The libr ary has a relatively new program to help parents and their babies to get in the habit of reading from an early age. The program, called A Baby’s Bookshelf is aimed at newborns. The goal of the program, which is funded by the Friends of the Library is to get books into the hands of babies in the community. Sign up your baby and come to the library before the baby is two years old. Every two months, when you come to the library, your baby will get a book that they can take home absolutely free. The earlier you start, the more books you get! We have books available in English and Spanish!
You may be asking why you should read to your baby. Studies have shown that children need attention, bonding and communication for healthy brain development. Reading to a child is doing all of these at once. You are interacting with your child, communicating with your child and holding your child close to you when you share books with them. Books (even books for children) have a different set of vocabulary than spoken speech does, which is important for the growing brain. Reading at an early age helps your baby’s brain to develop!
At first, when your baby is still small, you might only be able to read for a few minutes at a time. Try doing that a few times a day. By the time your child is older, he or she will be able to pay attention to books for longer periods of time.
Reading to your children from birth is super important. By the time a child is three years old, a lot of the brain is already developed. That means that it is the first three years that are important for babies. The Baby’s Bookshelf is just one of the ways that the library is helping these children have a good start in life. Other programs that we have are Family Place Library and a Baby’s Lapsit for children under the age of two on Tuesdays at 11:15. Parents of children are invited to come and read stories, sing songs and play. It is a lot of fun, totally free, and no registration is required. Little ones get a chance to meet new friends. Pick up a calendar while you are picking up your book!
If you are a parent of a baby, come to the library, join our Baby’s Bookshelf program and see what the library has to offer. Bringing your baby to the library will do a lot for your child. Not only can you start your own family library but you can also use our other services designed for children and families while at the library. The Baby’s Bookshelf program is a good way to introduce your babies to books at an early age and new parents are encouraged to participate in this valuable program.
If you have any questions about this program or any other program at the library, give the library a call at 626-0180 or email me at childrens@lmlibrary.org.
Next week is National Library Week and the Library has a few things planned.
The big event is our Annual Friends Book Sale. Things kick off on Monday when we will host a Friends Reception for Library Board members and Friends of the Library from 6pm-8pm. This will be your first opportunity to buy books at the book sale. Friends of the Library applications will be available at the door for the low price of $5.00. Beginning the following day on Tuesday and continuing on Wednesday we will be open to everyone from 9am to 8pm. All items are moderately priced. Thursday, the last day of the book sale will be dollar bag day. Stuff all you want into a plastic bag, or your own bag, for $1.00.
The Friends of the Library is a group that has a long history with the library, but a few years ago withered away. We are currently in the process of getting it to grow again. We are looking for people who would like to volunteer to help the library at library events, summer reading, and during the hours the library is open. Volunteers bring a special energy to the library and our something we cherish very much. If you have any questions please go to the link on our website at: www.lmlibrary.org/friends or follow the Friends of the Liberal Memorial Library on Facebook.
The money made from the book sale will go to support other library activities. Most notably our program entitled “A Baby’s Bookshelf.” The way that this program works is that we distribute flyers to all new parents in the Liberal area. When the parent signs up for the program they are able to come to library every two months to pick up a free book for their child. The program runs for the first two years of the child’s life and at the end of the program the child will have 12 books that they can call their own. Early childhood literacy is important to us at the library. Not only do we want every child to start school with a grasp of the essential skills to be effective learners, but we also want them to understand the role the library plays in helping them become better readers. Kids who love reading do well in school, graduate from high school, and become outstanding additions to our community.
At 1:00 pm on Tuesday, the library will be hosting a special cake and refreshment celebration to celebrate the Libraries 60th Anniversary as the “Book Front Library”. Back on April 14, 1955 the library opened up its doors with its new look. A look that saw it showcased in newspapers across the country and on tourist postcards for years to come. In fact, we still get visitors who travel to Liberal just to see our unique building. We hope that you can join us. I have challenged myself to make a cake in the shape of the library, so please stop by and see how well I did or didn’t do in this regard.
