Our Summer Reading Kickoff Party is just around the corner! Next Tuesday, May 25th, at 2 pm we will be kicking off Summer Reading in the parking lot with games, prizes, balloon animals, hot dogs, and popcorn.
Summer Reading Signup
Starting on the 25th, you’ll be able to sign up for Summer Reading online at https://lmlibrary.beanstack.org/ or if you prefer an offline option, you can pick up a paper registration form at the library.
Kids’ Summer Reading
Kids ages 0-5, read 20 books to complete the challenge and receive a prize.
Kids ages 6-12, read 15 hours to complete the main challenge and receive a prize, or go the extra mile and read 30 hours to receive an additional prize!
Earn badges by logging your minutes or books read and by completing activities online. The badges will change to color from black/white as you earn them.
Stop by the Children’s Desk to pick up the weekly Kids Craft Kit.
Teens’ Summer Reading
The teen program is for ages 13-17. Earn 8 badges of any kind to complete the program.
Earn badges by logging the minutes you read, writing reviews of books you read, and by participating in activities. Any kind of reading will count toward earning badges. The badges will change to color from black/white as you earn them.
For every badge you earn, you will earn tickets to put towards prizes. Prizes will be available half way through the program and until June 11th. Final prizes will be available for you to earn after that and until the end date of July 3rd.
Adults’ Summer Reading
The adult program is for ages 18 and up. Earn badges by logging the books you read, by completing activities online (the activities are like attending virtual library events), and by writing book reviews. The badges will change to color from black/white as you earn them.
Earn 5 badges to get the completion badge and be entered into a prize drawing. Go above and beyond by earning 24 badges to be entered into our grand prize drawing!
If you want to participate in Summer reading offline, come by the library to pick up a bingo card instead.
Closed Memorial Day
The Library will be closed on Monday, May 31st for Memorial Day. We will reopen on Tuesday for our normal hours, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Summer Reading Events
We will have several special events at the library during Summer Reading this year, including:
Tuesday, the 25th at 2 pm – Summer Reading Kickoff Party
Tuesday, June 1st at 10 am – Jammin’ Randy will perform fun songs about all kinds of animals. Everyone will be encouraged to dance and sing-a-long!
Friday, June 4 at 4 pm – Teen Drawful Game Night
Tuesday, June 8th at 10 am – Lee Richardson Zoomobile – Enjoy a storytime and a visit from an animal friend straight from the Lee Richardson Zoo.
Tuesday, June 8th at 4 pm – Anime Drawing Class, for Teens and Adults
Friday, June 11th at 4 pm – Teen Anime Trivia
Friday, June 16th at 5 pm – Virtual Teen Otaku Club
Friday, June 18th at 5 pm – Teen Among Us Night
Tuesday, June 22th at 4 pm – Anime Drawing Class, for Teens and Adults
Tuesday, June 24th at 10 am – Mad Science
Friday, June 25th at 4 pm – Teen Animal Trivia
Thursday, July 1st at 10 am – Dan Dan the Magic Man
Friday, July 2nd at 4 pm – Family Feud Game Night
Yard and Garden book display
Spring is well under way. Are you growing a garden this year? Maybe you want to improve your lawn or patio area? Check out our Yard and Garden display either in person at the library or online by going to our catalog, http://catalog.lmlibrary.org, then choose Adult on the top menu and Book Display under the List of All option.
Whether it is for aesthetics, security, or simple privacy, no project is more important to a landscape than its vertical boundary structures—the fences, walls, screens, and retaining wall terraces. This book includes classic favorites, like picket fences and panel fences, but also includes interesting regional variations, like Virginia split rail fences and dry-fit stone garden walls.
Welcome the world’s most exquisite visitors to your garden! Gardening for Butterflies, by the experts at the Xerces Society, introduces you to a variety of butterflies who need our help, and shows you how to design a habitat where they will thrive. This optimistic call to arms is packed with everything you need to create a beautiful, pollinator-friendly garden.
An essential reference to gardening in hot and cold dry climates.
Gardening where summers are hot and prone to periods of drought, or where winters are snowy one week and freezing rain the next, is best managed by xeriscaping — dryland gardening techniques that favor not only water conservation but also the conservation of time, energy and other resources.
Xeriscaping enthusiasts exist throughout North America wherever the climate calls for dryland gardening, from the Great Plains prairies to the California desert.
Hoopla is coming to our library! Library patrons will be able to use hoopla for online and mobile access to eBooks, audiobooks, comics, music, and more. There are no waiting lists with hoopla. Using your library card number and password, you’ll be able to borrow, instantly stream, and download a certain number of items every month using hoopla’s mobile app or their website www.hoopladigital.com.
Virtual Teen Otaku Club
Our Virtual Teen Otaku Club will meet online again at 5 pm on April 21st. The club will discuss the anime El-Hazard: The Wanderers. We have screener dvd’s available for borrowing or members can watch the show on Crunchy Roll for free.
Visit our website at lmlibrary.org and sign up to get the zoom room info & obtain a screener DVD. Every teen who signs up gets a free box of pocky!
El-Hazard: The Wanderers focuses on three high school students and their History teacher who are mysteriously transported to the fantastical world of El-Hazard.
Next month we will celebrate Studio Ghibli’s 20th anniversary of Spirited Away. We will play trivia and other games based on the movie.
