‘There’s Always Something Happening at the Library’! Learn about ‘Becoming a Daily Destination for Your Community’ on next week’s NCompass Live webinar on Wednesday, November 12 at 10am CT.
In many of our communities, the library serves not only as a traditional library but also as a gathering place and community center. Our goal was to turn our library into a true destination for our patrons by building connections and increasing the fun!
Learn how our library re-energized its programming efforts in 2024, ultimately doubling the number of programs offered and increasing our total patron count by nearly 20% in one year. You will leave with practical examples of inexpensive drop-in and passive programming that can lead to more visits and turn your library into a daily destination for your community.
Nov. 19 – Summer Reading Program 2026: Unearth a Story
Nov. 26 – Pretty Sweet Tech: Internet Librarian 2025 Highlights
Dec. 3 – Social Media Show & Tell!
Dec. 10 – Return of the Canvaholic
Dec. 17 – Best New Children’s Books of 2025
Dec. 31 – Pretty Sweet Tech
Jan. 7 , 2026 – Best New Teen Reads of 2025
Jan. 14, 2026 – Navigating New Building Projects
To register for an NCompass Live show, or to listen to recordings of past shows, go to the NCompass Live webpage.
NCompass Live is broadcast live every Wednesday from 10am – 11am Central Time. Convert to your time zone on the Official U.S. Time website.
NOTE:This episode of NCompass Live will be presented online using Zoom. Login instructions will be sent to registered attendees after registration has closed. The Registration End date is listed on each session page, but usually closes on the Monday night before the date of the session.
Dell’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals are looking to be the best among the major PC vendors at this time. Dell PCs also have a drive cloning feature built into their BIOS that I love to use. It makes configuring multiple PCs or fixing a malfunctioning PC very quick and easy.
This Desktop PC has a generation older (13th gen) processor and only 8gb of memory at this low price. However, it’s a much cheaper to add a second $40 memory DIMM later if you think it needs a performance boost after having it in use.
This laptop PC has a generation older (13th gen) processor at this low price. Laptops make a great Staff PC! You can easily connect a full-size keyboard, mouse, and second monitor to them for use at a desk. Their portability lets them be used throughout the library for doing inventory and programs. Their built in battery keeps them working during power outages.
If the library wants new, larger 27” monitors for the desktop PCs, this a good deal:
This monitor comes with a HDMI video cable too! If the library wants to save some money and continue using their older monitors with new PCs, you will likely need to order new video cables. If you send me a picture of the video ports on the old monitor, I can help you select the correct video cable.
I am happy to assist with the configuration and installation of new PCs purchased by the library. If you will want my assistance, please contact me prior to ordering them. Depending on the quantity the library is ordering, I may request that they be shipped directly to me. This allows me to get the PCs almost fully configured in the lab which saves me hours of time when I am onsite at the library to finish their installation.
The NLC also has limited Medica grant funds available for the purchase of DeepFreeze reboot/restore software. Reboot/restore software should be installed on all Patron/Public PCs to protect the PCs from malware and the privacy of the patrons who use them.
Andrew “Sherm” Sherman Library Technology Support Specialist Nebraska Library Commission 402-471-4559
This #BookFace is ready for the hunt! “Yellowbird, There’s a Problem” by Lee Bachand (Lee J Bachand; 2013) follows Amy “Yellowbird” Becker, fashionista, genius, and heir apparent to her grandfather’s powerful shipping company as she arrives on the NSU campus. Powerful forces work to take her out of the picture, but Yellowbird won’t go down without a fight.
“Get ready for a wild ride around the world. This book has everything; intrigue, suspense, and mystery with lots of action. Amy Becker “Yellowbird” is the total package, beauty, brains, and brawn. As the heir apparent to her great uncle’s dynasty, she fights and claws her way through a man’s world.”
— Reader Comments
Book Club Kits Rules for Use
These kits can be checked out by the librarians of Nebraska libraries and media centers.
Circulation times are flexible and will be based upon availability. There is no standard check-out time for book club kits.
Please search the collection to select items you wish to borrow and use the REQUEST THIS KIT icon to borrow items.
