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Off the Shelf: Recent reads

We’ve added some great new titles at New Ulm Public Library in the past few months. Here are a few I’ve enjoyed. Nora, Wes, and Iris are hostages in a bank robbery. The two robbers are searching for keys to the bank’s safe deposit boxes. The robbers are violent and unmasked, which worries Nora. But what the criminals don’t know is that “Nora” is a secret identity. Nora has been a lot of girls. A lot of girls who have seen much worse. A lot of girls who have had to build survival skills. And Nora isn’t going to give up until her friends are safe, no matter how bad things ...

Public Health Corner

Vitamin D is commonly known to be important for bone health, especially for the prevention of rickets and osteoporosis. Newer research, however, suggests that its benefits are greater. These additional benefits include the prevention of genetic bone disorders, cancer, multiple sclerosis (MS), and psoriasis. It is also important for brain health, controlling inflammation in the body and improving immunity. Humans get vitamin D from the sun, foods and beverages, and supplements. It is common to overestimate the amount of vitamin D we get from the sun, as the body produces it only from ...

Family Living Focus

With the beginning of spring comes the end of winter’s flu, cold, and cough medicines. This means it is also a great time to unclutter your medication cabinet and get rid of dangerous and outdated items. What to Throw Away: Expired medicines lose their effectiveness and, in some instances, can become dangerous. Check expiration dates thoroughly. Nearly empty bottles create clutter and may not even have enough medicine left for a full dose. Improperly stored items can partially evaporate, leaving them more concentrated and dangerous. Get rid of items that were not sealed or ...

Antiques & Collecting: Some reproductions can be as valuable as real antiques

Sometimes a reproduction of an antique is worth almost as much as the original antique. Wallace Nutting (1861-1941) was a collector, expert, photographer, furniture maker, author and an important part of the Colonial Revival in the U.S. He went to Harvard, married and started taking photographs of the New England scenery. Soon he furnished his home with authentic antique American furniture, using the furnishings as props in pictures he staged with men and women dressed in Colonial clothes. The pictures were black and white, but he hired colorists to turn the pictures into color photos. ...

Off the Shelf: April is National Poetry Month

Did you know that April 2021 is the 25th annual celebration of National Poetry Month? I have to confess in all my years working in a library, 16 this year, I did not. I assumed that we had been celebrating poetry since I first fell in love with it in sixth grade. I spent my children’s elementary school years, about 20 of them, reading and putting together anthologies of favorite poems for school. The truth is in 1995 the Academy of American Poets, along with a group of publishers, booksellers, librarians, literary organizations, poets and teachers convened to discuss the need to ...

Family Living Focus

Amazing allergy facts Allergies can make you feel miserable. Following are some tips that can be helpful to allergy sufferers. Hay fever sufferers should wash their hair at night because washing will remove any pollen from your hair and keep them from settling on your pillows and bedding. Avoid common irritants like tobacco smoke, automobile exhaust, hair spray and perfume. Wash your hands frequently. Venture outdoors only when the pollen counts are low. The best time to take an antihistamine, which helps block allergic reactions, is before symptoms surface. Remember, ...