Read With Me!

           

 By Jan Pease

Roses are red, violets are blue

You read to me, and I’ll read to you!

Do you enjoy reading aloud?  Or were you a young person who sat, dreading being called on to read a selection out loud?  There is a simple fix for this problem.  Like so many things, it just takes practice.  The more you read aloud, the better it goes, whether you’re an adult or a young person.

For several years, I’ve been a member of an organization that encourages families to read with children 15 minutes a day, every day.  March is National Read Aloud Month, and I would like to see huge participation in our library.  Spend time reading with your child every day.  If your child is reading, please include having them read to you. 

National campaigns have changed minds in the past.  Everyone had cavities when I was a child, but I remember the “Look, Ma, no cavities” ads that turned tooth brushing into a routine event.  Remember the Mothers Against Drunk Driving who made “one for the road” a thing of the past.  Think of the Susan B. Komen Foundation which made us all aware of the pink ribbon breast cancer awareness symbol and prioritized breast cancer research.  Well, the National Read Aloud Foundation wants reading aloud to be as routine as brushing children’s teeth.

What happens when we read aloud?  There is a bond that forms, with our children, or with our friends.  Carole, a writer, director, and actress friend of mine stopped in one day during the week.  I showed her a book called “Joyful Noise, Poems for Two Voices,” and we stood near the front desk and immediately got into the rhythm of Paul Fleischman’s words as we read his poem “Book Lice.”  I hope Carole and I will perform a couple of these poems at Story Time some Friday. 

Children need to hear books and songs. They need to talk about the pictures they see. According to the Read Aloud Foundation, only 48% of children are read to every day, but the number of words children understand   directly affects how ready they are for school and life-long learning.

 There are states in which parents don’t do a good poor job of preparing their children for school.  In Kentucky, for example, 51% of children enter Kindergarten unprepared for the experience.  In Minnesota, where we are justifiably proud of our education system, 27% of children enter kindergarten unready.  This is a slippery slope, where children’s chances of catching up get worse as they go farther in school. 

It’s not a race, but the stakes are high. 15 Minutes hopes to have every child ready to read by kindergarten.  Children who enter kindergarten ready to learn to read continue build skills throughout the early school years. This is only possible by beginning to read to children at birth.

For more information, please visit the website readaloud.org.

Every child. Every parent. Every day.

Paper circuits at Maker Space

The language of music

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

In 1835, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, “Music is the universal language of mankind.”  In a music review written 55 years later, George Bernard Shaw said, “Though music be a universal language, it is spoken with all sorts of accents.”  Certainly music comes in such a vast variety, and there are types that are easier and more challenging for each of us to listen to.

The big winner at the Grammys recently was Billie Eilish, who won best new artist plus the awards for album, song, record, pop vocal album, and pop solo performance.  I like to stay current on pop music, but I have to admit I don’t understand the 18-year-old’s style, which The Atlantic describes as “whispery goth pop.”  But of course, music has always evolved by pushing the boundaries and becoming incomprehensible to most middle-aged people.  If you’d like to listen to Eilish’s album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? you can borrow it from Cosmos Library, one of the four libraries I order materials for.

Litchfield Library has Father of the Bride by the band Vampire Weekend, the winner of the Grammy for alternative music album.  It was also nominated for best album, losing to Billie Eilish.  This is the second alternative music album award the group has won, after Modern Vampires of the City in 2013.

If country music is more your speed, you can check out Ride Me Back Home, Willie Nelson’s latest album, at Litchfield Library.  Nelson won the Grammy last Sunday for best country solo performance for the song “Ride Me Back Home,” which is on the album.  This is the country music legend’s tenth Grammy win; his first was in 1975.

Another of this year’s awards for country music went to the duo Dan + Shay: best country duo/group performance for the song “Speechless.”  Dassel Library has the CD the song appears on, the self-titled album Dan + Shay, which you can order to have picked up in any public library. 

Over at Dassel Library, you can also check out the soundtrack album for A Star is Born featuring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.  This album won the Grammy for best compilation soundtrack for visual media.  The song “Shallow” from this movie was a huge hit for most of last year. 

Litchfield Library also has new books about music.   Rob Kapilow is a composer, a conductor, and a host of an NPR music program.  His new book Listening for America: Inside the Great American Songbook from Gershwin to Sondheim explores the work of eight musical theater composers: Kern, Porter, Gershwin, Arlen, Berlin, Rodgers, Bernstein, and Sondheim.  He celebrates their songs while also analyzing the issues of race, immigration, sexuality, and cultural appropriation in them that reflect America in the eras in which they were composed.

