Greetings from the Great Bend Public Library! We have a very exciting event happening. Saturday at the library we will be having a concert with author and musician Dino O’Dell! Mr. O’Dell will be here to read this year’s Kansas Reads to Preschoolers book selection, “Grumpy Bird,” as well as perform some songs for everyone. There will also be a craft and some yummy snacks too! The event will start at 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning and like all library events is free and open to the public. Then next week don’t miss our Early Literacy Storytimes for even more fun Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. and Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Also happening Saturday for our older patrons is our Adult Craft starting at 11 a.m.; this time we will be making homemade greeting cards, just in time for the holiday season. Come learn how to make your own greeting cards so this year you can add that special personal touch to your holiday greetings.
We have another special guest this week coming on Thursday the 18th. Lynda Beck Fenwick, author of Kansas Notable book “Prairie Bachelor: The Story of a Kansas Homesteader and the Populist Movement,” will be here to talk about her book and the research she did in writing it. Her presentation will begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday the 18th. For those who would like to meet Lynda, hear more about her book and learn about Kansas history or the Populist Movement, be sure to mark your calendars for this very special event.
Tuesday at 7 p.m. is our November Open Book Club meeting. This month we are reading “The Night Watchmen” by Louise Erdrich. The book is about “Thomas Wazhashk, the night watchman at the jewel bearing plant, the first factory located near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota. He is also a Chippewa Council member who is trying to understand the consequences of a new ‘emancipation’ bill on its way to the floor of the United States Congress. It is 1953 and he and the other council members know the bill isn’t about freedom; Congress is fed up with Indians. The bill is a ‘termination’ that threatens the rights of Native Americans to their land and their very identity. How can the government abandon treaties made in good faith with Native Americans?” If you would like to pick up a copy before book club next week, they are available at the front desk.
Lastly, remember now through Nov. 30th you can give to the Great Bend Public Library through the Golden Belt Community Foundation. Giving Tuesday itself is on Nov. 30th but all month-long donations can be made leading up to the big day. Donations help us continue to get exciting performers like Dino O’Dell or authors like Lynda Beck Fenwick and do programs like Kansas Reads to Preschoolers, where we visit around 25 preschools and daycares gifting books to every child to help instill a love of reading. Donations also help us continue to buy materials that everyone can enjoy. This year our goal is to raise $1,500 to help fund and bring exciting programs to our community all year round. If you would like to help us reach our goal, donations can be made online at GoldenBeltGives.org/GreatBendPublicLibrary or by picking up a giving form at the library front desk.
For our other events visit our Facebook and our website, greatbendpl.info. You can also message us on Facebook, email us at gbcirc@gmail.com, or give us a call at 620-792-2409 for any questions about our programming or services.
By Hannah Grippin, Outreach Manager at the Great Bend Public Library.
