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Category Archives: General
Throwback Thursday: Library and Reading Room, State Industrial School, Kearney
Are you reading this week #ThrowbackThursday?
This 6-1/2″ x 4″ black and white plate from around 1916 shows the library and reading room in the State Industrial School located in Kearney, Nebraska. A number of boys in uniform sit in chairs reading while others look at books in wooden bookcases that line one long wall. The remodeling and refurbishing of the library in the 1915-1916 biennium (at a cost of $287.40) included new bookcases. At the end of the biennium, the collection included “1,080 volumes of choice literature.
This image is published and owned by the Nebraska Library Commission. The collections include material on the history of libraries in the state of Nebraska, items from the 1930s related to the Nebraska Public Library Commission bookmobile, as well as items showcasing the history of Nebraska’s state institutions.
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.
#BookFaceFriday “Unthinkable” by Helen Thomson
This #BookFace will blow your mind!
Free your mind, and the rest will follow. If you love learning through reading or just nonfiction books in general check out this week’s #BookFaceFriday, “Unthinkable” by Helen Thomson, it’s a nonfiction journey through some of the biggest mysteries of the human brain. You can find this title as an Audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, it’s a part of the “Talk Nerdy to Me” curated collection in Overdrive.
“Thomson has a gift for making the complex and strange understandable and relatable. Oliver Sacks is noted as an inspiration and, indeed, this book will appeal to his many fans.”
—Library Journal (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. 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? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged Book Covers, bookfacefriday, Helen Thomson, libraries, nonfiction, OverDrive, Reading, Unthinkable
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Throwback Thursday: “When the Frost is on the Corn”
Autumn is finally settling in #ThrowbackThursday!
Dated 1908, “When the Frost is on the Corn” is a song written by George Bigger, a barber who lived in David City, Nebraska. The sheet music lists the words as being by Merlin Baker, music by George Bigger, and arrangement by Emery Marshall.
Verse 1:
When the skies are turning gray,
Then my tho’ts begin to stray,
To that home down on the farm where I was born;
And my sweetheart’s face I see,
As I hear her say to me:
“You’ll come back, dear, when the frost is on the corn.”
When the autumn leaves are flutt’ring o’er the meadow,
And the robins for the south begin to fly;
Then in memory I roam back to you, and home, sweet home,
I’ll come back dear, in the happy bye and bye.
When the frost is on the corn,
And from all the autumn morn,
Mem’ries come that call me back, no more to roam;
I will come and see you, dear,
In the fading of the year,
When the frost is on the corn, I’ll come back home.
Verse 2:
Many years have passed away,
Since that happy summer day,
When we parted in the freshness of life’s morn;
And tho’ I am growing old,
Still my heart is never cold;
I’ll come back, dear, when the frost is on the corn.
Time’s cold hand has left the frost upon my forehead,
But in mem’ry still your smiling face I see;
And thro’ all the cruel years, still your voice my fancy hears:
“When the frost is on the corn, come home to me.”
When the frost is on the corn,
And from all the autumn morn,
Mem’ries come that call me back, no more to roam;
I will come and see you, dear,
In the fading of the year,
When the frost is on the corn, I’ll come back home.
This image and musical performance is published and owned by the Polley Music Library (Lincoln City Libraries, Lincoln, Nebraska), which contains just over two hundred fifty pieces of Nebraska sheet music, as well as concert programs, manuscripts, theatre programs, photographs, and other Nebraska memorabilia which features an element of music. You can also listen to a dozen performances of selections from this music collection performed by local musicians.
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.
Young Readers Invited to Write to Favorite Authors
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 2, 2024
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tessa Timperley
402-471-3434
800-307-2665
Young Readers Invited to Write to Favorite Authors
Young readers in grades 4-12 are invited to write a personal letter to an author for the Nebraska Letters about Literature (LAL) contest, a state reading and writing promotion program. The letter can be to any author (living or dead) from any genre: fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic – explaining how that author’s work changed the student’s view of the world. Submissions must be completed online October 1 – December 31, 2024. Nebraska Letters About Literature is coordinated and sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book and the Nebraska Library Commission, with support from Lincoln City Libraries, Francie & Finch Bookshop, and Humanities Nebraska.The Nebraska Center for the Book’s panel of judges will select a winner and an honorable mention per competition level (Level I for grades 4-6, Level II for grades 7-8, and Level III for grades 9-12) to be honored in a proclamation-signing ceremony at the state capitol during National Library Week in April 2025. Their winning letters will be placed in the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors at Bennett Martin Public Library in Lincoln. Nebraska winners and honorable mentions will receive state prizes.
