Questing in Montpelier

Questing: Discovering Hidden Treasures in Your Town!
On Tuesday, July 17 at 2:00 PM at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.
Hiding in our communities are special places and hidden stories: Want to discover treasures? Learn how to create treasure hunts that map Montpelier’s treasures. With Steven Glazer from Valley Quest. Check it out! For people ages 8 and up. For more information you can call the children's library at 223-4665.

*Updated July 14, 2007: This program is co-sponsored by the VT Department of Libraries. DOL also co-sponsors the Summer Reading Program, "Get a Clue"!

Creating a Natural Garden

Judith Irven, of Outdoor Spaces Landscape Designs in Goshen, Vermont will be presenting a gardening program on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 7pm at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in the Hayes Room. Vermont’s spectacular rural landscape—with its mountains, farms and canopied forests-- inspires gardens that reflect these surroundings. In this talk, using a rich mix of photographs, we explore the influences of the rural landscape on creating a natural garden. These range from design aesthetics and sustainability to plant selection and cultural practices. Co-sponsored by the Washington-Orange Chapter of the Vermont Master GardenerProgram.

ORS Century Ride and Raffle

This is the fourth year that Onion River Sports hosts a Century Ride and Raffle to benefit the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Carrie, ORS’s special events person, has organized a raffle that includes several great prizes. The big raffle prize is a car rack system. Other prizes include a boat rental at Lake Elmore; an overnight stay for two at the Capitol Plaza, and several gift certificates to Montpelier restaurants and businesses.
Tickets are $5 each or 5 tickets for $20. You can buy them at Onion River Sports or at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.
Drawing is Saturday, July 28, 2007.

We are grateful to Onion River Sports and all the businesses that contribute to this fundraiser for the library!

For more information or to register for the Century Ride click here.

The History Expo

So, I'm just now recovering from the Vermont History Expo this past weekend and wanted to say - again, but online this time - what a great event it was: Tunbridge Fairgrounds, two days of great weather, and everywhere you looked, happy, happy History Geeks [of which I would be one]. I think the theme this year was ostensibly transportation, but really it's more an opportunity to get together, look at other towns' exhibits, and wander aimlessly around the grounds. Which this year weren't so very crowded but by all rights should have been. I think my favorite event the last few years [the Expo's been going for eight years now] has been the parade. It's random & a teeny bit disorganized [but in a good way - sometimes the parade participants are so far apart that spectators get sucked into the march] and wends its way through the entire Midway. The first year it took place there were animals involved, too: cows, calves, oxen, sheep, goats & such. About halfway through the parade route a small goat decided it really didn't want to walk any more and plopped itself firmly on the ground. Whereupon its owner [a youngish person not really very much bigger than the goat] tugged hopefully on the halter a couple of times, shrugged, picked the goat up, and lugged it the rest of the way. It's that kind of parade, and, in every good way, that kind of Expo. Long may it run...

And I guess if one needed to tie this in with our library somehow [because this is after all a library website] I would point out that there are, umm, a lot of Vermont History books here? Yeah yeah, that's it. Well, there are...Have fun, Rachel.

George

Books on Wheels - StoryTime goes on the Road

Rachael Grossman, KHL's Outreach Coordinator, has teamed up with the Children’s Library staff to bring story time out to our surrounding communities. Here is the information should you want to talk this up in your communities:
BOOKS ON WHEELS HOSTS SPECIAL SUMMER STORY TIMES!
It’s a quiet morning in late July. The kids are cranky and you don’t want to turn on the TV. Don’t despair! The Kellogg-Hubbard Library’s Books on Wheels program is bringing story time to your community! Kids of all ages are welcome to join a fun-filled hour of stories, crafts, and songs. Afterward, there will be plenty of picture books on hand to check out. There will also be a limited selection of books for older children. For kids participating in the summer reading program, this will be a great time to stock up on exciting new books to add to your list. Check the schedule below for dates, times, and locations.

July 24th at 9:30 – Story time at East Montpelier Elementary School with Megan Allison.

July 25th at 11:00 – Story time at the Worcester Town Hall with Megan Allsion.

July 26th at 10:00 – Story time at the Adamant Methodist Church with Mary Jane Manahan.

July 27th at 10:00 – Story time at Rumney Memorial School with Megan Allison.

DVD Review - A Conversation with Kenneth Turan

Rick Winston of the Green Mountain Film Festival, 2007 (and The Savoy Theater), donated “A Conversation With Kenneth Turan” on DVD to the Kellogg Hubbard Library.

