Let Melissa know if you run into problems.)

Since the books don't get checked out, they're always available; you never wait your turn to use them.

Here are just a few of the latest books in the collection:

• IQ and Psychometric Tests: Assess Your Personality, Aptitude and Intelligence
• Ultimate Job Search: Invaluable Advice on Networking, CVs, Cover Letters, Interviews, Psychometric Tests and Follow-up Strategies
• Readymade Job Search Letters: Winning Letters and E-mails to Help You Get Your Dream Job
• Ultimate Interview: Make a Great Impression and Get That Job
• World Folklore for Storytellers: Tales of Wonder, Wisdom, Fools, and Heroes
• How Your Government Really Works: A Topical Encyclopedia of the Federal Government
• The Gale Encyclopedia of Diets: A Guide to Health and Nutrition
• The Cook's Herb Garden
• Grow It, Cook It: Simple gardening projects and delicious recipes
• Garden Design
• Grow Organic

For business managers:

• American Time Use: Who Spends How Long at What
• Best Customers: Demographics of Consumer Demand
• Household Spending: Who Spends How Much on What
• Everyday Finance: Economics, Personal Money Management, and Entrepreneurship
• How to Market Your Business: A practical guide to advertising, PR, selling, and direct and online marketing
• Strategic Planning: How to Deliver Maximum Value through Effective Business Strategy
• Effective Internal Communication

Brown Bag, Green Book: Climate Cover-up

Climate cover-up: the crusade to deny global warming by James Hoggan presents a detailed analysis of how business organizations and conservative think tanks orchestrate campaigns to question global warming. Jesse Fox Mayshark discusses the book.

Download [13 MB mp3]

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2011 Some Rights Reserved.

Brown Bag, Green Book: Forbidden Creatures

The selected book, Forbidden creatures: inside the world of animal smuggling and exotic pets, looks into the motivations of owners of exotic pets and the serious consequences of the trade. The discussion of the book is led by Dr. Marcy Souza.

Download [9 MB mp3]

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2011 Some Rights Reserved.

Finding more read-alikes

NoveList displays reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and School Library Journals in Series and Title Detail pages when available, and these are great sources of information when you're deciding whether to pick a book up. But did you know that you can use the Advanced Search to mine those rich reviews to help you pick your next great read?

For example, you can use reviews to find read-alikes. Let’s say you loved the Kay Scarpetta mysteries, but you’ve already read the series suggested in the "NoveList Also Recommends" section of the Series Detail page:

Use the Advanced Search to look for more suggestions:

1. Access the Advanced Search page by clicking the Advanced Search link in the Search For… box on the homepage.
2. In the first field, enter scarpetta, and select RV Review from the adjacent drop-down.
3. In the next row, select NOT from the Boolean drop-down.
4. Type cornwell, patricia daniels (or just patricia cornwell) in the next field, and select AU Author from the adjacent drop-down.
   
   
5. Click Search.

This will give you a list of titles with reviews that mention the Kay Scarpetta mysteries, without listing the titles written by Patricia Cornwell.

More about using Novelist

Brown Bag, Green Book #22: The Bridge at the edge of the world

The selected book, The bridge at the edge of the world: capitalism, the environment, and crossing from crisis to sustainability, suggests that our current emphasis on economic growth does not allow for critical environmental protections. Columnist Frank Cagle responds to some of the ideas in the book.

Download [15 MB mp3]

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2011 Some Rights Reserved.

Brown Bag, Green Book #21: Living downstream

Edye Ellis, former co-anchor of WBIR-TV Channel 10, talks about surviving cancer and the importance of understanding the risks of exposure to toxins. The book Living downstream: an ecologist's personal investigation of cancer and the environment suggests that reducing our dependence on coal and petroleum not only makes sense from a green-energy perspective, but it would also reduce the amount of toxins in our environment.

Download [18 MB mp3]

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2011 Some Rights Reserved.

Brown Bag, Green Book #19: The Climate war

Dr. Stephen A. Smith, Executive Director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, spoke about The Climate war: true believers, power brokers, and the fight to save the Earth by Eric Pooley.

Download [21 MB mp3]

Subscribe for free to get new podcast episodes automatically downloaded so you can listen whenever and wherever you want.

Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2011 Some Rights Reserved.

World of Forensic Science and the CSI effect

The term "CSI effect" refers to the idea that popular television shows such as Bones, CSI and Dexter are raising peoples' expectations for scientific evidence in criminal cases. If you are called to sit on a jury, do you know what forensic evidence you can expect to see, and how reliable it is? Find out more about the real state of crime scene science with this reference ebook, The World of Forensic Science.

Brown Bag, Green Book #18: The Weather of the Future

Matt Hinkin, meteorologist at WATE, shared some of his favorite selections from the book The Weather of the Future by renown climatologist Heidi Cullen.

Download

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2011 Some Rights Reserved.

