By Karen Kelly | Special to the Times Vedette

The summer reading program at the MJB Library kicked off on June 3, but it’s not too late to participate. We have a month of fun planned for our preschool through eighth-grade patrons. 

On Friday, June 7, at 10 a.m., Anne Riordan will be our special guest, speaking about Iowa State Parks; this program is geared toward preschool through early elementary ages. On Monday, June 10, Anne Riordan will be back with a program intended for all ages. Bike World and Biff Ridgway will be here at 12:30 on Tuesday, June 11, for a bike clinic and bike rodeo, so bring your bicycle and helmet to the library and be ready for some fun. Friday, June 14 at 11 a.m., we will have creation stations with projects for all ages.  

On Monday, June 17, the library will be hosting an outdoor movie with free popcorn at 4 p.m. Absolute Science will present its Fantastic Foam Show at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 21. Monday, May 24, the Library will host mindful coloring day beginning at 1 p.m. On Tuesday, June 25, Blank Park Zoo will be here at noon with its ZOO to You program. On Thursday, May 27, all reading logs must be turned in to be eligible for our prize drawing. Our summer reading finale will be Friday, June 28 at 11 a.m. with pizza donated from Casey’s General Store. 

During June as part of our summer reading program, the Guthrie County ISU Extension Office will present STEM workshops in the Taylor reading room on Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. The title of June 5 will be Hello Honey Bees. Here and Now is the June 12 workshop. On June 19, No Monkeys, No Chocolate will be the topic. The final summer STEM program on June 26 will be Here We Are–a Guide to Earth. 

Summer Golf Tournament

We are still taking registrations for the Friends of the Guthrie Center Public Library Second Annual Golf Tournament on Saturday, June 15. The cost to participate in this four-person best ball tournament is $60 per person, which includes lunch and a cart. Register by calling the library at 641-747-8110 or Rod Robson at 641-757-1409. The Friends will also have Breakfast Burritos for sale before the shotgun starts. Businesses are still able to sign up for sponsorships by calling the library. The cost of a sponsorship is $100.  

Events for Adults 

Tuesday, June 11 at 3 p.m. will be the monthly gathering of Between the Covers Book Club.  Maya Angelou’s “I Know How the Caged Bird Sings” will be the topic of the afternoon discussion. Anyone wishing to participate may stop at the library to check out a copy of the novel. 

Lunch and Learn will be on Wednesday, June 12 from noon to 1 p.m. Iowa Homeschool Representative Karen Courtney will be the featured presenter on Homeschool 101. Participants must pre-register for this event. A light lunch will be served. 

Adventure Passes

A reminder that patrons with a Guthrie Center address are eligible to use the Adventure Passes, which are sponsored by the Friends of the Library. We have passes available for the Blank Park Zoo, The Science Center of Iowa, and the Des Moines Children’s Museum.  Library patrons (age 18 and older) may use their library card to check out a pass through the library’s website. Patrons may check out a pass for each venue once every 365 days. The pass is valid for free admission for two adults and two children to the ZOO and Science Center but for the DSM Children’s Museum the pass is valid for four children FREE admission, no charge for supervising adults. The printed pass and a valid photo ID must be presented at the gates to be admitted to the venue. What are you waiting for? Sign up for free family fun courtesy of your library card.

The landscaping crew who worked on the parking lot beautification project posed in front of the finished area. Left to Right: Dr. Steve Bascom, Matt Hawkins, Vicki Crannell, Leora Laughery. Not pictured, Jerri Hawkins.

Friends of the Library Matt Hawkins, Vicki Crannell, and Leora Laughery work to place the rocks in the new landscaping.

Dr. Steve Bascom unloads a wagon of rocks at the library parking lot.

Sunday, June 2, Friends of the Library worked to beautify the area around the MJB Library parking lot.

The library is selling two desks for $10 each or a free will offering.

The Extension Office led a workshop about planting herb gardens. Participants are busy finishing up their planters full of herbs. Pictured left to right: Andrea Redfern, Sheryl Clark, Breanna Kesler, Jennifer Kesler and Barb Gigar.

By Karen Kelly | Special to the Times Vedette

One of my favorite memories from my childhood was Saturday afternoons because that was library day with my mom. The library was a magical place full of more books that contained interesting characters and that transported me to times and places I could only dream of going.

When I was little, even though the library was full of books, I quite often left carrying the same book – “My Mother Is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World.” Mom read me that book so many times that I memorized it. I know this because Mom was so tired of reading the same book, she would try to skip pages. Luckily, I generally would point this out so she could go back and read the part she’d missed. Curling up with Mom and my brother every night for stories was like meeting up with friends who lived inside the covers of those books.

