We are grateful for the wonderful communities that we serve. You all have been so supportive over the past year with all of our efforts to adapt and serve as we were able. Thank you! As of June 1, we are back to our full normal hours. You can visit the library Monday through Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Our study and seating areas are back too, so if you want to beat the heat, work on a project, or have a quiet place to work or study, we’re happy to have you in the library again. Not only that, but the regular programming we offer is going again or planned to start up along with a lot of other great opportunities. Here’s a quick look.

Our three in-house book clubs are meeting again. Anyone is welcome to check out the book being discussed for the next month and join in the meetings. All the book clubs have a regular meeting day and time, but those can be adjusted for holiday closures. Be sure to check the library’s events calendar at www.newulmlibrary.org to be sure of the date and time. Our general book club meets the first Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. For July, they will meet on Tuesday the 6th, to discuss Glennon Doyle Melton’s book “Love Warrior.” Our history book club regularly meets on the third Tuesday of the month at 12 p.m. They will be meeting on Tuesday, July 20th at 12 p.m. to discuss “Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors‚” by Lizzie Collingham. Our mystery book club meets the last Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. This month they will meet on Monday, June 28th at 6:30 p.m. to discuss “The Bedlam Detective‚” by Stephen Gallagher.

Don’t forget about our regular artistic programming too. The library’s poetry group meets the second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. They will begin meeting again on Monday, July 12th at 6:30 p.m. You are welcome to bring 2-3 poems of any kind to share with the group. Our needle working group meets the first and third Wednesday of every month from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Come when you are able and bring any kind of needle craft project to work on and share. Our art group will begin meeting again on Wednesday, Sept. 15. The art group meets each Wednesday from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The Minnesota Valley Civil War Round Table will also begin meeting again in September on Tuesday the 21st. They hold their meetings on the third Tuesday each month at 6:30 p.m. October’s meeting will be on the second Tuesday of the month to feature a special presentation by author Eugene L. Meyer about his book “Five for Freedom‚” to commemorate the anniversary of John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, a pivotal pre-civil war event.

There are other great programs coming up as well, so keep your eyes and ears open for our announcements! Don’t miss author and solo-cyclist Chris Register, at the beginning of August, talk about his journey to bicycle across all 50 states and the people he met along the way. Be sure to join us for researcher and historical fiction author Pamela Nowak’s presentation later in August on the Lake Shetek women of the 1862 Dakota War conflict too. We hope you’ll take advantage of the opportunity to connect to other members of our community, find a new interest, or learn something new with the great programs we make available — all for free — here at the library.

Stop by the library to see what we have going on, visit our webpage or our Facebook page for regular updates, or give us a call at 507-359-8331. On behalf of our staff, we’d like to say “welcome back‚” if we haven’t seen you in a while or just “welcome‚” if it’s your first time visiting the library or even just “hello‚” if we see you all the time!