Last Holiday of the Summer

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. The number of people 16 and older in the nation’s labor force in May 2008, including 82.6 million men and 71.9 million women.
First Obervance
The first observance of Labor Day is believed to have been a parade of 10,000 workers on Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City, organized by Peter J. McGuire, a Carpenters and Joiners Union secretary. By 1893, more than half the states were observing a “Labor Day” on one day or another, and Congress passed a bill to establish a federal holiday in 1894. President Grover Cleveland signed the bill soon afterward, designating the first Monday in September as Labor Day.

A Nationwide Holiday
The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take were outlined in the first proposal of the holiday — a street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations" of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

Enjoy this weekend and have your last family trip fling.

No Takebacks! Five Playground Rules To Live By

With school starting next week I checked with some of my favorite sites and ran across this at Dumb Little Man website http://www.dumblittleman.com/. I chose the playground rules to share with you today. After looking at the blog I thought YEAH!! these still apply or should for all of us. Take time to explore this site and hopefully share with others.

No Takebacks! Five Playground Rules To Live By

Remember how simple everything was back in grade school? You said exactly what you meant, you had a clear sense of right and wrong, and everything was possible. Well, those classic playground rules of your grade school years still apply to life. And best of all, they can make your life easier and possibly more fun.


Playground rules work because they're clear-cut. If you're anything like I was, you didn't put up much of a fight when you got called out with one of these rules. You were busted and you knew it! The result was that you spent less time fighting verbal battles and debating rules, and more time playing. (Ah, the sweet, severely bruised intoxication of a Red Rover victory...) Take a second look at some of the classic playground rules and you might be surprised by how they still apply to your life.

• 
  No takebacks. Once you give something, you can't ask for it back. Whether it's a physical gift, a gift of money, or a gift of time, asking for a takeback is pointless. It shows bad faith and makes you untrustworthy. Even more importantly, you can't take back your words. Once they're out there, you have to deal with the consequences, however unpleasant they may be. When you decide to give something, give it freely with no strings attached. If you don't, be prepared for raspberries and wedgies.


• No cutting. There are very few shortcuts in life. If you find one, be sure that you're not just cutting in front of someone else by taking it. Cheating your way to the front of the line may save you a few seconds now, but the consequences can last for years (or at least through recess). Cutting generates ill will, because it's a clear signal that you put your own needs in front of others. Don't be surprised when you get picked last for the next round of dodgeball... or raises.


• Take turns. If you expect to have friends to play with, you're going to have to learn to take turns. Taking turns is about respecting your playmates and looking for the best solution for everyone involved. So in your work life and love life, it pays to take turns. This can mean sharing the spotlight. It can mean letting your partner choose the movie (even if that means seeing Bad Boys for the 80th time). It can also mean stopping to really listen to the other person's side of the conversation. There are very few times in life when taking turns doesn't benefit you.


• No do-overs. In four-square, there are no "do overs." The same is true of life. If you screw up, you rarely get a second chance. Accept this and move on. Instead of arguing or pleading for a second try, figure out what went wrong and try to fix it. No one respects the kid who constantly requests a do-over, so accept your mistakes and focus on improvement.


• When it's time to go home, find a partner to cross the street with. There's safety in numbers and two heads are better than one. When it's time to head in a new direction, find someone to help you. Whether that person is a family member, a spouse, a partner, a friend, or a dog, they can be your support system to get you through life's hazards. Can you do things on your own? Absolutely. Should you lean on this person? Not necessarily. But whether you need them or not, having a friend to hold your hand as you cross the street can make the trip a pleasure.
  

Playground rules are about finding the easiest, most efficient way to work together. Whenever you're in a tight jam, remember the simple beauty of kid logic. Leave the complicated justifications and rationalizations out of it. Embrace your inner kid and see where it takes you. And above all, play nice.

Balloon Farm Storytime

We had a large crowd (66 people)today for our storytime and expected to see a performer and his balloon art but due to technical difficulties our scheduled program did not occur.

Our children's librarian, Ingvild Herfindahl did a great job filling in with a story about balloons and a farmer that grew them.

Additional phots can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/7884604@N02
Our website is:http://www.kasson.lib.mn.us/

Closed Labor Day

The Kasson Public Libray will be closed on

Monday, September 1st for Labor Day.

Tanka Tanka Skunk Storytime

Children at today's storytime got to try out their drumming skills with Tanka Tanka Skunk story.

Children made their own animal magnets to share with their familes.

Children's Librarian Ingvild always comes up with imaginative storytime books and craft for the children.

Additional phots can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/7884604@N02
Our website is:http://www.kasson.lib.mn.us/

Animal Magnets Storytime 8/19/08

Although storytime today had a small group they learned about animals and created their own unique animal magnet.

Our Children's Librarian Ingvild does an outstanding job incorporating the story and the craft for the children.

