Jan's Column 2012

As the days get shorter, so does this column. The fire hose of new books that has been appearing weekly has suddenly turned into a trickle. Just as the days are at their shortest, when reading a good book during those long winter evenings is a most excellent option, the well starts running dry. Not to worry though, many, many books are on order. As the days begin to lengthen, new books will start flowing in again. And speaking of the loss of daylight, did you know that we've already started to gain it on the evening end even as we continue to lose it in the morning. The earliest sunset that occurs in Madison is 4:22 p.m. and that was the sunset time on the 7th, 8th, and 9th of December. As of tomorrow (12/21/12), the official start of Winter and the shortest day of the year, sunset occurs at 4:26 p.m. Sunrise is a whole other story and we continue to lose daylight at that end until December 28th when sunrise is at 7:29 a.m. It stays at 7:29 a.m. until the 9th of January, when we start gaining light at both ends of the day. And voila, suddenly it's Spring! In the meantime, enjoy the books listed below or checkout some favorites, or classics, or books you've always meant to read.

A lot has happened since last we spoke ( It's not really speaking is it? It's more Iwrite and you read. But as I write of course, I'm "hearing" the words in my mind and I imagine as you read you "hear' the words in your mind. So this interchange does include "hearing".). Let me start over. A lot has happened since last week. We had our first major winter snow forecast of the season, and in spite of all the hype of the forecast, we actually got some snow--which made excellent snowballs by the way. And Santa visited the library on Saturday - there was quite the waiting line at some points. There were extraordinarily brave children who ran right up to the big elf himself, and very shy children who just managed to look at the man in red. There were some who had very organized lists and those who were obviously there for the candy canes. It was a wonderful turnout. And speaking of Santa do you realize that there are only eleven - that's 11 (I didn't mistype "elven")days until Christmas day. That means you have 264 hours, or 15,840 minutes, or 9,504,000 seconds to shop for and wrap up those presents for your family, your extended family, your cats, dogs, fish, turtles, birds, and other pets, your neighbors, your librarians, and any others I may have forgotten. In the meantime, there're lots of new books to read. Enjoy!

For those of you with a Dutch or Deutsch heritage, let me start off my wishing you "Happy Saint Nicholas Day!. I hope old Saint Nick left you all sorts of goodies and nothing that resembles big black, lumps of coal. For those of you who did not grow up in households that celebrated December 6th, let me make a slight digression and tell you that : In Holland Sinter Klass and in Germany, Saint Nick's visits are made on the anniversary of the historical Saint Nicholas' death on Dec. 6. Children in these countries are supposed to leave bundles of hay for Saint Nick's horse and their shoes outside the front door. In the morning they are greeted by scores of sweets, nuts and gifts if they've been good little boys and girls - or lumps of black, disgusting, coal, if they've been bad little boys and girls. I won't broach the delicate subject of asking what you found in your shoes this morning. I have cats, so what I find in my shoes some mornings isn't in either of the categories described above. It doesn't matter if you've been naughty or nice or good or bad, we have a sleigh-full of new books for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

Well, here we are on the other side of Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday - and this library's first ever response to Black Friday, i.e. Read Friday (which was lots of fun and a pleasant low-key alternative to the chaos of the stores and malls) - and the countdown to the really big winter holiday has started in earnest. In case you're counting down here is a handy summary. As of today, November 29th, there are 26 days until Tuesday, December 25th rolls around. To put it other ways, that's 624 hours, or 37,440 minutes, or 2,246,400 seconds. You still have tons of time to prepare for the festivities and we have tons of new titles for your reading enjoyment. So scroll your eyes further down the page to see what fascinating new books have arrived. Enjoy!

Dozens of new books seem to be arriving almost daily. Since this is a holiday weekend - for some-which might mean you have a little more time to read the newspaper and in doing such could peruse all the new books listed below that are at the library. And in doing such you might espy a book that looks really good to you and since it is a holiday weekend, you just might have time to meander down to the library and check that book out. Since there is an unusually large number of books detailed below, I'll stop now. Hope you had (or soon shall have) a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with friends and family gathered near! Read on!

For any of those of you who are brave enough to have taken a look at a calendar lately, you will know that a week from today is Thanksgiving Day - that's 7 days, 168 hours, or 10,080 minutes. And if it's a week to Thanksgiving Day, that means it's a week and a day - that's 8 days, 192 hours, 11,520 minutes-until Black Friday. I understand why "Black Friday" is so named. It is, purportedly, the day of the year (or the start of the season of the year) when retailers finally guarantee they'll end the year in the "black". But it seems they do this by urging (prodding, convincing) the consumer to go into the "red", i.e. run up some debt. Since the library is open on the day after Thanksgiving, and since the past tense of the word "read" is pronounced "red", we have some plans underway to help you stay away from the frenzy of the sales and become well-read in the process. Check out our website and signs and flyers in the library for more details. In the meantime, there are a number of books, listed below that will help you become well-read. Enjoy!