Contact the Information Desk at the Library Commission if you have any questions: by phone: 800/307-2665, or by email: Information Services Team
If you judge a book by its cover, it may also be true you can choose a book by the blurbs on the back. In this case: Marilynne Robinson (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction), Alison Bechdel (recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Award), Andrew Solomon (winner of the National Book Award), and Andy Borowitz (winner of the first National Press Club award for humor). Schulz is a staff writer at The New Yorker and was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2016 for her article, “The Really Big One,” about seismic risk in the Pacific Northwest.
As the title suggests, the book balances the emotions of grief and discovery. She artfully discusses the etymology of the word “loss” and the word “and.” If you are a reader who reads for writing? This book is for you. There are passages I read, and read again. It’s the kind of book you want to take a highlighter to for future reference. Kathryn describes losing her father while finding the woman who became her wife. Extreme sorrow with the endorphins of new love. The kind of feelings we can relate to with words we never thought to use.
While there were many parts of the book I found moving, this section near the end reflects my favorite takeaway.
“This is all we have, this moment with the world. It will not last, because nothing lasts. Entropy, mortality, extinction: the entire plan of the universe consists of losing, and no matter how much we find along the way, life amounts to a reverse savings account in which we are eventually robbed of everything. Our dreams and plans and jobs and knees and backs and memories; the keys to the house, the keys to the car, the keys to the kingdom, the kingdom itself; sooner or later, all of it drifts into the Valley of Lost Things.”
This resonated with me in a way that reveals my age like the rings on the trunk of a tree. And paired with the final sentence in the book—“We are here to keep watch, not to keep”—it epitomizes what the work as a whole offers: a poetic view on grief I’ve never discovered with any other writer. It is a balm.
Schulz, Kathryn. Lost & Found: Reflections on Grief, Gratitude, and Happiness. Random House, 2022
This week’s highlight is six black and white photographs on a postcard of Spalding, Nebraska. The pictures show houses, stores, and streets in Spalding. Information printed on item: 156, Snap-Shots of Spalding.
This image is owned and published by the Nebraska State Historical Society. They digitized content from the John Nelson and the J. A. Anderson collection. John Nelson came to Nebraska with his parents at the age of seventeen from Sweden. His photographs tell the story of small town life in Nebraska during the first decades of the twentieth century.
The Nebraska Memories archive is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information.
Scholarships will cover conference registration fees and provide one year of PLA membership. Individuals who receive scholarships to attend the conference in-person will also receive a $750 stipend to help cover travel costs. Scholarships are available for both the in-person conference and the virtual conference.
Applications are due Nov. 6, 2025, by 11:59 PM Central. Applications are reviewed and scored by PLA volunteers and staff. Successful applicants will demonstrate how they plan to apply the skills and knowledge gained to benefit their careers, their organizations, and their communities. Complete selection criteria and the scholarship application may be found here: https://www.placonference.org/scholarships
Library workers and students who belong to at least one of the following categories are eligible to apply:
Early career (i.e., fewer than five years) or un/under-employed (annual salary less than $45,000)
Students pursuing a master’s degree in library and/or information science (i.e., MLS, MLIS, MIS)
Working in small or rural libraries (i.e., serving communities with fewer than 25,000 people)
Current or past Spectrum Scholars working in public libraries
National Association of Librarians of Color (NALCO) members (i.e., members of AILA, APALA, BCALA, CALA, JCLC, and REFORMA)
Because PLA membership always includes membership in the American Library Association (ALA), all scholarship recipients also receive free subscriptions to American Libraries and Public Libraries magazines, discounts on ALA and PLA continuing education, access to ALA’s online networking hub ALA Connect, discounts in the ALA Store, and more. The total value of the conference scholarship exceeds a $1,000 investment in an individual’s professional development.
