Spice of the Month Club

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Are you bored with your cooking? Want to broaden your repertoire and try some new flavors? Spice up your life with our Spice Club! Each month you’ll get a sample of a different spice, a brief commentary, and a recipe to try featuring that spice. You are welcome to try the recipe or get creative and develop your own idea for using the spice.

Once you have created your culinary masterpiece at home, you are welcome to share photos of your successes (and fails), opinions, tips, and love (or not) of the spice of the month on the Library’s Facebook page using: @sarglib. Or you can always email your pictures and thoughts to sargentlibrary@gmail.com

Come into the library today to get your free spice sample.

Organizing the Picture Books by Subject

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This summer I organized the children’s picture books by topic/subject. Trying to look through 900 books only organized by author can be a daunting task, Arranging by subject helps the kids narrow down to the areas where they are most interested.

The most popular categories this summer were the Animals, Humor, and Biography/Science sections.

I expected “humor” to be a popular category, but I was surprised at the popularity of the non-fiction categories. The future for these kids looks bright!

Great Adventure Awaits At Your Library!

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Our children’s summer reading program is quickly approaching. This year we have a BINGO card for you to complete. For each BINGO you get from June 1 through July 31, you will earn a prize and an entry for the Grand Prize – a Boy’s or Girl’s bicycle!

If your child is participating in “1000 Books Before Kindergarten,” they can earn prizes from both programs!

BINGO cards are available at the library or can be downloaded here.

Also, be sure to join us on Saturday mornings, June 8, 15, 22, and 29 for reading, crafts, and games from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

New Activities at the Library

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Exciting things are happening at the library. Recently we received funding to purchase activity tables and games.

For the youngest members of our community, we bought a children’s art/activity table. This allows the kids to draw and create pictures. We also purchased some Duplo Legos and Magnetic Tiles for creative learning. These items will keep the kids busy while their parents are using a computer or browsing for books.

For older children and adults, we purchased a puzzle board. This means we have a community jigsaw puzzle set up in the library where patrons can come in and add just a few pieces to the puzzle, or work on completing it. We have also added some basic Legos for the older kids or adults.

So be sure to stop in and see our new furniture and activities. We want the library to be a fun, active place to visit.

This project is supported in part by Marjorie Owen Elliott memorial funds and by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the Nebraska Library Commission.

1000 Books Before Kindergarten Program

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The Sargent Library is excited to present the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program. It’s as simple as it sounds—make a goal to read 1,000 books to your child before Kindergarten. This program has been launched in libraries across the country as an effort to increase the development of early literacy skills in young children. Reading aloud helps develop children’s language skills and imaginations. The most important predictor of school success is being read to at home by parents or caregivers during early childhood.

1,000 Books Before Kindergarten is a fun, free way to start your child on the path to success. 1,000 books may seem like a lot, but if you read one book each night, you will reach your goal in less than 3 years. Children can participate from birth until they start Kindergarten. Stop by the library to register and pick up a reading log and free book bag to start your first 100 books with your child. There is a prize for every 100 books completed. All children from Sargent and surrounding communities are welcome to participate. Happy reading.

 
For more information, contact sargentlibrary@gmail.com or (308) 527-4241.

Doris Gill Memorial funds partially funded this project. In addition, this program is sponsored by the Nebraska Library Commission and funded in part with state funds allocated through the Nebraska Legislature.

Accreditation Accomplished

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Library director, Gayle Mattox, and the library board are pleased to announce that the Sargent Township Library is now accredited with the Nebraska Library Commission at the bronze level. This is an accomplishment to be proud of and to celebrate. Of the nine public libraries in Custer County, only Sargent and Broken Bow are currently accredited.

There are a number of steps required to becoming accredited.

First, the library director needs to be certified by taking at least 45 hours of continuing education classes every three years. The library board also must become certified by collectively taking 20 hours of continuing education classes every three years.

Next, the library is required to develop a Community Needs Response Plan. Our planning committee consisted of five members of the community who surveyed Sargent to learn the characteristics and needs of our area. We also looked at the strengths and weaknesses of the library. After compiling our information, we developed a five year plan on how our library could help address some of these community issues.

Finally, the Nebraska Library commission has a list of 67 guidelines that are helpful for excellent library service. We didn’t have to meet every guideline, but each standard is worth a certain number of points. In order to be certified at the bronze level, we needed 175 points.

There are many benefits of library accreditation. The first is of course, bragging rights. We will also get some additional state aid – not a large amount, but every bit helps. The biggest advantage will be that we are now eligible for more grants. Our facilities are over 100 years old, and hopefully we will be able to get some grants to make improvements.

Thanks to the director, board, and community members for all of the work required to make this happen. We had great teamwork.

Bright and Beautiful

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Have you seen the beautiful, new lamppost in front of the library? The library board was concerned about how dark and shadowy our building was at night. Safety issues needed to be addressed as well as the need to see more clearly.  The result is this beautiful lamp. Joann Mosier Memorial funds funded our project, and a grant from the Custer County Foundation helped with the electrical installation. Thank you to everyone involved.

New lamppost in front of the library.

Experience the Joy of Audiobooks

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People frequently say they don’t listen to audiobooks because they can’t focus on the story. That feeling is understandable. Listening can be difficult, especially if there are multiple events happening in your life. However, when you find the right book, listening is effortless and fun. Audiobooks make time go faster when you have a long commute or when doing tasks around the house. Here are some ideas to improve your experience.

1.Listen to a kid’s book.  Just because you are an adult doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy a good adventure story written for children. It is usually easier to focus on a more uncomplicated plot.

2 Listen to a book that you have enjoyed in the past.  You won’t have to spend a lot of mental energy trying to figure out certain characters in the book because you are already familiar with them. Simply enjoy the story.

3. Spend the first chapter just listening – with no distractions. Sometimes, I have to start the book with nothing but listening – no multitasking just listening. Then after the first chapter, I am hopefully wrapped up in the story, and focusing on the narrator is easier.

4. Choose your books based on the narrator.  Some narrators are easier to listen to than others. One of my favorite audio performances was “To Kill a Mockingbird” with Sissy Spacek as the narrator. That was definitely a book that I couldn’t put down.

5. Try different genres. Sometimes you will enjoy a physical book in the thriller/suspense category, and find that perhaps when listening, you prefer romance or non-fiction.  Just experiment and discover what works for you.

There are over 24,000 audiobooks available for free on the Libby app. Download some today and experience the joy of reading. Contact the library if you need a card number

Libby App for Audio Books
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