SYNC Free Audiobook Downloads Begin June 14

SYNC, a collaboration between Audiofile magazine and major audiobook publishers, is offering 2 free audiobook downloads each week as part of their summer celebration, June 14- August 22, 2012.

Each pairing will feature one YA title and one Classic title -- and some of the titles (Call of the Wild, Grapes of Wrath) are commonly seen on school summer reading lists.

For more information, visit the SYNC website -- you can also sign up for email and text alerts there.

Area Events: April 21 is Record Store Day

Begun in 2007 by a handful of indie record store owners (including Atlanta's Criminal Records owner Eric Levin), Record Store Day has become a worldwide celebration. Though the special and limited edition artist releases (many on vinyl) are the highlight, many stores will also be featuring live in-store music performances -- and in some cases, food and drink. Check the Record Store Day website for a list of participating stores in the area and a look at the tomorrow-only special edition artist releases.

Remember, too, that Conyers-Rockdale Library features a growing collection of music on CD and welcomes donations of new and gently-used CDs; for details on ways to donate, visit the Donate page on the library's website.

Recent Audiobooks on CD

Area Events: Film Fest for Kids in Athens

The “Fresh Look” Athens International Film Festival for Children and Youth will be held at Cine in downtown Athens tomorrow and Sunday. “Fresh Look” screens international independent movies for children, youth and adults -- including animation, documentaries and fiction films -- from Argentina, Belgium, Canada, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and USA. And it's all family-friendly fun. For tickets, a list of films and other info, visit the "Fresh Look" website.

Dave Ehlert, Tonight at 7 pm!

Performance will be downstairs on the lower level, in the meeting room.

Hope to see everyone there!

The Sound (and Look) of Silents

Silent movies are the topic of PASTE's List of the Day. Since the success of The Artist, there has been a renewed interest in silent films. Because of the volatility of the film, and lack of preservation techniques in earlier decades, the majority of films have been lost, either partially or completely, known only through writings, if at all.






But thanks to the ongoing efforts of groups like the National Film Preservation Foundation, many classics have been saved and restored, at least in part, and are often recovered from personal collections, storage facilities, and in the strangest cases, they are found accidentally (such was the case of Carl Theodor Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc, long considered lost when a near-perfect print was found by a janitor in the broom closet of a mental facility in Oslo -- left by a doctor who had ordered it in the 1930s).







And great news! Some of these classics are available in the DVD section of the library:



The Passion of Joan of Arc


Gold Rush


Metropolis


Intolerance


The General


City Lights


Birth of a Nation






Check out other silent treats in the collection, such as More Treasures from the American Film Archives, 1894-1931 , Broken Blossoms starring Lillian Gish, and Nanook of the North, a 1922 documentary of Eskimo life in the Arctic. Or read about silent era greats like Mary Pickford and temptress Alla Nazimova, whose 'Garden of Allah' was THE party pad for Hollywood elite in the '20s and '30s...