April Grab and Go Teen Crafts
Celebrate National Poetry Month with us by grabbing a craft and going online to view our tutorial! The craft will be available for the entire month or until supplies run out, supplies are limited so hurry in to get yours!
Once you get your craft, go online to facebook, instagram, or twitter and find us, Liberal Memorial Library, to view our tutorial video on how to do the craft. A paper tutorial will be included in the kit, so viewing the video is not required.
Online Library and Lunch
On Tuesday, May 11th at Noon, our book club will meet online to discuss “The Storied Life Of AJ Fikry” by Gabrielle Zevin.
Earth Day Display
This coming Thursday is Earth Day. Check out our Earth Day display either in person at the library or online by going to our catalog, http://catalog.lmlibrary.org, then choose Adult on the top menu and Book Display under the List of All option.
Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet’s slide to certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal.
Are trees social beings? In The Hidden Life of Trees forester and author Peter Wohlleben convincingly makes the case that, yes, the forest is a social network. He draws on groundbreaking scientific discoveries to describe how trees are like human families: tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, support them as they grow, share nutrients with those who are sick or struggling, and even warn each other of impending dangers. Wohlleben also shares his deep love of woods and forests, explaining the amazing processes of life, death, and regeneration he has observed in his woodland.
After learning about the complex life of trees, a walk in the woods will never be the same again.
Just as World War II called an earlier generation to greatness, so the climate crisis is calling today’s rising youth to action: to create a better future.
Bill Nye applies his message of technological optimism to one of the most serious challenges facing our species: climate change. With a scientist’s rigorous understanding of how things are and an engineer’s vision of how things could be, he completely reframes the issue of today’s environmental crisis and views it not as the end of progress but as an opportunity for a tremendous new beginning.
Saving the climate is our common duty. With each passing day, climate change is causing Pacific islands to disappear into the sea, accelerating the extinction of species at alarming proportions and aggravating a water shortage that has affected the entire world. In short, climate change can no longer be denied—it threatens our existence on earth.
In this new book, the Dalai Lama, one of the most influential figures of our time, calls on political decision makers to finally fight against deadlock and ignorance on this issue and to stand up for a different, more climate-friendly world and for the younger generation to assert their right to regain their future.
Here at the library, we are excited about the new gadgets that will soon come our way. We are getting a new Lulzbot 3D printer and a new Glowforge 3D Laser Printer.
Our new 3D printer will be able to print using up to four different colors of filament at the same time. If you want to see the 3D printer in action, you will be able to follow a link on our website to see a live stream from a webcam mounted on the printer.
The Glowforge 3D laser printer will be able to cut and engrave hardwood, plywood, leather, and acrylic. Visit https://glowforge.com/discover to see what sort of projects the Glowforge can create!
Grab and Go Teen Crafts
We are celebrating National Crafting Month with Grab and Go Crafts for Teens. During March, we will have a different craft each Monday, available for pick up throughout the week until supplies run out.
This week’s craft will be scratch art cd’s. Next week we will make posable yarn dolls.
Once you get your craft, go online to facebook, instagram, or twitter and find us, Liberal Memorial Library, to view our tutorial video on how to do the craft. The craft will include a paper tutorial, so viewing the video is optional.
Virtual Teen Otaku Club
Teens can attend our Virtual Otaku Club every third Wednesday of the month to discuss and enjoy anime and manga. The club will meet again on April 21st. Visit our website, lmlibrary.org, to sign up and get the Zoom link.
Online Library and Lunch
On Tuesday, April 13th at Noon, our book club will meet online to discuss “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot.
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Ireland Fiction Display
Come into the library and check out our display of books that take place in Ireland or are by Irish authors.
Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly: A Detective Sean Duffy Novel by Adrian McKinty
Another thrilling mystery featuring Detective Sean Duffy and his most dangerous investigation yet
Belfast, 1988. A man is found dead, killed with a bolt from a crossbow in front of his house. This is no hunting accident. But uncovering who is responsible for the murder will take Detective Sean Duffy down his most dangerous road yet, a road that leads to a lonely clearing on a high bog where three masked gunmen will force Duffy to dig his own grave.
Hunted by forces unknown, threatened by Internal Affairs, and with his relationship on the rocks, Duffy will need all his wits to get out of this investigation in one piece.
The Good People by Hannah Kent
Three women in nineteenth-century Ireland are drawn together to rescue a child from a superstitious community.
Nora, bereft after the death of her husband, finds herself alone and caring for her grandson Micheal. Micheal cannot speak or walk, and Nora is desperate to know what is wrong with him. What happened to the health, happy grandson she met when her daughter was still alive?
Mary arrives in the valley to help Nora just as the rumors are spreading that Micheal is a changeling child who is bringing bad luck to the valley.
Determined to banish evil, Nora and Mary enlist the help of Nance, an elderly wanderer who understands the magic of the old ways.
Based on true events and set in a lost world bound by its own laws, The Good People is Hannah Kent’s startling new novel about absolute belief and devoted love.
Purgatory (a Jack Taylor novel) by Ken Bruen
Recovering from the severe mental and physical wounds inflicted from his recent past, former cop Jack Taylor has finally found peace. He has kicked substances that have had a stranglehold over his life. Yet this fragile existence is threatened when a vigilante killer begins targeting the scum of Galway, signing mysterious notes with the moniker ‘C 33’. The killer addresses these cryptic letters to Jack, trying to goad him into joining the murderous spree.
