Breaking News

Lifestyle Columns

Fighting censorship

In an 1816 letter to Charles Yancey, Thomas Jefferson wrote: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. …Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.” One of the cornerstones of American librarianship is access to information. Like many institutions that have adapted and changed over time, libraries have worked to overcome mistakes of the past to help everyone have the opportunity and the freedom to read. In order for the United States to function as a healthy country, it is vital that ...

It’s teatime with this Scandinavian tea trolley

It’s probably no surprise that the tea trolley emerged in Victorian England. Just the words “tea trolley” can conjure up an image of a delicate cart laden with floral china and shining silver plate (probably resting on crocheted lace doilies), pushed by a primly uniformed servant into an ornately furnished room where aristocratic women perch on uncomfortably carved mahogany chairs. Like many upper-class English fashions, the tea trolley spread to the United States, where it received a new spin in the 20th century: With Prohibition ending in the 1930s, the tea trolley was ...

A list for readers who have read everything

Delivering library books to New Ulm Assisted Living Facilities is one less-known but super important service library staff offers to the community. Interacting with residents and helping them find books in the collection we haul to the facilities are services I love delivering. During these outreach visits, residents get help identifying and obtaining books not only from the New Ulm Public Library, but also from the Traverse de Sioux Regional Library System (TDS) and library systems throughout Minnesota. Many residents are voracious readers so I’m given the opportunity to ...

Hold your place with a Heinz pickle-shaped bookmark

Avid readers, do you find yourselves in a pickle when you lose your place in a book? All right, maybe that’s a little labored. Still, a brightly colored pickle-shaped bookmark can get your attention no matter what you say about it. And that’s exactly what the Heinz brand counted on with advertising premiums like these die-cut cardstock bookmarks. This set of nine was sold by Morford’s Antique Advertising Auctions for $130. On one side, you have a bright green cucumber with a smiling child or chef holding a Heinz product. On the reverse, there’s a reminder of how “Pure, Clean, ...

Tax season is upon us

Here we are at the end of February and tax season is here. The library has resources to help you complete this yearly task! If you choose to file your taxes yourself, we have the 1040/1040SR forms in English and Spanish, and the English instruction booklets. The Spanish instruction booklets are on order but haven’t arrived yet. The tax forms and booklets are located in the hallway near the Children’s Room; you are welcome to come in and help yourself. If you need additional forms, stop at the Service Desk and we can print them out for you for $.25 per side (double sided forms are ...

Kenneth Bates may be the king of enamels

He’s not an official symbol of Valentine’s Day, but it seems like the right time to have the King of Hearts make an appearance. This King of Hearts enamel was made in 1946 by Kenneth Bates, who may as well be called the king of enamels. Bates was born in Massachusetts in 1904 and developed a love of art and crafts as a child. He attended the Massachusetts School of Art from 1922 to 1926, where he studied painting and had his first exposure to enamels. In 1927, he traveled to Cleveland to teach design at the Cleveland School of Art. He realized that there were already many artists ...