 The library has several fun events for all ages this month! Here’s what’s happening in April:
- This week is the Friends of the Library booksale! Proceeds from the booksale go to help fund Baby’s Bookshelf, the Summer Reading Program, and more!
- Monday from 6 pm – 8 pm, there will be a reception and sale that is limited to members of the Friends of the Library and LML Board Members.
- Tuesday & Wednesday – Paperbacks will be $0.50 and all other items will be $1.
- Thursday – $1 for every bag full of books.
- Friday, all remaining items are free!
- Budding Bookworms Storytimes are Tuesdays at 11 am & Thursdays at 6 pm. Join us for stories, songs, and crafts! Plus, every child gets a free book to take home at every storytime.
- Do you have questions about 3D printing? Come to our beginner’s workshop on Monday the 16th at 6 pm to learn how to use the library’s 3D printer. Sign up online or at the front desk.
 Come make crafts on Wednesday the 18th at 3:45 pm! Adults can make paper flowers, while kids make Mason jar aquariums! Seating is limited, so sign up at the front desk.
- Adult Game Day is on the 19th at 2 pm. Play Mexican Train Dominoes, Spoons, or the card game “5 Crowns.” Adults only.
- This month’s Recipe Swap will be on Tuesday the 24th at 6:30 pm. Bring something you’ve made (along with the recipe) to share and enjoy everyone else’s creations! This month, we’re making Comfort Food.
- Do your kids need something to do on Friday, the 27th, when they are out of school? The library will be having movie day! Join us for board games at 1 pm, followed by a fun children’s movie at 2 pm! Free popcorn and drinks will be served during the movie.
- Children and their parents are invited to celebrate Día de los Niños / Día de los Libros (Children’s Day / Book Day) on Saturday the 28th at 1:30 pm! We’ll have a craft, games, snacks, and more! Plus, every child gets a free book to take home.
Did you know that we have a parenting section in the children’s department? While your kids are playing with toys, you can look for books with helpful parenting tips and tricks. Here are a couple of parenting books that have been recently added to the collection:
 Deep breaths: the new mom’s handbook to your baby’s first year
by Michelle Pearson
As a happy mother of three, [the author] has plenty of wisdom to share including:
what to expect during pregnancy;
what to expect during the first year of motherhood;
the importance of finding your mother tribe;
how to embrace motherhood with all of its ups and downs;
how to continue managing your career;
[and] how to continue your social life.
 Staying connected to your teenager: how to keep them talking to you and how to hear what they’re really saying
by Michael Riera
Offers helpful strategies for promoting authentic, respectful conversations; moving from a “managing” to a “consulting” role in a teen’s life; understanding and working with normal adolescent development; and guiding kids on everything from social media to college applications.
Riera shows how to bring out the best in a teen—and, consequently, in an entire family.
What’s happening this week at the Library
- Tuesday at 11am Storytime – Stories, songs, crafts, and more! Plus, every child gets a free book to take home at every storytime. Story times are open to children of all ages.
- Tuesday at 6:30 pm Recipe Swap – Bring something you’ve made (along with the recipe) to share and enjoy everyone else’s creations! Every month is a different theme! This month’s theme is “Make ahead and freeze” recipes.
- Thursday at 6 pm Storytime – If you can’t make it to the morning storytime on Tuesday, you can come to the evening Thursday one instead.
- Friday and Saturday Closed – The Library will be closed for Good Friday and Easter. We will reopen on Monday for our regular hours.
 March Book Madness
This is the last week of our March Book Madness contest. Right now we are down to just two book contestants in each of the tournaments, Adult, Teen, and Children’s Books.
You decide who will be the winner. Vote for your favorites, either on our website http://lmlibrary.org or in person at the library.
We will tally the votes and discover which books will be the 2018 books of the year. Normally we do this on Friday, but because the library will be closed for Good Friday, we will tally our votes and do our last prize drawing on the next Monday instead.
