Ark Valley News - From the library

From the library
By Janice Sharp, director
Last Updated: September 07, 2017

Always honor our workers

I'm writing this on Labor Day. We should all think of the workers who support us in every type of job every day.

We tend to overlook the real meaning behind Labor Day. It's been declared a holiday for many years, and our workers do deserve a day of remembrance.

We should also think about the jobs that workers cannot leave for the day. We have people in the medical field, in the field of law enforcement, people who drive trucks that transport our goods, engineers in trains that also transport our goods as well as people, pilots who fly airplanes and all the related support people needed for our world to survive.

Hats off to our workers!

The month of September seems like the beginning of fall; maybe not in the weather but in activities. The Kansas State Fair will begin at the end of this week. Our story times will begin at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday for children up to 2 years of age, and then Wednesdays and Thursdays for any child up to 5 not yet in kindergarten. Story times will be held except for holidays or when schools are closed due to inclement weather. Fall Festival will be Sept. 22 and 23, with the library closed Sept. 23, so the community can use our parking lot. We will begin our semiannual book sale Sept. 25.

Finally, library staff has been busy weeding books from the collection to include them in the book sale. We'll set up the sale the morning of Sept. 25 and open it when we finish. The sale will be extra large due to donations and weeding. The sale will run until Oct. 7, which is the weekend for the fall citywide garage sales.

The job of weeding is easily put off until last but is absolutely necessary. We are pulling books that have not been used in at least three years or are out of date or damaged. Some areas of the collection haven't been weeded in several years, so you'll notice extra space in some areas. We continually weed all year concentrating on different areas of the collection. The weeding is necessary prior to our moving to the new facility next year so we don't move unused materials. I'm sure there will be another book sale in the spring coinciding with the citywide garage sales.

Our silent auction selection has changed with the beginning of a new month. This month our auction is for a fishing basket with a Catch-All gear bag from Cabela's, filled with a variety of items and a new Quantum Solo rod and reel, all valued at over $150. Think about our silent auction selections for birthdays, anniversaries or Christmas. The money we raise from the auctions will be added to the building fund.

Be sure to come by and pick up a copy of “Black Horizons," the biography of Rip Gooch. We will hold a book discussion at 7 p.m. Oct. 12 with Rip and Glen Sharp, who co-authored the book. Rip was the son of sharecropper who grew up poor in the hills of Tennessee. He went on to become a millionaire and own an aircraft sales company.

Care to join us for Wine with Friends? The Friends of the Library will host a wine tasting at 2 p.m. Oct. 8 at Grace Hill Winery, near Whitewater. Whether you like wine or not, it's a great opportunity to purchase a bottle(s) of wine for gifts for the upcoming holidays. There will be time to visit with friends and take a tour of the vineyards. Tickets will be available soon for anyone at least 21 years old.

Upcoming events

Sept. 8 — Kansas State Fair begins

Sept. 10 — Grandparents Day

Sept. 11 — Library Board meeting

Sept. 12 — Story times begin

Sept. 17 — Last day of Fair

Sept. 19 — City Council

Sept. 21 — Coffee with our Cops

Sept. 22 & 23 — Fall Festival

Sept. 23 — Library closed

Sept. 25 — Book sale begins

Sept. 26 — Friends of the Library meeting