Library

The Garrard County Public Library will have story hour for children on Wednesday. Totally Toddler time, 9:15-9:45 a.m. for ages 2-3; Primarily Preschool, 10-10:45 a.m. for ages 4-5; Bouncing Book Babies, 11-11:30 a.m. for ages 18 months to 3 years. Also, the Lancaster Ladies Book Club will meet 12:15 p.m. Thursday. This month they will be discussing “Summer Island” by Kristin Hannah.

The library was booming in July; so much so that I hope you'll forgive me if I brag just a little. Youth Services did a spectacular job in July. During the month, they conducted 36 programs, including a month-long program for which children colored a page to receive a free book bag. Total participation in all of those programs came to 2,912 children. But wait, add the 1,485 children who participated in the Summer Reading Program, and you get a total of 4,397 children who participated in library programs just during the month of July.

The Jessamine County Public Library hosted its annual literacy-bell party April 14. The event was for children who had recently read their first book independently. Participants were each cheered while ringing the bell in front of the library. The children were also able to write their names into JCPL's Book of Names and each received a special certificate celebrating their important achievement.

Programs are scheduled every day at the library this week. Here's a run-down of events. On Tuesday, Sept. 18, Allen J. Share will present a talk about The Revolutionary Impact of Steamboats on the Western Waters. Mr. Share will focus on is the early 19th century when the Kentucky and Ohio rivers were western waters, and the steamboats that traveled them caused revolutionary changes in life. This program is one of our popular Local History Potluck Dinner programs. Bring a covered dish for the potluck which begins at 6:15 p.m. The Steamboat program begins at 7 p.m. This program is free and open to the public.

The first Clark County Public Library Open Art Show is up in our Community Room and it is a beaut! Really, when you have time over the next month, come to the library and enjoy some great local art. There are more than 30 pieces in the show: watercolor, acrylic, and oil paintings, photographs, a quilt, baskets and a carved gourd. There are landscapes, portraits, still lifes and abstracts. Just the mixture of media and styles to make a visit rewarding. Two dimensional works are in the Community Room, the quilt is hanging behind the circulation desk, and three dimensional works are in the reading area of the reference department.

You can learn a lot at the library, but how does the library learn? More than people realize, we learn from you; indirectly, every time you ask a question; and directly, every time you share something with us.   Case in point: A couple of months ago, two of my favorite patrons, Shannon and Joe Allen, stopped to ask about our art displays. Shannon asked if we’d be interested in showing paintings by her father, Winchester resident Herman Haggins. Reference librarian Rachel Lwin set up an appointment, and we went to look at Mr. Haggins’ work.

Happy New Year! It's probably been a while since Friedrich Nietzsche was quoted in the Sun, so I thought I'd give this first library column of the New Year a more highbrow and erudite tone by quoting a paragraph from an article by Thomas Meaney that appeared in the Wall Street Journal on Christmas Eve 2011. Mr. Meaney was reviewing a new book entitled “American Nietzsche,” by Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen. In his article, Mr. Meaney compares Nietzsche to one of America's great transcendental philosophers, Ralph Waldo Emerson: “For Nietzsche, as for Emerson, the source of … fulfillment was to be found in a radically new conception of the individual.

From Monday, Aug. 27, to Thursday, Aug. 28, the library will be presenting the 10th Annual Local History Week. Local History Week is the library's celebration in conjunction with Winchester's Pioneer Festival that always occurs the last weekend of August. Monday through Thursday before Pioneer Weekend, the library sponsors lectures or performances by some of Kentucky's best historians, scholars and reenactors. There's always a great meal beforehand. For the past few years luscious meals have been catered by Winchester's Thompson Catering Service.

It's always a pleasure to start off an article by thanking someone, and today I have the double pleasure of thanking two people. First of all, I want to thank Winchester resident and Appalachian Trail through-hiker Wayne Hall, who spoke to the  library's Book Lunch program last week. Wayne kept the largest Book Lunch crowd ever howling with laughter and cringing with anxiety as he told absolutely amazing stories about his 2,200 mile trek from Georgia to Maine. Wayne may have created a whole new genre of comedy - hiker stand-up.

The Learning Garden Preschool on Edgewood Drive were the winners of the Jessamine County Public Library's Summer Reading Outreach program. Of all the childcare facilities that participated, they averaged the highest number of books read to their students during the summer. As their special prize, they received a visit from Chick-fil-A at Hamburg Place.  Following a short storytime by library staff, the Chick-fil-A Cow arrived bringing food, fun gifts and lots of hugs andhigh-fives.

