In celebration of this International Year of Astronomy, NASA is releasing images of the galactic center region as seen by its Great Observatories to more than 150 planetariums, museums, nature centers, libraries, and schools across the country.

The sites will unveil a giant, 6-foot-by-3-foot print of the bustling hub of our galaxy that combines a near-infrared view from the Hubble Space Telescope, an infrared view from the Spitzer Space Telescope, and an X-ray view from the Chandra X-ray Observatory into one multiwavelength picture. Experts from all three observatories carefully assembled the final image from large mosaic photo surveys taken by each telescope. This composite image provides one of the most detailed views ever of our galaxy’s mysterious core.

Participating institutions also will display a matched trio of Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra images of the Milky Way’s center on a second large panel measuring 3 feet by 4 feet. Each image shows the telescope’s different wavelength view of the galactic center region, illustrating not only the unique science each observatory conducts, but also how far astronomy has come since Galileo.

The composite image features the spectacle of stellar evolution: from vibrant regions of star birth, to young hot stars, to old cool stars, to seething remnants of stellar death called black holes. This activity occurs against a fiery backdrop in the crowded, hostile environment of the galaxy’s core, the center of which is dominated by a supermassive black hole nearly four million times more massive than our Sun. Permeating the region is a diffuse blue haze of X-ray light from gas that has been heated to millions of degrees by outflows from the supermassive black hole as well as by winds from massive stars and by stellar explosions. Infrared light reveals more than a hundred thousand stars along with glowing dust clouds that create complex structures including compact globules, long filaments, and finger-like “pillars of creation," where newborn stars are just beginning to break out of their dark, dusty cocoons.

The unveilings will take place at 152 institutions nationwide, reaching both big cities and small towns. Each institution will conduct an unveiling celebration involving the public, schools, and local media.

The Astrophysics Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate supports the International Year of Astronomy Great Observatories image unveiling. The project is a collaboration among the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md., the Spitzer Science Center in Pasadena, Calif., and the Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Mass.

The new NPR Book Club will meet to discuss Burnett’s book at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8, at the Central Library. Burnett has been an NPR correspondent for 30 years. His book looks not only at major news events, but at the ins and outs of modern journalism.

Copies of the book may be picked up prior to the discussion at the Central Library. For more information, call (859) 231-5520.

The book club will meet the second Tuesday of each month, rotating library locations. Scheduled book discussions include:

-- 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, Tates Creek Branch--When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

-- 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, Beaumont Branch--Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba by Tom Gjelten

-- 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 9, Central Library--The Years of Talking Dangerously by Geoffrey Nunberg

--7 p.m. Tuesday, April 13, Eagle Creek Branch--Listening is an act of love : a celebration of American life from the StoryCorps Project edited by Dave Isay.

The Mayor’s Alliance on Substance Abuse, together with the Bluegrass Prevention Center and the Fayette County KY-ASAP (Agency for Substance Abuse Policy), has championed these efforts, building a coalition of substance abuse professionals and volunteers in a public/private partnership which includes representatives from every segment of our diversified community. The grant money includes:

--Federal Drug Free Communities Grant: $625,000 grant for five years, $125,000 per year beginning October 1. This grant will focus on alcohol and marijuana prevention, as well as prescription drug abuse issues.

--EUDL (Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws) $65,000 for two years, $32,500 per year--OJJDP funds, through KY State Police. This grant provides the major funding for the Keep It Real Campaign and the video contest.

--YES (Youth Empowerment Systems) $4,235 to three local youth-lead initiatives (Youth Coalition on Alcohol Education, Tates Creek HS, Bryan Station HS). These grants go to youth groups who are addressing alcohol and tobacco prevention efforts.

The Keep It Real video contest has been one of the most visible of the coalition’s efforts. This regional video/Internet contest gives youth the opportunity to produce 30-second videos telling why kids under 21 shouldn’t drink. All entries are posted on the website and community members help select the winners. A new feature this year is a curriculum support package for teachers. To access the teacher package and contest details, go to www.keep-it-real.us.

The Northside Branch of the Lexington Public Library has a digital studio which puts video production within the public’s reach. This studio is available for students to use as they create their video entries. Contact the Northside Branch at 231-5590 for details.

"Most high school students don’t drink. But the hard truth is that many do - and those that drink often drink in excess," said campaign spokesperson Joe Elswick, a UK student and graduate of Lafayette High School. “Some people think of drinking as a rite of passage for teens and simply look the other way. This initiative is about so much more than drinking and driving--it’s about quality of life and healthy communities. It is about engaging youth and ADULTS through the video medium to understand that underage drinking poses a danger to a teen’s developing brain. It can affect all aspects of development including social, emotional, intellectual, and physical. It’s not enough to say don’t drink and drive. The message of this campaign is: If you are underage, don’t drink."

The deadline for entries for this year’s video contest is December 11, 2009. The Internet voting, which will takes place January 11 through 22, 2010, determines the winner of the “peoples’ choice" category. Other winners will be selected by a team of professionals. Winners, who will receive up to $200 in cash prizes, will be announced at an Awards Celebration at the Kentucky Theatre on February 2, 2010. The winning videos will appear on regional television and will run in the pre-show ads at local cinemas and have recognition at a Keep It Real Day at a Legends baseball game.