Well. Finally. We are on the other side of election day. Whatever the outcome - if all the votes have been counted out East, so that an outcome is known at this time - I think we can all agree we're glad it's over. No more political ads. No more political phone calls. No more political mailings -- at least for a while. I hope you all exercised your right to vote. I firmly believe that voting gives you the right to complain about all things political until the next election. Now that the election is passed, and daylight savings time has ended too, there are a lot of long, dark evenings to contend with before the frenzy of the holidays arrives. There isn't a better way to while away the evenings than curling up with a good book, and we've got lots of them. Just scroll your eyes down the page. Enjoy!

Today was an interesting day in history. This was the first day that the White House was occupied by a president. Construction began and the cornerstone was laid on October 13, 1792. President Washington oversaw the construction but he never lived in it. On November 1, 1800, when the White House was nearly complete, President John Adams and his wife, Abigail, moved in. The White House survived a fire in 1814 and another fire in the West Wing in 1929. It has 6 levels with 132 rooms and 35 bathrooms. There are 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases and 3 elevators. Today also marks the establishment of the National Weather Service and the invention of the hockey mask (in 1959). It is also National Deep Fried Clams Day and National Vinegar Day - which kind of go together. Of course, this day in 2012 is made interesting by all the new book titles that await you at the bottom of this column. Scroll your eyes down the page and enjoy!

A week from today, Halloween will be over and we will be rushing headlong towards that next great holiday of Fall, Thanksgiving. This past week has seen rain and wind that coaxed any number of trees to give up their leaves. To some extent, trees seem to have personalities that express themselves in the color their leaves turn in the Fall and how long they hold on to those leaves. The tree outside my office window that was so flamboyantly yellow that it seemed to glow from within, gave up all its leaves in the first hard rain we got. An equally flamboyant maple tree, robed in neon orange and reds as well as yellow, across the street is still hanging on to all its leaves and the tree next kitty corner from it is still green. It takes all kinds of trees to make a gorgeous autumnal landscape, just like it takes all kinds of authors to make an interesting library. Those authors have been churning out books at a steady pace. Below you will find some new titles to help you while away this longer, darker evenings. There's nothing quite as cozy as a rainy Fall evening, a good book, and a warm beverage. Enjoy!

There is nothing much to report this week except that new books are flying into the library just about as rapidly as leafs are flying off the trees. It seems like every major, best-selling author has a new book this Fall. If you haven't seen a new book by your favorite, best-selling author, just wait. I'm sure he or she will be publishing a new book between now and Christmas. If you're a James Patterson fan, you won't have to wait that long. He seems to be publishing a book every couple of weeks ( I of course exaggerate). These cloudy, gloomy days that have started to show up now that the transition from Summer to Winter is truly underway, are excellent times for losing yourself in a good book. There are lots of good books, listed below, so cast your eyes down the page and enjoy!

Today is October 11th. It is the 284th day of the year (285th in leap year which would be the case this year) with 81 days remaining. It is also "National Depression Screening Day", "National Coming Out Day", "It's My Party Day", and "National Sausage Pizza Day" (according to Yahoo! News). Other sources note that this date is also - according to some sources - "National Take (or Bring) your Teddy Bear to Work Day". This was also the day in 1811 when the first steam-powered ferryboat - the "Juliana" - began operation. On this date the U.S. Federal Communications Commission issued the first license to broadcast television in color to CBS and in 1975 "Saturday Night Live" premiered with guest host George Carlin. Today is also the birthday of Eleanor Roosevelt, Elmore Leonard (Author), Daryl Hall (American Rock Singer), Steve Young (Football player), Joan Cusack (Actress), and me. October 11th is also a great day to check out all the great new Fall titles that have been arriving at the library on and almost daily basis. Below you will find a sampling of those books. Enjoy!

It's hard to believe it's October already. While we've gotten out of the high heats of summer, we're still experiencing a continuing lack of rain. That lack of rain, however, doesn't seem to have had much of an impact on the colors the trees have been producing. Some of the hillsides around here are pretty spectacular. The ash trees outside my window at the library seem to be lit from within. They glow a golden yellow even on a cloudy day. The Fall books keep arriving and since we have so many of them, I'll just direct your attention to all the titles further down the page. Enjoy!

