America Unites In Remembrance May 30th

To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps."

The Moment of Remembrance is a step in the right direction to returning the meaning back to the day. What is needed is a full return to the original day of observance. Set aside one day out of the year for the nation to get together to remember, reflect and honor those who have given their all in service to their country.

But what may be needed to return the solemn, and even sacred, spirit back to Memorial Day is for a return to its traditional day of observance. Many feel that when Congress made the day into a three-day weekend in with the National Holiday Act of 1971, it made it all the easier for people to be distracted from the spirit and meaning of the day. As the VFW stated in its 2002 Memorial Day address: "Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day."

On January 19, 1999 Senator Inouye introduced bill S 189 to the Senate which proposes to restore the traditional day of observance of Memorial Day back to May 30th instead of "the last Monday in May". On April 19, 1999 Representative Gibbons introduced the bill to the House (H.R. 1474). The bills were referred the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Government Reform. To date, there has been no further developments on the bill.

The White House Commission on Remembrance is an independent government agency whose missions include: http://www.remember.gov/

• Promoting the spirit of unity and remembrance through observance of The National Moment of Remembrance at 3 PM local time on Memorial Day;
• Ensuring the nation remembers the sacrifices of America's fallen from the Revolutionary War to the present;
• Recognizing those who served and those who continue to serve our great nation and reminding all Americans of their common heritage.

Friends Second Quarterly Meeting

Today nine members of the Friends of the Kasson Public Library met for their second quarterly meeting of the year. The goal for the Friends this year will be to increase membership and give additional incentives for the members.

Many ideas were given and the consensus of the group was that a quarterly newsletter, a email reminder of upcoming meetings or events, a calender of Friends events, and to be able to come the night before the start of the quarterly book sale would be very beneficial. Everyone was enthusiatic and the plans will be put into action in the coming months.

Storytime and Itty-Bitty Book

We were really full today with thirty people that came to our storytime. Children's Librarian read two stories and then did an itty-bitty book for the children to color and assemble, yesterday and today, and to take home and share with their families.. The pictures below are from today's storytime.

You may look at additional photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/7884604@N02

Ingvild reading stories and the families are listening.

Children coloring and folding their books.

Friends of the Library Meeting

Friends of the Kasson Public Library second quarterly meeting will be Thursday, May 29 at 10:30 in the library. Please plan on attending.

Friends Book Sale

Books and Movies Sale on Thursday, June 5th 10-6,
Friday, June 6 10-5,
$1.00 Bag Sale on Monday 10-5.


New this year will be for Friends Members Only-
Pre-Book Sale on Wednesday, June 4th, 4-7. This would be a good time to renew your membership ($12.00/yr.) or sign up for a membership to take advance of this special bonus.

Catch the Reading Bug

Today Ingvild and I went to see the 5th and 6th graders and talk about our Summer Reading Program Catch the Reading Bug. We brought along prizes that could be won for reading the the most hours and items for our weekly drawings.

We also showed the children our new guessing bug house and we mentioned that there were more bugs in there that what it appeared. We would like to take this time to thank our Intermediate teachers and staff for making our visit very pleasant. Thank you.

Group Card

I went to Tasha Saecker website this morning Sites and Soundbytes http://www.greenlakelibrary.org/blog/and I ran across this great application called Group Card.

I tried this site GroupCard and I am also hooked! I used it to sign a card for my brother's birthday, and it worked great, and was a lot of fun.

You just select the card you want, sign it, using the image interface to add pictures, give the email address of the person you want to send it to and the date it should be sent, and invite others to sign it as well.

This is the way to do cards for family and friends in the future. Go ahead and try it and sent this website to others!

Two Old Potatoes and Me Day Two May 21

Children's Librarian Ingvild Herfindahl is helping Day Two children plant their potatoes after she read Two Old Potatoes and Me. The children had fun choosing their potatoes and planting them in the dirt and the children are looking forward to seeing the potatoes sprout later in the summer. This was a great interactive storytime for the chidlren and their moms. Additional photos at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7884604@N02

Two Old Potatoes and Me Day One May 20th

Children's Librarian Invgvild Herfindahl read the story Two Old Potatoes and Me at today's storytime. She then gave each of the children a potato to plant and to watch them grow over the summer.

All the children listen to instructions on how to place the potatoes in the planter.

Ingvild help the excited children place their potatoes in the dirt.

The children gather around the pot after potatoes are planted.

Additional photos on http://www.flickr.com/photos/7884604@N02.

23 Things On A Stick Round 2

Library Assistant Donna Kirchgatter was the only staff member in the first round to finish her 23 Things On A Stick. She received from the regional library system, SELS, a memory stick and a certificate of completion. I have to say that Donna did all of her work at the checkout desk and still kept up with her daily work. Somedays it was more of a challenge than others but she perservered and finished the program.

Staff that has not completed the 23 things in the first round are excitied about learning about Web 2.0 and wanted to know more about Flickr, wikis, My Space, Face Book, Blogger, YouTube, and much more and plan to finish in Round 2.

