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PAGE 62 VOL. 75, NO. 2 • SUMMER 2012 MISSISSIPPI LIBRARIESMLA MEMBERS AT NATIONALLIBRARY LEGISLATIVE DAYSMembers of the Mississippi LibraryAssociation met in April with all the MississippiCongressional Delegates duringNational Library Legislative Days, held inWashington, DC. Among the issues discussedwere continued funding for theLibrary Services and Technology Act(LSTA), continued support for E-rate (thecommonly used name for the Schools andLibraries Program of the Universal ServiceFund, administered by the Universal ServiceAdministrative Company (USAC)under the direction of the FCC), Elementaryand Secondary Education Act (ESEA),and School Library Federal Funding. Wewere fortunate to speak with SenatorsCochran and Wicker and RepresentativesHarper, Nunnelee, Palazzo, and Thompson.– Submitted by Susan S. Cassagne, Director,Judge George W. Armstrong Library Pictured (l-r) are: Stephen Cunetto (MLA President),Jolee Hussey (MLC Commissioner), SusanCassagne (MLA Legislative Chair and Director,Judge George W. Armstrong Library), Dr. RussellBurns (MLC Commissioner), Lynn Shurden (MLAVice-president/President elect and Director, BolivarCounty Library System), Pamela Pridgen (MLCCommissioner and Director, The Library of Hattiesburg,Petal and Forrest County), SenatorCochran, Celia Fisher (MLC Commissioner), HarveyFisher, and Dr. Glenda Segars (MLC Commissioner).People inthe NewsMississippi State University Librariesis proud to welcome a new facultymember to its Serials Department.Derek Marshall joined MSULibraries’ faculty as an Assistant Professor/SerialsLibrarian in March 2012.He completed his M.L.I.S. in 2001 atthe University of South Carolina. Marshallobtained a B.A. in English fromthe University of South Carolina –Aiken in 2000.— ◆ —Joan Deegan joined the Universityof Mississippi Libraries as the new BusinessReference Librarian. She receivedher library degree from DominicanUniversity and her B.A. in English fromSt. Mary’s College at Notre Dame, IN.Previously she worked as Business ReferenceLibrarian at Northwood Universityand as a corporate librarian at PricewaterhouseCoopers.FICTIONBridges, Ramona. Sweet By and By: A Storyabout Love. Mustang, OK: Tate Publishing,2010. 348 pp. $25.00 (paperback)Ramona Bridges’ first novel, Sweet Byand By, is set in rural Mississippi around theend of the 19th century. The story followsAddie Coulter, a woman plagued by misfortuneand sadness primarily caused by herangry and violent husband Alfred. At thebeginning of the book, the reader findspregnant Addie exhausted from caring forher invalid mother, single-handedly maintainingthe household, and rearing herdaughter all while enduring the miserycaused by Alfred. Addie is able to maintaina benevolent disposition due to her unwaveringfaith and through the love of friendsand family.As the destruction of Alfred’s continuouslyheinous behavior mounts, Addie’srepugnance for him grows. She is adamantabout honoring the sacrament of marriageand refuses to leave Alfred much to the dismayof her loved ones. But when tragedystrikes she is given the opportunity to begina new life, one in which she can find truehappiness.The subtitle describes this book as astory of love. Even though Addie is in a miserablemarriage with a sociopath, she takesAbout BooksJennifer BrannockCurator of Rare Books and MississippianaUniversity of Southern Mississippijennifer.brannock@usm.educomfort in the love that is present in her lifethrough her faith and through the ministrationsof her loved ones. The author maintainsa steady theme of love, both spiritualand earthly, throughout the book. Thepower of prayer is a constant theme that ispresented through the characters’ feelingsand actions as well as consistent bible versereferences.To counterbalance Addie’s reverence forGod and the fondness others feel for her, theauthor has Alfred commit unspeakable actsranging from child abuse to murder. We arenot privy to the reasons why Alfred is set onthis path of destruction or why he feels socompelled to unleash his anger on his family.There are so many atrocities caused byone person that it difficult at times for thereader to conceive that so much sadness andtragedy can befall one woman.This book would find a place in a publiclibrary’s religious book collection. It wouldappeal to readers who enjoy religious booksin which love and faith in God give thecharacters strength to persevere.Ann McGrawMedia SpecialistMagnolia Park Elementary— ◆ —
MISSISSIPPI LIBRARIES VOL. 75, NO. 2 • SUMMER 2012 PAGE 63NONFICTIONBeaman, John. Walking is the Worst Exercise:and other Challenges to the ConventionalWisdom of Medicine. Richton, MS: FamilyCare Clinic, 2010. 