The new books have been arriving at the library nearly as rapidly as leaves arrive in a recently raked yard on a windy day. We have plenty of new titles from best-selling and award winning authors as well as a few from first-time authors. This week we also have lots of non-fiction titles (unlike last week). So look through this list and see if you don't see something you might enjoy reading as the nights become longer and colder. Enjoy!

We've got tons of new books arriving, so I won't stand in your way. I'll only mention that now that the days are getting shorter, the evenings are getting longer which is an absolutely ideal time to read. I'll also mention that today, September 13th is International Chocolate Day, National Celiac Awareness Day, and National Peanut Day. To celebrate, why not have a flourless chocolate cake made with Belgian Chocolate and throw some salted peanuts on top. Bon appetit! Enjoy!

We are officially at the end of Summer - as far as the school calendar goes. Meteorologically, the average daytime highs have been heading downward since July when it hits its peak. Average nighttime lows have also been heading the same direction. Which to me, sort of indicates the departure of Summer. Then too, the days have shortened noticeably since June when we had our longest day - 15 hours, 23 minutes of daylight. Right now we're hanging right below 13 hours of daylight. Summer won't end astronomically until September 22nd. The 22nd is the autumnal equinox with the sun rising at 6:45 and setting at 18:54 (6:54) - but as you can see, it isn't exactly even as far as hours of night and day are concerned. There's a nine minute difference which actually resolves on the 25th when there are 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night - at least at this longitude and latitude. This is the explanation for this discrepancy from Infoplease "In the language of science, an equinox is either of two points on the celestial sphere where the ecliptic and the celestial equator intersect. For the rest of us, it's one of two times a year when the Sun crosses the equator and the day and night are of approximately equal length. At the autumnal equinox (September 22, 2012, 10:49 A.M.), the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator, from north to south; this marks the beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere." Anyway you look at it, Fall will be arriving soon. As far as I'm concerned, once the regular football season starts, Fall has arrived. And speaking of Fall, and arriving. The Fall books have started to arrive and there is a list of new title further down this page for you to peruse. Enjoy!

While I was on vacation, gallivanting around Ontario going to theater, the relentless arrival of new books continued unabated. Rather than regale you with my adventures on the road and the insights I gained into the human condition and how the arts inform and educate as well as entertain, I will simply move on to books. There are plenty of them and more arriving almost daily. So dig in and enjoy while savoring these last days of summer!

Last week I informed you that the Summer Reading Program had ended. This week -- thanks to electronic record keeping and the marvels of technology - I can give you the all of the amazing numbers about how many people read how many books! Every year, for more years than I care to remember, I have been reporting the number of pages read in concrete terms. I have been converting the number of pages read (or pages listened to, or time spent reading) into inches, then converted those inches into miles, and then plotted the number of miles on a map. Since I have been doing this annually for enough years for this to have become a tradition, and since I'm wise enough not to tamper with a fine tradition, here goes!

This year 521 people participated in the Summer Reading Program. Those 521 participants managed to read 1,748,834 pages. That's a whole lot of reading! On to the calculations which begin with this question: "If you laid all the pages of the books that were read end-to-end how many miles would they stretch?" Now, the average size of a page is 9 inches tall which gives us (1,748,834 times 9" - Always show your work if you want to receive full credit.) which is 15,739,506 inches divided by 12 to give us 1,311,625.5 feet divided by 5,280 to give us 248 miles which is 38 miles more than last year. If you laid all the pages read during the Summer Reading Program end to end and drove east on I-90, you would end up about 5 miles east of Benton Harbor, Michigan. Or heading north and west on I-90 you'd end up in Albert Lea, MN (Birthplace of my favorite cousin!). Anyway you look at it, a whole lot of reading was done this summer! Congratulations to all the Summer Reading participants.

Last Sunday, the weather was absolutely autumnal. Dry air, a strong breeze, crystal blue skies, and highs in the seventy-degree range, all contributed to the feel that the season might be getting ready to shift gear - at least a little. The days are noticeably shorter and the dawn chorus has finished off (except for a very noisy cardinal who sings in the dark around 4:30 every morning which I would like to finish off) its annual singing engagement. Birds are flocking up, which means they're starting to practice maneuvers used during their migratory flights. The Summer Reading program has ended and the opportunity to redeem your dragon dollars for prizes ends this coming Saturday, August 11th. The concerts and movies in the park are finished. We all seem to be taking a little pause before starting to gear up for school activities and the Labor Day weekend. During these last few weeks of summer, there are plenty of good books to read. So pull out your hammock, put it under a shady tree, grab a nice tall glass of iced tea, lemonade, or other beverage of your choice, kick back and enjoy a good book!