Growing up in the late 1800s, author Lucy Maud (L.M.) Montgomery was raised by her grandparents on Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada. A tiny, rural and bucolic land that allowed her imagination to run wild. She dreamed of fame and adoration from her peers, and today, almost 120 years since the publication of her seminal novel and today’s Book Club Spotlight, Anne of Green Gables, PEI’s thriving culture and tourist economy have her to thank. Despite its age, Anne of Green Gables is a timeless story of youthful mischievousness, fun, whimsy, and the importance of belonging.
Siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert have sent for an orphan boy whom they can raise to help tend their farm as they age. Instead of a strapping young boy, a waifish red haired little girl named Anne Shirley waits for them at the train depot. Despite their misgivings, the pair quickly fall for Anne’s charm and feisty spirit, deciding to let her stay and not call for a boy after all. As Anne grows up on the idyllic Prince Edward Island, her excitable, imaginative, and stubborn temperament gets her into trouble but her caring family and community help her grow and mature into a bright young woman ready to face the world. Laden with unforgettable characters, Anne Shirley’s world is one to get lost in.
“ ‘Dear old world’, she murmured, ‘you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.”
– L.M. Montgomery
As a child, Montgomery was not allowed to read novels, but poetry shaped her young mind into a romantic style that is evident in her lush descriptions of the world Anne finds herself in. A small girl, looking at a breathtaking world, taking the time to soak in the beauty around her. Its emphasis on community, self-growth, and life’s natural beauty makes it an enduring classic that is taught in schools around the world. Anne’s youthful adventures on Prince Edward Island have a tremendous staying power, translated into over 37 languages, made into movies and tv shows, the novel has a large following all over the world, with an especially strong contingent in Japan. Reading Groups of all ages should enjoy this beautiful novel, and revel in its soft and entertaining lessons of growing up.
“People laugh at me because I use big words. But if you have big ideas, you have to use big words to express them, haven’t you?”
If you’re interested in requesting Anne of Green Gables for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 6 copies (A librarian must request items)
Montgomery, L.M. Anne of Green Gables. L.C. Page & Company. (1908)
New state agency publications have been received at the Nebraska Library Commission for September and October, 2025. Included are reports from the Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts, the Nebraska Foster Care Review Board, the Nebraska Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and titles from University of Nebraska Press, to name a few.
With a few exceptions, such as the University of Nebraska Press titles, items are available for immediate viewing and printing by clicking directly in the PDF below. The University of Nebraska Press titles can be checked out by librarians for their patrons here: Online Catalog.
The Nebraska Legislature created the Nebraska Publications Clearinghouse in 1972 as a service of the Nebraska Library Commission. Its purpose is to collect, preserve, and provide access to all public information published by Nebraska state agencies. By law (State Statutes 51-411 to 51-413) all Nebraska state agencies are required to submit their published documents to the Clearinghouse. For more information, visit the Nebraska Publications Clearinghouse page, contact Aimee Owen, Government Information Services Librarian; or contact Bonnie Henzel, State Documents Staff Assistant.
Daddy Issues is a collection of moving and complex—yet simply and directly told—stories of queer Asian American experiences in Los Angeles. In many of these stories, the protagonists are artists and writers and other creative thinkers living on the fringe of survival, attempting to align a life of the imagination with the practical considerations of career, income, and family: a gay father who hasn’t come out to his young son; a social worker, numbed by the destitution of his clients, who finds himself lost in self-destruction; a trans man who returns home to a father with dementia to help his family pack as they are pushed out by gentrification; a husband who can only stand aside as his wife heals from a miscarriage; and a broke writer who learns to love his stories again.
The stories in Daddy Issues offer different contemplations on solitude—the good and the bad of it. Ultimately, this collection by Eric C. Wat is full of hope, and it shows how we can find the connections we need once we allow ourselves to become vulnerable.
Winner of the Raz/Shumaker Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry
In Gbenga Adesina’s groundbreaking debut book of poems, a defiant and wise exploration of exile, voyages, and spiritual odysseys, we encounter figures embarking on journeys haunted by history—a son keeps dreaming he carried his dead father across the sea; a young Black father, tired of fear and breathlessness, travels with his son in search of the ghost of James Baldwin—to Paris, the south of France, Turkey, and Senegal to investigate his ancestral roots; and finally, a group of immigrants on small boats in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea sing in order not to drown, in a stunning sequence that invokes the middle passage. In a lyrical voice at once new and surprisingly ancient, Adesina’s Death Does Not End at the Sea explores the complexity of elusive citizenship, an immigrant’s brokenhearted prayer for a new beginning, a chorus of elegies, and a cosmic love song between the living and the dead.