Teachers, librarians, and parents can download the contest guidelines, free teaching materials, information on the online entry system, and past winning letters on the Nebraska Center for the Book website. An informational NCompass Live webinar will air on October 23rd, discussing this year’s contest, the submission process, and judging criteria. For more information contact Nebraska Center for the Book.
The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and 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 supported by the national Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and 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 .
Bess Streeter Aldrich Book Available on BARD!
“Mother Mason” by Nebraska author Bess Streeter Aldrich 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.
Molly Mason, 52, is a devoted wife, mother, and reliable standby for every organization in town. In fact, Mother Mason never has time to do just as she likes. Then one day she makes a headlong dash for liberty–and look out!
“A novel of home happiness, which, although it does not sentimentalize, will make many a family smile over its own humor and vicissitudes.” — Literary Review
TBBS borrowers can request “Mother Mason” DBC02032 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 Miseducation of Cameron Post” by Emily M. Danforth
This #BookFace is outstanding in its field!
Freed between the lines! That’s the theme of this year’s #BannedBooksWeek. We are celebrating with a banned #BookFace! The Nebraska Library Commission supports readers and the freedom to read so we make sure our various collections reflect that. “The Miseducation of Cameron Post: A Novel” by Emily M. Danforth (Balzer + Bray, 2013) has been banned or challenged in the US since 2014, less than a year after it’s publication, cited for “inappropriate language, not appropriate for middle school age students.” It won The Montana Book Award and was a finalist for both the Morris Award and a Lambda Literary award. Emily Danforth was born in Montana and received her Ph.D in English-Creative Writing from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln! A book is considered challenged when calls are made for it to be banned or removed from the public’s access. This is one of many banned or challenged titles NLC has available in our Book Club Kit Collection, titles like The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Looking For Alaska by John Green, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, Beloved by Toni Morrison, and the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling, just to name a few. This week’s #BookFace and other banned books can be found on the NLC Book Club Kit webpage. This service allows libraries and school librarians to “check out” multiple copies of a book without adding to their permanent collections, or budgets. NLC also has several banned or challenged titles available to our Nebraska OverDrive Libraries.
“This finely crafted, sophisticated coming-of-age debut novel is multilayered, finessing such issues as loss, first love, and friendship. An excellent read for both teens and adults.”
— School Library Journal (starred review)
You can find more information about Banned Books Week and the fight against censorship at ALA.org/advocacy/bbooks! What are you doing to celebrate Banned Books Week? Let us know!
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 Banned Books Week, Book Club Kits, Book Covers, bookface, bookfacefriday, Lois Lowry, Reading, The Giver
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Throwback Thursday: U.P. Depot and Motor Car, Valley, Nebraska
It’s another #ThrowbackThursday!
This 5-1/4″ x 3-1/2″ colorized photograph shows the east side of the Valley Union Pacific depot with local passengers boarding the McKeen Motor Car for a trip to Omaha. The luggage car on the end held suitcases, luggage, boxes and mail. The McKeen Motor Car made two trips a day to the city. The car was built in Omaha, in early 1906, at the Union Pacific yards located where the Qwest Center is today. The motor car, invented by William R. McKeen for the U.P., was used to carry passengers. The car ran on gasoline which made it much cheaper than a steam engine. Nicknamed the “knife nose”, the cars were maroon enamel over a steel body. The motor car was discontinued in the mid-1930s and the depot was demolished in the 1980s.
This image is published and owned by the Valley Public Library. The Friends of the Valley Public Library, Valley, Nebraska, have digitized and described a collection of photographs depicting businesses and members of the local population between the late 1800s and 1900s in Valley.
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: NLC Grants for 2025
Learn more about the NLC Grants for 2025 on this week’s NCompass Live webinar on Wednesday, September 25 at 10am CT.
