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Category Archives: General
#BookFaceFriday “Dory Fantasmagory” by Abby Hanlon
It’s a fantasmagory #BookFaceFriday!
This week’s #BookfaceFriday is bursting with character!
“Dory Fantasmagory” (Dial Books, 2015) is the first in Abby Hanlon’s ongoing children’s series all about Dory. Recommended for kids in grades 1-4, “Dory Fantasmagory” is filled humor and charming pencil-drawn illustrations. It’s available as a Book Club Kit from the Nebraska Library Commission, with 3 copies for your reading group to borrow. You can also find the next five books in the Dory Fantasmagory series as audiobooks through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries: Kids & Teens.This title came to us via a donation from Sower Books in Lincoln! We love that book stores and book clubs around the state regularly donate their books so that more people can read them. So we want to say a big THANK YOU to all those who have sent us donations!
“This inventive child is irresistible…Charming, funny and true to life.”
— Kirkus Reviews, starred review
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
Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 196 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 29,164 audiobooks, 45,416 ebooks, and 6,269 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!
Love this #BookFace & reading? We suggest checking out all the titles available for book clubs at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub. Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Throwback Thursday: C. B. & Q. Engine #1965
Choo Choo! It’s #ThrowbackThursday!
This week’s highlight is a 9 X 7 inch brown-tone photograph of engine #1965 locomotive with two unidentified men standing in front of it. Photograph taken by “Radcliffe” in 1924.
This image is owned by the High Plains Historical Society and Museum and published by the McCook Public Library. They worked in partnership to digitize photographic images from the historical society’s collection. These images document early growth of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad in McCook, Nebraska, and the surrounding area. The collection spans a time period from the early 1880s through the 1960s.
See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!
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.
Read About the Frontier on BARD!
“The Bullwhacker: Adventures of a Frontier Freighter” by William Francis Hooker 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.
Rough as a cob, the bullwhacker has never been romanticized, but his work was as essential as the cowboy’s, and perhaps more hazardous. Young William Hooker, who came west from Wisconsin to Wyoming Territory in the early 1870s, would not be disappointed in his search for exhilarating open-air adventure. Soon he was driving a team of oxen hauling supplies for army posts and Indian reservations far from the railroad. He cracked a bullwhip and kept a rifle ready as he delivered sugar, bacon, blankets, and other destinations along the old Cheyenne, Medicine Bow, and Sidney trails. And the thrilling stories he lived to tell! All true. About outlaws, rum runners, and collisions with Indians. About the feuding between bullwhackers and military officers. About exposure to every kind of varmint and the the fury of the elements. About the daily perils and pleasures of rumbling down some pretty primitive trails in the Old West.
TBBS borrowers can request “The Bullwhacker: Adventures of a Frontier Freighter” DBC02180 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.
#BookFaceFriday “The Christmas Bookshop” by Jenny Colgan
Merry #BookFaceFriday!
Whether you participate in the Icelandic tradition of Jólabókaflóð, or just love gifting books, we can’t recommend shopping at your local bookstores enough and this week’s #BookFace presented the perfect opportunity to highlight one! If you’re just looking for a cozy festive read, check out “The Christmas Bookshop: A Novel” by Jenny Colgan (HarperCollins, 2021) available as an ebook and audiobook in Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. It’s a part of the the curated collection, “Warm Up With Holiday Reading.” Find your perfect winter read in this collection of over 470 titles, available all December.
“Colgan’s new Edinburgh-set Christmas novel is full of references to books, descriptions of the twisty insides of a bookshop, and fun details about Scotland, Quakerism, and the centuries-old Great Yew Tree of Ormiston. Get ready to root for these charming characters as they bungle their way toward a merry Christmas.”
— Library Journal (starred review)
Find this title and many more through Nebraska OverDrive! Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 189 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 21,696 audiobooks, 35,200 eBooks, and 3,964 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!
