Sunday, December 30, 2012

2013 Gardening Series is Coming!

We know it seems like winter has just begun but it is never too early to start thinking about spring!

The Homer garden group along with the Homer Community Library is preparing another three-part series of gardening programs.

With guest speaker, Laura Wetzel, from Urbana, the group will meet at the Homer Village Hall on the second Saturday of January, February, and March from 12:30 - 2pm to learn more about growing annual veggies and perennial food crops. Topics of interest for beginner to advanced gardeners will include soil preparation, composting and fertilization, raised bed gardening, and much more.

Come and join us during these dreary winter day to start planning your garden for 2013!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

There Be Pirates!

Her Ladyship, Captain Linda, has arranged some spine-tingling, heart-chillin, swash-bucklin fun for ye.

Set yer sails for 500 E. 2nd Street in Homer on Friday, December 28th.

We'se be expectin ye to be here by 10:00 bells and ye can go back to yer lovely mums around noon.

We'll turn ye into a pirate before we're done or my name ain't Captain Linda!

Shiver me timbers, I forgot to tell ya, don't be late or you'll walk the plank for sure!

Remember - all young pirates are welcome to come even if ye don't live in Homer or have a library card. And if any of ye land-lubbin adults would have some time to spare that day, we'll be puttin ya right to work on one of these pirate activities. Call the library if ye think ye can help! 896-2121

Friday, August 31, 2012

Are You Ready For Some Football? Or Soccer... Or Basketball...

With the start of the school year also comes the start of fall sports! We just put up a new display of sports books. We have something for everyone – junior to adult, fiction and non-fiction. We’ve put out mostly fall sports books: soccer, football and some basketball (since I know they’ll be starting practice soon even if the season doesn’t start yet). We have plenty of books on other sports if you are interested – just ask!

Are you interested in soccer? Did you know that there is a new soccer club in the area? Prairie Fire Soccer Club is a new soccer club starting this Fall. It is based in Homer, IL but is not limited to Homer or Heritage School District. They are hoping to serve kids from all surrounding communities.

We have several books on our display to help our new soccer players and coaches. We have ‘The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Coaching Soccer’ and ‘Soccer Skills and Drills’ for the adults involved as well as a great book, ‘101 Ways to be a Terrific Sports Parent: Making Athletics a Positive Experience For Your Child”. This is a good book for parents with kids in any sport not just soccer. We also have several fiction and non-fiction books for the kids. We have some ‘how to’ sports books and several biographies on athletes in our junior section. And for the kids who prefer novels, Mike Lupika, Tim Green and Dan Gutman are among the favorite sports authors in our junior collection.

We have a really fun series of non-fiction sports books for the kids – the Sports Illustrated ‘How It Works’ series. These books discuss the science behind different sports moves and plays and discuss why they work and how to make them work. While that might sound rather scholarly and stuffy, these books use colorful, action photography and easy-to-understand descriptions to get kids engaged in the how’s and why’s of sports. Books in this series cover football, soccer, basketball, hockey, baseball, and skateboarding.

We hope everyone got off to a good start of the school year and good luck to all of you who are starting sports. Youth sports can be an important part of a child’s development. As our display says, “Sports: Good for the Body, Good for the Mind”!

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

It's Calendar Time Again! (Please Read - Lots of Changes)

Once again, in 2013, the Homer Library will produce the "Homer Community Library Calendar" as our primary fundraiser. The Calendar, which began in 1965 as a fundraising project for the Homer Lions Club, was given to the Library when the Lions disbanded in 2006. This will be the 48th year that the Calendar has provided essential civic support to the Village of Homer. And, now that the Library is the sole benefactor of Calendar sales, that support extends to all of the citizens of Heritage School District. That’s because they too are eligible for a Homer Library card (for a modest fee).

The Calendar is strictly a volunteer project, with all net proceeds—typically $4,000.00 a year— going to the Library. These funds supplement the income the Library receives from Village of Homer real estate taxes and State of Illinois per capita grants, which barely cover our payroll, online catalog service, and interlibrary loan fee. We also earn some income from fines, copying, and fax services. It is these sources, plus outright gifts and the Calendar income, that we use to pay for programs, new materials, and services for the Library.

