By Karen Kelly | Special to the Times Vedette

The library is buzzing with activity during July. Even though the summer reading program is over, our calendar is still full. 

The Guthrie County ISU Extension office will share another STEM program this month. On Wednesday, July 9, at 2 p.m., youth can participate in the robotics and programming activity in the Taylor meeting room. 

On Thursday, July 10 at 4 p.m., the library will have a LEGO Mania program that is open to kids of all ages. On July 16, at 4 p.m., the Guthrie Center STEM Lab for tweens and teens is scheduled. Creation Corner will be at 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 24 for all ages. Pre-registration is requested for these programs as we have a 25-person limit. 

Preschool Story Hour is each Friday at 10 a.m. On July 10, the theme for the day will be red. Blue is the topic of July 18, and on July 25, participants will celebrate Christmas in July. 

As usual, Cribbage and Bridge Club will meet from 9-11 a.m. each Monday and Wednesday respectively. New players are always welcome.

MJB Library has two book clubs. The afternoon book club will be meeting on Tuesday, July  8, at 3 p.m. to discuss “Long Island” by Colm Toibin. The evening book club will be sharing about “The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store” by James McBride at 5 p.m. on July 22. Be sure to stop in and check out a book if you would like to join. 

Card-making club will meet from 9-11 a.m. on Thursday, July 17. Participants are asked to pay a $5 fee to cover the cost of all the materials. CookBook Club is at 6:30 p.m. on July 17. Participants in the cookbook club should stop by the library to pick a recipe to prepare and bring to share with the group on July 17. 

By Karen Kelly | Special to the Times Vedette

MJB Library wrapped up its Summer Reading Program on Friday, June 27 with a Level Up at the Library party. HomeTown Foods provided grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for the celebration; the MJB Library extends their thanks to HomeTown Foods for their generous support of the Summer Reading Program.  

Following lunch, prizes were drawn. Participants earned drawing tickets by turning in reading logs, activity sheets and by attending library programs. After the drawing, each child was able to choose new books to take home for his or her personal library. Prizes and programs for the summer reading program were made possible by grants that were designated for the summer reading program.

Forty-six children signed up for the summer reading program, and those children logged 38,330 minutes of reading time during the month of June.

Readers who won prizes include Chase Betts, Emmerich Hernandez, Edward Irlbeck, Rylee Irlbeck, Clark Knobbe, Hadley Knobbe, Kane Knobbe, Eli Langgaard, William Langgaard, Ella Lewis, Chance Nielsen, Piper Peterson, Brylon Redfern, Kroy Redfern, Ainsley Schreiber, Merrick Schreiber, Reagan Terwilliger and Blair Tinken.

Please plan ahead for your holiday reading needs since the MJB Library will be closed on Friday, July 4. We will be open our normal Saturday hours of 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on July 5.

The Guthrie County ISU Extension will be presented two STEAM programs for our youth during July. On Wednesday, July 2, at  2 p.m., they will have a workshop entitled “Pinball Machine.” On Wednesday, July 9, the 2 p.m. program will be about robotics and coding.

The library will have LEGO Mania at 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 10. Guthrie STEM Lab will be on Wednesday, July 16 at 4 p.m.; this event is geared to tween and teen participants. Younger children must be accompanied by an adult helper if they are attending the STEM Lab as the activities are more challenging. Creation Corner on Thursday, July 24, at 4 p.m. is open to all school age youth. Please pre-register for these events as we have spots for 25 participants.

Cribbage and Bridge groups meet at the Taylor meeting room from 9-11 a.m. on Monday and Wednesday respectively. Players of all skill levels are encouraged to join.

Between the Covers Book Club will meet on Tuesday, July 8 at 3 p.m. The group will be reading Colm Toibin’s “Long Island.”

Members of Reads Well With Others evening book club may stop by at their convenience to check out a copy of our July read, “The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store” by James McBride. In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. As these characters’ stories overlap and deepen, it becomes clear how much the people who live on the margins of white, Christian America struggle and what they must do to survive. When the truth is finally revealed about what happened on Chicken Hill and the part the town’s white establishment played in it, McBride shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community — heaven and Earth — that sustain us.

By Karen Kelly | Special to the Times Vedette

The MJB Library and Friends of the Guthrie Center Library would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of the Third Annual Fundraising Golf Tournament. Thanks to the community’s support, the Friends of the Guthrie Center Library were able to pay for the replacement of the drinking fountain in the library with a fountain that also features a water bottle filler. 