The Congregation of the Mission, a Catholic order known as the Vincentians after their founder Saint Vincent de Paul, began missionary work in China in 1699. First run by French priests and nuns, a large vicariate in the south of China was taken over by American priests in 1921. French envoys of nineteenth-century imperialism had given way to American priests who ascribed to an idealized vision of a modern democratic China. For the Americans, China was a dream: a place liberated from centuries of imperial orthodoxy, a nascent democracy, a country that would forever be free and democratic—and thus one that would inevitably be capitalist and more friendly to Catholicism.
In Dreams of a Young Republic John J. Harney examines the perceptions and expectations of this group of American Catholic missionaries between the 1911 revolution that created the Republic of China and the communist revolution of 1949 that led to the collapse of that republic on the Chinese mainland. The Vincentians experienced warlordism, Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek’s partial unification of the country, Japanese invasion during World War II, and communist revolution. Through all this they clung to a vision of a free, democratic China friendly to the West. As Harney contextualizes the Vincentians’ observations and desires, he provides insight into the China that came to be and offers a history of a Sino-American relationship with much deeper roots than the antagonisms of the Cold War and the decades that have followed.
Our People Believe in Education: the Unlikely Alliance of the Miami Tribe and Miami University, by Cameron M. Shriver with Bobbe Burke. Series: Indigenous Education.
Across the United States, many institutions are striving to acknowledge and repair oppressive pasts and unequal presents, even as Indigenous communities are struggling to reclaim and revitalize the philosophies and knowledges of their elders. Our People Believe in Education explores the stories of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and Miami University to show how two organizations with almost nothing in common, aside from the name Miami, have collaborated to support Indigenous language and cultural revitalization. Founded in 1809, Miami University is a midsize public university in Oxford, Ohio, on land that once belonged to the Miami Tribe. The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma was, like many tribal nations, forcibly removed from its homelands and is now headquartered in northeast Oklahoma.
Cameron M. Shriver and Bobbe Burke provide a reflective examination of why a relationship developed between the two entities despite significant geographical and ideological hurdles, and how that partnership has evolved since 1972, when Myaamia chief Forest Olds first visited Miami’s university campus in his nation’s homeland. This intimate history of a tribe and a university struggling to reconcile colonial education with Indigenous survival offers a jumping-off point for new conversations in, and between, these two spheres.
Raising the Redwood Curtain: Labor Landscapes and Community Violence in a Pacific Littoral, by Michael T. Karp. Series: Studies in Pacific Worlds.
Raising the Redwood Curtain explores how shifting land use practices and exploitative labor patterns spurred by the colonial settlement of the Pacific world influenced the genocide of California’s Native people, anti-Asian campaigns, and the oppression of eastern European immigrant workers. By carefully examining these local developments, it explores how global capitalism fundamentally reordered labor patterns and social relations.
By analyzing the history of three episodes of labor and racial violence in Humboldt County, California, Michael T. Karp spans nearly a century in a detailed examination of the causes and interconnections between the Indian Island massacre of 1860, the expulsion of Chinese and Japanese people from the county between 1885 and 1906, and the killing and persecution of eastern Europeans during the Great Lumber Strike of 1935.
Regional labor and land use patterns shaped these events, but so did global economic developments and environmental change, connecting disparate acts of racial violence across time. By bringing together new scholarship on the American West, environmental history, and the Pacific world, Michael T. Karp illustrates the importance of considering communities on the periphery to better understand the violence that defined the colonial settlement of North America.
The James Alan McPherson Prize for the Novel, AWP Award Series Winner.
