Pageturners Meet September 14

The Pageturners book discussion group meets this evening, September 14 at 7:00 p.m. at the library. This month's selection is Ruth Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Food Critic in Disguise.

The club meets monthly to discuss a book they have chosen to read. Meetings are always open to the public and newcomers are welcome. You don't have to "join" anything formally, you can read a particular book if it appeals to you and just attend that meeting to join in the discussion. Meetings run about an hour and titles are available free through the library's interlibrary loan program.

Quilts on Display at Library

Thanks to Harold and Sharon Forbes the library is fortunate to have the village of Melvin and the Ford County quilts on display. In celebration of the county's sesquicentennial, each village in the county created a quilt and also a quilt block that represented some bit of local history and the blocks were then combined to create the Ford County quilt.

The Mevin village quilt is named Melvin Starshine 2009 and was designed and quilted by Sharon Forbes with the help of Harold Forbes who photographed and printed photo blocks of points of interest around town that are featured on the quilt. Also helping to piece and stitch the quilt were Marilyn Gudenrath, Jane Froidcoeur, Jayne Sinn and JoAnn Althouse.

Make it a point to visit the library in September and view these beautiful works of art created by local artisans.

Summer Reading Winners Announced

Congratulations to the winners of the Summer Reading Challenge! In first place is Erika Painter who read a total of 43 books and in second place is Lindsey Meyer with a total of 31 books. Each of these super summer readers wins a special prize, a back pack to carry their books!

The Summer Reading Challenge ran from early June until mid-August and the library had 34 youngsters participate. The children read and recorded a total of 222 books and 66 prizes were awarded to the readers. Good job kids!

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.