Looking into your family's history can be a large task to tackle. But digging into African-American ancestry can be an even more difficult task because of inadequate record-keeping, genealogists said. Questions about your great-grandparents, slavery, segregated schools and restaurants can pose challenges. The African-American Genealogy Group of Kentucky (AAGGKY) will be meeting this weekend at Clark County Public Library in an attempt to help some of the residents of Clark County answer some of those very questions.

Do you ride a bicycle? Maybe your kids like to ride, or you know someone who's been nostalgically storing a vintage bike for years. In any case, if you have or ride a bike, your picture with it can be part of a new display at the Clark County Public Library. In the case on the right side of the lobby there is a display devoted to riding bicycles. This display is done in coordination with the Clark County Activity Coalition's Walk/Bike initiative, a program designed to advocate and facilitate those enjoyable pursuits.

Angela says the cave is easy to navigate, but exploring it will give you all the thrills and wonder of spelunking. Morehead State University geography professor and professional spelunker Gary O'Dell will accompany the tour and point out features and formations. It's a 90-minute drive to the cave. Participants must be willing to make the drive unless members of the tour decide to carpool. Everyone will meet at the library parking lot at 9:45 a.m. Saturday. Dress for a cave environment: comfortable shoes (no sandals)

What's new at the library this week? Well, just about everything. Over the past few months significant changes and improvements have been made to every section of the library. First of all, the entire collection was “weeded.” That means library staff went through every section of the library - book by book, item by item - with printouts that showed the date each piece was added to the collection, the last date it circulated and the number of times it circulated. Doing that allowed us to withdraw items that were obsolete, no longer circulating or too ragged to be appealing anymore.

FRANKFORT - This summer, thanks to the Lincoln County Public Library's Fueling the Mind program, children will enrich their bodies while preventing summer learning loss. The Fueling the Mind initiative expands the Summer Reading program through collaboration with the Kentucky Department of Education's Summer Food Service Program, public libraries and many community partners. The goal of Fueling the Mind is to provide free meals during the 2013 summer break along with literacy programming to keep at-risk, school-age children, ages 18 and younger, nourished, reading and learning all summer.

In the fall, two new schools will open their doors for students, and as construction on both buildings nears completion, they also have to be supplied. That job falls to Andy Biggers to oversee as the building relocation coordinator, and it began Tuesday when the staff at the George Rogers Clark High School library began packing up for the move. “This is the start of a long process moving the schools around town,” Biggers, a former principal at Central Elementary, said. Items from the current GRC will be packed up and moved to the new high school building down the road, while equipment and supplies from Central and Conkwright Middle School will have to be moved from those buildings.

GRC SBDM council to meet today The George Rogers Clark High School School-based Decision-making Council will meet at 4:30 p.m. today in the library. Nominations open for GRC parent reps The George Rogers Clark High School-based Decision-making Council will accept nominations for parent representatives May 6-10 from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nominations should be given to Kathie Sosby in the main office. Nominations may also be submitted to kathie.sosby@clark.kyschools.us or by calling 744-6111.

Upcoming events at Boyle County Public Library are listed. For more information or to register, call (859) 238-7323, visit the “What's New” page at www.boylepublib.org or stop by to inquire about children's story times, 'tween reading activities, and various computer programs offered throughout the month. Some activities require registration for participation.   2 p.m. today: Computer workshop: Intermediate Excel 1. (Must have a basic understanding of Excel.) Free workshop at the library.  6 p.m. today through Sunday: Friends of the Library Book Sale.

Strong programs and great community support are some of the things that work together to make a good library, according to Boyle County Public Library Director Karl Benson. On May 31, Benson will retire from the library, after 35 years. His career as a librarian began in Congo when he was teaching an English course. He had ventured there after teaching English and Spanish at Boyle County High School for two years. In Congo, Benson worked at a school of about 600 students with a modest-sized library.

The following classes and events are sponsored by Boyle County Public Library. For more information or to register, call (859) 238-7323 or visit the “What's New” page at www.boylepublib.org. Call the library, visit the website or stop by to inquire about children's story times, 'tween reading activities, and various computer programs offered throughout the month. Some activities require registration for participation. 10 a.m. Thursday: Computer Workshop: Microsoft Publisher, Part 2 (Templates)