Twinless Twin finds a family maimed by a troubled, enigmatic son, whose unspeakable actions leave the family reeling, torn between moving on and searching for answers. A twin who survives their sibling twin may sometimes be plagued with lifelong feelings of loss, guilt, and even a strange sense of urgency—a need to live two lives in one. In this story, the tragedy of the lost child reverberates through the surviving sibling and ripples through the rest of the family and beyond.
Set largely in twentieth-century America in the foothills of an unnamed mountain, this insular landscape breeds rumor, legend, desperation, daydreams, and a mystery that runs deeper than the family who inhabits its woods. Raising questions regarding culpability in the face of tragedy and the responsibilities of those who remain after a family has been splintered, Twinless Twin ultimately asks: What must be done to salvage the family, their reputation, and their homeplace?
Wolves in Shells is a modern monomyth telling the story of a woman navigating homelessness, trauma, and memories as she attempts to leave a violent partner. Reflecting on her familial heritage, this survivor grapples with the way she, the women of her history, and her daughter have been conditioned to accommodate the demands of the male ego and predation. Reflective, clear-eyed, and incisive, the poems of Wolves in Shells feature O-Six, a wolf born into the rewilding territory of Yellowstone National Park in the 1990s who serves as a metaphor for women who must cope with violence and survive on their own. Drawing from Gaston Bachelard’s quote “wolves in shells are crueler than stray ones,” the narrative considers how survival requires a balance of protectiveness, risk, trust, and escape.
This is a good time of year to remind Nebraska librarians that they can save money on a subscription to WebDewey by participating in the Nebraska WebDewey Group Purchase! Enjoy web-based access to an electronic version of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) database through WebDewey. It is a full representation of all published numbers, plus other mappings and new terms that have been approved by the Dewey Editorial Policy Committee (EPC).
WebDewey also includes:
Searching or browsing DDC numbers, Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and mapped MeSH headings.
Adding your own notes and displaying them in context.
An easy-to-navigate, simple user interface that is suitable for the novice as well as the power user.
Our next WebDewey Group annual subscription will begin on January 1, 2026 and run through December 31, 2026. Libraries may join the group at any time. Mid-term subscriptions will be prorated. If your library is interested in subscribing to WebDewey you’ll find pricing information on our online WebDewey Group Order Form. OCLC Membership is NOT required to purchase WebDewey.
Learn how smart partnerships can help you amplify your library’s mission on next week’s NCompass Live webinar, ‘From Rotary to the Local Bar: Unexpected Allies in Library Outreach’, on Wednesday, November 5 at 10am CT.
In small and rural communities, libraries are much more than book lenders – they are lifelines for connection, education, and services. Yet with limited staffing, funding, and resources, small libraries often struggle to meet growing community needs alone.
This session explores how meaningful partnerships with schools, health providers, local businesses, and civic organizations can dramatically expand a library’s reach and impact – without overextending staff or budgets. Participants will hear real-world examples of successful collaborations: from hosting community health clinics with local providers, to co-creating arts programming with nonprofits, to launching book clubs in local bars that bring in new audiences. We’ll also highlight the power of working with Rotary Clubs and other civic groups to co-sponsor events, fundraise, and build awareness. Whether your library has one staff member or ten, smart partnerships can help you amplify your mission.
Nov. 12 – There’s Always Something Happening at the Library: Becoming a Daily Destination for Your Community
Nov. 19 – Summer Reading Program 2026: Unearth a Story
Nov. 26 – Pretty Sweet Tech: Internet Librarian 2025 Highlights
Dec. 3 – Social Media Show & Tell!
Dec. 17 – Best New Children’s Books of 2025
Dec. 31 – Pretty Sweet Tech
Jan. 7 , 2026 – Best New Teen Reads of 2025
Jan. 14, 2026 – Navigating New Building Projects
To register for an NCompass Live show, or to listen to recordings of past shows, go to the NCompass Live webpage.
NCompass Live is broadcast live every Wednesday from 10am – 11am Central Time. Convert to your time zone on the Official U.S. Time website.
NOTE:This episode of NCompass Live will be presented online using Zoom. Login instructions will be sent to registered attendees after registration has closed. The Registration End date is listed on each session page, but usually closes on the Monday night before the date of the session.
