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Off the Shelf: NaNoWriMo

November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. This year, the library is an official Come Write In location for hopeful or established authors to have space and a quiet atmosphere to work on their manuscript. NaNoWriMo began in 1999 with just 21 people in the San Francisco Bay area. In 2019, there were almost half a million people who participated! The goal is to start writing on November 1st and finish 50,000 words of a novel by the end of November 30th. It could be your entire book or just a big portion to start, but that’s an average of 1,667 words a day. A number ...

Family Living Focus: Crime and Older People

Older people and their families worry about crime. Though older people are less likely to be victims of crime than teenagers and young adults, the number of crimes against older people is hard to ignore. It is often highly publicized. Each year, over two million older people are victims of crime. Older people are often targets for robbery, purse snatching, pocket picking, car theft, or home repair scams. They are more likely than younger people to face attackers who are strangers. During a crime, an older person is more likely to be seriously hurt than someone who is younger. Even ...

Family Living Focus: Fight fraud that targets the elderly

Older people may be victims of fraud, such as con games, insurance scams, home repair scams, and /or telephone and internet scams. Even trusted friends or family members can steal an older person’s money or property. Trust what you feel. The following tips may help: Be smart with your money. • Don’t be afraid to hang up the phone on telephone salespeople. Remember, you can always say no to any offer. You aren’t being impolite – you are taking care of yourself! • Don’t give any personal information, including your credit card number or bank account, over the ...

Antiques & Collecting: Folk artists used materials, tools at hand

Artists don’t spend all their time making large oil paintings, huge statues or even sketches and doodles that help them create a new and different style. Many worked for years before they found the special, individual look that pictured the world in a unique way. But a different group of artists made folk art carvings, squashed pottery vases and sewer tile statues with the free materials found nearby. The most ambitious made strange towers of bottles and scrap wood or carved fancy trim for a ceiling from local trees. Collectors and museums started to recognize folk art as another way ...

Off the Shelf: Leaving with fond memories

As I finish my final weeks at New Ulm Public Library, I have been reflecting on three years in the community. It’s a wonder how fast time has passed. It feels like just yesterday that I was meeting and getting to know the Library Board, and Library and City staff and our regular patrons. One of the things I love about the public library is that it’s a community space where people meet to discover the world, have fun, learn, and develop relationships. The library is a magical place and if there’s one thing that we’ve all learned over the last two years it’s that the library is ...

Public Health Corner: Mental well-being check-in

Many of us have gone through a difficult time adjusting to the changes that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought us and it has certainly taken its toll on our mental, emotional, social, and even physical health. As we move forward into the busy holiday season, which often times brings stress to the forefront, it is important that we remember to take care of ourselves, not only in our body but in our mind as well. Several techniques can help combat the stress and anxiety that are brought on by factors in our every-day life. Taking just a few moments each day for a mental health check-in can ...