National Library Week is a week to celebrate the library and for me as director to celebrate our most important asset: Our Employees. Our staff represents the diversity of our community and the passion that people in our area have for the library. They take on challenges with gusto and never fail to surprise me with the energy they put into everything they do. Join me in saying thank you to them for their efforts.
National Library Week is also a week to celebrate the community to which the library belongs. When I think about what makes our town so awesome I think of things like the Mid-America Air Museum, Dorothy’s House, The Baker Arts Center, the parks, and the Library. I think of the people who visit our library every day. The people wait outside for the doors to open on a Saturday. The kids rushing to our afterschool programs. The participants in our summer reading program. The attendees at our Recipe Swap and Adult Crafts. It takes a town to make a Library and we are proud to serve you.
See you at the library.
The old saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers.” The implication is that April is a dreary and miserable month. I say, “Ha!” In fact, I say, “Double Ha!” There is hardly anything dreary and miserable at the Liberal Memorial Library. It’s all fun and exciting and bright this month!
We’ve got programming galore. More programming than you can shake a stick at. So much programming, it’s hard to contain it all in one month. Good thing there’s 12 months in a year. But this month is just busting out.
Holy cow! We’ve got a book sale, a 60-year celebration, National Library week, trivia night and a writing workshop.
What??? You want more??? I say, “Triple ha!!!!!” We’ve got more! We’ve got all our monthly programming like Monday Night movie, Library and Lunch, after-school activities, storytimes and lapsits and a genealogy club.
So where do I start??
The Friends of the Library will be holding a book sale from Tuesday, April 14 through Thursday, April 16 in the Cooper Clark room. Not only will there be books for sale, but DVDs, too!!!
But did you know that you can get a jump on everyone else? How is that you may ask. Let me fill you in on a little secret. If you become a Friend of the Liberal Memorial Library, you can attend an opening reception on Monday, April 13 starting at 6 p.m. and get the first shot at all those wonderful books and DVDs before anyone else.
Funds from the Book Sale go to the Friends to help support the library programs including Baby’s Bookshelf, Summer Reading Program, etc.
And during the book sale, we’ll be celebrating National Library Week. This year’s theme is unlimited possibilities. And it’s a very apt theme.
Today’s libraries are more than just books. Increasingly, they are places of creativity where people can meet to share a hobby, edit a video, or use software to record their own music. Libraries offer access to the tools and technology essential to the economic and cultural lives of their communities.
What have you created with the help of your local library? Did you research or write your book, learn how to make a hand-knitted scarf or culinary creation? Did the library help you find a new job or get your small business off the ground?
The possibilities really are unlimited.
And during the week, we’ll be celebrating by giving away t-shirts and other prizes to our patrons because the library couldn’t exist without the support of our patrons and the community.
Also, the Library will be celebrating a milestone on Tuesday, April 14. On that date in 1955, the book cover entrance was completed. It’s been 60 years.
This month will also feature a Trivia Night on Tuesday, April 21 and a Writing Workshop on Thursday, April 30. Both programs are at 6:30 p.m.
Here’s our schedule of our monthly events:
- Monday, April 6 at 6 p.m. – Monday Night Movie: “His Girl Friday” starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell.
- Tuesday, April 7 at 6:30 p.m. – Adult crafts: Making coasters with ceramic tiles.
- Tuesday, April 14 at noon. – Lunch and Library: “I Am Malala” by Malala Yousafzai
- Thursday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m. – Book Chat in under and Hour
- Monday, April 27 at 6:30 p.m. – Recipe Swap: Ballparks foods.
International Mirth Month
According to “Mr. Jollytologist”, Allen Klein, March is International Mirth Month. It is followed closely by April Fool’s Day and National Humor Month in April. This seems like the perfect time to feature some of the humorous books available at the library.
Thud
by Terry Pratchett
From the book description
Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch admits he may not be the sharpest knife in the cutlery drawer–he might not even be a spoon. But he’s dogged and honest and he’ll be damned if he lets anyone disturb his city’s peace. Lately, an influential dwarf, Grag Hamcrusher, has been fomenting unrest among Ankh-Morpork’s more diminutive citizens with incendiary speeches. And it doesn’t help matters when the pint-size provocateur is discovered bashed to death . . . with a troll club lying conveniently nearby.
