30 January 2014

30 January 2014 This January has been a wild ride for southwest Michigan. We were closed Sunday through Tuesday because of the snow and the extreme cold. When we close, we will post the closing on WWMT Channel 3. Still plenty of time to sign up for the Adult Winter Reading Program. You have to be 18 years old or older and have a card to the Vicksburg District Library. The grand prize is a pair of tickets to see Boeing, Boeing and a pair of tickets to see Annie Get Your Gun. To earn a chance at the grand prize you need to read, listen or view fifteen titles of library materials. Every five titles you read, listen or view earns an extra grand prize entry. The more you read, listen and view the more chances you earn. After you read, listen or view ten titles, you get an insulated lunch cooler. With all the foul weather we have been having, many have been spending a lot of time indoors, the Adult Winter Reading program is meant for you. The next Brown Bag Classics Club will be on Monday, February 17, at noon in the library meeting room. This month we are reviewing the works of Jane Austen. In the past few years there has been a revival of her works, it gives the reader a glimpse of upper class British society two hundred years ago. Later this month we will be having the interior of the library repainted. We will be closing on Wednesday, February 19, so the painter can work unimpeded. That Tuesday and Thursday we may have to close early to remove the books from the shelving and to replace the books after the paint is dry. I will keep everyone informed on the times when we will be closed or open but with a bit of inconvenience for our patrons. While you are in the library and you want to try something different, we have Staff Favorite reads on the cart on the right side (as you enter)of the circulation desk. We are featuring fiction this quarter. On the top of the short bookcases under the window by the magazines we have our theme reads. These are books that are on one topic. This month we are featuring vegatarian cooking. For February we will feature love and romance in honor of Valentine's Day with a Blind Date With a Book. The books are wrapped and on the cover they will have the type of book on the front for instance, mystery, western, suspense, romance, classic, poetry, history. You may keep the book or return it to the library for the book sale. Coming in April, the library will join with PNC Bank on a series of workshops on financial management. How to make a budget, manage a checkbook and how to manage a credit card. The programs will be held at the library from 10:15 to 11:30. Later blogs will give more detail on the programs, dates and how to register to attend. Until next week, keep safe and warm John Sheridan, Director

January 22,2014

January 22,2014 Only two more months of winter are left. Just think, at the beginning of the month it was dark just after 5:00 and now it is still a bit light at 5:30. So as you are wondering how to pass the time until spring, I would suggest taking part in the Adult Winter Reading Program. It is easy to participate. Just register for the program at the Library then listen, view or read 10 items from the library and you win a cooler lunch bag. Read, listen or view five more items and you get to register for our Grand Prize. For every five items you read, view, listen to after the first fifteen, you get another entry slip for the Grand Prize. Our Grand Prize this year is two tickets to see the play Boeing, Boeing in April and two tickets to see Annie Get Your Gun in May at the Kalamazoo Community Theather. With the temperatures where they are, participating in our program is a great way to pass the time. If you have some books you want to donate, bring them to the Library. The Library will evaluate each book and what books we can use in our collection then we will catalog and get it on the shelf. If we cannot use the books,they are given to the Ladies' Library Auxiliary where they are sorted and put into the annual book sale. The money from the book sale goes to support Children's Services at the Library. Don't forget, we are always willing to accept monetary donations at the Library to help us get new books, movies and audio books and other needs of the library. If you would rather volunteer to help out at the library, we have different needs throughout the year especially for Summer Reading. Next month we will need volunteers to help us move books off some of the shelves as we get ready to have the interior painted. As most know, Rachel, our day clerk, fell and broke her arm last week. She is having pins put in today and we will be able to learn when she is well enough to come back to work. I know many patrons miss her and are looking forward to her return. The Brown Bag Classic Book Club will meet next on February 17, at noon. This month we are reading the works of Jane Austen. Austen is currently experiencing a revival and many have not read any of her works. I know that I have never read anything by her. This month we are featuring Vegetarian Cookbooks. They are displayed on the window sill in the magazine area of the library. Check these and other cookbooks out. The staff favorite fiction books are on display at the end of the circulation counter facing the reference desk. These are books our staff have enjoyed and it may introduce you to a new author or maybe to an old author that you had enjoyed in the past. Drive and walk safely when you go out. Roads and sidewalks may look clean but even a little ice can make you slip. Until next week, keep reading John Sheridan, Director

15 January 2014 This is the first posting since the first of the year. The first was on a Wednesday and we were closed and last Wednesday we were so busy getting caught up from the days that we were closed, posting was not high on the priorities list. The Adult Winter Reading Program has begun and the Grand Prize this year is two tickets to see Boeing, Boeing in April and two tickets to see Annie Get Your Gun in May at the Kalamazoo Center. To be eligible to win you have to follow the following rules. 1) You must be 18 years old or older. 2)You need to fill in a registration form. 3) When you have read, viewed or listened to 15 titles you get to fill in an entry form. 4)For every five titles that you read, view or listen to after the first 15, you get another entry form. So the more you read, view or listen to, the more entry forms you earn. 5) After you read, view or listen to 10 titles you win a lunch cooler. Only one cooler per person. We have one of the lunch coolers on display on the circulation desk. Storytimes have begun for the winter session. Toddler time in at 10:15 on Monday morning. Baby time is at 9:45 on Wednesday morning and Pre-school is at 10:30 on Wednesday morning. Sad news, Rachel fell on the ice and broke her arm. She is doing well and hopes to be back to work in the next week or so pending doctor's okay. The Knitwits will still meet on Thursay morning, January 16, at 9:00 a.m. If you want to donate books for the Library Ladies annual book sale, they can be dropped off at the library during normal business hours. We ask that you do not bring encyclopedias, magazines or Reader's Digest Condensed Books. All the proceeds from the Annual Book Sale go to support Children's programming and materials. If you need to renew your driver's license or state I.D. card or other basic transactions with the Sectretary of States office, come into the library and click on the S.o.S link on our computers. The link will take you to the Secretary of State's homepage. You can see all the services that they offer online so you don't have to make that trip to a Secretary of State building and stand in line for an hour or more. It is convenient and you can do it from the library or from home. Monday the Brown Bag Classic Book Club will meet at noon in the meeting room downstairs. This month we are reading Nathaniel Hawthorne. He wrote such works as The Scarlett Letter, House of the Seven Gables and Twice Told Tales. For the month of February we will go Europe and read any book by Jane Austen.