Explore and Discover
10 Tips to get started doing genealogy
Posted on October 13, 2015 at 6:00 am
By Miriam J. Robbins Guest Writer You’re about to embark on an exciting journey! Learning about your family history and developing skills to do genealogical research can be the beginning of a lifelong hobby and passion. Here are ten tips to get started: 1. Get Organized You’re going to be gathering a lot of information, […]
Tags: adults, classes, community, digital library, hobbies
Librarian-inspired reads to celebrate ALA’s 139th birthday
Posted on October 6, 2015 at 6:00 am
By Kelsey Hudson On this day 139 years ago the American Library Association (ALA) was formed with the intent of making it easier and cheaper for librarians to continue their work. In honor of ALA’s 139th birthday, I decided to pull together a list of some of the most fascinating books and movies about librarians. Now […]
Tags: ALA, American Library Association, booklists, books, library
Pluto: The little dwarf planet that could
Posted on October 1, 2015 at 6:00 am
By David Wyatt Nerd that I am, anytime NASA, SpaceX, Planetary Resources, or any other space exploration organization makes it into the news I am glued to my news feed. The New Horizons mission to Pluto is no exception, and it has been an active year for our favorite little ex-planet. Launched almost a decade ago, […]
Tags: science, solar system, STEM
Mixtape: Contemporary ladies of country music
Posted on September 24, 2015 at 6:00 am
By Clarissa Fidler Growing up my dad exposed me to a variety of music genres. He played everything from smooth jazz and disco to pop and classic rock. But of all the genres we listened to, one always reigned supreme—country. It probably had something to do with the fact that it was my mom’s favorite. Modern […]
Animal rescues: Q&A with local author Kelly Milner Halls
Posted on September 23, 2015 at 6:00 am
By Sheri Boggs What do Sasquatch, wild dogs, dinosaur babies, ghosts, and alien visitors all have in common? Besides being intrinsically awesome, they’ve all been book subjects for local writer Kelly Milner Halls. Halls is a passionate profiler of the wonderfully weird, with nonfiction titles like Tales of the Cryptids, Ghostly Evidence, a […]
Thoughts on my ultra-local community
Posted on September 22, 2015 at 6:00 am
By Jane Baker One of my favorite drawings is that of a stick figure walking a dog. The thought bubble above the person is packed with worries and thoughts while the thought bubble above the dog is the same scene of a person walking a dog. I’ve written posts before about my dog, a high energy pup […]
On my coffee table
Posted on September 17, 2015 at 6:00 am
By David Wyatt In our house, the “coffee table” is wherever our cat has no interest in lounging. Be that my desk or the entertainment center, our coffee table space is always on the move, usually one step ahead of the cat. As is true with many of my coworkers, the contents of my reading list […]
Tags: booklists, books, on my coffee table
7 Book recommendations for the discerning tween reader
Posted on September 10, 2015 at 6:00 am
By Kelsey Hudson In my position as a librarian, I see a lot of voracious readers from preschoolers to senior citizens. With all of those bookworms, I particularly love when a tween comes in looking for something new. Tweens can be insatiable readers but at this age, right around 9 to 12 years old, picking […]
The revealing nature of food
Posted on September 9, 2015 at 6:00 am
By Clarissa Fidler I’m still trying to recover from a recent viewing of The Supersizers Go…Restoration episode. Brits in the 1660’s consumed a disgusting amount of meat and ale. The average person drank two liters of ale a day and vegetables were considered unsafe to eat because they grew in the dirt. Venison was the […]
How to sell on Etsy: Personal advice from a local shop owner
Posted on September 3, 2015 at 6:00 am
By Karen Mannino Guest Writer After a two-day journey by train and bus, I was back in the Midwest where I attended college. Breakfast with friends the morning after I arrived included coffee out of an odd little mug I found in my friend’s cupboard. It was smaller than the standard mugs, curved like the bell […]