It seems like we are in countdown mode right now. We are counting down to the end of the Summer Reading program - it ends this weekend. We are counting down to the first pre-season Packer's football game (August 9th at San Diego) and first regular season game (September 9th with San Francisco). We are counting down to the Fall Primary (August 14th). We are counting down to the start of school (September 4th) and to Labor Day (September 3rd). We are counting down until the end of this long, hot, summer. Some of us are counting down to Christmas (145 days) or to our birthdays (70 days - more or less) or the 50th anniversary of this library (800 days - Phew! Still plenty of time to plan a big party!) If all the counting down has you tired of numbers, the n I suggest you try a reading a few letters (of the alphabet) and take a gander at some of the new books we have for you this week. Enjoy!

If you're reading this on Thursday, then the Packers have already held their first practice in shells (i.e., shoulder pads and shorts). It was this morning at 8:15. And if training camp has started, came pre-season football be far behind? Not at all! The first game is August 9th. At least the football drought is about to end. The end is also in sight for our Summer Reading Program. In five days - count them, five-on July 31st we will have our annual Harry Potter Birthday Party. If you're a fan of the books or the movies, stop by between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m., have a piece of birthday cake, watch a "slug" eating contest, help judge the costume contest (by your applause), eat Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans, and sip some pumpkin juice from an old family recipe. After the Harry Potter Birthday Party there are only 4 days-count them, four-until the end of the Summer Reading Program. Saturday, August 4th, is the last day that you can record the books you've read for the program. The end of the Summer Reading Program is only five - count them, five-days before the first Packer preseason game. I'm not sure if that's relevant, but there you have it. Between now and those marvelous upcoming events, we have plenty of books for you to read to help you while away the time. Scroll your eyes down the page and you'll see a sampling of all the exciting new books that have arrived at your library. Enjoy!

This is a summer that most of us will be happy to see get over itself so that we can move on to the next season. And while we can't seem to catch a break as far as rain is concerned there are some signs that this oven we've been broiling in will start to back down to mere baking. The days are already noticeably shorter at least to us early riser. Sunrise on the longest day of the year was 4:18. Today the sun rises at 4:36 - that's a loss of 18 minutes. In the evening we've only lost 8 minutes. But fewer daylight hours mean the angle of the earth is shifting so we get less sunlight which will - eventually-result in cooler temperatures. Another sure sign that we are marching towards Autumn is that Packers training camp opens a week from today and the first preseason game is Thursday, August 9th. In the meantime, there are plenty of good books to read. Reading is one of those activities that can have a calm, cooling effect (unless you read on a treadmill or elliptical). There are still a few weeks left in the Summer Reading /Library Program so if you're in the mood to take it easy and do some serious reading, why not sign up for the program and gain some rewards? A sampling of the new books that have recently arrived are further down the page. Enjoy!

Two of Summer's major holidays are now done - Memorial Day and the 4th of July--, that leaves the annual Harry Potter Birthday Bash on July 31st (1:30-3:30 p.m.) and Labor Day and that will be that for Summer. By the time September rolls around, the days will be noticeably shorter (Well, they already are if you are paying real close attention.) the plants will be finishing off and turning sere (oh, wait, they already are sere - but not because they're finishing their productive season), and there will be a little chill in the air. Perhaps this heat wave will take the place of the dog days of summer and let us cost on towards Fall. One can but hope. In the meantime, there are plenty of new books on our shelves for your reading pleasure. Cast your eyes down the page to find a title that might just be the perfect book to read in the shade of that big old tree in your backyard, or under the umbrella by the pool, or on your screened in porch. Stay cool and enjoy the reading!

I hope you all survived the Fourth of July, and that the heat, humidity, and fireworks didn't overtax you. It's one of those lesser known (or remembered, or recalled) bits of American History that Independence from Great Britain actually occurred when the Second Continental Congress approved a resolution declaring the United States independent put forward by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia ( Great granddaddy of Robert E. Lee) on July 2nd. What actually happened on the 4th of July was the approval of the document - the declaration that explained how the decision was made-by Congress. It wasn't signed until sometime in August. Another interesting bit of American History trivia is that both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, who were signatories of the Declaration as well as presidents, died on the 4th of July, 1826 which was the 50th anniversary of the document. This foundational document of our nation is now celebrated with concerts, firework displays, picnics and barbeques, foot races and parades, as well as Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island. I think sometimes we lose sight of the men who were assembled in that rather small room in the place now known as Independence Hall, in that sultry Philadelphian summer of 1776 who mutually pledged to each other their Lives, their Fortunes and their sacred Honor. I hope during all the celebrating you had a moment to reflect on the cause of all the celebrating! Below you will find some books to help you through this sultry summer in Wisconsin. Enjoy!