I’m breaking with tradition and using my Friday Reads post to talk about the three books on the short list for the 2026 One Book One Nebraska selection. We wanted to give a short overview of each book, some author information, and include comments by the readers on the selection committee. The winner will be announced Saturday, November 15th at the Nebraska Celebration of Books literary festival’s awards ceremony. Let us know which book you would pick to be the next One Book One Nebraska read, or nominate a book to be considered for 2027.
Our Souls at Night, Kent Haruf. Vintage Books/Penguin Random House, 2015. Genre: Fiction
Set in contemporary Colorado, Haruf has crafted a love story between a widow and her widower neighbor. Life has given them a second chance to find happiness despite the nosiness of the townsfolk and a lack of support from family members. Readers found it consistent with Haruf’s previous novels. One evaluator described this love story as “genuine.”
Haruf authored six novels. He previously lived in Lincoln while teaching at Nebraska Wesleyan. He was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the New Yorker Book Award. He died in 2014. The book was published posthumously and was adapted into a film.
Lisa Kelly previously reviewed this title for Friday Reads, and you can read that review here.
The Antidote, Karen Russell. Knopf, 2025. Genre: Fiction
Set in western Nebraska in the 1930’s, Russell’s novel includes two actual events—the Black Sunday dust storm and the flooding of the Republican River. The main character is the Antidote who magically handles memories. The novel includes a variety of interesting characters whose lives intersect in dramatic ways. One evaluator noted that the book “has lots of good topics for discussion.”
Russell has authored six books of fiction. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for her novel Swamplandia! She also received the Shirley Jackson Award and the 2024 Mary McCarthy Prize. The Antidote is on the long list for the 2025 National Book Award for Fiction. Russell lives in Portland, Oregon.
Rod Wagner previously reviewed this title for Friday Reads, and you can read that review here.
Nebraska: Under a Big Red Sky, Joel Sartore. Nebraska Book Publishing, 1999. Genre: Photography/Nonfiction
This is Joel Sartore’s second book. It contains photographs of Nebraska from every section of the state. Compiled early in his career, it was prompted by his desire to show others the full range of his home state. Photos range from Sandhill cranes to the Sower to small town sports to rodeos to Carhenge to Memorial Stadium–to mention just a few. One committee member liked both the photos and Sartore’s humor, adding “I think there could be some good discussions about living in Nebraska.”
Joel Sartore lives in Lincoln, Nebraska and has been a contributor to National Geographic as well Audubon Magazine, Time, Life, and Newsweek. In 2021, he was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum and received the Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography from the Sierra Club. He was named the 2025 Nebraskan of the Year by Lincoln’s Rotary Club.
It’s a #BookFace bloodbath! If you’re still looking for a Halloween read consider checking out the suspenseful thriller “Victorian Psycho” by Virginia Feito (Liveright, 2025), a riveting tale of a bloodthirsty governess who learns the true meaning of vengeance. This title is available as an eBook and Audiobook in Nebraska OverDrive Libraries and is a part of the curated collection, “Scare Up a Good Book: Horror and dark reads.” Find your perfect horror read in this collection of over 250 titles, available all October.
“Sleek, deadly and paced like a runaway train, Feito’s novel is an absolutely delectable mashup of horror sensibilities, and one of 2025’s must-read genre releases. …At just 200 pages, Victorian Psycho is lean, lithe and clear in its purpose and its violent delights. It’s a book you can easily finish in a single sitting, yet Feito’s prose is so dense with meaning and subtlety that you may just pick it right back up again.”
—BookPage, starred review
Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 192 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 29,081 audiobooks, 44,746 eBooks, and 6,170 magazines. As an added bonus it includes 130 podcasts that are always available with simultaneous use (SU), as well as SU ebooks and audiobook titles that publishers have made available for a limited time. If you’re a part of it, let your users know about this great title, and if you’re not a member yet, find more information about participating in Nebraska Overdrive Libraries!
