Friends of the Hibbing Public Library Membership Drive

The Hibbing Friends are currently conducting their annual membership drive. During the year this group hosts fundraising projects. The proceeds purchase equipment and materials for the library. The Friends also sponsor literary programs and events such as the reading programs for both adults and children and the annual Yuletide Festival.

The Friends group is instrumental in raising funds for building improvements. The air conditioning project was a huge undertaking but it is time to begin planning for future projects. Having reached 50 years old, the library building needs more attention. A new roof, flooring, energy efficient windows, and improved lighting are the next projects.

Anyone interested in joining the Friends organization can pick up an application form at the front desk of the library. Remember, good libraries need good friends.

Summer Reading Program Week of June 30th

Story time for preschoolers is on Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. Each program will include stories, songs, and the “Letter of the Week”. This week’s stories include “Fourth of July Mice” by Bethany Roberts, “The Dragon Snatcher” by M.P. Robertson, and “Five Little Monkeys” by Eileen Christelow.

Fair Fun Day will be at the St. Louis County Fairgrounds by Ironworld on Monday, June 30th from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. The Amazing Charles will be on hand along with a variety of live animals. You will also be able to play games with the area’s children’s librarians.

The children’s librarian will present a puppet show on Thursday, July 3rd. Catch the 45 minute program at either 10:00 a.m. or 1:30 p.m.

Internet Safety Month

Did you know that June is national Internet Safety month?

Read the congressional proclamation and learn some surprising statistics.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has great information for protecting our children and ourselves online. It also has a great section for kids to explore and learn about using the internet safely. Visit their website at: http://www.missingkids.com/.

Pre-Overdue Notices

Need a reminder a day or two before your library items are due? The email pre-overdue notice is for you. Next time you are in the library ask to have your borrower record updated to receive email notices. In addition to all the regular hold and overdue notices you will receive a courtesy notice reminding you when items are due.

Summer Reading Program for the week of June 23rd

Summer reading program prizes are now available. Bring your book logs to the front desk.

Story time for preschoolers is on Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. Each program will include stories, songs, and the “Letter of the Week”.

Casey Aro will be entertaining at the library on Thursday, June 26th at 11:00 a.m. His song and dance show will delight all ages.

Hugh Reynolds' Painting

Area artist, Hugh Reynolds, has a new painting on display at the library. It is a wintery evening picture of the Hibbing High School. Stop in to see it during the next two weeks.

Summer Reading Program

There is still time to sign up for the Summer Reading Program, “Look What’s Cookin’ @ Your Library”. Pick up a reading record, check out some books, and start reading for prizes.

At storytime this week the books read will be “Skippyjon Jones” by Judy Schachner, “The Day the Babies Crawled Away” by Peggy Rathman, and “Bear Feels Sick” by Karma Wilson.

The Underwater World Aquarium from the Mall of America will be presenting Underwater Adventures on Thursday, June 19th at 11:00 a.m. Learn about our friends who live in the water. This program is free but registration is required. Call the library or register at the front desk.

Week 2 - Summer Reading Program

The Summer Reading Program had a strong start last week with nearly 200 people signed up for the program!

Story time for preschoolers is on Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. Each program will include stories, songs, and the “Letter of the Week”.

Books this week will be “There’s a Nightmare in my Closet” by Mercer Mayer, “Bunny Cakes” by Rosemary Wells, and “Porcupining” by Lisa Wheeler.

Acclaimed picture book author, Debra Frasier will present “Picture Book Magic” on Wednesday, June 11th at 1:15 p.m. Come and find out how picture books are made and maybe win one signed by Ms. Frasier!

The Underwater World Aquarium from the Mall of America will be presenting Underwater Adventures on Thursday, June 19th at 11:00 a.m. Learn about our friends who live in the water. This program is free but registration is required. Call the library or register at the front desk.

"Highway Bob" Poster Donated to Library Collection

Carol Bertolotti has generously donated a poster of her painting, "Highway Bob" to the library. The poster will be included in one of the Dylan displays.

It has been posted with permission by the artist on the "Expecting Rain" website on The Bob Dylan Exhibition page. This section consists of art, drawings etc.by Dylan fans on the Net.

Summer Reading Program

Registration begins June 2, 2008!

The Hibbing Public Library has lined up an exciting eight week summer reading program. There will be prizes to earn for reading books, programs to attend and fun to be had.

We encourage you to sign up during the first week, but registration remains open through July 25th. The last day of the Summer Reading program is August 1st.

Pre-School Storytime will be held every Tuesday and Wenesday at 10:00 a.m.

The first program will be a Tie Dye Kick-Off
Thursday, June 5th at 1:00 p.m.

Bring a light colored shirt to tie dye your favorite summer colors! Library will provide supplies and instruction, you supply the shirt.

Did you tie dye a shirt last year? If you did, wear it to this years event for a colorful display of your work!

Bob Dylan Walking Tour

This tour takes you along a path that was once walked by Bob Dylan as he grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota.

The walk starts at the building that was Zimmerman Electric and ends at the Androy, the site of Bob’s Bar Mitzvah celebration.

Walking Tour Map
Podcast of Tour

Great Lakes Counties Report

The draft of "Selected Information on Chemical Releases Within Great Lakes Counties Containing Areas of Concern" is available for view at the library front desk. This document, dated April 30, 2008, was prepared by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

All comments concerning the evaluation of public health issues must be submitted in writing by June 30, 2008.

