Reno: The Biggest Little City in the World

Reno, Nevada was founded on May 9, 1868. Since gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931, tourism has been the major industry in Reno, today offering resorts and casinos, among other facilities. As a result of Nevada’s relatively less strict marriage laws, Reno is also well-known as a place where one can get married and divorced quickly.

Despite the national focus on its image as “the biggest little city in the world,” Reno certainly has other aspects of industry to boast of. It serves as a distribution and warehouse center, allows for goods to be stored tax-free, and a variety of products are manufactured and produced in Reno – from concrete to beverage dispensers to clothing accessories. To learn more about Reno, head over to the Reno Topic Page.

Additional Library Resources

Hot Topic – Las Vegas History

Hot Topic – Nevada History

Mother’s Day

U.S. a nationwide observance of Mother’s Day was suggested by Anna Jarvis of Grafton, W.Va., and in 1908 formal observances were held in churches in Grafton and Philadelphia. By 1911 every state celebrated the occasion on the second Sunday in May. It was formalized by Congress in 1914. In Britain, Mother’s Day is celebrated in mid-Lent as Mothering Sunday. During the Middle Ages a custom developed of allowing those who had moved away to visit their home parishes and their mothers on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent. Many other countries also celebrate the holiday on this date, while some mark the observance at other times of the year.

Read more in: Credo Reference Online or U.S. History Online

Brain Teaser – France

Need help? Use Credo Reference Online
France is said to be the most visited country in the world. How much do you know about France and the French? Test your knowledge with this brainteaser.

1. Paris, the capital of France, is situated on which river?

2. Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” is in which Paris museum?

3. In 1965, a road tunnel was opened from Chamonix in France to Courmayeur in Italy – under which mountain (the highest mountain in the Alps)?

4. What are the three colours on the French flag?

5. In which region of France does true champagne come from: the northwest, the northeast, or the southeast?

6. Which famous French singer was born Edith Giovanna Gassion and adopted a name which meant a “little sparrow”?

7. Which large island in the Mediterranean is an offshore province of France?

8. Which 1980 musical was based on an 1862 novel by Victor Hugo?

9. In 1998, France became world champions by beating which country’s team in the soccer World Cup at the Stade de France?

10. In 1898, which French novelist aroused interest in the Dreyfus Case by writing a letter beginning “J’accuse”?

How did you do?

0 – 1 Mmmm, not exactly brilliant.
2 – 5 A reasonable stab.
6 – 8 A good showing. But there’s still room for improvement!
9 – 10 You really know your stuff. Well done!

Questions set by Tony Augarde (www.augardebooks.co.uk)

Let’s Celebrate – National Library Week 2012

It’s National Library Week and we are celebrating!

Start here… help your library win!
During this week – April 8-14, visit the ProQuest Facebook page to enter Las Vegas-Clark County Library District into a drawing for a chance to win a $1,000, $500, or $250. LVCCLD can use it to promote the library, purchase resources, support programs, or whatever. Ask your colleagues and friends to enter to improve LVCCLD’s chance of winning. Official rules are available here.

Next: Try one of the Proquest databases we offer and let us know how you like it! Like our Fan Page, post a comment or like a post on LVCCLD’s Facebook page and then fill out the form on our Facebook’s Love Your Library tab and we will enter you in the Library’s Love Your Library grand prize drawing for a four packet of VIP tickets to Madame Tussauds Las Vegas.

• SIRS Knowledge Source
• CultureGrams
• Historical Newspapers
• The New York Times 1851-2008
• Los Angeles Times 1881-1988
• HeritageQuest

Thank you for your support!

Valentine’s Day

Today’s featured Topic Page is about St. Valentine’s day, a celebration of love which honors Saint Valentine, the patron saint of lovers. St. Valentine’s Day is a holiday celebrated almost universally on February 14th and is often associated with images of cherubs, hearts, and lovers. The holiday is based off an ancient ceremony through which couples were originally paired off. To learn more about the traditional celebration of St. Valentine’s Day and find out the back story of the holiday’s patron saint, in Credo Reference visit the St. Valentine’s Day Topic Page!

St. Valentine’s Day has inspired many people to express their love in a variety of ways. Some go all out with a grand wedding on the holiday, holding the actual ceremony of their union underwater! Others organize group events such as kiss-ins and hug-ins. A South African high school, for example, ran a hug-in in 2002 which had more than 1,000 students and teachers attend. Current traditions for St. Valentine’s Day involve exchanging cards, giving gifts or writing love poems but the celebration was stared with very different customs. Visit the Topic Page on the subject and learn about full history of the holiday or read an excerpt about it below:

… Part of the ancient ceremony entailed putting girls’ names in a box and letting the boys draw them out. Couples would thus be paired off until the following year. The Church substituted saints’ names for girls’ names, in the hope that the participant would model his life after the saint whose name he drew…

To continue reading, find out more about Saint Valentine and his holiday, and access relevant images and papers, visit the St. Valentine’s Day Topic Page!