Myths abound about the subculture of bodybuilding, a sport that took off with the explosion of the health-and-fitness industry in the 1970s.

Back then, the public knew even less about these extreme and dedicated athletes until the release of a breakthrough docudrama in 1977, "Pumping Iron," produced by Jerome Gary and featuring a champion named Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The film has long fascinated Vlad Yudin, writer, director, producer and principal of The Vladar Co. He has been busy on multiple film projects this year, but right now his focus is the Sept. 20 release of "Generation Iron," created with "Pumping Iron" producer Gary and narrated by Mickey Rourke. (Visit www.generation-iron.com to watch the trailer and get showtimes.)

Yudin spent months with the seven bodybuilders featured in the docudrama as they prepared for the Mr. Olympiad contest. He says he came away with an appreciation of how little the public still knows about the sport and the athletes who so compulsively pursue physical perfection.  For one, many people believe bodybuilding is about size - not true.

"It's about developing symmetry," he says.

Here are four myths he says are rampant in literature about bodybuilders, and why they're not true.

• Myth No. 1: Bodybuilders suffer from "negative body image," or "reverse anorexia." Many observers have written that bodybuilders are driven by an eating disorder known as reverse anorexia: No matter how big they get, when they look in the mirror, they still see a skinny wimp. Not true, says Yudin. "The whole point of this sport is to perfect the physique - the goal is to develop perfect symmetry, not to get as big as you can be. These guys are striving for a perfect score in competition. If they see a weak spot, they're going to work on building that up."

• Myth No. 2. Bodybuilders depend on steroids to achieve results. Steroids do not make champions, Yudin says. Bodybuilding champs are athletes so dedicated to constantly consuming the right nutrients on the right schedule and to working out, it becomes a lifestyle. "People think they're just pumping themselves up with steroids, but bodybuilding is a science that requires effort 100 percent of the time, Yudin says.

• Myth No. 3: Bodybuilders have low self-esteem. For some, this may have been true at one point in their lives, Yudin says. Some experienced bullying; others had acceptance issues. But most now have a healthy, even robust, sense of self-esteem. "You can see it in how they carry themselves. They don't do this because of a lack of confidence," he says. "If they did, they wouldn't be able to go on stage and be judged with such intense scrutiny on their physique. They've put in a lot of work and they know they look good." He gives the example of Phil Heath, one of the seven men featured in his film. Heath grew up as a talented athlete and played basketball for the University of Denver. "He started hitting the gym more to train, and became more interested in bodybuilding than basketball," Yudin says. The two-time Mr. Olympia knew he had talent from the get-go and took advantage of it, he says.

• Myth No. 4: Body builders are socially isolated. They get a rap because they dedicate their life to the gym and their diet, Yudin says. They eat every two to three hours and they're in the gym two to three times a day. You just don't see them out and about very often. "But four of the seven men we featured are married. A fifth lives with the mother of his children, and a sixth got married after we stopped shooting. Their family lives are a big part of the film," Yudin says. While he concedes bodybuilders have to be selfish to a degree in order to maintain their grueling schedule, that doesn't mean they're loners who avoid others.

"Branch Warren is a devoted family man who brings his daughter to competitions," Yudin says. "In the film, you see him carrying his daughter through the back stage."

About Vlad Yudin: Vlad Yudin is the principal of The Vladar Company, a media and entertainment production company. IMDb Profile: www.imdb.com/name/nm2852166

The Rock Island Library has partnered with the University of Illinois Extension on an opinion survey to learn how we can better serve you as residents of the Quad Cities region. The purpose of the study is to gain a better understanding of how the public accesses library services, determine what services are of interest, and understand public perception about our organization.

If you've previously taken a City of Rock Island survey, please note that this is a separate study, one that focuses on library questions and perceptions only. We would appreciate a few minutes of your time on these questions as well.

Individual survey responses are anonymous and confidential and will be viewed only by University of Illinois Extension staff. Results of the survey will be available to you. Please complete the survey by  Oct. 5, 2013.