Vimes knows the importance of solving the Hamcrusher homicide without delay. It is Vimes’s second most-pressing responsibility, in fact, next to always being home at six p.m. sharp to read Where’s My Cow? to Sam, Jr. Whatever it takes to unstick this very sticky situation, Vimes will do it,
The Discworld series was written by one of my favorite authors, Terry Pratchett, who unfortunately passed away earlier this month. The series is 40 books strong and can be divided into several mini-series, based on the main characters. “Thud” is one of the “City Watch” books.
Bertie plays the blues
Alexander McCall Smith
From the book description
If you haven’t met the residents of 44 Scotland Street yet, there is no better time, since everyone seems to be in the midst of new beginnings.
New parents Matthew and Elspeth must muddle through the difficulties of raising their triplets Rognvald, Tobermory and Fegus—there’s normal sleep deprivation, and then there’s trying to tell the children apart from one another.
And in Bertie’s family, there’s a shift in power as his father Stuart starts to stand up to overbearing mother, Irene—and then there’s Bertie, who has been thinking that he might want to start over with a new family and so puts himself up for adoption on eBay.
With his signature charm and gentle wit Alexander McCall Smith vividly portrays the lives of Edinburgh’s most unique and beloved characters. This is the seventh book in the 44 Scotland Street series.
Tiger shrimp tango
Tim Dorsey
From the book description
Thanks to the growth of the Internet, America finds itself plagued by a noxious epidemic of ruthless scam artists. Where do they all come from? If you guessed 110 percent of them are spawned in Florida, you win the cigar. . . .
When a new digital scheme goes horribly awry—causing innocents to die and a young woman to go missing—only one person can set things right: obsessive Florida trivia buff and reluctant serial killer Serge Storms. Aided by his perpetually addled sidekick, Coleman, and latter-day noir private eye Mahoney, Serge launches a crusade to rid his beloved state of predators and save the girl.
This is the eighteenth book in the hilarious and twisted Serge Storm series.
These are just a few of the books on display for International Mirth Month. So whether you prefer nonfiction or fiction, cutting satire or gentle heart-warming wit, come in and checkout our book display.
Don’t forget that the 12th annual Children’s Healthy Fun Fair is on Saturday March 7th from ten to one o’clock in the Ag Building of the Seward County Fairgrounds. If you are planning on going to the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair (and if you have kids under the age of about 12 and love fun, free things in Liberal on a Saturday morning, then you are planning on attending), you may need a guide to get the most of everything the fair has to offer. Here are some tips on what to do.
- Eat a good (but not too heavy) breakfast. Sure, there will be healthy snacks at the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair for families, but you definitely have to have a good breakfast. That will give the whole family enough energy to play games, walk around and interact with all of the 20+ groups that are coming to the fair.
- Wear good shoes. The Ag Building of the Seward County Fairgrounds isn’t huge, but you may end up taking a couple of laps around it. Plus, you may decide to visit the Home Show in the Activity Center, which is happening at the same time, and decide to go to that as well!
- Get a bag. Right when you walk into the Fun Fair, there will be a table. Pick up a bag to store all of the stuff that you pick up. You may be tempted to just put it in your purse or pocket, but by your third or fourth table, you will probably regret that decision. There really are some great giveaways!
- Come early. The Fair opens at 10:00, so come then to beat the crowds. Last year, more than 600 people came to the fair (and that was with bad, snowy weather). This year there will probably be a lot more! If you can’t make it right at ten, don’t worry. The Children’s Healthy Fun Fair lasts for three hours, until one o’clock.
- Ask questions. Everyone who has a table at the fair is super friendly and will try to answer any questions that you have – you just have to ask. Most of the times, if we don’t have an answer, we will try to get back to you or give you our contact information. By asking questions, you will be able to see some of the services that these agencies have to offer in the area.
