SHELF NOTES

We live in the best of times and the worst of times. The worst, because many of the older titles that we hear of and want to read or acquire for our libraries are out of print, still under copyright protection, and unobtainable except at an exorbitant price. The best, because all sorts of small publishers and curriculum suppliers are beginning to reprint some of these living book gems for a new generation to enjoy all over again.

Here a few of the treasures that have recently been reprinted by some fine, reputable publishers in trustworthy editions:

• This Dear-Bought Land by Jean Lee Latham (BJU Press) is an unabridged edition of the 1957 historical fiction novel about young David Warren who sails across the Atlantic with the settlers of Jamestown in 1507.
• Anthony Coalfield at Living Book Press (in Australia, but they sell and deliver books in the U.S.) has a whole page of 36 new releases, including The First Book of Birds by Margaret Williamson, The First Book of Water by Jo and Ernest Norling, and Katya's Book of Mushrooms by Katya Arnold and Sam Swope.
• Smidgen Press has recently reprinted The Lost Dragon of Wessex by Gwendolyn Bowers, a historical fiction novel set in the time of King Alfred the Great of England.
• Notgrass History has republished Philip of Texas by James Otis, a book set during the time when Texas was a republic in which a twelve year old boy dreams of having his own sheep farm. Notgrass also publishes Growing Up Dakota, an autobiographical account of the boyhood of Ohiyesa, also known as Charles Eastman, a member of the Dakota nation, edited and illustrated by Charlene Notgrass.
• Volume 2 of This Country of Ours: The Story of the United States by H.E. Marshall, edited by Donna Jean Breckinridge (the Annotated, Expanded, and Updated Version which covers chapters 29-63, and is used for AO’s Year 4) is now available at Amazon. It is available in paperback and hardcover, with an inexpensive Kindle version to follow shortly. Volume 2 covers the time period from the Pequot War through the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783.
  
• Purple House Press has the the first four Mistmantle series books by M.I. McAllister; Book #4, Urchin and the Raven War is now available. Book #5, Urchin and the Rage Tide should be out in October. Also from Purple House you can get Elizabeth Ripley's artist biographies (with color prints of selected artwork). These are perfect for your Charlotte Mason patrons who do artist studies. And The Exploits of Xenophon by Geoffrey Household, a World Landmark book, has also been acquired and reprinted by Purple House!
• Finally, all 33 of The Happy Hollisters mystery series are now available in paperback from The Trading Post Store. And almost all of the books in the series have also been issued in hardcover editions as well as audiobooks and Kindle ebooks.

The following libraries and librarians have been or will be featured in July at The Card Catalog: Librarian Notices.

Sandy Hall of Hall's Living Library in Georgia: "Growing up, I loved to read. I think I read everything in our school library, especially the elementary school library. Both of my college degrees are in education, and my favorite courses were Children’s Literature. As I began teaching school in upstate New York and in Pennsylvania, my knowledge of children’s books, authors, and illustrators grew. Then we moved to Michigan, and as the children came along, our personal family library grew and grew. We began homeschooling in 1989, and the family library grew and grew to accommodate our children’s interests and needs."

Robin Pack of Children's Legacy Library in Tennessee: "'Robin, have you ever thought about opening a library?' That simple question, asked on a hot, muggy day in August, 2001, changed the trajectory of my life and the lives of the families who would someday walk through my library door. My husband, 10-year-old son, and I were attending a living books gathering “on the back side of nowhere” in southwest Tennessee. One of the attendees was Michelle Miller Howard, owner of an incredible private library in Michigan and author of Truthquest History. While talking with Michelle about my book collection, numbering around 2,000 volumes at the time, she asked me this question . . . and my life has never been the same."

Biblioguides has graciously agreed to host a directory for private lending libraries at the Biblioguides website. If you have a private lending library already in operation or will soon be lending and your library is not listed in the directory, we would like to invite you to add your library to the Private Lending Library Directory at Biblioguides.

However, there's much more to Biblioguides besides just the directory. And although Biblioguides has a subscription website, much of the content is available without paying a cent. For instance you can use Biblioguides to do an easy QUICK SEARCH and find information about books by title, author, illustrator or topic. You can also see Information on how to find the book, recommended reprints, recommended reviews, associated podcasts and more. For librarians who are trying to evaluate an unknown book, Biblioguides can be the first place to get more particulars to help you decide whether the book is right for your library.

Check out all the free stuff you can get at Biblioguides, and then when you're ready, you might want to try a seven day trial membership, because there's even more goodness there for you and your library.

While the Plumfield Moms podcast started as a way of recording our nearly a decade worth of book reviews and reflections, it quickly grew to include author interviews as well interviews with librarians. And, the more that we spoke with librarians, the more we began to catch the vision of living books lending libraries. Now thirteen months later, here we are hosting The Card Catalog and Sara has opened her own library with Diane soon to follow. We chose to host The Card Catalog because we truly believe in these lending libraries and we want to support librarians everywhere who are safeguarding the good, true, and beautiful books.

"How do you know what I'll like if you won't even try me?" asked Frances, wiping her eyes.

~Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban

You may find the following articles and reviews of interest this month as you continue to build your library or support others who are doing so:

A Woke Children's Literature Cabal Is Conditioning Your Kid to Be a Leftist by Kiri Jorgensen

How To Beat the Woke Children's Publishing Industry at Its Own Game by Kiri Jorgensen

A Better Kind of Library by John Stonestreet and Maria Baer at Breakpoint

Semicolon Book Review: The Exploits of Xenophon by Geoffrey Household

Plumfield and Paideia Book Review: The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary Schmidt

Hall's Living Library Book Review: Down the Big River by Stephen Meader

Like Noah, I am building an ark. My ark looks more like a library than a boat because it is indeed a library, three rooms full of over ten thousand books. I'm not saving animals, thank goodness. (I'm not much of an animal tamer.) Instead I am preserving stories, what educator Charlotte Mason called "living books". And although I am protecting the books from flood and fire, I hope, I am ultimately more concerned about rescuing all of the good books that I can save from the inundation of trash and twaddle and and pernicious indoctrination that I see all around me. And I want to make them available to anyone who will read and grow and drink in the goodness and truth of our human heritage in books.

Read more about The Ark at The Card Catalog . . .

We would love to hear from you about the questions, answers, and resources you would like to see available in The Card Catalog. It's certainly a work in progress. Here are a few of the ways you can reach out to us.

Email: sherry.pray4you@gmail.com
Website: https://plumfieldandpaideia.com/the-card-catalog/
Facebook: facebook.com/librarianscardcatalog