As I got older, we stopped reading together, but the library trips continued. I would spend the longest time choosing new friends who would transport me to new places in the coming week. Would it be Laura Ingalls Wilder taking me to her little cabin in the big woods or Clara Barton introducing me to life on a Civil War battlefield?

I believe it’s because of those trips my mom made to the library with me that I decided to study literature and spend a large part of my life trying to introduce students to my friends inside those books. It’s also probably the reason that after I retired from teaching, I worked first in a bookstore and then was drawn like a magnet to the library.  

Because of those warm memories and my deep belief that curiosity and a love of learning begin between the covers of those magical books that libraries house, I am so excited for the project that we are embarking on at the MJB Library. 

Thanks to a grant from the ALA, the library has been able to purchase $10,000 of new furniture for the children’s area of the library. Child-sized bookshelves and interactive wall hangings as well as inviting reading spaces will soon be added to the kid’s section.   

Additionally, we are striving to update the children’s non-fiction section of the library. This is a daunting task because 83% of our children’s nonfiction book collection is more than 10 years old. While it may not seem that 10 years is too old for a book, the information in many 10 years old nonfiction books is often outdated. For the youngsters checking out those books, 10 years is quite literally a lifetime.

In addition, the nonfiction books of today are very different from nonfiction books from 10 or 20 years ago. Today’s nonfiction books no longer look like science or history textbooks disguised as library books. Rather, these new nonfiction books are visually appealing, with colorful illustrations and photographs, infographics, charts and sidebar texts. They are designed for children of varied reading levels and are intended to aid a child’s cognitive development.  

We have an amazing collection of fiction books — beautiful picture books, classic fairy tales, new fiction series, graphic novels, and audiobooks. Fiction is important. It sparks imagination and teaches empathy.  

However, I would argue that nonfiction is equally important in a child’s reading development. Factual reading helps to develop a child’s vocabulary, builds background information and helps children make connections to the world around them; it brings subjects alive in a way that fiction cannot. Nonfiction simultaneously challenges curious minds and improves reading skills while providing the knowledge needed to fully appreciate fiction stories. 

Our library is beautiful and filled with so many excellent books. Change is not easy, but we are working to ensure that our youngest patrons will regard a trip to the library as magical as I did all those years ago. To do that, we need to continue to update and provide the best resources possible.  

We here at the MJB Library believe that investing in our youth’s education is one of the library’s most important responsibilities, and we hope you will join us in making it possible. While we are constantly working on grants for additional funding for our youth, we would welcome any monetary contributions.  

To see the changes we are working toward in the children’s area, stop in and ask Jerri to show you. If you would like to monetarily contribute to our fund to purchase new child-sized furniture, send checks to the Friends of the Library. If you have a particular topic you want to see added to our nonfiction book collection, your suggestions would be welcome. If you would like to contribute funds to add new books to the children’s non-fiction books, contributions to Mary J. Barnett Memorial Library would be welcomed. If you are donating specifically for the children’s section, please note this in the check memo.  

Summer Reading Program

Be sure to sign up your kids from preschool to eighth grade for our summer reading program, which begins on June 3. Sign-up can be done online or in person at the library.  

Golf Tournament

The second annual Friends of the Library Golf Tournament will be on Saturday, June 15 at the Guthrie Center Golf Course. The four-person best ball tournament will begin at 8 a.m. The cost is $60 per person; registration includes lunch and a cart. Sign up on the library website, call or email the library, or call Rod Robson at 641-757-1409. Businesses can still sign up to sponsor the event as well. 

Seed Library

Remember to come in and see what we have in our seed library. Our seed library is completely free of charge. We just ask that you limit your usage to eight packages of seeds per month. We have a variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers. 

This little patron enjoys the new reading area rug and the new log seats in the kids’ section of the library. These are part of the new additions made possible by the ALA grant.

The MJB Library hosted a STEM workshop led by the Guthrie County ISU extension on Monday, May 20. The topic was insects. Ainsley Schreiber is creating an insect.

Hadley Knobbe evaluates what her insect needs during the STEM workshop at the MJB Library

Merrick Schreiber concentrates on including all the required parts of the insect he is constructing at the STEM workshop.

Using Play-Doh and pipe cleaners, STEM participants at last week’s workshop created a unique insect sculpture.