Uncle Tim's Balloons and Magic

Uncle Tim will be at the library on Wednesday, August 27th at 10:30 to perform his amazing magic and balloon art.

Make plans to attend storytime next week, all ages welcome.

Relaxation Day

Relaxation Day is a day to kick back and do nothing. Ahhhh! What a great day.

The stresses, the hustle and bustle seemingly consumes us, every day of the year. Even Sundays are no longer days of rest and relaxation. There never seems to be a day to just kick back and relax. For those us with a hectic lifestyle, Relaxation Day is a day to look forward to. It provides a break from the madness of your busy work and personal schedule.

Todays is the day to enjoy either doing absolutely nothing, or partaking in your favorite relaxation activity. Avoiding stressful activities today is the rule.

Top Ten ideas to enjoy on Relaxation Day:

Lounge around in a hammock

Do nothing today
Go to a Spa
Go fishing
Play a round of golf (caution: not always relaxing)
Lounge around in a hammock
Take a bubble bath
Spend the day at the beach
Go to the movies
Do a little gardening (no heavy duty work, though)
Have a picnic in the park

Children Around the World Storytime

At our August 12th storytime children heard about children around the world. After the story they all made colorful chinese paper lanterns.

Middle Child's Day and My Birthday

August 12th is Middle Child's Day and it gives a little well deserved recognition to the wonderful and special middle
child(ren) in the family.

Today is also my birthday. I am the second of five children and I have always felt like a middle child with an older sister and three younger brothers. I was excited to know that there is a special day just for us. SOOOO...all of us "middles" make this your special day.

I think it's very fair and fitting that we celebrate, and place into the limelight, the middle child(ren) today. Go out and enjoy this day to the fullest. Tell the world about it. Be a little outspoken, and let the world know how great it is to be the middle child.

Play in the Sand Day

Celebrate Play in the Sand Day on August 11th . Sand castles, beach and fun times are linked together aren't they ? Take time to go to the beach, take a walk, and build some sand castles with family and friends.

Movie in the Park

Tommorrow night Saturday, August 9th, will be the final movie in the park series. Make a date with your family to attend this great event in Veteran Park at dark. The movie will be Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Butterflies and Seniors

This was our August monthly intergenerational story time that is held the first Thursday of every month.

Today Lisa, children and seniors read about caterpillars and butterflies. All enjoyed the stories but the children were really excited about creating butterflies. They colored on coffee filters and then sprayed them with water and created tie-dyed butterflies that were completed with snap clothes pins and pipe cleaners. Both the children and the seniors enjoyed the finished product.

All listen to the stories.

Finished products.

Additional phots can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/7884604@N02

Our website is:http://www.kasson.lib.mn.us

Our blogspot is www.kassonpubliclibrary.blogspot.com

Wiggle Your Toes Day

August 6th is Wiggle Your Toes Day.

This day encourages you to give your little piggy toes some exercise. Those ten extremities at the ends of your feet, are crying out for a little freedom. Cramped up inside a pair of shoes or sneakers all day long, your stinky toes just don't get the chance to move about freely, as they would like to do.

Celebrate Wiggle Your Toes Day by airing out your toes, and wiggling them around for all to see. The best place to wiggle your toes on a hot August day, is in the pool. Or, sit on a dock and stick your wiggly little toes in the water.

Did you Know? Not all toes are alike. Like people, toes come in all shapes and sizes. There is a small percentage of the population who have two or more toes partially joined together....web like toes!

I love these two quotes about toes, it reminds all of us to stop and smell the roses along the way.

"Stretching his hand up to reach the stars, too often man forgets the flowers at his feet." ~ Jeremy Bentham

I especially like this one...
"Dancing is the poetry of the foot." ~ John Dryden

WORDLE

I checked my favorite site to see what Tasha Saeckeron http://sites.menashalibrary.org/
had found of interest to tell others about.

She used for her library mission statement http://wordle.net/ with excellent results so I tried our library's mission statement with wonderful results. I did learn that the more you use certain words the more prominent they become in the cloud. There is a randomizer at the bottom of the sample they give so you just keep going until you find one that you like. Have fun with this great website!

August New Books

The library will be receiving these books throughout the month of August.

Damage Control by Judith Jance
A woman shoots a home intruder, an elderly couple drive their car off a cliff and a mysterious fire kills an older man and leaves three homeless. Were these accidents or something more sinister? When Det. Jaime Carbajal's nephew discovers a body in the desert, the investigation leads to a shady organization that operates halfway houses for troubled and disabled persons. Meanwhile, Joanna must deal with her interfering mother, who exhibits a sudden personality change, and the discovery of family secrets about her late father and late first husband.


Smoke Screen by Sandra Brown

Sandra Brown returns with a sizzling tale of corruption and betrayal, revenge and reversal - where friends become foes, and criminals become heroes in the ultimate abuse of power.

