Now Available!

The U.S. Department of Energy's "Final Environmental Impact Statement" for the Mesaba Energy Project is now available at the library. This document provides information about the potential environmental impacts of the proposed Mesaba Energy Project, a coal-fired Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle electric power generating facility that would be located in the Taconite Tax Relief Area of northeastern Minnesota.

Black Rain by Graham Brown

Move over Indiana Jones, Danielle Laidlaw with a team of scientists and mercenaries are looking for Mayan artifacts, scientific discoveries and extraterrestrial life.

Out to prove to the director of NRI, the National Research Institute, that she can step up and handle an expedition on her own, Danielle heads off into the Amazon jungle to find a legendary Mayan civilization. On the paths previously charted first by Blackjack Martin and more recently missing and presumed dead Jack Dixon, also NRI, Danielle soon discovers that another rival expedition is searching for the same Mayan ruins and will kill anyone who stands in their way. Cross and double cross from the highest reaches in the NRI complicates the mission while Danielle’s mentor looks for the means to bring Danielle and her team back alive.

Nonstop action and battles between rival expeditions, jungle creatures and native tribes keeps the reader enthralled and on the edge of their seat until the final battle is resolved. According to the author’s note, we can look forward to a sequel to Black Rain. Publication of Black Rain will be February 2010.

The Amazing Charles

Based out of Hibbing, MN, Chuck Perry has been a magician, balloon sculptor, and musician since the 1970's. Audiences of all ages have been entertained by his skill and engaging personality.

He will be conducting a workshop on making balloon art at the library on Thursday, November 19th from 6:00 until 7:00 p.m.

Civilian Conservation Corps

Watch the WGBH American Experience film on the CCC and then visit the MN Discovery Center's Exhibit on the Civilian Conservation Corps at the edge of Heritage Park:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/ccc/

The CCC put three million young men to work in camps across America during the height of the Great Depression.

The Apple Tree

If you are looking for something to do this weekend the Hibbing High School Drama Club will be presenting "The Apple Tree" in the Historic Hibbing High School Auditorium.

Shows are November 13th and 14th at 7:00 p.m. and November 15th at 2:00 p.m.

Windows 7 Visual Quick Tips by Paul McFedries

If you are planning on switching to Windows 7, then this is the book for you. Learn how to configure Windows 7 to optimize start menu and taskbar, enhance your media experience, save time with jump lists, boost your security and privacy and get more out of your files and folders. This handy guide with screen shots for each step provides shortcuts, time saving tricks and tips that help you work smarter and more efficiently.

PolyMet and the Former LTV Steel Mining Facility

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will hold joint public meetings to take comments on the recently released environmental review of the proposed PolyMet copper mine near Hoyt Lakes.

The area meeting will be held on December 9th in Aurora in Memorial Gymnasium, Mesabi East Schools, 601 N. First St. W. It starts at 7 p.m. and will be preceded by an open house session starting at 5 p.m.

Public comments will be accepted concerning the report through February 3, 2010.

Copies are available at the Duluth, Minneapolis and Hoyt Lakes public libraries and at the DNR offices in St. Paul, Grand Rapids, and Hibbing. It is also available at:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/input/environmentalreview/polymet/draftindex.html

PolyMet Mining, Inc. (PolyMet) proposes to develop an open pit mine and to refurbish and modify the former LTV Steel Mining taconite ore processing facility to extract copper metal and precipitates of nickel, cobalt and precious metals near Babbitt and Hoyt Lakes.

NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Check out the Website: http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html and read about the Atlantis Mission to Station on November 16, watch videos on Station Crew chats with students and read the NASA Blog.

Forest: an exhibit by the Range Fiber Arts Guild

If you find yourself in Virginia, Check out the exhibit this Saturday:

FOREST: works by the members of the Range Fiber Arts Guild Nov. 7 - Dec. 5, 2009
http://www.lyriccenterforthearts.blogspot.com/

Opening Reception and Demos, Saturday, November 7th, 1 - 3pm
The First Stage Gallery
514 Chestnut St., Virginia
Gallery Hours: Thurs. - Sat. 11am. 3pm

Help Create a Special Children's Space at MDC

MDC wants to create a space just for kids in the museum. They are looking for thoughts and ideas on the best way to create the area.

Attend the open forum on Thursday, November 12th, at the Center from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Remember there is no admission fee charged on Thursdays after 5:00 p.m. Child care will also be provided during this open forum. If you have ideas but cannot attend, contact Dr. Melissa Stewart at 218-254-1226.

Listen up!

Are those long car rides to visit family over Thanksgiving coming up? Well, the library can help make them go faster! Stop by the kid's room and check out the HUGE collection of audio books, just right for playing in your CD or cassette player.

Some recommendations:
The Stoneheart series by Charlie Fletcher (read by Jim Dale, famous for Harry Potter)
Looking Glass Wars series by Frank Beddor
The Ramona books by Beverly Cleary
A Dog's Life by Ann Martin

Enjoy your trip!