With the help of his friends, former drug dealer-turned-zen master Stewart and dogged police sergeant Ridge, Jack is determined to track down C 33, even if it jeopardizes his livelihood, his friends, and the remaining shreds of his sanity. C 33 is Bruen at his best: lyrical, brutal, and ceaselessly suspenseful.
The Blind Astronomer’s Daughter by John Pipkin
In late-eighteenth-century Ireland, Caroline Ainsworth learns that her life is not what it seems when her father, Arthur, an astronomer gone blind from staring at the sun, throws himself from his rooftop observatory. His vain search for an unknown planet and jealousy over astronomer William Herschel’s discovery of Uranus had driven him to madness. Grief-stricken, Caroline leaves Ireland for London.
But her father has left behind a cryptic atlas that holds the secret to finding a new world at the edge of the sky. As Caroline reluctantly resumes her father’s work, she must confront her own longings, including her love for her father’s former assistant, the tinkering blacksmith Finnegan O’Siodha. Then Ireland is swept into rebellion, and Catherine and Finnegan are plunged into its violence.
A novel about the obsessions of the age–scientific inquiry, geographic discovery, political reformation, but above all, astronomy–The Blind Astronomer’s Daughter encapsulates the quest for knowledge and for human connection. It is rich, far-reaching, and unforgettable.
A Few of the Girls: Stories by Maeve Binchy
From Maeve Binchy’s earliest writings to the most recent, her work is filled with wisdom and common sense and also a sharp, often witty voice that is insightful and reaches out to her readers around the world and of all ages. Whether it is one of her best-selling novels or a short story, Maeve shows us that times may have changed, but people often remain the same: they fall in love, sometimes unsuitably; they have hopes and dreams; they have deep, long-standing friends whose secrets are shared; they go on holidays and celebrate new jobs . . .
A Few of the Girls is a glorious collection of the very best of her short story writing, stories that were written over the decades—some published in magazines, others for friends as gifts, many for charity benefits. The stories are all filled with the signature warmth and humor that have always been an essential part of Maeve’s appeal.
The Library is now open to the public. Our current hours are Monday through Friday, 11 am to 6 pm. We will be closed each day from 1 pm to 2 pm for a shift change and cleaning.
We are also offering by appointment hours from 9 am to 11 am each day. Please call 620-626-0180 to make an appointment.
Safety Precautions
Please follow these precautions to ensure that your visit to the library is a safe one.
Please wear a mask. If you don’t have a mask, a free mask will be available for you at the front desk.
Please practice social distancing by maintaining a six-foot distance between yourself and other people.
Please use hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer is stationed throughout the building for your convenience.
Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
Services Available
Here is a list of services that we can offer at this time. Some of our services are temporarily reduced or unavailable.
Curbside Service – Place a hold on the items you want from our catalog, https://catalog.lmlibrary.org, and schedule an appointment for us to bring them to you in the parking lot. You can also choose to come into the library to pick them up in person.
Book Bundles – We select items for you from a form you can fill out, https://lmlibrary.org/book-bundle, letting us know what sort of books or movies you would like.
Public Computers – In order to maintain social distancing at computers, we have a limited number of computers available. You can reserve a computer ahead of time or go to the front desk to make a walk-in reservation.
Printing – Limited printing is currently available. We are encouraging patrons who need more than ten pages printed to go to one of the local office supply stores.
The coffee bar area, children’s play area, and seating areas are closed until further notice to avoid spread of the virus.
Pokémon Day
We’re celebrating National Pokémon day with a fakémon contest. Send us your fakémon (fake Pokémon) creations at activities @ lmlibrary.org. All entries must be submitted by 11 pm on Saturday Feb. 27th to be entered into our prize drawing.
Download a fakémon creation sheet on our website, lmlibrary.org/pokemon-day-2021, or pick one up at the library. You can also get a creation sheet with your library curbside pick up.
Winter Reading Challenge
There’s still time for you to participate in our Winter Reading Challenge. March 1st is the last day of the program.
The Way It Works
This program is for all ages. Earn 6 total badges to complete the program and be entered into a prize drawing. Earn badges by logging your time read, posting reviews and/or by completing activities online. The badges will change from black/white to color as you earn them.
With each badge you earn, you will also earn a ticket which you can redeem for a drawing of either a book, a variety of movie posters, or a mystery item.
How to Get Started
Sign up on our site at https://lmlibrary.beanstack.org or download the Beanstack tracker from Google Play or Apple App Store to register and get a look at the badges and prizes.
Online Library and Lunch
On Tuesday, March 9th at Noon, our book club will meet online to discuss “The Dry” by Jane Harper.
African American Authors
Come into the library and check out our display of books by African American Authors.
From the Great Depression through the post-World War II years, Joseph “Ziggy” Johnson, has been the pulse of Detroit’s famous Black Bottom. A celebrated gossip columnist and emcee of one of the hottest night clubs, Ziggy has rubbed elbows with the legendary black artists of the era, including Ethel Waters, Billy Eckstein, and Count Basie. Ziggy is also the founder and dean of the Ziggy Johnson School of Theater. But now the doyen of Black Bottom is ready to hang up his many dapper hats.