Applications are now open for the 2026-27 cycle of the NEA Big Read, a national program that offers matching grants of up to $20,000 to support community-wide reading programs. This year’s NEA Big Read will center around the theme America250, honoring the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, marking America’s Semiquincentennial.”
The Intent to Apply deadline is January 15, 2026.Final Application due: January 29, 2026. Visit Arts Midwest’s website for complete grant guidelines and to apply.
The 24 NEA Big Read books available for programming this cycle celebrate America’s culture, history, and resilience through the eyes of its people. Using a book selection as inspiration, applicants will facilitate discussions, writing workshops, and creative programming activities that explore this theme and celebrate the unique aspects of their communities.
NEA Big Read At-A-Glance
What is it? The NEA Big Read is a reading program that brings communities together around the central theme America250 using one of 24 available books as inspiration. It offers matching grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000.
Who can apply? Nonprofit arts organizations, universities, libraries, service organizations, museums, school districts, and tribal governments are all encouraged to apply.
Where? Your organization must be located and operate within the United States or the Native Nations that share this geography.
When to apply? A mandatory Intent to Apply is due January 15, 2026, with final applications due January 29, 2026. Funded programs will take place between September 2026 and June 2027.
This week’s highlight is a black and white photograph of interior of abandoned building which formerly housed the living quarters of the Moses and Eliza Merrill built in the 1800s. Structure is made of squared logs and shows chinking on left wall. A stone fireplace and wooden cabinet are pictured.
This image is published and owned by the Sarpy County Historical Museum, located in Bellevue, Nebraska. They have a mission to preserve, collect, display, and document objects and records related to the history of Sarpy County.
The Nebraska Memories archive is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information.
If your library was contacted by the Carnegie Foundation, be sure to follow the ‘Instructions for Receiving Your Gift’ in the email you received. You must send them your W-9 by November 14, 2025, to receive your gift.
Carnegie Libraries across America will each receive a $10,000 gift to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence through a special initiative announced today by Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie funded the construction of 1,681 free public libraries in the United States between 1886 and 1917. As part of the Carnegie Libraries 250 special initiative, his philanthropic foundation reached out to each library and established that about 1,280 still operate and acknowledge their link to Carnegie, making them eligible for the celebratory gift. Approximately 750 of them continue to use their original buildings, while others have moved to new locations.
The gift recipients can expect to receive a check in January 2026. They may use the funds however they wish to celebrate the 250th anniversary, further their mission, and benefit their community.
“Our founder, Andrew Carnegie, who championed the free public library movement of the late 19th century, described libraries as ‘cradles of democracy’ that ‘strengthen the democratic idea, the equality of the citizen, and the royalty of man,’” said Dame Louise Richardson, president of Carnegie and former head of the University of Oxford. “We still believe this and are delighted to celebrate our connection to the libraries he founded.”
The $10,000 library gifts anchor a $20 million special initiative created to celebrate next year’s 250th anniversary by supporting America’s civic institutions and organizations that foster civic participation and bring people together.
These grants include exchange programs between people in urban and rural areas, cultural events that reach new audiences, and activities that engage the next generation of Americans. Grantees include Carnegie Hall, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History, the Museum of the City of New York, The New York Historical, Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad, and the Smithsonian Institution.
The special initiative aligns with the foundation’s overarching goal of reducing political polarization. Over the past year, Carnegie has invested $30 million in grants for civics education, state-based community service, youth voting, and media and digital literacy. Related grants include $13 million to libraries for programs such as English language learning for adults and civic participation for teens. Carnegie also makes annual grants of $6 million to fund the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program and scholarly research about the causes of polarization and potential solutions to reduce it.
Carnegie Libraries and their patrons are encouraged to showcase their libraries and gifts by submitting photographs and stories for possible inclusion on carnegielibraries.org, Carnegie’s new website featuring user-generated content. The site is part of Carnegie Libraries Across America, an interactive resource that enables visitors to locate libraries, explore archival documents and correspondence collected by the foundation, and learn about the origins of each building.
