National Library Week

Pipestone County Star – 04-09-2015

I know, it seems as if there is a week for everything nowadays.  In April alone we have National Window Safety Week, National Public Health Week, National Oral, Head, and Neck Cancer Week, Administrative Professionals Week, and National Playground Safety Week.  And that’s not including any overlaps, where a week is used for awareness for more than one cause.  Of all the months of the year, May has the most, followed by October.  One small bit of useless knowledge for you (never know when you might be on Jeopardy) – the month of May has 31 different causes associated with it and each week is spoken for by at least three different National Awarenesses. 

And, of course, April is the month for National Library Week, celebrated this year from April 12 until April 19^th. 

The first National Library Week was celebrated from May 16-22, 1958.  It was sponsored by both the American Library Association and the American Book Publishers Council.  It wasn’t a new idea by any means.  The state of Indiana had a Library Week from April 23 – 29, 1922 and at that time ALA recommended that a National Library Week be instituted in 1923.  Missouri, Ohio, Hawaii, California, and Louisiana had all been celebrating a Library Week of some sort long before it became recognized nationally.  In 1974, the American Library Association took over as the sole sponsor. 

It’s a great week to celebrate your local library and this year, we’ve decided to give everyone a bit of a break! If you bring back overdue materials during that week, there will be no fines!  Instead, we are asking people to bring non-expired, non-perishable food items for donation to the food bank in place of money.

                             

So, for example, if you have four overdue items and $15 in fines, you can bring back your items and three cans of food and you’ll be good to go!  We are requesting one food item per $5 in fines.  If you have outstanding fines (but have already returned the materials), you can bring in food during this week to have those fines forgiven with the same value – one food item per $5 in fines.

It’s also a great time for us to refresh your memory about the services the library offers. We have public computers with printing services (10 cents for black and white, 15 cents for color), free wireless internet, graphic novels, cake pans, audio books, music CDs (even new releases), story time on Wednesday and Thursday at 10:30, DVD new releases, and lots of books!!

Have a great week – we hope to see you at the library.

Upcoming Events: Mark your calendars! Joel Karstens will be coming to Meinders Library April 22 at 5:00 PM to talk about Straw Bale Gardening!  Joel has been doing this presentation for years and is an expert in straw bale gardening, so come and enjoy the instruction – learn how to garden anywhere with fewer weeds and no dirt needed!  We’ll see you there.

PAFL Update:  Pipestone Area Friends of the Library is looking for members – anyone who is a friend to Meinders Library is welcome to join!  The Friends group works hard to promote the library, raise money for projects, and organize their yearly book sale, in addition to the HUGE amount of support they provide throughout the year.  Call us for the date of the next meeting!

If you have questions or have a book you’d like to reserve or renew, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at (507) 825-6714.  The hours for Meinders Library are Monday through Thursday from 10 AM – 8 PM, and Friday and Saturday from 10 AM – 5 PM.  Meinders Community Library is located at 1401 7^th Street SW, on the south side of the high school.