For the past six years, more than a third of yearly Calendar income has been allocated to the “Reading Is Fundamental” (RIF) program. This now defunct federal program was designed to improve child literacy by giving, in our case, 400 to 500 books per year to kindergarten through fourth grade students in Heritage School District. Thanks to Calendar income, the Library has been able to continue this popular program on our own, although RIF was discontinued altogether last year. Even the RIF name is now gone—we’ve renamed our program “Reading is Fantastic Fun” or RIFF. Fortunately, our children’s book publishers were able to continue their RIF stipulated discounts this past year. BUT . . . we don’t know how much longer they will do so since their federal aid has also ended. For this reason alone, the Library staff hopes community support for this year’s Calendar will be exceptionally generous.

To improve our chances of having a banner year, the Homer Library Board of Trustees has approved several changes to the way the 2013 Calendar will be promoted. We are adding ten more advertisements to help pay for printing twice as many Calendars. That’s because this year the Calendar will be mailed to every household, business, and farmstead in the Village of Homer and South Homer Township! These mailings have been made possible by a new, low-cost U. S. Postal Service program that encourages direct mailings to every household in a given zip code.

We will be calling on the many new families that have moved into Homer the past few years as these folks have not been previously asked to contribute their listings to the Calendar. Listings consist of anniversaries and birthdays of Homer family members that are printed on the relevant dates of the Calendar, along with meetings of civic and religious organizations. The charges for listings are: one or two listings; just $6.00; additional listings are $1.00 each. If someone wants to acquire a Calendar, but doesn’t want to include their listings, we would appreciate a donation of $10.00.

Finally, we will send our previous patrons a double postcard which shows their 2012 listings. Receipt by the Library of the amount billed will confirm that the patron wants to resubscribe to the Calendar. The deadline for confirming listings is September 30, 2012. Payment checks, and changes or corrections to listings, may be sent to Homer Library, ATTN: K.C. Jones, 500 E. Second St., Homer, IL 61849. You may telephone K.C. at 531-7856; or email him at caseyjonz@comcast.net

By using the mail for bills and Calendars, the Trustees hope to substantially reduce the need for the 20 volunteers normally required for production, assembly, and distribution of the Calendar. In these difficult times, individuals with the time and resources to help are becoming hard to find. That’s no reflection on the dedicated volunteers who, for many, many years, have steadfastly donated their time, energy, and gasoline to the Calendar project. The Library staff and Trustees sincerely appreciate the efforts of those volunteers. And we will still need several of them to help assemble the Calendars and perhaps to make some deliveries.

Please help make this the best fundraising year ever for the Homer Community Library by adding your listings to the 2013 Calendar or by making a donation!

Saturday, July 07, 2012

Voter Registration at the Library

This year is an election year - are you registered to vote?

In the effort to make voter registration as easy as possible, the Homer Library will be hosting a VOTER REGISTRATION EVENT on Tuesday JULY 10th from 4-7pm. If you recently moved or turned 18 come on out and register! The Champaign County Clerk will have a representative here to register you - just bring two forms of identification showing your name - one must show your permanent residence, such as an Illinois driver's license, hunting or fishing license, library card, student identification, copy of a lease or rent receipt showing your address, or any piece of mail delivered to you at your residence. If you receive mail at a PO Box, please include this information with your street address. Voter Registration closes 28 days prior to an election and opens two (2) days after the election. In order to register:

You must be a citizen of the United States.
You must be 18 years of age on or before the date of the next election.
You must reside in your precinct for at least 30 days prior to an election.

We recently added to our collection a great movie about the struggles that women went through to get the right to vote. Ladies - remember, 100 years ago you would not have been able to vote! Iron Jawed Angels, is an HBO movie depicting the struggles of the early suffragette movement, which eventually gave women in the United States the right to vote. Spanning the years from 1912 to 1920, it stars Hilary Swank as Alice Paul who led the fight with ultimate courage. At the time, it was a state-by-state decision as to whether or not women could vote. But Alice Paul wanted to make it a constitutional amendment. Alice Paul and many of her followers suffered dire consequences for their courageous actions.

