Reads Well with Others evening book club met last week to discuss “The Perfect Marriage” by Jeneva Rose. The group meets on the fourth Tuesday of the month from 5-6 p.m. We welcome all who enjoy discussing books.
By Karen Kelly | Special to the Times Vedette
Sept. 28 is National Good Neighbor Day. Signed into law in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter, people have been celebrating this holiday in big and small ways ever since. After 47 years, this holiday is not very widely known or celebrated. We at the MJB Library would like to invite you all to help us change that.
Growing up, neighbors were a big part of life. Neighbor kids were my first friends; we traveled in a pack from yard to yard, where every mom treated us like we were their own. Parents coffeed and played cards with the neighbors. If we ran out of milk when the store was closed, we could borrow some from the neighbor next door.
When I got older, we moved to a farm. Neighbors were further away but were still an important part of life. They were on the party telephone line we shared. We chored for them when they had to be out of town. We took extra zucchini and tomatoes to them when our gardens were bountiful, and they would send us home with a bag of sweet corn. When their cows got out, we drove the cows back home and helped the neighbors fix the fence.
Growing up, neighbor wasn’t just a noun to describe the people who lived nearby. Neighbor was a verb. We neighbored. When someone was sick and couldn’t do their farmwork, the neighbors would organize and do the necessary tasks. If there was a death in the family, we made food and paid the neighbors a visit. When a family had a problem, the neighbors pitched in to help out. That is how people neighbored.
Our world has changed, and so have relationships with neighbors. These days, it seems like being a good neighbor involves being quiet and minding your own business. National Good Neighbor Day seems like an opportunity to change this.
American author Stuart Dybek said, “The public library is where place and possibility meet.” We at MJB Library agree, so we are inviting you to join us in celebrating Nations Good Neighbor Day this year. We think that a hopeful neighborhood is one with a focus on possibilities, and National Good Neighbor Day is full of possibilities.
We invite you to stop by the library and follow our news articles and website this month to see the ways you can join us in celebrating National Good Neighbor Day.
Share your talents
As we begin planning our fall and winter library programs, we invite you to be in touch with us if you have a skill or talent you would like to share through a program. We would love to have programs by local neighbors who want to share their skills with others. Almost anything can be made into an interesting program. Call or email the library with your program ideas.
We are still looking for people who have collections or hobbies that they can share in our display case each month. Art, crafts, collectibles — all are welcome to be displayed at the library for a month. Please contact the MJB Library if you have something you are willing to share.
Kids’ programs
Wednesday, Sept. 10, is LEGO Mania Day at MJB Library; the fun begins at 2 p.m. Guthrie STEM Lab will be Monday, Sept. 15 at 4 p.m., and Creation Corner will be Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 2 p.m. Please remember to preregister for these events online.
We will have Friday Story Hour each Friday at 10 a.m. for our preschool patrons and their caregivers. Join us for a story and a craft! Sept. 5, the theme will be planes; trains are the story hour topic on Sept. 12. The focus of story hour on Sept. 19 will be cars, and on Sept. 26, tractors will be the featured topic.
Book Club Books
Anyone wishing to participate in either or both of the book clubs can stop by to check out this month’s selection. Between the Covers afternoon book club will be discussing “West with Giraffes” by Lynda Rutledge on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 3 p.m. Nora Robert’s novel “Inheritance” is the book for Reads Well With Others, the evening book club. The evening club will meet on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 5 p.m.