Scare Yourself with these movies for Halloween

Go to the Fearful Films Website and check out movies in the following categories: Ghosts, vampires, zombies, werewolves, and Halloween favorites:
http://www.fearfulfilms.com/

New Database: CAMIO

Camio is offered through Arrowhead Library System: http://www.arrowhead.lib.mn.us/services/magazines/library/
And will soon be offered through the Hibbing Public Library's databases.
CAMIO® — OCLC's Catalog of Art Museum Images Online — is a growing online collection documenting works of art from around the world, representing the collections of prominent museums. CAMIO highlights the creative output of cultures around the world, from prehistoric to contemporary times, and covering the complete range of expressive forms.
The Walker Art Center and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts participate in this fine online collection.

Halloween and more

Check out the Blog by Janet Rudolph. She has put together a list of Halloween mysteries and Halloween nonfiction. Check out the entries on Creepy Places to Visit and Halloween Haunts and Tombstone Tours:
http://mysteryreadersinc.blogspot.com/

Picture courtesy of LifeHacker:

http://lifehacker.com/5387835/wallpaper-roundup-all-hallows-eve-and-spooky-scenes/gallery/1

From the Shmoop Website

Trick-or-Treating Shmoop Style
This Halloween, scare up some fun with these US history and lit-inspired costumes
Ten US History-Inspired Halloween Costumes

1. Put on a three-corner hat and cape, pull a cardboard boat around your waist, and pose as George Washington crossing the Delaware during the American Revolution.
2. Dress up as Benjamin Franklin with a kite and singed hair. Be careful around the French maids.
3. Pretend to hitchhike as Christopher Columbus with a sign that says "India or bust."
4. Dress up like Abe Lincoln - with two tickets in his breast pocket.
5. Test people's knowledge of US history trivia by putting on a turn-of-the-century suit, carrying some bags of fake money, and painting your nose purple. Yes, JP Morgan really did have a purple nose.
6. Try a scandalous costume for a trio: Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, and John F. Kennedy.
7. Wear a suit and a Richard Nixon mask. Carry a hollowed-out pumpkin filled with film. You're reenacting the "Pumpkin Papers," a famous Cold War incident in which future President Richard Nixon took down Soviet spy Alger Hiss.
8. Dress up as Betsy Ross with a half-finished American flag. Include a rainbow flag, a pirate flag, and yellow smiley face among your book of samples.
9. Sport your finest 1920s-style outfit, a plastic Tommy gun, a cigar, and your best Al Capone accent. Rave about the merits of the 18th Amendment and Prohibition.
10. Roll up your sleeves and get ready to flex those guns. Rosie the Riveter is one of the best "girl power" costumes in history. (World War II: Home Front)
Ten Literature & Poetry-Inspired Halloween Costumes

1. Bust out the Photoshop to make an "oil painting" of yourself aged about 50 years. Frame it, put on your best Victorian-style outfit, and trick-or-treat as Dorian Gray. (The Picture of Dorian Gray)
2. Go on a hunt after your friend who is dressed as a white whale with bloodshot eyes. Chase the whale around the streets with a toy harpoon in hand. Rant and rave to strangers about catching the whale. (Moby-Dick)
3. Dress up like a grizzled old sailor, rave unintelligibly, and hang a fake albatross around your neck à la "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner."
4. Put on a collared shirt, a tie, a long coat, and a red hunting hat. Carry a record under your arm and collect candy as Holden Caulfield. (The Catcher in the Rye)
5. See who gets the Scout Finch reference when you walk around barefoot with a banged-up ham costume and knife slash through the back. (To Kill a Mockingbird)
6. Put on a straw hat and some ratty old clothes, pull a cardboard canoe around your waist, and try your luck as Huckleberry Finn. Don't be afeared to use *some* Antebellum Missouri slang. (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)
7. Pay your dues to George Orwell by dressing up like a pig brandishing a liquor bottle and insisting that "two legs are better than four." (Animal Farm)
8. Put on a long, plain dress and plaster a scarlet "A" to the front. Get your friend to dress like a priest. (The Scarlet Letter)
9. Dress up like Lady Macbeth and try to scrub imagined bloodstains off your hands. Rinse, repeat. (Macbeth)
10. For a truly terrifying Halloween costume, give your kid brother face paint, some tattered rags, a conch shell, and a (fake) pig head on a steak. Don't let him see that you've got glasses. (The Lord of the Flies)

Halloween at the Library

This week at the library includes preschool story time on Tuesday and Toddle Time on Thursday at 10:00 am. Come dressed in your Halloween costumes! There will also be treats!

Bring your pumpkin in on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Carve a great design and win a prize!

American Museum of Natural History: Science

The American Museum of Natural History was established in 1869. Over this period of spectacular scientific achievement, the Museum has played a leading role in exploration, discovery, and theoretical advances in the natural sciences. Central to these efforts has been the accumulation of one of the world's great Museum collections. The collections and research assets are cultivated by continued exploration-over 100 expeditions and field projects annually. A critical resource for the scientific effort is the Museum's Library. With over 400,000 volumes, it is one of the great natural history libraries in the world.

