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Penny rugs provide a historic example of repurposing

The environmentalist movement popularized the saying “Reduce, reuse, recycle” in the 1970s, but the sentiment goes back much farther than that. Historically, people avoided buying new items to save money, or simply because said new items were not as readily available to purchase as they are today. Reusing and recycling materials was done out of necessity, too, but the effect of saving resources remains the same. Rug making is one of the best examples. Throughout the 19th century, American families had many ways of transforming fabric scraps into useful rugs. The earliest were ...

Summer reading and beyond

This year’s summer reading program theme was Color Our World. I want to take a moment to thank all the parents, caregivers, children, and teens who participated this year. I would also like to thank the library staff. They did an excellent job helping to make the program happen throughout a very busy summer. We recorded 1,115 people in attendance at the 48 programs scheduled for this summer. Visitors completed 1,130 in-house scavenger hunts, and 374 crafts during the eight weeks of the program. At the end of the program, finishers received a free book, a grand prize ticket, temporary ...

Mountains’ impact reflected in Japanese art

August 11 is Mountain Day in Japan. It is a very new holiday, first officially observed in 2016, but mountains have held extremely important roles in Japanese art and culture for much longer. Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest mountain, is one of the country’s most celebrated sights. Associated ...

More Recent Book Club Reads

A few months ago, I shared some books that our three book clubs had recently read and discussed. I also talked about the origins of book clubs and some of the benefits they provide. Here are a few more recent book club picks to get you thinking about trying a new author, a new genre, or about joining a book club! The Lit Wits Book Club recently read author Veronica Roth’s “Poster Girl.” Veronica Roth is best known for her dystopian young adult Divergent series, which were made into movies. “Poster Girl” is a book that is instead set after a dystopian regime has already fallen ...

More is better when it comes to vase decorations

For art glass collectors, a peachblow vase can be as much of a treat as a perfectly ripe peach at the peak of its season. Peachblow is one of the many types of two-tone art glass popular in the late Victorian era. The shaded glass craze began with Amberina, shading from amber to ruby, patented in 1883. Burmese glass, shading from pink to yellow, was registered in 1885. In 1886, tonal pink shades came into vogue, thanks to the sale of a famous antique Chinese ceramic vase, today called the Morgan vase, with a mottled pink glaze described as “peachblow” or “peach bloom.” By then, ...

While you wait: Readalikes for ‘Great Big Beautiful Life’

Are you tired of waiting in the hold line for “Great Big Beautiful Life,” the newest Emily Henry book? Or maybe you are not waiting because you have already read the book and now you want more romantic comedies? Either way, the library can help! Here is a list of newer readalikes available at the library, with descriptions from the publishers. “It’s a Love Story” by Annabel Monaghan. “Jane Jackson spent her adolescence as ‘Poor Janey Jakes,’ the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punch line on America’s fifth-favorite sitcom. Now she’s trying to be taken seriously as a ...