Birds and Books Mural

The community is invited to join us Monday, July 1 to watch as Don Edwards, from IndyClayWorks, pieces together the new Birds and Books Mural in Youth Services.

Families joined us to paint individual pieces of the mural, Don Edwards glazed and fired the pieces, and now it is finally time to put the individual pieces together. The space doesn’t look like much now, but piece by piece, we will see Don Edwards transform the bland board into a beautiful mosaic.

This very special gift to the Library was funded by the Friends of the Library. Susan Conaway donated her time and skills to design the Birds and Books image, and Don Edwards will be working diligently to pull everything together!

Thanks to EVERYONE (including the kids) who has been involved with this project!

Three Days in July

When we think about Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln’s famous address normally comes to mind.  But his appearance at that small Pennsylvania town was precipitated by a bloody battle that transpired over three days in July.  This year is the 150^th anniversary of the battle that turned the tide of the Civil War.  The Battle of Gettysburg was a decisive victory for the Union that stopped the Confederate invasion of the North and forced Lee's army to withdraw to Virginia.

As you look over the green fields of Gettysburg, it is difficult to imagine the blood that was shed there.  There were about 51,000 casualties and historical estimates put the total dead around 7,500.

If you plan to take part in the commemoration, you will be joined by 200,000 of your fellow patriots.  Hotels are sold out as far as 35 miles away. 

If you can’t visit, you can still commemorate the event that changed the history of our country.  

The most successful public-television miniseries in American history is Ken Burns’ “Civil War”.  We have the complete set, of which episode five deals directly with the Battle of Gettysburg.  Among other things, you will learn here about Pickett’s Charge which was an avoidable blunder by the Confederates, one from which they never truly recovered.

The book “Hallowed Ground: A Walk at Gettysburg” by James McPherson takes us through the site of the bloodiest and perhaps most consequential battle fought by Americans.  In this short book, the Civil War historian reflects on the meaning of the battle and places the battle in the greater context of the history of America.

One of the most prolific authors on the Civil War was Shelby Foote.  He also consulted on the making of the “Civil War” documentary mentioned above.  His slim volume “Stars in their Courses: The Gettysburg Campaign,” transports you to the battlefield.  His meticulous attention to detail communicates how the battle really transpired. 

 

Finalists for the 2013 Andrew Carnegie Medals

Established in 2012 by the American Library Association, the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction “recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. the previous year.”  This past May, three fiction and three nonfiction finalists were selected from a longlist of 50 titles.  Fiction finalists are Canada by Richard Ford, This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz, and The Round House by Louise Erdrich.  Nonfiction finalists are Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis by Timothy Egan, The Mansion of Happiness: A History of Life and Death by Jill Lepore, and Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen.  Winners will be announced on June 30 at the ALA's annual conference in Chicago.

Summer Movies at the Library … With Friends!

Calling all adults  -- do you enjoy watching movies?   Are you tired of paying to see movies at home and then watching them on your “small” 50-inch TV screen?  Are you looking for some fun evenings away from home this summer, at no cost?  Well, have our Friends of the Library got some fun evenings planned for you!

The 2nd and 4th Thursdays of June, July and August are “Summer Movies with Friends” at the Library!  Six movies have been planned [one has already been shown] and the next one is next Thursday evening, June 25th at 6 pm.  The Bourne Legacy, starring Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, and Edward Norton, will be shown on the big screen in the Hussey Room .  The movie is rated PG-13.

Fresh movie-style popcorn made with the Library’s new popcorn popper and sodas/bottled water will be served.  Bring your own comfy lawn chair, bean bag … whatever suits you for a full-length movie … and settle down for an evening of entertainment.  Register on the Library’s website at www.zionsville.lib.in.us on the Programs and Events calendar. 

The movies for July and August are:

•    Thursday, July 11th, 6 pm – Playing for Keeps, starring Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, and Dennis Quaid [PG-13]

•    Thursday, July 25th, 6 pm – The Amazing Spider-Man, starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Rhys Ifans [PG-13]

•    Thursday, August 8th, 6 pm – The Producers, starring Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick and Uma Thurman [PG-13]

•    Thursday, August 22nd, 6 pm – Arsenic and Old Lace, starring Cary Grant and Raymond Massey [Not Rated]

These Summer Movies with Friends evenings are for all adults, not just members of the Friends of the Library; no children, please.   As mentioned above, you may register on the Library’s website at www.zionsville.lib.in.us on the Programs and Events calendar.

Join us for summer movies at the Library … with Friends!

Drop Off School Supplies at the Library!