Sponsors: This public/private partnership is spearheaded by Bluegrass Prevention Center and facilitated by the Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse Policy (KY-ASAP), Fayette County Local Board, and the Lexington Mayor’s Alliance on Substance Abuse. Funding is provided through the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Initiative and the Kentucky State Police. Other sponsors include Central Baptist Hospital, Video Editing Services, Fusioncorp Design Mediahouse, National Cinemedia, Lynn Imaging, Clear Channel Radio, Lexington Legends, WKYT-TV, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, and the Lexington Family Magazine.

Fast Facts*

--Fayette Co. teenagers are binge drinking at a higher rate than in the previous 4 years: 16% of 10th graders in 2004 indicated binge drinking (defined as a MINIMUM of 5 drinks In a row) while the 2008 KIP survey indicated 18% of 10th graders (15 & 16 year olds).

--66% of 10th graders indicated it would be very easy or sort of easy to obtain alcohol in Fayette Co. This is higher than the region (64) or the state averages (63).

--Accessibility to marijuana for 8th, 10th and 12th graders is all higher than the regional or state averages. Almost 56% of 10th graders (15 & 16 year olds) indicate it is very easy or sort of easy to obtain marijuana as compared to 53% for the region and 49% for the state.

--Again, youth in Fayette County have an indicated higher risk for drug use due to their believe that fewer of their parents would feel it is “a little bit wrong" or “not wrong at all" to drink alcohol as compared to regional and state data: 11.7% of 10th graders vs. 13% regionally and 14% statewide

--These contests are a unique way of engaging young people in a dialogue with their parents, teachers and especially with each other. Our belief is that youth understand the message when they help create that message.

*Data based on the KIP (KY Incentives for Prevention) Student Survey administered to 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th grade students throughout Kentucky every other year

1801 Alexandria Dr # 148
Lexington, KY 40504

This year’s sale includes 115,000 books with a sale price as low as a quarter per book.

The sale begins Saturday for Friends of the Library members only from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friends memberships are available at the door.

The sale continues from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16, through Friday, Nov. 20.

Two-for-One Day will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, and the sale will end with Bag Day from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22 ($2 buys a bag and all the books that fit in it).

Hardbacks are priced at $1 for adult books and 50 cents for children’s. Paperbacks are priced at 25 cents. Other items--including compact discs, videos and magazines--are individually priced.

Last year, the Friends of the Library grossed $266,250 from the sale of used books at its book sale and at the Book Cellar, their used book store open six days a week plus each first Sunday of the month in the Central Library’s lower level. The Friends are the primary sponsor of the library’s Summer Reading Program and provide funds for a number of library events and special projects.

For more information, call the Friends Book Cellar at (859) 231-5505.

Join us and find out about the latest events and other news from the Lexington Public Library, participate in our discussions, and look at the photos we’ve added.

This would be a 2-year term with the opportunity for reappointment. The individual must possess an active library card in good standing and be able to attend Planning Committee meetings on the first Tuesday of the month at 4:30 p.m.

Please send a letter of interest to Dr. Timothy Sineath, c/o AnnaMarie Cornett, acornett@lexpublib.org, or 140 East Main Street, Lexington, KY 40507.

Please have your applications in to the Library by Friday, November 20.

In the last year alone, public computer usage at the Lexington Public Library has increased 25 percent--and attendance at mobile computer lab classes has nearly doubled to 4,192 students. With the addition of two more mobile labs--bringing the total number to three--the library will expand the number of classes significantly.

The mobile labs also will increase the library?s reach, taking computer training to retirement complexes, neighborhood centers and community programs.

"The library has always been about information and making it accessible to everyone. This new mobile lab will help us accomplish an age-old goal in new ways, not only by helping to make sure everyone has access to electronic information but also by allowing the library to bring computer classes out into the community," said Larry Smith, chair of the Lexington Public Library Board of Trustees.?

The mobile labs are particularly important in today?s economy, when many jobseekers must search and apply for jobs online, said Meg Jewett, chair of the Lexington Public Library Foundation.

"Now more than ever, people need to have Internet access and updated computer skills to apply for and get jobs. For most people, it’s a matter of survival ? putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads," Jewett said. “Knight Foundation’s support means the Lexington Public Library can significantly expand its capacity to connect people who need it most with vital job skills, resume help and computer training."

The $82,000 grant is part of a $3.3 million Knight Foundation initiative benefiting library users in 12 communities across the United States. The effort reinforces the findings of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, which assessed how communities across the country receive news and information. The Knight Commission, which issued a report Oct. 2 available at knightcomm.org, argues that the lack of equal access to quality information threatens democracy in America. It recommends funding public libraries as centers of digital and media training.

"Libraries are the greatest providers of free Internet--offering residents access to the critical news and information they need to make decisions about their lives," said Laura Williams, Lexington program director for Knight Foundation. ?Through this initiative, we hope to augment libraries’ roles as vital community centers while helping to create engaged and informed communities."

Each mobile lab will have 10 laptop PCs and wireless Internet connections. With the grant, an additional trainer will be hired to expand computer training and help people seeking employment to conduct job searches.