So, if you don’t get a chance to vote in person before Thursday night, you can still vote online over the coming Easter weekend. Remember, each time you vote, you’ll be entered into our fun prize drawings, one for each tournament, Adult, Teen, and Children’s Books.
New Releases
Here are some of the library’s newest books on the adult side.
 The Flight Attendant: A Novel
by Chris Bohjalian
From the Book Description
Cassandra Bowden is no stranger to hungover mornings. She’s a binge drinker, her job with the airline making it easy to find adventure, and the occasional blackouts seem to be inevitable. She lives with them, and the accompanying self-loathing. When she awakes in a Dubai hotel room, she tries to piece the previous night back together. She quietly turns over in bed, careful not to aggravate her already pounding head, and looks at the man with whom she spent the night. She sees his dark hair. His utter stillness. And blood, a slick, still wet pool on the crisp white sheets.
Set amid the captivating world of those whose lives unfold at forty thousand feet, The Flight Attendant unveils a spellbinding story of memory, reckless self-disregard, and of murder far from home.
 The Affliction: A Novel
by Beth Gutcheon
From the Book Description
Since retiring as head of a famous New York City private school, Maggie Detweiler is busier than ever. Chairing a team to evaluate the faltering Rye Manor School for girls, she will determine whether the school has a future at all.
At a reception for the faculty and trustees to “welcome” Maggie’s team, no one seems more keen for all to go well than Florence Meagher, a star teacher who is loved and respected in spite of her affliction—that she can never stop talking.
Florence is one of those dedicated teachers for whom the school is her life, and yet the next morning, when Maggie arrives to observe her teaching, Florence is missing. Two days later, Florence’s body is found in the campus swimming pool.
Maggie is asked to stay on to coach the very young and inexperienced head of Rye Manor through the crisis. She is soon joined by her madcap socialite friend Hope, who is jonesing for an excuse to ditch her book club anyway, before she has to actually read Silas Marner.
What on earth is going on in this idyllic town? Is this a run-of-the-mill marital murder? Or does it have something to do with the school board treasurer’s real estate schemes? And is it possible that someone killed Florence just so she’d finally shut up?
Come to the library and enjoy these books or find some other type of books to read. Have a Happy Easter and don’t forget to vote for your favorite book!
With Easter coming up in a few weeks, I wanted to recommend a couple of good Children’s books about Easter:
 The Easter Bunny That Overslept by Priscilla Friedrich: One spring morning, the Easter Bunny skips merrily along to deliver his colorful, hand-painted eggs. But the children tell him that it’s Mother’s Day, which can only mean one thing: HE SLEPT THROUGH EASTER!
Nobody wants eggs on Mother’s Day, or on the Fourth of July — and especially not on Halloween. Children will sympathize with the little bunny’s plight and cheer when Santa finds the perfect gift to help!
 10 Easter Egg Hunters: A Holiday Counting Book by Janet Schulman: The adorable kids from 10 Trick-or-Treaters are back and they’re counting their way to Easter!
Can you help them find all of the eggs the Easter Bunny has hidden in time for the Easter Parade?
Do your kids need something to do this week over Spring Break? Well, the library has you covered!
- Monday at 2 pm: Make a fun craft!
- Tuesday at 2 pm: Play our XBox, Playstation 4, or Wii!
- Wednesday at 2 pm: Coloring!
- Thursday at 2 pm: Build something great with Legos!
- Friday: Play board games at 1 pm, followed by a fun animated kids’ movie at 2 pm! Free popcorn and drinks will be served during the movie.
We have a lot of other fun stuff coming up through the rest of March:
- Join us for Storytime Tuesdays at 11 am and Thursdays at 6 pm. Stories, songs, and a craft! Plus, every child gets a free book to take home.
- Mexican Loteria is this Wednesday at 4 pm! Play the fun Mexican version of Bingo and enjoy free snacks. Sign up at the front desk.