It is nearly the end of June. A week from today it will be July 5th which means we are rapidly approaching the midpoint of Summer (and by Summer I don't mean astronomical that involves the sun passing some imaginary mark so that we arrive at the solstice). Meteorologically the middle of Summer, which encompasses the months of June, July, and August would be July 15th, I suppose. But if you think of Summer as being made up of three major holidays - Memorial Day, the 4th of July, and Labor Day. Then July 5th is pretty much the middle of Summer. Any way you care to think about it, there is still a whole lot of summer left. There's plenty of time to join the Summer Reading / Library Program and get rewarded for reading. There's plenty of time to attended any number of Concerts in the Park on Tuesday evenings of Movies in the Park on Friday evenings. If all the sunlight we have been enjoying for lo, these many weeks, has had you energized and hyped, why not select one of the many books listed below and take some time to sit in a shady spot, relax, and read. Make sure to watch for the library crew in the 4th of July parade. We'll be there!

Yesterday - if you're reading this on Thursday - was the official start of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere. I hope you had a chance to celebrate! It's all downhill from here as we start losing daylight and eventually, warmth. Summer starts in the Northern Hemisphere this year on June 20th, at 8:09 P.M. (CDT). Each year, the timing of the solstice depends on when the Sun reaches its farthest point north of the equator. This occurs annually on June 20 or June 21 in North America, depending on your time zone. The word solstice is from the Latin solstitium, from sol (sun) and stitium (to stop), reflecting the fact that the Sun appears to stop at this time (and again at the winter solstice). In temperate regions, we notice that the Sun is higher in the sky throughout the day, and its rays strike Earth at a more direct angle, causing the efficient warming we call summer. In the winter, just the opposite occurs: The Sun is at its southernmost point and is low in the sky. Its rays hit the Northern Hemisphere at an oblique angle, creating the feeble winter sunlight. Soon all that efficient warming of the sun being at this high angle will result in the warmest days of the years which usually occur in July. No matter when summer officially arrives, the library's Summer Reading Program has been well underway since the end of May. There is still plenty of time to sign up and to earn fabulous prizes. Check out our website at : www.deforestlibrary.org for more details. We have many new books for you to read to help you earn fabulous prizes. Merely cast your eyes down this page and see all the titles we have for you. Enjoy!

Here we are in the middle of June and we're well underway towards Summer as well. School's out, the Summer Reading Program is up and running, Concerts in the Park have started, Movies in the Park are about to start and we're six days away from the Summer Solstice. Today is Flag Day. On this day in 1777, the Second Continental Congress adopted the flag of the United States. In 1916 Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14th as Flag Day. In 1949 an Act of Congress made this day "National Flag Day". Did you know that this day has a connection to Wisconsin? Well, it does. According to Wikipedia, and I quote "Working as a grade school teacher in Waubeka, Wisconsin, in 1885, Bernard J. Cigrand held the first recognized formal observance of Flag Day at the Stony Hill School. The school has been restored, and a bust of Cigrand also honors him at the National Flag Day Americanism Center in Waubeka. From the late 1880s on, Cigrand spoke around the country promoting patriotism, respect for the flag, and the need for the annual observance of a flag day on June 14." If you don't know where Waubeka is, it's in the Town of Fredonia, in Ozaukee County. Lots of books have arrived that are just perfect for summer reading. Enjoy

How did it ever get to be June? Why it seems like only last week we were still in May and now here we are a fourth of the way through the lovely month of June. We all know that June is Dairy Month (Sort of hard to live in the Dairy State and miss that one!), but did you know it is also Aquarium, Candy, Rose, Gay Pride, and Turkey Lovers month too? It is also National Adopt a Cat Month, National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month, and National Accordion Awareness Month ( Not sure how you can be unaware of an accordion if you're anywhere in the vicinity.)? There are also at least 30 different special days (I don't think this is a coincidental to June having 30 days, but it might be!). Here are just a few of them. Today (June 7th) is National Chocolate Ice Cream Day - so treat yourself! Donald Duck Day is June 9th, Iced Tea Day the 10th, Sewing Machine Day on the 13th, Flag Day on the 14th, National Hollerin' Contest Day on the 16th, Father's Day on the 17th, Go Fishing Day on the 18th, International Panic Day on the 18 followed by National Splurge Day on the 19th (which I think might be a result of the Panic Day). On June 20th we have the Summer Solstice and by Ice Cream Soda Day ( a very nice drink to celebrate the official arrival of Summer, followed by Go Skate Day on the 21st, National Pink Day on the 23d, Forgiveness Day on the 26th, Paul Bunyan Day on the 28th and that's all I'm going to tell you about today. But if you need a hug because I was rather abrupt in ending this list, you might want to do it on the 29th! Our Summer Reading Program is underway. Below you will find many new titles that will keep you reading. Enjoy!