By Karen Kelly | Special to the Times Vedette

In an effort to encourage our patrons to participate in sustainable development, to help with food insufficiency, and for those of you who want some pretty flowers, fresh herbs or veggies from your garden, MJB Library is working to establish a seed library. Patrons are encouraged to take home some seeds to plant. Ask us for details when you stop in. Our goal is for this to be an ongoing service we offer to patrons. We believe through donations of both saved seeds and commercial seed donations, we can maintain the seed library.

Summer Reading Program

Be sure to register your kids for MJB’s Summer Reading Program. Read, Renew, Repeat — this year’s theme — is intended to encourage participants to be more mindful of how we treat our environment. Our environment includes nature and our daily lives. Registration can be completed online at the library website. SRP is available for children from preschool through eighth grade.

Our kick-off event will be an exciting scavenger hunt on Monday, June 3, at 1 p.m. Storytime on June 7 will feature special guest Anne Riordan; this presentation is geared toward preschool participants.

From June 14-28, there will be no preschool story time as we will be doing activities for all ages for the Summer Reading Program. Check our schedule on the MJB website or stop in and pick up a calendar of events. Through June, there are programs and activities on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  On Tuesday, June 11, we will be hosting a bike clinic and rodeo. On Tuesday, June 25, the Blank Park Zoo will be presenting Zoo to You at noon.

Friends Meeting

Friends of the Guthrie Center Library will meet on Tuesday, June 4 at 6:15 p.m. They will be finalizing plans for the golf tournament fundraiser. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Between the Covers

Book lovers, please feel free to join our book club Between the Covers.  The next meeting will be Tuesday, June 11 at 3 p.m. Discussion will center around “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” a memoir of Maya Angelou’s early life. Stop in the library to check out a copy.

Golf Tournament

The second annual Friends of the Library Golf Tournament will be on Saturday, June 15 at the Guthrie Center Golf Course. The 4-person best ball tournament will begin at 9 a.m. The cost is $60 per person; registration includes lunch and a cart. Sign up on the library website, call or email the library, or call Rod Robson at 641-757-1409. Businesses can still sign up to sponsor the event as well.

The MJB Library Seed Library is ready for use. For no cost, patrons may stop in and select up to eight packages of seeds per month to grow vegetables, herbs or flowers. While you’re at the library, be sure to take a look at our extensive collection of books on gardening.

By Karen Kelly | Special to the Times Vedette

Thanks to a gift from the Omaha Astronomical League, the Mary J Barnett Library was selected to receive a brand new telescope available for check-out. The Orion 4.5 inch StarBlast Reflector is user-friendly, portable and lightweight. Equipped with quality optics and a zoom eyepiece, the sturdy telescope is easy to use. 

The telescope is powerful enough to see the moon, the crescents of Venus, the four Galilean moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, and star clusters and nebulae. Patrons 18 years old or older may check out the telescope to use at home. This would be great not only for families but for scouting and 4-H and homeschool groups who want to study astronomy. 

Adults with a library card may check out the telescope for a seven-day checkout period; the telescope is not renewable. Overdue fines for the telescope are $5 per day.  

Summer Reading Program

Hey, preschoolers-eighth graders, have you signed up yet for the summer reading program? Online registration is now open; sign up on the MJB Library website. 

New Materials

Video fans, we have new series! “The Crown” and seasons 1-4 of “Jack Ryan” are here. For rom-com fans, “Anyone but You” is available for check-out. 

Lunch and Learn

Remember to sign up for the May Lunch and Learn on May 8 when Carol Laughery, nutritionist and owner of Ignite Nutrition, will be the presenter. A light lunch will be donated by Cafe on the Hill. The event will run from noon to 1 p.m.  

Book Club

Between the Covers Book Club will meet May 14 at 3 p.m. to discuss “The Widows of Braxton County” by Jess McKonkey. Copies are available for those who want to attend the book club to check out. 

Card-making Club

Card-making club will meet from 9-11 a.m. on Thursday, May 16. All materials are provided for a $5 fee.

Bridge and Cribbage

Cribbage and Bridge Clubs meet regularly in the Taylor Meeting Room. Cribbage meets each Monday from 9-11 a.m. Bridge meets every Wednesday from 9-11 a.m.

Cookbook Club

“Not That Fancy” by Reba McEntire is May’s featured cookbook for Cookbook Club. Cookbook Club will meet on Thursday, May 16, at 6:30 p.m. Stop in the library to choose a recipe to make and share with the group at the meeting. 

May StoryHours

StoryHour for preschoolers and their caregivers is Friday morning at 10 a.m. May 10 will highlight weather. Flowers will be the topic for May 17, and May 24 will focus on nature. The theme for May 31 will be Earth.  

After School STEM

The Guthrie County Extension is presenting an afterschool program on Monday, May 20 at the MJB Library. The program will feature reading and a STEM activity.  

