Talk to the Frackville Library

      In preparation for the Frackville Pumpkin Festival on October 2, the library is again launching it's contest for artists, The Art of the Pumpkin. Artists can purchase a wooden pumpkin blank from the library for $10.00($5.00 for high school students and adults age 65 and up). The pumpkin blank can be decorated in any medium-paint, fabric, paper, anything you like.  Pumpkins will be on display around town the week before the festival. One the day of the festival, they will be judged and prizes awarded. Call the library at 874-3382 for more details or use our contact page at www.frackvillelibrary.com. The festival is being organized by the Frackville Business and Professional Association.

     On Saturday, August 21, 2010, Frackville's Goodwill and Friendship Fire Companies will be hosting the Schuylkill County Firefighter's Convention. I'm sure many of you will remember this event from years past, and it is always an exciting time for the town. Here at the library we are planning to be involved in helping to make it fun for our patrons and other residents. If you are a library  fan and would like to join our Frackville Free Public Library Supporters Group to march in the parade, please contact Elaine at the library. The route is approximately 2 miles long, and there is some uphill. It begins at 1PM, and will probably move relatively slowly. For more information call 874-3382 or use our contact page at www.frackvillelibrary.com.

     We now have copies of Frackville 1939, a DVD  of a film made in 1939 by the Frackville Rotary . These DVD's are available for sale at a price of $15.00. All proceeds go to the library's general fund. You'll love going back in time, and you might even recognize someone in your family. The film documents businesses, churches, schools, and  locations of interest.  This is a great collectible narrated by local historian Lorraine Stanton, and would make a wonderful gift for your favorite local history enthusiast. Stop at the library and have a look-we'll be showing the film on TV. Call 874-3382 for information or use our contact page.

    There is still plenty to do at the library this summer! Wii gaming for adults continues to be offered Mondays and Wednesdays. The Summer Reading Program features two events monthly, one for children 3-5 years old and one for children 6-9 years old. If you are interested in chess and knitting, give us a call. These programs are off for the summer, but we'll be ready to regroup and continue in the fall. Also in September we have plans for a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan seminar and a Composting Workshop sponsored by Penn State Master Gardeners. Check our calendar page on the website for specific dates and times or call the library at 874-3382. 

     The library recently received two grants for materials, and the Board of Trustees and staff would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge them. The Schuylkill Area Community Foundation awarded the library a grant of $250 to purchase non-fiction books for adults in the categories of biography and contemporary history. These books include titles such as Googled by  Ken Auletta,  Roger Lowenstein's The End of Wall Street, and War, a chronicle of Afghanistan by Sebastian Junger. Biographies of Laura Bush, Carol Burnett, and Sean Connery have also been added to the collection. We also received an award of $600 from the Snayberger Memorial Foundation to be used for materials specifically for school-age children. These future purchases will include picture books, easy readers, and more complex fiction for young teens. Visit the library and see some of these new acquisitions! 

     The Black Cat by Martha Grimes. Back in the 80's a friend of mine recommended a new series of mysteries featuring an English police inspector, Richard Jury, and a sort of Dr. Watson-like friend, an English lord who had decided to put aside his title in favor of being just plain Mr. Melrose  Plant. These characters had been created by an American author, Martha Grimes, and she named each novel for a pub, that typical English bar where everyone knows everyone else. Since the first of the series, The Man With a Load of Mischief, Grimes has created 22 pub-related mysteries featuring Inspector Jury, and although she has tried a few other formats, this remains her most popular. In The Black Cat, Richard  is called to the London suburbs to assist in solving the murder of a fashionably dressed young woman who turns out to be the local librarian! Grimes has a great affection for both animals and children, and they are almost always present in the books in some degree. If you are already a Richard Jury fan, you certainly will want to check out his latest  case. If you're not familiar with the series, try the earlier books first-they actually have much more believable plots as far as the mysteries themselves are concerned.