Between the Stacks: 12/22/2021

What a great day to wake up to a winter wonderland! I usually write my column on Mondays, in case any of our programming changes, so imagine my surprise at seeing actual snow on the ground! It reminded me that the library will be closed this Friday and Saturday for Christmas and next Friday and Saturday for the New Year holiday. We will be emptying the book drop during the weekend, so feel free to return materials.

We still have a few coats and socks left from the Winter Wear Giveaway. If you or someone else in your family needs winter wear, stop in and look at what we have left. Thank you so much to Convoy of Hope, who provided the socks and the goodies for the food giveaway. We also want to thank the Whitehall Food Bank for providing snacks for the many children in the Library during Christmas break.

I am working on the January calendars, coordinating speakers, scheduling classes, and getting ready for winter semester. I still think in terms of academia when it comes to planning out our year and programming divides nicely into three semesters. Our summer reading theme this year deals with oceans. The staff is already thinking up great ideas to expose our landlocked summer readers to some great ocean experiences. Planning that far ahead helps to ensure that our speakers get booked in time to do the days we need them to be here.

If you notice new faces in the library, it is due to our new volunteers. Anyone is welcome to come and help the staff with the many projects we have going on. Volunteers do various things and pick the hours they would like to work. You may have noticed that the Christmas Stroll was packed, and we could not have created such an extensive experience without our volunteers and staff.

Our new books are arriving slowly as all the delivery services are overwhelmed, but they are still coming in. Many blockbusters are hitting the shelves, also new movies and children’s books. We just received our new Junior Literary Guild selection, and I must admit, I am smitten with a wonderful story entitled “Off-Limits” by Helen Yoon. It is a delightful tale of a young girl who manages to get into her father’s office unsupervised. You can imagine the rest!

Come check out all the new things and gather a stack of great reads for the holidays. If you have any questions, please ask at the front desk, or give us a call at 1-406-287-3763.