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Throwback Thursday: Capitol Hardware Window Display
It’s #ThrowbackThursday, have you started your holiday shopping?
This week’s highlight is an exterior view at night of the display window of Capitol Hardware and Paints, located at 1447 O Street, Lincoln. Advertising for Sunbeam electrical appliances promotes a waffle baker, toaster, Mixmaster, iron (for $9.95), razor (for $15.90) and the appearance of “The Sunbeam Man” all day on Saturday. Beyond the window display, display shelves hold cans of paint, garden tools, and other small household appliances. According to Polk’s City Directory of Lincoln, 1947, Howard D. “Bill” Murrell owned Capitol Hardware and Paints which sold “Hardware, Paints, Appliances and Radios.”
This image is published and owned by the Townsend Studio, which has been in continuous operation since its foundation in 1888 in Lincoln, Nebraska. The studio holds a collection of glass plate and acetate negatives of early Lincoln and its residents.
See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!
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.
Discovering State Docs: “Tilden’s Own Betsy Ross”
With the America 250 festivities being planned for 2026, let’s look back at what Nebraskans did to celebrate the American Revolution Bicentennial in 1976.
A “birthday party” several years in the planning, folks from all over the state participated in parades and picnics, contests and concerts, fashion shows and festivals, symposiums and street dances. You can flip through the Nebraska Bicentennial calendar of events or an issue of the Nebraska Bicentennial Broadside newsletter to see where and when events took place in the Summer of ’76. The photos in this post can be found in the Nebraska Bicentennial Album.
These are just a few examples of documents housed in the Nebraska Publications Clearinghouse as part of our state documents collection. In an ongoing effort to make this collection as widely accessible as possible, we are retroactively scanning older documents such as these, and adding them to our online catalog.
Our Government Service Administrative Technician, Laura Mooney, found several more bicentennial gems worth highlighting, including:
- A7400 B001 -1977 Nebraska American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, A Final Report of Activities.
- A7400 T004 -1976 Nebraska at the two-hundredth year
- E1000 T009-1977 Nebraska’s 500-Mile Sculpture Garden
- E2450 H018 -1978 The Sculptors: Teacher’s Guide
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.
Friday Reads and #BookFaceFriday – “Taste of Home: The Best Family Feast”
This combo #BookFace & #FridayReads is cooking up a great meal!
It’s that time of year again where we’re cooking big meals for family events, and sometimes that means being brave and trying new recipes. I found a simple solution with easy access to magazines on Nebraska OverDrive Libraries! “Taste of Home” just one of 4,615 English titles now available as an eBook from Nebraska OverDrive Libraries! Magazines do not count against a reader’s checkout limit of 6, and magazine issues may be checked out for 7, 14, or 21 days, depending on your library’s policy. Along with all the English-language titles, you have access to Spanish-language titles, and many other languages including French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Afrikaans, and Italian.
With 50+ recipes to choose from, it’s fun looking for something new to try in the kitchen. The issue has recipes for Thanksgiving classics such as a Favorite Dutch Apple Pie, Foolproof Gravy, and Parker House Rolls, along with some more fun and funky iterations like Oyster Stuffing, Dill Pickle Potato Salad, and Sweet Potato Coconut Pie with Marshmallow Meringue. However my favorite option is the Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake, a delicious looking combination of two of my favorite desserts. With the clear instructions that Taste of Home provides, I’m hoping to make a yummy dessert for my family to share on the holidays.
“Taste of Home is America’s #1 cooking magazine and your #1 recipe resource for delicious, family-favorite dishes! And you’ll love the variety—200+ easy recipes and tips in every issue will help make any occasion special, from everyday meals to holiday celebrations.”
—Taste of Home Blurb
Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 196 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 29,164 audiobooks, 45,416 ebooks, and 6,269 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!
Love this #BookFace & reading? We suggest checking out all the titles available in our Book Club collection, permanent collection, and Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Taste of Home: The Best Family Feast. September 26, 2025.