Brown Bag, Green Book #17: Eaarth

Charles Maynard, author and founding Executive Director of Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, led an engaging discussion of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet by Bill McKibben.

Twenty years ago, with his previous book The End of Nature, Bill McKibben offered one of the earliest warnings about global warming. Those warnings went mostly unheeded; now, he insists, we need to acknowledge that we've waited too long, and that massive change is not only unavoidable but already under way. Our old familiar globe is suddenly melting, drying, acidifying, flooding, and burning in ways that no human has ever seen. We've created, in very short order, a new planet, still recognizable but fundamentally different. We may as well call it “Eaarth.”

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About Charles Maynard

Charles Maynard is a storyteller, author, and an ordained United Methodist minister. He has authored or co-authored over 29 books, including 21 children’s books. He is currently director of development for Camp and Retreat Ministries for the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. Charles worked as the first executive director of Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Maynard serves on the Southeast Region Advisory Board for the National Parks Conservation Association, the board of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and the board of Discover Life in America. His most recent books are Going Along to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Blue Ridge Ancient and Majestic.

Subscribe for free to get new podcast episodes automatically downloaded so you can listen whenever and wherever you want.

Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2011 Some Rights Reserved.

Brown Bag, Green Book #16: Every Living Thing

In Every Living Thing, Dunn reminds readers how tough and exhilarating it is to study the natural world, and why it matters. A thousand years ago we thought we knew almost everything, a hundred years ago, too. But even today, the author argues, discoveries we can't yet imagine still await us. More is unknown than known, whether about our bodies or the bottom of the sea. In a series of vivid portraits of scientists as interesting as the mysteries they chase, Dunn introduces the reader to breakthroughs that have changed the world and others that might still.

Download

About Todd Witcher

Todd Witcher has a particular interest in Rob Dunn's book Every Living Thing: Man's obsessive quest to catalog life, from nanobacteria to new monkeys --it's about what he does. Mr. Witcher is the Executive Director of Discover Life in America, the organization that is cataloging the biodiversity of the Great Smoky Mountains.

Mr. Witcher is an eighth generation Tennessean. Before DLIA, he worked as an educator for Ijams Nature Center for 16 years. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee in Biology (1987), a Masters in Business from Lincoln Memorial University (1991), and a Masters in Education from the University of Tennessee (1997).

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2010 Some Rights Reserved.

Brown Bag, Green Book--er, Article--# 15: Superbugs

This Brown Bag, Green Book is a little different. Instead of a book, the discussion is based on a New Yorker article “Superbugs” by Jerome Groopman. Dr. Martha Buchanan, Director of Knox County Health Department, led the discussion.

Dr. Jerome Groopman holds the Dina and Raphael Recanati Chair of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School and is Chief of Experimental Medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. See books by Dr. Groopman in the Library's collection.

For a long-form treatment of antibiotic resistant superbugs, check out the Library's copy of the book Superbug by Maryn McKenna, published this year. The focus of this book is the pathogen known as MRSA: methicillin-resistant Staphyloccocus aureus.

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About Dr. Buchanan

Dr. Buchanan joined Knox County Health Department in 2004 as the assistant public health officer and was promoted to public health officer in 2006. In April 2010 she became director. She graduated from Carson Newman College and East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine, and she completed her residence in Family Practice at the University of North Dakota Family Practice Program.

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2010 Some Rights Reserved.

Brown Bag, Green Book #14: Blue Covenant

Tiffany Foster, Renee Hoyos, and Joanne Logan discussed Maude Barlow's Blue Covenant. Said Ms. Hoyos, "Blue Covenant brings the challenges to managing water for the future into sharp relief. While we sometimes think that we have plenty of water, resources are declining due to bad development and industrial practices. This book is a real eye-opener and a must read for those concerned about the future on water worldwide and locally."

Download

This was a February 2010 program; we got behind on our podcasts while other projects took top priority. Our apologies for publishing this recording so late.

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2010 Some Rights Reserved.

Brown Bag, Green Book #13: Green Metropolis

Madeline Rogero spoke to a record-setting crowd about the book Green Metropolis: Why living smaller, living closer and driving less are the keys to sustainability by David Owen. In this remarkable challenge to conventional thinking about the environment, Owen argues that the greenest community in the United States is not Portland, Oregon, or Snowmass, Colorado, but New York, New York.

Most Americans think of crowded cities as ecological nightmares, as wastelands of concrete, garbage, diesel fumes and traffic jams. Yet residents of compact urban centers, Owen shows, individually consume less oil, electricity, and water than other Americans. They live in smaller spaces, discard less trash, and, most important of all, spend far less time in automobiles. Residents of Manhattan--the most densely populated place in North America--rank first in public-transit use and last in per capita greenhouse gas production, and they consume gasoline at a rate that the country as a whole hasn't matched since the mid-1920s, when the most widely owned car in the United States was the Ford Model T. They are also among the only people in the United States for whom walking is still an important means of daily transportation.