- Don’t forget about our March Book Madness tournament! Vote for your favorites in three tournaments: Adult books, teen books, and kids’ books. Turn in votes every week for a chance to win our weekly prize drawings! You can vote at the library, or on our website
- Monday, March 19 at 6 pm: Come to our beginner’s workshop to learn how to use the library’s 3D printer. We will walk through the process of finding a print-ready file online that you can print as is or alter to fit your needs. Sign up online or at the front desk.
- Adult Game Day is on Thursday, March 22 at 2 pm. Play Mexican Train Dominoes, Spoons, or the card game “5 Crowns.”
- Our Easter Eggstravaganza is on Saturday, March 24 at 1:30 pm! Kids of all ages and their parents are invited to join us for Easter crafts, stories, games, and prizes! Plus, every child gets a free book to take home.
- Recipe Swap is on Tuesday, March 27 at 6:30 pm. Bring something you’ve made (along with the recipe) to share and enjoy everyone else’s creations! This month, we’re making freezer meal dishes.
- The Library will be closed on Friday, March 30 & Saturday the 31st for Easter.
 What’s happening this week at the Library
- Tuesday at 11am Storytime – Stories, songs, crafts, and more! Plus, every child gets a free book to take home at every storytime. Story times are open to children of all ages.
- Tuesday at 6:30 pm Recipe Swap – Bring something you’ve made (along with the recipe) to share and enjoy everyone else’s creations! Every month is a different theme! This month’s theme is slow cooker recipes.
- Thursday at 6 pm Storytime – If you can’t make it to the morning storytime on Tuesday, you can come to the evening Thursday one instead.
March Book Madness
This week is the official start of our second annual March Book Madness contest. We’ve taken our sixteen most popular books from each area of the library: adult, teen, and kids, and pitted them against each other in a battle to see which books will become our 2018 Books of the Year.
You decide who will be the winner. Vote each week during March for your favorites, either on our website or in person at the library.
You can also fill out a bracket, online or in person, to predict the winners. If you correctly predict the winner of any of the three tournaments and turn in your bracket before March 9th at 4:30 p.m., you will win a 2018 March Book Madness trophy!
When you vote each week, besides helping determine which books will move forward in the tournament of books, you will also enter yourself into weekly drawings for fun prizes.
So have a little fun and maybe win a prize at the library by participating in this year’s March Book Madness.
 Year of the Dog
In honor of Chinese New Year, which was earlier this month, we’ve put together a special “Year of the Dog” book display, featuring all kinds of dog related books.
Here are a few:
 The Dog Who Saved Me
by Susan Wilson
From the book description
Cooper Harrison of the Boston K-9 unit thought he would never go back to his hometown. Then his canine partner, Argos, is killed in the line of duty, and Cooper is mired in grief. Jobless and on the verge of a divorce, he accepts a job as animal control officer in Harmony Farms – back where he started.
Where his father was the town drunk. Where his brother was a delinquent and bully. Where he was “one of those” Harrisons. Cooper does his job with deliberate detachment until he encounters a wounded and gun-shy yellow Lab gone feral.
 Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell
by Alexandra Horowitz
From the book description
In Being a Dog, Alexandra Horowitz, a leading researcher in dog cognition, continues to unpack the mystery of a dog’s nose-view, in order to more fully understand our irrepressibly charming companions. She follows the dog’s nose – exploring not only its abilities but the incredible ways it is being put to use.
By observing everything from her own dogs to working detection dogs and human sniffers, Horowitz takes us along on her quest to make sense of scents, combining a personal journey of smelling with a tour through the cutting-edge science behind the olfactory powers of the dog.
Dog on It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery
by Spencer Quinn
From the book description
Meet Chet, the wise and lovable canine narrator of Dog on It, who works alongside Bernie, a down-on-his-luck private investigator. Chet might have flunked out of police school (“I’d been the best leaper in K-9 class, which had led to all the trouble in a way I couldn’t remember exactly, although blood was involved”), but he’s a detective through and through.