Readers can learn more about Andrew Carnegie’s library legacy through a timeline detailing how the philanthropist changed the library landscape in America, as well as a video sharing his vision of providing free access to learning and opportunity for all. Library lovers are invited to join Carnegie’s community by signing up for the foundation’s Unstacked newsletter to stay informed about ongoing funding opportunities.
“Nebraska Volleyball: The Origin Story” by John Mabry, foreword by Jordan Larson, is now available on cartridge and for download on BARD, the Braille and Audio Reading Download service. BARD is a service offered by the Nebraska Library Commission Talking Book and Braille Service and the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled at the Library of Congress.
The compelling book tells the story of how Nebraska volleyball began with players fundraising just to afford uniforms and grew into one of the most dominant programs in NCAA history. Author John Mabry follows the team’s rise through legendary coaches, standout local athletes, and increasing statewide support.
With five national championships and sold out crowds at every game, Nebraska’s volleyball program is a powerful example of the impact of women’s sports. As Karch Kiraly, head coach for the U.S. National Women’s Volleyball team, said, “If you want to learn about women’s college volleyball, your first stop has to be Lincoln, Nebraska.”
TBBS borrowers can request “Nebraska Volleyball: The Origin Story” DBC02051 or download it from the National Library Service BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) website. If you have high-speed internet access, you can download books to your smartphone or tablet, or onto a flash drive for use with your player. You may also contact your reader’s advisor to have the book mailed to you on cartridge.
Enrollment for Central Community College classes for the Library Information Services program for Spring 2026 will be starting soon!
Enrollment opens on November 17, 2025 for classes beginning January 12, 2026. The Library & Information Services Certificate is a 15-credit hour program. All credits can be applied to a Central Community College associate degree.
Creepy and cooky, mysterious and spooky, they’re all together ooky, the #BookFace family!
We’ve been at the Nebraska Library Association Conference this week connecting with Nebraska’s librarians and Library staff! Sally Snyder, NLC’s Children and Youth Services Coordinator, also had a table there full of her giveaway books, all available for libraries to take home with them. One of those books is this week’s #BookFace, “Over My Dead Body: A Witchy Graphic Novel” by Sweeney Book (Candlewick Press, 2022). Aimed at readers grade 8 and up, this witchy graphic novel set at a magical school is sure to round out your YA collection of Halloween and October themed reads!
“Spooky, mysterious, and also full of heart, this graphic novel is an enchanting story of friendship and found family. An exciting fantasy full of mystery and witchcraft.”
—Kirkus Reviews
This title comes from our large collection of children’s and young adult books sent to us as review copies from book publishers. When our Children and Young Adult Library Services Coordinator, Sally Snyder, is done with them, the review copies are available for the Library System Directors to distribute to school and public libraries in their systems.
Karen Russell’s The Antidote is set in “Uz,” a fictional Nebraska town during the Dust Bowl era. This historical novel unfolds against the backdrop of two actual weather catastrophes: the Black Sunday dust storm of April 14, 1935, and the Republican River flood that occurred a month later following a 24-inch rainfall. These disasters swept through the plains, damaging farmland and deepening the economic effects of the Great Depression. The story begins with Uz already in decline, suffering from both the Great Depression and the prolonged Dust Bowl drought.
Throughout the book, Russell blends real historical experiences with magical elements. The central character is Antonina, a prairie witch known as “the Antidote.” Acting as a healer, she claims the ability to treat her customers by removing the memories that torment them with grief and regret.
The book includes a serial killer murder mystery, basketball, an institution for unwed mothers, and much more. It also explores themes of immigration, settlement, the abuse of Native peoples, and environmental damage.
Other prominent characters include a teenage basketball star and witch’s apprentice whose mother was murdered by a serial killer; the girl’s uncle, a wheat farmer whose land was mysteriously spared from the drought and dust that plagued the region; and a New Deal Resettlement Administration photographer who arrives in Uz to document rural poverty and whose magical camera captures visions of the past and future. Memory serves as a central theme connecting the book’s four eccentric narrators.
The Antidote is Karen Russell’s second novel and a finalist for the National Book Award. Her earlier novel, Swamplandia!, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction.