Posted in Books & Reading, Friday Reads, General
Tagged bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Ebook, Friday Reads, Magazine, Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, Reading, Taste of Home
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Throwback Thursday: Joseph T. May Residence Dining Room Table
Happy Thanksgiving #ThrowbackThursday!
This table set for a dinner party is in the dining room of the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph T. May at 1129 North Nye Avenue. Twelve Eastlake style dining chairs have been pulled up to the linen covered table. The dinner service is most likely Haviland china and the place settings include linen napkins, crystal, water tumblers and unmatched bone dishes. The spoons have been placed at the top of each setting. Serving bowls are filled with fresh fruit and breads. A centerpiece consists of a metal framed plateau mirror and a cut glass bowl filled with flowers. A portion of the two-toned painted woodwork and wainscoting is also visible.
This image is owned by the Dodge County Historical Society, and published by Keene Memorial Library. Both are located in Fremont, Nebraska, and they worked as partners to digitize and describe content owned by the historical society. The collection of photographs documents life in Fremont in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!
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.
NCompass Live: Pretty Sweet Tech: Internet Librarian 2025 Highlights
Special monthly episodes of NCompass Live! Join the NLC’s Technology Innovation Librarian, Amanda Sweet, as she guides us through the world of library-related Pretty Sweet Tech.
Just in case you miss it, this Pretty Sweet Tech will offer some highlights from Internet Librarian 2025 that was held virtually from October 28-30. It’s where all the cool kids go to learn about library technology topics.
I’ll include my usual disclaimer that I couldn’t make it to every session, but I did my best to dig around and catch the cool, helpful, or off the beaten path sessions that caught my eye.
Upcoming NCompass Live shows:
- 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.
The show is presented online using the GoTo Webinar online meeting service. Before you attend a session, please see the NLC Online Sessions webpage for detailed information about GoTo Webinar, including system requirements, firewall permissions, and equipment requirements for computer speakers and microphones.
#BookFaceFriday “Walking in Two Worlds” by Wab Kinew
Watch your step! It’s #BookFaceFriday!
November is National Native American Heritage Month Month, join in paying tribute to the rich ancestry and traditions of Native Americans. Check out “Walking in Two Worlds” by Wab Kinew (Tundra Book Group, 2021). It’s a YA fantasy novel about a teenage girl caught between her gaming life online and the real world. It’s available as an audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries and is a part of the “Native American Heritage” curated collection. Peruse this collection of over 160 titles that range from YA to nonfiction, available all November.
“With dizzying action set in virtual reality, Walking in Two Worlds is at once exhilarating, clever, and poignant, seamlessly blending traditional knowledge with science fiction for an important entry into the genre of Indigenous Futurism. It doesn’t just walk in two worlds, it sprints.”
— David A. Robertson, award-winning author of the bestselling The Barren Grounds
Libraries participating in the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group currently have access to a shared and growing collection of digital downloadable audiobooks and eBooks. 194 libraries across the state share the Nebraska OverDrive collection of 26,898 audiobooks, 36,794 ebooks, and 5,133 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!
Love this #BookFace & reading? We suggest checking out all the titles available for book clubs at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ref/bookclub. Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Throwback Thursday: Grandmother and Granddaughter
Happy Native American Heritage Month #ThrowbackThursday!
This week’s highlight celebrates Native American Heritage Month with a black and white photograph featuring two Sioux Indian women sitting by a fire outside a tipi. They are dressed in animal hide outfits, and the younger woman has a headband around her head. A pot is suspended over the fire, and a kettle rests on the ground near the fire. The older woman is poking at the fire with a stick. The photograph was taken at the Rosebud Reservation in the 1890’s by John Anderson.
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. John A. Anderson was born in Sweden in 1869. He came to Nebraska with his parents and settled in Cherry County. He worked as a civilian photographer for the army at Fort Niobrara (Nebraska) and later worked as a clerk at the Rosebud Reservation (South Dakota) trading post.
