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The United States made history with its victory in the 2016 Chess Olympiad held in Baku, Azerbaijan from September 2-13. This result marked the first time an American team has taken first place in an Olympiad in which Russia or the Soviet Union competed. The team of Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So, Sam Shankland and Ray Robson, with Alex Lenderman serving as team coach, led nearly the entire event winning nine matches and drawing two.

The team’s final score of 20 points (t...

On this day, exactly a century ago, the 20th century lost one of its literay giants when Jack London passed away at the age of 40. On Wednesday, November 16, Mechanics' Institute celebrated his life with a panel discussion led by Heyday Books Founder Malcom Margolin. Jonah Raskin, editor of The Radical Jack London: Writings on War and Revolution, delivered an eloquent summing up of Jack London's life and outlook:

I believe that Jack London was a Ca...

In November, the Library hosted “Reinvention: Thriving in the 21st Century”, the fourth in a series of international conferences for leaders of mechanics' institutes and independent libraries. We hosted colleagues from Wales, England, Australia, Canada and the United States.  Three keynoters provided inspiration and future thinking presentations:

• "Bringing Our Libraries Digital" by Brewster Kahle, Digital Librarian and Fo...

This year on December 7 marks the 75^th commemoration of this infamous military assault. Most of us know that this attack led to the United States' entry into World War II. The official website for this historic event is worth exploring, as it contains an extensive amount of information on events, receptions, memorials, key speakers, plus an overview of historic sites.
Another timely website is the ...