Revenge…sweet or sour?

Like Corey, I just saw The Avengers, and it’s got me thinking about what it means to avenge or revenge. Not just the literal differences; on a more basic level, revenge seems to be the more complicated of the two. More than avenging past discretion or administering justice, revenge can turn even “good guys” into [...]

Great Irish Stories for St. Patrick’s Day

  March to me means two things- NCAA March Madness and Saint Patrick’s Day.  I’ve always loved Saint Patrick’s Day and my family always had a huge party to celebrate.  Of course my grandparents last names were Murphy, Mulligan, McGillicuddy, and Carney.  So, yeah we’re pretty Irish!  We still have a while to go until the actual Saint Patrick’s Day, [...]

Just Try to Remain Silent: Sign Up for The Silent Library Program

Do you think you could remain silent while someone plucked a hair from inside your nose?  Could you prevent yourself from laughing at the sight of a good friend being fed baby food while dressed in a diaper and bib?  Would you be able to refrain from squealing in horror after seeing yourself made up [...]

The Pittsburgh Photographic Library (at your fingertips)

The Pittsburgh Photographic Library currently contains over 50,000 prints and negatives relating to Pittsburgh’s history. Begun in 1950, by the University of Pittsburgh, and under the direction of photo documentalist Roy Stryker, noted local photographers such as Luke Swank, Frank Bingaman, Clyde Hare, Abram Brown, Harold Corsini and others, compiled a photo history of the [...]

Saying Good-bye

Something that I learned when I was a teenager is that saying good-bye is not easy but it is an inevitable part of life. People come into our lives sometimes briefly, sometimes forever. We move from place to place. We graduate high school and then college and later grad school saying good-bye to the friends [...]

Read away the summer…

It’s my 4th favorite time of year (precluded by Christmas, Black Friday, and my birthday, naturally)! YALSA has released the list of titles picked for 2011 Teens’ Top Ten Nominations! The teens that do the nominating are members of teen book groups that span across sixteen schools and libraries throughout the country. They chose the 25 books that [...]

Beware Friday the 13th

At least once but no more than three times per year comes Friday the 13th. The irrational fear that this day brings bad luck is called paraskevidekatriaphobia. Ever wonder why tall buildings almost never have a 13th floor or a room 13? It’s considered bad luck! Numerology is the belief or tradition that there is a relationship between [...]

Two Wonderful Events In One Cold Short Month.

Greetings CLP Teen Blogoshpere! Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Michael Balkenhol and I am the new Teen Specialist at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Hazelwood Branch. My first blog post is about two wonderful things that happened for me in February. If you haven’t figured it out yet – The first [...]

Director Battle Royale: Sweet 16

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Main’s Film & Audio Department has begun their annual “March Madness” competition. But instead of voting on college basketball teams, you vote on the best movie directors of all time! If you’re really into films, you should check it out. And if you’re not, but you’d like to know more, stop by Film [...]

LBPH: so what goes on in there?

Last Thursday I got to do some cross-training at the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.  No, not the kind of cross-training that involves a stationary bike and a treadmill.  Librarian cross-training means that we get to see what goes on in different departments and branches in the system. LBPH is located in an [...]