Life

Audiobooks are Awesome!

Did you know that listening to an audiobook can help a child build literacy skills? Students can develop reading skills such as decoding and comprehension, as well as critical thinking by listening to audiobooks. By engaging in listening skills, readers enhance their ability to process information and build a larger vocabulary. For those reluctant readers or those learning a different language, audiobooks can improve comprehension skills and introduce new words in context, improving both understanding and retention. Audiobooks build crucial listening skills for children. They build and ...

Recent reads

I started off 2026 by reading a lot of great nonfiction books, with one novel thrown in. Let library staff know if you’d like to place a request for any of these titles. Cartoonist Tom Gauld brings his erudite yet accessible wit to all things library, publishing, writing, and books in his latest collection, Revenge of the Librarians. His simple yet expressive cartoons lampoon the struggle of writing, reading, and loving books, as well as interacting with other people who love them, too. This is a great lighthearted read. Stephanie Thomas’ The Little Book of Rest: 100+ Ways to ...

Best of the wRESTlers

Rookwood Pottery features a gold medal glaze

The Rookwood Pottery Company was at the forefront of the art pottery movement in the United States. It was founded in 1880 in Cincinnati, Ohio, by Maria Longworth Nichols, making it one of the earliest companies in America owned by a woman. Many of its most notable artists were women, too. Laura Anne Fry joined the company as a decorator in 1881. In addition to her skill as a ceramicist, she was an accomplished woodcarver, having trained with her father and grandfather, who carved decorative furniture and taught the art in Cincinnati. Fry turned out to be one of the company’s most ...

NUFSC presents “Oz on Ice”

NEW ULM — Spins, twizzles and wicked fun will soon grace the ice at the New Ulm Civic Center as the New Ulm Figure Skating Club (NUFSC) performs “Oz on Ice.” “Oz on Ice” will be sponsored by Meidl Concrete Services and take place March 7 and 8 at the New Ulm Civic Center, with two ...

While you wait for “Theo of Golden”

There is much buzz about Allen Levi’s debut novel “Theo of Golden.” The book format alone has 77 holds on it in our library system and there are more holds on other formats. Levi’s work is described by the publishers as “…a beautifully crafted novel about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life, and the invisible threads of kindness that bind us to one another.” If you are wondering what to read as you wait to read about Theo, or if you love the book and want to read more charming, heartwarming, and uplifting books centered on human ...