admin

It’s February, the so-called shortest month of the year. But ask anyone from Ohio and they will tell you it often feels like the longest. Why? The weather. By this point I’ve complained about it so much I’m tired of my own griping. It’s cold. So cold. And the snow. Can’t it just melt already? Margaret Atwood calls February “month of despair with a skewered heart in the centre.” With spring a mere 3 weeks away, I am positively aching for warmth and the sight of tiny crocus buds poking their eager green tongues out to taste the air. Alas, we have a bit more weather to weather. To make myself feel better I thought I would research a winter before my time (okay, just barely before my time) that was much much worse:

Make mention of this to Midwestern folks who lived through it and you are sure to hear a hair-raising tale or two. My mother, a teacher, remembers waking up to the radio on the morning of January 26: “If you are within the sound of my voice there is no school today.” She peeked out the window, saw the stop sign at the end of our street flapping violently back and forth in the wind, then hopped back into bed (I was still incubating at the time, not due for another six weeks, so I was blissfully unaware of the weather conditions). She was lucky to avoid the worst of it.

Wind gusts in excess of 65 mph caused scattered power and phone outages. Visibility on I-77 was down to zero, county roads were drifted in. No mail, no buses, no deliveries. Nothing could be done about snow removal until the wind died down, and a shortage of salt compounded the problem. Schools, state offices and airports closed. Trees fell. Windows shattered. Trailers turned over and roofs collapsed or were blown off. A barn toppled in the wind, killing the livestock huddled inside. The ”killer blizzard” also took 90 human lives, including a young couple who decided to wait out the storm in their car, refusing rescue. They were found dead the next day.

But thankfully all storms pass, the damage is tallied, and then the cleanup begins. This blizzard was particularly costly to Ohio farms, causing an estimated $48.2 million in damage. Clearing the roads was an exhausting and often thankless chore; I read an article of one county worker who plowed roads in a ‘73 Ford for 15 straight hours (in drifts four feet high and 30 feet long), getting approximately 1.5 miles to the gallon, only to be stopped by a citizen “screaming invectives” about plowing in his driveway.

While this winter has had its share of inconveniences (at times my heater sounds like a volcano about to erupt), I am grateful that this year hasn’t seen a “state of emergency” blizzard with hurricane winds (knock on wood – it ain’t over yet), and that I have a warm roof over my head and a loving family with whom I can cuddle and share hot chocolate. And I hope that we will soon see a headline like this one that appeared over 100 years ago:

Until then, I’m with Ms. Atwood: Make it be spring!

“February” by Margaret Atwood, from Morning in the Burned House. Houghton Mifflin, 1996.

Looking for a way to pass the remaining cold days? Come to Dover Public Library, cozy up to our microfilm machine, and read about winters far worse than this one!

Claire Kandle, Local History & Genealogy Librarian

From purses to vases to wreaths, old books are being turned into new treasures all over the place. Here are a few of my favorite things to do with discarded paperbacks.

A side note before I start talking about destroying books to make arts and crafts: No one wants the books I use. First, the books are discarded library books, meaning they haven’t been checked out in years or are too damaged to circulate. The books are also leftovers from the annual book sale and were bound for the recycling bin before I rescued them to give them new lives as hedgehogs, angels,or poetry

1. Paperback Hedgehogs:

Paperback hedgehogs are adorable, easy, and time consuming. You can decorate them any way you want. So, make the Avengers, or just make a Hedgehog army. Make them cute or make them scary. Let your creativity run wild! Smaller paperbacks of about 100 pages work best for this, but since I mainly had thick romance novels, I just split each book into two sections, thereby making two hedgehogs from one book. The hedgehog shape is made by folding the pages in half, then folding the corners down. More detailed instructions can be found here. 

2. Book Page Angels:

Unfortunately, I have no photos of my version of this angel I found on Pinterest. These cute ornaments consist of two book pages, accordion folded, sliced a little with some scissors, and wedged together to make an angel. Then, using hot glue, I stick a decoration on the part where the two pages come together. Small wooden hearts and stars are great for this. Then I glue a ribbon or piece of yarn in the top back so it can hang on a tree. These are great for Christmas, and actually proved to be a perfect Relay for Life Fundraiser here at the library.

3. Black Out Poetry:

This is a fun activity to do with books or with newspapers. Start with a page out of a book or from the newspaper. Underline or circle words to make a poem, then color over all the other words with a black marker. You can get creative with doodles or shapes, anything that will make your words pop. You can even use white paint to go over the words you want to get rid of, then create an illustration to go along with your poem when it’s dry. For more ideas, check out this awesome Slideshare from a school in California.

For more ideas, search “Book crafts” on Pinterest. Or, if Pinterest isn’t your thing, visit the library and browse the 745.5 area. Here, among other great books on paper crafting, you’ll find The Repurposed Library by Lisa Occhipinti. What will you make with an old paperback?

Liz Strauss

Crafty Teen Librarian

This past Sunday the Friends of the Library sponsored the 5th Annual Overdue Open House. Over 1,000 people came to the library to enjoy live music, prizes, food, storytelling, and more. Patrons that had overdue books were able to bring back the materials on Sunday and their overdue fines for those materials were waived. The Open House has became a way for the Library and the Friends of the Library to give back to the community. It was interesting to observe from a distance the activities that were going on. Valleytown and The Kodachrome Babies were performing in the Adult Department and the place was packed! In the Children’s Room Mr. Jeff the Magician was like the Pied Piper with dozens of kids following him around doing magic tricks. Volunteers were bustling around doing their jobs and library staff were working the public service desks. For those few short hours on Sunday the library truly was the center of the community. That is a thing that we are always trying to strive for here at DPL. We want the library and the events, programs, and services to matter to people. A huge thank you to the community for supporting what we do. Have a great week!

For photos from Sunday’s event, click here.

-Jim Gill, Director

“To the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world.”

― Dr. Seuss

You may have noticed a change in our Technology Department. Longtime fixture Mary Prysi has retired  after 30 years working for the library. It’s amazing to think about all the lives she must have touched over the course of her career. You never know how many people you can help just by being you, doing your job, being a helpful friend.

I had an interesting call at the library the other day. A woman had been on the computer and came across our website. She asked me about donating books to the library, and at first I told her that she could pull her car around the back of the library and we’d help her carry her books in. Then she said she was calling from London, England! She wanted to know about putting bookplates in donated books.

Librarian’s Dictionary

Bookplate: a sticker in the front of a book that relays a special message about it; donated by someone, in memory of someone, etc.

From across the pond, I was able to help her get the information she needed. How cool is that?

And how many more cool stories must Mary, along with anyone who takes the time to help someone, even a complete stranger, have?

In the new year, Mary is moving on. Here at the library, we all miss her, but we know this next chapter of her life will be amazing.

My challenge for all of you in the new year is to think about the way you can positively touch other people’s lives. This is your new chapter, too. How will you write it?
Denise

Adult Services