So much more than books
By Karen Kelly | Special to the Times Vedette
February isn’t just about Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day; it’s also National Library Lovers’ Month. This month presents countless opportunities to celebrate the invaluable services and resources our library offers to the community.
Why not take time this February to read a book set in or about a library? During National Library Lovers’ Month, immerse yourself in one of our diverse programs designed for patrons of all ages. Set aside a day to explore the library — admire our curated displays, engage with our community jigsaw puzzles, cozy up by the fire with a newspaper, or lose yourself in our extensive book collection. Consider joining the Friends of the Library or find other meaningful ways to support this cherished institution. You might even want to create a bucket list of special libraries you’d love to visit in the future.
In this age of technology, many people mistakenly think the library is obsolete, but to the contrary. The local library is more relevant than ever. In this time of economic stress, the library provides so many free resources. We have families who saved between $5,000 and $6,000 in the last fiscal year by using library resources rather than purchasing everything. For myself, I saved $578 during that last fiscal year, and that does not count the 30-plus audiobooks I borrowed from Libby, which were also free with my library card.
The library has a vast selection of adult, children and young adult fiction and nonfiction. We also have read-along books and children and adult audiobooks. The collection of movies and series on DVD is extensive. If you need something new for a family night, we offer a huge selection of board games for children and families, as well as jigsaw puzzles that may be checked out. We have a telescope, cake pans, DVD projectors and screens available for checkout. iPads and the Nintendo Switch are popular things to check out for in-library use.
The library has a small meeting room if you need a quiet place to work, hold a small meeting or a Zoom call; the small meeting room is open during regular library hours and is free. There is also a large meeting room that can be reserved for events and meetings; the meeting rooms may be reserved online.
We have a lot of activities happening at the library. Preschool story hour, which takes place each Friday morning at 10 a.m., is open to all ages of preschoolers and their caregivers. Feb. 7, the topic will be love.
The Friends of the Library are sponsoring their annual Trivia Night at the Activity Center. Dinner, which begins at 6 p.m., will be catered by Cabbage Rose. The trivia competition will start at 7 p.m. Teams may be up to eight people, and the cost is $35 per person.
Between the Covers Book Club will meet on Feb. 11 at 3 p.m. to discuss “The Phoenix Ballroom” by Ruth Hogan. Copies are still available to check out for those who wish to attend.
After-school STEM activities presented by the Guthrie County ISU Extension will be Thursday, Feb. 13 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Color Creation will be the theme of the activities.
The first meeting of the evening book club was an exciting group of book lovers who seemed open to reading a lot of new things. The group chose the name Reads Well with Others for our group. The first book, “Part of Your World” by Abby Jimenez, is available for checkout at the library. If you missed the first meeting, feel free to jump in and join us on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 5 p.m.
Craft time is a popular part of story hour. Last week, each person painted and decorated a pair of mittens.
Library Director Jerri Hawkins enjoyed a chance to read to the group gathered for story hour last week.
The story hour crowd loved the book called “The Naked Mole Rat.”
As a teenager, I worked after school at a concrete statuary in my hometown of Algona. My boss was Dennis Meyer, who now owns and operates a statuary on Merle Hay Road in Johnston.