These achievements are not accidents. Spreading people thinly across the countryside may make them feel green, but it doesn't reduce the damage they do to the environment. In fact, it increases the damage, while also making the problems they cause harder to see and to address. Owen contends that the environmental problem we face, at the current stage of our assault on the world's nonrenewable resources, is not how to make teeming cities more like the pristine countryside. The problem is how to make other settled places more like Manhattan, whose residents presently come closer than any other Americans to meeting environmental goals that all of us, eventually, will have to come to terms with.

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About Madeline Rogero

Madeline Rogero is director of the Community Development Department for the City of Knoxville. She heads a department of 25 staff that focuses on revitalizing residential and commercial neighborhoods with a special commitment to energy efficiency and sustainable development. She co-chairs the Mayor's Energy and Sustainability Task Force, is a member of the Mayor’s Economic Development Committee, and has served on numerous nonprofit boards.

Ms. Rogero served on Knox County Commission from 1990 to 1998. She ran for Mayor of Knoxville in 2003 and three years later was appointed to her current position by her former opponent, Mayor Bill Haslam. She was named the "Champion of Change" by Community Shares (2004), was appointed Honorary Co-Chair of the 2005 Tennessee Economic Summit for Women, and was chosen for the YWCA's Tribute to Women award for Business and Government (2006). She was also selected "2003 Knoxvillian of the Year" by Metro Pulse newspaper readers. She has a Master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a B.A. in Political Science from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.

Subscribe for free to get new podcast episodes automatically downloaded so you can listen whenever and wherever you want.

Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2010 Some Rights Reserved.

Brown Bag, Green Book #12: Rewilding the World

Don Barger gave a fascinating talk about the book Rewilding the World: Dispatches from the Conservation Revolution by Caroline Fraser on August 25th.

In Rewilding Fraser offers the first definitive account of a visionary campaign to confront the looming extinction of thousands of species, from tigers and polar bears to rare flowers, birds, and insects: rewilding. Breathtaking in scope and ambition, Rewilding aims to save species by restoring habitats, reviving migration corridors, and brokering peace between people and predators. Traveling with wildlife biologists and conservationists, Fraser reports on the vast projects that are turning Europe’s former Iron Curtain into a greenbelt, creating trans-frontier Peace Parks to renew elephant routes throughout Africa, and linking protected areas from the Yukon to Mexico and beyond.

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About Don Barger

Don Barger is Senior Regional Director of the National Parks Conservation Association. He founded NPCA’s Southeast Regional Office in 1992 and his work in the region since that time has resulted in a groundswell of public attention to the issue of air pollution at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Mr. Barger was recognized by both the National Park Service and the Trust for Public Land for his role in assuring the renovation of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta and was commended on the Congressional Record for his efforts to preserve Cumberland Island National Seashore. Before joining NPCA, he worked as a Policy Analyst for the Environmental Policy Institute in Washington, DC and worked as a community organizer in the coalfields of the Cumberland Mountains. Mr. Barger holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and lives with his wife Lisa in Norris.

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2010 Some Rights Reserved.

Writers' top-ten lists

What are the top ten books named by your favorite authors? Find out!

Brown Bag, Green Book #11: Fast Food Nation

Dr. John Nolt revisited the classic Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, a book that remains relevant today. Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, AND propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but Fast Food Nation Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning.

It's notable that the Rolling Stone article on which this book was based generated more reader mail than any other piece the magazine ran in the 1990s. As its 10 year anniversary approaches, Fast Food Nation demonstrates its "sustainability" as Library patrons continue to check it out.

Download the recording with this link, or use the player below:

About Dr. Nolt

Dr. Nolt is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tennessee, dividing his teaching and research mostly between logic and environmental ethics. He is co-chair of UT’s Committee on the Campus Environment, which recently developed a 25-year energy plan for the campus. In 2006 he was awarded a $25,000 Rebuild America grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to assist with that work.

He has been active in many local and regional environmental organizations. His wife, Annette Mendola, is also a philosopher and they have between them three children. They grow much of their own food in organic gardens at their home. A neo-Luddite, he mows his lawn with a scythe and commutes by bicycle.

Subscribe for free to get new podcast episodes automatically downloaded so you can listen whenever and wherever you want.

Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2010 Some Rights Reserved.

NoveList: find books that appeal to you

NoveList uses appeal factors like writing style and pace to help you get better reading recommendations.

Watch a video tutorial [requires Adobe Flash Player].

Click on the image below for a screen shot of a way to use the new appeal factors in combination.

In this example, someone got a list of books that are described as "thought-provoking" (S1) but there were too many of them. Then she looked at a list of books described as "reflective" (S2) and there were too many. So, she clicked on "Search History" and saw both of the searches in the list. She clicked on the check boxes for S1 and S2, and then clicked the "Search with AND" button.

The result of combining those searches is a smaller list (S3, with 119 items in the list) of books that are both thought-provoking and reflective. Now she can get an even smaller list using the limits on the right-hand side, such as Adults, Fiction, Award winner.