Their search for a missing teenaged girl takes them into the desert to biker bars and other exotic locals, with Chet’s highly trained nose leading the way. With his doggy ways and his endearingly hardboiled voice, Chet is full of heart and occasionally prone to mischief.
 One Nation Under Dog: Adventures in the New World of Prozac-Popping Puppies, Dog-Park Politics, and Organic Pet Food
by Michael Schaffer
From the book description
When Michael Schaffer and his wife drove to a rural animal shelter and adopted Murphy, an emaciated, dreadlocked Saint Bernard, they vowed that they’d never become the kind of people who get facials for their dogs or shell out for expensive hip replacements. But then they started to get weird looks from the in-laws: You hired a trainer? You had our dog implanted with a GPS chip? Murphy is on antidepressants?
It turned out Murphy wasn’t alone: yesteryear’s pooch has moved from the backyard doghouse to the master bedroom, evolving from man’s best friend to bona fide family member. The pet industry has ballooned from $17 billion to an estimated $43 billion in barely a decade. Schaffer provides a surprising, lively, and often hilarious portrait of our country.
Since Valentine’s Day is coming up, I thought I would tell you about some of our new Valentine’s Day themed books for kids!
 Click, Clack, Moo: I Love You! By Doreen Cronin:
It’s Valentine’s Day and on the farm that means a Valentine’s party. Little Duck is wildly excited. She hangs balloons, streamers, sparkling lights, and hearts everywhere, and hand-makes a valentine for everyone.
On top of a hill, a little fox hears the music from the party and follows Little Duck’s many decorations to the barn…but foxes are not at all welcome on farms. The chickens stop dancing. The sheep stop dancing. The pigs stop dancing. The mice hustle off to hide. Will Little Fox ruin the dance? Or, perhaps, she’s just what the party needs!
 The Littlest Valentine by Brandi Dougherty:
Emma may be the littlest in the Valentine family, but she knows that she has what it takes to help the family business get ready for the holiday. But Emma just can’t seem to do things the right way like the bigger members of her family, no matter how hard she tries.
Will Emma find a way to help her family on Valentine’s Day, or is the littlest Valentine just too little?
 Happy Valentine’s Day, Charlie Brown! By Maggie Testa:
It’s Valentine’s Day and Charlie Brown is trying to find the courage to give the Little Red-Haired Girl a valentine!
With a little encouragement from Lucy, he finally goes for it. Is this the year everything finally works out for Charlie Brown?
 Peppa’s Valentine’s Day by Courtney Carbone:
Receiving a pretty Valentine’s Day card in the mail from her friend Zoe Zebra, Peppa Pig learns about the meaning of the holiday and decides to show all of her friends just how special they are to her, in a heartwarming story.
Plus, let me tell you about the great events the library has coming up in February:
- Storytimes are Tuesdays at 11 am and Thursdays at 6 pm! Join us for stories, songs, and a craft. Plus, every child gets a free book at every storytime.
- Do your kids need something to do on Tuesday when they’re out of school? Bring them to the library for Video Games at 2 pm! Play our Playstation 4, Xbox, or Wii. All ages welcome.
- Library & Lunch is this Wednesday at noon. Bring your lunch and join us for a discussion of the book A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux.
- The Library will be closed on Monday, February 19, in observance of Presidents’ Day.
- USD 480 is out of school on Friday the 23rd – join us at the library at 1 pm to play board games and card games. Then, we will watch a fun children’s movie at 2 pm! Free popcorn and drinks will be served during the movie.
- This month’s recipe swap will be on Tuesday, the 27th at 6:30 pm. Bring something you’ve made (along with the recipe) and enjoy everyone else’s dishes! This month, we’re making Crock Pot dishes.
What’s happening this week at the Library
- Tuesday at 11am Storytime – Stories, songs, crafts, and more! Plus, every child gets a free book to take home at every storytime. Story times are open to children of all ages.