Nebraska Accredited Public Libraries and State-run Institutions! Do you have an idea for a program or project you would like to see funded? Apply for an NLC Grant!
The Nebraska Library Commission has made funding available for four grants for 2025: Continuing Education & Training, Internship, Library Improvement, and Youth Grants for Excellence. Don’t let your library miss out on these opportunities!
Grant applications for all 2025 NLC grants opened on September 20 and will be due November 15, 2024.
Join Christa Porter, Sally Snyder, and Holli Duggan, from the Nebraska Library Commission’s Library Development Team, as they provide an overview of the grants, including eligibility requirements and grant guidelines, the application process and grant review, timelines and deadlines. They will also share some tips on writing effective grants.
Upcoming NCompass Live shows:
- Oct. 2 – Pretty Sweet Tech: Digital Navigators & Digital Equity in Nebraska
- Oct. 9 – NO NCOMPASS LIVE – ENJOY NLA!
- Oct. 16 – Dragons at the Library: An Exciting New Reading Program
- Oct. 23 – Letters About Literature 2024
- Oct. 30 – Pretty Sweet Tech
- Nov. 6 – Summer Reading Program 2025: Color Our World
- Nov. 13 – Nebraska Open Meetings Act: 2024 Overview and Update
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 Books & Reading, Education & Training, General, Grants, Information Resources, Library Management, Now hiring @ your library, Preservation, Programming, Public Library Boards of Trustees, Public Relations, Technology, Youth Services
Tagged Continuing Education, Internship Grants, library improvement gratns, NCompLive, Youth Grants for Excellence
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#BookFaceFriday “Haven’s Wake” by Ladette Randolph & “Hell or High Water” by Joy Castro
When one #BookFace closes, another one opens.
There’s nothing better than supporting Nebraska’s great literary talent by reading their books! This week’s #BookFaceFriday highlights two great Nebraska authors! “Haven’s Wake” by Ladette Randolph and “Hell or High Water” by Joy Castro, both novels are available as Book Club Kits for your library. Find more titles using the Nebraska-Related books located in the Browse Options section of our Book Club Kit Collection which includes fiction, nonfiction, adult, and kids/YA titles. Both “Haven’s Wake” and “Hell or High Water” can also be checked out through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries.
“With prose that vivifies the intricate patchwork of characters and captures the landscape’s simplicity, Haven’s Wake explores ‘the various attempts to explain the unexplainable,’ including family, faith, and death.”
—Katharine Fronk, Booklist Online
“A terrific mystery, but Hell or High Water is more than just a mystery; it’s a heartfelt examination of a second America–poor but undaunted–that was swept under the rug but refuses to stay there . . . I can’t wait to see what Joy Castro does next.”
– Dennis Lehane, New York Times bestselling author of Mystic River
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. 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? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Throwback Thursday: 1906 Football Team
It’s football season #ThrowbackThursday!
This 9-1/2″ x 7-1/4″ black and white photograph shows the Nebraska State Normal School football team at Kearney, in 1906. It shows sixteen men, most wearing football apparel. One of the seated players holds a football marked ’06 and a white dog in the lap of another. This team compiled a record of 3-4-2 on the season, scoring a total of 28 points. The coach was Wynfred E. Allen.
This image is published and owned by the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Archives, Calvin T. Ryan Library. UNK was founded in 1905 as the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney, became Nebraska State Teachers College in 1921, was renamed Kearney State College in 1963, and joined the Nebraska University system in 1991. The collection shows faculty, students, buildings and activities from the first dozen years of the school’s existence.
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.
Shortlist for 2025 One Book One Nebraska Announced
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 18, 2024
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tessa Timperley
402-471-3434
800-307-2665
Shortlist for 2025 One Book One Nebraska Announced
What book will all Nebraskans be encouraged to read in 2025? We will all find out on October 12th at the Nebraska Celebration of Books (N.COB) literary festival. A collection of nonfiction essays about Nebraska, a novel set in 1950’s about personal journeys, a historical fiction novel about the Pacific theater in World War II —all stories with ties to Nebraska—are the finalists for the 2025 One Book One Nebraska statewide reading program. The finalists are:
- My Nebraska: The Good, the Bad, and the Husker by Roger Welsch, The Globe Pequot Press, 2006.
