Book and author festival will include workshops, readings

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• National Book Festival announces lineup of authors

  National Book Festival announces lineup of authors

  Novelist Philip Roth, Jeffrey Eugenides who wrote "The Virgin Suicides," mystery writer Patricia Cornwell and singer Jewel are joining the lineup of authors for the 2012 National Book Festival on the National Mall later this year.

• SLO woman leaves nearly $300,000 to local public libraries

  SLO woman leaves nearly $300,000 to local public libraries

  The late Barbara Baltimore of San Luis Obispo has left a bequest of nearly $300,000 to San Luis Obispo County’s public libraries — the largest bequest in the library system’s history, according to a recent announcement.

  Baltimore, who was a scientist, philanthropist and library supporter, died April 18. She left $195,000 to the Foundation for San Luis Obispo County Public Libraries and $99,014.72 to the San Luis Obispo Friends of the Library.

  “We were flabbergasted by the generosity of her donation,” said Robert Alberti, president of the foundation. “The foundation will be working very hard to live up to the honor she has bestowed on us.”

• Viewpoint: Why libraries matter

  Viewpoint: Why libraries matter

  Have you visited a library lately? If you have, you’ll know that they are busier than ever. Physical libraries (buildings and books) are not only busier, but so are libraries’ electronic services such as downloadable e-books. More books are being published and being read than ever before. Library-provided Internet services are busy 24/7, available from home or office, and in libraries via wi-fi even when the libraries are closed.

  Human beings didn’t become the dominant species on the planet because they walked upright or had opposable thumbs. They succeeded because they knew things that could be memorized and shared with others. At a certain point in history (maybe 5,000 years ago) human memory needed some help. It became impossible to memorize all of the important information needed to survive and pass on. Knowledge needed to be written down. Alphabets, written language and literacy became a big deal, first for the social elite (nobility and clergy) and then for everyone else, from about 500 years ago through

• PHOTOS: What a laugh

  PHOTOS: What a laugh

  Joe Eister won the 2nd Annual Ultimate Laughing Contest, closing this year’s San Luis Obispo International Film Festival.

• A Gardener's Notebook: Oh no! Not another gardening book!

  A Gardener's Notebook: Oh no! Not another gardening book!

  Sunset Western Garden Books and I go way back. I remember leafing through my mother’s old “First Edition” 1954 publication. It covered about everything one needed to know about gardening.

  Of the newer Sunset Western Garden Books in my library, the 2001 seventh edition was my bible during Master Gardener training. I didn’t think the 2007 edition had enough new material, so I passed on that one. But what gardener can resist the newly released ninth edition?

  “Not another garden book,” you say. Here’s my rationale for buying it. This edition is the first to feature plant photos exclusively. Not that I didn’t enjoy the illustrations of the older versions, but a color photo, well, they’re in color. The plant encyclopedia of the new 2012 edition has been updated and includes 1,000 more entries. There is a “Gardening, Start to Finish” section for beginning gardeners.