I know it's not officially Summer yet. Although what makes summer "official" is a little sketchy. Is it the end of school? Well, that hasn't happened yet. Is it heat and humidity? Well, that happened way back in March and has been popping up occasionally ever since. Is it being past the Memorial Day holiday on the calendars? Because that has happened? It is passing the solstice astronomically (or is that astrologically?)? Because that won't happen until June 20th. Is it reaching the highest daily average temperatures meteorologically (or is that climatologically?)? Because that happens July 2nd. Is it when the major book publishers begin releasing their summer reading lists? Well, that is happening now. Is it being able to register for summer reading story times and other activities? Because that is happening now? Is it being able to sign up for the library's Summer Reading Program? Because you can do that now? Well, no matter how you define summer, I think you will find there are many books from the publisher's summer lists for you to read. No matter how you define the official start of summer, I think you will enjoy kicking back and reading some of the new titles listed below in the shade of a tree with the warm winds of June wafting across the pages and ruffling them in the breeze. Enjoy!

Did you know that Dragonfest is underway? Well, it is. Every year, about 10 days (more or less - this year more)before the Friends of the Dragon Art Fair, the library has a celebration of all things dragon. We feel that celebrating the dragon is appropriate, since we have four dragons guarding each of the gables. There are activities for all ages, so please checkout our webpage at www.deforestlibrary.org. One of the activities of Dragonfest is that it acts as a soft opening for our summer reading program so if you want to get a jump on earning dragon dollars so you can "buy" fabulous items from "The Olde Dragon Dollar Store" you can start signing up now. It's hard to believe we have almost made it to summer. On the other hand it's hard to believe we aren't already well into summer. Hay was being cut, windrowed, and baled two weeks ago. Why, when I was growing up on the farm we thought we were lucky if we got hay made on Memorial Day weekend. So in that sense, it should already be the first or second week of June. Now that I think about it, the publishers' summer list titles have already started to arrive. If you cast your eyes down the page you'll find some excellent material for beach or pool or lakeside reading. These books also work well in a hammock in the shade too. Enjoy!

By the time you're reading this the big event shall probably have already happened. Library staff was doing a workroom countdown to the five millionth (That's the number "5" followed, by six zeros.) check out since this library was automated. This new circulation system has many interesting features, one of which is that we get daily statistics, oh, about twice a week. This makes it rather difficult to do a countdown. We were going along at a steady pace and then suddenly, we were almost at the 5 millionth checkout mark without much lead time at all to publicize the event. So I guess I'll just do that now. When we hit that magical mark something shall have fallen from the sky - such as confetti, or bubbles-- upon the unsuspecting person who checked out the five millionth item. A prize shall have been awarded and cake shall have been served. This may have happened on Monday, May 14th depending on the daily statistics we get for Thursday through Sunday. Monday looked like a likely day last Thursday. Tuesday is a possibility. But I don't believe we shall still be counting down on Wednesday or Thursday. I do believe all the cake will be gone well before you read this. Five million of anything is a big number and checking out that many items in fewer than eight years is an accomplishment. Back in 1994 when we went live on the day after Labor Day, we had 26,381 books and checked out 123,242 items that year. Last year we had 64,232 Books and checked out 421,916. In 1994 we were checking out a lot of Books on Cassette and VHS videos. Today those formats are all but gone from our collection. But we have dvds, Books on MP3 players (and cds) and have an expanding collection of new formats like blu-ray and wii. Anyway, as we put the five millionth check out behind us and gear up for the six millionth, here are some new titles for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

Here it is, the second week of May and, as any Norwegian will tell you, we're getting very close to Syttende Mai. The 17th of May (Syttende = 17, Mai =May) is the day Norwegians celebrate their independence from 500 years of being ruled by Denmark. In 1814, on that date, the Norwegian Constitution was signed and gave Norway its independence. This day is celebrated in many Norwegian homes by eating Norwegian foods (lefse, lutefisk, solte, rollepulse, rommegrot, pickled herring, open-faced sandwiches, frikadeller, fiskboller, and other delicacies.) and drinking traditional adult beverages such as beer and akavit. Sometimes the high spirits of the celebration lead to disrespecting the Danes. Except when I was growing, because in our house my father and uncle were Norwegian (on both sides)while my mother and grandmother were Danish (on both sides). So the men could have their adult beverages and toast the King of Norway, but if they wanted to ingest any Norwegian delicacies, the Danes in the house had to be shown some respect. It's funny how national battles are sometimes fought and sometimes worked out in the smaller arena of the home. Our home front on the 17th of May always had a touch of tension in the air but the 17th of May is only 24 hours long so it was over before it got much traction. Speaking of traction - how's that for an awful segue? - there a lot of new books listed below. Enjoy!

