Snow is Falling, Books are Calling

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

This year’s adult winter reading program has begun, with the theme “Snow is Falling, Books are Calling.”  Our winter reading program is intended to encourage and reward reading by adults during this cold and snowy time of year, like we do with the kids during the summer.

Sign up between now and March to participate, and you’ll get a red and black buffalo plaid-accented book bag while supplies last.  You’ll also get a stack of book review forms and a card for keeping track of the reviews you turn in.

When you turn in a short book review for something you read between the day you sign up and the end of March, library staff will stamp your card.  When you’ve turned in three, you can choose a small prize.  When you’ve turned in three more, you can choose another prize, plus we’ll put your completed card into a drawing.  The Friends of the Litchfield Public Library sponsors three gift certificates to local businesses for that drawing.  The program can be completed only one time per person.

The small prize choices this year include a mug, a book light, a phone charger adapter for the car, a large candy bar, buffalo plaid earrings, and a mouse pad.  As always, these are the choices while supplies last – although we won’t run out of candy bars. 

You can read anything you like for the program.  It doesn’t have to be a library book or something new.  You choose what you’d like to read.  It can even be an ebook or audiobook – that’s still a form of reading!

The book review forms are short, with no spot for a name, so they’re anonymous once you turn them in.  We set them in a basket at the front desk, and you are welcome look through them to find out which books our library users recommend or don’t recommend.

So once you sign up, what should you read?  I have a list of the most popular books in Pioneerland Library System last year, which is almost like a recommendation from the thousands of people who use the libraries in our region.  The most popular book of the year was “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens.  That novel about a girl abandoned to grow up alone in the marshlands of North Carolina was published in August 2018 and is still in high demand in our library system and around the country.

The other top adult novels of the year were “Wolf Pack” by C.J. Box, “Neon Prey” by John Sandford, “The 18^th Abduction” by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, “The Great Alone” by Kristin Hannah, “Every Breath” by Nicholas Sparks, “Someone Knows” by Lisa Scottoline, “Long Road to Mercy” by David Baldacci, “Holy Ghost” by John Sandford, and “The Boy” by Tami Hoag.

The adult nonfiction books with the most checkouts in Pioneerland in 2019 were “Becoming” by Michelle Obama, “Educated” by Tara Westover, “Girl, Wash Your Face” by Rachel Hollis, “Girl, Stop Apologizing” by Rachel Hollis, “Killers of the Flower Moon” by David Grann, “Hillbilly Elegy” by J.D. Vance, “Love Thy Neighbor” by Ayaz Virji, “The Pioneers” by David McCullough, “A Woman of No Importance” by Sonia Purnell, and “The Library Book” by Susan Orlean.

There’s no risk to signing up for the winter reading program.  We won’t call you to see if you’ve finished your books yet.  Why not challenge yourself to a goal of reading a few books this winter?  Reading books can help you be more creative, focused, and empathetic.  And in case you’ve forgotten, which many of us do when life gets busy, reading can be fun.  Like the winter reading program slogan says, books are calling to you!

Adult Winter Reading starts today!

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

Now that it’s January and the holidays are done, Pioneerland libraries are launching this year’s adult winter reading program, Winter Reads.  It’s an easy way to set yourself a goal to read several books before the winter is over and earn prizes for doing it.

Litchfield Library’s program begins today and ends March 30.  When you sign up, you get a book bag, a bookmark, a few book review forms, and a punch card.  Each time you turn in a brief review of a book you read, we’ll mark your card.  When you turn in three reviews, you can choose a prize: a mug, a large candy bar, an ice scraper, a stocking cap, or lip balm.  When you turn in three more, you’ll be entered in a drawing for gift certificates to local businesses, sponsored by the Friends of the Litchfield Library. 

The program works in a similar way for the libraries in Grove City, Cosmos, and Dassel, but the prizes will work slightly differently.

It’s all very easy, with no one holding your feet to the fire to complete the program, so sign up to join in this winter’s challenge.  You can read any book you want, whether it’s checked out from the library or something you own, as long as you read it after you sign up for the program.  You can read fiction or nonfiction.  You can even listen to it in audiobook form or read it as an e-book.

Need some ideas about what to read?  Here are a few new titles available at the Litchfield Library.

Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World is a nonfiction thriller by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, Pulitzer Prize-finalist Wall Street Journal reporters.  This bestseller covers a decade of massive international fraud by a Malaysian graduate of the Wharton School of Business, a real-life Gatsby.