New recommended reading lists

To find these lists, type the title in the Search For… box on the NoveList homepage. Then, click the Lists & Articles tab above the Result List.

Imaginary Creatures. With sneaky trolls and fire breathing dragons, the books on this list view imaginary creatures as either heroes or villains.

Ghost Stories. This list of scary books features ghosts in all kinds of settings, including haunted houses.

Murder with a Foreign Accent. For readers who have been won over by the mysteries of Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson, the Scandinavian juggernaut of outstanding mysteries continues; what is even more exciting is that more mysteries from around the world are also being published in North America, so that readers have an ever-expanding range of foreign mysteries to enjoy.

Mobile version

Scan this QR code on your smartphone and go to the URL (or if you're reading this on your phone, go here), then set a bookmark. Then you can add the bookmark to your home screen if you wish.

Brown Bag, Green Book #10: Power Trip

Harvey Abouelata led a discussion of alternative energy sources as explored in Power Trip: From Oil Wells to Solar Cells--Our Ride to the Renewable Future by Amanda Little.

Prominent journalist Amanda Little maps out the history and future of America's energy addiction in a wonk-free, big-picture, solutions-oriented adventure story. After covering the environment and energy beat for more than a decade, Little decided that the only way to really understand America's energy crisis was to travel into the heart of it. She embarks on a daring cross-country power trip, and describes in vivid, fast-paced prose the most extreme and exciting frontiers of our energy landscape. Little illustrates how abundant oil and coal built the American superpower—even as they posed political and environmental dangers to the nation and the world. More important, we learn how the same American ingenuity that got us into this mess can get us out of it.

Download the recording with this link, or use the player below:

About Harvey Abouelata

Harvey Abouelata is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Efficient Energy of Tennessee. In this position, he oversees sales, product development and marketing of Residential and Commercial products and services for EETN, including solar photovoltaic and solar thermal technology, energy audits and HERS ratings, weatherization, power factor correction, renewable energy education through webinars and seminars and energy grant writing. He holds a Bachelor's of Science from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Subscribe for free to get new podcast episodes automatically downloaded so you can listen whenever and wherever you want.

Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2010 Some Rights Reserved.

Author Suzanne Supplee

Suzanne Supplee is the author of Artichoke's Heart and When Irish Guys Are Smiling. Supplee visited on May 24, 2010 and read from her latest book, Somebody Everybody Listens To [MP3 file, 7 MB].

Somebody Everybody Listens To is the story of Retta Lee Jones, a girl blessed with a beautiful voice and big dreams of leaving her tiny Tennessee hometown. With a beaten down car, a pocketful of hard-earned waitressing money, and stars in her eyes, Retta sets out to make it big in Nashville. But the road to success isn't a smooth one in a town filled with dreamers, and Retta begins to have doubts: can she make her mark while staying true to herself?

Suzanne is a graduate of Southern Illinois University, and she earned a masters degree in creative writing from Towson University in Maryland. For a number of years, she has worked as both a teacher and a writer. Suzanne is married and has three daughters. Her favorite hobbies include exercise, reading, and, of course, writing.

Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2011 Some Rights Reserved.

Christopher Walsh offers insights into McCarthy's Southern works

Christopher Walsh, author of In the Wake of the Sun: Navigating the Southern Works of Cormac McCarthy, discusses his book and his favorite aspects of McCarthy's work in this podcast, edited from his public remarks.

Download the recording or use the player below:

Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2010 Some Rights Reserved.

Justice as Fairness: Part 5

John Rawls warns against a political life dominated by dogmatic fanaticism or apathetic resignation. The University of Tennessee Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy and the Knox County Public Library invite you to participate in a study of his book, Justice as Fairness: A restatement. Each podcast episode is in a discussion format facilitated by a UT faculty member with expertise on Rawls's work. No previous knowledge of Rawls's work is expected.

Part 5: The Question of Stability
with David Reidy, UT Dept. of Philosophy

Click here to download Part 5, or use the player below:

Other podcasts in the Justice as Fairness series:

Part 1: Fundamental Ideas with Joe Cook, UT College of Law

Part 2: Principles of Justice with Otis Stephens, UT College of Law

Part 3: The Argument from the Original Position with Iris Goodwin, UT College of Law

Part 4: Institutions of a Just Basic Structure with Matt Deaton, UT Dept. of Philosophy

Subscribe for free to get new episodes automatically downloaded so you can listen whenever and wherever you want.

Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2010 Some Rights Reserved. Music credit: "Random Opus" by Robert A. Wolf (available on Mevio).

Justice as Fairness: Part 4

John Rawls warns against a political life dominated by dogmatic fanaticism or apathetic resignation. The University of Tennessee Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy and the Knox County Public Library invite you to participate in a study of his book, Justice as Fairness: A restatement. Each podcast episode is in a discussion format facilitated by a UT faculty member with expertise on Rawls's work. No previous knowledge of Rawls's work is expected.