The Mercedes Coffin by Faye Kellerman

A relentlessly gripping tale spun by a master, Faye Kellerman's The Mercedes Coffin races through a dangerous urban world of fleeting fame and false dreams, making heart-pumping hairpin turns at each step of a terrifying journey, where truth and justice are fine lines between life and death.

Rough Justice by Jack Higgins

Dispatched by the President to report on the state of still troubled Kosovo, his trusted agent Blake Johnson runs into a military man there named Harry Miller, who has the same task from the British Prime Minister. They band together just in time to stop a Russian officer from torching a mosque—or rather, Miller stops him, with a bullet to the forehead.

Being Elizabeth by Barbara Taylor Bradford
At age twenty-five, Elizabeth Deravenel finds herself in a position few women her age could image: the head of Deravenels, a business empire that spans the globe. It’s a company whose reach is wide and whose secrets are deep. Deravenels has roots that go far back in her family’s history, and she knows the price that many had to pay to see it reach the success it is today. And Elizabeth is the youngest executive in the company she now leads. Surrounded by rumors and disloyalty, she knows that there are many people who would give anything to take down the company—and her with it.

Hounded To Death by Rita Mae Brown

This book reveals the cutthroat world of competitive hound shows as both humans and animals alike try to solve a series of bizarre deaths.

Foreign Body by Robin Cook

Jennifer Hernandez is a fourth-year medical student at UCLA, just completing an elective in general surgery, whose world is shattered during a break in an otherwise ordinary day. While relaxing in the surgical lounge of L.A.’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, she half-listens to a piece on medical tourism, where first-world citizens travel to third-world countries for surgery. But when she hears her beloved grandmother’s name mentioned, her own heart nearly stops: the CNN reporter says Maria Suarez-Hernandez had died, a day after undergoing a hip replacement in New Delhi’s Queen Victoria Hospital.

Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs

Dr. Temperance Brennan's quest to identify two corpses pits her against citizen vigilantes intent on a witch-hunt. While working in Charlotte, N.C., Brennan investigates remains unearthed during a housing renovation and discovers disturbing clues possibly pointing to voodoo or Santeria. She must determine if the bones, including the skull of a teenage girl, are linked to an unidentified headless torso found in a nearby lake. Intent on using the deaths as the cornerstone of his crusade against immorality, fundamentalist preacher turned politician Boyce Lingo claims that the bodies bear the mark of devil worshippers.

The Face of Fear by John Saul

Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Conrad Dunn has put his talents to work making his wife, Margot, the embodiment of physical perfection, but after her face is scarred in a boating accident, Margot takes her own life. Remarrying within a year, Dunn persuades his new teenage stepdaughter, Alison Shaw, who's struggling to adjust to life in the Dunn mansion and to a private school with a ridiculously affluent student body, to undergo breast-enhancement surgery. Meanwhile, the police are searching frantically for the Frankenstein Killer, a serial slayer who removes his female victims' glands as well as more obvious body parts.

Lie Down With The Devil by Linda Barnes

Carlyle is still engaged to her mob-associated fiancé, Sam Gianelli, though she's waiting for Sam to explain why he's disappeared in the wake of rumors linking him to a dead girl. Then a woman calling herself Jessica Franklin visits Carlyle armed with a photograph of Sam and a doubt about his fidelity. After Franklin becomes the victim of a hit-and-run, Carlyle is the most likely suspect. When the police discover that Jessica Franklin is an alias, Carlyle, in more trouble than ever, turns to her old friend and former boss at the Boston PD, Joseph Mooney. Together, they delve into a small community on Cape Cod, where a local Native American tribe is lobbying for land—perhaps to use for a casino.

Legally Dead by Edna Buchanan

U.S. Marshal Michael Venturi of the Witness Protection Program relocates a mobster, now a government witness, to a small rural town after creating a new identity for him. The man proves to be a monster unleashed on an unsuspecting community. The results are tragic. To make amends Venturi leaves the Marshals Service and assembles a team of close confidants to secretly create new identities for innocent men and women whose lives have been ruined through no fault of their own -- people who really deserve fresh starts in new lives. But before they are relocated and reborn, each must change a lifetime of habits and actually become someone else, with new traits, tastes, and personalities. And before being declared "legally dead" -- they have to die. The result is a combination of Extreme Makeover, Mission Impossible, and CSI -- the last in reverse. In these "deaths," some of them spectacular, phony forensics must be created to fit the "facts" and fool the experts. His fascinating experiment works -- for a time. But as Venturi continues to relocate the deserving, evil begins to stalk Venturi and his legally dead clients.

Movie Book Club

Eight children attended the first monthly book-movie club program. Children's Librarian Ingvild and thechildren discussed the book Holes and then watched the movie while eating pizzas provided by the Friends.










The children were excited about having this program become a monthly event and decided to read Nim's Island
during August. Then on August 18th from 4:30-6:30 pm they will discuss the book and watch the movie. This program is for ages 9-12 or in grades 4-6 and all children can sign up to read the book and attend the movie.