With your PVLD card, you can access the Morningstar and Value Line subscription databases from your home computer — authoritative financial information right at your fingertips!

Visit the library’s homepage at www.pvld.org, go to the Online Resources tab here, then under Business & Investing, click on the Morningstar Investment Research Center & Value Line links on the right.

And don’t forget that print subscriptions of these publications can be found at the libraries.  Please ask the reference librarians for assistance if needed.

Use your PVLD library card to access our historical newspaper databases. Read firsthand accounts of life in the area dating back to the nineteenth century. All from the comfort of your home or tablet computer!

From our homepage, go to Online Resources, then ”Newspapers and Magazines” — or click here. 

Enjoy!

People around the world have celebrated the start of each new year for centuries. Ancient Romans gave each other gifts of branches from sacred trees. Ancient Persians gave gifts of eggs, which symbolized productiveness.  Today, most festivities for the new year begin on December 31 (New Year’s Eve) and continue into January 1 (New Year’s Day).  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 312 million Americans are ready to greet 2012. A hundred years ago,  nearly 94 million Americans were ready to greet the new year.

The Adult Services Reference Department at PVLD is pleased to have had a productive 2011, and look forward to another productive year in 2012. It is a great pleasure to serve the Palos Verdes community, and we wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Former Czech president and writer Václav Havel died Sunday.  Imprisoned by the Communist regime for four years, Havel led the 1989 Velvet Revolution which precipitated the end of totalitarian rule in Czechoslovakia.

Several of the plays Havel wrote satirized the Soviet-backed leaders of his country.  During his presidency, Czechoslovakia joined NATO and the European Union, but Havel was unable to prevent the nation’s split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Library resources: writing by and about Havel

The American Institute of Architects last week announced that Steven Holl would receive its 2012 Gold Medal.  The New York City-based architect has taught at Columbia for almost 40 years, and designed projects in Europe, the United States, and China.

One critic has written that “you don’t just walk through a Holl building.  You embark on a dreamlike journey.  Stairs and ramps curve or vanish into a mysterious distance, where some unseen light beckons you onward to new discoveries.”

One of Holl’s current projects is a new library in Queens, New York.  The design includes study terraces that step up the building, with city and water views.  The terraces are stacked with books to reinforce the “primacy of the printed page.”

Library resources– Steven Holl: Architecture Spoken

One of Venice’s most famous attractions was unveiled Wednesday following a three year $3.74 million restoration.   This marked the first time in a century that the 400 year-old Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri) had undergone renovation.

The project attracted some controversy, as the scaffolding placed at the site had been covered with paid advertising.  Venice’s mayor defended the practice, saying that it ensured that the work would be funded completely from private sources, with no public monies used.

The bridge, connecting the Doge’s Palace to a prison, was given its name by the 19^th century poet Lord Byron.  It came from the suggestion that as prisoners were led across it they would sigh as they glimpsed Venice, perhaps for the last time.

Library resources: Venice

The 62^nd annual National Book Awards were presented in New York City Wednesday evening.  Jesmyn Ward received the fiction award for her Hurricane Katrina novel Salvage the Bones.   “As the storm approaches, the Batiste family’s story takes on the resonance of one of the Greek myths.”   Stephen Greenblatt won the nonfiction prize for The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, “a dramatic account of the Renaissance era rediscovery of the Latin poet Lucretius.”

The poetry prize went to Nikky Finney for Head Off & Split, “an impassioned summation of African-American history.”  The prize for Young People’s Literature was awarded to Thanhha Lai for Inside Out & Back Again, about a Vietnamese girl who is forced to leave her Saigon home for America, “the classic immigration tale, powerfully and beautifully shared by an authentic narrator.”

The Los Angeles Police Department has some good safety and crime prevention tips as we enter the holiday season.  Among the highlights:

• Shop during daylight hours whenever possible.  If you must shop at night, go with a friend or family member.
• Teach your child to go to a store clerk and ask for help in case your child is separated from you.
• Avoid overloading yourself with packages.  It is important to have clear visibility and freedom of motion to avoid mishaps.
• If you must use an ATM, choose one that is located inside a police station, mall, or well-lighted location.
• For door-to-door solicitations seeking donations to charitable causes, ask for identification, and find out how the donated funds will be used.  If not satisfied, don’t donate.
• Be extra cautious about locking doors and windows when you leave the house, even for a few minutes.
• When hosting a party, find alternative transportation for intoxicated guests.
• Never drink and drive.

For the complete list of holiday safety tips, click here.

A detailed survey of a World War I tunnel system is underway in northern France.  From 1914 to 1916, French, German, and British miners dug tunnels in order to place charges beneath enemy lines.  La Boisselle is at the heart of the Somme battlefield of 1916.

Digging will start next year on the private land where the tunnels are located; any remains discovered will be left alone, and the area will have memorial status.  The La Boisselle Project has spent several years compiling historical information on the events and personalities associated with the site.

Library resources: The Battle of the Somme

An Iowa site which was used as a setting for scenes in the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams” will be sold, and the field kept intact for visitors.  The film, based on W. P. Kinsella’s book Shoeless Joe, made the site a popular tourist destination.  The asking price for the 193-acre farm was $5.4 million; the purchase price was not disclosed.

The new owners, Go the Distance Baseball, will develop the site as a sports complex, with multiple fields and an indoor training facility.  The original baseball diamond and two-bedroom house shown in the movie will remain, they said.  The company will also offer tournaments for teams of players ages 18 and younger and professional-style training and skills competitions.