Part 4: Institutions of a Just Basic Structure
with Matt Deaton, UT Dept. of Philosophy. Matt Deaton's handout

Click here to download Part 4, or use the player below:

Other podcasts in the Justice as Fairness series:

Part 1: Fundamental Ideas with Joe Cook, UT College of Law

Part 2: Principles of Justice with Otis Stephens, UT College of Law

Part 3: The Argument from the Original Position with Iris Goodwin, UT College of Law

Part 5: The Question of Stability with David Reidy, UT Dept. of Philosophy

Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2010 Some Rights Reserved. Music credit: "Random Opus" by Robert A. Wolf (available on Mevio).

Justice as Fairness: Part 3

John Rawls warns against a political life dominated by dogmatic fanaticism or apathetic resignation. The University of Tennessee Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy and the Knox County Public Library invite you to participate in a study of his book, Justice as Fairness: A restatement. Each podcast episode is in a discussion format facilitated by a UT faculty member with expertise on Rawls's work. No previous knowledge of Rawls's work is expected.

Part 3: The Argument from the Original Position

with Iris Goodwin, UT College of Law

Click here to download Part 3, or use the player below:

Other podcasts in the Justice as Fairness series:

Part 1: Fundamental Ideas with Joe Cook, UT College of Law

Part 2: Principles of Justice with Otis Stephens, UT College of Law

Part 4: Institutions of a Just Basic Structure with Matt Deaton, UT Dept. of Philosophy

Part 5: The Question of Stability with David Reidy, UT Dept. of Philosophy

Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2010 Some Rights Reserved. Music credit: "Random Opus" by Robert A. Wolf (available on Mevio).

Justice as Fairness: Part 2

John Rawls warns against a political life dominated by dogmatic fanaticism or apathetic resignation. The University of Tennessee Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy and the Knox County Public Library invite you to participate in a study of his book, Justice as Fairness: A restatement. Each podcast episode is in a discussion format facilitated by a UT faculty member with expertise on Rawls's work. No previous knowledge of Rawls's work is expected.

Part 2: Principles of Justice with Otis Stephens, UT College of Law

Click here to download Part 2, or use the player here:

Other podcasts in the Justice as Fairness Series:

Part 1: Fundamental Ideas with Joe Cook, UT College of Law

Part 3: The Argument from the Original Position with Iris Goodwin, UT College of Law

Part 4: Institutions of a Just Basic Structure with Matt Deaton, UT Dept. of Philosophy

Part 5: The Question of Stability with David Reidy, UT Dept. of Philosophy

Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2010 Some Rights Reserved. Music credit: "Random Opus" by Robert A. Wolf (available on Mevio).

Justice as Fairness: A Community Book Discussion

John Rawls warns against a political life dominated by dogmatic fanaticism or apathetic resignation. The University of Tennessee Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy and the Knox County Public Library invite you to participate in a study of his book, Justice as Fairness: A restatement. Each podcast episode is in a discussion format facilitated by a UT faculty member with expertise on Rawls's work. No previous knowledge of Rawls's work is expected.

Part 1: Fundamental Ideas
with Joe Cook, UT College of Law

Click here to download Part 1, or use the player here:

Other Justice as Fairness podcasts:

Part 2: Principles of Justice with Otis Stephens, UT College of Law

Part 3: The Argument from the Original Position with Iris Goodwin, UT College of Law

Part 4: Institutions of a Just Basic Structure with Matt Deaton, UT Dept. of Philosophy

Part 5: The Question of Stability with David Reidy, UT Dept. of Philosophy

Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2010 Some Rights Reserved. Music credit: "Random Opus" by Robert A. Wolf (available on Mevio).

Brown Bag, Green Book #9: Cheap

For the ninth episode in our lunchtime book club series, the selected book was Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture by Ellen Ruppel Shell. Dr. William D. Shiell, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, led the discussion.

"Cheap addresses our need for more stuff by challenging our assumptions about discounts," Dr Shiell said. "The book says that just because something is on sale does not make it a good value. During the shopping season, this book asks us to look beyond the sale price and examine how our purchases reflect our values."

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In Cheap, Ellen Ruppel Shell traces the birth of the bargain as we know it from the Industrial Revolution to the assembly line and beyond, homing in on a number of colorful characters, such as Gene Verkauf (his name is Yiddish for "to sell"), founder of E. J. Korvette, the discount chain that helped wean customers off traditional notions of value. The rise of the chain store in post-Depression America led to the extolling of convenience over quality, and big-box retailers completed the reeducation of the American consumer by making them prize low price in the way they once prized durability and craftsmanship.