Born to Be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey is a biography by Mark Dery.  Gorey was an eccentric writer, illustrator, and artist who lived from 1925 to 2000.  You may have seen his Gothic pen-and-ink drawings in books such as The House with a Clock in Its Walls or The War of the Worlds, or his animated introduction to the PBS Mystery series in the ‘80s.

Evening in Paradise is a critically-acclaimed collection of short stories by Lucia Berlin.  Her short story collection, A Manual for Cleaning Women, was published posthumously in 2015 to great praise, with her style being described as “gritty glamour.”  The New York Times said, “Lucia Berlin spent her career in obscurity.  Now, she is being hailed as a literary genius.”

The Calculating Stars is a science fiction novel by Mary Robinette Kowal, the first in the Lady Astronaut series.  It imagines an alternate history, with a huge meteorite obliterating much of the east coast in 1952.  With human extinction looming, an international coalition is racing to colonize the moon.  A former WASP pilot and mathematician is working on the project as a calculator, but she has dreams of becoming the first female astronaut. 

Take the opportunity of these cold, dark winter days to enjoy a book or two.  Winter is a great time to read.

Reading is Snow Much Fun

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

Now that it’s January, the adult winter reading program is underway at the library.  This year’s theme in Pioneerland and Plum Creek Library Systems is “Reading is Snow Much Fun.”

The adult winter reading program works a lot like the summer reading program for kids. You sign up at the library and you get a book bag and a bookmark.  This year’s bags are tan and black, good for those who prefer subdued colors instead of the brightly colored bags we’ve had in recent years.

You’ll also get a punch card and some book review forms.  When you read a book between January 2 and March 31, you fill out a brief book review form, saying what you thought of the book.  When you bring a completed form to the library, we’ll mark your punch card.  Once you fill the card with six books, you can choose a prize.

This year’s prize choices include playing cards in a carrying case, a can holder, a large chocolate bar, a flash drive, a notepad set, and, of course, a mug.  Some people collect winter reading mugs!  All of these are available while supplies last, so the sooner you read six books, the more choices you’ll have.

Those who complete the program will also be entered into a drawing for gift certificates for local businesses, sponsored by the Friends of the Litchfield Library. 

What can you read for the reading program?  Anything you want.  It can be fiction or nonfiction.  It can be new or old.  It can be an e-book, a print book, or an audiobook.  It can be a kids’ book; many adults read YA books these days.  You don’t even have to check it out from the library, although most people do.  If you got a book for Christmas, go ahead and read that!

We usually see many reviews coming in for books by bestselling authors.  So what’s popular right now?  One book that’s developing a hold list at the library is Dark in Death by J.D. Robb.  This latest “In Death” novel comes out at the end of the month.

Promise Not to Tell by Jayne Ann Krentz has library patrons lining up to get it when it comes out this week.  This thriller is a sequel to When All the Girls Have Gone.  Krentz also writes under the pen names Amanda Quick and Jayne Castle.

Unbound by Stuart Woods also has had fans waiting for it to come out this week.  This is the 44^th book in the Stone Barrington thriller series.

Danielle Steel’s Past Perfect came out about a month ago, and it’s remaining popular.  This domestic novel is about a family moving into a mansion and discovering it’s haunted by the family who lived there a century ago – and that they can share the house and become friends.  It’s a very different take on a ghost story!

Whatever you choose to read, the adult winter reading program can be a way to set a reading goal during the cold months and to be rewarded with a small prize for meeting it. As George R.R. Martin said, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”

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!

Book Your Winter Getaway

Our adult winter reading program runs January 4 - March 31.  Sign up at the library to receive a tote bag, then turn in book reviews to earn prizes and a chance at a gift certificate to a Litchfield business.  Gift certificates sponsored by the Friends of the Litchfield Public Library.

Share your love of reading and knitting at the library

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

Winter can be a quiet time for adults.  Because of this, we hold our adult reading program in the winter instead of the summer.  We have also decided this is a good time to re-start our knitting club.

Artwork design:  Andrew Prekker, Luverne MN
©PCLS/PLS “Book Your Winter Getaway” WRP
Funded in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Legacy fund

This year’s theme for the adult winter reading program is Book Your Winter Getaway. Pioneerland and Plum Creek library systems sponsored a contest for the artwork used for the program. This program was funded in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Legacy Fund.  The winner was Andrew Prekker, a 15-year-old from Luverne, Minnesota.  His logo appears on our posters, bookmarks, and prizes for the program.

