Check It Out

There are many new books at the library to enjoy as summer slips into fall. As the nights get cooler and the days get shorter try one of the following new titles: Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich, Matters of the Heart by Danielle Steel, Swimsuit by James Patterson or KnockOut by Catherine Coulter.

Also new is the second book in a series by Karen Kingsbury called Take Two and three titles in the Brides of Gallatin County series by Tracie Peterson, A Promise to Believe In, A Love to Last Forever and A Dream to Call My Own.

For fans of the wildly popular Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, try The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith; titles include The Awakening, The Struggle, The Fury and Dark Reunion.

Sesquicentennial Event at Melvin a Success

There was a great turnout for the two day Sesquicentennial/Meet Melvin Celebration held on August 22nd and 23rd. Thanks to everyone who donated material and time, helped with displays and events and supported local organizations including the Melvin Women's Club, the Melvin Fire Department and the Melvin Public Library at the two fundraising dinners.

The historic material displayed at Community Hall was of great interest and included information on the founding of the village and township, local schools and businesses, the 1971 Melvin Centennial Celebration and local figures from Melvin's past. We were fortunate to have the Ford County quilt on display along with the Melvin quilt and Ford County Sesquicentennial souvenirs were available for purchase.

This 150th birthday has been celebrated throughout the year at several Ford County communities. From Elliot to Piper City; Sibley, Roberts, Paxton and Gibson City; Melvin's celebration is the last scheduled event in a historic year for Ford County.

Melvin Celebrates County's 150th Birthday

Residents of the village of Melvin and the surrounding area will be celebrating Ford County's Sesquicentennial this weekend on Main Street and at the Melvin Community Hall. Come and join the celebration and take part in the events to be held on Saturday, August 22 and Sunday, August 23, 2009.

Saturday's events include a pork chop dinner prepared by the Melvin Fire Department and the Melvin Women's Club and served from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. Following will by a viewing of the 1971 Melvin Centennial Film and other historic pictures and then an ice cream social. The evening wraps up with a dance to One 2 Many at Bubba's Tap from 8:30 until 12:30 p.m.

From 3:00 until 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, various events will be held at the Community Hall including a free throw contest, a jump rope contest and other children's games, a cake walk, toilet races (it's hard to explain...), and a BBQ and hot dog lunch to be served from 4:00 until 6:30 p.m. by Friends of the Melvin Public Library. All of this is to be followed with free bingo until the evening ends.

Pageturner Program at Paxton Library

The Melvin Public Library book club The Pageturners met Monday, August 10, 2009 at the Paxton Carnegie Library to discuss the book Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Iowa Librarian Vicki Myron.

Max, the library cat who has resided at the Paxton Library for many years, joined the group and deemed it a purrfectly lovely evening.

Thanks to Paxton Library Director Anne Newman for hosting the group, preparing an interesting display of information about library cats and Max in particular, and for sharing stories about Max's years in the library.

Check It Out

The Summer Reading Challenge continues at the library and children K-8 grade can enroll and participate for several more weeks. Youngsters are encouraged to read three or more books at or near their reading level, record the books in the reading logs provided at the library, and then choose a prize as their reward!

More new youth books have been added to the collection including Phineas and Ferb: Wild Surprise and Thrill-o-rama, Best Friends, Fireflies, Baby Elephant, Cheetah Cubs, Emperor Penguins, Baby Panda, Officer Spence Makes No Sense, Coach Hyatt is a Riot, Mr. Granite is From Another Planet, Mr. Sunny is Funny and The Boys' Book of Survival.

These books and prizes for the Summer Reading Challenge were purchased with funds from the Michael Moody Memorial donations and we thank the family for making this possible.

Pageturners' News

The Pageturners' book club met Monday, July 20th at the library and had a good turnout for the Diane Ackerman book The Zookeeper's Wife.

The group has a delightful program set for the August 10 meeting; the book for discussion is Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Spencer, Iowa librarian Vicki Myron and the meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Paxton Carnegie Library located at 245 South Market Street.

Why hold the meeting there? Because Paxton Library is one of hundreds of libraries across the nation that has a resident library cat! Max the cat is featured at the library's website http://www.paxtonlibrary.com/photo_gallery/photo_gallery.htm.

We will have several copies of the Dewey book available and newcomers are always welcome so call the library at 388-2421 to reserve a copy in your name.

Thank You for Your Donation

Thanks go to Jimmy & Karen Moore for their donation to the library in memory of Inez Copas.