As he lays dying, Ziggy reflects on his life, the community that was the center of his world, and the remarkable people who helped shape it.
Inspired by the Catholic Saints Day Books, Ziggy curates his own list of Black Bottom’s venerable “52 Saints.” Among them are a vulnerable Dinah Washington, a defiant Joe Louis, and a raucous Bricktop.
From James McBride, author of the National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird, comes a wise and witty novel about what happens to the witnesses of a shooting.
In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known as Sportcoat shuffles into the courtyard of the Cause Houses housing project in south Brooklyn, pulls a .45 from his pocket, and in front of everybody shoots the project’s drug dealer at point-blank range. The reasons for this desperate burst of violence and the consequences that spring from it lie at the heart of Deacon King Kong, James McBride’s funny, moving novel and his first since his National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird.
In Deacon King Kong, McBride brings to vivid life the people affected by the shooting: the victim, the African-American and Latinx residents who witnessed it, the white neighbors, the local cops assigned to investigate, the members of the Five Ends Baptist Church where Sportcoat was deacon, the neighborhood’s Italian mobsters, and Sportcoat himself.
James McBride has written a novel every bit as involving as The Good Lord Bird and as emotionally honest as The Color of Water. Told with insight and wit, Deacon King Kong demonstrates that love and faith live in all of us
From the book description When you’re experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety, you need quick, in-the-moment relief. Whether you’re dealing with financial strains, relationship struggles, or are just feeling the weight of the world in uncertain times, it’s easy to become trapped in a constant state of mental and physical exhaustion. This emergency kit has you covered.
Adam Savage—star of Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters—shares his golden rules of creativity, from finding inspiration to following through and successfully making your idea a reality.
Every Tool’s a Hammer is a chronicle of my life as a maker. It’s an exploration of making, but it’s also a permission slip of sorts from me to you. Permission to grab hold of the things you’re interested in, that fascinate you, and to dive deeper into them to see where they lead you.
Through stories from forty-plus years of making and molding, building and breaking, along with the lessons I learned along the way, this book is meant to be a toolbox of problem solving, complete with a shop’s worth of notes on the tools, techniques, and materials that I use most often.
For when you have a lot to do…but just can’t seem to bring yourself to do it, The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Life is here. From simplifying daily beauty routines and keeping up with friendships to hacking the dating game and getting by in the corporate world, these easy, low-commitment suggestions have got even the laziest girl covered. Inside are solutions to more than 100 common problems.
What would you like to change in your life? Be more focused at work? Communicate more effectively? Find work-life balance? Make smarter decisions? Be more patient with your team or family? Have greater self-confidence? Less stress? Just . . . be happier?
Often, the biggest obstacle to change lies in our most deeply ingrained habits: those automatic thought processes that operate outside our consciousness, and yet have a profound impact on our behavior, shaping everything from how we respond to challenges to how we engage with others.
The good news is that we can literally rewire our mental habits for the better. In Habit Changers, executive coach M.J. Ryan shares the secret weapon that has helped her highest performing clients improve their focus, better manage under pressure, enhance their emotional intelligence, become more effective leaders, and more.
Library Pick-up Service
The Library is currently limited to curbside pickup only. Although the building is closed to patrons, we will bring your library checkouts to you in the library parking lot. Visit our website for more detailed instructions https://lmlibrary.org/library-pick-up-service.
Request a Book Bundle
Want something new to read or watch but just don’t know what? Fill out a request form, https://lmlibrary.org/book-bundle/, and we will find something for you! Tell us what sort of books or DVDs you want.
Once you’ve filled out the request form, we will set up a curbside pickup appointment and bring your library checkouts to you in the library parking lot. If you aren’t satisfied with the items we picked, you can immediately return them and place a new request.
Library closed Martin Luther King Jr. Day
The Library will be closed on Monday, January 20th for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We will continue curbside service on Tuesday.
Winter Reading Challenge
We have a fun way for you to start off the new year. Join us in a reading challenge from January 1st through March 1st!
The Way It Works
This program is for all ages. Earn 6 total badges to complete the program and be entered into a prize drawing. Earn badges by logging your time read, posting reviews and/or by completing activities online. The badges will change from black/white to color as you earn them.
With each badge you earn, you will also earn a ticket which you can redeem for a drawing of either a book, a variety of movie posters, or a mystery item.
On Tuesday, February 9th at Noon, our book club will meet online to discuss “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand” by Helen Simonson.
Teen Virtual Club and Virtual Teen Otaku Club
Teens are invited to join us on zoom every second and fourth Wednesday at 4:45 pm to have discussions and play games. Sign up, https://lmlibrary.org/teen-virtual-club/, to gain access to our zoom room.
Our Teen Otaku Club is back, but in virtual form. Every first and third Wednesday at 4:45 pm starting Feb. 3rd, we will meet on zoom to discuss and enjoy anime and manga. Sign up, https://lmlibrary.org/teen-virtual-otaku-club/, to get placed on the hold list for the monthly anime pick DVD & obtain the zoom room info. Call the Library (620-626-0180) or email (sarahm @ lmlibrary.org) for more information.