The effects of this insidious perceptual shift are vast: a blighted landscape, escalating debt (both personal and national), stagnating incomes, fraying communities, and a host of other socioeconomic ills. That's a long list of charges, and it runs counter to orthodox economics which argues that low price powers productivity by stimulating a brisk free market. But Shell marshals evidence from a wide range of fields-history, sociology, marketing, psychology, even economics itself-to upend the conventional wisdom. Cheap also unveils the fascinating and unsettling illogic that underpins our bargain-hunting reflex and explains how our deep-rooted need for bargains colors every aspect of our psyches and social lives. In this myth-shattering, closely reasoned, and exhaustively reported investigation, Shell exposes the astronomically high cost of cheap.

About Dr. Shiell

Dr. William D. Shiell is the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Knoxville, Tennessee. He has published two books: Reading Acts: the Lector and the Early Christian Audience; and Sessions with Matthew. Dr. Shiell is a native of Pensacola, Florida, and received a B.A. in religion from Samford University (1994), a M.Div. in theology from Baylor University's Truett Seminary (1997), and a Ph.D. in religion from Baylor University (2003). He was named Outstanding Student of Truett Seminary's first graduating class. Dr. Shiell serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Religion Department of Carson-Newman College and on the Board of Directors for Associated Baptist Press. He is a member of Leadership Knoxville's 2009 class. He and his wife Kelly have two sons, Parker and Drake.

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Brown Bag, Green Book #8: Last Child in the Woods

The eighth episode in our lunchtime book club series is about Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. Dr. McIntyre, Superintendent of Knox County Schools, led the discussion along with Knox County School’s Aneisa McDonald, Supervisor of Coordinated School Health, and Lisa Wagoner, Supervisor of Health Services.

In Last Child in the Woods, Louv explores what he describes as the alienation of modern-day children from the natural world. He emphasizes the important role interaction with nature plays in our personal emotional, physical and intellectual health. One child told him, "I like indoors because that's where the electric outlets are." Louv makes a direct link between the "plugged-in" state of children (he calls this "nature deficit") and significant problems such as obesity, Attention Deficit Disorder and depression.

Louv contends that connecting education and play to environment raises standardized test scores and grade point averages, improving many skills such as critical thinking and even creativity. Yet sending kids outside to play is increasingly difficult. Computers, television, and video games compete for their time, of course, but it's also our fear of traffic, strangers, and even virus-carrying mosquitoes that keep children indoors. Meanwhile, schools assign more and more homework, and there is less and less access to natural areas.

Parents have the power to ensure that their daughter or son will not be the "last child in the woods" and this book is the first step toward that Nature-child reunion.

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About Dr. McIntyre, Ms. McDonald and Ms. Wagoner

Dr. James P. McIntyre, Jr., has served as Superintendent of Knox County Schools since July, 2008. He has worked in the field of education, including both K-12 and at the university level, for 20 years. Prior to coming to Knoxville, he was the Chief Operating Officer for Boston Public Schools. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Boston College, a Master of Science degree in education administration from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, a Master of Urban Affairs degree from Boston University, and a Ph. D. in public policy from the University of Massachusetts.

Ms. Aneisa McDonald has been with Knox County Schools since July 2007. She received her BS and MS in Education from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She spent 12 years as a professional dance educator in Illinois, South Carolina, and Tennessee and served as a coalition coordinator for the Metropolitan Drug Commission's Drug-Free Communities Grant Program from 2001-2007.

Ms. Lisa Wagoner joined Knox County as a school nurse in 1994 and then was appointed Supervisor of Health Services in 2009. She holds a degree of nursing from Walter State Community College.

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2009 Some Rights Reserved.

Brown Bag, Green Book #7: Something's Rising

Dawn Coppock and Pat Hudson of LEAF discussed the issue of mountaintop removal coal mining and the book Something's Rising: Appalachians fighting mountaintop removal. View their presentation slides as you listen to the recording below.

The people who live, work, and raise families in central Appalachia face not only the physical destruction of their land but also the loss of their culture and health in communities dominated by the consequences of mountaintop removal. Included here are oral histories from Jean Ritchie, "the mother of folk," who doesn't let her eighty-six years slow down her fighting spirit; Judy Bonds, a tough-talking coal-miner's daughter; Kathy Mattea, the beloved country singer who believes cooperation is the key to winning the battle; Jack Spadaro, the heroic whistle-blower who has risked everything to share his insider knowledge of federal mining agencies; Larry Bush, who doesn't back down even when speeding coal trucks are used to intimidate him; Denise Giardina, a celebrated writer who ran for governor to bring attention to the issue; and many more. The book features both well-known activists and people rarely in the media. Each oral history is prefaced with a biographical essay that vividly establishes the interview settings and the subjects' connections to their region. Written and edited by native sons of the mountains, this compelling book captures a fever-pitch moment in the movement against mountaintop removal.

