Library closing early Nov. 30, no teen program

The Litchfield Library will close at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 30, for carpet cleaning.  There will be no teen program that day.

Improv for kids and teens

Needle Felting: Succulents

Teen Tech Week: Listen to our podcast!

During a recent Makerspace program, the teens recorded a podcast for Teen Tech Week.  They used a new microphone purchased with a Teen Tech Week grant from Prairielands Library Exchange and free Audacity software on a library laptop.  Listen here:
https://archive.org/details/TeenPodcast_201903

Kids, read down your fines in June

Programs cancelled for Saturday, April 14

The reading therapy dogs and the teen program schedule for Saturday, April 13, have been cancelled due to the weather forecast.

Teens, get your work published in the zine!

by Mariah Ralston Deragon, Litchfield library assistant

What is a zine? We’ve been getting this question a lot lately at the library! The short answer is that “zine” is short for “magazine”. That means a zine can potentially cover a very wide range of topics and genres.

This summer, the Litchfield Library has started making zines with kids ages 12-18. We call it our “Teen Zine”.  So far the zine has included pencil sketches, comic strips, short stories, doodles, and collaborative writing. I discovered the idea for zine making at the library after attending the Twin Cities Zine Fest in Minneapolis last summer. The Rochester Public Library was tabling there with some teens that had started a zine group at their library.

After the Zine fest, I started doing some research using MnLink at the library. I discovered that zines are considered to be a form of self-publishing. Self-published pamphlets and newsletters can be traced all the way back to Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac, which was started in 1757. (From “Make a Zine!” by Bill Brent)

This popular “Almanack” was full of word-play, calendars, weather forecasts, poetry, puzzles…you name it.

Jumping to present times, self-published books and zines can be found at many bookstores world-wide, and in countless variations. Regarding zines in particular, I found this quote from Stolen Sharpie Revolution by Alex Wrekk to be helpful…

“A zine is an independently created publication. The contents are anything you want them to be like; personal experiences and stories…music related writing, gardening tips, travel stories, comics, photography... Zines can be put together by one person or a group of people and they are usually photocopied.”

After our teens finish their writing, drawing, sketching, etc., we make photo copies of their work in black and white, using our trusty copy machine, and then we staple it all together using a saddle stitch stapler.

It just so happens that zine-making also fits into the library’s summer reading theme “Reading by Design.” Now that the zine group has gained some more members, it’s becoming more and more interesting to figure out how all the artwork and writing can fit together. And after everything’s edited together, photocopied, and stapled…we put the zine out at the front desk of the library for Litchfield patrons to enjoy. The zines are free, and available to anyone that wants one (while supplies last).

We will be making zines at the library on the 3^rd and 4^th Monday for the rest of the summer! 

Teens ages 12-18 are welcome to join us on July 24, August 21^st, and August 28^th from 3:30-4:30 p.m.

And it’s okay if you still don’t understand what a zine is… Come on down to the library; we would love to show you!

Thank you to our summer reading sponsors!

by Beth Cronk, Meeker County Librarian

As the summer winds down, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the local businesses and organizations that helped support the summer reading program in the libraries in Meeker County.  With 356 kids participating in Litchfield, 130 in Dassel, and 39 in Grove City, we have been having a busy summer, and we appreciate the generosity of our donors who helped make it fun for the kids.

First, I would like to thank the Friends of the Litchfield Public Library.  They assist in funding the summer reading program prizes every year for the Litchfield Library, as well as things like craft supplies that we use in special summer activities like this year’s Wednesday Fun at the Library.  The prizes funded by the Friends include brand-new books for kids of all ages.  You help the Friends support programs for kids whenever you shop at the library book sale.  The next book sale is this Saturday, August 20, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the library meeting room.

I’d also like to thank the businesses that donated gift certificates that the kids can choose as prizes.  The following local businesses donated certificates given as prizes in all three libraries in Meeker County: Litchfield, Grove City, and Dassel.

• ·         Pizza Ranch: pizzas
• ·         McDonald’s: fries and desserts
• ·         Pizza Hut: pizzas
• ·         KLFD: Minnesota Zoo passes

Litchfield DQ donated Dilly Bars for kids in the Litchfield and Grove City programs.  Cokato DQ has given certificates for ice cream cones to the Dassel program. 

Jimmy’s Pizza of Litchfield donated pizza gift certificates for kids in the Litchfield summer reading program, and Jimmy’s Pizza of Dassel donated certificates for the Dassel program. 