See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!
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.
New Good Samaritan Story on BARD!
“Saving Harlan Brandt: A Survivor and His Good Samaritans” by Kent Warneke and Kevin Warneke, foreword by U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, 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.
Harlan Brandt needed a Good Samaritan. Would anyone answer the call for help? Would you? On any given day at any given time, we may be called to help someone in need. It could be someone close or someone unfamiliar. When Harlan Brandt, a cattleman living and working in northeast Nebraska, was critically injured in a horrific tractor accident, a slew of friends, family and strangers came to his rescue. This is the story of how and why each of these people came to Harlan’s rescue. These are their Good Samaritan stories.
TBBS borrowers can request “Saving Harlan Brandt: A Survivor and His Good Samaritans” DBC02067 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.
Posted in Books & Reading, General, Talking Book & Braille Service (TBBS)
Tagged BARD, Books on BARD, Good Samaritan, Warneke
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The Antidote: A Novel Chosen as 2026 One Book One Nebraska
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 17, 2025
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tessa Timperley
402-471-3434
800-307-2665
The Antidote: A Novel Chosen as 2026 One Book One Nebraska
People across Nebraska are encouraged to read the work set in Nebraska—and then talk about it with their friends and neighbors. The Antidote: A Novel (Knopf, 2025) by Karen Russell is the 2026 One Book One Nebraska selection.
The Antidote is a historical fiction novel during the dust bowl, set in a fictional town in rural Nebraska.
Karen Russell’s The Antidote is a haunting Dust Bowl epic that blends historical fiction with magical realism. Set in 1930s Nebraska, the novel follows Antonina Rossi—known as “the Antidote,” a prairie witch who stores memories—and the Oletsky family as they endure the devastation of Black Sunday’s dust storm and the catastrophic flooding of the Republican River. Through interwoven narratives, Russell explores themes of memory, resilience, and survival amid environmental collapse, crafting a lyrical meditation on how communities confront trauma and corruption while clinging to hope.
Karen Russell is the author of six books of fiction, including the New York Times bestsellers Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove. She is a MacArthur Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She has received two National Magazine Awards for Fiction, the Shirley Jackson Award, the 2023 Bottari Lattes Grinzane Prize, and the 2024 Mary McCarthy Prize. The Antidote is a finalist for the National Book Award and a national bestseller. She serves on the board of Street Books, a mobile library for people living outdoors. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, she lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, son, and daughter.
Libraries across Nebraska will join other literary and cultural organizations in planning book discussions, activities, and events that will encourage Nebraskans to read and discuss this book. Support materials to assist with local reading/discussion activities will be available after January 1, 2026 at http://onebook.nebraska.gov. Updates and activity listings will be posted on the One Book One Nebraska Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/onebookonenebraska.
2026 will mark the twenty-second year of the One Book One Nebraska reading program, sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book. It encourages Nebraskans across the state to read and discuss one book, chosen from books written by Nebraska authors or that have a Nebraska theme or setting. The Nebraska Center for the Book invites recommendations for One Book One Nebraska book selection year-round at http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/obon-nomination.asp.
One Book One Nebraska is sponsored by Nebraska Center for the Book, Humanities Nebraska, and Nebraska Library Commission. The Nebraska Center for the Book brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at and supported by the Nebraska Library Commission.
As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”
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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.
#BookFaceFriday – Nebraska Book Award Winners
It’s a blue ribbon #BookFaceFriday!
What do all of these #BookFace picks have in common? They’re all 2025 Nebraska Book Award winners and they’ll all be featured at this weekend’s Nebraska Celebration of Books literary festival. “Creative Genius: The Art of the Nebraska Capitol” by by Susanne Shore, Kevin Moser, Drew Davies, received the Design Award. “Animal Climate Heroes!” by Alison Pearce Stevens, and illustrated by Jason Ford received the Cover & Illustration Award. “Isamu’s American Dream” by D.D. Davenport received the Fiction Award. Drew Davies, Alison Pearce Stevens, and D.D. Davenport, will be speaking at author roundtables and available for book signings at the festival.
