Monday, June 29, 2009

New Books For July

The Mist by Carla Neggers 6/30/09
When Lizzie Rush uncovers evidence that thrill-seeking billionaire Norman Estabrook may be at the center of an international criminal network, she finds herself playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Raised in the elite world of her hotelier family, educated in reality by her spy father, Lizzie is the perfect choice to slowly amass information that will take down Estabrook. But no good deed goes unpunished.





Burn by Linda Howard 7/7/09
Money certainly changes Jenner Redwine’s life when she wins a lottery jackpot. But it also costs her plenty: Her father rips her off and disappears, her fortune-hunting boyfriend soon becomes her ex, and friends-turned-freeloaders give her the cold shoulder when she stops paying for everything.









Black Hills by Nora Roberts 7/7/09
A summer at his grandparents’ South Dakota ranch is not eleven-year-old Cooper Sullivan’s idea of a good time. But things are a bit more bearable now that he’s discovered the neighbor girl, Lil Chance, and her homemade batting cage. Even horseback riding isn’t as awful as Coop thought it would be. Each year, with Coop’s annual summer visit, their friendship deepens from innocent games to stolen kisses, but there is one shared experience that will forever haunt them: the terrifying discovery of a hiker’s body.




Rain Gods by James Lee Burke 7/14/09
When Hackberry Holland became sheriff of a tiny Texas town near the Mexican border, he'd hoped to leave certain things behind: his checkered reputation, his haunted dreams, and his obsessive memories of the good life with his late wife, Rie. But the discovery of the bodies of nine illegal aliens, machine-gunned to death and buried in a shallow grave behind a church, soon makes it clear that he won't escape so easily.





Guardian of Lies by Steve Martini 7/14/09
Defense attorney Paul Madriani gets caught in a web of deceit and murder involving Cold War secrets, a rare coin dealer who once worked for the CIA, and a furious assassin. A woman pauses in the hallway of a darkened San Diego beach house at night—listening for just the right moment when she can flee before her companion notices that she's gone. A man outside watches the same mansion, waiting for a sign that he can enter on his mission of blood and carnage.






The Moon Looked Down by Dorothy Garlock 7/16/09 Sophie Heller's family immigrated from Germany to Victory, a small town in Illinois, before WWII began. Now that the war has affected the town, the townspeople discriminate against Sophie and her family. When a train derails, it is an accident but the Heller family is blamed. Coming to Sophie's rescue is a teacher from the high school, and despite their cultural differences, a romance starts to bloom.




Storm Cycle by Iris Johansen 7/23/09
Rachel Kirby is a computer genius whose personal life is hell. While she continues to climb the corporate ranks, her beloved twin sister is plagued by a chronic illness that will eventually kill her, leaving Rachel all alone.
Serendipity in the form of a mysterious email lands in Rachel’s lap one day, but not without a price. Thousands of miles away, archeologist John Tanek sits trapped inside a collapsed Egyptian tomb with a functioning laptop. He knows that Rachel is the only person who can help him, but time is quickly running out.



Take Two by Karen Kingsbury 7/23/09
Independent filmmakers Chase Ryan and Keith Ellison at the center of Hollywood wheeling and dealing. The two friends discover that all that glitters is not gold—and that success in Tinsel Town could cost them everything—their relationships as well as their ideals.





Friday, June 26, 2009

Personal Commandments



On one of my favorite non-library blogs, The Happiness Project, I discovered something that works better for me than a New Year's resolution: Personal Commandments. These are the rules that you will live by. I love that they are commandments that can change with what you are dealing with in your life and that because they are truly yours, you can relate and live them to the utmost.
I have a set of personal commandments and also did a set of commandments for myself as a library director. My hope is that my staff would look at these and recognize them as mine without question. Here they are:

1. Work hard not long.
2. Treat everyone the way I would want to be treated.
3. Show appreciation and joy.
4. Applaud loudly.
5. Smile, laugh and connect.
6. Focus big not small.

So how about you? Do you have some commandments you work by or manage by?


Thursday, June 25, 2009

Fish/Fishing and More Just Like Home Daycare 6/25/09

Just Like Home Daycare comes to the library in two shift every Thursday during the Summer Reading Program (SRP) and the library staff has crafts for the younger children and lessons of interest for the older children.
More pictures of this and other events can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary/

This weeks theme was Fish/Fishing.