Along with the other two Boone County Public Libraries in Thorntown and Lebanon, and several other local agencies, the Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library is again a drop-off site for school supplies for the United Way’s Backpack Attack.  Collection boxes are located near the main entrance on both public floors and school supplies may be dropped off between June 21st and July 15th.  Students from all 10 elementary schools and 7 middle / high schools in Boone County will receive backpacks filled with school supplies to help children start school this fall with some of the school supplies they need to be successful.


Backpacks have already been donated and it’s the fun stuff to put inside them that is needed now. 

Priority items include:

•    Loose-leaf notebook paper
•    Spiral notebooks (no college-rule)
•    ½” – 1” 3-ring binders
•    Dry-erase markers (black & blue)
•    #2 pencils
•    Scissors
•    Yellow highlighters

Also needed:

•    Colored pencils  (12-count)
•    Crayons (24-count)
•    Washable markers

So, while you’re out shopping in the next few weeks, pick up some extra school supplies as outlined above and drop them off at the Hussey-Mayfield Library to be put in backpacks for kids who need them. 

If you have questions about the Boone County Backpack Attack, please contact Julie Friedman at (765) 483-0165 or julia.friedman@uwci.org .

Right Tree, Right Place, Right Way

Wondering which trees to plant, where to plant them, and the best way to care for them? It's not often that you get to talk with a real expert, but on June 25th at 6pm, ISA Certified Arborist Carrie Tauscher of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Community and Urban Forestry division, will be at the Library to give insider tips on tree care.

You'll learn what to look for when shopping for trees in nurseries, how to care for newly-planted and existing trees, and some of the challenges trees face in urban environments. Carrie will discuss the basics of great tree care, including how to dig the best holes and properly plant trees --hint: it's more than just "green side up." Check out our books on tree care while you're here and make your trees the healthiest on the block.

Around the world in 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes, and 14 seconds

It's hard to imagine any woman daring--or crazy--enough to set out on a solo trip around the world on less than three days notice.  Harder still to imagine her embarking on that journey (expected to last almost three months) carrying nothing more than a small Gladstone bag.  However, that's what not one--but two--ambitious female journalists did in1889 as Matthew Goodman recounts in his new, nonfiction book, Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World.  The contest, as originally proposed by The World newspaper, pitted a single female journalist, Nellie Bly, against the fictional travel record set by Phileas Fogg in Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days.  It was a brilliant publicity stunt; soon everyone was talking about the contest.  Within days, a rival newspaper had upped The World's ante by sponsoring a second woman, Elizabeth Bisland, to challenge both Fogg and Bly.

On November 14, Bly boarded a steamer bound for England; four hours later, Bisland was on a train thundering toward Chicago, where she would connect with another train heading west via the newly completed transcontinental railroad.  Bly was a no holds barred reporter who had garnered respect in a male-dominated profession by infiltrating an insane asylum to expose the inhuman treatment of women inmates.  Bisland, in contrast, was a cultured Southerner and a member of New York's artistic set.  Eighty Days is a fast-paced adventure full of missed connections, storms at sea and runaway trains with Goodman relating each woman’s daring exploits in alternating chapters.  I won’t spoil the story by telling you who wins, but I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Even if you don’t intend to travel 28,000 miles or circumnavigate the globe, be sure to visit the Library’s travel section (or search the catalog) for helpful guides to attractions, restaurants, and accommodations in the U.S. and around the world.  Closer to home, visit Indiana’s Office of Tourism for information about events and discounts throughout the state and be sure to check out the Library's summer schedule for a variety of terrific programs.  Meanwhile, don't forget to lighten your own Gladstone bag by taking advantage of the Library's free downloadable audio and eBooks when you travel.

Parent-Child Book to Movie Book Club

The Tandem Read Book Club is a book club designed for parents and children to share quality time reading together.  We are branching out beyond books this summer; we will be discussing books that have been turned into movies. All you have to do to participate is…

1. Read the book.
2. Watch the movie at the Library showing or at home.
3. Bring a sack lunch for yourself and and your child and join us at our Book club meeting. We will dine while we discuss the book and the movie!

Monday Movie -All movies begin at 4 PM
Mon., June 24: The Waterhorse
Mon., July 8: How to Train Your Dragon
Mon., July 15: Holes

Mon., July 22: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Monday Tandem Read Book Club-Book Discussion will begin at 6 PM
Mon., June 24: The Waterhorse
Mon., July 8: How to Train Your Dragon
Mon., July 15: Holes
Mon., July 22: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
You don't have to buy a copy of the book, simply put a copy on hold through Evergreen!

Library Bond Refinancing Achieves Significant Savings for Taxpayers

A well-timed debt refinancing by the Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library resulted ina lower interest rate, an earlier payoff date and savings of more than three-quarters of a million dollars.