It's hard to believe it's May already. It's also hard to believe it is finally May because we have been dealing with May-like weather since, what, sometime in March? When I was growing up our family would always have a gathering with our Wisconsin cousins around this time of year. We gathered to celebrate all the birthdays that clustered around the end of April and the beginning of May - my dad's, my cousin's, my brother's, my aunt's. And as I recall, the lilacs were just coming into bloom then. My mother and I would be out cutting them for decorations for the birthday dinner table. This year it seems like all the flowers, the early bloomers like grape hyacinth and crocuses, and slightly later bloomers like tulips, jonquils, and irises are all in bloom at the same time. Not only are the flowers and lilacs in bloom but the trees are all a-flower too. It has been a remarkably beautiful Spring and a fecund one. Lawns have already been mowed a couple of times and the dandelion clocks are all blown. One wonders what May has in store for us as we transition from Spring to early summer weather. I think everyone would agree that it is a little early to be putting seedlings into ground so while you're waiting, why not read one of the exciting Spring titles listed below. Enjoy!

This is the last Thursday in April which means May is just around the corner. This year, the old weather adage "April showers bring May flowers" is less than accurate. This year I think you could accurately say " March's heat wave forced the flowers" (Sorry can't figure out how to make a couplet out of this - maybe "forced the flowers brave" ? Fortunately, I don't think we'll be needing a weather adage like in years to come, so there's no need to go looking for a couplet that works.) May is a month that prepares us for summer and is one of the prettiest month's there is in this part of Wisconsin. It also has some major holidays - Mother's Day and Memorial Day to name the obvious ones. Did you know that May is also, American Bike Month, Asparagus Month, Flower Month, National Bar-B-Que Month, National Egg Month, National Photo Month, National Salad Month, and National Strawberry Month? The month is rife with special days, including - the obvious - May Day and Cinco De Mayo. But there is also Space Day and Sesame Street's Susan's Birthday on May 4th, National Teacher Day on the 8th. The 8th is also No Socks Day followed by Lost Sock Memorial Day on May 9th. Then there's National Chocolate Chip Day on the 15th, Armed Forces Day of the 19th, National Tap Dance Day on the 25th, and Blueberry Cheesecake Day on the 16th. As you can see, there are lots of reasons to celebrate in the coming month. I'm guessing this library will add one more reason and that will be our 5 millionth check-out on an automated circulation system. Stay tuned as we get to the countdown phase. The tension is mounting. If you check out some of the books below, you'll help get us to that number quicker. Enjoy!

Now that the national, annual celebrations of libraries is over with for another year, I'm sure you're wondering what next exciting things are there to look forward to. Well, let me tell you! The next big thing that will be coming your way is another celebration. Sometime during the month of May - and this is only a guess at this point - we will be checking out our 5 millionth item. Many years ago, at some point that is lost in the mists of my memory (but which could be looked up) this library went from a manual, hand-charge method of circulating materials, to an automated, barcode-based method of checking out items. Well, since that point in time, we have checked out four million nine hundred and fifty-six thousand eighty-eight (4,956,088) items. That number was as of March 31st. So you can see we are getting close. Every month we checkout somewhere between 30 and 40 thousand items - so you can see, it shouldn't take us too much longer to hit the five-million mark. And of course we will celebrate that achievement, and of course whoever is the lucky person who checks out that five-millionth item will become an instant celebrity! We will be starting the "official" countdown soon. In the meantime, you can help move us closer to that five-million checkout mark by taking some of these new titles home and reading them. Enjoy!

We are five sevenths of the way through National Library Week and two days before the 10th Birthday of the library building. National Library Week is a week designed to help remind everybody about the myriad things that public libraries do that adds positive value to the community. Rather than write a laundry list of things the library does or things the library provides and, frankly, since you're reading this you are probably are a library user already and have a pretty good idea of what would be on that library list, let me ask you for a moment to imagine that there were no public libraries. If that very thought fills you with sadness, remorse, nostalgia, or (you choose the emotion) then National Library Week (NLW) does indeed offer something for you to celebrate. And if celebrations make you think about cake, then stop by on Saturday, April 14th and have a piece of birthday cake. And if birthday's make you think about birthday presents...well, what can you give a 10-year-old building (except maybe a fresh coat of paint)? Library staff, on the other hand, always appreciates a kind word and would be happy to be wished a "Happy National Library Week" or "Happy Building Birthday"! When you stop by to celebrate NLW you might enjoy picking up one of the titles listed below.