To complete the survey online,copy and paste this link into your web browser: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z2CBLDQor visit our website http://rockislandlibrary.org/, and click on the Rock Island Public Library Opinion Survey link.

If you prefer to take a paper copy of the survey, it is attached to this newsletter email.  Please print the survey, fill it out and  return it in a sealed envelope to any of  the dropboxes at  our three library locations (Main, 30/31 and Southwest Branches.)  You may also pick-up a blank copy of the survey at our Information Desks.

Thanks for letting us know what you think! Angela Campbell, Rock Island Library Director

Survey development funded by Rock Island Community Foundation.

"American Graduate Day 2013," Live National Multiplatform Event to Keep Students on the Path to Graduation,

Premieres September 28 on WQPT

Featuring local and national programming, community partners, and celebrities focused on solutions to the nation's high school dropout crisis

Local Broadcast to Showcase WQPT's Efforts to Address the Needs of At-Risk Kids

MOLINE, IL -- "American Graduate Day 2013" will premiere live at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 28 on WQPT, marking a long-term commitment to helping communities tackle the nation's dropout crisis and preparing students for success with a high school diploma. Through the power and reach of public media, communities across the county will be invited to take an active role and become an "American Graduate Champion" for local youth by volunteering their time, talent, or other resources.

"American Graduate Day 2013," a multi-platform event featuring local and national programming, community partners and celebrities focused on improving the high school graduation rates in America, will be broadcast and streamed live from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City. "American Graduate Day" is part of the public media initiative, "American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen,"made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). WQPT will spotlight local organizations and individuals and the work they are doing in the community to help students graduate from high school.

The key component of the event is the participation of the community-based organizations, including such groups as Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, City Year, Horizons National and the United Way.

"'American Graduate Day 2013' offers WQPT the opportunity to build upon our work with the United Way and Achieve Quad Cities.  We want to keep the spotlight on the drop-out crisis and all of the ways we can help to turn it around," said Mary Pruess, General Manager.

American Graduate Day 2013 features a seven-hour "call to action" marathon focused around critical themes: expanded learning time and after-school programs, early education, mentoring, career readiness and college completion, STEM programs, family support and drop-out re-engagement and prevention. Hosted by on-air personalities from PBS, WNET and other media organizations, the broadcast and online event will be divided into 14 half-hour blocks featuring a mix of live breaks and pre-taped partner segments showing how community organizations provide support, advice, and intervention services to at-risk students, families, and schools. Within each of these half-hour blocks, WQPT will customize the national feed with a locally-produced live or pre-taped seven-minute segment.

On AmericanGraduate.org, the event will include live viewer-generated video content submitted in response to questions such as "How has your life changed, or been changed by the power of volunteering?"

Throughout the day, viewers and online users will be invited to become American Graduate Champions by connecting with WQPT and the featured local community organizations. Viewers will be encouraged to participate in the event by asking questions and sharing ideas before and during the broadcast on Twitter using the hashtag #AmGrad and on Facebook. Those interested in becoming an "American Graduate Champion" can also call the toll-free number on the day of broadcast or log on to AmericanGraduate.org to find out more about the national and regional organizations.

Visit the "American Graduate Day" at http://americangraduate.org/grad-day for more information.

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About WQPT

WQPT is celebrating 30 years as the local PBS station for eastern Iowa and western Illinois.  WQPT is the media service of Western Illinois University located in Moline, Illinois.

About AMERICAN GRADUATE

American Graduate: Let's Make it Happen is helping local communities identify and implement solutions to the high school dropout crisis. American Graduate demonstrates public media's commitment to education and its deep roots in every community it serves. Beyond providing programming that educates, informs and inspires, public radio and television stations ? locally owned and operated ? are an important resource in helping to address critical issues, such as the dropout rate. In addition to national programming, more than 75 public radio and television stations in 33 states have launched on-the-ground efforts working with community and at risk youth to keep students on-track to high school graduation. More than 1000 partnerships have been formed locally through American Graduate, and CPB is working with Alma and Colin Powell's America's Promise Alliance and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

About CPB

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,400 locally-owned and -operated public television and radio stations nationwide, and is the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television and related online services.