Library Director Bonnie Adams read a fish story to the younger children. The children then chose some or all of the activities of coloring fish picture, a maze, or drawing a fish.






Fish/Fishing and More Just Like Home Daycare 6/25/09

Just Like Home Daycare comes to the library in two shift every Thursday during the Summer Reading Program (SRP) and the library staff has crafts for the younger children and lessons of interest for the older children. More pictures of this and other events can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary/


This weeks theme was Fish/Fishing.


Library Director Bonnie Adams talked with the older children and had them worked in teams to learn more and report back to the group about fishing. Each group was handed a book about fishing and told to work in teams of 4 and find 3-4 trivia questions. The children listen to the information from each of the four groups. They then took a short trivia quiz that Bonnie compiled about fish.


Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Sing & Dance With MJ 6/23/09


The Kasson Library's Summer Reading Program (SRP) Be Creative @ the Library had a great program on Tuesday featuring Sing and Dance with MJ. Over 55 children came and throughly enjoyed singing and dancing with Michelle Jones. This was Michelle's third SRP visit to our library. Michelle during the school year is an elementary teacher from Elgin and in the summer has a great program for children. Children were dancing and singing to the Hokey Pokey, YMCA, The Lion Sleep Tonight and many more children's favorites.

More Pictures can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary/

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Froggy Storytime With Just Like Home 6/18/09

Just Like Home Daycare comes to the library in two shift every Thursday during the Summer Reading Program (SRP) and the library staff has crafts for the younger children and lessons of interest for the older children.

This weeks theme was frogs and toads.

More pictures of this and other events can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary/

Library Director Bonnie Adams talked with the older children and everyone learned about Minnesota frogs, what frogs look like when they are hibernating and took a short quiz about frogs. The group already knew a lot abaout frogs but were excited to learn more information.















The morning group heard a story about frog and then created a frog from a paper plate.

Summer Reading Pictures

Stop by our Flickr website to view the many picture taken daily during our many programs.
Be Creative @ Your Library


http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary/

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Froggy Storytime with Ricky 6/17/09

Ricky E (9 yrs old) read Frog in a Bog to over 50 people at the Froggy Storytime. Ricky did an outstanding job and was not nervous with that many people listening to the story.




After the story the library staff and parents helped the children create their frogs.



For additional picture of this and other events: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary/

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Froggy Storytime with Tara 6/16/09


Tara was our guest reader for our froggy themed storytime. She read Frog in a Bog and One Frog Sang to the children. Over 56 children were at the library to take part in this fun activity.

The children made their own frog from sheets that Tara cut out. Library staff members Donna and LaDonna spray painted paper plates last week. In the process of spray painting over 100 plates the wind occassionally took the plate up into the air and they chased many plates down the street. Over 50 children glued the frog parts to make a great frog.
Additional pictures may be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary/


Finished Frogs!!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Doodling Storytime with Just Like Home Daycare 6/ 11/09



Library Director Bonnie showed the day care how easy it was to draw a cat's face with just circles, ovals, and triangles. Each cat face was as unique as the child that drew it. Everyone had lots of fun interpreting what they saw and heard.






For additional pictures of this event http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary/

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Doodling Storytime 6/10/09


Kelly (age 13) was a guest reader who volunteered to read to the children for one of our weekly storytimes. Kelly read about drawing and pencils to the children. Kelly had over 45 children at her program.

The children followed the directions from Kelly to find out how simple it was to draw a cat's face with just circles, ovals, and triangles. Each child drew their own unique cat.

To see additional pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary/


Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Butterfly Storytime with Sally 6909

With our children's librarian is on materity leave for the summer we have asked for volunteers to help with our twice weekly storytime. We have some great readers for our Be Creative @ Your Library summer reading program.


Additonal pictures of storytimes can be viewed at Flikr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kassonlibrary







Sally Smith was our guest storytime reader today and she chose to read about butterflies. 46 people were at our storytime and while space was tight we managed to fit all of the children in. The children enjoyed coloring or using tissue paper for their take home butterflies.