- Ask your kids questions. The Children’s Healthy Fun Fair is aimed at children, so asking your children questions about what they are doing and why they are doing a specific activity is a great way to teach them healthy habits. I hope that parents come to the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair and learn about great habits together.
- Don’t forget the annex. You may think that you are finished with the fair, just because you have finished a lap around. Don’t forget that there are several organizations in the annex of the Ag Building – just follow the signs.
The follow-up. Once you get home, review all of the information that you collected, contact any agencies that you wanted to get in touch with, and (hopefully) continue to live a healthy lifestyle with your whole family! I will see you at the fair on Saturday, March 7th. If you have any questions about the fair, contact me at Liberal Memorial Library at 626-0180.
Last year at this time, I was nervous about the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair because I really didn’t know what to expect. This year, I’m less nervous about the logistics of planning the fair. Now, I am nervous about getting the word out about the fair and getting more people who may not know about the fair involved. I wonder why there aren’t more families that know about the fair that don’t take advantage of the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair.
Before I get ahead of myself, I really should give the details of the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair. This year, the 12th annual fair will be held on Saturday, March 7th from 10 AM to 1 PM in the Ag Building of the Seward County Fairgrounds. Best of all, everything is totally free. Last year just over 600 people visited the fair, and this year, I hope to get even more children and their families into the fair. What is the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair? Well, the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair is not just about health. It isn’t just row after row of boring booths that kids won’t be interested in. What makes this fair different than other fairs is that the information is aimed at the children more than it is aimed at the adults. The goal is to have fun, get educated on how to live a healthier life and learn about some of the great services that are offered in the community. While the goal of the fair is education, of course, all of the different booths try to get kids and their families involved in the learning in active ways. Many of the booths are not only going to have brochures and information, but they will also have games, giveaways or food.
It’s hard to write about the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair because it’s hard to describe what the children who go get out of it and it’s also hard to describe what the agencies who put on the fair get out of it. The kids who come to the fair have so much fun learning about healthy habits. Southwest Medical Center has a booth every year that tries to show kids what exactly is on their hands (and will finally allow your children and yourself to see whether or not just rinsing your hands will get them clean). Kids (and their parents) seem grossed out to see how dirty their hands are. A lot of booths have games and activities for children to do, promoting a healthy lifestyle.
The groups that have tables at the fair are all excited about sharing what their organization does with young people. Last year, the Library promoted the Family Place Library program at the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair and were super excited to get a lot of new families involved in the program that we met at the fair.
We hope to see you at the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair on Saturday, March 7th from 10:00 to 1:00 in the Ag Building of the Seward County Fairgrounds. Remember, the fair and everything at the fair is completely free, so come on down and enjoy the information, giveaways and activities that are planned! For more information about the fair, contact me at 626-0180.
How hard is it to learn a new language? Most of us have taken foreign language classes in high school. But I bet for most of us, those languages remain just that–very foreign. We start by learning numbers and colors and the alphabet, then progress to basic phrases like saying our name, asking how someone is doing, and locating the bathroom. I think with one of my foreign language courses we actually progressed all the way to asking which train went to which foreign city, before the school year was over.
After three years, I still struggled with basic sentences. It was like I could understand intellectually what needed to happen, but somehow it never made it to my tongue. Learning a new language in the sterile environment of the classroom does work for some. My sister became quite good at German after only a year. When they got lost on a trip to Germany, she managed to get a cab and get her group to the right city.
Is she smarter than me? I admit. She probably is. But she was clever enough to do something I wasn’t. She was chatting on IRC (am I dating myself?) with German speakers who were more than ready to correct her phrasing and word usage via text. She also took to watching TV shows from Germany on YouTube, with the subtitles off. She learned more in that one year than I did in all of high school.
As I have said before, one of the reasons I came to Liberal was for the challenge of learning Spanish. I came knowing a little, mostly those embarrassing lessons from Spanish class that never really stuck in my head, and seemed to make me more anxious than anything. I have been taking lessons from my sister, I listen to the Spanish radio station to and from. The library. I keep an ear in on every conversation with our front desk staff and our Spanish speaking patrons. I have recently gotten teenagers to help me with very basic Spanish. No, not those phrases about finding the bathroom. We have been reading baby books.
