Look out! The Kansans are invading! Actually, they’re already here, and growing in numbers.
The Olathe, Kansas Public Library and the Topeka-Shawnee County Public Library have moved to Cybrary City II, joining the State Library of Kansas on that sim. “We were on Cybrary City l and we had a much smaller space,” said Cindy Elkhart, head of the Topeka SL project. “We were on there about 18 months.”
The library business is a family affair for Elkhart, who, as Diana Sowers in real life, is in acquisitions with the Topeka library and is married – in real life and in SL – to Rocky Vellejo, head of the state library SL project and real life government documents librarian for the state library.
Olathe Public Library
The Olathe Public Library SL project is just about a year old, and started out on Talis Cybrary Island. The Olathe library administration has approved an increase in funding for the project, making the move possible. The new parcel comes with more space and more prims. The same is true for Topeka, making exhibits and programs much easier.
The public libraries are nearly adjacent on the sim, and the state library is only a short distance away. The close proximity lays the foundation for future collaborative efforts.
Kansas State Library
“Having the three Kansas libraries on Cybrary City II provides an excellent opportunity for all of us to link resources, cooperate on mutual displays and offer programs that can span the sim,” Vallejo said.
Elkhart said she is looking forward to being able to better exhibit Topeka’s collections and activities.
“We have a newsletter called Connect Now that tells what things are scheduled at the library. I’m hoping to have displays to go along with that. I’m also hoping to have more in our art gallery.”
And the participants in Topeka’s SL teen project may also have a chance to shine.
“We have room now to do justice to all areas,” Elkhart said.
Alter, who is Olathe reference library Lorie Hyten in real life, also welcomes the chance to better highlight the Olathe library, as well as join forces with the other Kansas libraries in projects and exhibits with broad appeal.
Still more Kansans are on their way to a place on the sim – the Nicodemus Historical Society, headed by Angela Bates-Tompkins (Dakota Digfoot in SL) is planning to establish an SL presence on CC II.
Nicodemus, Kansas, was founded in 1877 by African Americans who migrated from the southern United States, primarily Kentucky and Tennessee, shortly after the Civil War. The town became an historical landmark in 1976.
Two friends: Fokas Greenwood and HopesndDreams Allen. Interest in common: Reading. Idea: Create a reading group. Purpose: Reading and discuss the stories with others. The Group: CityLights Portucalis. The place: City Lights Library. Where: Portucalis.
When you think of bamboo houses on the beach, probably the first thought is a place where you can relax and enjoy peace as much as you like it. Well, if you are an SL resident, a bamboo house can be lots of things. This month just picture a library on the beach in a bamboo house. That’s what you find when you land at the City Lights Library. The building and the surrounding water give a feeling of freshness to the area.
The Project Some months ago, the two creators of this idea thought that it would be nice to have a reading discussion group. The thought and the idea got wings, and City Lights Portucalis was born. It began with a simple idea. Every month they proposed to read a book, and every last Monday of each month the discussion is held with the participation of the members and other people that know of the event and want be at the discussion. Discussions and Reunions
City Lights Library
So with their purpose defined, there was the need to find a place where the meetings could be held and that’s why the library was born. It would give a place for the meetings and show more books that could be proposed for discussion or not. Although City Lights has its own place, sometimes meetings can be held on other libraries. Last November, the reunion happened at Owls’ Bay Library, and it was a very animated and vivid debate. In December, the meeting was at City Lights and it concerned Blindness, the novel written by José Saramago, who won the Nobel Literature Prize in 1998.
Classics and Contemporaries The bookshelves are filled with lots of books that give us the real feeling and almost the smell of paper where marvelous stories are written. The ladders make us imagine picking the highest book in the library, and the big windows let the sun to inspire reading and voyages of the imagination. Outside there’s a nice porch where you can sit and enjoy the pleasure of reading while listening to the waves on the beach. On your visit you can find classics, such as the works of Shakespeare, Melville, Twain, Whitman or Edgar Rice Burroughs.
One of the purposes of the library is also spreading the word about new writers that publish their work in SL. That’s why here you can find books with stories written by Ibrahim Bates, a Portuguese writer who has published in-world.
So, every month a new book, why not join the next discussion?
Joyeux Noël et bonne année , Kala Christougenna Kieftihismenos O Kenourios Chronos, Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto, Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo, Joyeux Noël et bonne année, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo!
Las Navidades, La Navidad or Las Pascuas; these are three names for Hispanic Christmas. We tend to direct our attention toward the spiritual aspect of it, but we also love to “parrandear” or “las fiestas,” to celebrate the season and enjoy the gift-giving tradition.
“Feliz Navidad” are the words spoken most often in any Spanish-speaking country when Christmas season arrives. Christmas, a Christian festival celebrated in different ways by different countries, is a beautiful celebration that is very meaningful and full of symbolism for Hispanic-American People. The Christmas season and the expectation of a new year are a reason for celebration anywhere in the world, but some of the most colorful and festive celebrations are those that take place in Spain and the countries colonized by the Spaniards. The Hispanic-American Christmas is in some ways very similar to that of the old countries from whence we came, yet we differ from our forefathers in many others ways.
When it comes to celebrating Christmas, every Spanish-speaking country has its own Christmas traditions and customs which at the same time are interrelated and similar. They are rich, colorful, and centered in strong religious feelings and roots. We will concentrate on those similarities which unite us as Hispanics.
The Christmas season begins, for Hispanics at the same time as it does for most other Catholics, with the first day of Advent and lasts through the day which celebrates the baptism of Jesus after the Epiphany. The Christmas celebrations are a fantastic mix of overflowing joy and deep religious faith. As Advent starts the season, the Hispanic family focuses on much merry making, good food, and family traditions.
All symbols, imagery, and traditions are related with the birth of the Holy Child and the Bible. The Posadas in Mexico are famous. They begin nine days before Christmas and represent the pilgrimage of Jose and Maria looking for an inn in which she can give birth to her son. Children and adults dress up as Mary and Joseph, and the participants carry the images of them in a semi-procession during the nine days before “Nochebuena.” Mary and Joseph’s efforts in finding lodging are rejected during the first eight nights, but the last night they finally find a place and that night Jesus is born.
The Amatsu Library is a small community library serving Amatsu Shima Okiya and all interested residents of Second Life. Amatsu Shima, Heavenly Island, is a Japanese- themed island sim, and the Okiya is a school for geisha. The students study Japanese history as well as the various arts and culture associated with geisha of the Edo Period, and the expression of those things in Second Life. The library's collections focus on these subjects.
The library was created by Pomona Writer, Geisha Mishiori, and opened in June 2008 shortly after the creation of Amatsu Shima island by Suzanne Logan, Okasan of Amatsu Okiya. Writer wished to create a library as a rewarding project for herself and for her Okiya. She arranged for land use on the island and built a small campus using one-story buildings of traditional Japanese design. An open feeling was created by removing the sliding doors. The little buildings are named Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Three of these rooms display books with the fourth reserved for a future bookshop. An office and a reading room with pillows, tea, and books complete the campus. Landscaping enhances the pleasant atmosphere. The courtyard includes a pond with a sculpture of geisha The exterior walls of the buildings offer space to hang art.
Librarianship 