- The Lincoln Highway: A Novel by Amor Towles, Viking Press, 2021.
- The Long March Home: A World War II Novel of the Pacific by Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee, Revell, 2023.
The One Book One Nebraska reading program is sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, Humanities Nebraska, and the Nebraska Library Commission. It encourages Nebraskans across the state to read and discuss the same book, chosen from books written by Nebraska authors or that have a Nebraska theme or setting. A Nebraska Center for the Book committee selected the three finalists from a list of nineteen titles nominated by Nebraskans. In the coming weeks, Nebraska Center for the Book board members will vote on the 2025 selection.
Nebraskans are invited to take part in the Nebraska Celebration of Books (N.COB) Literary Festival where the choice for the 2025 One Book One Nebraska will be announced. Held on Saturday, October 12th, from 10:00am-5:30pm, in the Regency Suite, Heritage Room, and Swanson Auditorium located on the second floor of the UNL City Campus Union, this event aims to celebrate Nebraska’s literary heritage and contemporary authors. The festival will honor the 20th anniversary of the One Book One Nebraska program with a panel of past authors, in addition it will feature Nebraska authors, a SLAM poetry showcase, book vendors, and presentation of the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Nebraska Book Awards, Mildred Bennett Award and Jane Geske Award.
This year’s One Book One Nebraska selection, Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir of a Crime by Debora Harding, will be featured with a memoir writing workshop facilitated by Lucy Atkins from Larksong Writers Place. See http://onebook.nebraska.gov or https://www.facebook.com/OneBookOneNebraska for more information about ongoing 2024 One Book One Nebraska activities.
The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and 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 supported by the national Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and 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.
Children’s Book Now Available on BARD!
“Sweet Sister Ella” by Nebraska author Rosekrans Hoffman 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.
A neglected older brother plots to recapture his mother’s attention, in this original tale of sibling rivalry. Recommended for grades 2 – 4.
TBBS borrowers can request “All is But a Beginning: Youth Remembered, 1881-1901” DCB02010 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 Underground Library” by Jennifer Ryan
Take a look, it’s in a #BookFaceFriday!
This week’s #BookFaceFriday is all about celebrating Library Card Sign Up Month! Join in with “The Underground Library: A Novel” by Jennifer Ryan (Ballantine Books, 2024). Libraries- More than Meets the Eye is this year’s theme. What can you do to help your community celebrate? Get out to your library, sign up for a library card, tell someone what you love about your library, and tell your local library staff how much you appreciate them! It’s that easy. This title is available as a an eBook and Audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries, and can be found in the specially curated collection “Library Card Sign Up Month,” which is filled with library themed titles.
“This uplifting and inspirational story is perfect for readers looking for heroic home front World War II novels with connections to actual events.”
— Historical Novel Society
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: Art Deco Elevator
Going up, #ThrowbackThursday?
This 8″ x 10″ black and white acetate negative shows the lobby of a building, decorated in Art Deco style. The floor is tiled in a bold angled pattern, and the walls are made of marble. At the back of the room are doors with ornate metal work, and two elevators can be seen on the left side of the lobby.
This image is published and owned by the The Durham Museum. The William Wentworth Collection at The Durham Museum consists of 4663 negatives of images that document life in Omaha, Nebraska from 1934 through 1950. William Wentworth worked as both a freelancer and a commercial photographer, providing a unique view of architecture, businesses, and community life in Omaha.
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.
Posted in General, Nebraska Memories, Preservation
Tagged acetate negative, Omaha Nebraska, The Durham Museum, Throwback Thursday
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What’s Up Doc? New State Agency Publications at the Nebraska Library Commission
New state agency publications have been received at the Nebraska Library Commission for July and August, 2024. Included are Annual Reports from the Nebraska Department of Health and human Services, reports from the Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts, the Nebraska State Treasurer, the Nebraska Department of Revenue, the Nebraska Department of Transportation, and the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement System, to name a few.
With the exception of University of Nebraska Press titles, items are available for immediate viewing and printing by clicking directly in the .pdf below.
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 Mary Sauers, Government Information Services Librarian; or contact Bonnie Henzel, State Documents Staff Assistant.
