With the closing of 35 Leroy Avenue, we nearly forgot that other big project of late November- Thanksgiving!

Almost every company that sells turkeys has a turkey hot line, for those of you tackling a bird for your table. Foster Farms, Butterball and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are all standing by to help.

Online, the Food Network, Epicurious, and All Recipes have tips, recipes and stories about the big feast. 

Epicurious also has a list of the top five Thanksgiving Myths, including this surprising tidbit: tryptophan is not what makes you sleepy after Thanksgiving dinner. Vegetarians, rejoice- we can be sleepy on Thursday afternoon, too!

Photo by Flickr user CarbonNYC

One of the unexpected pleasures of working in a library is the patron request. Although we do our best to predict which books will be popular, our members find authors we have never heard of and titles that slipped past our regular examinations of publisher's lists and book reviews.

Recently, I tried to fulfill request for Time Management by Randy Pausch, the late author of The Last Lecture. When I looked for it from our usual book vendor, it wasn't listed. I asked another librarian to look for it, in case I had missed something. She came back with the same answer. We searched online and found that Amazon was selling the MP3, but nothing else. (Later, Amazon added the CD and it seems that they have now added a paperback of the book.)

We were mystified, but intrigued, especially by the comments ostensibly left by Pausch's sister urging people to boycott the products as they were not authorized by her late brother, something we have not been able to confirm or refute. A quick Google search revealed that Pausch's time management lecture has long been an online favorite. It's available entirely online from a friend and colleague of Professor Pausch, Dr. Gabriel Robins. The great advantage of the online version, besides the obvious video component, are the accompanying slides and handouts as well as the related articles about Randy Pausch. 

The video can be seen on YouTube, Google Video, Blip.tv and several other online video sites, and the YouTube version is embedded below. The slides and associated articles are all available from Dr. Robins.

What a goldmine of great content! Keep those requests coming!

True confession.  I am a puzzle junkie.  Not just any old puzzle, but the New York Times crossword puzzle.  If you know who Margaret Petherbridge Farrar is, chances are you are an addict too. Not to worry though, you are in good company.  Jon Stewart and Bill Clinton are both avid puzzle mavens.  And, who knew-- Yankee pitcher Mike Mussina is a big fan too.

There was great news last week in the puzzle world.  The New York Times introduced a new blog, Wordplay, devoted entirely to the puzzle.  Written by Jim Horne, it promises to be a daily must read, especially later in the week when the puzzles can be challenging.  SPOILER ALERT: The blog postings explore both clues and answers of the puzzle for that day, so if you haven't completed the grid yet, you may want to hold off for a bit.

Here in Darien the puzzle has a healthy following, as evidenced by the number of times people request the paper every day and head straight to the copier.  I can tell you with some certainty, they aren't checking the sports scores.

If you have finished the puzzle and read the blog but still want more, check out XWord Info, a site with enough factoids to satisfy the most devoted puzzle wonk.   Here you can get a look at the (in)famous election puzzle of November 5, 1996.  Check out 39 across-- the answer is absolutely masterful.

A final little bit crossword trivia.  See if you can match up the aforementioned puzzle mavens-- Jon, Bill and Mike-- with the following actions.

A.  Who took great exception to a puzzle answer that suggested he might want to step down from his job?

B.  Who proposed to his wife in a personalized puzzle, designed with the help of Will Shortz?

C.  Who wrote the clues to the puzzle for Sunday, May 6, 2007?

For the answers, click here:  A       B     C

As we bid a fond farewell to this building, we are gearing up for the move and some changes in the new building. The information services staff is moving up--literally. We’ll be on the second floor of the new building with the nonfiction collection.

(The cherry pickers will not be available in the New Library)

What you won’t find on the second floor is our fortress-like desk. Instead, there will be a lovely table designed for you to collaborate with a librarian. We will be roaming the second floor with hand-held computers, so we can help you wherever you are. Wonderful natural light will flood the second floor and mezzanine, which will have cozy, comfy chairs everywhere.  For those of you looking to hunker down and get some work down, there will be plenty of tables and study spaces.

Although this is not quite new, our new space will allow us to expand our one-on-one research appointment service. You can always set up an appointment with one of our librarians, but in the new building, a touch down space and private rooms will be available for that purpose.  If you have a specialized project you want help with, we can make sure that you’re paired with our in-house expert.

We’re closing in a few short weeks to move. When we open again, come visit, tour the new building, ask questions and revel in your gorgeous new library. Take advantage of our expanded services, more one-on-one time and, of course, quiet corners where you can work, read, think and dream.