Cokato Subway has given certificates for cookies to the Dassel summer reading program.

The Kandiyohi County Area YMCA donated family passes for the Grove City program. 

The Dassel Community Chest gave a donation that allowed the Dassel Library to buy new books to give to kids as prizes.

The Cokato-Dassel Lions gave a donation that we used to bring in St. John’s Outdoor University to the Dassel Library for a program called “Nature Olympics”.  St. John’s teaches kids ages three through twelve about science through stories, games, and other activities.

A library cooperative in southwestern Minnesota called SAMMIE provided a grant that the Dassel Library used to create a summer program called Maker Fun.  This twice-monthly program offers a variety of activities for kids age 10 and up, such as games, crafts, and cooking. They have one session left this summer.  Because it has been popular, we’ll be continuing that into fall, once a month on the second Monday after school. 

Thank you to all of these businesses and organizations for supporting kids and reading in our communities.  The summer reading programs in all three libraries continue through the last day of August.  Kids and teens can bring in their summer reading game sheets for prizes until then.  Keep reading for fun, for prizes, and for school readiness!  

Celebrate Watercade with the library!

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

The Saturday of Watercade is bringing all kinds of excitement to the Litchfield Library.  The book sale, an art stand, a teen program, and an honor for our children’s librarian are all on deck.

The annual Friends of the Library Watercade book sale will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 9.  The Friends hold a book sale every month, normally on the third Saturday of the month from 10-2, but in July it’s moved up to coincide with Watercade.  And it’s the big one.  As long as the weather cooperates, the fiction will be outside in front of the library.  The nonfiction will be inside the meeting room, and the cashiers will be in the lobby.  Stop over to get lightly used books for a very low price, including books about outdoor sports, Christianity, and crafts, as well as many other topics.  All proceeds benefit the library!

This year we have a special art event on the Saturday of Watercade, too.  A streetcorner letterpress is going to be on the lawn in front of the library from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.  This stand allows people of all ages to print postcards from a variety of papers, images, and colors.  Three 100-year-old letterpresses produce 4x6 postcard-style prints with the push of a lever.  Participants are invited to print their own postcards with images customized for our area.  Whether prints are taken home and framed, put on the fridge, or mailed to a friend, they are worth saving.

Pioneerland Library System is sponsoring this letterpress event as a part of a tour of four unique art programs this summer from ReadyGo!, a project from Springboard for the Arts.  ReadyGo! events use artist-designed mobile tools to spark interaction. 

The streetcorner letterpress will also be in Dassel on Labor Day and in a number of other towns in our library system through September.  Another ReadyGo! stand, a mobile sign shop, will be at a number of libraries including New London and Spicer in July.  A mobile drawing station called One Another will be in Hutchinson on Friday, September 16 and in Willmar the next day.  The complete schedule is available in a brochure at our library.

This project is funded in part or in whole with money from Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.  There is no charge for you to come and participate in these art projects, so stop over on Watercade Saturday to make a print of your own. 

We have a program for teens on the second Saturday of each month and any time there’s a fifth Saturday, as well.  This month that falls on Watercade Saturday, too.  Since we’ll have the letterpress here, Margaret will be bringing the teens outside to try it, and she’ll have other activities for them, too.  Ages eleven  to eighteen are welcome to come at 1:30 to join in the fun.  There’s no need to sign up in advance.

And finally, we are so proud of our children’s librarian Jan Pease on being selected as this year’s Watercade grand marshal.  With 25 years of service at the library, she has had a positive effect on so many young people in this community and continues to do so every day.  You can wave to her in the Watercade parade Saturday evening.   Have a wonderful celebration!

Kids and teens, read down your fines in June!

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

Kids will have an opportunity again this summer to read down their late fees.  We tried this program last June and people have been requesting it ever since.  The Friends of the Litchfield Public Library are on board to help sponsor the program again. This year we will offer it from June 1 through June 15.

Here’s how it works: Children and teens under age 18 can sign in at the desk, read in the children’s department, and come back to the desk to record the time they finish.  For every fifteen minutes spent reading in the library, $1 will be taken off of the fines on that child’s card. 

There’s no limit on the dollar amount of late fees that can be cleared this way, but it can’t be applied to lost or damaged items or lost library cards.  Another limitation is that kids can’t read down their parents’ fines this way, only their own.  And the program isn’t open to adults.  Sorry, grownups.

Can’t read yet?  No problem.  Young kids can read down their fines by being read to by a parent, babysitter, or older sibling, as long as they’re in the library. 