Round 2 starts May May 15-September 15. This program is open to all staff in any Minnesota library—public, academic, school, or special—as well as members of their Governing Boards, their Friends groups, or Advisory Groups. Even if you do not qualifiy officially you can still work through the programs so that you can have a better understanding of what is out there on the web.

23 Things On a Stick was developed by the seven multitype multicounty library systems as part of the staff development the multitypes offer in their regions. They choose the name for the program in reference to the state fair things on a stick.

A blog http://www.23thingsonastick.blogspot.com/has been set-up as part of the 23 Things on a Stick: A Library Learning 2.0 Program. The 23 Things encourage everyone to experiment and learn about the new and emerging technologies that are changing how information is used and created on the Internet today.

Armed Forces Day

"... Our Servicemen and women are serving throughout the world as guardians of peace--many of them away from their homes, their friends and their families. They are visible evidence of our determination to meet any threat to the peace with measured strength and high resolve. They are also evidence of a harsh but inescapable truth--that the survival of freedom requires great cost and commitment, and great personal sacrifice."
President John F. Kennedy, 1963

Armed Forces Day is celebrated annually on the third Saturday of May. Armed Forces Week begins on the second Saturday of May and ends on the third Sunday of May, the day after Armed Forces Day.

President Harry S. Truman led the effort to establish a single holiday for citizens to come together and thank our military members for their patriotic service in support of our country.

On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the creation of an Armed Forces Day to replace separate Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force Days. The single-day celebration stemmed from the unification of the Armed Forces under one department -- the Department of Defense.

Library and Prairie Meadows Honors Armed Services Day and Memorial Day

The outreach program of the library made its bi-weekly visit to Prairie Meadows. It was decided that we would honored Armed Services Day and Memorial day with the residents. I contacted the Army recruiter in Rochester and Army Sgt. Lolley agreed to come and read two poems for our program. Pat Coy who had been assisting Library Director Bonnie Adams agreed to play some patriot songs for the residents. Jill Yamasaki (Jackie Keller's granddaughter), who is a doctoral candidate has chosen chosen Prairie Meadow seniors for her disseration, read another poem. The residents throughly enjoyed the program.

Army Sgt Lolley reads some poems.

Bonnie Adams talking about the program.

Pat Coy playing the piano.

Jill Yamasaki reads another poem.

May New Books

We receive best seller automatically every month and I have gathered reviews for five books and the remaining new books are:Blood Noir by Laurell Hamilton, and Many A River by Elmer Kenton.

A widow comes home to her large house in a wealthy, exclusive suburb to find blood everywhere, no body—and her collegeaged daughter missing. She’s always known that her daughter ran with a bad bunch. What did she call them—Goths? Freaks is more like it, running around with all that makeup and black clothing, listening to that awful music, so attracted to death. And now this.

The clues don’t seem to add up, though. And then there’s the young Goth who keeps appearing and disappearing: Who is she? Where does she come from and, more important, where does she vanish to? And why does Lucas keep getting the sneaking suspicion that there is something else going on here . . . something very, very bad indeed?


Only a handful of fictional characters are recognized by first name alone. Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas is one of those rare literary heroes who have come alive in readers’ imaginations as he explores the greatest mysteries of this world and the next with his inimitable wit, heart, and quiet gallantry. Now Koontz follows Odd as he is irresistibly drawn onward to a destiny he cannot imagine and to undreamed of places where the perils he will face and the stakes for which he fights will eclipse all that he has known.

But a true hero, however humble, must persevere. Haunted by dreams of an all-encompassing red tide, Odd is pulled inexorably to the sea, to a small California coastal town where nothing is as it seems. Now the forces arrayed against him have both official sanction and an infinitely more sinister authority…and in this dark night of the soul dawn will come only after the most shattering revelations of all.


At age twelve, Cassandra Madden fell in love with Jefferson Ames, a young man she met at one of her mother's business conferences. Over the years, during periods of loneliness and struggle, Cassie held on to this unrequited love in order to cope with her isolated heart and the pain of a cold mother. Even when Cassie grew up, went off to college, and met a man she thought she'd marry, her heart yearned for Jeff.

Then, one day, she hears shots coming from the mansion of Althea Fairmont, an eccentric woman who is thought of as the world's greatest living actress. Cassie runs to investigate, and, in an instant, her safe little life is turned upside down. She begins to learn that all the people around her aren't who they claim to be. Everyone has secrets -- and until Cassie unravels those secrets, she and Jeff will never have a chance to be happy together.

And in The Front, peril is what comes to them all. D.A. Lamont has a special job for Garano. As part of a new public relations campaign about the dangers of declining neighborhoods, she’s sending him to Watertown to “come up with a drama,” and she thinks she knows just the case that will serve. Garano is very skeptical, because he knows that Watertown is also the home base for a loose association of municipal police departments called the FRONT, set up in order that they don’t have to be so dependent on the state—much to Lamont’s anger. He senses a much deeper agenda here—but he has no idea just how deep it goes. In the days that follow, he’ll find that Lamont’s task, and the places it leads him, will resemble a house of mirrors—everywhere he turns, he’s not quite sure if what he’s seeing is true.