277 pp. $28.95 (hardcover)For 25 years, author Dr. John Beamanhas been writing a popular medical columnfor the Hattiesburg American. He has nowput together a collection of the columns ina self-published book. The book containsten chapters which are loosely grouped bytopic. Each column was driven by the medicalquestions asked by readers with headingsranging from “No, You Don’t HaveSinus Headaches”; “Life Hurts”; “Depressionis Like Diabetes”; to “Young Doctorsare Too Expensive.”Many questions in the columns dealwith particular doctors in the area, specificmedical aliments, medications and weightloss. Some esoteric questions or testimoniesconcern dogs curing cancer and other ailmentsvia salvia. All columns are written inhis characteristic direct and sometimescaustic style.The book is addressed to the popularaudience, as the columns were targeted tothe readers of the Hattiesburg American, andis not a medical reference item. The bookdoes provide an index of sorts to many previouscolumns of Dr. Beaman. This book isrecommended for public libraries and tolibraries with Mississippiana collections.Tracy EnglertInformation Services LibrarianUniversity of Southern Mississippi— ◆ —Hackler, M.B., ed. Culture After the Hurricanes:Rhetoric and Reinvention on the GulfCoast. Jackson, MS: University Press ofMississippi, 2010. 194pp. $50.00 (hardcover)Edited by M.B. Hackler, Culture Afterthe Hurricanes: Rhetoric and Reinvention onthe Gulf Coast, contains six essays thatexamine the ways in which culture has been“described, quantified, and understood by awide variety of stakeholders, from communityactivists to elected officials, artists topolicy wonks” (4). The contributors investigatecultural planning and policy by examiningthe language used in the cultural discoursefollowing the hurricanes.Villmoare and Stillman explore the residents’“right of return” to their homes inNew Orleans after Katrina struck. They discussthe differing visions of the new NewOrleans and how complex cultural factorsinfluenced the way the city has rebuilt itself.Jay D. Edwards’s challenges accepted architecturalhistories of the Crescent City in hiscultural geography of the shotgun house,arguing that New Orleans’s architecturalhistory needs to include the importance ofthe shotgun house, which would mark theshotgun-crescent neighborhoods as culturallyrelevant and deserving of attention andmoney for restoration.Benjamin Morris uses restaurants andrecipes to explore how the culinary arts have“not just been ‘rebuilt’ as part of the city’sinfrastructure (of hospitality, of tourism,and of heritage) but have themselves catalyzedand changed the course of therebuilding process” (94). Jeffrey Schwartzexamines the development of neighborhoodfarmers’ markets in New Orleans. Thisdevelopment, he argues, speaks not only tofood access but also to psychological andsymbolic functions for the community.W.D. Wilkerson “explores how pre-Katrinacultural policy, coupled with post-Katrinaenvironmental (mis)management anddisaster recovery policies, has desperatelyendangered the cultural life of one comparativelymarginalized parish – PlaqueminesParish” (140). Lastly, Keagan LeJeuneexamines how the people of southwestLouisiana used signs and holiday decorationsto express themselves and give voice tothe narrative of the community’s sharedexperience during Hurricane Rita.Culture After the Hurricanes is a welcomeaddition to the scholarship on HurricanesKatrina and Rita. The discussion of culture,cultural policy, and planning through culturaldiscourse is a unique approach tostudying the effect of Katrina and Rita onvarious locations in Louisiana. Althoughthe authors come from different fields – history,English, geography, folklore, archaeology,urban planning, and political science –their individual examinations of culture andrhetoric bring diverse points of view togetherin this volume. Hackler has smartly packagedthese thoroughly researched and criticallyanalyzed essays that speak on a topicthat is being lived even now, over five yearslater.One minor issue detracts from the volume:the title. Using “Gulf Coast” in thetitle is misleading to readers, who mightbelieve that the essays cover more territorythan is the case. All of the essays are restrictedto Louisiana, when Alabama and Mississippiwere also heavily affected by these hurricanes.This problem does not, however,detract from the well-written and thoroughlyresearched essays.This volume is recommended for academiclibraries as well as comprehensiveLouisiana collections in public libraries.Scholars, particularly anthropologists, geographers,and cultural historians, as well aspeople interested in Hurricanes Katrina andRita and Louisiana history will find thisbook of interest.Margaret A. SwansonIRC LibrarianDelta State University— ◆ —Hubbell, Macklyn (text), and JamesGoldman (photography). Goldman’s Gold:An Album of Photographs Taken in 1968 ofthe Marks’ Mule Train. Cleveland, MS:Hubbell, 2010. 63 pp. $40.00 (hardcover).Goldman’s Gold is concerned with the115 demonstrators who started their marchin the Poor People’s Campaign of May-June1968 in mule-drawn wagons in Marks,Mississippi. The main feature of the book is30 photographs taken by Dr. James O.Goldman, a local dentist.The photographs are arranged inchronological order, which provide a stepby-stepdocumentation of the early stages ofthe march out of Marks. Among the photographsare such compelling images as a coveredwagon with the words “Stop the War,and Feed the Poor” (47), and a view of aline of wagons crossing the ColdwaterBridge (59).In the introductory section, Hubbellwrites, “Considering the converging ofhundreds and hundreds of people onMarks, the conflicts between the local andstate leaderships and the marchers wereminimal” (vi). Nevertheless, the photosinclude some very vivid images of police inhelmets using clubs and images of protes-
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