Third DVD Rotation at the library

 The Kimball Public Library has received the third rotation of 25 DVD movies available through the Panhandle Library System.  Some of the titles are Apollo 13;  Cranford;  Gran Trino;  Grilled;  Sixth Sense;  Taffin;  World’s Fastest Indian;  Ghost and Mrs. Muir;  I Love Lucy, Season One;  Unforgiven;  Alvin and the Chipmunks;  Cheaper by the Dozen;  The Spiderwich Chronicles and for the children – Baby Beethovan, Gurious George Goes Green, and Veggietales.  The rules are one movie from this collection per family for 3 days.

Mozart's Serenade # 10 "Gran Partita" This mobile, video Garden Tour depicts our streetside garden's appearance two weeks after the previous one (#5) was videographed and published. Perennial daylilies are almost done blooming, but the bloom of Russian Sage, Purple Cone Flowers, Gloriosa Daisies, Garden Phlox, Foxgloves and Mums will continue to intensify! In shadier garden areas, the main "stars" are "Dazzler" Impatiens, "Big" Begonias, and Hostas. The "flower power" in the sunny regions is mainly due to many different kinds of trailing petunias from the following series: Wave, Easy Wave, Tidal Wave, Avalanche, Opera Supreme, Limbo, Ramblin, and the outstanding Supertunias (Citrus; Royal Velvet, Raspberry Blast, Bordeaux, Vista Silverberry, Vista Fuchsia, and Vista Bubblegum -- the very best spreading petunia!! Zinnias that are really starting to put on a "show" for us include: Uproar Rose, Zowie Yellow Flame, Coral Magellan, and the new Zahara Series (Coral Rose, Starlight Rose, Double Cherry and Double Fire.) Visit our YouTube site again by googling: kimball ne meyers gardens Thanx 4 watching our videos!

View the library's online catalog now

 To view the available books and other materials in the Kimball Public Library use:  http://alexhost4.goalexandria.com/7056688   This will take you to the Panhandle Library System Screen. 

When you click on the Panhandle Library System line or the drop box, you will see a list of libraries that are currently using the new software and have their materials ready to see.  Click on Kimball Public Library to see what we have.  I will give out more information later, but you can search the holdings now.  As mentioned in previous Library News articles, there are 17 libraries initially involved in forming the Panhandle Library System Consortium.  All of them will be on board in the next 6 months. 

              To place holds or check the status of your account you will need the user name and password.  The user is your barcode # and the password for the first time is your last name.  You may leave the password as is, or change the password.  We do not keep track of your passwords, so please use something you will remember or write it down somewhere.   The search box is set to subjects, but you can search by title author and more.

At your convenience, come in and get your cards updated with the new barcodes on them.  Your new library barcode will accepted at any library in this consortium if you are in good standing with your home library.

New library decor on outside of building

 Have you noticed the new decoration on the west end of the library?  We think it brightened up the building while promoting the library as a creative environment.  The design was the winner in the contest held by the library board a few months ago and submitted by Jessica Parkos.  This is the first of her designs.  One more will be done and put on the north end of the west room.   Thanks also to the electrical department for getting it up on the wall.

More new books for July at the library

 New Adult Fiction:  “Maine: a novel” by J. Courtney Sullivan;  “Dreams of the Dead” by Perri O’Shaughnessy;  “Quinn” by Iris Johansen;  “The Secret Mistress” by Mary Balogh;  “The Girl in the Blue Beret” by Bobbie Ann Mason;  “Then Came You” by Jennifer Weiner;  “Now Your See Her” by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge;  “Heart of Ice” by Lis Wiehl;  Kindred Spirits” by Sarah Stohmeyer;  “Farishta” by Patricia McArdle; and “Iron House” by John Hart.

New Adult Fiction:  Several books by Laura Childs – Scrapbooking mysteries and Tea Shop Mysteries and Cackleberry Club Mysteries;  “Escape” by Barbara Delinsky;  “Infernal Angels” by Loren D. Estleman;  “Against All Enemies” by Tom Clancy and Peter Telep;  and “Silent Girl” by Tess Gerritsen.

 New Large Print Fiction:  “Goodness Gracious Green” by Judy Christie;  “Vanish in Plain Sight” by Marta Perry;  “Targets Down” by Bob Hamer;  “Love Letters in the Sand” by Diann Hunt;  “The Amish Midwife” by Mindy Starns Clark;  “Those In Peril” by Wilbur Smith;  “Beyond All Measure” by Dorothy Love;  “Friendship Bread” by Darien Gee and many more.

Overdrive eBook service at the library

 Public libraries are striving to keep up with all the technology that has been flying off the shelves while trying to stay within budget restraints.  The Kimball Public Library has subscribed to the OverDrive program since November 2010.  We are pleased about how many of you are taking advantage of this program.  OverDrive is a major distributor of eBooks and audiobooks in the Americas.  They started out in 1986, and in 2002 began offering subscriptions for public libraries to access their collection and offer it to the patrons.  Through a local library, a patron can access a few thousand books in downloadable form to computers and many mobile devices.  They are continually working to update the compatibility with more devices and are planning to work with the Kindle devices later this year.  To browse the offerings and see what devices are currently being supported go to http://www.overdrive.com/ OR http://nebraska.lib.overdrive.com

 If you are interested in accessing the eBooks and audiobooks, ask the library to sign you up. 

