Today on the reference desk, a patron asked a question that required us to use the Guinness Book of World Records. I realized that I hadn't looked at one in years and I'd forgotten how much I love it! Naturally, after spending about ten minutes looking through it, my first thought was "I should blog about this..." So, here we go:

The Guinness Book was founded in 1951 by Sir Hugh Beaver, who was the managing director of the Guinness Brewery. The book was more or less founded to settle disputes in pubs. Beaver got the idea while involved in an argument over which was the fastest game bird in Europe. They alluded to this intention on an episode of The Simpsons: "Lisa... mentions that the Duff Book of Records was originally created to settle disputes in taverns, which is true of its Guinness counterpart." (from Wikipedia)

Sadly, my old Guinness Book favorites, Billy & Benny McCrary, have passed away. They were listed in the book as the world's heaviest twins. Surprisingly, there is no entry for heaviest twins in the 2008 edition.

Other awesome things I've discovered today:

* The pygmy marmoset is the world's smallest monkey!

* The largest diamond pendant is owned by rapper Lil' Jon. It contains 3,576 diamonds.

* And speaking of The Simpsons, Mr. Burns is the second highest-earning television character. Guinness assesses his wealth at $16.8 billion, since he owns a nuclear power plant and once owned an oil well. Other fictional billionaires include Jed Clampett (The Beverly Hillbillies), Bruce Wayan (Batman), and Thurston Howell III (Gilligan's Island).

The Staples High School Book Fair starts this week. There will be a kickoff party at Barnes & Noble in Westport on Tuesday, May 20th. I will be at the party, as well as at Staples most days next week. Stop by and say hello and ask me for book recommendations!

Also, be sure to check out the rest of the Book Fair video series!

This week, polar bears were officially listed as a threatened species. While the population of polar bears isn't dwindling at the moment, scientists have acknowledged that the polar bear's habitat is: namely, polar ice caps.

And while I normally wouldn't recommend a children's book on a teen blog, I'm going to anyway: Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Captivated the World is just about the cutest book I've ever seen.

A "teaser" trailer has been released for the upcoming film adaptation of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight. December seems so far away right now...

Oh, and you might recognize Kristen Stewart from her role in the film adaptation of another popular teen book, Speak Laurie Halse Anderson.

If a librarian wrote a hip-hop song, this is what it would be. She even makes a reference to Webster's Dictionary!

I'm a little new to Facebook, but everybody I know has been obsessed with Scrabulous lately. Scrabulous is an online game you can play with your Facebook friends that is similar to Scrabble. However, the nice thing is that you don't have to play in real-time. You put down your word and then wait until other players take their turns on their own time. This means that a game can last weeks or months, but at least you don't have to sit there getting bored while your friend freaks out over what he/she can do with three "Q"s.

If anybody wants to start a game with me, add me as a friend on Facebook!

With Mother's Day being a little over a week away (Sunday, May 11th!), perhaps you are in need of some last-minute gift ideas. Might I suggest adopting an animal? The World Wildlife Fund is offering a "green" alternative to a traditional Mother's Day gift: for $50, you can "adopt" an endangered animal for your mother. Choices range from polar bears to monkeys, lizards, dolphins, toucans, or many others. Your mother will receive a plush toy of her animal, as well as a photo and a certificate of adoption. Your money will help support endangered animals and their habitats.

Mother's Day aside, if you're interested in environmental issues, I encourage you to read and contribute to the library's On the Green wiki. Everybody is invited to participate!