The columnist's traditional tool - the typewriter - is also important this week. Wednesday is the anniversary of the day in 1868 when the first US typewriter was patented by Luther Sholes.

Friday is the anniversary of the day in 1951 when CBS broadcast the first color television program. The four-hour program was carried by stations in New York City, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington, DC, even though no color sets were owned by the public. In fact, CBS, itself, had fewer than 40 color receivers at the time.

Monday is the anniversary of the day in 1859 when the melody of the world's most popular song, "Happy Birthday to You," was composed by schoolteacher Mildred J. Hill. Her younger sister Patty authored the lyrics, which were first published in 1893 as "Good Morning to All" and amended in 1924 to include the birthday verse. Although the authors are believed to have earned very little from the song, it reportedly later generated about $1 million a year for its copyright owner. The song is expected to enter public domain upon expiration of its copyright in 2010.

WHAT'S HAPPENING?

At Wednesday's 10:00 a.m. storytime, the Roswell Symphony Guild will present the "Babar Puppet Show," and participants will take home an elephant craft. The presentation will be repeated at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday afternoon at 3:30, Ben Hanson, from the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, will present an interesting slide program about wildlife of New Mexico, and participants will make a jumping spider craft. Watermelons and other symbols of summer will be featured in stories and activities at Saturday morning's 10:00 storytime, and participants will make crafts with a melon theme.

BOOK TALK

Librarian Barbara Harris provides this week's book information. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in one of the places that whiz past your window as you drive the Interstate or peek between the clouds under your 747? If so, you should check out some of the many excellent books that bring to life every part of "America the Beautiful."

In the essays in "Seasons at Eagle Pond," poet Donald Hall shares his life in the New Hampshire farmhouse where his family has lived for four generations. A sheep farm in the Virginia hills is the setting for Donald McCaig's "Am American Homeplace." Kathleen Norris returns to her grandparents' house and her prairie roots in "Dakota."

Franklin Burroughs finds Sunbelt prosperity threatening the rural values of his South Carolina childhood during the canoe trip described in "Horry and the Waccamaw." The purchase of a house on a bluff above Chesapeake Bay brings Peter Svenson an appreciation for life on the water and a concern for the problems of urbanization and pollution. His book is "Green Shingles."

No matter what part of the country you live in, come from, or dream about, your Roswell Public Library has something for you to check out!

DID YOU KNOW?

If you've ever seen the cranberry bogs in Massachusetts, you might be interested in knowing that cranberries are sorted for ripeness by bouncing them. Apparently, a fully ripened cranberry can be dribbled like a basketball.