Stop in during normal hours to read the report and prepare comments.

Painters of the North Country

The 2nd Annual BOB DYLAN EXHIBIT by the Lake Superior Watercolor Society is now in the library auditorium until May 31st. It features framed watercolor and water-media paintings inspired by the life and lyrics of Bob Dylan. These paintings are for sale and a portion of the proceeds from sales will be donated to the Friends of the Hibbing Public Library.

A reception for participating artists and the public is scheduled for Thursday, May 22, from 1-4 PM in the library auditorium.

Stop by for a Dylan-inspired afternoon: Listen to Dylan's music as you view the LSWS exhibit of paintings, indulge in or resist Beatty Zimmerman’s chocolate chip banana bread. Enjoy spending time with friends, artists, and Dylan fans.

New Features - New Technology!

RSS Feeds - Allow you to read new entries on our blog without having to visit our blog. Using RSS feeds new entries are sent to you in your "reader" or into the Internet Explorer RSS options. For more information about how RSS works visit http://rssday.org/.

Another fun feature we have added is a listing of the Hibbing Public Library "Twitter" entries. Twitter is designed to allow people to make short entries about what they are doing at any given time. The Library is using it to talk about resources and events at the library.

Both of these options are available in the right hand column of this blog.

If you have questions or would like to learn more about either of these new tools send an email to Chris.

Smashing Good Time!

Congratulations to Summer Campbell, a 6th grader at Lincoln Elementary, who got to ride 65 feet up in the basket a toss out a TV filled with candy and toys. Hers was the winning essay in the "Why Books are Better than TV" contest in honor of TV Turn-Off Week. An estimated 60 kids and adults were on hand at the Hibbing Public Library to see the TV explode and run for goodies!

Did you turn your TV off this week? What did you do instead?

Painters of the North Country - 2nd Annual Bob Dylan Exhibit

The Hibbing Public Library will host the second annual exhibit of paintings by members of the Lake Superior Watercolor Society (LSWS).

The exhibit will feature more than 30 new, framed watercolor and water-media paintings inspired by the life and lyrics of Bob Dylan. The exhibit will coincide with Dylan Days. Opening on May 1 and running through June 5, 2008.

A reception for participating artists and the public is scheduled for Thursday, May 22, from 1-4 PM in the library auditorium. Stop by for a Dylan-inspired afternoon: Listen to Dylan's music, view the exhibit, indulge in Beatty Zimmerman’s chocolate chip banana bread and spend time with friends, artists, and Dylan fans.

Paintings will be for sale through the Friends of the Hibbing Public Library who will receive a commission on each painting sold. For more information email Louise Lundin or visit the Hibbing Public Library website.

Stop in and see the display during normal library hours. Did you see last year's display?

Magician Star at the Library

Magician Star was at the library on Wednesday, April 9th, promoting reading with magic.

TV Turn Off Week

TV Turn Off Week is an event that was started in 1994 by the Center for Screen Time Awareness, as a way to promote activities that involved anything but the television. This year the Hibbing Public Library supported by the other departments of the City of Hibbing are planning an event will let people know that there are things to do besides watching TV after school and work.

An essay contest will be held. All kids in grades 3-6 can write a one page essay on "Why Books are Better than TV." Essays must be turned in to the Hibbing Public Library by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 17th. Library staff will read the essays and pick the winner, who will be notified by phone and get to go up in a cherry picker and throw a TV at a target drawn on the street.

Library events on April 23rd will include:

• Closing 21st Ave. between 4th and 5th East will be closed to traffic from 3:30-5pm.
• Local groups are invited to set up a table or booth to promote their organization, especially if it gives kids and families the opportunity to get out and away from the TV. We are also encouraging groups to sell concessions to raise money for themselves and promote a picnic atmosphere.
• At 4:30, the winner of an essay contest will go up 10 feet in a cherry picker and toss a TV at a target drawn on the street. The TV will be filled with treats and small toys.
• At 5pm, family programs including puppet shows, games, crafts and other performances and demonstrations by other organizations will begin in the library and run till 8pm.

If you would like more information or to participate in this event, please email Chuck Bell or call 362-5959.

Online Book Clubs

So many books, so little time. For all those busy people, the Hibbing Public Library has a new service: an Online Book Club that delivers books electronically.

Each day, Monday through Friday, the library emails subscribers a portion of a book that takes about 5-minutes to read. They're able to read two or three chapters from a book during the week. If they like a book, they can check it out of the library. Each week the library features new books.

With 11 book clubs to choose from, there's something for everyone. Patrons can read Fiction, Non Fiction, Romance, Business, Good News, Horror, Teen, Mystery, Pre-Publication, and Science Fiction.

They can also listen to Audio Books in their email and there's even a Pre-Publication Club. You can start reading books in your email before they're even published.

The Book Forum is your chance to be the reviewer. What do you think about this week's book so far? Do you plan on finishing the book? Is it going to make your personal reading list? If you've already found out "who done it" or "did she get the guy," don't give away the ending. But do tell me what you think.

Sign up now.

Magician Star at the Library

Come to a free magic show on Wednesday April 9, 2008, 10:00 AM in the auditorium at the Hibbing Public Library .

Cotton native Magician Star will perform her high energy, audience participation show. Not only is it great fun, but it gets your kids fired up about reading!

This show will take the place of the regularly scheduled Story Time.

For more information email or call 218-362-5959.

Click on "comments" below to tell us about the last magician you saw.