I figured, babies have to learn somewhere, right? They learn from their parents’ voices what the sound of their culture is, even before they learn the words. And then slowly they begin to associate images or actions with words. It could work for me too, right?
I can say, right now I am very solid on my vegetables and circus animals. And soon I may be ready to move up from the library’s collection of Spanish baby board books to picture books for three year olds. I can understand parts of Spanish conversations in the library, and I can read over Spanish books enough to (mostly) be able to figure out what they are about. I still keep up with the DVDs and audio books I am using to learn, but I can say diving straight in has been far more effective than all of the classroom time in the world.
I have a lot of respect for anyone, anywhere, who goes to a new place for a visit or to live, if they don’t know the language. It is difficult to get around. I also have respect for those who have learned second or third languages on their own. It isn’t as easy as it looks to incorporate yourself into a new culture with a whole new language.
There are those of us for whom learning a new language isn’t second nature, even with immersion. But we are all trying. So I hope you will be patient with me, and them. Our brains will eventually wrap around it.
Also, I am sorry I have two of the Spanish language DVD sets checked out right now, if you are looking for them. I will return them as soon as possible. However, if you are interested in learning German or Portuguese…
New Year, New things going on at Library
With the New Year comes many new things going on in the library. Starting Tuesday, January 20th the library will start afterschool programming for kids from 4pm-5pm, Monday through Thursday. Activities will include computer programming, video production, audio recording, creating comics and a variety of other crafts and hands-on learning opportunities. These activities will take place in what we are now calling The Learning Center and is accessible via a walkway from the main part of the library. The Learning Center will also be developing computer classes for adults during the day and providing meeting space when not being used for classes or afterschool programming.
The library has a long history of community participation through the Friends of the Library group which was fairly active up until about ten years ago. Back in September of 2014 we started making plans to get that group going again and thanks to the help of a couple of local volunteers we will be hosting our first Friends Meeting on Thursday, January 22nd at 6:30pm in the library. This first meeting will be a formative meeting to talk about what the Friends group hopes to achieve, election of officers, and other topics of interest. Consider putting this on your calendar if you would like to become more involved in volunteer activities at the library.
Thanks to a grant from the Cooper-Clark Foundation, the library is excited to announce that we are in the beginning stages of installing a digital microfilm station in our genealogy section located in the lower level of the library. The beauty of this machine will be allowing genealogists to search our historical newspapers stored on microfilm with greater efficiency and accuracy. The digital microfilm station will allow users to email documents and to store information on a personal data stick or portable storage. Software included in the microfilm station will also assist users in searching for information without having to read each page in its entirety. We have a librarian on staff who is an expert on these genealogy resources so please stop in and talk to us about getting started with your family tree or family history.
The last thing I want to talk about today is not a new service or new device, but the library itself and our service to the community. As we all know, things got pretty cold in town the past few weeks. The library is a great place for those people who want a nice warm place to warm up. We offer some comfy furniture and we also check out laptops and have plenty of Wi-Fi to help you pass the time. We even have a book or two that you can check out.
If you have any questions about library services or programs, please stop by the library, check us out online at lmlibrary.org, or give us a call at 620-626-0180.
We have been really busy updating our Spanish section in the children’s department at Liberal Memorial Library and have lots of great books for children of all ages in Spanish. If you are a teenager or an adult looking for fresh, fun Spanish reading materials, head to the children’s department and pick up a book and enjoy it yourself or share it with a child. We have several new Big Nate books in Spanish, some of the 39 Clues Series, some new Fancy Nancy and Katie Woo books and even Divergent in Spanish. The new Spanish books are some of the most popular books in the kid’s section, so if what you are looking for is checked out, you can put a reserve on it from home or while you are at the library and when it comes in, we’ll call you. If you have books that you love in Spanish that we don’t have, let us know, so that we can see if we can order them.
