Check it Out Krum Public Library Newsletter
January 2023 Volume 4, Issue 4
Director's Corner “Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow:” - Alfred Lord Tennyson Well we probably won’t get snow on New Year’s Day but the Krum Public Library will be ringing in some new changes, beginning with an updated website and a new version of our system for checking our catalog. We are also excited to be welcoming Jesse Ephraim to our staff in the new year. Watch for details on these and other possible changes as we welcome in 2023.
Did You Know? To develop life-long readers, picture books are perfect for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. These books often have detailed illustrations that help tell the story, and they can help introduce new vocabulary to these budding language learners. Learn-to-read books are great for building independence as children are starting to read on their own. However, picture books shared at an earlier age increase vocabulary, introduce the concept of story (plot, setting, characters, etc), and foster a love of reading and an appreciation for art. You don’t have to be a teacher or librarian to impart these skills. You just need to read to a child!
Remember When? (A look back at important events in literary history—author birthdays, book/character debuts, and dates in books)
1/8/2008 Blue Heaven by C.J. Box is published.
1/12/1876 American author Jack London is born.
1/15/1831 The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo is published.
1/22/1953 Arthur Miller’s The Crucible premieres.
Library Events Recurring Events: • Children’s Hour • 1st Saturday Drop-in Craft • Book Club • 3rd Saturday Storytime • Teen Writing Club • Homeschool Meetup • 3rd Thursday Family Fun Night • Crafters UFO Club • Fourth Friday Free Play • Please see the calendar or website for event dates and details. Special January Programming:
The following programs will not meet in January: 1st Saturday Drop-in Craft, Children’s Hour (resumes 2/1/23), Crafters UFO Club, 3rd Saturday Storytime.
Book Club will meet 1/12 at 6 PM to discuss Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb.
The library will be closed on Thursday, January 12 for staff development.
Thursday, January 19 6:00—7:00 PM will be our Game Night!
Teen Writing Club will meet Saturday January 21. Meetings are casual and sharing is optional.
Fourth Friday Free Play will be at 11 AM on 1/27/23.
Come read to trained therapy dogs at Reading with Rover 10:30—11:30 AM Saturday, January 28.
The Homeschool Meetup is moving to Tuesday! On the 3rd Tuesday of the month, homeschool families can join librarian Joy for an interactive science lesson. Joy is a former elementary and middle school teacher who also homeschooled her own children for a few years. The lesson will be mostly aimed for 4th-6th grades but will be adapted as needed for older or younger learners. The Homeschool Meetup dates for the spring 2023 semester are 1/17, 2/21, 3/21, 4/18, and 5/16.
Staff Pick
I recommend The List of Unspeakable Fears, a junior fiction book by J. Kasper Kramer. The book follows the sudden upheaval of Irish immigrant Essie as she is forced to move to North Brother Island in New York with her mother and new stepfather, who works as a doctor on the quarantine island for those who are terminally ill. Though Dr. Blackcreek is quite well off and provides Essie and her mother a much better life than they had in their previous New York tenement, Essie holds much animosity and resentment for him and for the island itself. Essie is a very skittish and fearful girl, who fears many things—electricity, dark and dank places, the sea, and more. To cope with the anxiety she feels, she keeps a list of these and other unspeakable fears. But above all, she fears the red door that keeps appearing in her nightmares. It haunts her, looming in the darkness, beckoning her to open it. To Essie’s surprise, the door has followed her to her new home on North Brother Island. Though Essie fears her new situation more than she has feared anything in her life, she is determined to find out what is going on with North Brother and why nurses from the hospital have been going missing, which leads her to confronting her greatest fears in a way she never thought she would have to do. - from Mason
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