Saturday, October 31, 2015

MPL Recipe Box Book Group

Do you love cookbooks? Have you ever checked out a cookbook and then didn’t
have the time (or bravery) to try more than one recipe? If so, we have the book
group for you. MPL Recipe Box is a book discussion group that allows you to
sample your way through a cookbook.

For MPL Recipe Box, a few cookbooks will be set aside for participants to choose
one recipe from that they will prepare for the discussion. All recipes for the
discussion come from the chosen cookbooks. When you register, a librarian will
make a copy of the recipe you choose. We will sample the recipes while we
discuss ingredients, substitutions, helpful hints, and the big question: would you
make it again?

You don’t have to be a gourmet chef to participate. All skill levels are
welcome. Attendees must register and bring a prepared recipe. Register every
month because space is limited. Selected cookbooks, theme, and registration are
at the Help Desk on the first floor. Our next meeting is November 4 at 7 p.m.
and the theme is pie.

Stress Less This Holiday Season

Find the joy in the holidays this year. Marshall Public Library’s ongoing health
series You and Your Health @ Your Library presents the program “Stress Less
This Holiday Season.”

November and December are full of joyful celebrations that often feel instead
like weeks of stressful obligations. Overwhelming demands can interfere with
our enjoyment of family and friends. Join us for ways to deal with financial,
physical, emotional, and mental stress and turn this time of year into a season of
cheer.

If you would like helpful strategies to deal with the pressures of the holidays,
join Marisa Rapp, M.A., doctoral student, and Melisa DeMeyer, M.S., doctoral
student, from the ISU Department of Counseling at the library on Monday,
November 16, at 6:30 p.m. You will also have a chance to ask questions and
possibly win a Pampered Chef door prize!

This program is free and open to all members of the public. For more
information, please call Andrea at 232-1263 ext. 113 or RSVP on our Facebook
page at https://www.facebook.com/marshallpl.

Food for Fines

We will accept food for fines for the full month of November this year!
Bring canned goods to the Circulation desk. Don't forget to bring your library
card! 1 can = $1 in overdue fines waived.

  • No outside drop-offs please
  • No repackaged, perishable, or expired food

Food for Fines does NOT include replacement fees for lost or damaged
materials, collection agency fees, card replacement fees, or future overdue fines.
If you have replacement fees for lost or damaged materials, please ask about
setting up a payment plan at the Circulation desk.

This is Not Your Mother’s Old English

Old English? You mean, like Shakespeare and the King James Bible? WRONG!
Old English is actually much more similar to what we speak today than Middle
English. Surprised? Come to Marshall Public Library to uncover more
surprises!

ISU Ph.D. candidate Jacob L. Thomas will share his passion for the history of
the English language and medieval English history on Thursday, November 5,
from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Reading and understanding Old and Middle English
earned Thomas a grant to visit England in May, and he is eager to take you on a
merry tour of the fascinating and complex history of the language we speak
today.

This program is free and open to all members of the public as part of Marshall
Public Library’s ongoing literary series. For more information or if you are
interested in facilitating a discussion, please call Amy Campbell at 232-1263
ext. 106.

The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived

King Midas, Rosie the Riveter, Tarzan, Barbie, Dracula, and Prince Charming
all have one thing in common: they never lived. While these fictional characters
never took flesh and blood form, they firmly exist in our popular awareness.

These characters are in some ways more real to us than factual figures from
history, and they came into being for a variety of purposes. Some, like King
Midas and Captain Ahab, teach moral lessons and serve as warnings, while
other characters like Tarzan and Prince Charming bring more adventure and
fun than morals into our lives.

Join Dan Karlan, the co-author of The 101 Most Influential People Who Never
Lived, on Tuesday, November 10, from 6:30-7:30 at Marshall Public Library for
a fun romp through history’s greatest fictional characters. If you would like
more information or if you are interested in facilitating a discussion, please call
Amy Campbell at 232-1263 ext. 106.

Shortened Hours in December

The library will have shortened hours throughout December and will be open
10 a.m.-6 p.m Monday through Saturday. The shortened hours will allow
library staff to complete projects and attend trainings. The library will also be
closed December 24 and 25 and January 1.

We will resume our regular hours of 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday
and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday on Saturday, January 2, 2016.

The Ring and the Wardrobe

J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis wrote two of the greatest Fantasy series of all
time. Beyond Middle Earth and Narnia, the two British men were also great
friends.

On Monday, November 16, ISU Ph.D. student Valah Steffen-Wittwer will
discuss their friendship and how their imaginary worlds helped create the
genre of Fantasy literature. Both series have been criticized for being escapist
literature, since they are not "real." Steffen-Wittwer will discuss how, by being
Fantasy, these books are allowed to deal with more "real" black-and-white
challenges and large questions of the human condition than realist
stories where things are so often colored in shades of gray.

