Dia!

Ocean County Library will join in the fun of “Dia!”, a national American Library Association program, that celebrates diversity, children and literacy, and presents it to families through books, stories and programs during April and March.

Outstanding storytellers, dancers and musicians will bring to life tales and tunes from around the world.

“Books and stories have the inexhaustible potential for the enrichment of life and the human spirit,” said Valerie Bell, Ocean County Library Assistant Director. “Literature is universal and the desire to prepare children for a happy, successful life is also universal.”

“All Ocean County children deserve books in which they can see themselves and the world in which they live reflected in their stories and literature,” said Supervising Librarian Glynis Wray, who is coordinating the Dia! events.

“Each branch will present programs to honor and embrace a child’s home language and culture and nurture their cognitive and literacy development,” she said.

Those programs will include:

Queen Nur, who celebrates the storyteller’s ability to speak of values, history and universal truths, entertains families with stories told in the African oral tradition.

She will appear at these branches:

Stafford, 129 N. Main St., Manahawkin, Mon. April 15 at 4 p.m.

Tuckerton, 380 Bay Av. Mon. April 15 at 7 p.m.

Pt. Pleasant Boro, 834 Beaver Dam Rd., Tue. April 16 at 11 a.m.

Pt. Pleasant Beach, 710 McLean Av. Tue. April 16 at 4 p.m.

Berkeley, 30 Station Dr., Bayville, Tue. April 16 at 7 p.m.

Ocean County troubadour Valerie Vaughn will present music and characterizations of New Jersey’s unsung heroes at:

Jackson, 2 Jackson Dr. Mon. April 22 at 7 p.m.

Beachwood at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Thur. April 25 at 7 p.m.

Long Beach Island, 217 S. Central Av., Surf City, Wed. May 1 at 7 p.m.

Island Heights, 121 Central Av., Sat. May 4 at 11:30 a.m.

Manchester, 21 Colonial Dr. Sat. May 4 at 2:30 p.m.

Tap Team Two will present “Hoofing in America” and showcase Irish, African, hip-hop and house rhythms. Students will learn how to dance practicing the basic steps at Barnegat, 112 Burr St. Thur. May 2 at 6:30 p.m.

International storyteller Julie Pasqual will perform her African-American “Loud and Rowdy Folk Tales” and share her love of world languages and cultures through her interactive stories.

She will perform at:

Little Egg Harbor, 290 Mathistown Rd. Wed. May 1 at 4 p.m.

Lacey, 10 E. Lacey Rd., Forked River, Wed. May 1 at 7 p.m.

Plumsted, 119 Evergreen Rd., New Egypt, Sat. May 4 at 10:30 a.m.

Lakewood, 301 Lexington Av., Sat. May 4 at 1 p.m.

Brick, 301 Chambers Bridge Rd., Sat. May 4 at 3:30 p.m.

Maria LoBiondo brings her love of fairy, folk and wisdom tales to listeners where they are able to create a place they can feel the spirit of “happily ever after.”

She will perform Sat. May 4 at the Waretown branch, 112 Main St. at 10:30 a.m. and the Toms River branch at noon.

All of these programs are free and open to the public. For more information about the performances visit the library’s Web site: www.theoceancountylibrary.org/dia .

National exhibit to spend 8 weeks in OCL

 

Ocean County Library’s Toms River branch, 101 Washington St., will host a reception Saturday June 25 at 2 p.m. to mark the start of an eight-week series of programs and the display of a traveling exhibition entitled “Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country.”

 

The traveling exhibition tells the story of the explorers’ historic 1804–1806 expedition from a different point of view—that of the Indians who lived along their route.

 

During their journey to the Pacific coast and back, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and crossed the traditional homelands of more than 50 Native American tribes.  The exhibit examines this monumental encounter of cultures and examines the past and present effects of that encounter on the lives of the tribes which still live in the region.

 

“Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country” draws upon original documents in the rich Native American collections of the Newberry Library, of the Washington State Historical Society, the Minnesota Historical Society and other institutions.  Photographs of handwritten documents, maps, paintings and drawings provide a colorful background for the story of the encounter. 

 

“We are pleased to have been selected as a site for this exhibition,” said Carol Zsiga, Principal Librarian and Project Coordinator.  “The story of the Lewis and Clark expedition is well known to most Americans, but the Native American perspective on their voyage is not as well known.” 

 

“This great journey essentially opened American eyes to the West and encouraged national expansion, but also contributed to a dramatic change in the well-established cultures of the Indian tribes already living in the region,” she said.

 

Ocean County Library was one of only 23 libraries nationwide selected to host this exhibit.

 

Organized by the Newberry Library, Chicago and the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, “Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country” was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Additional support came from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities provided program support.  The Sara Lee Foundation is the lead corporate sponsor.  Ruth C. Ruggles and the National Park Service also supported the exhibit.

 

The library is also sponsoring more than a dozen programs to enrich the exhibition including a viewing of the two-part film “Lewis & Clark: the Journey of the Corps of Discovery;”  studies of the history and social life of the American Indians; the art and history of the Native American Flute; and the technology used by the Corps of Discovery.  These programs are free and open to the public.

 

“This exhibit and our related programs explores how these two histories, that of the United States and that of Indian peoples along the expedition route, came together two hundred years ago and how they remain intertwined today,” said Susan Quinn, Director of Ocean County Library.

 

“Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country” will be on display at the library until August 19.

 

Ocean County Library has 21 locations and serves a population of more than 570,000 people.

For more information telephone the operator at(732)349-6200or(609)971-0514or visit its Web site http://www.theoceancountylibrary.org for more information.