- Tuesday at 6:30 pm Recipe Swap – Bring something you’ve made (along with the recipe) to share and enjoy everyone else’s creations! Every month is a different theme! This month’s theme is healthy food.
- Thursday at 6 pm Storytime – If you can’t make it to the morning storytime on Tuesday, you can come to the evening Thursday one instead.
Self Improvement in the New Year
Have you made any resolutions this year? If you want to get started tackling those resolutions, we may be able to help.
 Universal Class, available free to all Kansas residents courtesy of the Kansas State Library, offers hundreds of online classes covering all kinds of subjects.
Such as: • Accounting • Mathematics • Computer Training • Business • Health & Medicine • History • How to/Do it yourself • Pet and Animal Care
Kansas residents can access these online classes by going to http://kslib.info/221/Online-Databases and clicking on Universal Class. Once there you can register and create a username and password. After you’ve registered and confirmed your email address, you can enroll in up to six classes at a time. They are self-paced online classes that include video lessons, assignments and exams.
 LearningExpress Library is another helpful site you can access through the Kansas State Library website. You can use it to help you practice for tests for career advancement, college placement, GED, and to become a U.S. citizen. You can also use it to strengthen your skills in math, reading, writing, and computer skills.
 If you’ve always wanted to learn a second language or maybe improve on what you learned in high school, Mango Languages is just what you need. It is another of the online databases made available through the Kansas State Library website, http://kslib.info/221/Online-Databases, for free to Kansas Residents.
Mango prepares learners for realistic conversations and strengthens everyday communication skills in over 70 world languages, including English. If you use their mobile app, you can download lessons to study later when you don’t have an internet connection.
Here are a few books available for checkout to help with those New Year’s Resolutions
 Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up
by Marie Kondo
From the book description
Japanese decluttering guru Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up has revolutionized homes—and lives—across the world. Now, Kondo presents an illustrated guide to her acclaimed KonMari Method, with step-by-step folding illustrations for everything from shirts to socks, plus drawings of perfectly organized drawers and closets.
She also provides advice on frequently asked questions, such as whether to keep “necessary” items that may not bring you joy. With guidance on specific categories including kitchen tools, cleaning supplies, hobby goods, and digital photos, this comprehensive companion is sure to spark joy in anyone who wants to simplify their life.
 You: Staying Young: The Owner’s Manual for Extending Your Warranty
by Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet Oz
From the book description
The body is the most fascinating machine ever created, and nobody talks about it in ways that are as illuminating and compelling as Dr. Michael Roizen and Dr. Mehmet Oz. Most people think of the aging of our bodies the same way we think of the aging of our cars: the older we get, the more inevitable it is that we’re going to break down. Most of us believe that at age 40 or so, we begin the slow and steady decline of our minds, our eyes, our ears, our joints, our arteries, our libido, and every other system that affects the quality of life (and how long we live it). But according to Dr. Roizen and Dr. Oz, that’s a mistake.
Aging isn’t a decline in our systems. It’s actually very purposeful. The very systems and biological processes that age us are designed to help us when we’re a little bit younger. So what’s our role as part of the aging population? To learn how those systems work so we can reprogram them to work the way they did when we were younger. Your goal should be: die young at any age. That means you live a high quality of life until the day you die.
 The Useful Book: 201 Life Skills They Used to Teach in Home Ec and Shop
by David Bowers
This modern and energetically designed encyclopedia of DIY has everything you need to know to fix it, cook it, build it, clean it, and sew it yourself.
With illustrated step-by-step instructions, plus relevant charts, sidebars, lists, and handy toolboxes, The Useful Book features 201 practical how-tos and projects.
We may live in the information age, but that doesn’t mean the drain won’t clog. And there’s no app for that—only life skills.
Since tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I thought I would tell you about some Children’s books about him:
 Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.? by Bonnie Bader: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was only 25 when he helped organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott and was soon organizing black people across the country in support of the right to vote, desegregation, and other basic civil rights.