This program is part of the library’s literary series and is free and open to all
members of the public. If you would like more information or if you are
interested in facilitating a discussion, please call Amy Campbell at 232-1263
ext. 106.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Local Published Poet Offers Writing Workshop

Bethany Schultz Hurst will host a writing workshop on Tuesday, October 6, from 6:30-8 p.m.

Hurst is the author of Miss Lost Nation, which won the Robert Dana-Anhinga Prize for Poetry in 2013. Her work has been included in Best American Poetry 2015 and in journals such as American Literary Review, Gettysburg Review, and New Ohio Review. She is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Idaho State University.

Hurst will offer a free  poetry workshop, "Poetry: The Strange and Familiar," which will discuss different craft techniques designed to create and amplify movement in poem drafts. We'll discuss a few contemporary poem examples and conclude the session with a related writing exercise.

Laura Ingalls Wilder: Going West

On Wednesday, October 21, at 7 p.m., the library will host guest speaker Dr. Laura Worthington for a presentation on Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Dr. Janet Worthington has been presenting women and girls from history and literature for over 30 years. In period costume, she speaks as the noted woman and dramatically recounts her life experiences. She then answers questions both as the historic or literary figure and as herself.

In her beloved series of books for young people, Laura Ingalls Wilder portrayed pioneer life as an idyllic adventure, filled with warmth and love. As Laura, Janet Worthington recounts the westward movement and Pa’s consistent desire to find new lands, the hardships the family faced in each new location, and the joys of making a life in the wilderness.

More information on this and other free library events may be found on the Marshall Public Library Facebook page.

ISU Instructor Presents The Foolish Folkhero

Fairy tales and folk tales are more than simple entertaining children’s stories. According to ISU Ph.D. candidate Jeff Howard, they are also rich cultural artifacts and reflections of the culture in which they are found.

On Thursday, October 22, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Pocatello’s Marshall Public Library, Howard will share his program “The Foolish Folkhero.” Partially an introduction to folk and fairy tales in general, Howard will also provide background on fairy tale collections compiled or written by several well-known folklorists, including the Grimm Brothers.

Howard will also discuss a character important to Italian folktales, Giufa, known as the simpleton or trickster-hero. Howard became interested in Italian folktales and Giufa after living in southern Italy and among the Italian people. Often appearing in tales alongside his mother, Giufa and his exploits represent not just a light-hearted diversion but also a deeper response to the cultural hierarchy of Italy and a reflection of Italian history, including the fascinating but violent past of Sicily.

This program is free and open to all members of the public. For more information, please call Amy Campbell at 232-1263 ext. 106.

Music in the Library

On Saturday, October 31, from 1-2 p.m., Amy and Jeff Howard will perform folk, gospel, and bluegrass music at Pocatello’s Marshall Public Library.

Amy will play the mandolin and Jeff the guitar as they accompany their own voices to many songs, including  "Shenandoah," "Angel Band," "Wild Mountain Thyme," "The Lass of Aughrim," "Midnight Special," "Wagon Wheel," and tributes to Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie with "Worried Man Blues," "Hobo's Lullaby," "This Land Is Your Land," and "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?"

A classically trained musician, Amy will also play pieces on the flute. Jeff is primarily self-taught and has learned the guitar, banjo, and piano over the years. Their inspired music-making combines both instinctive and cultured approaches to create a unique musical joy that resonates with all who hear them perform.

Join us at Pocatello’s Marshall Public Library for this free hour of music.

Friends Celebrates 20 Years

The Friends of the Marshall Public Library celebrates 20 years of service and enrichment to our community!

This non-profit volunteer group believes in the importance of books and cultural activities for people of all ages. Its primary goal is to enrich the educational and financial resources of the Marshall Public Library through volunteer participation.

Since August 1995, they have conducted book sales, donated books to several local service organizations, purchased story hour decorations, two outside bookdrops, strollers for library patron usage, and provided matching grant money for a story hour book collection. Recent expenditures made possible by the Friends include the Toddler I-pads and workstations in the computer area, Maker-Space materials, summer reading program assistance, visiting author lectors, furniture for the patrons and many, many more extras.

Support the Friends of Marshall Public Library’s efforts by becoming “a Friend,” shopping at the on-going book sale by circulation, and joining us for our Fall Book Sale October 8th – 10th!

Kris Castro Retires

I cannot remember a time when I did not have library card or know how to find any book by its Dewey number.  Within days of moving to Pocatello, I found the library, and it didn’t take long to realize the Children’s Department could use help shelving books, so I became a volunteer in 1978. This began my many years of ‘living’ at the library. I graduated from ISU with a degree in Library Science, and soon became a full-time employee in the Reference Department.

While serving people from Pocatello and around the world, I also helped to move the entire library from Clark St. to this location, transitioned from card catalog drawers to computers, sent my first email, learned to use the Internet, and have seen the library grow from the traditional quiet repository of knowledge to the vibrant community it is today. I am honored to have been a part of this great institution!

 Kris Castro, Reference Supervisor

Kris retires after more than 30 years of service with our library. She has long been a
welcoming presence in the library, and patrons and staff will miss her. Thank you, Kris!