For a broader look at music and culture over time, pick up the book Music: A Subversive History by Ted Gioia.  The author analyzes 4000 years of Western musical history from the perspective of slaves, revolutionaries, and common people, rather than focusing on the mainstream musicians who were the most successful and recognizable.  Booklist magazine calls it “a sweeping and enthralling account of music as an agency of human change.”

Whether we’re talking about what makes a song exceptional or we’re just singing along for fun, we can enjoy music in a variety of ways.  I hope the things you check out at the library will put a song in your heart.

Of Family Treasures and Treasures that are Cats!

By Jan Pease

My Grandpa Hilary built houses, roofed barns, wired farms for electricity, and made simple furniture, mostly dressers and wooden chests.  In his later years he made little birdhouses that looked like outhouses, but that’s another story.  The furniture “Pop” made was plain but very functional.  My mom had 3 dressers that he made; I have two dressers and a small chest.  My brother and I each received birdhouse/outhouses when we were children.  These are all priceless.  Not valuable, but priceless.

One of our new children’s books reminds me of family treasures.  Melanie Heuiser Hill has written a cumulative tale (think, “This is the House that Jack Built”) titled “Around the Table that Grandad Built.”  Everything on or around the table evokes a memory, from the glasses that were a wedding gift to the sunflowers from the garden.  I like this book because it is a Thanksgiving story, but doesn’t perpetuate the popular but inaccurate myths about the holiday.

Is there anything cuter than baby humans or baby animals?  “A Baby like You,” by Catherine Thimmesh, celebrates the cutest of the cute.  We read this one at Toddler Time, and the little ones loved it.  We are enjoying a four-month-old kitten at our house, and he has breathed in new life into the life of the three humans, tiny dog, and 18-year-old cat that share our home.   Gracie the dog isn’t so sure, even if the kitten is cute.

If you ask people who don’t like cats why they don’t like them, sometimes the response is “Because they aren’t like dogs.”  Mike Boldt has written and illustrated a book, “Bad Dog,” about a girl who wants a dog but gets a cat for her birthday.  She insists that her pet, Rocky, is a dog. But Rocky doesn’t come when she’s called.  She hates her leash.  Rocky doesn’t like other dogs and she won’t play fetch. This book is a funny look at the differences between cats and dogs. 

      

My friend Carole Wendt visited story time January 24th, to read stories with me “reader’s theater” style.  We read the new book by Constance Lombardo, “Everybody Says Meow.”  The characters in

the story, all cats to begin with, are joined by a dog, a frog, and a duck that refuse to follow a simple direction: “Let’s all say meow.” 

Finally, there is a new book that directly addresses the situation at my house, “The New Kitten,” by Joyce Carol Oates.  Yes, that Joyce Carol Oates who is a famous writer.  She loves cats.  This picture book tells the story of Cherie, a beautiful cat who is used to being an only kitty.  Her owners bring home a kitten named Cleopatra, and sibling rivalry breaks loose.  Our Gizmo looks like a fuzzy version of Cleopatra, and he also can’t resist a tail on an old cat.

Whether you are interested in family treasures, cute baby animals, or interesting cats, you will find something to read at Litchfield Public library.  See you there!

Job opening at Litchfield Library

JOB OPENING: LIBRARY ASSISTANT II
LITCHFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY

Job description: Provides clerical functions by performing various circulation responsibilities and tasks.  Provides circulation, reference, and research services to library patrons. Fills interlibrary loan requests.

Knowledge, skills, & abilities needed:  Knowledge of library operations and procedures.  Skill in the use of computers and other technology used in the library.  Ability to work effectively with customers of all ages.  Ability to maintain cooperative working relationships with coworkers.  Good communication skills.  Attention to detail. 

Minimum qualifications: High school diploma or equivalency, plus six months of directly-related experience, or a combination of education, experience, and training necessary to perform the essential requirements of the work.

Physical Requirements:  Must be able to walk, stoop, crouch, reach, lift, feel, grasp, talk, hear and see.  Some light lifting and carrying may be required up to 25 pounds.

Hours:  2-8 pm Wednesdays and 9:45-1:30 pm Thursdays.   Additional subbing as needed.

Applications available at the library or www.pioneerland.lib.mn.us.  Submit applications by Feb. 5 to:

Beth Cronk
Litchfield Public Library
P.O. Box 220
Litchfield MN 55355

Phone: (320)693-2483

Snowed-out book sale rescheduled

The Friends of the Litchfield Library book sale has been rescheduled to Saturday, January 25.  Visit the library's meeting room from 10-2 to shop for a wide variety of used books!

Closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

The library will be closed on Monday, January 20, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.