Herb Garden workshop

Be sure to sign up for the workshop presented by the Guthrie County Extension on May 21 from 4-6 p.m. Create your own herb garden, learn how to harvest herbs, and learn about the Spend Smart, Eat Smart program. The cost of $5 per herb garden is payable on the day of the program. Pre-registration is required.

Closed for Memorial Day

A reminder, the MJB Library will be closed on Monday, May 27 for Memorial Day. Plan to get your reading materials early. 

After reading stories about food, the kids in storytime made dirt cups. Estes Stagg enjoys a big scoop of Oreo “dirt.”

Lydon Stagg discovers the gummy worms in his dirt cup are delicious and stretchy.

The theme for May 3 storytime was “Food.” Tayen Flanery listens intently as she tries to figure out who ate the cupcakes in the story, “Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes.”

By Karen Kelly | Special to the Times Vedette

What’s new at the MJB Library? First of all, using the ALA grant, round one money, the library has acquired new audiobooks for the juvenile section. We purchased 36 new Playaway titles and 32 Vox and Wonderbooks.  

The Vox and Wonderbooks are all reading levels including picture books, beginning readers and chapter books. Vox and Wonderbooks are print books with an audiobook permanently attached. 

Playaways are audiobooks that are preloaded to a device that requires no internet. Some of the new books include “Marley,” “The Tale of Despereaux,” and “The Wolves of Beyond Series.” 

Also purchased with the ALA grant money are new large-print books. Each month for the next year, MJB Library will be receiving 10 new large print books of various genres. There will be cozy mysteries, best sellers, romance and westerns.

Friends of the Library voted to sponsor a new Adventure Pass, which will provide admission for up to four children (adults are free) to the Des Moines’ Children’s Museum at the Valley West Mall.  Library card holders with a Guthrie Center address may reserve the pass per venue once per calendar year by going to the library website. Now you have access to three venues which also include the Blank Park Zoo and the Des Moines Science Center.

Friends of the Library Meeting

Friends of the Library will be meeting at 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7. Anyone interested in supporting the library is invited to attend. The Friends will discuss the golf fundraiser scheduled for June 15.

Lunch and Learn

Nutritionist Carol Laughery, owner of Ignite Nutrition, will be the featured speaker at the May Lunch and Learn on Wednesday, May 8 from noon to 1 p.m.  A light lunch donated by Cafe on the Hill will be served. Pre-registration is required.

Between the Covers

Between the Covers book club will meet May 14 at 3 p.m. to discuss The Widows of Braxton County by Jess McKonkey. Copies are available for those who want to attend the book club to check out.

Card-making Club

Card-making club will meet from 9-11 a.m. on Thursday, May 16. All materials are provided for a $5 fee.

Cookbook Club

“Not That Fancy” by Reba McEntire is May’s featured cookbook for Cookbook Club.  Cookbook Club will meet on Thursday, May 16, at 6:30 p.m. Stop in the library to choose a recipe to make and share with the group at the meeting.

May StoryHours

StoryHour for preschoolers and their caregivers is Friday at 10 a.m. May 3 the theme will be “Food,” while May 10 will highlight weather. Flowers will be the topic for May 17, and May 24 will focus on nature. The theme for May 31 will be Earth. 

After School STEM

The Guthrie County Extension is presenting an afterschool program on Monday, May 20 at the MJB Library. The program will feature reading and a STEM activity. 

Herb Garden workshop

Be sure to sign up for the workshop presented by the Guthrie County Extension on May 21 from 4-6 p.m. Create your own herb garden, learn how to harvest herbs, and learn about the Spend Smart, Eat Smart program. The cost of $5 per herb garden is payable on the day of the program. Pre-registration is required.

Closed for Memorial Day

A reminder, the MJB Library will be closed on Monday, May 27 for Memorial Day. Plan to get your reading materials early.

Registration for the Summer Reading Program

Registration for the MJB Library Summer Reading Program is open now. Sign up at the MJB Library website for a month of exciting programming and reading.

Nancy Smith brought three of her granddaughters to StoryHour last Friday. The girls are playing with puppets while they wait for the stories to begin. Preschool StoryHour is every Friday at 10 a.m. 

Special to the Times Vedette

The Guthrie County Extension held a STEM workshop about creating seed bombs on Monday, April 15 at the Mary J Barnett Memorial Library.

Mud pies? No, these STEM workshop participants are mixing water into the seed bomb.

STEM workshop participants measure out flower seeds to create seed bombs.

These finished seed bombs are drying and waiting to be planted.