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Valentine crafts were at the heart of our mission
Larabee Library News
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courtesy photo Nita Keenan, left, provided cookies for sale and Jennifer Gleason demonstrated decorating cookies and pretzels
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Courtesy photo Nancy Hildebrand, shown standing in the back right corner of the picture, brought a craft lesson on creating decorated bags for giving cookies as a gift.

STAFFORD — Yummies and friends crafting! What could be better? We owe a big thank you to Nita Keenan, Jennifer Gleason, and Nancy Hildebrand for a great evening of cookies, decorating cookies and making craft bags to share cookies at last week’s Valentine Craft program. Did I forget to mention eating yummy cookies!? My only regret is not finding a good time slot for everyone to get to come and enjoy.

What is all this about cookies? Libraries are supposed to be about BOOKS! Books are the core of a library, but libraries are meant to be so much more. People are the heart. Libraries have bloomed into a place that fills needs, whatever they might be: need for information, education, and connecting to people far and near.


Adding large-print books

I made a great connection Friday with Jo McFadden at the St. John library. Which brings me back to the core of the library – she had books to share with us: Adult large-print books, which are a very important part of our collections. 

Large-print books are important as the only way some of our patrons can still have the satisfaction of holding a book and entering another reality through print. Large-print books are misunderstood. They don’t indicate that you have one foot in the grave – they are a way to get new stories that everyone can share! But they are very expensive and I thought they were pretty limited in authors and plot. I was amazed at the range of authors and stories that I brought to Nora’s Place Friday. Thank you Jo McFadden, Pat Crissman, and Meghan Edwards, staff at Ida Long Goodman, for sharing with us and helping me get the books for our library.

Sandy will be working on cataloging this great addition to our library and the new titles will be available soon. Every adult reader is invited to come and enjoy these new books.

Coming up:

• Story Hour Monday Mornings 10-11 a.m.

• New Year - New Books, Book Challenge continues.

• Feb. 18th or possibly the 25th, Recently Reading book club 5:30-7 p.m. We’re open to suggestions on dates and times.

• Look forward to an event in March with Jennifer Gleason. She plans to combine sour-dough bread making with a program on tools to help make your jobs throughout the day easier. Can’t open that jar? Jennifer has the tools on hand; see what works for you on many everyday tasks at home.

• The First Friday committee is busy lining up great evenings for our community to enjoy. At this time, the months are April, May, June and August on the first Friday of each month. Plan to attend fun evenings at Nora’s Place and enjoy events with your community. Save the dates! Taxidermy, Kansas Tourism, Barry & Meta West, and Celebrate Stafford Football are the programs in month order. Stay tuned for more information.

The next board meeting will be Feb. 12 at 6 p.m.


Gerry Hildebrand is the head librarian for the Nora Larabee Memorial Library. Phone 620-234-5762, email larabeelibrary@gmail.com or visit Facebook at Nora Larabee Memorial Library.