I’m not much of a purist about most things but Beatles’ songs are an exception. The idea of a movie that used the songs of The Beatles to tell a story did not really appeal to me. That the songs were not the original recordings made the idea seem even worse.  However after re-reading Roger Ebert’s review of the movie “Across the Universe” I felt I had to at least give the film a shot.   Jude (Jim Sturgess) has come to the United States to find his father and make his way as an artist.  While here he meets Max Carrigon and his sister Lucy.   From here the film follows Jude and Lucy through the turbulent sixties while capturing their up and down relationship.  This happens to the beat of the accompanying background of Beatles tunes. Read more about Across the Universe

Take a touch of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, add to it a smidgeon of John Grisham, a dislike for the music industry, (not music, just the industry behind it), stir well and you have Rob Reid's book Year Zero. It's about a universe of beings that have discovered that humans have the best music of any race in the entire universe, only they can't contact us because we aren't part of the "Refined League." In a moment of universal insanity, their solution is to pirate every song ever made, and distribute these to every being in the universe. Suddenly, after coming out of their music- induced rapture, they realize that under earth law the universe owes the people of earth a very large amount of money. Read more about Year Zero

When compact discs first came out they were proclaimed to be almost indestructible.  I still remember watching the Today Show and being amazed as the new media storage for music was demonstrated.  Part of the demonstration was taking a small hammer and hitting the CD disc with it.  A wonder of wonders; the disc still played.  Looking back on this event today I wonder if the disc would have played all the way through.   The Idea that digital disc storage was indestructible has been more than a little overblown.  Digital discs need the same care and sometimes greater care than the old vinyl recordings.   I would like to share with you some guidelines for caring for your digital discs. " Read more about Proper care and feeding of your DVDs, CDs and BluRays.

February is African American History Month! Celebrate all aspects of African American history in MCPL's Movies and Music area. We currently have a special display of DVDs featuring related titles. These DVDs range from documentaries, like Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and The Jack5ons: A Family Dynasty, detailing the rise of the Jackson family, to feature films including Malcolm X and Amistad. You might also enjoy some films by these African American directors: Spike Lee, John Singleton or Kasi Lemmons. There are many other DVD titles about African American history in our catalog.

Don't forget we also have a huge number of music CDs by African American artists. This wide variety includes artists like Robert Johnson, Nicki Minaj, David Baker, and Billie Holiday. You can also find numerous African American musicians on Freegal. These artists include Usher, Aretha Franklin, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Beyonce, Bessie Smith, Marvin Gaye, and many more. With Freegal you can download their songs for free! 

Singing is one of the best activities children and caregivers can enjoy together. Singing promotes a love of music in young children and helps build early literacy skills by breaking words down into small pieces. The library is a great source of wonderful songs for early childhood in books, CDs, Books on CD, and DVDs. A particularly good source of engaging songs for preschool and young school-aged children are the materials by Dr. John Feierabend. Look for his books in the Parent-Teacher Resource Room. Read more about The Book of Songs & Rhymes with Beat Motions