Maintaining nonviolent and peaceful tactics even when his life was threatened, King was also an advocate for the poor and spoke out against racial and economic injustice until his death – from an assassin’s bullet – in 1968.
With clearly written text that explains this tumultuous time in history and 80 black-and-white illustrations, this book celebrates the vision and the legacy of a remarkable man.
 Dream March: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the March on Washington by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson: Young readers can now learn about one of the greatest civil rights leaders of all time, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in this Level 3 Step into Reading Biography Reader.
Set against Dr. King’s historic march on Washington in the summer of 1963, a moving story and powerful illustrations combine to illuminate not only one of America’s most celebrated leaders, but also one of America’s most celebrated moments.
 We March by Shane Evans: On August 28, 1963, a remarkable event took place–more than 250,000 people gathered in our nation’s capital to participate in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
The march began at the Washington Monument and ended with a rally at the Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech, advocating racial harmony. Many words have been written about that day, but few so delicate and powerful as those presented here by award-winning author and illustrator Shane Evans.
When combined with his simple yet compelling illustrations, the thrill of the day is brought to life for even the youngest reader to experience.
The library will be closed tomorrow (Monday) for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. But, we still have some fun events coming up in the next few weeks:
- Budding Bookworms Storytimes are Tuesdays at 11 am and Thursdays at 6 pm! Join us for stories, songs, crafts, and more! Plus, every child gets a free book to take home at every storytime.
- Do your kids need something to do when they’re out of school on the 25th and 26th? Don’t worry, the Library has you covered! Thursday the 25th at 2 pm, build something great at Lego Day! Friday the 26th at 1 pm, join us for board games, followed by a fun children’s animated movie at 2 pm. Free popcorn and drinks will be served during the movie.
- Recipe swap is on Tuesday the 30th at 6:30 pm! Bring something you’ve made (along with the recipe) to share and enjoy everyone else’s dishes! This month, to help us keep our New Year’s Resolutions, we’re making healthy foods.
 What’s happening this week at the Library
- Monday and Tuesday Closed – We will be closed for the Christmas holiday, but we will reopen for normal hours on Wednesday the 27th from 9:00 a.m.- 8:00 p.m.
- Wednesday at 2 pm Lego Day – Kids, come use your imagination to build something great!
- Thursday at 2 pm Craft – Kids, make a holiday themed craft.
- Thursday at 6 pm Storytime – Listen to stories, sing songs, and do a craft. Storytimes are open to children of all ages.
- Friday at 1 pm Games and a Movie – Play board and card games at 1:00 p.m. followed by a fun new family friendly movie at 2:00 p.m.
Christmas at the Library
We’ve had lots of fun at the library over the last couple of weeks. The Liberal High School Redskin Singers came to the library to perform a holiday concert. They performed contemporary and classic selections under the direction of Tony Claus.
Santa also came to the library. He sang songs with the children and read them stories. The kids enjoyed getting their pictures taken with Santa and telling him their Christmas wishes.
 For the adults, there was an Ugly Christmas Swe ater Party with games and snacks. We also had a White Elephant gift exchange. At the end of the party, we gave out prizes for the winners of the best ugly Christmas sweater contest.
Our most popular event of the season by far was the Gingerbread House Decorating. People asked weeks ahead of time if we would hold it this year and when could they sign up for it. Seating was limited to fifty kids total including the morning and afternoon sessions. All fifty seats were reserved within a couple of days of registration opening.
 The kids had lots of fun decorating their houses and front yards with their own unique styles. There were marshmallow driveways and chocolate bar piece shingles. They decorated their upside-down ice cream cone evergreen trees with cinnamon red-hot Christmas tree bulbs and licorice garlands.
The library supplied the houses, frosting, and toppings and the kids supplied the imagination.
History & Genealogy online
Did you know that as a Kansas resident, you have free access to several online databases to help you learn more about your family history? If you visit https://kslib.info/221/Online-Databases you will find a section marked History & Genealogy with several helpful resources that are free to Kansas residents courtesy of the Kansas State Library. Two of these free resources are HeritageQuest and Genealogy Connect.