So what do you do if you have a book or movie at home that you know is long overdue?  Bring it back to the library between now and June 15, and then spend 45 minutes doing the fines read-down.  Even if you’ve gotten a big bill to replace a book or movie, the fine will drop to $3 once it’s returned.  Of course, you have the option to pay the fine, too, rather than spending that time in the library, but for this short time a child would have a way to take care of it without having to come up with any money.

The Friends of the Library do all kinds of great things for the library.  If you drive by while the monthly book sale is on, you’ll now see a sign out by the street that says “book sale,” which the Friends just bought.  We hope this new acquisition will help you remember that the sale is happening.  I can’t tell you how many people come in to the library during a book sale and say, “Oh, I didn’t know this was happening!”  The sale happens on the third Saturday of every month from 10-2 in the meeting room.  The exception is in July, when the sale is moved to the Saturday of Watercade.

The Friends run the book sale, with cashiering assistance from the Litchfield Women’s Study Club.  Members of the Friends sort the donations, set up the carts in a well-organized way, and take it all down when it’s done.  They also put things out on the cart of free books near the magazine exchange, and they send some things to Better World Books that can make the group some money, which they use to benefit the library. 

One of the things they spend their funds on is “Book Page,” the monthly book review magazine you see at the library’s front desk.  It’s very popular, because it’s an appealing magazine full of suggestions of books to read.  Every avid reader needs ideas!  We get a box of copies of this publication every month, so you can take one home with you. 

The Friends have also paid for some great new books that we’ll be giving away as prizes for summer reading, and they help to fund things like storytime and summer reading crafts, books for Beginners’ Book Club, and prizes for the adult winter reading program.  And, like I mentioned at the beginning, they are helping to fund the Fines Read-down in June. 

Good libraries need good Friends, and we have a wonderful group.  If you’re interested in joining them, pick up a brochure at the library’s front desk for more information.  Thank you to the Friends for all of their work and support!

New art program for grades 4-8

National Library Week: Love and transformation

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

It’s National Library Week!  National Library Week was created in the 1950’s by the National Book Committee to encourage reading and library use to better Americans’ lives.  The American Library Association now sponsors this celebration.

This year’s theme is “Libraries Transform.”  This slogan refers to the ways libraries can transform lives by providing free access to books and other materials, computers and internet access, storyhours, and classes and programs for all ages. 

We’re joining in on the celebration by giving our customers a chance to say why they love the library.  All week we’ve got sheets of paper available with speech bubbles printed on them, like in a comic strip or graphic novel.  We invite you to write or draw the reasons why your library is important to you.  We’re hanging them up around the library, so take a look at other people’s reasons, too!

One sign of love for the library is the generosity of our patrons.  Just since the beginning of the year, one couple has given us a donation to use for the purchase of popular fiction, Mike Johnson has given us a donation to use for purchasing mysteries, and the family of Boyd Anderson has given us a donation for the purchase of history books.  We are so grateful to all of them.  The generosity of members of your community has increased the number of books that are available to you.

Another sign of love for the library is participation in our adult winter reading program, which ended on the last day of March.  We had over 70 people sign up for it this year, turning in almost 300 book reviews.  The most popular authors were Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb, Julie Garwood, Joanne Fluke, Gillian Flynn, Tess Gerritsen, Lois Lowry, and, surprisingly, Carolyn Keene.  This year James Patterson was not as popular as in the past.  Many people reviewed nonfiction history books on a wide range of subjects, and books on food and cooking were pretty popular, too.  The reviews will be available on our front desk this month if you’d like to browse through them for reading ideas.

An activity that I think the participants are loving this month is our watercolor class, taught by area artist Joyce Young.  This class is funded with money from Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.  The three-session class is full and already underway, so I’m sorry to say we can’t accept any more sign-ups.  However, you can come to their art exhibit on Thursday, April 28, from 1-2 p.m. in the library meeting room.  The artists will be there to display their paintings, and we will serve light refreshments.  We plan to display the paintings in the library for two weeks afterward, too.  This would be an example of libraries possibly transforming some people into watercolor artists who haven’t tried this before.

And, finally, our library transformed a few late fees into food for local people in need this past month.  We held a Food for Fines program during the second half of March, which is Minnesota FoodShare Month.  During this time, patrons with late fees could have $1 of their late fees waived for each food shelf donation brought to the library, up to a maximum of $5 per card.  Litchfield, Grove City, and Dassel library users donated a total of 92 pounds of food to the Meeker County Emergency Food Shelf through this program. 

