Half way through summer

31 July 2013

A we enter into the last half of summer the work at the library continues.  Summer reading in now complete and Miss Kristy and Miss Beth will have the winners posted on the library website shortly.  The month of August will have us planning our programs for the next six to eight months.  I want to thank everyone who helped make this summer reading program such a success.  From the folkes who volunteered their time to those who donated monety and the ones who donated prizes, to all of you a big thank you.  Our programs could not be as successful without you.

The library and all public libraries in the state will become access points for the ExpressSOS program.  This is a program that addresses the closing of branches of the Secretary of State offices throughout the state.  People can come into the library and we will help you access the Secretary of State website.  Patrons will be able to: Renew or replace standard drivers' license or state I.D. cards.

                Renew vehicle tabs

                Obtain replacement vehicle title or registration

                Submit a chang of address

                Join the organ donor registry and much more!

This does not mean we will be able to answer questions on state laws and regulation or collect money for the fees the Secretary of State charges.  We will only be an access point.  If you have questions a toll free phone number will be posted for patrons to use.

I would like to point out that the library gets no monetary consideration from the State to be partners with the State in this State mandated program.

We still need workable used cassette players for our children's listen and read station.  Any working player is greatly appreciated. 

Lots of things going on at the library in the fall and as soon as we get our schedule set, we will post it to our webpage.

Until next week, keep reading.

Johnn

24 July 2013

Summer Reading is in its last week.   Make sure you have all of your sheets updated by 5:00 p.m., our closing time, on Saturday.  Remembet the end of Summer Reading party is on Thursday afternoon at 2:00 pm here at the library.  You can phone the library and get the details on the time and place for the party.  Teens and Tweens, your Summer Reading program also ends on Saturday and the end of program party will be on Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. at the library. 

Join us on Monday, August 5th at 10:30 a.m. we will have a drop-in tutoring session!  Bring your laptops, your phones, your tablets and most of all, your questions and receive one on one help from Beth.

ThisVicksburg Summer Festival is being held on July 25,26 and 27 on the grounds of the historic village.  This is a great event for the community and I encourage everyone to attend at least one day.  I want to point out that the Lions Club will have Kidsight Vision Screening set-up.  It is a free eye screening and it is very important for your child.  Children with poor vision tend to do poorly in school and can also find learning boring or incomprehensible.  I have been wearing glasses since I was eleven and I know what it is like to see the world with fuzzy vision.  Here at the library we encourage reading because reading makes good students that retain what they learn longer. Without good eyesight, reading is unenjoyable and avoided no matter what your age.  So take your children to the Summer Festival and get the free eyescreening plus there will also be children's games, clowns and a raffle for the children.

When you want to give a special gift or remember someone dear to you, a memorial donation is a perfect answer.  The book you purchase for the occassion will have a bookplate placed on the inside of the book.

We have free copies of the South County News available at the library.  This is a great paper as it covers the news in the Brady, Schoolcraft, Vicksburg and other areas in the south county area that are not covered by the Kalamazoo Gazatte.  Read the South County News and get a subscription for this hometown paper.

That's it for this week, be safe and have a great time in the friendliest place in Michigan

John

  

July 17

The Summer Reading Program continues to roll with our weekly programs.  Thanks to all the volunteers who have been helping out at the craft tables for the younger children.  Only 10 days are left for the program. 

With all of the hot and muggy days, it makes good weather to read or watch a good movie.  Our circulation figures show that a lot of people have been doing that this summer. 

Are you having problems working on our computer?  On August 5, Beth is having a walk-in computer training session at 10:30 a.m.  So bring your laptop or come in and sign onto one of our computers and get some help with your problem.

As I was driving over the weekend the idea of how classic literature is being ignored.  Part of it is because we were forced to read something by Charles Dickens or Shakespeare  in high school and it has left a bad memory for many of us.  Yet most of the classics are still an enjoyable read today.  H.G. Wells the War of the Worlds and the Time Machine are a must read for anyone who likes science fiction as is Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and the Mysterious Island.  Frankenstein is a popular movie monster and it is based on the book by Mary Shelly written over 100 years ago.  Maybe you like something more in historical fiction?  A Tale of Two Cities is an exciting book set at the time of the French Revolution.  The Virginian by Owen Wister was the first western written and set the pattern for all westerns since.  One of the most overlooked authors of the 19th century is Robert Louis Stevenson.  He wrote novels, poetry and short stories.  What boy doesn't like prirates and has been captivated by Stevenson's famous Treasure Island?  Moms over the world have read from his, Child's Garden of Verses and the ultimate monster tale, The strange case of Dr. Jekel and Mr. Hyde has fascinated readers for generations.  I can go on about books that were number one best sellers like Henry Sienkiewicz's  With Fire and Sword, the first book in the Polish Trilogy.  The books cover the wars fought by Poland against Sweden, the Turks and Russia in the 17th century.  If you like Bernard Cornwell's books you would enjoy the works of Sienkiewicz. 

You may wonder where all this rambing is going.  In the fall I will be starting a book discussion group and we will read some of the classics from the 19th century and early 20th century.  We haven't set the day yet but it will meet at noon and participants will bring in their lunch.  The library will supply water and coffee.  We will eat our lunch and discuss the book or author of the month.  If you have ever thought to yourself, "I would really like to read some of the classics."  This is your chance.  More details will follow.

Write to you again next week

Pinch pots and pet rocks

This week the main program for the children's summer reading program was held on Wednesday.  The children were seperated into two groups to accommodate all that came to the program.  One group met by the fireplace where Library Board member Cheryl Lee read a story to the children.  The other group went down to the meeting room and made pinch pots from modelers clay add decorated pet rocks and placed them in their pots.    The children had a great time and their pots were very well done.  We still have two weeks to go and if you want to volunteer to help at the programs, call the library and ask for Kristy, your help would be appreciated.