To-Go Craft
Here is something for the kids. Between January 18th and 22nd, pick up a Baby Yoda (Grogu) Paper bag craft kit. It will have everything you need to create your own Baby Yoda minus the glue stick. Call the Library (620-626-0180) to arrange a curbside pickup for your To-Go craft Baby Yoda.
The Library is currently limited to curbside pickup only. Although the building is closed to patrons, we will bring your library checkouts to you in the library parking lot. Visit our website for more detailed instructions https://lmlibrary.org/library-pick-up-service.
Once you are logged in, you can search for and place holds on items you want. Call 620-626-0180 or email circdesk@lmlibrary.org if you have any questions and a staff member will be happy to help.
Schedule your appointment
Once you have placed your holds, a staff member will pull the items that you placed on hold and get them ready for pick up. They will then call you and set up a convenient time for you to pick them up.
When you pick up your items – stay in your car, park in the parking lot near the front doors, and call the library to let us know that you’ve arrived. A staff member will bring your items to you in a plastic bag.
Returning Library Items We ask that all returning items be put in the book drop. All returning items will be put into quarantine for a time before they are made available for checkout again.
Holiday Reading
Here are a few new Christmas themed books to get you in the holiday spirit. See more Christmas books featured in our catalog at catalog.lmlibrary.org.
From the book description When it comes to relationships, thirty-four-year-old Kate Turner is ready to say “Bah, humbug.” The sleepy town of Blexford, England, isn’t exactly brimming with prospects, and anyway, Kate’s found fulfillment in her career as a designer, and in her delicious side job baking for her old friend Matt’s neighborhood café. But then her best friend signs her up for a dating agency that promises to help singles find love before the holidays. Twenty-three days until Christmas. Twelve dates with twelve different men. The odds must finally be in her favor . . . right?
Yet with each new date more disastrous than the one before–and the whole town keeping tabs on her misadventures–Kate must remind herself that sometimes love, like mistletoe, shows up where it’s least expected. And maybe, just maybe, it’s been right under her nose all along. . . .
Featuring over a dozen cookie and dessert recipes from The Cookie Jar—Hannah Swensen’s famous bakery, this festive new Christmas mystery from the Queen of Culinary Cozies is just the holiday treat you need this season!
While Hannah speeds through a lengthy holiday checklist, drama in town grows like Santa’s waistline on Christmas Eve. Her sister Andrea wants to stave off the blues by helping out at The Cookie Jar, Michelle’s love life is becoming complicated, Lisa needs Hannah’s advice, and Delores has a Christmas secret she’s not willing to share. But nothing dampens the holiday mood more than the chilling mystery surrounding the man found near death in an abandoned storefront two doors down from Hannah’s bakery . . .
The befuddled John Doe can’t recall a thing about himself—except for his unusual knowledge of restoring antique furniture. With a smattering of clues and barely enough time to frost Christmas cookies, Hannah must solve a deadly puzzle that could leave her dashing through the snow for her life!
From the book description Andy Carpenter and his golden retriever, Tara, are finding that all is not calm or bright in Silent Bite, the latest Christmas mystery in this heartwarming series from bestselling author David Rosenfelt.
Lawyer Andy Carpenter can finally take a breath; he’s back on dry land after a family Caribbean cruise forced on him by his wife, Laurie, to get into the Christmas spirit. Of course the family’s first stop is to the Tara Foundation, the dog rescue organization that has always been Andy’s true passion.
But when Andy arrives, his partner, Willie Miller, needs his help. Willie’s old cellmate, Tony Birch, has been arrested for murder. Andy doesn’t necessarily believe in Tony, but Willie does. And Andy believes in Willie, which is why Andy decides to take the case.
Once again David Rosenfelt puts readers in the Christmas spirit in a tale that is equal parts mystery and holiday cheer.
Closed for Christmas Holiday
Wishing all of you a merry and safe Christmas holiday from the Liberal Memorial Library family to yours. In celebration of the holiday, we will be closed on December 24th and 25th.
Online Library and Lunch
On Tuesday, January 12th at Noon, our book club will meet online to discuss “The Henna Artist” by Alka Joshi.
Programs Coming Soon
Teen Virtual Club – Teens are invited to join us on Zoom every Wednesday at 4 pm to have discussions and play games. Visit our website at lmlibrary.org to sign up and gain access to our zoom room.
Winter Reading – We will have a Winter Reading Challenge similar to our Summer Reading program earlier this year. It will be held entirely online using the Beanstack website and mobile app – Google Play or Apple App Store. Watch our website for more information about this upcoming program.
If you’re familiar with the Kansas Library eCard and use it to borrow ebooks or eAudiobooks, you might have gotten an email from the State Library of Kansas letting you know that changes are coming to the state library’s audiobook collection.
Due to a change in ownership at the company where most of the state’s audiobooks come from, RBdigital, and due to changes in that company’s policies, the state library is moving its collection of eAudiobooks to cloudLibrary as of December 2nd.
cloudLibrary is currently the place where you can check out ebooks, including bestsellers and books from large publishers and well-known authors. Soon you will also be able to check out new and bestselling eAudiobooks there as well.
To use cloudLibrary, download the app on your smartphone or tablet, choose “State Library of Kansas” as your library, and login using your Kansas Library eCard number.
Don’t have aKansas Library eCard?