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About Pat Hudson and Dawn Coppock

Pat Hudson is the Executive Director of Lindquist Environmental Appalachian Fellowship (LEAF). Dawn Coppock is LEAF Legislative Director. Both have become registered lobbyists and travel frequently to Nashville. The work they do for LEAF is on a voluntary basis. Hs. Hudson is a freelance writer including books Inns of the Southern Mountains and a volume of Smithsonian Guide to Historic America. She was a contributing writer to Americana for ten years and was a co-editor of Listen Here: Women Writing in Appalachia. Ms. Coppock is an adoption attorney and author of Coppock on Tennessee adoption law.

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2009 Some Rights Reserved.

Brown Bag, Green Book #6: Growing Greener Cities

Here is a recording of the sixth in our lunchtime book club series called Brown Bag, Green Book. John W. Craig, owner of Segundo Properties, led our discussion of Growing Greener Cities: Urban Sustainability in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Eugenie L. Birch and Susan M. Wachter. Listen and then discuss this episode using the comments.

In Growing Greener Cities, a collection of essays on urban sustainability and environmental issues, scholars and practitioners alike promote activities that recognize and conserve nature's ability to sustain urban life. Over the years, the significance of green in civic life has grown. In twenty-first-century America, not only open space but also other issues of sustainability—such as potable water and carbon footprints—have become crucial elements in the quality of life in the city and surrounding environment.

Confronted by a U.S. population that is more than 70 percent urban, growing concern about global warming, rising energy prices, and unabated globalization, today's decision makers must find ways to bring urban life into balance with the Earth in order to sustain the natural, economic, and political environment of the modern city. The essays in Growing Greener Cities demonstrate how partnerships across professional organizations, businesses, advocacy groups, governments, and individuals themselves can bring green solutions to cities from London to Seattle. 

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About John Craig

As owner of Segundo Properties and through his community leadership, John Craig has demonstrated his commitment to increasing the sustainability of the urban landscape.  He is responsible for the re-development of multiple downtown properties, including The Gallery Lofts, Emory Place, 29 Market Square, 9 Market Square, and the historic S&W Cafeteria. He completed both a B.A. and an M.B.A. at the University of Tennessee.

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Fun with WorldCat lists

I've been enjoying this list of "100 best first lines from novels" on WorldCat. The public list was created by a WorldCat user just like you, and of course WorldCat also allows you to make and keep private lists. Have you found (or created) an interesting list you'd like to share?

Brown Bag, Green Book #5: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Ben Epperson, Coordinator of Beardsley Community Farm, led a well-attended discussion about local food, based on the memoir Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is an important story for all of us," says Epperson, "especially here in East Tennessee where our growing season can last up to 10 months."

In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, author Barbara Kingsolver and her family abandoned the industrial-food pipeline to live a rural life—vowing that, for one year, they’d only buy food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, It's an enthralling narrative that will open your eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: you are what you eat.

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About Ben Epperson

Ben Epperson studied Literary and Linguistic Theory (English) at the University of TN, Knoxville. In 2005 he moved with his partner, Elly, to the Czech Republic where he taught English. After they moved back to the States in 2007 to have their first child, a job working on Creekbed Farm sparked Mr. Epperson's interest in sustainable agriculture. When the family moved back to Knoxville and discovered Beardsley Community Farm he was electrified by the possibilies and opportunites he found there. "We'd like to see a small portion of Knoxville growing its own food again. We're here to build the buzz for sustainable urban agriculture, and it's working."

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2009 Some Rights Reserved.

Brown Bag, Green Book #4: Coming Clean

In Coming Clean: Breaking America's Addiction to Coal and Oil, Michael Brune, executive director of Rainforest Action Network (RAN), shows us how we, as motivated citizens, can kick our own fossil-fuel habit and pressure policymakers and corporations to change their energy priorities. His vivid reports remind us of the economic, environmental, moral, and public-health costs of fossil-fuel dependence, and how our government and international banks are complicit. Brune also describes the most promising developments in renewables, biofuels, and efficient design, and offers an inspiring vision of the clean energy future within our reach.

Dr. Dana Christensen, Associate Laboratory Director of the Energy and Engineering Sciences Directorate of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) led our discussion. "Michael Brune is a political activist who has been successful in bringing attention to social/environmental causes," says Dr. Christensen. "His success in gaining agreements from companies such as Home Depot and Lowe’s toward not selling old growth rain forest products is an example of how a small number of citizens can change corporate behaviors when the cause is defensible. Coming Clean is his effort to change the purchasing habits of the general citizenry; a much greater challenge than influencing a small number of companies. Indeed, the general citizenry purchase electricity, not the coal used to produce the electricity, thus making the messaging even more difficult. The book represents an attempt to simplify the message about the impact that fossil fuels are having on our environment so that the general public will stand up and listen."

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About Dr. Christensen

Dr. Christensen is the Associate Laboratory Director of the Energy & Engineering Sciences Directorate of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Dr. Christensen came to ORNL from the University of California where he was the principal Associate Laboratory Director of Threat Reduction at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Prior to this he was the Deputy Associate Laboratory for Energy and Environment at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, also operated by the University of California. He has twenty-nine years of management experience in material science, nuclear energy, fossil and renewable energy, nuclear materials management and scientific research in support of DOE and other government agencies and industries.