The new interest rate on the outstanding debt is locked in at 1.44%, saving local taxpayers $783,218 in financing costs. In addition, the bond refinance will retire the debt in 2024, one year earlier than planned.

Library Leasing Corporation President, Larry Greenwalt noted, “We are extremely pleased with the savings realized for the taxpayers.  As part of the refinancing process, Standard & Poor’s reaffirmed its AA- rating for the Library’s bonds, citing Zionsville’s strong tax base and support of the Library.”  

In May, the Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library sold $5,225,000 of bonds to refinance the debt which was used to construct the original library building which opened in 1994, and the expansion that was completed in 2006.   

The recent refinance was a huge success and took advantage of historically low interest rates.

By Jake Speer

National Author Visit: Lori Borgman

Be at the Library on June 17th for an evening of laughter with syndicated newspaper columnist and Indianapolis resident Lori Borgman. Lori is the author of four books, including, “I Was a Better Mother Before I Had Kids,” and she frequently speaks at fundraisers and corporate and civic events throughout the United States. Ten years ago, Lori wrote a tongue-in-cheek obituary for the death of Common Sense and the essay was published in eight countries, read on the BBC, and may even have been emailed to you attributed to "Anonymous." Lori recently revisited the essay and wrote profiles for the survivors of Common Sense: his wife, Discretion; their children, Responsibility and Reason; and the two step-brothers of Common Sense, Half-Wit and Dim-Wit. Those profiles and the original essay are now available in her book, “The Death of Common Sense & Profiles of Those Who Knew Him.” Reserve your seat today for Lori's talk on June 17th, and be sure to check out the Library's collection of humor essayists while you're here.

Relay for Life

Relay for Life is coming to Zionsville June 14-15. The Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library team is  striving to exceed last year's efforts of raising money for American Cancer Society and there are a few ways you can help!

1. Do you have overdue fines? Pay them at the library now through June16 and the library will donate that amount to American Cancer Society (this does not include fines for lost or damaged items).

2. Eat at Chilis' Traders Point 6/10-6/16. Pick up a voucher from the library or print one from our website and they will donate 10% of all sales to American Cancer Society. This includes carry-out! The vouchers are at the library, on the library's website, or can even be printed from this page.

                                            

Don't forget to stop by the Library booth at Relay for Life this Friday at Lion's Park!  We will be selling camel corn, cookies, brownies, and more to help raise more money for Relay for Life.

SRP Prize Store Opens Monday!!!

The day you have been waiting for is quickly approaching!! The SRP prize store opens on Monday, June 10th!

It's easy to get prizes. Simply READ books, RECORD how much you read, VISIT the library (and bring your log sheet!), and SHOP the prize store!

For every 5 books, hours, or days that you read, we will give you 1 coin to exchange for 1 prize (a toy or a book).

It's FUN!!!

Live Theatre at the Library

It's not often that you get a chance to see professional, live theatre at the Library. On Tuesday, June 11th, the Minnetrista Theatre Preserves will perform a live show for adults and teens, a thought-provoking piece about the challenges that everyday people faced during the Great Depression. Covering two separate stories in just one hour, the show, "Tales From the Mouth of a Ball Jar," finds two people challenged by the pressing need to make tough decisions that will affect not only themselves, but others, as well.

In "Bounty," a housewife must decide whether to donate some of the small amount of food she has to a local orphanage, while also feeding her own family. In "Working Man's Responsibility," a young man employed in a Ball glass factory stumbles upon a secret after-hours that could affect his life, his family and livelihood. Both stories show regular people in the midst of complex choices that are bound to have lasting effects on their own lives and those of the ones they love. This show will inspire thought and conversation about what you might do if you were in the same situation. Reserve your seat today for this unique experience.

Rebecca

  The June 4th selection for the Mystery Book Club is the masterfully plotted classic gothic novel Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.   Published in 1938, it became an instant success and was the winner of the Anthony Award for the best novel of the century.
   “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”  With these words, the reader is drawn into the past by the narrator whose full name is never revealed.  After a brief courtship, this young woman becomes the bride of an older, somewhat haunted, older man and returns with him to his family home.  Innocent and inexperienced, she enters a new and unknown world where the presence of the  former Mrs. de Winter pervades every room and whose memory is guardedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers.  “With an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor-the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca.” Harper Collins
  Seemingly influenced by Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Du Maurier's Rebecca itself continues to inspire authors and filmmakers.   Alfred Hitchcock directed the film version which won the Academy Award for best picture in 1940.  In 2003, Masterpiece Theater released its version described by the  LA Times as “A near masterpiece of escapism..” 
  After joining the Mystery Book Club for its discussion, please check out both film versions at HMMPL.