Kansas residents can visit their local public or school library to get a free Kansas Library eCard, which is different from the regular library card. We would be happy to set you up with a Kansas Library eCard and get you started borrowing ebooks and eAudiobooks to read or listen to on your phone or other devices.
Online Library and Lunch
On Tuesday, December 8th at Noon, our book club will meet online to discuss “Skipping Christmas” by John Grisham.
Kansas Notable Books display
Every year the Kansas State Library chooses books that are either written by Kansas authors or about Kansas related topics to be among their selection of Kansas Notable Books. These are a few of this year’s new notable books.
You can find a complete list of Kansas Notable Books available for checkout from our library catalog, http://catalog.lmlibrary.org. Search for “Kansas Notable Book 2020” for this year’s books or just type “Kansas Notable Book” for a listing including previous year’s books.
Headwinds: a memoir
by Edna Bell-Pearson
When World War II makes its way to southwest Kansas, Edna Bell-Pearson’s life is forever changed. After meeting the man who is to become her husband—a pilot stationed in her hometown of Liberal—Edna moves to the opposite corner of the state. She is instrumental in starting what will become the Marysville Municipal Airport. Edna’s story, taking place over the course of five short years, tells of Ungerer Flying Service, a family-built and operated business. As the business is born, Edna learns to appreciate the importance of the little things—hunting and fishing trips, a good housekeeper, and crisp, autumnal days without wind.
The Reckless Oath We Made
by Bryn Greenwood
A provocative love story between a tough Kansas woman on a crooked path to redemption and her unlikeliest of champions.
Zee is nobody’s fairy-tale princess. Almost six foot, with a redhead’s temper and a shattered hip, she has a long list of worries: never-ending bills, her beautiful, gullible sister, her five-year-old nephew, her housebound mother, and her drug- dealing boss.
Two years ago Gentry, a knight in shining armor who carries an invisible sword, is called by the voices he hears to be Zee’s champion. Both shy and autistic, he’s barely spoken to her since, but he has kept watch, ready to come to her aid.
When an abduction tears Zee’s family apart she turns to the last person she ever imagined—Gentry—and sets in motion a chain of events that will not only change both of their lives, but bind them to each other forever.
Birds, Bones, and Beetles: The Improbable Career and Remarkable Legacy of University of Kansas Naturalist Charles D. Bunker
by Charles H. Warner
Birds, Bones, and Beetles tells the story of a man whose passion for learning led to remarkable discoveries, extraordinary exhibits, and the prestigious careers of many students he mentored in the natural sciences.
Steel Tide by Natalie C. Parker
The second book in a heart-stopping trilogy that follows the captain of an all-female ship hellbent on taking down a vicious warlord’s powerful fleet.
Caledonia may have lost her crew, but she’s not done fighting yet. After nearly dying at the hand of a powerful foe, Caledonia is pulled from the sea and nursed back to health by a crew of former Bullets who call themselves Blades.
Now Caledonia wants to find the Mors Navis and her beloved sisters. She wants to continue fighting Aric’s fleet and to take back the Bullet Seas. She’ll need to do everything in her power to convince the Blades that fighting is their only option, that there has to be a life better than the one under Aric Athair’s reign, and that finding the women of the Mors Navis is the first step to revolution.
Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday
The library will close at 1 pm on Wednesday the 25th and will be closed on Thursday the 26th and Friday the 27th for the Thanksgiving Holiday.
All through the month of October, we will be showcasing a different Halloween craft tutorial video each Friday at 3 pm on our Facebook page.
We also will continue to have our Facebook Live Storytimes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 4 pm in English and on Tuesday and Thursdays at 4 pm in Spanish. Catch them live or watch the recordings later.
Art Display in the Teen Area
Stop by the library to see the lovely display of still life and watercolor paintings on the wall in the Teen area. The art was provided to us by the Seymour Rogers middle school art class. We are looking forward to adding to the display as the school year progresses.
Halloween Virtual Escape Room
Watch our Facebook page and website for an upcoming online event. We are developing a Halloween themed virtual escape room based on a popular scary movie. Follow the clues to escape the room before the villain catches you!
Online Library and Lunch
On Tuesday, November 10th at Noon, our book club will meet online to discuss “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek” by Kim Michele Richardson.
A Spooky Book Display
If you’re in the mood for a scary book that will keep you up at night, or you prefer a Halloween themed cozy mystery, then check out our Halloween book display.
The perfectly proper paranormal museum by Kirsten Weiss
When Maddie Kosloski’s career flatlines, she retreats to her wine country hometown for solace and cheap rent. Railroaded into managing the local paranormal museum, she’s certain the rumors of its haunting are greatly exaggerated. But then a fresh corpse in the museum embroils Maddie in murders past and present, making her wonder if a ghost could really be on the loose.
Maddie grapples with ghost hunters, obsessed taxidermists, and the sexy motorcyclist next door as outside forces threaten. And as she juggles spectral shenanigans with the hunt for a killer, she discovers there truly is no place like home.
Death overdue by Allison Brook
Carrie Singleton is just about done with Clover Ridge, Connecticut until she’s offered a job as the head of programs and events at the spooky local library, complete with its own librarian ghost. Her first major event is a program presented by a retired homicide detective, Al Buckley, who claims he knows who murdered Laura Foster, a much-loved part-time library aide who was bludgeoned to death fifteen years earlier. As he invites members of the audience to share stories about Laura, he suddenly keels over and dies.
