The word that would best describe this column is farraginous. It is great to read something that flows as smoothly as the brown waterfall of enticing sweetness that cascades from a chocolate fountain. I’d say this column will be more like a popcorn machine: mixed up, jumbled together, and randomly chaotic.
We have been talking about our remodeling project here at Lincoln Library for a long time. Covid-19 was detrimental to everybody and everything, including the process that had to be completed before we could actually begin bringing the development of our ideas to fruition. Phase 1 of our remodeling and expansion adventure has begun. Our goal is to have Phase 1 completed by the 30th of June.
Anytime you have a remodeling project going on, there is going to be a bit of mess and inconvenience. Some days it may be a challenge to be open, but as long as there is an active use of patience on both sides of the counter, we will do just fine! If you would rather avoid our quite noisy atmosphere, just call ahead with what you want and we’ll meet you at the door with your books!
In preparation for Phase 1, we have had to clean out every storage area we have and move most everything next door. Although things are a little less easy now, we are going to be watching a whole lot of wonderful take shape right before our eyes, and we are excited!
Now just to take the challenge up a notch, we will be having our Summer Reading Program sign-up beginning June 14th, so there might be just a bit of overlap. We will be holding the sign-up at our annex to the north, the former Mason building. Our book sale, also in our annex, will be going on at the same time as the sign-up. If you are wanting to add to your personal library, this will be a most opportune time to do just that!
Our Summer Reading Program will actually begin on June 21st. Although programming will take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, there will always be a variety of other things to do. Early on in our program, on June 24th, Dan, Dan, the Magic Man will be in Medicine Lodge at the Christian Church at 10:00 AM.
When we start gearing up for the Summer Reading Program, I start seeking donations. This is the largest library sponsored program for the entire year and it takes quite a bit of extra everything. Last year we changed things up and it was a good time. This year we are keeping a lot of those changes, but, we are going bigger and better.
So just to simplify the process, we are generous with entry blanks that can be entered into the prize or prizes of your choice. It worked well last year. The people who put in the effort and spent hours and hours of reading during the program, playing the games, and visiting the library frequently, came out of our last programming pretty happy! We had lots of good prizes and readers worked hard for them. You say that is bribing people to read, maybe, but it certainly worked and it was a great time for all ages.
We appreciate donations of individual packaged snacks and drinks; the little bags of chips are a favorite. We’d love donations of craft supplies, prizes, and, of course, money is good!!
Speaking of donations, we have been blessed with a bunch of books and movies recently! (Thank you, Dollar General, Linda, Tom, and Jerry!) We had a patron who walked through the door with a bunch of drink pouches; we so appreciate them, Cathy.
Now, do you see why I described this column as farraginous? Farraginous is a word that runs around in the back of my brain that I like and will use in writing, but not in conversation. It is with all of the rest of the words that I know how to spell, know what they mean, but hate to speak them because of the fear of them coming out of my mouth sounding weird and wrong. Some synonyms of farraginous are mixture, motley, confused, mixed, random, jumbled, haphazard, mottled, and assorted. Farraginous just seems like a good word to sum up this column and the past week in general. Here’s to this week being more like a chocolate fountain and less like a popcorn machine!
First off, I want to apologize to everyone who comes into the library for any reason. We have started the process of preparing for the contractors who will be completing Phase 1 of the expansion project. This means that there are a lot of books and objects that have been, and more that are going to be, shuffled to another area in the library.