Stop in to look around the library during the rest of National Library Week to see what responses there are to the prompt “I love my library because ___.”  We look forward to seeing the results!

Painting class offered at library

Need to get out of the house?

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

What’s happening at the library this winter?  The adult winter reading program, a craft workshop for adults, teen programs, storytimes, and book clubs are available to get you out of the house this season.

Our adult winter reading program has started and runs through March 31st.  Book Your Winter Getaway is a program for adults to read and review books and earn prizes for it.  When you sign up at the front desk, you’ll get a tote bag, a punch card, and some book review forms.  Read books of your choice and fill out a short review form for each.  Audiobooks and e-books count, too!  When you bring in a review, we’ll mark your punch card.  When you’ve completed three, you can choose a prize.  When you’ve completed three more, we’ll put your name in a drawing for gift certificates to local businesses, sponsored by the Friends of the Litchfield Public Library.  The book reviews will be available at our front desk for anyone to read.

On Saturday, January 23nd, we’re offering a historical craft workshop for adults at 1 p.m.  The Minnesota Historical Society is teaching a class on making historical and modern valentines.  The class is free to attend since it is funded by Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.  You will need to sign up in advance; stop in or call us at 693-2483 to put your name on the list.  Space is limited.

For teens, we offer an activity on the second Saturday of every month from 1:30-3:15.  When there’s a fifth Saturday in a month, like there is in January, we have a teen program that afternoon, as well.  Ages eleven to eighteen are welcome to join us on January 30th for a Minecraft building challenge: replicating the library building, something in the library, or a picture in a library book. 

Weekly storytimes have started up again after the holidays, running through May 14th.  On Wednesdays at 10:15, we have Toddler Time for babies through age two.  On Fridays, we have Preschool Storyhour at 10:00 for children age six and younger.  On the second Saturday of each month, we also have a storyhour at 10:00 - useful for families who can’t come on a weekday.  Older siblings are always welcome at all of the storytimes.

Book clubs happen at the library year-round, and you are welcome to hop in at any time.  The adult book club meets on the second Tuesday of each month at noon.  The book for the February meeting is Frog Music by Emma Donoghue.  Copies are on hand at our library to check out; just ask at the desk.

Mystery Book Club meets the third Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m.  The book for February is The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny.  These books we order individually for people who regularly attend book club, so talk to Mary or Elisabeth if you’d like to get involved with that.

Book-to-Movie Club is for grades four through eight, although younger kids are welcome to attend if accompanied by an adult or older sibling.  On the second Monday of the month, they meet from 3:15 to 5:00 to talk about a book and watch a movie based on that book.  For February, they are reading A Wrinkle in Time.  Copies are available to check out at the front desk.

Beginners’ Book Club is for kids in grades one through three.  They meet on the third Thursday of the month from 3-4 p.m.  The book for the January 21^st meeting is Charlie Bumpers vs. the Teacher of the Year by Bill Harley.

We also have Brickhead Lego building nights on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and a book sale every month on the third Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

 

Beat your cabin fever and come out for something that interests you at the library!

Halloween Murder Mystery Party for teens at the library

Kids, read down your fines!

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

Kids will have an exciting opportunity to clear away their library fines at the beginning of this summer.  The Friends of the Litchfield Public Library are sponsoring a Fines Read-Down at the Litchfield Library from June 1 to June 13.  Kids earn $1 off of their late fees for every 15 minutes spent reading in the library.

This program is for anyone younger than age 18.  The child can read down fines only on their own library card, not their parent’s card. 

Late fees can be cleared through this program, but lost items cannot be paid for this way, and replacement library cards can’t, either.  If you have been billed for a book or other item that has not been returned, talk with a librarian about options for taking care of that.  The good news is that even if an item has been overdue for years, once it’s returned the late fee will drop to $3 on a book or $8 on a movie, and that late fee could be worked off through the Fines Read-Down during those first two weeks of June.  It’s a great time to do some digging for those lost library books and movies!

To participate in the program, kids and teens can come to the front desk anytime during those two weeks, sign in with their name and the time, and then come back when they’re done to write down their ending time.  They will need to read something in print while sitting in the children’s department, in the lobby, or otherwise in view of the front desk.  Sorry, e-book readers, but for this program you can’t read on a screen.  You can read a comic book or magazine as well as a book, though.  We can only give credit to kids spending their time reading, not simply hanging out at the library. 

