Did you know the can came years before the opener? Safely preserving food by canning was introduced in 1807. And there is more… Doris Montag, a local storyteller and humorist, returns with the history of the Can, and its sidekick, the Opener. Assembled by her father, the entire evolution of the opener is documented from primitive cast iron gadgets to the electric opener (and knife sharpener) and all in between. It is an ordinary thing often taken for granted, and potentially nearing the end of its lifecycle. Join Doris for another “Laugh & Learn” session Thursday, April 3, at 10:30 a.m. This collection will be displayed in the library for the month of April.
Library Events
Spring Baby Time begins with a new twist Monday, March 24, at 9:15 a.m. Join us at the Solon Community Center for this six-week session of songs, rhymes, and fun for little ones 0-36 months and caregivers. Siblings welcome! Stick around after Baby Time to enjoy free entry to Tot Time from 10:00 a.m.-Noon.
Join us for an out-of-this-world adventure with our friends from the Iowa Children’s Museum Monday, March 24, at 6:00 p.m. Kids will design their own spacecraft, build a moon base, and discover how telescopes like the James Webb capture stunning images of our universe. With interactive stations and plenty of creativity, this stellar adventure will bring the wonders of space to life! Designed for elementary-aged learners. All are welcome! No registration necessary.
We’ll begin our Spring Drawing Club sessions Wednesday, March 26, at 3:45 p.m. Students in 4th-8th grades, come join us for a six-week session! Each week we will focus on learning about a different drawing skill or technique, followed by free-drawing time. Participants will enjoy a snack and artwork sharing circle at the end of each workshop. Registration is required. Participants are encouraged to attend all six sessions but may register for individual sessions as space allows. Supplies will be provided.
Library Access
Regular Library hours are Monday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. and Friday-Saturday, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Closed Sundays. Please always refer to our website calendar or call to check hours as winter weather may impact our ability to be safely open.
Please note the upcoming special hours at the Library:
The Library will be open Friday, March 28, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. to allow time for our regular monthly staff in-service after closing.
Everyone is welcome at the Library and our programs. Please contact us with access needs.
What’s new?
Learn something new or take a walk in someone else’s shoes with one of these new nonfiction titles. Browse the new shelf for more!
How to Feed the World by Vaclav Smil. An indispensable analysis of how the world really produces and consumes its food—and a scientist’s exploration of how we can successfully feed a growing population without killing the planet.
Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney. Jane Austen’s Bookshelf investigates the disappearance of Austen’s heroes—women writers who were erased from the Western canon—to reveal who they were, what they meant to Austen, and how they were forgotten. Each chapter profiles a different writer including Frances Burney, Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Lennox, Charlotte Smith, Hannah More, Elizabeth Inchbald, Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi, and Maria Edgeworth—and recounts Romney’s experience reading them, finding rare copies of their works, and drawing on connections between their words and Austen’s. Romney collects the once-famed works of these forgotten writers, physically recreating Austen’s bookshelf and making a convincing case for why these books should be placed back on the to-be-read pile of all book lovers today. Jane Austen’s Bookshelf will encourage you to look beyond assigned reading lists, question who decides what belongs there, and build your very own collection of favorite novels.
Song So Wild and Blue by Paul Lisicky. From the moment Paul Lisicky heard Joni Mitchell while growing up in New Jersey, he recognized she was that rarity among musicians—a talent whose combination of introspection, liberation, and deep musicality set her apart from any other artist of the time. As a young man, Paul was a budding songwriter who took his cues from Mitchell’s mysteries and idiosyncrasies. But as he matured, he set his guitar aside and turned to prose, a practice that would eventually take him to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and into the professional world of letters. As the decades passed, Paul’s connection to Mitchell’s artistry only deepened. Joni’s music was a constant, a guide to life and an artist’s manual in one. As Paul navigated love and heartbreak and imaginative struggles and the vicissitudes of a creative career, he would return again and again to the lessons found in Joni’s songs, to the solace and challenges that only her musicianship could give.
Written in the Waters by Tara Roberts. In this lush and lyrical memoir, she tells a story of exploration and reckoning that takes her from her home in Washington, D.C., to an exotic array of locales: Thailand and Sri Lanka, Mozambique, South Africa, Senegal, Benin, Costa Rica, and St. Croix. The journey connects her with other divers, scholars, and archaeologists, offering a unique way of understanding the 12.5 million souls carried away from their African homeland to enslavement on other continents. But for Roberts, the journey is also intensely personal. Inspired by the descendants of those who lost their lives during the Middle Passage, she decides to plumb her own family history and life as a Black woman to help make sense of her own identity.