There are close to 70 libraries in Nebraska partnering with OverDrive.  The eBook collection began one year ago and there have been 16,762 checkouts on 1,740 titles.

New audio books at the library

 Forty-eight new compact disc audio books were added to the collection.  A few of the titles are:

“Deja vu” by Fern Michaels; “Tick Tock” & “Toys” by James Patterson;  “Quicksilver” by Amanda Quick;  “Savor the Moment” &”Ever After” by Nora Roberts;  “44 Charles Street” by Danielle Steel;  “Luciano’s Luck” by Jack Higgins;  “Devious” by Lisa Jackson;  “White Satin” & “Eve” by Iris Johansen;  “The Broken Gun” by Louis L’Amour;  “Save Me” by Lisa Scottoline;  “Marrying Daisy Bellamy” by Susan Wiggs and many more.

There aren’t any new books ready to list this week, so will just remind you about all the other things the library provides.  The library has DVD’s, 30 or more different magazines, newspapers, games, computers, and a quiet cool place to come and relax.

Library software progress at the library

 The library staff and many volunteers are steadily working through the process of changing all the barcodes on the books to match the new software called Alexandria.  We are on the down hill side of all the fiction.  We plan to have the web address for home use available by the end of July.  Thanks everyone for your patience with this major change.  We will also be changing your patron barcodes over to the new software soon.

A big thank you to all the volunteers that have been helping the library staff with the re-barcoding project:  Shirley Kinnison, JoAnn Knapp, Sharon Randall, Dorothy Griffith, Lorri Norberg, Emma Simpson, Halley Simpson, Jordan McDowell, Kelli Spires, Carol Walker, Karen McGown, Rosa-Ellen Williams, Cheryl Heidemann and Virginia McConzille.  If I forgot anyone, I apologize.  We would not be very far along with the project without all of you.

New books for July at the library

 New fiction:  “The Delta Solution” by Patrick Robinson;  “Alice Bliss” by Laura Harrington;  “Born To Die” by Lisa Jackson;  “The Girl in the Green Raincoat” by Laura Lippman;  “Best Staged Plans” by Clair Cook;  “Pacific Glory” by P. T. Deutermann;  “The Lake of Dreams” by Kim Edwards;  “Final Justice at Adobe Wells” by Stephen Bly; “Watch Me Die” by Erica Spindler;  “Heat Wave” by Nancy Thayer;  “Smokin’ Seventeen” by Janet Evanovich;  Tigerlily’s Orchids” by Ruth Rendell;  “A Young Wife” by Pam Lewis;  “When Passions Rule” by Johanna Lindsey;  “Folly Beach” by Dorothea Benton Frank;  “One Summer” by David Baldacci;  “Breaking Silence” by Linda Castillo;  “The Kingdom” by Clive Cussler;  “From Barcelona, With Love” by Elizabeth Adler;  and “Summer Rental” by Mary Kay Andrews and “Trespasser” by Paul Doiron.

Mozart's "Magic Flute" Overture This Video Garden Tour of our street-side cottage gardens was "shot" using drive-by videography on a hazy, windy late morning. This video shows the majority of over three hundred different varieties/cultivars of trees, shrubs, flowers, ornamentals, vegetables and herbs that we have planted in our front yard, backyard, alley, street-side, and two rock gardens with water-features. Most of the 2, 000+ flowering annuals are in hundreds of different kinds and sizes of mobile planters/containers such as window boxes, hanging baskets, tubs and pots. We make our own soil-less potting mix using the following recipe: 1 moistened, crumbled-up 2.2 cubic foot bale of sphagnum peat moss; 2 gallons of perlite (or vermiculite); 2 gallons of very fine bark and 2 gallons of compost/humus. When thoroughly mixed together, this 75% peat moss mixture will yield over 27 gallons (or about 6 five-gallon bucketfuls) of pro-grade potting mix -- which we recycle from year to year. When we plant our home-grown seedlings in the various containers, we liberally sprinkle the top surface of the potting "soil" with Osmocote (14-14-14) slow-release plant food/fertilizer. Then on a weekly basis, we fertilize the containers with an aqueous solution (1 tablespoon per gallon) of a 15-30-15 water-soluble fertilizer. On every hot, windy day, we MUST water the hanging baskets and smaller containers. Those's are our primary secrets for a very floriferous paradise or "Garden of Eden." This may seem like a lot of "work" to you, but for us, it's playful fun, and therapeutic exercise. Plus! -- gardening keeps us out of gambling halls, saloons, and doctor's offices!! Thank you for watching our (46) videos. Visit our YouTube Channel again by simply googling: kimball ne meyers gardens