Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
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The Friends of the Whitehall Community Library will meet Thursday, October 10th at 5:30 PM in the library. They have many things to discuss and welcome anyone who would like to join them. The Friends will be working on Christmas activities, grants in processes, and other projects. The library will be closed for the Columbus Day holiday on Monday, October 14. The library will be open the rest of the week at regular times. The staff are training new volunteers this month so if you see someone...
The Whitehall Community Library's October calendars are out! They are packed with fun programs for everyone and are free to the public. Check out the week and find the programs that will lift your week! Just a quick note: on October 14, the library will be closed for the Columbus Day holiday. Many changes and updates are being planned for the library in the near future. While the staff is doing a happy dance over the new copier, bigger things are ahead. The library was given a large gift/grant...
The Whitehall Community Library will be part of a larger group of libraries hosting "An Evening with Chris La Tray - Poet Laureate" on Monday, September 30th, from 6:30 PM to 8 PM on Zoom. You may visit the library to watch the program or via Zoom by registering at tinyurl.com/PoetChrisLaTray. The program is free and open to the public, so register now or come down to the library to enjoy it. If you register online, you will receive an email with the login information to join. It should be a won...
We are back to full schedule this week and the Whitehall Community Library is busier than ever. Don’t forget that next Wednesday on September 25, from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM our Vet Talk friend Tim Colvin will be in the library to assist our veterans and their spouses with any issues they are having or just need information or help with. This is a totally free and confidential service provided by the Department of Military Affairs, Veterans Affairs Division, and the State of Montana. Please feel f...
We all love technology when it works and want to melt it down into toasters when it doesn’t! After what seems like forever, though it has not really been that long, the Whitehall Community Library is getting a new copier, fax machine, and scanner all rolled into one! You will probably hear the library staff cheering all over town when it arrives; until then, we can scan, fax, or make copies at the library, but only in small quantities. If you have art-oriented children, this week's Art Camp p...
Fall is the time of new beginnings, and the Whitehall Community Library's calendar is no exception. In September, the Library will host a program entitled Homeschool Mom Roundup for mothers of homeschoolers who want to discuss issues that apply to home education. The program begins September 26 at 6 PM and meets monthly on the last Thursday of the month. At the Library, we do programming for all types of schooling: public, homeschool, private, and religious schools. Everyone is invited to any program the library presents, which is always free....
I can hardly believe it will be September at the end of this week! Where did the summer disappear to? These are the most common comments I hear from almost everyone at the Whitehall Community Library! We had two mini-seasons this summer that remind me of the songs Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and We Have a Heat Wave! Speaking of September, the Curiosity Untamed group is taking a break until October. They will be back again with new fun things to do for those with memory loss. I couldn't help but...
As always, the Whitehall Community Library will be closed for Labor Day but open regular hours during the rest of the week. Labor Day is a yearly celebration of American workers’ social and economic achievements. It began in the cities during 1885 and 1886 when ordinances were passed and then moved to the state level, according to the Department of Labor. On June 28, 1894, it became a yearly federal holiday on the first Monday of September. President Grover Cleveland signed the law to begin, and now Labor Day is celebrated nationwide with p...
It is so nice to have the weather a bit cooler, but it makes Fall seem right around the corner. We are working on September calendars, and they will be out at the end of August. They will be packed with all sorts of crafts, book clubs, special events, story times, and more. The Rockhounding group will meet at the library on August 19th at 5:30 PM. This group is for anyone interested in geology, rock identification, fossils, and field trips to collect samples. It is free and open to the public....
The first full week in August (the 5th-9th), the staff is taking some well-deserved time off, so there will be no Kid's Quilting on Monday or Storytime on Friday. There will also be no Tuesday painting class during the month. Joan Dedeyker, our resident artist, plans to offer another class in January for those who want to join. You may have noticed many new people helping out in the Library. With all of the programs going on and our circulation statistics going higher every year, our volunteers...
I just want to take a moment to thank all of the wonderful people who make our summer reading program function like a well-oiled machine! First, to my wonderful staff and volunteers, who never panic when 120 children come for a magic show and lunch. They are a professional group of women and men who love their library and patrons. Next, thanks to the Whitehall Community Library Friends, who have picked up lunches in Butte for eight weeks and never let me down. Lunches were always on time and hot...
By the time you read this, only two weeks of summer reading will be left! I cannot believe that! We received the most marvelous box in the mail from the Osa and Martin Safari Museum in Chanute, Kansas. It is filled with African toys, instruments, masks, and more for our program on Wednesday, July 24, at 10:30 AM. Everyone will have a chance to try out the drums, finger pianos, and masks! We are excited to have our favorite magician in the house this week! Kyle will be here on Wednesday, July...
The next few weeks are going to be magical, literally! We have wizards, magicians, and, of course, the summer reading finale, all at the Whitehall Community Library. July Summer Reading Wednesdays will include Garon the Wizard on July 10th, Kyle the Magician on July 17th, a magical African Adventure on July 24th, and the magical treats, prizes, and surprises of the Summer Reading Finale on July 31st. These programs take place at 10:30 AM and are open to everyone. If your child is part of the school summer program, they can still come and claim...
