books, Uncategorized

National Library Week

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Today’s post comes to us from Barbara in Rivertown

This week, April 9 through 15, is National Library Week. Because Husband and I will be on the road, I have already celebrated our wonderful Winona Public Library by returning three books and renewing two others, and writing this piece. We have here in Winona a beautiful old 1890s vintage library built by a donation from William H. Laird and furnished by the library association; it is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (For more info:  https://www.facebook.com/pg/WinonaPublicLibrary/about/?ref=page_internal )

I have been impressed for months at all the many programs this small town library offers. And now, in the spirit of National Library Week, there is even more:

– Food for Fines – you can have $1 removed from your library fine for every food shelf item you bring in.

– Library Resource class will be held on Thursday at 6 p.m.

– Staff will be dressed to the nines or, on some days, in crazy outfits (Wacky Wednesday) as part of various games.

– The first movie of The Librarian Trilogy featuring “everyone’s favorite librarian, Noah Wyle” will be shown on Friday.

– Monthly Book Bingo will yield prizes of books about libraries, librarians, or books: “The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger, “The World’s Strongest Librarian: A book Lover’s Adventures” by Josh Hanagarne, “The Ice Queen” by Alice Hoffman, and “This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybararians Can Save Us All” by Marilyn Johnson.

How will you celebrate National Library Week?

34 thoughts on “National Library Week”

  1. Hadn’t thought of celebration…but perhaps a thank you would be appropriate. I am able to order books on line through our Arrowhead Library System. It is wonderful…they find books not in the system if you request. And an enjoyment of mine is audio books. I think we are never too old to love a book being read to us.

    I plan to Che

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  5. When I was a sophomore in high school I had a crush on one of the cheerleaders. She later became slightly famous as a writer. One of Susan Allen Toth’s first books was Blooming, a lyrical description of her childhood. Reading it showed me that our childhood experiences could hardly have been more different, but we did have one thing in common: a love for the Ames Public Library.

    It was an amazing place, a sort of marble temple that was cool and nearly silent on the hottest, sweatiest day of summer. It smelled of books. As you entered the library you passed a small display window called The Little Theater. In it a librarian created tiny dioramas illustrating scenes from children’s’ books.

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  6. I could walk into our library and do a stand up routine, to befit the joke that it is.
    Barbara, when do you train west?

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  8. Does anyone else remember the first Minneapolis Central Library? It was a weird old brownstone building on Hennepin Avenue on the western end of downtown Minneapolis. Built in 1889, it was still “the” library for Minneapolis when I came to Minnesota in 1960. The more modern library built near the river opened shortly afterward, in 1961. You entered the original old library by climbing a set of stairs. Greeting you, as you got to the actual library, was an Egyptian mummy in a display case.

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    1. My wife remembers it, talks about it often. My favorite libraries in the cities were the U of M on the mall (Walter library?) and the St. Paul library right off Como near the farm campus (Senior moment, cannot remember the name of that are, where the Lutheran seminary is and my daughter lived for three years. Duh!)
      The original library at the U of Chi (built a new one right over the football field. Love they tore down a football field to build a library) was too grand to study in. One of those reading rooms with a 30 foot high arched ceiling and huge gothic stained glass windows.
      Sandy made the Two Harbors library a wonderful place to go for 20 years. Children’s librarian by day and Saturdays, main desk attendant on evenings. Kids loved her. She helped a lot of kids in a variety of ways, which I will not explain. She had a bunch of old men who fawned on her, just because she was an attractive young woman who gave them full attention. The old ladies loved her too. The library tracked a dozen or so old people who lived alone, checking to see if they came regularly. Over the years they called the police about a dozen times. Three were found dead, one was found alive after a stroke. See, a wonderful small town library. An old Carnegie building added onto.

      OT: PT is starting to have an effect on my hands. Reduced much of the pain, giving me a bit more control of my fingers, softening the scar tissue under the carpel tunnel scar. The exercise I was doing when I broke my rib was given to me by an assistant who was not supposed to give me that exercise. Hope she is not in trouble for it.

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      1. Walter Library is a great old library (and a wonderful alias if you need one). It used to be that if you belonged to the Alumni Association you had access and privileges at the University libraries. When they dropped that benefit, I dropped my membership. A pity, since the collection included some comparatively rare volumes that were available to check out.

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      3. For one year, my office was in Walter in a strange hidden area. The library itself was one of the prettiest places on campus. It has become (of all things) a coffee cafe called The Wise Owl. You can google it and click on images to see it.

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  9. Husband and I are heading out for 10-day trip to N. California as soon as I close down the computer. Sorry to miss the rest of this post (and thanks, Renee, for finding the photo up top). We will board Amtrak at 6 p.m., be on for two days. Will try and check in from my sister’s on Friday.

    Happy Spring, Baboons! Carry on.

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  10. I will check out some books and a movie to watch this week. I go to several libraries – Dakota County, Ramsey County, St. Paul libraries in Highland, in downtown St. Paul, and on the West Side. There’s pretty much never a day when I don’t have at least a couple of things checked out from one of them.

    Maybe this week would be a good time to donate something…if I can think of something they don’t already have.

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  12. Luverne had a beautiful Carnegie Library that now serves as an efucational and fine arts venue. The library was moved to the former Savings and Loan building, all on one level and much more accessible.

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  13. I’m sure everybody knows that I adore libraries. I chose my current house because it’s just two blocks from Washburn Library.

    My favorite library memory was the library in Jefferson City, Missouri. We lived in Jeff City for several years (although a few different houses) and the Saturday routine was for my mom to drop me off at the library while she did the shopping across the street at the A&P. The summer after my third grade year, the summer reading program was a winding road made of squares; you colored in one square for every book you read. If you finished the road, you received a prize. I received four prizes that summer!

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  14. Went into our library today, National Library Week. They have several display cases; all were empty. Their upcoming events board was empty.

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  15. We have been doing great for guest posts, dear baboons. I have one scheduled for tomorrow, but could use some more for the end of the week and the weekend. Put on your writing caps!

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