April Library Events

April 2  Teen Gaming Night 5 pm

April 4 Easter  Library Closed

April 11-17 National Library Week

April 13 Book Group- Suite Francaise 7 pm

April 17 Bill Sullivan, Oregon author @ Third Street Books  2pm

April 20 Proust Reading Group 7 pm

April 22 Native Plant Program- Pine Trees 7 pm

April 25 “100 Years of Logging” with Merv Johnson 2pm

Mac Reads Kick Off Party

Sunday, March 14: MacReads Kick Off Event

Join us to find out more about the upcoming MacReads community events.  The first 100 people will receive a free copy of In the Wilderness.

Nicholson Library Director, Susan Barnes-Whyte will talk about the book and the history of the MacReads community reading program.  Jenny Berg, Senior Librarian at the McMinnville Public Library will provide information about where to get books and how to join MacReads events in the community and online.   Becky Pearson, McMinnville Public Library Children’s Librarian will introduce the MacReads children’s titles, There’s an Owl in the Shower by Jean Craighead George and Owl Babies by Martin Waddell.

McMinnville Public Library Carnegie Room, 2pm

Author visit: Carlos Reyes

Carlos Reyes

Sunday, March 7 at 2 pm

in the Carnegie Room

The Oregon author will read from The Book of Shadows, his latest book of poems.
Read an interview with Carlos Reyes.

Great programs @ your library: Growing Herbs

Explore Oregon Series: Growing Herbs in Your Garden

Sunday, February 21st  at 2:00 pm

in the Carnegie Room

Kate Parker of Katula Herbs will introduce know to grow and preserve herbs. She will also discuss the medicinal uses of herbs.

Other library resources:

Flowers and Herbs of Early America by Lawrence D. Griffith.

Vegetables, Herbs & Fruit: an illustrated encyclopedia by Matthew Biggs.

Growing Herbs and Vegetables: from seed to harvest by Terry and Mark Silber.

Backyard Beekeeping

This Sunday, January 31st!

2 pm in the Carnegie Room

Free!

Jim Marshall of C & J Apiary in Dayton, Oregon started bee keeping in the 1980s as a hobby. He says that “by the
1990s, we had bought out another beekeeper and at onepoint had 500 hives; We were seriously
commercial. We are cutting back (down to200 hives!). We have sold honey at the Beaverton Farmer’s Market for 15 years or so.” Jim & Carol Marshall’s presentation will be on the basics of beekeeping, that is, pollination & why
we need to care about honey bees; how to get started including a hands-on equipment demonstration, medications and bee diseases; some honey tasting and a little time for questions and answers.

Books:

Natural Beekeeping: organic approaches to modern apiculture by Ross Conrad.

Beekeeping for Dummies by Howland Blackiston

A Spring without Bees: how colony collapse disorder has endangered our food supply by Michael Schacker.

From Flower to Honey by Robin Nelson. Great kid’s book!

Orchids @ your library!

For over a year now, we have all be enjoying flowering orchids next to the reference desk on the second floor. A patron and good friend to the library has been bringing them in when they are in bloom and taking good care of them. Modest man that he is, he always says it’s easy to get them to bloom, but we are not so sure about that. We are very grateful to him and know that many other patrons of the library have enjoyed them as well.

Currently, we have two orchids blooming, a giant purple orchid (a Cattleya) and a lovely white Bucket orchid or Coryanthes (similar to the one in the picture above). The both have a lovely smell (although their fragrance is different from each other. Bucket orchids have an amazing relationship with orchid bees that involves perfume, sex and glue (from more information visit this site).

Next time you are in the library, make sure you stop by the reference desk and check out the orchids!

Library Orchids resources:

The New Encyclopedia of Orchids by Isobyl la Croix.

All About Orchids by Elvin McDonald.

The Cloud Garden: a true story of adventure, survival and extreme horticulture by Tom Hart Dyke and Paul Winder.

~Diane

Killer Foam!

(image from Harmful Algal Bloom Programme of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO)

How’s this for a scary story? A mysterious killer foam ravages the coasts of Oregon and Washington, killing thousands of seabirds. Actually, the foam is not so mysterious; it is  a single-cell phytoplankton, or algae. Toxic algae blooms- when the algae reproduces like made and as a by-product produces a detergent-like substance that strips water birds of their waterproofing oils- have occurred in many parts of the world, but not, until last week, in the Pacific Northwest.   So the big question is why did it occur? Was it a freak event or something that will occur again? Are the waters off the Pacific Northwest warming and what will that mean for the future? Anyone who likes to eat shellfish will be effected as the shellfish eat the algae and the toxins are concentrated in them.

Some scary stories are fun because we can relish the scare without the consequences. Not this one.

Further information:

Oregonian article  Killer Foam:was it a freak event or a warning?

Oregonlive article

~Diane

 

NOAA’s National Ocean Service: Harmful Algal Blooms

Walter Cronkite 1916- 2009

When I heard the news of the death of Walter Cronkite this past Friday, I instantly heard his voice in my mind. His rich, deep voice has been one of the most recognized voice of American broadcast journalism. As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “”From the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, to the war in Vietnam, to the landing on the moon 40 years ago next week, Walter Cronkite delivered the news and provided trusted commentary on the events that shaped our history.”

A Reporter’s Life by Walter Cronkite.

We Interrupt this Broadcast: the events that stopped our lives by Joe Garner with a forward by Walter Cronkite.

Links:

Walter Cronkite announces the assassination of President Kennedy.

Walter Cronkite announces the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Walter Cronkite on Larry King in 2001.

New York Times obituary.

~Diane

Alien Daze

It all started 59 years ago when Evelyn Trent went outside to feed her rabbits. When she saw something unusual in the sky- round and metallic- she yelled for her husband. Paul Trent came armed with a camera and took the now famous picture (above). For more about the Trents and their famous photo see these articles.

As I write this downtown McMinnville is hosting the UFO Festival, complete with speakers, parade, and alien pet costume contest. It’s a fun event and a on a beautiful day!If your interest in aliens and UFOs runs deeper than just green skin deep, here are some library items that will be of interest:

Shoot Them Down! The flying saucer wars of 1952 by Frank C. Feschino Jr.

Unsolved Extraterrestrial Mysteries by David Southwell and Sean Twist.

Confirmation: the hard evidence of aliens among us by Whitley Strieber.

~Diane

Celebrating Oregon’s 150th Birthday

Celebrate Oregon’s 150th Birthday

with the

Sheridan Japanese School Taiko Drummers

(and cake!)

Sunday, February 15

2 – 4 p.m.

McMinnville Public Library

Carnegie Room

*free*

Other celebrations:

Oregon 150

The Oregonian’s Oregon @ 150

Statesman Journal’s 10 Ways to Celebrate Oregon’s 150th Birthday