November at the Corpus Christi Library

(CORPUS CHRISTI, TX) Honorable Hayden Head, Jr., Chief U.S. District Judge, Southern District of Texas,will have remarks on Equal Protection In Education at La Retama Central on Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 3 p.m.

Clotilde P. Garcia Library, 5930 Brockhampton, hosts a festival of literary adaptations. Film studies instructor, Joe Wilson, leads the discussion after each motion picture. Watch The Namesake on November 3 at 6 p.m. Novel by Jhumpa Lahiri. Screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala. Director, Mira Nair. 

Wildlife in Focus at Northwest Library, 3202 McKinzie, on Saturday, November 7 at 2 p.m. Winners of the Fifth Coastal Bend Wildlife Photo Contest will be honored with a reception and exhibit. The group's Kritters for Kids Educational Photo Exhibit will be in the children's library. Northwest Library Beginner's Photography class children's nature photo contest winners will be announced and ribbons awarded. 

Take The Road to Monticello and A Journey through American Literatureguided by Kevin J. Hayes, Ph.D. in a two-part program at Neyland Library (formerly Parkdale) on Sunday, November 8. Kevin J. Hayes, Ph.D. Professor of English at the University of Central Oklahoma will discuss at 3 p.m. The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson, his highly praised book on our most literary president. Dr. Hayes set out "to study what Thomas Jefferson read and what he wrote to show how the written word shaped his life." 

Dr. Hayes's Journey through American Literature lecture will begin at 5 p.m. His forthcoming book by the same title will be published by Oxford University Press and will include chapters on travel literature, autobiography, short stories, poetry, plays, and novels. This second program will focus on Edgar Allan Poe and Herman Melville. Several of Dr. Hayes's titles will be available for purchase.

Garcia Library's Gothic Literature Seminar film screening of Jane Eyre on Wednesday, November 11 at 6:30 p.m. Literature instructor and doctoral candidate Christine DelaGarza leads a book discussion on Jane Eyre at 7 p.m. on Monday, November 16. 

Don't Recollect Their Names. African-American Genealogy Workshop at La Retama Central Library on Sunday, November 15, 2009 at 3 p.m. Learn how your African-American family tree can reach back into the slavery era through local records, including bills of sale, mortgage agreements, and estate inventories. Mark Gretchen has over 10 years experience researching African-American genealogy. He recently published his first book, Slave Transactions of Guadalupe County, Texas. Books available for purchase.

Gothic Literature Seminar continues at Garcia Library on Monday, November 16 at 7 p.m. with a discussion of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre led by literature instructor and doctoral candidate Christine DelaGarza. Film screening, Wednesday, November 11 at 6:30 p.m.

Garcia Library concludes their Literary Film Festival on Tuesday, November 17 with the motion picture adaptation of Isak Dinesen's short story Babette's Feast. Film directed by Gabriel Axel. Film begins at 6 p.m. Joe Wilson will lead follow-up discussion. Delicious snacks will be served.

Patsy Pittman Light guides us through the work of Hispanic artisans and craftsmen in South Texas and the trabajo rustico or faux boisof Dionicio Rodríguez. The Mexican-born artisan created beautiful, yet practical monumental art by mimicking natural surfaces of trees

and  rocks in color, scale, and texture. Sunday, November 22, 3 p.m. at La Retama Central Library. Books available for purchase.

Details on centennial series programs can be found in a free brochure available at any public library and on the library's website - www.cclibraries.com (click on Centennial Events). Please check the website for program changes or cancellations. All events are privately underwritten by donations to the Friends of Corpus Christi Public Libraries and are free and open to the public.