You can sign up now for the winter reading program, which will run until the end of March.  When you sign up, you will get a book bag, a punch card and some book review forms. 

Bring back three completed book reviews, and we will punch your card and give you a choice of small prizes.  While supplies last, these will include coffee mugs, pizza cutters, and book lights.  Bring in three more, and we will put your name in a drawing for small gift certificates to local restaurants, sponsored by the Friends of the Litchfield Public Library.

We will display the book reviews (without names!) so that you can see which books your neighbors have and have not enjoyed.  It can be a fun way to get some reading ideas.

We used to have a knitting club that met at the library, but it kind of faded last year.  This month we started knitting club 2.0, now known as Fiber Arts Club.  We decided to give it a fancy name so that people could bring more than knitting.  If you do counted cross stitch, embroidery, crocheting, or any similar (non-messy) needlework project, you are welcome to bring it. 

People who come to the meetings talk with each other while they work, and they ask each other for help and advice on their crafts.  Some people have told us that they would be willing to teach someone how to knit or crochet.  We never know who will be there, but you are welcome to drop in and see if an expert is on hand. 

Fiber Arts Club meets the fourth Thursday of each month at 4 p.m.  All ages are welcome.  I know there are teen knitters out there!  Any men?

Our gaming nights are on hiatus for a while.  I am planning to use some of those Monday nights to hold some technology-related classes in the months to come.

Adult book club continues to meet at noon on the second Tuesday of each month. We have a good-sized group that has lively discussions.  February’s book is The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd.  I am already hearing that members are enjoying this book.  Regular and large-print copies are available to check out.  You are welcome to join us for one meeting or all of them.  No commitment is required.

Winter is a good time for quiet indoor pursuits.  Beat your cabin fever and join us for a little bit of social sharing of these reading and crafting activities.

What's new at the library?

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

Our library system is looking for local artists to design our adult winter reading program artwork for next year.  Every year we have a winter reading program for adults beginning in January.  When you sign up for the program at our library, you get a book bag.  When you turn in your book reviews, you get a coffee mug.  This year the items we give participants will feature a design by an artist who lives within the Pioneerland or Plum Creek library systems, since the two systems have begun collaborating on the program. 

The slogan is Book Your Winter Getaway.  We plan to continue using this slogan for years to come but feature different artwork each year.  The slogan needs to be incorporated into the artwork, along with “Winter Reading Program”. 

The artist whose design is chosen will receive a $500 prize, and his or her design will be used on our posters, bookmarks, reading logs, and incentives throughout southwestern Minnesota.  The winner will be chosen by a committee.  The deadline for submission is October 20.  You can pick up a copy of the guidelines and submission instructions at our library or follow this link: http://www.plumcreeklibrary.org/Online%20Docs/Art_Work_design_solicitation_2014.pdf

David Housewright

We are bringing Minnesota mystery author David Housewright to the area with Legacy funding this fall.  He will be speaking at the Dassel History Center on Saturday, October 11, at 2 pm.  Housewright won an Edgar Award for Best First Novel for Penance in 1996.  This is a national award from the Mystery Writers of America.  He also won three Minnesota Book Awards, for Practice to Deceive, Jelly’s Gold and Curse of the Jade Lily in 1998, 2010, and 2013.  The Devil May Care is his latest novel.

Housewright will be speaking on the third floor of the Dassel History Center & Ergot Museum.  This event is free to attend and you don’t need to sign up to attend.  The Friends of the Dassel Library will be serving light refreshments. 

New library cards

Our patrons have been asking for key-fob library cards.  These mini duplicate cards are like those you get from businesses that have rewards cards, a small version you can attach to your key chain.  I am pleased to tell you we now have them available.  Those who are getting their first library card will have the choice of a regular card or one with a key-fob card to go with it.  If you already have a card and you want to get the new style, we will have to charge you $3 for a replacement card like we would when your card is lost.  But you do have that option to make the change even if your card isn’t lost. 

This should be convenient for someone who uses their library card at home on the computer for ordering materials and leaves it on their desk, or for those who don’t bring their wallets or purses everywhere they go.  We do require the patron’s library card when you pick up their requested materials, so this may make dividing up family errand running easier for some.  How you use the new style of library card is up to you, but we hope it will make using your library card more convenient.

All of these things are happening at the library because someone had a great idea.  When you have an idea about what would make the library better, let us know. Maybe we’ll be able to make it a reality, too!