The medical examiner reveals that poison is what did him in and Carrie is determined to discover who murdered the detective, convinced it’s the same man who killed Laura all those years ago. Luckily for Carrie, she has a friendly, knowledgeable ghost by her side.
Haunted house murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Barbara Ross.
Tricks and treats keep the Halloween spirit alive in coastal Maine. But this year the haunted house theme is getting carried a little too far . . .
Haunted house murder by Leslie Meier
Newcomers to Tinker’s Cove, Ty and Heather Moon have moved into a dilapidated house reputed to be a haven for ghosts. Now strange noises and flickering lights erupt from the house at all hours and neighborly relations are on edge. And when a local boy goes missing near the house, it’s up to Lucy Stone to unravel the mystery of the eccentric couple and their increasingly frightful behavior.
Death by haunted house by Lee Hollis
For the past two years, the house next door to Hayley Powell has sat abandoned after the owner died under mysterious circumstances. The Salinger family has recently taken possession of the property, but the realtor behind the deal has vanished—after a very public and angry argument with Damien Salinger. If Bar Harbor’s newest neighbors are murderers, Hayley will haunt them until they confess.
Hallowed out by Barbara Ross
With its history of hauntings and ghost sightings, Busman’s Harbor is the perfect setting for Halloween festivities. But when a reenactment of a Prohibition-era gangster’s murder ends with a literal bang and a dead actor from New Jersey, Julia Snowden must identify a killer before she ends up sleeping with the fishes.
20th century ghosts by Joe Hill
Imogene is young and beautiful. She kisses like a movie star and knows everything about every film ever made. She’s also dead and waiting in the Rosebud Theater for Alec Sheldon one afternoon in 1945. . . .
Francis is unhappy. Francis was human once, but that was then. Now he’s an eight-foot-tall locust, and everyone in Calliphora will tremble when they hear him sing. . . .
John Finney is locked in a basement stained with the blood of half a dozen other murdered children. In the cellar with him is an antique telephone, long since disconnected, but which rings at night with calls from the dead. . . .
From left: Mark “Cap’n Slappy” Summers and John “Ol’ Chumbucket” Baur
Photo by Karl Maasdam, Karl Maasdam Photography
Yesterday was International Talk Like A Pirate day, a fun holiday that was started in 1995 by a couple of guys during a racquetball game. See talklikeapirate.com for more details.
Ye can learn how t’ natter like a pirate wit’ Mango Languages, which is free to Kansas residents through the Kansas State Library’s eCard. Go to mango.lmlibrary.org and you’ll see Mango’s log in screen. Kansas residents can sign up for free or choose to use Mango as a guest. If you do log in as a guest, the program won’t remember where you left off. Once you’re in you’ll be asked to pick a language, type or choose “Pirate” to get started learning how to talk like a pirate.
World War II Historical Fiction
World War II began and ended in September,1939 to 1945 . In honor of those who served, we’ve put together a book display featuring fiction books that take place during the war. Here are a few books from the display.
In the aftermath of war, the hunter becomes the hunted…
Bold, reckless Nina Markova grows up on the icy edge of Soviet Russia, dreaming of flight and fearing nothing. When the tide of war sweeps over her homeland, she gambles everything to join the infamous Night Witches, an all-female night bomber regiment wreaking havoc on Hitler’s eastern front. But when she is downed behind enemy lines and thrown across the path of a lethal Nazi murderess known as the Huntress, Nina must use all her wits to survive.
British war correspondent Ian Graham has witnessed the horrors of war from Omaha Beach to the Nuremberg Trials. He abandons journalism after the war to become a Nazi hunter, yet one target eludes him: the Huntress. Fierce, disciplined Ian must join forces with brazen, cocksure Nina, the only witness to escape the Huntress alive. But a shared secret could derail their mission unless Ian and Nina force themselves to confront it.
In this immersive, heart-wrenching story, Kate Quinn illuminates the consequences of war on individual lives, and the price we pay to seek justice and truth.
The One Man by Andrew Gross
Poland. 1944. Alfred Mendl and his family are brought on a crowded train to a Nazi concentration camp after being caught trying to flee Paris with forged papers. His family is torn away from him on arrival, his life’s work burned before his eyes. To the guards, he is just another prisoner, but in fact Mendl―a renowned physicist―holds knowledge that only two people in the world possess. And the other is already at work for the Nazi war machine.
Four thousand miles away, in Washington, DC, Intelligence lieutenant Nathan Blum routinely decodes messages from occupied Poland. Having escaped the Krakow ghetto as a teenager after the Nazis executed his family, Nathan longs to do more for his new country in the war. But never did he expect the proposal he receives from “Wild” Bill Donovan, head of the OSS: to sneak into the most guarded place on earth, a living hell, on a mission to find and escape with one man, the one man the Allies believe can ensure them victory in the war.
Bursting with compelling characters and tense story lines, this historical thriller from New York Times bestseller Andrew Gross is a deeply affecting, unputdownable series of twists and turns through a landscape at times horrifyingly familiar but still completely new and compelling.
