Babson Library News

Did you know that U.S. Census Bureau does more than just take counts of the number of persons living in the United States?

This government bureau also keeps records and compiles information from sources, such as Statistical Abstract of the United States, Foreign Trade Statistics and the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Microsoft Clip Art

In July 1776, they estimate that 2.5 million persons were living in the newly formed nation which compares to the approximately 307 million persons living here now.

Of the $202 million spent on importing fireworks, $193 million was spent on imports from China. The United States exported just $28.1 million.

Trade between the United States and Great Britain had a dollar value of $112.4 billion which makes our former adversary our sixth-leading trading partner.

If you are interested the U. S. Census Bureau has more holiday trivia at its Facts and Features site about July 4th cookouts, flags, patriotic-sounding names and more. Amaze your family and friends with your knowledge of this American Holiday.

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

Diane M. Walsh
Patron Services Specialist

“Once I knew only darkness and stillness. . . . My life was without past or future. . . . But a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness and my heart leaped to the rapture of living.” - Helen Adams Keller.

Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She became famous for her triumph over adversity. She lost both her sight and ability to hear at 19 months after an illness. When she was seven years old, Keller learned to read and write as well as speak with the help of teacher Anne Sullivan. During her remarkable life, Helen Keller stood as an example of how determination and hard work can overcome the greatest of challenges. She received numerous awards for her work, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. She died on June 1 at the age of 87, 1968. Her own words make a fitting eulogy for the turning point in her life.

Keller wrote a number of very well-received books and numerous biographies have been written about Helen Keller.

Babson Library owns a number of books by and about Helen Keller. To get a complete list of books about any person, please use the Voyager online catalog. Here are some of the titles about this extraordinary woman:

Helen Keller : selected writings / edited by Kim E. Nielsen ; consulting editor, Harvey J. Kaye. Call Numbers: A-H- 2nd Floor; J-Z- 3rd Floor /HV1624.K4 A27 2005

Helen and teacher: the story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Macy/by Joseph Lash. Call Numbers: A-H- 2nd Floor; J-Z- 3rd Floor /HV1624.K4 L37 1981

Keller, Helen. Helen Keller: selected writings. http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip054/2004028974.html

Keller, Helen. Midstream: my later life. Call Numbers: A-H- 2nd Floor; J-Z- 3rd Floor /HV1624.K4 A17 1929

Nielsen, Kim E. The radical livers of Helen Keller.
An electronic book accessible through the World Wide Web

Suseela Erugu
Student Assistant
Public Services Department

*Photographs used available at: http://www.imageenvision.com/free_pictures/helen_keller_1.html