Holiday Events at the Library

  Plate of cookies  Events This Week

  • Tuesday at 11 am 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.
  • Wednesday – Library closes at 1 pm
  • Thursday and Friday – Library closed for Thanksgiving
  • Saturday at 2 pm Movie – Come to the library to see a new animated movie about a family full of superheroes. Free popcorn! Feel free to bring your own soda and even a pillow, blanket, or chair to be comfortable!

Recipe Swap – Cookie Swap

We won’t have a Recipe Swap in November, but on December 4th at 6:30 pm we will have our annual Cookie Swap. Bring two dozen of your favorite homemade cookies to share, along with the recipe, and take home a sample of other people’s creations!

Gingerbread House Decorating

Signup for the annual gingerbread house decorating at the library begins Monday after next on the 26th. Signup in person or online at http://lmlibrary.org.

There will be two sessions on Saturday, December 15th. One at 12:30 pm and another at 2:30pm. Children ages 4-11 and their parents are invited to come decorate a gingerbread house! Frosting and all kinds of toppings will be available. Seating is limited, so sign up as early as you can.

Holiday Meal Planning

If you have family coming for the holidays and you’re looking for some inspiration about what to serve them, you could try checking out some of the library’s cookbooks. The Library has all kinds of cookbooks available for checkout. Here are a few:

"Talk turkey to me" book imageTalk Turkey to Me: A Good Time in the Kitchen Talking Turkey and All the Trimmings
by Renee S. Ferguson

From the description

Talk Turkey to Me is an informative, entertaining read featuring caller’s questions answered by a former Butterball Turkey Talk-Line expert. The book also features recipes for more than 80 dishes to accompany your turkey – everything from appetizers to desserts – to help you cook up a good time in the kitchen anytime!

"Smashed mashed boiled and baked" book imageSmashed, Mashed, Boiled, and Baked–and Fried, Too!: A Celebration of Potatoes in 75 Irresistible Recipes
by Raghavan Iyer

From the book description
Inspired by a diversity of cuisines, Raghavan Iyer’s passion for potatoes shines through in his continent-by-continent celebration of the amazing potato and the tastiest ways you can cook it – including soups, salads, gratins, tarts, and the Ultimate French Fries.

"A year of pies" book imageA Year of Pies: A Seasonal Tour of Home Baked Pies
by Ashley English

From the book description
Take a delicious seasonal tour of pies. Pies can be enjoyed year-round. Join Ashley English as she walks you through a calendar year of making pies, using the freshest seasonal ingredients possible.

"The Christmas cookie book" book imageThe Christmas Cookie Book
by Judy Knipe and Barbara Marks

From the book description
The wonderful aroma of home-baked cookies is part of the enduring magic of Christmas. Now you can celebrate the holidays with The Christmas Cookie Book, a mouth-watering collection of more than ninety recipes gathered from the family, friends, and neighbors of authors Judy Knipe and Barbara Marks.

More than a collection of recipes, The Christmas Cookie Book is also a practical guide to the basics of cookie baking, equipment, and techniques. A special section called “Cookies to Go” is devoted to gift-giving, with charming ideas for packing and wrapping your cookies. A veritable feast of terrific recipes, gift ideas, and cookie-lore, The Christmas Cookie Book is sure to please cookie lovers of all ages.

Christmas at the Library

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 Sweater 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.

Holiday Fun at the Library

christmas-noteThe holidays are almost here, and we have a lot of fun stuff planned at the library to keep you busy!