Winners of the 2025 Nebraska Book Awards will be honored at the Nebraska Celebration of Books (NCOB) Literary Festival. Held on Saturday, November 15th, from 10:00am-5:30pm, this literary event will be on the second floor of the UNL City Campus Union and Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center in downtown Lincoln. The festival will include author roundtables, book signings, and a reception, with the awards ceremony directly after at 4:30. The ceremony will feature short acceptance speeches and readings by the winning authors and illustrators. Book award categories include fiction, nonfiction, children/young adult, poetry, and cover/design/illustration, all winning books have a Nebraska connection and were published in 2024. The ceremony will also feature the presentation of the Mildred Bennett and Jane Geske Awards. For more information about the festival and to stay up to date on the featured authors and speakers visit bookfestival.nebraska.gov.
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
If your Library needs new Windows 11 PCs, Black Friday/Cyber Monday is a great time to buy them! (Updated.)
Here are the current price leaders as of 12/1/2025.
$500 Tower Desktop PC good for Staff:
Here’s a $340 Cyber Monday Desktop PC!
My favorite is this space saving $619 Micro Desktop PC:
$350 Laptop PC with 16” Screen:
Here’s a $299 Cyber Monday Laptop PC!
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:
www.amazon.com/Ultra-Thin-Zero-Frame-Adaptive-Sync-FreeSync-Compatible/dp/B0D9HT57LK?th=1
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 has exhausted the Medica grant funds that were available for the purchase of Faronics 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. The library will need to budget $50/PC for DeepFreeze Standard. Reboot/restore software is not necessary on Staff PCs.
Andrew “Sherm” Sherman
Library Technology Support Specialist
Nebraska Library Commission
andrew.sherman@nebraska.gov
402-471-4559
Posted in General, Library Management, Technology
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Throwback Thursday: Union College Bookstore
Grab a new book this #ThrowbackThursday!
This week’s highlight is six black and white photographs of a bookstore in Union College. Textbooks fill the shelves along a wall, while other school supplies are displayed in a glass cabinet in front of the bookshelves, in this 5-1/2″ x 3-1/4″ black and white photograph. A box on top of the glass cabinet reads: “Sanford’s Blue Black Fountain Pen Ink, The Most Satisfactory”.
This image is owned and published by the Union College, Ella Johnson Crandall Memorial Library. The library at Union College is home to an archival collection of books, periodicals, audiovisual materials, photographs, artifacts, and manuscript collections related to the history of Union College and the College View community.
See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!
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.
NCompass Live: There’s Always Something Happening at the Library: Becoming a Daily Destination for Your Community
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.
Presenter: Melanie Weigel, Director, Forsyth (IL) Public Library.
Upcoming NCompass Live shows:
- 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.
The show is presented online using the GoTo Webinar online meeting service. Before you attend a session, please see the NLC Online Sessions webpage for detailed information about GoTo Webinar, including system requirements, firewall permissions, and equipment requirements for computer speakers and microphones.
Posted in Education & Training, General, Library Management, Programming
Tagged NCompLive
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#BookFaceFriday “Yellowbird, There’s a Problem” by Lee Bachand
The cat is out of the bag, it’s #BookFaceFriday!
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.
We have 4 copies for your reading group to borrow in our Book Club Kit collection.“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
Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged book club kit, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, books, Lee Bachand, Reading, Yellowbird There's a Problem
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Throwback Thursday: Snap-shots of Spalding
Happy #ThrowbackThursday!
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.
See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!
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.
Public Library Association (PLA) 2026 Conference Scholarships
PLA to award 150 Scholarships for 2026 Conference
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.