Happy Fourth of July to everyone! The library will be closed on the fourth but open the rest of the week at regular hours. We will serve lunches on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week, then back to the regular schedule on Monday, July 8th. Lunches are served free from 11 AM to 1 PM to anyone 18 and younger. On Wednesday, July 10th, at 10:30 AM, our favorite wizard will be back in the library! He will perform his magical scientific tricks for everyone and explain the science behind...
This week, I attended the Belfer National Conference for Educators, presented by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., via the Internet. Technology is amazing, and this conference is an amazing national event that educates students and others about the Holocaust. Our Holocaust Book Discussion group will meet this month on June 27th at 6 PM. Anyone is welcome to come and join this discussion on Holocaust literature and history. Next week's schedule will be lighter as...
For those who like to be in the know, the Jefferson County Library Board meeting has been canceled for this month. Meetings will resume as usual in July on the third Thursday of the month at 6:30 PM. The Whitehall Community Library shares a board with Boulder, so the meetings alternate between the two towns. The meetings are always open to the public. Summer Reading continues to grow; next week, we will have two special presentations. Nao Fukumoto will be here on Wednesday, June 26th, at 10:30 AM for our normal program, and then at 2 PM, she...
Summer Reading & Feeding is off to a great start. Our Maker Space Explorers discovered the world of miniature robots as they set up courses for them to follow and learned how they worked. Maker Space meets every Friday at 2 PM. and is open to everyone. Summer Feeding is from 11:15 AM-1 PM for anyone 18 and younger. There is no registration, and the meals are in sack lunch form so that they may be picked up anytime during pickup hours. This week, the lunches are all cold entrée, but next week, th...
And so, it begins again! Summer Reading starts on Monday, June 10th, at 9 AM; Summer Feeding will begin serving the same day. The program will end on July 31st, but we will serve lunch on August 1st as it is a Thursday. This year's theme is "One World, Millions of Stories," and we will be providing stories from around the world. I love faerie tales and folklore, so this will be a great time to look at different cultures and legends. There is a complete calendar for June activities at the front...
Eric Beale will be at the Whitehall Community Library on Wednesday, May 29th, from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM from the Montana Department of Military Affairs/ Montana Veterans Affairs Division to share different services to our veterans in Whitehall and the surrounding area. He will be coming to the library on the last Wednesday of the month to help veterans with anything they need assistance with or have a chance to meet veterans so they will have someone to contact if needed. The Holocaust Book...
The library's new website is up and running! The new web address is https://www.mywhlmontana.com, which is short for My Whitehall Library Montana. The Friends of the Library are funding the site, which includes monthly calendars, information about programs, links, and more. As we organize it, we will post new things, including new pictures. If you have pictures to share with us, please send them to jferriss@mtlib.org so we can post them. Eric Beal from the Montana Veterans Affairs Division will...
The 21st Century Friday students took a step back in time at the library. This month, they have been exploring pioneer life with the library staff as they made covered wagons and then discovered they could make butter by themselves. After "finger" churning for 20 minutes, the students opened their jars to see sweet, creamy butter lumps. They then learned to salt and wash the butter, how to store it, and how different it tastes from modern products. Their butter was then served with fresh honey...
This Thursday, May 9th, the Friends of the Whitehall Community Library will meet at 5 PM to review their new website. The website will launch in the next few weeks and feature our calendar, links to the catalog, and other items of interest. They will also discuss the summer Reading and Feeding Program, so if you would like to attend a Friends meeting, this is a great one to pop in on. The Memory Café is back on Thursday! Dan and his crew from Montana State University will be here from 2 PM to...
Geology seems to be the theme of the month with the Rockhounders special speaker, and now we are having a special night of fossils for the entire family! Lauren Owen, from the Lewis and Clark Caverns, is coming Thursday, May 2nd, at 6 PM to share her knowledge of fossils and the caves! It will be a great night for everyone! Lauren presented our Arbor Day programs last Friday and is a great asset to the community. The staff is having inquiries about a summer children’s quilting class. If you have a school-age child who wants to learn how to q...
Last week was a plethora of learning as Zoa, Brandi, and I attended the Montana Library Association conference. I attended some amazing sessions, one in particular on AI (Artificial Intelligence). More and more, our students, businesses, and others are using free AI sources to edit and write first drafts of documents and educational papers. The session not only covered the different types of AI available on the internet but also the ethical concerns, problems with the programs, and costs of incorporating AI into libraries. I also attended...
Next Thursday, April 25th, the Holocaust book discussion group will meet. It seems impossible that a year ago today, I traveled to Los Angeles with a dedicated team of teens and adults to visit the Holocaust Museum in LA. We were privileged to attend the birthday party of a 99-year-old survivor named Renee Firestone, who survived Auschwitz. She was gracious in answering questions, sharing her experiences, and showing the tattoo that marked her for the rest of her life. This year, she turns 100, a milestone for anyone. I was saddened to hear...