If you are interested in learning more about this subject or about American history in general, please visit your local library. If we don't have what you are looking for on our shelves, we can get it for you!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Reading is Sooooo Delicious

This Tuesday was the first day of our summer reading program. We had a lot of fun with the 23 kids who came the first day! Our theme this summer is food - we will be talking about gardening, nutrition and food safety as well as playing lots of games and doing lots of crafts and other activities. This week everyone got to plant two different kinds of vegetable seeds and see some different vegetable plants (some with baby veggies already growing). While we really enjoy doing the 6-week Tuesday program, the main goal of our reading program is to keep kids reading through the summer. Many studies throughout the years have shown that elementary school aged kids lose a lot of their reading skills over the summer months if they don't continue to read. In order to help motivate kids to read, each child signed-up for the program receives a reading log with target goals. Once they meet their goals they receive small prizes. Even if your child cannot come to the Tuesday activity program, they can pick-up a reading log and earn prizes! The weekly activity program will be held each Tuesday from 1-2pm from now until July 17th. Kids can pick-up reading logs anytime during open hours at the Library. We are open Mon, Tues, Thur, and Fri from 2-7pm, Weds 9am-2pm and Sat 10am-2pm. We look forward to a great summer of food fun and facts!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Enjoy the Pleasure of Lifelong Learning!

The Homer Community Library has recently acquired 110 college-level courses published by The Teaching Company! This windfall was purchased using funds given to the Library in memory of Seaton and Elizabeth Hunter and through the generosity of the family of Robert S. Hunter of Quincy, Illinois. (It is only coincidental that the two families have the same surname—they are not related.)

These "Great Courses" bring engaging professors into your home or car on DVD, audio CD, and audio cassettes. Exemplary teachers from the Ivy League, Stanford, Georgetown, and other leading colleges and universities have crafted the lectures for lifelong learners like you. It's the adventure of learning without the homework or exams.

The following items have already been cataloged into our system and are available for check-out NOW. Many more will follow in the weeks to come. This is an extraordinary opportunity for you to become well-versed in topics that include literature, language, religion, science, mathematics, psychology, history, business, economics and several more. All Courses include a guidebook written by the lecturer.

Here are the titles we currently have cataloged. Keep in mind, most of these have multiple parts and the guide book to give you an in-depth understanding of each subject.

The Aeneid of Virgil

The American Mind

Analysis and Critique : How to engage and write about anything

The Art of Public Speaking : lessons from the greatest speeches in history

The Art of Teaching : best practices from a master educator

Bach and the High Baroque

Beethoven's Piano Sonatas

Building Great Sentences : Exploring the writer's craft

The Chamber Music of Mozart

Classical Mythology

Classics of British Literature

The Concerto

Dutch Masters : the age of Rembrandt

Economics

Effective Communication Skills

Elements of jazz : from cakewalks to fusion

Emerson, Thoreau, and the Transcendentalist Movement

Espionage and Covert Operations : A global history

From Monet to Van Gogh : a history of impressionism

Games People Play : Game theory in life, business, and beyond

Great American Music: Broadway Musicals

The Great Ideas of Psychology

Great Master: Liszt, His Life and Music

Great Masters: Beethoven, His Life and Music

Great Masters: Brahms, His Life and Music

Great Masters: Haydn, His Life and Music

Great Masters: Mahler, His Life and Music

Great Masters: Mozart, His Life and Music

Great masters: Robert and Clara Schumann, Their Lives and Music

Great Masters: Shostakovich, His Life and Music

Great Masters: Stravinsky, His Life and Music

Great Masters: Tchaikovsky, His Life and Music

Great Philosophical Debates : Free will and determinism

Herodotus : the father of history

A History of European Art

The History of the English Language

How to Listen To and Understand Great Music

The Iliad of Homer

The Life and Work of Mark Twain

Lifelong Health : Achieving optimum well-being at any age

London: A short history of the greatest city in the Western world

Masterpieces of Ancient Greek Literature

Masterpieces of the Imaginative Mind : Literature's most fantastic works

Meaning From Data: Satistics made clear

Medical Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths : What we think we know may be hurting us