The American Agent: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear
When Catherine Saxon, an American correspondent reporting on the war in Europe, is found murdered in her London digs, news of her death is concealed by British authorities. Serving as a linchpin between Scotland Yard and the Secret Service, Robert MacFarlane pays a visit to Maisie Dobbs, seeking her help. He is accompanied by an agent from the US Department of Justice—Mark Scott, the American who helped Maisie escape Hitler’s Munich in 1938. MacFarlane asks Maisie to work with Scott to uncover the truth about Saxon’s death.
As the Germans unleash the full terror of their blitzkrieg upon the British Isles, raining death and destruction from the skies, Maisie must balance the demands of solving this dangerous case with her need to protect Anna, the young evacuee she has grown to love and wants to adopt. Entangled in an investigation linked to the power of wartime propaganda and American political intrigue being played out in Britain, Maisie will face losing her dearest friend—and the possibility that she might be falling in love again.
The Warsaw Anagrams: A Novel by Richard Zimler
Richard Zimler, whose bestseller The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon earned him acclaim as a uniquely masterful storyteller, has written his most compelling novel yet in The Warsaw Anagrams.
Autumn, 1940. The Nazis seal 400,000 Jews into the Warsaw Ghetto. Erick Cohen, an elderly psychiatrist, moves to a tiny apartment with his last remaining relatives. One bitterly cold day, his beloved great-nephew Adam goes missing. The child’s body is discovered tangled in the barbed wire surrounding the ghetto, strangely mutilated.And then another body turns up — this time a young girl. Evidence begins to point to the unthinkable, a Jewish traitor luring children to their deaths. Could this be?
A profoundly moving and darkly atmospheric historical thriller, this book takes the reader into the most forbidden corners of Nazi-occupied Warsaw — as well as into the most heroic places of the heart.
Online Library and Lunch
On Tuesday, October 13th at Noon, our book club will meet online to discuss “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie.
Here are just a few of the new books that we’ve gotten in lately. If these or any of our other new books appeal to you, you can check them out in person or schedule a Library Pickup and have them delivered to your car in the library parking lot or pick them up at the front desk.
The latest from the author of the worldwide bestseller Room.
In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city center, where expectant mothers who have come down with the terrible new Flu are quarantined together. Into Julia’s regimented world step two outsiders — Doctor Kathleen Lynn, a rumoured Rebel on the run from the police , and a young volunteer helper, Bridie Sweeney.
In the darkness and intensity of this tiny ward, over three days, these women change each other’s lives in unexpected ways. They lose patients to this baffling pandemic, but they also shepherd new life into a fearful world. With tireless tenderness and humanity, carers and mothers alike somehow do their impossible work.
A brand new novel started by Night of the Living Dead creator, George A. Romero before his death in 2017, and finished by Daniel Kraus.
It begins with one body. A pair of medical examiners find themselves battling a dead man who won’t stay dead.It spreads quickly.
In a Midwestern trailer park, a Black teenage girl and a Muslim immigrant battle newly-risen friends and family. On a US aircraft carrier, living sailors hide from dead ones while a fanatic makes a new religion out of death. At a cable news station, a surviving anchor keeps broadcasting while his undead colleagues try to devour him. In DC, an autistic federal employee charts the outbreak, preserving data for a future that may never come.
Everywhere, people are targeted by both the living and the dead.
We think we know how this story ends. We. Are. Wrong.
The latest book in the Hollows series is out after a 6 year hiatus. “American Demon” is set before the epilogue of the previous book, which was originally meant to be the end of the series.
What happens after you’ve saved the world? Well, if you’re Rachel Mariana Morgan, witch-born demon, you quickly discover that something might have gone just a little bit wrong. That the very same acts you and your friends took to forge new powers may have released something bound by the old. With a rash of zombies, some strange new murders, and an exceedingly mysterious new demon in town, it will take everything Rachel has to counter this new threat to the world–and it may demand the sacrifice of what she holds most dear.
A semi-autobiographical, fictional account of the life of a movie star named Jim Carrey.
Meet Jim Carrey. Sure, he’s an insanely successful and beloved movie star drowning in wealth and privilege – but he’s also lonely. He’s tried diets, gurus, and cuddling with his military-grade Israeli guard dogs, but nothing seems to lift the cloud of emptiness and ennui. Even the sage advice of his best friend, actor and dinosaur-skull collector Nicolas Cage, isn’t enough to pull Carrey out of his slump.
But then Jim meets Georgie: ruthless ingénue, love of his life. And with the help of auteur screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, he has a role to play in a boundary-pushing new picture that may help him uncover a whole new side to himself – finally, his Oscar vehicle! Things are looking up!
But the universe has other plans.
Here are a couple of new graphic novels for a younger audience.
The powerful children that have escaped from Hawkins Lab are out in the world, trying to live normal lives, but it comes at a steep cost. Nine was left behind in the lab, comatose and alone. Now she lives in a fractured reality of her own creation under the watchful eyes of doctors who have no idea about the psychic volcano building inside her that could erupt at any moment, obliterating their entire hospital.
Three and Nine’s twin sister, Marcy, both escaped Hawkins lab several years ago and have been on the run ever since. They had just settled down into a new life when, all of the sudden, the lab has made the national news. With the veil of normalcy completely shattered, they pack everything they have and hit the road, hoping to find and help any of the other kids they can.
Online Library and Lunch
On Tuesday, September 8th at Noon, our book club will meet online to discuss “The curious incident of the dog in the night-time” by Mark Haddon.