Watch the Video about the Scientific Expeditions in 2008
http://www.amnh.org/science/?src=toolbar

In a new video, Dr. Michael J. Novacek, Senior Vice-President and Provost of Science, highlights expeditions led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History in 2008 and read about the latest news about Archaeopteryx, and the new Horned Tyrannosaur.

From this week’s Scout Report and the American Museum of Natural History.

Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Death and Dementia

4 short stories by Edgar Allen Poe, illustrated by Gris Grimly just in time for Halloween: The Tell-Tale Heart, The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether, The Oblong Box and The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar.
Check out the many new books in our Young Adult collection in the reference room including Edgar Allan Poe’s newest edition.

New in the Kid's Room

Flawed Dogs by Berkeley Breathed

Sam the Lion is actually a priceless dachshund, bred to be a show dog. More important, he is Heidy's best friend—and she needs one like never before. Living with her reclusive uncle is hard, but Sam has a way of making her feel soft and whole. Until the day Sam is framed by the jealous poodle Cassius, and is cast out by Heidy's uncle, alone on the wild streets, where he is roughed up by a world he was not bred for. Sporting a soup ladle for a leg, Sam befriends other abandoned dogs and journeys all the way to the Westminster Dog Show, where his plan for revenge on Cassius takes an unexpected turn when he and Heidy spot each other after years of being apart.

Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author Berkeley Breathed's first illustrated novel is a heartwarming and humorous ode to the unconditional and lasting love we and our pets share.

"A moving tale about the beauty of imperfections and the capacity for love." --Publishers Weekly

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Starting at 6:00pm in the Library Auditorium

Bring your own pumpkin and show us your best design! Pumpkins must be carved at the library, but you may bring whatever you need for your unique creation. Prizes will be awarded for several categories.

Halloween comes early at the library

The Minnesota Paranormal Studies Group made a presentation on October 13, 2009, as part of the Teen Read Week Theme, "Read Beyond Reality." It was spooky, funny and very informative. For those who missed it, follow this link to their website and article about their time at the library.

Thanks to Adam and his crew for coming on short notice, especially at this, their busiest time of the year.

Halloween Tips from the Federal Citizen Information Center

Just because Halloween celebrates scary things doesn’t mean you want any safety scares of your own. With a little bit of planning and these five tips from the Federal Citizen Information Center, you can ensure your ghouls and goblins have a frightfully fun time this year.

1. Look up your local trick-or-treating time and rules. (See if yours is listed on the USA.gov Halloween page: http://go.usa.gov/l3m). Then plot out a map of safe neighborhoods for trick-or-treating. Let older children take the map with them if they’re trick-or-treating on their own.

2. Stick reflective tape on dark costumes—it will help drivers see you. And make sure your kids can see clearly. Face paint may work better than a mask when it comes to visibility. Read about applying face paint safely in the Federal Citizen Information Center’s FED-INFO Newsletter (http://go.usa.gov/l3p).

3. Pick a perfect pumpkin for carving. It should be sturdy, not soft, with a flat bottom so it doesn’t topple over. If you’re worried about carving accidents, encourage your kids to paint creative faces on their pumpkins instead.

4. Consider using a glow stick or battery-powered lights instead of candles to light the way for trick-or-treating or in jack-o-lanterns, especially around little kids who could get burned or drapery that could catch fire.

5. Screen candy before your kids eat it. Toss out anything with opened or damaged wrappers and homemade treats, unless you know the giver personally.

For more tips on having a safe, healthy and fun Halloween, visit USA.gov’s Halloween page (http://go.usa.gov/l3m) or check out the tips from our GovGab bloggers (http://go.usa.gov/l3y) on how to make the most of this spooky day.

New Website Launched

The Minnesota Writers Hall of Fame site was just recently launched. The following information is given about the new web site: "With support from the Minnesota Historical Society's Sesquicentennial Commission, the Minnesota Writer's Hall of Fame was established to recognize Minnesota writers, both past and present, whose work distills the essence of our state — the people, the land, and the spirit of Minnesota. Frequently considered one of the most literate states in the country, our heritage of writers is vast and strongly influences the great work being created today. The Minnesota Writer's Hall of Fame serves as a place to pay homage to those who have shaped our past and laid the groundwork for our literary future.

In addition to honoring the authors who have shaped our state's legacy, the Minnesota Writer's Hall of Fame will focus attention on the Minnesota Book Awards program as a major proponent of the state's literature and literary creators. The site will encourage interaction and participation among readers, writers, librarians, teachers and all who have an interest in literature and letters."

If you have an interest in Minnesota authors than you will want to check it out.

Check Out the Minnesota Discovery Center on Saturday

Minnesota Public Radio Morning Show host Cathy Wurzer will discuss her book, "Tales of the Road: Highway 61," at Minnesota Discovery Center on Saturday, October 24, at 2 p.m. "Tales of the Road" follows her adventures as she traveled the 400-mile roadway from LaCrescent to Pigeon Falls. A book-signing will follow. General admission applies.
Wurzer's appearance coincides with the Discovery Center's Octoberfest and beer-sampling, happening the same day. Call 800-372-6437 for details.