We would like to extend a big thank you to the businesses that were golf tournament sponsors. Those businesses are listed below: Bruner, Bruner & Reinhart; Calvert Langgaard & Co PLLC; Courtney Tax Services; DubP Apparel; Edward Jones; Excel Ag LC; Gap Creek Quilting Mercantile; GIT Insurance; Guthrie County Quality Meats; Guthrie County State Bank; Guthrie Family Medicine Center; Haver Lumber; HomeTown Foods-Guthrie Center; HomeTown Foods-Panora; Incredibowl; Lake Lumber; Local Liquor; Panora Fiber; People’s Bank; Primetime; Rod Robson-BH Realty; Schreiber Family Chiropractic; State Farm Insurance; Synergy Wellness; The News Gazette; Twin Vines Vineyard; Vicki Crannell-Realtor; Wetzel Repair. 

Thanks also to the following individual sponsors of the golf event: Cricket’s Garden; The Flanery Farms (Dennis Flanery); Mary Leighty. And our volunteers from the Friends of the Guthrie Center Library Board, Vicki Crannell, Mary Leighty, Debbie Menning, Diane Flanery, Library Director Jerri Hawkins, and Guthrie Center Golf Course employees, and Rod Robson.

The Friends of the Guthrie Center Public Library, together with the library staff, wish to extend their sincere appreciation to Guthrie County Quality Meats and Fox Countertops for their generous donation of $500 to the Friends of the Guthrie Center Public Library. We also would like to convey our heartfelt gratitude to Roxy Schwartz for her gracious support to the Friends of the Guthrie Center Library. Your contributions make a meaningful impact on our community.

We are heading into our final week of Summer Reading Program, but remember, you can “Level Up at the Library” all year long. On Wednesday, June 25, the Guthrie County ISU Extension Office will have a program for all ages at 2 p.m. in the Taylor Meeting Room. 

Those who are registered for the summer reading program need to turn in all reading logs and activity sheets by the close of the library on Thursday, June 26 to be included in the prize drawings. 

Our summer reading program finale will be on Friday, June 27 at noon. HomeTown Foods in Guthrie Center will be providing burgers, and we will draw for prizes for the reading program participants. 

By Karen Kelly | Special to the Times Vedette

The Summer Reading Program (SRP), Level Up at the Library, is buzzing with excitement. Forty-six enthusiastic children have signed up, joined by many other youth participating in our thrilling activities.

Registered participants are reminded to continue tracking their reading minutes and completing their progress sheets. When the sheet is full, return it to the library to be included in the final prize drawings. Also, youth who are registered get an extra chance in the drawing for each library activity they attend during SRP month.  

This coming week, the always popular DNR Conservationist Anne Riordan will be here to present a program entitled Animal Olympics. The program will be on Thursday, June 19, at 2 p.m. in the youth area of the library.  

On Friday, June 20, the weekly preschool story hour will take place at 10 a.m. Stories and the craft will have the theme “messes.”

This month’s creation corner will be SRP Creation Stations on Monday, June 23, at 4 p.m. We have some exciting crafts planned for participants including Perler Bead Crafts, Make your Own Puzzle, and Jellyfish Salt Painting. Be sure to register online.

Even with all the youth programs, adult programs are going on as usual. Card-making class will be on Thursday, June 19, from 9-11 a.m. A $5 fee for each participant covers the cost of all materials and supplies needed to create lovely, hand-made greeting cards.  

The Cookbook Club also meets on Thursday, July 19, at 6:30 p.m. Participants are reminded to stop by the MJB Library to choose a recipe from this month’s featured cookbook, “Magnolia Bakery Handbook: Volume 2, Icebox Desserts.” Bring the dessert of your choice to share when you come to the meeting.  

Cribbage is each Monday morning from 9-11 a.m. in the Taylor Meeting Room. Bridge Club is each Wednesday morning from 9-11 a.m. Both groups welcome card players of all skill levels. 

The evening book club will meet on Tuesday, June 24, at 5 p.m. The group will be discussing “What Alice Forgot” by Liane Moriarty. The afternoon group will meet on July 8 at 3 p.m. to discuss “Long Island” by Colm Toibin. We have extra copies of both of these books available to check out. 

By Karen Kelly | Special to the Times Vedette

The 2025 Summer Reading Program, Level Up at Your Library, began on Monday, June 2. Our kick-off event was a magic class. Later in the week, kids participated in the LEGO Mania activity of building the tallest tower with LEGOs. The month of June is filled with exciting opportunities to participate in the SRP. If you haven’t registered already, go online and sign up to earn chances to win prizes by reading and participating in activities.