HeritageQuest, powered by Ancestry.com, includes access to U.S. Federal Censuses, digitized Genealogy and local history books, Revolutionary War records, and Freedman’s Bank Records. HeritageQuest Online provides genealogical and historical sources for more than 60 countries, with coverage dating back as early as the 1700s.
Gale Genealogy Connect includes over 1,500 reference works formerly available only in print or on CD-ROM. It allows you quickly search across multiple books and view the full text of the results. It also includes ebook versions of reference books that will help genealogy beginners learn how to get started.
Since Christmas is coming fast, I thought I would tell you about a few of the newest Children’s Christmas picture books in our collection:
 The Littlest Reindeer by Brandi Dougherty: Dot is the littlest reindeer at the North Pole. Too little to jump. Too little to kick. And too little to fly with Santa. But she’s not too little to help save the day!
 Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht: With warm joyful art and a rhythmic, read-aloud text, here is a celebration of every festive step in taking home and decorating a Christmas tree.
 The Christmas Star by Marcus Pfister: From the author of the beloved classic The Rainbow Fish comes a book where various people and animals are drawn by a magnificent star to Bethlehem to see the newborn Christ.
December is a great time to check out a book you can snuggle up with or attend one of our fun, holiday-themed events. Here’s what’s happening at the library through the end of December:
- Santa is coming to Storytime this week! Join us on Tuesday at 10 am or Thursday at 6 pm to visit with Santa and listen to a story.
- Library & Lunch is Tuesday at noon! Bring your lunch and join us for a discussion of Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.
- Tuesday at 6 pm, come enjoy Christmas music at the Library! The library will be hosting the Liberal High School Redskin singers under the direction of Tony Claus. Contemporary and classic selections will be performed.
- Our Ugly Christmas Sweater party is on Thursday at noon. Wear an ugly Christmas sweater for this fun party for adults! Bring a White Elephant gift that costs $10 or less, play games, and eat snacks. Adults only. Sign up on our website, lmlibrary.org or at the front desk.
- If you signed up, don’t forget to bring your kid(s) to our Gingerbread House Decorating, this Saturday at 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm! Children ages 4-11 and their parents can come decorate a gingerbread house! Frosting and all kinds of toppings will be available.
- Come to our Beginner’s 3D Printing Workshop on Monday the 18th at 6:30 pm to learn how to use the library’s 3D printer. We will walk through the process of finding a print-ready file online that you can print as is or alter to fit your needs. Sign up online at https://lmlibrary.libcal.com/event/3541376 or at the front desk.
- Don’t forget our regular storytimes, every Tuesday at 10 am and Thursday at 6 pm! Stories, songs, crafts, and more! Plus, every child gets a free book to take home at every storytime.
- Do your kids need something to do over the long Christmas break? Don’t worry, the library has you covered:
- On Friday the 22nd at 2 pm, we will be playing video games! Play the library’s Playstation 4, Xbox, or Wii.
- On Wednesday the 27th at 2 pm, build something great on Lego Day!
- Thursday the 28th at 2 pm, make a fun craft!
- Friday the 29th, we will be playing board games at 1 pm, followed by a Children’s animated movie at 2 pm! Free popcorn and drinks will be served during the movie.
- The Library will be closed on Dec. 25 & 26 for Christmas. We wish all of you a very happy holiday season!
 Food for Fines
For this week only, November 27th through December 2nd, you can donate any nonperishable food items or new toiletries (toothpaste, soap, toilet paper, etc.) to Liberal Memorial Library and we will waive your overdue fines! All donated items will be given to local charities.
This works for overdue fines only, fines for lost or damaged items will not be waived.
Database spotlight – Consumer Reports
Did you know that, as a Kansas resident, you could use the online databases from the Kansas State Library to access full text magazines and journals (such as Consumer Reports) for free?