For young kids who can’t yet read, an adult or older child can read to them in the children’s department to read down that young child’s fines.  In fact, an older sibling reading to a younger one can potentially read down fines on two cards at once!

The summer reading program also begins June 1.  Time spent reading in the library to earn money toward fines can also be counted toward the summer reading program, up to an hour a day.  However, summer reading logs don’t necessarily count towards the Fines Read-Down, if the reading is done at home.  The summer reading program runs all summer, and the read-down program only lasts two weeks.

There’s no limit on how much each child or teen can read down, as long as it’s for late fees.  Unfortunately, we can’t give credit for future fines.  We can only apply reading time to fines kids already have on their cards.  So this is a good time to start fresh and then make sure to keep track of those due dates to avoid late fees in the future.  We do have email notifications now that remind you three days before items are due, so make sure to sign up for those if you have an email account that you check.

We have never tried a program like this before, and we’re excited to try it out and give kids a way to regain use of their library cards even if they don’t have money to pay for their fines.   When fines total more than $5, nothing can be checked out with that card.  Start summer vacation by reading in the library, and then check out books all summer to bring home for free entertainment.  Thank you to the Friends of the Litchfield Public Library for funding this great program!

Book-to-movie club today

Book-to-movie club meets today, 4/13, 3:15-5, to discuss Stuart Little and watch the movie.  Anyone in grades 4-8 is welcome.  Younger kids may attend if accompanied by an adult.

Back by popular demand

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: Makey-Makey kits! These open-ended, creative kits work with computers and are a BLAST. The teens who have used them in Grove City and Litchfield in the past month have not wanted to stop. Use any conductive material to create joysticks, controllers, keyboards... the sky's the limit. Anyone ages 12-18 is welcome to come tomorrow at 1:30 and play around. Bring friends -- it will be a good time!

What Will You Make Today?

By Margaret Weigelt

Teen Programming at Litchfield and Grove City

Encourage TEENS to TAKE this library SURVEY!   https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DL8F665

If you’re of a certain age you may have noticed the public library isn’t quite like it used to be.  It’s still the place to find book titles on every topic under the sun, but some of the activities happening may surprise you.  People around the country and around the world are utilizing libraries for animated interactions together “discovering, making and doing” stuff like inventing, building and creating new content. Maybe you’ve noticed Lego creations on display? What’s that all about?  For a number of years now libraries have been building into their programming a new capacity to host and facilitate the creative genius of their communities.

In the future libraries may be the favorite place to go for community interaction, support, mentoring and to access a wide variety of tools and resources (other than books) cooperatively shared by community members to research and experiment, take apart or put together, and create or experience new content in both the real and the digital world. Instead of simply consuming someone else’s creative content we might be lending, submitting our own ideas, creations, compositions, coding, animations, inventions and discoveries to the community and library for input, feedback and review.

 In the future our resources will likely expand far beyond books and computers. In the future we might be coming to the public library to do a little research and then tackle a DIY/DIT or scientific project with tools and supplies available at the library! We might come to make a prototype with a 3D printer or work on a new invention or enterprise, investigate various technologies, try out new hobbies, get involved in service learning, learn to sew, cook, or make furniture. Who knows? It’s really up to you!

 

Here at the library we’ve taken baby steps toward a “Maker” kind of mindset for all ages.  In particular we’ve tried to make adjustments to our attitudes and are working to create library spaces where tweens and teens feel comfortable, especially for use of digital devices and social interaction. The teen programming at the Grove City and Litchfield libraries is set up to encourage and facilitate the creative, social and intellectual development of young people. The first step in achieving that has been to greet and get to know the teens that visit our libraries, find out about their interests, invite them to share their thoughts, advice, ideas and visions of what would make their experience at the library outstanding! We create programming around those interests.


One of our newest programs makes use of a tiny box of stuff called a Makey Makey.  It contains a whole lot of fun in the guise of a small circuit board powered by USB connected to conductive materials with alligator clip wires. Everyone’s eyes light up with ideas when they see the myriad possibilities of interacting with a computer’s apps, games and software via banana, play dough, spoons, or through a chain of conductive objects including three of your friends!

There will be a MAKEY MAKEY invention session for teens at the Litchfield Public Library Saturday April 11 starting 1:30 pm in the big meeting room! Another session will be offered at the Grove City Public Library on Monday April 20 at 3:30 pm. All young people ages 12-18 welcome. Refreshments will be served. No registration required. For more information call 320-693-2483 (Litchfield) or 320-857-2550 (Grove City).

The Borrowers