It’s officially springtime.
A season of rebirth, greenery, warming weather….but most importantly, baseball. As we very gradually move towards a post-pandemic world, it reminds me that baseball has often helped create a sense of normalcy, a welcome distraction, and a boost to the collective mood. I also just think that it’s fun to play, watch, read, and write about. So without further ado, here are some ways our library caters to the baseball fan.
At the beginning of this year, the library added the Kanopy streaming resource. It’s filled with great video content for check out, including a Kids Only video section, Great Courses, indie films, and many documentaries. Baseball fans may appreciate the film "Jack of All Trades," which focuses on the boom and bust period of baseball cards in the late 80s to early 90s, or the Ken Burns documentary "Jackie Robinson," or the classic "Pride of the Yankees" movie starring Gary Cooper. Library card holders can use up to six credits per month to view the streaming content on Kanopy. The selection is always changing, and there are thousands of items to choose from.
Our Overdrive digital magazine collection features thousands of unique titles to instantly check out. There is no maximum checkout limit, and back issues are available.
Sports fans can check out the "Baseball America" or "Sports Collector’s Digest" magazines, and all readers will definitely find magazines meeting your interests.
Our Overdrive digital book collection has titles from all genres, fiction and nonfiction, including baseball. One title I recently read is titled "The Wax Pack" by Brad Balukjian. It’s a book that is equal parts road trip, sports nostalgia, and self-reflection. The author opens a single pack of baseball cards from 1986 and sets out on a journey to locate all players in the pack. In addition to showing the role sports play in the lives of fans, it sheds a light on the various paths players took to make the majors and the lives they lead once they’re out of the limelight.
If you’ve ever seen the movie "A League of Their Own," and wanted to educate yourself on the history of the All American Girls Professional League, there are a couple of titles on Overdrive. For a nice light read, there is "Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League," by Anika Orrock. For an in-depth analysis, try "The Origins and History of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League" by Merrie Fidler.
The statewide INSPIRE database at inspire.in.gov is a great resource for research on any topic — baseball included. INSPIRE is like Google or Wikipedia, but with only the articles, books, and media that have been thoroughly reviewed and published. It’s librarian-approved for your school projects or independent research.
Finally, if you’re a fan of libraries and baseball like me, I’d recommend taking a virtual trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame Library’s online exhibit at collection.baseballhall.org. Not only are there vintage cartoons and photographs, but there is a 3D collection of artifacts that you can zoom and rotate.
As we slide headfirst into spring, remember that the library is here for you to assist with all of our resources, programs, and more. Find us at mybcpl.org or call us at 812-379-1255.
Tyler Munn is the collection and discovery services coordinator at Bartholomew County Public Library. He can be reached at tmunn@mybcpl.org