When you use the computers in the library you may find that you need to save what you have been working on but you can't save it on the computer and you don't have a thumb drive.  The library now has 64mb thumb drives available at the circulation desk for $5.00. 

Some of the new books in the library.  You may notice that I usually list non-fiction books and there is a reason for that, I order the non-fiction.  With that being said here are some books I am sure you will enjoy.

Wildflowers of Michigan by Stan Tekiela and Butterflies of Michigan by Jaret C. Daniels:  Both of these books are excellent field guides to the wide variety of flowers and butterflies that inhabit Michigan.  The books are arranged by the main color of the flower or butterfly to help for quick search when you are out in the field.  Two great books for the nature lovers.

The complete stories of Ambrose Bierce:  Before there was the Twilight Zone, there was Ambrose Bierce. This collection of short stories are as exciting and eerie as when they were written over a hundred years ago.

Carrie and me: A mother-daughter love story: by Carol Burnett:  A mother's memorial to her daughter who died young.  A story that includes Hollywood stars and the mundane duties that make up daily life.  It is a sad story that is told with a love only a mother can have for her children.  You really need to read this book.

Bunker Hill: A city, a siege, a revolution: Nathaniel Philbrick latest book on early American History.  As children we all were told about Paul Revere's ride and about the Battle of Bunker Hill but there was never a connection made between the two events. Philbrick does and excellent job on taking the reader along the path of the American Revolution in this highly readable story of the beginning of American Independence.

That's it for this week,
John 

Director's Blog

July 3.2013

The Summer Reading program is nearing the half way mark and the  enthusiasm of the children continues wth good attendence for our weekly programs.  The pre-schoolers got to make catapillars out of old egg cartons and the teens made fruit smoothies.  The parents have been very helpful at the programs with helping their children with the pasting and painting of their projects.

A new addition to the children's area is the listening station. Parents with their children or the children alone can sit down in a big, comfortable chair and listen to a book. It is proving to be very popular but our cassette players are all older machines.  So I ask our patrons if they have a cassette player that they are no longer using if they would donate it to the library?  Even if it is an old Fischer-Price cassette player we would be more than happy to have it.

Check-out the exhibit in our display case this month.  It is a display on hostas and it is very informative.  I did not realize that there are over 3,000 kinds of hostas and that they are native to Japan.  It is really a great exhibt.

Everybody has someone in the family that is impossible to shop for.  Usually it is an older family member who has everything they want and if they need something they go a buy it.  The library can help solve your dilema.  Buy them a book for the library.  We will put a plate in the book that recognizes the donation of the book for that person.  For examle: This book donated in honor of John Doe's 75th birthday.

New Books on the shelf this week:
Threat Vector by Tome Clancy
The Quarryman's Bride : A Land of shining water series book by Tracie Peterson
Until the end of time by Danielle Steele

Have a happy and safe 4th of July

John

What a fantastic response to the Summer Reading Program!  Last week I challenged parents and caregivers to bring the number of children registered for the program to 400.  Miss Kristi gave me the number signed up as of 3:00 p.m. today and I am proud to announce that we now have 405 children registered.  Miss Beth has over 60 teens and tweens signed on for her part of the summer reading program.

The next program we have scheduled is on June 20 at 3:00 p.m.  Miss Beth is going to show the teens and tweens how to make a magic eight balll.  At 7:00 p.m. Miss Kristi will have a program for the youngsters with Ben Jammin'.  Both programs will be held in the basement.

The Library Board meets on June 20 and this month the meeting will be held in the Heritage Room as the basement is being used for the above mentioned programs.  The Board meetings are open to the public.

Some great new books that are on the NEW SHELF of the non-fiction are:
The Gluten-free Kitchen by Sue Shepherd  100 recipes that range from soups and main dishes to desserts

Outlaw:  Waylon, Willie Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville by Michael Streissguth  The story of how Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristophferson pioneered modern country music.

Anyone who had a Heart: My Life and Music by Burt Bacharach with Robert Greenfield   Burt Bacharach tells his story from his love of music and the fame it brought him to his private life where three marriages and the loss of a daughter were never seen in public 

Teach Yourself Visually Microsoft Office 2010 by Kate Shoup  A step by step guide that leads you through all the buttons and menus in the Office suite with chapters on Basic Office, Word, Excel, Power Point and Publisher among others.  You do each step in each program, not just read how to do it. 

Have a wonderful week and I will see you at the Library

John

Happy Wednesday,

This year's summer reading program has gotten off to a great start.  So far we have over 300 children registered for the program.  Registration continues throughout the program so I challenge the parents out there to register their children for the program so we can have 400 active readers.  Children who read in the summer have an easier time remembering what they have learned at school the previous year. 

The Binder Park Zoo program filled before noon on Monday but we still have openings for the Kalamazoo Nature Center program on July 24.

There has been an error on the program schedule calender.  The calender has the time of 2:00 P.M. but the sign up sheet had 11 to noon.  Miss Kristi will contact all who are signed up on the exact time. 

Last night Beth held the Zombie Prom for the teens.  Everyone has a great time getting made up as a Zombie and participating in the activities for the program.

With the early fruits and vegatables coming to harvest, check out the books on canning and preserving, jams and jellies and freezing the harvest from the library.  Canning and preserving is a good learning activity to do with your children, they not only learn a skill but they gain a better understanding of how food moves from the fields to their plates. 

Thank you for all who came to the Book Sale last week-end. the Library Ladies work hard on getting the books organized through the year and really out do themselves with the set-up the week of the sale.  All the proceeds from the book sale go to suppor the Children's department.  We have started to accept donations for next years book sale.

I will write again next week so you can keep up with the goings on at the library.  Until then be safe.

John