What if, like me, your oven dies just weeks before Thanksgiving? Or suppose you want to find a new dishwasher in time for the big holiday get together aftermath but don’t know which to buy? You could:
- Go to the Kansas State Library’s website https://kslib.info/221/Online-Databases.
- Click on the link to Explora Multi-Search under General Research.
- Click on Advanced Search.
- Type Dishwashers (or whatever else you’re looking for) on the first line,
- And type Consumer Reports on the second line.
- Choose Publication Name under the drop-down beside the second line.
- Then click Search.
The first result in the list is “Dishwashers” from the Consumer Reports Buying Guide. 2017. If you click on the underlined title, you’ll go straight to the full text article.
After you bring up the article, you also have the option of looking at other articles in the same issue or looking at other issues of Consumer Reports.
Other Databases
Besides Explora Mulit-Search, the Kansas State Library offers access to many other great databases. You could use the Auto Repair Reference Center to find repair information for your car.
LearningExpress offers tutorials and practice tests for people at different stages in life, from elementary school through college prep. The Career Center and Job & Career Accelerator can help you study for and find a new job. Use the Computer Skills Center to learn new computer skills. And the High School Equivalency Center can help you get your GED.
Mango Languages can help you learn a new language. Universal Class offers over 500 online non-credit Continuing Education Courses. Use Heritage Quest and Genealogy Connect to learn more about your ancestors.
These are only a few of the great resources that the Kansas State Library offers free to all Kansas residents.
Christmas Fiction
Now that Thanksgiving is over, we’re all busier than ever, stressed out over getting ready for the holidays. If you need a little help getting into the holiday spirit, these books may help.
 The Usual Santas : a collection of Soho Crime Christmas capers
From the Book Description
Eighteen delightful holiday stories by a colorful lineup of favorite Soho Crime authors. This captivating collection contains laughs aplenty, the most hardboiled of holiday noir, and heartwarming reminders of the spirit of the season.
Nine mall Santas must find the imposter among them. An elderly lady seeks peace from her murderously loud neighbors at Christmastime. A young woman receives a mysterious invitation to Christmas dinner with a stranger…These and other adventures in this delectable volume will whisk readers away to Christmases around the globe, from a Korean War POW camp to a Copenhagen refugee squat, from a palatial hotel in 1920s Bombay to a crumbling mansion in Havana.
 The Christmas blessing
by Melody Carlson.
From the Book Description
She’s Determined to give her baby a better life. Could a Christmas miracle make it possible?
When she receives the news in late 1944 that her baby’s father was shot down in the South Pacific, Amelia Richards loses hope. Jobless and broke, she has nowhere to turn for help but her infant’s paternal grandparents. The only problem is, they don’t know that she–or their grandson–exists.
When Amelia discovers that the family is wealthy and influential, dare she disclose the truth of her relationship with their son? Or could the celebration of the arrival of another unexpected baby nearly two thousand years ago be the answer to her dilemma?
 Twelve slays of Christmas
by Jacqueline Frost.
From the Book Description
When Holly White’s fiancé cancels their Christmas Eve wedding with less than two weeks to go, Holly heads home with a broken heart. Lucky for her, home in historic Mistletoe, Maine is magical during Christmastime―exactly what the doctor prescribed. Except her plan to drown her troubles in peppermints and snickerdoodles is upended when local grouch and president of the Mistletoe Historical Society Margaret Fenwick is bludgeoned and left in the sleigh display at Reindeer Games, Holly’s family tree farm.
When the murder weapon is revealed as one of the wooden stakes used to identify trees on the farm, Sheriff Evan Grey turns to Holly’s father, Bud, and the Reindeer Games staff. And it doesn’t help that Bud and the reindeer keeper were each seen arguing with Margaret just before her death. But Holly knows her father, and is determined to exonerate him. The jingle bells are ringing, the clock is ticking, and if Holly doesn’t watch out, she’ll end up on Santa’s naughty list.
|
|
Tuesday at noon, bring your lunch and join us for a discussion of the book