Welcome to Our Home on the Web!
The library is serving as one of the web video recording locations for “2012 Campaign Connection Voter Voices”. A unique election year project of NET News (Nebraska Public Television & Radio), in partnership with the NE Library Commission. NET News is gathering your thoughts, perspectives and questions to share with the U.S. Senate candidates (and the rest of Nebraska) on television, radio, web and social media. Be sure to stop by to record your video! It’s really easy to do. 🙂
We’re on our Winter Hours now—
Monday –Thursday 10 AM – 8 PM; Friday 10 AM – 6 PM, and Saturday 10 AM – 2 PM.
You have more hours to be able to stop in and check out our newest books, use our computers, get help with your Kindle or other e-books, get more booksyou’re your children for Reading Counts at the CCPS, use our Cricut machine, and a host of other things to do at the library.
October is National Reading Group Month, and the Central City Public Library is going to feature a special reading event for people who love mysteries. The library is borrowing 16 copies of the book “The Number One Ladies Detective Agency” by Alexander McCall Smith. These copies will be available for people to check out and read after September 12. There will be a book discussion/mystery event on Thursday, October 11, at 7 PM in the meeting room. This series is about a lady detective in Botswana, Africa, today, although it could be happening right around the corner as well. She and her secretary/assistant are the main characters and they are a fun study in character. The discussion will center around the way the author depicts the characters and setting, and how this kind of mystery differs from the “hard-core” detective stories. Join us for some refreshments as we take a look at a different kind of mystery series. Stop in and reserve a book today. We’ll give you a call as soon as they arrive.
Preschool Storytime activities begin September 18th. The library will have story times at the Nebraska Christian Preschool, the Merrick County Child Development Center and at the library on Tuesday mornings. Check with the library for more details or to register for the library group.
The library is currently accepting applications for the position of Student Aide! High school students, 15 years of age and older, are eligible to apply. The job averages 8 hours per week (includes Saturdays). Applications may be picked up at the library through August 31st. Please contact the library with any questions.
What you would be doing: Shelving books, assisting in the youth department as needed, straightening shelves, checking items in and out, etc.
An example of the work schedule would be:
Saturdays 10 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Tuesdays & Thursdays 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (hours could vary based on school schedule)
Come in and check out one of our eReaders! New books downloaded to the Nook: ” The Light Between Oceans” by M.L. Stedman, “Slammed” & “Point of Retreat” by Colleen Hoover, “A Sweethaven Summer” by Courtney Walsh, “Where We Belong” by Emily Giffin, and **”Off Balance: A Memoir” by Dominique Moceanu. ~~ New books downloaded to the Sony: “The Sandcastle Girls” by Chris Bohjalian, “The Next Best Thing” by Jennifer Weiner, “Beautiful Ruins” by Jess Walter and “Gold” by Chris Cleave.
**”Off Balance: A Memoir” by Dominque Moceanu:
But medals, murder plots, drugs, and daring escapes aside (all of which figure into Moceanu’s incredible journey), the most unique aspect of her life is the family secret that Moceanu discovers, opening a new and unexpected chapter in her adult life. A mysterious letter from a stranger reveals that she has a second sister—born with a physical disability and given away at birth—who has nonetheless followed in Moceanu’s footsteps in an astonishing way.
A multilayered memoir that transcends the world of sports, Off Balance will touch anyone who has ever dared to dream of a better life.
Tuesday, July 17th at 9:30 p.m., the library is having a “Family Star-Gazing Night” event at the Central City High School Stadium. Be sure to come and look at the skies through a large telescope and sky binoculars! Ross Dinwiddie will also be guiding everyone’s view of the stars. Everyone is invited. Should be very interesting! 🙂
BOOK REVIEW
By Ellen Campbell
I’ve just finished reading a book that I found so intensely interesting and well-written that I felt led to recommend it to others.
It is one of author David McCullough’s excellent books, The Great Bridge. Thinking it was McCullough’s newest after reading a newspaper review, I requested it at our library. Instead, I found it was copyrighted in 1972, but has been republished in 2012 with some additional notes. I believe I’ve read every one of his other books, but missed this one the first time around. His books are all documentaries, thoroughly researched, but they read like novels.
The Great Bridge is the story of engineer John Roebling who had the vision for this bridge (the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time) spanning the East River between Brooklyn and New York City. He drew the original plans and conceived of ways to do the job, but met with a freak fatal accident when the work was barely begun. His son, engineer Washington Roebling, took over the building of the bridge, which took fourteen years to construct, 1869 to 1883. If it had not been for the son’s skill and courage as well as his wife’s dedication, the bridge would never have been built. It met with opposition from some politicians and newspaper editors from the outset, and there were many delays.
One of the very worst problems was in the early stages of building the caissons that had to be sunk clear down to bedrock many feet below the surface. The mysterious disorder called “the bends” sickened a number of employees who had to descend to the bottom to work. No one was familiar with it at the time, though deep-sea divers encountered the same phenomenon later.
Chief Engineer Washington Roebling himself succumbed to it and remained in ill health the rest of his life. For the last few years of construction he didn’t even appear at the worksite. Instead, he sat in an upper window of his nearby house watching the proceedings through a telescope. Amazingly, from that remote supervision, when the sub-engineers brought problems to him he was able to figure out exactly how to solve them.
There are many interesting side issues mentioned in the book, including interaction with the infamous Tweed Gang. I was intrigued with it all, even the engineering diagrams. The book holds one’s interest through all the criticisms of the bridge, the outright skullduggery, accidents, wire fraud, and the fascinating description of spinning the suspension cables. My own emotions included fear and apprehension, then pure joy and exhilaration when the bridge was finished.
There was a huge celebration when the great bridge was dedicated on May 24, 1883 with special guests President Chester Arthur and Governor Grover Cleveland. Now, each time I catch a glimpse of the Brooklyn Bridge on a New York TV show or in a photograph, I recognize it and have a feeling of pride and ownership.