Memory and the Human Lifespan

Meteorology: An introduction to the wonders of the weather

Museum Masterpieces: The Louvre

The Operas of Mozart

Optimizing Brain Fitness

The Passions: Philosophy and the intelligence of emotions

Philosophy of Mind

Pompeii: Daily life in an ancient Roman city

Psychology of Human Behavior

Representing Justice : Stories of law and literature

Shakespeare's Tragedies

The Symphony

Tocqueville and the American Experiment

Transformational Leadership : How leaders change teams, companies, and organizations

Understanding the Brain

Understanding the Fundamentals of Music

The World Was Never the Same : Events that changed history

Reserve your "Great Course" today by telephoning the Library at 896-2121. Or, you can reach us by email at: homerlibrarian@gmail.com To view our entire catalog, visit us at http://opac.libraryworld.com/opac/home

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Puss In Boots at the Library!

Friday the 16th is Free Family Movie Night! We will be showing “Puss & Boots”, the DreamWorks animated movie starring Antonio Banderas. Everyone knows Puss in Boots from the "Shrek" films, but few know that years before meeting the green ogre, the swashbuckling feline had his own adventure. Learn the origin of this furry lover, fighter, and outlaw as he teams up with Kitty Softpaws and Humpty Dumpty to steal magic beans from the dastardly Jack and Jill in a castle guarded by giants so Puss can clear his name. This film is rated PG (for adventure action and mildly rude humor) and runs 90 minutes. We will start the movie just after 7pm.

A sharp-eyed patron noticed our next gardening program was scheduled for the Saturday of Easter weekend. We realized this was going to cause many of our regular attendees to be unable to join us so we have moved the April 7th gardening session to Saturday, March 31st. We hope that does not cause any inconvenience. The gardening sessions have been going really well and the March 31st session will focus on the pros and cons of direct seeding and transplanting, protecting your seedlings, crops that are (usually) easy to grow, companion planting and the importance of mulching. Help fend off cabin fever and join us!

Did you know that the Homer Community Library is on Facebook? Join us to find out more about upcoming events, new items and to read or add patron book reviews. Just search for Homer Community Library and ‘like’ us.

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

It's Time to Think Spring! (No, We're Not Crazy)

We realize it is still winter but it is never too soon to start thinking about your spring garden.
Do you want to learn how to garden but don't know where to start? Join us for a 3- Part Beginner Garden Program series at the Homer Community Library.

Laura Wetzel is a life-long gardener with a degree in botany. We discovered her and her garden series on the Common Ground Food Co-op website and are very excited to have her come to Homer as well to share her knowledge and joy of gardening! Sessions will be 12:30PM- 2:00PM on the first Saturday of the month February- March. Following is a brief description of each planned session. You can come to one or all!

FEBRUARY 4th- Planning Your Garden---Dream Time
The perfect time to plan a garden is when it is much too cold to plant! In the first two sessions of this series, participants will evaluate their garden space and learn to maximize it. We will start the process of deciding what to plant and where. If you have seed catalogs that you are willing to share, please bring them!

MARCH 3rd- When and Where to Plant
A continuation of evaluating each participants available space. Where sun and space are in short supply, we will look for ways to fit food crops into landscaping. Other topics covered will be early spring soil preparation, use of compost, cool season growers, succession planting and what to do if it just won't stop raining!

APRIL 7th- How To Plant
In this session we will talk about direct seeding, transplanting, protecting new plantings from animals, crops that are easy to grow (usually), mulch, companion planting, and how to find that all too illusive window of opportunity for planting. If you have extra seed, we invite you to bring it along for a seed swap.

Questions?? Call the Homer Library at 896-2121

Saturday, January 07, 2012

New Reader Incentive!

You May Have
Seen the Movie –
Now Read the Book!




Read any book that has been made into a popular movie and enter our prize drawing!

Read a qualifying book that has not been checked out in at least 3 years and you will be entered twice!

Prizes include gift cards, tote bags, books and other misc. items.

All of the books currently displayed on our end-caps have been made into movies but these aren’t your only choices – there are many more qualifying books in our collection.
And, NO – watching the movie does not count!