On the Shelf – 10/29

Upcoming Specials at the Downieville Library

There are two special occasions happening at the library in the first part of November. Let’s get right to them:

Library@Nite, the monthly evening hours for the library, will take place on Monday, November 9, 6:00 to 8:00 PM. In addition to offering our usual library services, people will also have a chance to bring their digital technical questions and issues to the expertise of Monica Beachell. You can bring your own digital device (cellphone, tablet, laptop computer, etc.) or you can use the library’s computer. Either way, you will be able to log onto the internet using the library’s wifi account. And, while you’re at the library, you can always check out our great selection of books and videos.

The Northern Rural Energy Network (NREN) will be present at the library on Thursday, November 12, noon to 4:00 PM, in the person of Kari Sinoff, project manager with the Sierra Business Council. Kari will be offering a couple of opportunities to PG&E customers: (1) a free home energy efficiency kit, including LED lightbulbs, a smart power strip, an energy usage monitor, faucet aerators, weatherization supplies, and more; and, (2) the possibility of signing up for a free virtual home energy assessment to discover additional ways to save energy and money. All that’s needed to access either or both of these opportunities is to bring your PG&E bill or statement, or a photo of it, with you to the library.

Famous Documents Quiz: the Answers - Part 1

In last week’s column, I put before you the opening words of fifteen important documents in human history, and challenged you to name the document, supply its date, and provide other information relevant to it. Here is the first part of the answers:

1.“The Parties to this Treaty reaffirm their faith in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and their desire to live in peace with all peoples and all governments.”

A: North Atlantic Treaty: April 4, 1949. Twelve nations were the founding members of NATO. Since the founding, another 20 nations have joined the alliance. The treaty was created in the aftermath of World War II, to provide a collective defense, especially with the threat of a possible armed attack by the Soviet Union (and, later, Russia) against, especially Western Europe — and includes a mutual self-defense clause that applies to any attack against any member nation.

2.“John by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland and duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to the archbishop, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciaries, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants and to all his bailiffs and liege subjects, greetings.”

A: Magna Carta: June 15, 1215. Drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury to make peace between the unpopular King John of England and a group of rebel barons who demanded that the king confirm the Charter of Liberties. The document promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift and impartial justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown. It declared the sovereign to be subject to the rule of law and documented the liberties held by “free men”, thus providing the foundation for individual rights in later laws.

3.“The high contracting parties, In order to promote international co- operation and to achieve international peace and security by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war by the prescription of open, just and honourable relations between nations by the firm establishment of the understandings of international law as the actual rule of conduct among Governments, and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of organised peoples with one another Agree to this Covenant of the League of Nations.”

A: Peace Treaty of Versailles: June 28, 1919. The treaty ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allied Powers. Although the actual fighting had ended with the armistice of November 11, 1918, it took another seven months of Allied negotiations to conclude the treaty. Germany was not allowed to participate in the negotiations, before signing the treaty. Although the treaty concluded one world war, it helped to lay the groundwork for the next one.