One of the best pieces of the Green Mountain Film Festival that is held in Montpelier in March is the interview Rick Winston has with a well known film critic. This year, the interview was with Kenneth Turan, the film critic for the Los Angeles Times and NPR's Morning Edition, a teacher and author of "Sundance to Sarajevo: Film Festivals and the World They Made" and "Never Coming To A Theater Near You". Obviously, they both love films, and their joy of talking about films both the good ones and the awful ones are fascinating to listen to.

There is so much information shared in this 1 hour plus conversation. They talk about their favorite film festivals, why Turan won’t watch “slasher” movies, and how it’s a critic’s job to help films find an audience. His best advice--see a film early so your friends can’t tell you about it before you get to see it.

Just a sample of Turan’s expertise might be that the “Rules of the Game” is one of the best films ever made. Other favorites are “Touch of Evil” and “Lives of Others”.

If you didn’t have a chance to see the interview in person this year, be sure to take out the library’s DVD copy of it. You’ll definitely get some terrific suggestions for your “Movies to Watch Someday” list.

DVD Review by Claire Gilbertson, Vermont Collections Librarian at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.

Lawn party, July 3rd

The Kellogg-Hubbard Library’s annual Independence Day lawn party is Tuesday July 3^rd, from 1:00-3:00. Join us for lots of fun: crafts, games, African drum band, refreshments.

Free fun for all ages!

For a list of Montpelier’s Fourth of July activities, visit the Montpelier Downtown Community Association web site.

(Photo courtesy of the floating away blog.)

Charitable gift annuity

I've been working on an ad for the Montpelier Bridge to let people know of the opportunity to support Kellogg-Hubbard through a Charitable Gift Annuity and I found this cool website that has a calculator that illustrates the benefits of a gift annuity.

Learn How to Prune Lilacs and other Shrubs at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library

This Wednesday, June 20 at 5:30pm, Jeff Young will give a presentation on pruning shrubs followed by hands on instruction and demonstration on the library grounds. Jeff is the Lilac Curator of UVM Horticulture Farm. Young lives in St. Albans where he is the Chairman of the Taylor Park Commission and the Tree Warden. He is on the Board of Directors of the International Lilac Society. Jeff is a VT Master Gardener, who serves on the state advisory board and the Northwest Chapter steering committee. He is also the Master Gardener liaison for Shelburne Museum. Jeff does about 40 workshops a year on lilacs, flowering shrubs and trees, hedges, and park and open space development. He is retired from the federal government and now runs his own business, Lilac Torr, LLC. Co-sponsored by the Washington-Orange Chapter of the Vermont Master Gardeners and the Montpelier Tree Board. This program will meet in the East Montpelier Room, downstairs, next to the Book Sale.

Two billion served

Excerpt from a 4/17/07 press release from the American Libraries Association:

Ten years after some experts predicted the demise of the nation's system of libraries as a result of the Internet explosion, the most current national data on library use shows that the exact opposite has happened. Data released today by the American Library Association (ALA) indicates that the number of visits to public libraries in the United States increased 61 percent between 1994 and 2004.

According to the 2007 State of America's Libraries report, there were nearly two billion visits to U.S. libraries in fiscal year 2004.

"Far from hurting American libraries, the Internet has actually helped to spur more people to use their local libraries because it has increased our hunger for knowledge and information," said Loriene Roy, president-elect of the American Library Association. According the ALA report, virtually every library in the United States - 99 percent - provides free public computer access to the Internet, a four-fold increase in the percentage of libraries providing such free access over the last decade. By comparison, Roy pointed to another study released in March showing that only 69 percent of U.S. households have Internet access.

Even as libraries continue to evolve their services in response to changing needs and technologies, the report shows that people continue to go to their public library to read or check out a book in record numbers. Overall circulation at public libraries in the U.S. rose by 28 percent during the decade, partly driven by significant growth in circulation of children's materials, which grew by 44 percent. Attendance in library programs for children was also up 42 percent for this same period.

Roy pointed to the report's findings from studies in Florida and Ohio that provide a compelling case for the return on public investment in libraries. Every dollar of public support spent on Florida's public libraries produced an increase of $9.08 in gross regional product and an increase of $12.66 in total state wages. A similar study of nine public library systems in southwestern Ohio reported an annual economic impact nearly four times the amount invested in their operations. Other data in the report describes how public libraries build a community's capacity for economic activity and resiliency.

The report also highlights the library community's continued work in defense of the First Amendment against intrusive legislation, including the USA Patriot Act, and to refute challenges that would restrict the free flow of information and ideas to all adults and children.

A full copy of the 2007 State of America's Libraries is here.