Weekly Activities

-Preschool Story Hour for children on Wednesday, July 15, at 10:30 a.m.

-Knitting session on Wednesday, July 15, at 6:30 p.m.

-Writer’s Group meets on Thursday, July 16, at 10:30 a.m.

-Dog Day on Thursday, July 16, from 4 to 5 p.m.

-Healthy Feet presentation on Friday, July 17, at 1:30 p.m.

-Book Discussion Group meets Tuesday, July 21, at 10 a.m.

Activity Details

Knitters spend relaxing and summer time with each other on July 15. Anyone who knits or wants to learn knitting is welcome to come. It’s interesting that the Book Discussion Group is dealing with a knitting related topic this month. The author, Kate Jacobs, in an interview about her book was asked what is behind the popular trend of knitting. She replied, “Knitting is the kind of activity that brings people together. I think too there is a very real therapeutic value to knitting, something soothing and stress-relieving about the craft.”

There are some openings for reading to the dog. Parents consider a time so that your child will grow in reading appreciation and ability. It helps the dog feel important too.

Healthy feet contribute much to well-being. The session with Dr. Bennett on July 17 is sure to offer some helpful ideas. There is no pressure during the session with it being an opportunity to explore how to improve health and lessen pain.

Summer is a good time to enjoy small group discussion and the Book Discussion Group is welcoming readers to explore “Friday Night Knitting Club” by Kate Jacobs. It’s a charming, comfort read and fits well with the summer mode.

Adventure on the Prairie

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Wayside, near Pepin, Wisconsin, has a replica of the tiny cabin where the Ingalls family lived around the time of Laura’s birth. She made the area famous with her “Little House in the Big Woods” (J WIL), “Christmas in the Big Woods” (JE CHR) and “Little Town on the Prairie (J WIL).

Under the auspices of the American Library Association, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award was first given to its namesake in 1954. The award, a bronze medal, honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made a lasting contributing to literature for children.

Since 2001 the recognition has been awarded every two years. In 2009 to Ashley Bryan (see his “Let It Shine” J 782.25 LET), in 2007 to James Marshall (see his “Fox At School”, or “Fox on Stage” or many other Fox books at J EZ MAR), in 2005 to Lawrence Yep (see his “The Case of the Goblin Pearls” (TEEN M YEP) or “Dragonwings” or “The Tiger’s Apprentice” (J YEP).

If you want to digest Wilder in greater depth consider “Little House in the Ozarks: the rediscovered writings” (818.5 WIL). Her works were not about our country’s leaders; they were about our country’s people.

Relentless

“Relentless Pursuit” (364.152 FLY-available in regular and large print) has a subtitle that says well what the book is about: “a true story of family, murder, and the prosecutor who wouldn’t quit.” It’s easy to be cynical about the law when it appears that attorneys can slant the facts in whatever manner that seems to benefit their client best but this story won’t encourage that type of cynicism.

True crime, sometimes, is less interesting than picking up a crime novel but the story author Kevin Flynn tells is both compelling and fascinating.

Memorial/Special Event

In “Red Lily” (ROB), the final volume of the In the Garden trilogy, author Nora Roberts gives us a tale of supernatural vengeance entwined in a love story that’s neither subtle nor thrilling but is mildly titillating. Make no mistake, however, although a lot of the plot’s moves are as predictable as the sunrise, the story does keep you reading along.

Descendants of Reginald Harper, a heartless and amoral tycoon of the 1890s, must uncover the mystery–and find the body–of Harper’s abused mistress. Discarded by him and robbed of her infant son, who becomes Harper’s heir, her spooky fury threatens not only the present-day family but also a budding romance whose tentative beginnings are as fragile as the plants that constitute the family business. This love interest, alternately prim and almost–but not quite–steamy, is roughed up by the malevolent spirit which croons sweet lullabies at one time and at another wreaks havoc on the lives of those who are trying to unravel the mystery of this dangerously disturbed wraith. In the finale, the loose ends of her story are gathered up, the unhappy “ghost” is found and laid to rest, and it appears that everyone emerges from this emotional cyclone in a better, more tranquil state.

Usage

Recently I mentioned that the library is being actively used and that, even in the slower month of June, our circulation was 14 percent higher than the same month last year. We welcome the usage and find that it fits with the value many experience regularly in the library, or have recently discovered.

Those who are not using the electronic catalog to full advantage might consider trying searches during this summer to become more astute in searching. If you need pointers to get started or work out particular points, ask staff for assistance.

Library Hours

Don’t remember library hours? Call for information. When we are closed, a recorder gives the hours of operation, either on 765-8162 or on 765-8163. Except for holidays, which would be mentioned on the recorder, we are open Monday and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. We look forward to seeing you.