Posted in Books & Reading, Education & Training, General, Information Resources, What's Up Doc / Govdocs
Tagged books, GovDocs, Reading
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Friday Reads : Flight Patterns, by Karen White
I recently picked up Flight Patterns, by Karen White, at a library book sale. And while the author was new to me, what really drew my attention was not just the description of the story, but of the story’s location: Apalachicola, Florida. Apalach, as it’s known to it’s residents, is a town not far from where I grew up and that offers some of the most beautiful homes, gorgeous beaches, and best seafood in the entire South. Flight Patterns tells the story of a woman coming home to the Apalach family she left behind – and to the woman she always wanted to be. In the telling of this woman’s story, Ms. White has done such a magnificent job of describing the beauty of the town, area and people, that it brought back many fond memories of summer days there with my family. As per my usual habit, I both read and listened to this title, and was riveted from beginning to end, as I’m sure you will be too!
Georgia Chambers has spent her life sifting through other people’s pasts while trying to forget her own. But then her work as an expert on fine china – especially Limoges and the mystery surrounding a particular pattern – requires her to return to the one place she swore she’d never revisit: her home town.
It’s been 13 years since Georgia left her family home on the coast of Florida, and nothing much has changed except that there are fewer oysters and more tourists. She finds solace in seeing her grandfather still toiling away with his bees in the apiary where she spent much of her childhood, but encountering her estranged mother and sister leaves her rattled. Seeing them after all this time makes Georgia realize that something has been missing – and unless she finds a way to heal these rifts, she will forever be living vicariously through other people’s remnants. To embrace her own life – mistakes and all – she will have to find the courage to confront the ghosts of her past and the secrets she was forced to keep. **Synopsis courtesy of Audible
Throwback Thursday: Panorama View of McCook, Nebraska
Look at this view #ThrowbackThursday!
Dated 1923, this 3 x 5 inch colorized postcard panorama view of McCook, Nebraska with the C.B.&Q. Railroad train yard in the foreground of the photo as the picture was taken from the South facing North. Photo by Fearn, published by M.L. Rishel, card numbered on the front “11235”.
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.
Nebraska Author Biography is Now Available on BARD!
“All is But a Beginning: Youth Remembered, 1881-1901” by John G. Neihardt with introduction by Dick Cavett 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.
Nebraska poet, teacher, historian, and Indian scholar here provides a history of his youth, relating childhood experiences and outside influences (family, friends, and teachers) to the development of his life and his struggle to be a poet. He paints a realistic picture of growing up in the Midwest at the end of the 19th century, and of the people and events instrumental in shaping his life.
TBBS borrowers can request “All is But a Beginning: Youth Remembered, 1881-1901” DCB02033 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 Book of Unknown Americans” by Cristina Henríquez
Did you know it’s #BookFaceFriday?
Don’t blame us for judging a book by its cover – this one was just asking to become this week’s #BookFace! But sometimes those first impressions prove to be correct; “The Book of Unknown Americans” by Cristina Henríquez, was “named a New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book, an NPR Great Read, The Daily Beast’s Novel of the Year, and a Mother Jones, Oprah.com, School Library Journal, and BookPage Best Book of the Year.” This title is available as a part of our Book Club Kit collection, and also as an eBook and Audiobook through Nebraska OverDrive Libraries. Will your book club enjoy it? Only one way to know for sure…
“There’s an aura of benevolence in these pages…. Henríquez’s feat is to make the reader feel at home amid these good, likable people.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“Unfailingly well written and entertaining…. [Henríquez’s] stories illuminate the lives behind the current debates about Latino immigration.”
– The New York Times Book 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. 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? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!
Throwback Thursday: Silence Required
Quiet down, it’s #ThrowbackThursday!
This 5″ x 3″ card explains Whitin Library’s policy on noise in its reading rooms and corridors. The front side lists the offenses and their consequences, and the back lists the student’s signature and the date of their warning. Doane College built Whitin Library in 1894. It served as the campus library until 1970, when the college constructed a new library.
This image is published and owned by the Doane University Library, which is home to a vast archival collection containing a variety of items related to the history of Doane University. Founded by Thomas Doane in 1872, Doane College became Doane University in May 2016 and is the oldest private liberal arts and sciences college/university in Nebraska.
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.