“Falsehoods rule,” warns his grandmother. And they can also kill.

Macomber returns to Seattle's fictional Blossom Street of A Good Yarn (and others) for a hopeful tale of four widows who meet at 38-year-old Anne Marie Roche's bookstore. Separated from her husband after he refused to have a baby with her, Anne Marie felt certain they would reconcile until he suddenly died. Lillie Higgins lost her husband in the same plane crash that claimed the husband of their daughter, Barbie Foster. Elise Beaumont entered widowhood after cancer claimed her husband. Together, the four make life-fulfillment wish lists. With Elise's prodding, Anne Marie decides to fulfill one of her wishes do good for someone else and becomes a lunch buddy to an at-risk third grader.

Anne Marie, meanwhile, must deal with the reappearance of her adult stepdaughter, Melissa, who always held her in disdain. Elise mainly serves as a catalyst for Anne Marie's journey, but there is plenty of focus on Lillian and Barbie, who find purpose in unexpected and difficult relationships.

John Lyons is Coming To Rochester May 20th

While buying annuals for my yard at Rochester Fleet Farm on Saturday I noticed a flyer at the checkout. I was excited to see that my favorite horse trainer is coming to Rochester Fleet Farm on Tuesday, May 20th, 5-8 pm. Admission is free, it will be held rain or shine and you bring your own lawn chair.

John Lyons will demonstrate horse taining techniques the first

1 1/2 hours of the show inside a 40' round pen on the store property. The remaining 1 1/2 hours John will sign autographs inside the store.

If you ever wanted to see a world famous trainer in action this is your chance. John was one of the first horse trainers to use horse whisper techniques. I had an opportunity to see him at a horse clinic up in White Bear Lake about 10 years ago and I am still using on my two horses the techniques I learn from that clinic.

K-M Preschool and Summer Reading Program

Yesterday Children's Librarian Ingvild Herfindahl and Library Director Bonnie Adams went to the K-M Community Education building and talked to the pre-school classes about the upcoming summer reading program Catch the Reading Bug . They brought some prizes that could be won for reading during the summer and Ingvild read a story to each of the six classes.

The children were excited about the upcoming reading program and promised that they would keep reading during the summer. Ingvild and Bonnie had a great time with the children and their teachers.

Happy Mothers Day

YEAH!!!!!! May 8th is No Socks Day

No Socks Day is a day to free your toes of the confines of socks and stocking. Give those toes of yours a breath of fresh air. I knew there was a special holiday just waiting for me as I love to wear sandals!

It's easy to participate in No Socks Day. Just leave your socks and stocking off, and let your toes enjoy a moment in the sun! I also am a beliver in painting your toe nails to complete the liberation of your feet for the summer.

Note:The creators of this day also profess that No Socks Day will reduce your laundry load, and therefore, is healthy for the environment. See a win-win all around. Enjoy the day.

Rearranging the Non-Fiction Section

The staff and I have talked for the past few months about separating the children and adult nonfiction. It was getting more difficult for patrons to find age appropriate book easily so it was finally time to make the switch. What made the move much easier was that our circulation person, Mary K, has been weeding the collection most of the winter and when asked how it was going she said it was pretty much done.

Soooo yesterday afternoon Ingvild (children's librarian) and I took the plunge of taking the children's books out of the adult section. It got a little confusing as to where we placed the childrens vs the adult books. I even skipped a whole section of shelves and had to go back and make it right. It is still in the transition stage but hopefully today we will have it all done. Stop in and see the tranformation.

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is a party -- A party that celebrates freedom and liberty.

Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "5th of May") is primarily a regional and not an obligatory federal holiday in Mexico. The holiday commemorates an initial victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín over French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.

Mary Mataitis Retires as Children's Librarian

Kasson Public Children's Librarian Mary Rose Mataitis retired after eight years with the Kasson Library, an Open House was held in her honor on Thursday, May 1 with the Friends of the Library hosting the event. Mary Rose will be missed by patrons especially the young moms who came faithfully to her weekly storytime. We all wish her the best in her retirement. Mary Rose is pictured with Friends of the library Chair Clint Patterson giving MaryRose her gift of a new dictionary.

A local bakery made a special cake in the shape of a children's book for the occassion.

New Children's Librarian Ingvild Herfindahl talks with the Platz family that came with well wishes for Mary Rose.

May Day Intergenerational Storytime at Prairie Meadows

Today Kasson Library Books On Wheels outreach program had its second intergenerational storytime at Prairie Meadows. Moms and their children lead this inspirational and heart felt program to help connect the seniors with children. The seniors throughly enjoy the program and the children making them May Baskets.

Jill Foley and Bonnie Adams reading
stories to the children and the
seniors.

Making May Baskets