The MJB Library and Friends of Guthrie Center Library were awarded a $1,000 grant from Communities 4 Children to help fund the MJB Library Summer Reading Program. Funds were used to pay for books that go support the theme, Level Up at your Library. Prizes and incentives for readers who complete the reading challenges were purchased with these funds as well as the fees for summer reading performers who entertained and educated our young patrons.

The first Guthrie County Extension program of the summer will be on Wednesday, June 11, at 2 p.m. The topic will be “Game of Best.” Pre-registration is appreciated. This program is open to all ages.

Friday, we will have our weekly story hour at 10 a.m., which will feature the theme flowers. Friday afternoon is a special program, so the library will be open an extra hour. Beginning at 1 p.m., Dinosaur Guide Anthony, owner of Chomp, Stomp, Roar, will be sharing a Prehistoric Pep Rally to teach us about dinosaurs and prehistoric times. He might even bring along a couple of his dinosaur friends. Kids of all ages will love this fascinating, educational and free program. Youth who are registered for the summer reading program will receive an additional prize drawing ticket for participating.

On Tuesday, June 17, the library will host the trick bubble show at 1 p.m. If you like bubbles, come learn some fun and exciting new tricks.

A reminder to book club members, stop by the library to get a copy of this month’s book. Between the Covers is discussing “Long Island” by Colm Toibin in July. Reads Well with Others will be reading “What Alice Forgot” by Liane Moriarty on June 24.

Be sure to register your team for the Friends of the Library four person best-ball golf tournament on Saturday, June 14. The $60 per person registration includes lunch and a golf cart. Shotgun start is at 9 a.m.

By Karen Kelly | Special to the Times Vedette

The Iowa Adventure Pass is back. After a brief pause, the Iowa Adventure Pass is relaunching thanks to the collaboration of libraries across the state and some of Iowa’s fascinating destinations. This program allows adult library cardholders to check out free passes to family-friendly destinations. 

Whether you’re planning a day at the Blank Park Zoo, touring the Science Center of Iowa, or discovering the Children’s Museum, the Iowa Adventure Pass venues at Mary J Barnett Memorial Library make it easy and affordable to try out a new destination or enjoy a repeat visit.

This is how it works.  Reserve a pass online. Print or download your confirmation. Show the printout or download along with an ID at your destination for free admission.  

Each pass offers free entry for two adults and two children (unless otherwise specified), and it’s just one more way your library connects you to new experiences. 

This relaunch represents a renewed commitment to community partnerships, learning and exploration, so more Iowans can experience the wonders right in their backyard. At the MJB Library, this program is funded by the Friends of the Guthrie Center Library.  

If you have a preschool through middle school-aged child, be sure to go to the MJB Library website and register for the summer reading program. We have many exciting programs and activities, as well as reading incentives, throughout June.  

From Wednesday, June 4, through Friday, June 6, the PBS STEM trailer will be at the MJB Library. Each day, the library will have new and exciting STEM games and activities for youth to explore.

On Thursday, June 5, LEGO Mania will be at 4 p.m. The Guthrie STEM Lab takes place on Monday, June 9. Guthrie County ISU Extension will present a STEM activity called Game of Best on  Wednesday, June 11, at 2 p.m.

Preschool Story Hour will take place on Friday mornings at 10 a.m.  On June 6, summer fun is the theme for Story Hour. Flowers will be the topic of June 13, while messes will be the topic for June 20. We will not have a story hour on June 27 since that is the Summer Reading Program Prize Party. 

MJB Library will extend its hours on Friday, June 13, because Dinosaur Ranger Anthony will be presenting a Prehistoric Pep Rally to talk about dinosaurs. The program begins at 1 p.m. Dinosaur lovers won’t want to miss this exciting program. 

Join us for Cribbage on Monday mornings from 9-11 a.m. and Bridge Club on Wednesday mornings from 9-11 a.m. Players of all skill levels are welcome to participate. Members of the Between the Covers Book Club should stop in and get a copy of “The First Lie Wins” by Ashley Elston so they are ready for the book club on Tuesday, June 10.    

Reads Well with Others Book Club is going to discuss Liane Moriarty’s novel, “What Alice Forgot.” Alice Love is 29, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. So, imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! She HATES the gym) and is whisked off to the hospital, where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over — she’s getting divorced, she has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over. This interesting book should provoke a great discussion.