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2009 Some Rights Reserved.

Brown Bag, Green Book #3: The Green Collar Economy

In The Green Collar Economy, author Van Jones illustrates how we can invent and invest our way out of the pollution-based grey economy and into a healthy new green economy. Chris Woodhull, a Knoxville City Councilman who co-founded TRIBE ONE, led a community discussion of the book.

"I am interested in this book because it combines two significant community challenges with one very practical solution," says Woodhull. "We address the disenfranchisement of inner city youth to the workforce at the same time that we are building a greener city. This approach is tailor made for us here in Knoxville."

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About Chris Woodhull

Chris Woodhull is currently serving his second term as Knoxville City Councilman at-large. He is the Executive Director of TRIBE ONE, an inner city Christian ministry that encourages at-risk youth to walk away from gangs and destructive lifestyles and lead productive lives. He co-founded TRIBE ONE with the late Danny Mayfield, who was also a Knoxville City Councilman. Mr. Woodhull is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He has completed classes in negotiation at Harvard and entrepreneurship at Yale.

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2009 Some Rights Reserved.

Brown Bag, Green Book #2: Cradle to cradle

Elizabeth Eason, a Knoxville architect accredited with the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED system, led a community discussion of the book Cradle to cradle: Remaking the way we make things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart.

McDonough and Braungart question the wisdom of "reduce, reuse, recycle" and propose that products might be designed so that, after their useful life, they provide nourishment for something new--either as "biological nutrients" that safely re-enter the environment or as "technical nutrients" that circulate within closed-loop industrial cycles, without being "downcycled" into low-grade uses (as most "recyclables" now are).

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About Elizabeth Eason

Elizabeth Eason is the Principal Architect at Elizabeth Eason Architecture llc, the Knoxville based design studio she established in 2003. She has more than 19 years of professional experience working with a wide variety of commercial, civic, non-profit and residential clientele. Her firm specializes in sustainable design of buildings and communities throughout East Tennessee.
Ms. Eason is a licensed architect and an accredited professional with the US Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) system. She is an active board member of Knox Heritage, Chair of the US Green Building Council East Tennessee Chapter, and serves on Mayor Haslam's Energy & Sustainability Task Force. She is a member of Leadership Knoxville's 2009 class and serves on Governor Bredesen's Energy Policy Task Force.

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Brown Bag, Green Book #1: Hot, Flat and Crowded

Mike Edwards, CEO and President of the Knoxville Chamber, led a community discussion of the book Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How It Can Renew America by Thomas Friedman.

In his groundbreaking book, Thomas Friedman discusses what he sees as America’s surprising loss of focus and national purpose since 9/11, as well as the global environmental crisis, which is affecting everything from food to fuel to forests. Friedman explains why he believes this is a great challenge, but also a great opportunity--one that America cannot afford to miss. Not only is American leadership the key to the healing of the earth--it is also our best strategy for the renewal of America.

Edwards says he chose Hot, Flat and Crowded because it "hits the nail on the head. We're facing a big uphill climb, but fortunately, in East Tennessee we've got some world class resources to deal with the issues ahead of us."

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2009 Some Rights Reserved.

Help for Teens Coping With School Violence

Take a minute to check out How to Deal--part of Teen Central dedicated to resources to help teens navigate the aftermath of a traumatic or violent experience and to build skills to prevent future violence. You can find information ranging from how to control anger to how to cope with grief. Looking for something in particular? Contact our reference desk for even more resources.

Three Cups of Tea with Ed Francisco

Ed Francisco is a professor and writer in residence at Pellissippi State Technical Community College. In this recording, he opens a public discussion of the book Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson by offering an analysis of the book as "a species of romance known as the hero's quest."

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Knox County Public Library Podcasts by Knox County Public Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2008 Some Rights Reserved.

Children's online read-alongs

We're excited to offer a new online read-along activity for children on our website; you can find it in the Kid's Library or in the Reading Corner page under Kid's Library. The service is called TumbleBooks. Your child can read along with an animated, narrated book, and some books have related games and quizzes.

A Death in the Family: A Restoration of the Author's Text

James Agee's A Death in the Family has been a staple in American literature for 50 years, but it is not the novel the author intended to publish. University of Tennessee professor Michael A. Lofaro restored the novel to reflect the manuscript Agee left completed at his death. In this recording he discusses the new version: A Death in the Family: A Restoration of the Author's Text.

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From novel to film: the making of To Kill a Mockingbird

As part of our recent Big Read collaboration with the YWCA, the Library hosted discussions of the book To Kill A Mockingbird and a screening of the film. Gerald Wood, Dean of Humanites at Carson-Newman College and Barbara Moore, Professor in the School of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee joined us to discuss the film adaptation of the book. We recorded their remarks and you can download the recording here or use the player below.