Last night I had a wonderful time with our Girls and Books (GAB) book discussion group. We meet the third Thursday of each month at our NICC/Peosta branch. It was Jenny Parker's last meeting with us as she moves on to Clarke University next week.
I love spending time with well read, intelligent, and thoughtful women. We center our discussion on the book but we can get into wildly divergent topics. Last night we laughed a lot! The book up for discussion was "The Persian Pickle Club" by Sandra Dallas. Dallas is no literary writer, but she sure can tell a great story. "Pickle Club" is set in a small, Kansas farming community in 1936 and centers on a group of a dozen women who gather each week to quilt. But they don't just quilt, this is an incredible circle of friends who see each other through life's ups and downs. And boy are there ups and downs! The group really loved the book and I recommend it.
Next month on Feb. 21st, GAB will be discussing "The Year We Left Home" by Jean Thompson. This novel is set primarily in Iowa and traces the generational difficulties of one family. "The Year We Left Home" is the 2013 All Iowa Reads selection. All Iowa Reads is a program sponsored by the Iowa Center for the Book and began in 2003. Its purpose is to encourage readers all across the state to read the same title and discuss it. Several states have similiar programs. The books are chosen by a committee of librarians and library users. Last year's selection was "Strength in What Remains" by Tracy Kidder.
The books we discuss are loaned to us from other libraries in Iowa. If you would like to join GAB, stop by your local library and you can borrow a copy of the book along with discussion questions to guide your reading and our discussion. "The Year We Left Home" will be available in a couple of weeks. Our March selection is "The Winter Garden" by Kristin Hannah.
I want to remind everyone that the Friends first open house is Saturday, February 2nd at our NICC/Peosta branch from 10:00 a.m. to noon. Stop by for refreshments and a tour of this beautiful facility. We encourage you to talk with friends members and learn what Friends do to support our library.
The next open house is February 9th at our Drexler/Farley location.
Next week is the second in our Page to Screen series which is funded by a grant from Humanities Iowa. This is a joint program of NICC and Dubuque County Library. We will be watching "The Great Gatsby" starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow on Wednesday evening and then discussing Fitzgerald's book on which the movie was based on Thursday evening. The discussion is led by an NICC professor. All programs are free and are held at our NICC/Peosta branch. You can borrow a copy of the book for the discussion at your local branch.
It's supposed to turn really cold next week, so enjoy the weekend.
Dawn
Friday, January 18, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
Off and Running
2013 is off and running. I hope all of you had a good holiday season. But the new year waits for no one and there is much to do.
I have to begin on a sad note. Jenny Parker, our librarian at Asbury, has resigned effective January 18th. We wish her well as she joins the library team at Clarke University.
Dubuque County Library has it's budget hearing with the Board of Supervisors on Friday, January 18th at 8:00 a.m. at the Court House downtown. Everyone who cares about library service is welcome to attend. This year we are asking for a largely status-quo budget. We are asking for a 3% increase in our book budget to cover the cost of inflation. There is a request for a significant increase in our programming line to support more presenters and more advertising. We are also asking to promote two of our staff members to Librarian I which is one class above their current job title of Clerk IV. We feel that they are performing above the clerk level and do much the same as our children's librarian who is in the librarian class. The overall increase we are asking for is about 4%.
Another news flash is that on Monday evening, January 7th, the Library Board agreed to participate in a county-wide advisory group to study library service. This is the joint task force that Carnegie-Stout asked to form several months ago. The purpose is to find ways to more effectively and economically provide quality library service to everyone. We have not met as yet to set up our goals and objectives or to discuss committee structure. Hopefully, that organizational meeting will be scheduled soon.
Also at that meeting we welcomed a new board member. Tim Wilgenbusch is replacing Tony Krapfl who resigned in November. Mr. Wilgenbusch works for TriCon Construction in Dubuque. He and his family live in the county near Centralia. Tim is going to be a real asset to the board.
In February the focus is going to be on the Friends of Dubuque County Library. The Friends group is hosting open houses at each of our branches to showcase our facilities and to promote what the Friends do for our library. Each event will be on Saturday morning from 10:00-12:00. There will be refreshments and tours of the library. Here is the schedule:
February 2nd - Peosta Branch at NICC
February 9th - Farley Branch at Drexler Middle School
February 16th - Epworth Branch
February 23rd - Holy Cross Branch (Hopefully we will be in our new space on Main Street!!)
March 2nd - Asbury Branch
Stop by and enjoy a cookie, sign up for door prizes, and enjoy your local library.
Don't forget to check our calendar for programs. Storytimes are back, so be sure to find the time that is right for your family. Our book discussion group meets next Thursday evening at NICC/Peosta to talk about "The Persian Pickle Club" by Sandra Dallas. The Page to Screen series continues on January 23 and 24 when we watch "The Great Gatsby." Pick up the books for these programs at any branch location.
Have a wonderful weekend. Dawn
I have to begin on a sad note. Jenny Parker, our librarian at Asbury, has resigned effective January 18th. We wish her well as she joins the library team at Clarke University.
Dubuque County Library has it's budget hearing with the Board of Supervisors on Friday, January 18th at 8:00 a.m. at the Court House downtown. Everyone who cares about library service is welcome to attend. This year we are asking for a largely status-quo budget. We are asking for a 3% increase in our book budget to cover the cost of inflation. There is a request for a significant increase in our programming line to support more presenters and more advertising. We are also asking to promote two of our staff members to Librarian I which is one class above their current job title of Clerk IV. We feel that they are performing above the clerk level and do much the same as our children's librarian who is in the librarian class. The overall increase we are asking for is about 4%.
Another news flash is that on Monday evening, January 7th, the Library Board agreed to participate in a county-wide advisory group to study library service. This is the joint task force that Carnegie-Stout asked to form several months ago. The purpose is to find ways to more effectively and economically provide quality library service to everyone. We have not met as yet to set up our goals and objectives or to discuss committee structure. Hopefully, that organizational meeting will be scheduled soon.
Also at that meeting we welcomed a new board member. Tim Wilgenbusch is replacing Tony Krapfl who resigned in November. Mr. Wilgenbusch works for TriCon Construction in Dubuque. He and his family live in the county near Centralia. Tim is going to be a real asset to the board.
In February the focus is going to be on the Friends of Dubuque County Library. The Friends group is hosting open houses at each of our branches to showcase our facilities and to promote what the Friends do for our library. Each event will be on Saturday morning from 10:00-12:00. There will be refreshments and tours of the library. Here is the schedule:
February 2nd - Peosta Branch at NICC
February 9th - Farley Branch at Drexler Middle School
February 16th - Epworth Branch
February 23rd - Holy Cross Branch (Hopefully we will be in our new space on Main Street!!)
March 2nd - Asbury Branch
Stop by and enjoy a cookie, sign up for door prizes, and enjoy your local library.
Don't forget to check our calendar for programs. Storytimes are back, so be sure to find the time that is right for your family. Our book discussion group meets next Thursday evening at NICC/Peosta to talk about "The Persian Pickle Club" by Sandra Dallas. The Page to Screen series continues on January 23 and 24 when we watch "The Great Gatsby." Pick up the books for these programs at any branch location.
Have a wonderful weekend. Dawn
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