Thursday, February 26, 2015

Bellon Visiting Author

With great pleasure, the Bellon Visiting Author Series announces Janet Wong, guest artist for 2015.  She is an author and poet of many wonderful books. And happily she will be in Pocatello March 9-11!

Wong didn't start out wanting to be an author, and in fact she says she actually hated poetry at first. But after several years as an attorney and Director of Labor Relations at Universal Studios, she felt she was becoming "a mean person" and was ready for a career change. She was visiting a small children's bookstore finding books for her nephew when she had the "ah hah" moment that she too might enjoy writing books for  children. She wanted a chance to do something meaningful that would help children. And the rest is history.

Wong and her work have been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show and on NPR's Car Talk. She is a sought after lecturer for education and library  conferences, and she was even invited to the  White House National Poetry celebration. Her cultural heritage is Korean, Chinese, and American, having grown up in Los Angeles. Her writing and poetry reflects her cultural background and is notable for its honesty, warmth, and humor.

Janet Wong will appear at the Marshall Public Library on Monday, March 9, from 4-5 p.m. On Tuesday, March 10, she will present at the ISU College of Education from 7-8 p.m. with a book signing at 6:15 pm. Lastly she will speak at the Portneuf District Library on Wednesday, March 11, at 4 p.m.

Please find time in your schedule to attend one of her free performances. It will be well worth the effort to meet and listen to this fascinating woman.

Becca Hyde, Early Childhood Librarian

March Teen Activities

Join us for these Ender’s Game-themed Teen Tech Week activities!
Tuesday, March 9, 4-5 p.m.
Thursday, March 12, 4-5 p.m.
Friday, March 13, After-hours movie Ender’s Game 6-8:30 p.m.

And don’t miss these Makerspace activities over spring break!
Monday, March 23, 1-5 p.m.
Tuesday, March 24,1-5 p.m.
Wednesday, March 25, 1-5 p.m.
Thursday, March 26 1-5 p.m.
Friday, March 27, 3-5 p.m.

Meet the Friends of Marshall Public Library

Friends of the Marshall Public Library volunteers have been helping the library since 1995, raising money for items not covered by the library’s budget. A small group of dedicated Friends puts on two booksales a year and organizes the year-round booksale area near the Circulation desk.

Membership is easy and inexpensive, and puts you on the list to help with book sales: setting up the sales, taking them down, and helping fellow library lovers in finding the right book for a great price! We are always looking for help, and you can help as little or as much as you want. Year-round activities include hosting author talks, sorting book donations, tidying up the book sale area, and serving on the Friends board.

Because we are a 501c-3 nonprofit, every penny we raise goes to help the library. Over the years we have helped the library move to its current location from the old building on Lewis Street, and have supported every summer reading program via books, prizes, and other items.

Most recently, the new infusion of furniture in the library was purchased with money raised by the Friends. We’ve helped with decorations in the building on both floors, and outside with gardens, statues, fences, and benches. Book drops were purchased to help busy patrons return items without leaving their cars, and strollers, carts, and other wheeled items assist patrons as well as staff. We’ve invited, promoted, and enjoyed visiting authors for many years.

The handicapped door was installed at the request of many, and new iPads for the kids were recently added to the Children’s area. Over the years, hundreds of books, tapes, CDs, and DVDs were added to the collection. A poster near the Circulation Desk shows many more benefits the Friends have provided to the library.

The next book sale will be April 16, 17, and 18. If you are interested in helping or becoming a member of the Friends of the Marshall Public Library, contact the Circulation Desk. Annual membership dues are as  little as $3 a year. For this you get the satisfaction of helping your library, and, as we look at it, helping to pay back for all the money we save: they buy the books and DVDs for us!

Experience a Human Library

Check out a Human Book at Marshall Public Library!

When you walk into the library, you are surrounded by stories housed in books. When you walk into a Human Library, you are surrounded by  stories held inside people.

Like books, we are often judged by our covers. Other people might see us as too old, too young, insignificant, boring, crazy, or threatening. When you check out a Human Book to listen to a chapter of his or her life, you will see that we each contain more than the eye can see, and people with the strangest or plainest covers often contain the most spectacular stories.

Come to the library on Tuesday, March 31, from 6-8 p.m. to listen to a few of these remarkable stories! For more information, please call Amy at 232-1263 ext. 106.