  • Don’t forget about our weekly storytimes, Tuesdays at 6 pm and Thursdays at 11:15 am. Children and their parents can join us for stories, songs, and a craft!
  • Our Library and Lunch program is this Tuesday at noon. Bring your lunch and join us for a discussion of “The Christmas Note” by Donna VanLiere.
  • Teens can tell the library what to do at our Teen Advisory Meeting, Tuesday at 6 pm! Plan and execute teen events and earn easy community service hours. Plus, we’ll do a fun craft.
  • Lego Day is every Wednesday at 5 pm. Use your imagination and learn engineering concepts as you build something great!
  • The library closes at 5 pm this Thursday, Dec. 15, so there will be no Teen Create & Game that evening.
  • This Saturday brings our yearly Gingerbread Houses event! If you’ve already signed up, don’t forget to come decorate a Gingerbread House at 12:30 pm or 2:30 pm.  Frosting and all sorts of toppings will be available. This is a really fun event, so don’t miss it!
  • If you want to learn how to use a 3D printer, you should come to our Beginner’s 3D Printing Workshop, Monday the 19th at 6 pm. 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. Seating is limited, so sign up on our website or at the front desk.
  • Santa Claus is coming to Storytimes next week! Tuesday Dec. 20 at 6 pm and Thursday Dec. 22 at 11:15 am, Santa will be our special Storytime guest.  Come see Santa and tell him what you want for Christmas.
  • Teens can join us for movie and craft time on Tuesday Dec. 20 at 6 pm! We’ll watch a fun movie while making an ugly sweater craft.
  • gingerbread-houses7Teens can also come to Teen Create and Game, every Thursday at 5 pm. Play our Wii, Xbox, Playstation 4, one of our many board games, or do a fun craft! On the 22nd, we’ll be watching anime.  On the 29th, we’ll be making rainbow snowflakes.
  • Every weekday over Winter Break (Dec. 22-23 & Dec. 27-30), kids of all ages can join us for a craft and board games at 1 pm, followed by a movie at 2 pm! Make fun holiday and winter crafts and/or play one of our board games, then watch a fun movie. You can find which movies will be shown on the December Calendar available at the library or through our email list. Popcorn and lemonade will be served during the movie.  Keep your kids busy while they’re out of school with our fun activities and crafts!

The library will be closed Sat. Dec. 24 and Mon. Dec 26 for Christmas.  I hope that you all have a lovely holiday season.  We will also close at 1 pm on Sat., Dec. 31 for New Year’s Eve.  Come to the library in December for holiday and winter fun!

May Your Days be Merry and Bright

santaWe’re gearing up for Christmas here at the library, with all sorts of fun activities. So if your kids (or you) need some relief from Cabin Fever during their long Winter Break, I have the perfect remedies – here’s all the fun stuff the library has in store for the rest of this month:

Santa Claus Storytime – Dec. 17 at 11:15 am and 6 pm – Santa himself will read us some Christmas stories, and of course there will be a Christmas craft.

Gingerbread HousesIf you signed up for one of our Gingerbread House decorating sessions on the 19th, don’t forget to come at 9:30 am or 11:30 am (whichever one you signed up for).  Don’t worry, you will receive an email reminder the day before. These sessions are by registration only, and all spaces are now full.

Star Wars Day – Dec. 18 – Just in time for the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens! All ages are welcome at these events. Star Wars crafts and prizes at 1 pm, movie at 2 pm with Star Wars posters for everyone who attends, Star Wars games and prizes at 4 pm.  Wear or bring your favorite Star Wars gear!

THEME DAYS FOR KIDS’ WINTER BREAK (there will be movies, along with crafts, stories, and other fun):

Solstice crafting & celebration – Dec. 21 – Learn about the shortest day of the year. Movie at 2 pm.

Teddy Bear & PJ Day – Dec. 22 – Party at 2 pm. Come to the library in your most comfortable jammies and bring along your favorite stuffed animal.

Christmas crafts – Dec. 23 at 4 pm, make some fun Christmas crafts. Also, there will be a Christmas movie to get you in the holiday spirit at 2 pm.

Disney Day – Dec. 28 – Wear your favorite Disney gear! Disney movies at 2 and 4 pm. Enjoy some Frozen-themed fun!

Music, Drama & Musicals Day – Dec. 29 – Enjoy watching some great musicals, and even sing along if you want to!

Anime and Art Day – Dec. 30 – Enjoy an anime movie at 2 pm, and/or make some art.

Noon Year’s Eve – Dec. 31 at noon – Come celebrate the New Year while we’re all still awake.

And if you & your fellow adults need some stress relief, try our Stress Management session with Leslie Bissell on Dec. 16 at noon.  Learn some techniques to relieve the stress of the holidays.

Also, don’t forget that we’re forgiving library fines this week when you donate new, unopened, unused, and non-perishable food, toiletry, clothing, and sundries, all of which will be given to the Stepping Stone Shelter.  See our website at http://lmlibrary.org/fine-forgiveness-2015/ for suggested donation items. Even if you don’t have any fines, you can still contribute to helping the homeless here in Liberal by donating.

And if you didn’t yet receive a copy of this year’s Kansas Reads to Preschoolers book, Is Your Mama a Llama?, we will have free copies available at the front desk.  This classic picture book is a great gift for the preschooler, baby, or toddler in your life.