January is also the month when a lot of the big children’s book awards are announced. We will have all of the new award winners displayed once they are announced. If you are looking for past winners of the Caldecott, Newbery, Pura Belpré or National Book Award winners for children, check out our display right across from the circulation desk. Some of my favorite books are up there, so after you read one, let me know what you thought of it. We also have books about popular New Year’s resolutions for kids!
There is a lot planned for the month of January. Of course, we still have story time for children on Tuesday evenings at 6:00, Wednesday mornings at 9:30 and Thursday mornings at 11:15. Join us for stories, songs and crafts. No registration is required and children of all ages are welcome. We also have a lapsit on Tuesday mornings at 11:15 for babies, which includes super short stories, songs, snuggles and play time afterwards. It’s a great chance to give your baby a place to play with other kids and a chance for parents to chat! All are welcome at the lapsit!
We also have programing for older kids. On the 12th of January we are having our first ever coding for kids ages 8+ from 4:00 to 5:30. If you have a child or a teenager who is into video games or playing on the computer, this is a great way for them to see how some of the programs work. It will start out super easy and kids can progress to more difficult coding based on their ability! No need to bring anything for this event, which will be held in the Learning Center at the Library.
Girls ages nine and older are invited on Monday, January 26th from 4:00 to 5:30 for our first Girl’s Club meeting. It will be a lot of fun.
We are having a read-a-thon on the 23rd of January and a scavenger hunt at the library on January 22nd and 23rd. There is no school on either of these days, so kids can come to the library and hang out with their friends and see if they can make their way through the scavenger hunt.
Finally, it’s still a ways off, but mark your calendars for the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair. This year, the fair will be on Saturday, March 7th at the Ag Building. It’s your chance to find out ways to keep your whole family safe and healthy. Last year more than 20 different agencies from across southwest Kansas came together to provide information and to have fun!
Music is a wonderful thing. We all like music at some level, and most of us have a favorite performer or style. Currently at the library we have a bevy of new books focusing in on music that will make for delightful reads during this time of year when the weather keeps us inside for longer periods of time. Let’s talk about three of them today.
The first book is “British Invasion: the crosscurrents of musical influence” by Simon Philo. Prior to the Beatles coming to America in February of 1964 there had only been two British acts to top the pop charts. Within the span of a couple of months the Beatles were accounting for more than half of all album sales in the United States. As with other musical genres that seemingly spring up overnight, once the Beatles had made it, the hunt was on for the next big thing in music. From 1964 to 1965, British acts accounted for half of all hit songs. The British Music Invasion was on. Thanks to the music of the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, and the Hollies the musical landscape of Rock and Roll was changed forever. This book is a wonderful read for those who enjoy the music from this era and for those who want to learn more about the history of the bands and the songs put into the historical context of the day, both politically and in regards to the music of other musicians of the time.
The second book on my nightstand this past month was “Man on the Run: Paul McCartney in the 1970s” by Tom Doyle. As the 70s were beginning the Beatles were ending. As one half of the successful songwriting team of Lennon and McCartney and a founding member of the Beatles, everyone was paying attention to what McCartney would do once the Beatles were over. Through many interviews with the author, the up and down times of McCartney throughout the 70s is told. We hear of McCartney’s feuds with former band mates, the history of the band Wings, and most interestingly the struggles of an artist to reinvent himself after being in one of the biggest musical groups of all time. A must read for anyone who loves the music of the Beatles, Wings, or Paul McCartney.
The third book I finished up this past month was “The Universal Tone: bringing my story to light” by Carlos Santana. Santana spent his entire childhood making music and playing in bands with his family and friends before his breakout performance at Woodstock brought him fully into the spotlight. This book is packed full of details about the artist and traces his career from his earliest beginnings playing in his father’s band, to Woodstock, and more recently the recording and release of the 8 time Grammy winning album “Supernatural”. For me the best parts are when he talks about meeting other famous guitarist and the photos of him playing with Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. If you are a fan of Santana this is a must read.
There you have it. Lots of fun new music stuff to read about this winter. Not only do we have quite a few new biographies, but we also have a slew of new movies and audio-cassettes to help pass the time this winter. See you at the library.
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