I knew it would happen. Last week when I stated, in writing, that I thought Spring was officially here, well, you just sort of knew I was jinxing things, didn't you. These frosty mornings and cold, gloomy days seem to be Mother Nature's way of keeping us from getting overconfident about anything related to the weather. But really, we are in the first week of April, Easter will soon be upon us, the weather forecast has temperatures trending upward, the grass is green, the tree pollen is flying, and the dawn chorus is getting louder (and earlier) every morning. And just so you know, National Library week is coming up soon. It is always the second week of April - which means it will be well advanced by the time next week's column rolls around. Our 10th anniversary in this building is coming up on April 14th. I'm sure we will mark the date with some celebration which will be on top of the celebration already underway for National Library Week. I'm sure some of these celebrations will include refreshments - possibly cake. Stop in next week and check out what's happening at your public library. In case refreshments don't appeal to you, then perhaps you'll want to check out some of these new books that have recently arrived. Enjoy!

Sorry to have missed you all last week. I was driving back from the annual Public Library Association meeting in Philadelphia, PA and just couldn't find enough time to put a column together while I was driving-even though I could get wi-fi at some of the rest areas and could, theoretically, write a document on my smartphone. And what a difference being gone a week made! The trees are nearly leafed out, the grass is that you-could-just-eat-it-up-with-a-spoon green you only see in the Spring, motorcyclists and bicyclists are everywhere, and some ants decided to check out the kibble in the cat food dishes at my house. Today I saw some gentleman out cutting his lawn and there were lines at the gas station filling up red gas containers - I'm guessing for small gasoline engines of one sort or another. You can't get much stronger proof that Spring is really here than that! While Spring is arriving outdoors, it is also arriving indoors. The book publishers' Spring List of book titles have started to arrive which means there are lots of exciting, new titles for your reading pleasure. Cast your eyes down this page and see what new books are in store for you! Enjoy!

The red-winged blackbirds returned last week. The cardinals are singing at full throttle at 5:43 in the morning (of course daylight savings time will set them back to a more reasonable hour to start doing warm-up exercises - for a while), and the start of the dawn chorus is beginning to emerge. More birds seem to be arriving daily on the south winds are bringing Spring to Wisconsin earlier than usual this year. This early spring reminds me of the prologue to the Canterbury Tales (Once an English major, always an English major)-which as you'll undoubtedly recall starts off with the notion that once April rolls around people generally want to get out and get going. In 14th century England there weren't a lot of vacation spots to visit, so if you wanted to get out of town and go somewhere exciting you usually headed for a shrine of some sort. This week I shall be making a pilgrimage of my own - this time heading East. I'm going to Philadelphia to attend the Public Library Association (biennial) Conference. Philly is - disputably-the home of the first public library in the United States (the dispute is with Boston and centers around what actually constitutes a free public library. Good old Ben Franklin and his cronies created the Library Company, in Philadelphia, but that was a subscription library.) or one of the first public libraries and there is the Liberty Bell and other sites concerning the founding of this nation. I think my sojourn qualifies as a pilgrimage on a number of levels. I'll advise you of my adventures when I return. Until then, there are lots of new books for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

Another weekend, another snow storm. This is getting to be a rather bad habit! Maybe we can make a deal with winter and have these past two weekend snows count as our boys and /or girls WIAA basketball finals snow storm. Those state tournaments are scheduled for the 15th, 16th, and 17th and the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th of March. Since everything weather-wise and bird-migration-wise seems to be a couple of weeks ahead or "normal", I think a good case can be made that those two storms count and that's it until late next Fall. Of course, what I think doesn't usually count for all that much. Our annual community read during the month of February (DeForest Reads 'Til Pigs Fly) has ended. We are already in search for our next phrase and you can help! We have already had DeForest "go to the dogs" and "let the cat out of the bag", and we have read "until the cows come home" and "'til pigs fly. If you can think of a phrase that lends itself to a theme/ characters that might be found in literature and that isn't risqué or scatological, please let us know. We have a lot of new Spring titles arriving almost daily. Cast your eyes down the page and I'm sure you'll find something to inform or entertain you. Enjoy!

I went out to Nebraska at the end of last week for my annual pilgrimage to see the sandhill crane migration. Naturally, I got out of town just before the snow storm struck and drove into clearing skies and warmer temperatures. Every year approximately half a million cranes stop off in Nebraska to eat waste corn, put on weight, meet up with family, find true love, sing and dance, all within a six to eight week window of time. Then they grab air and head north again, heading to ancestral breeding grounds. It is quite the spectacular. This year the numbers of cranes was what you would normally see in the midst of the time span, not at the beginning. So rather than just seeing lots of cranes, I saw a gazillion! I was awesome in the actual meaning of the word. The morning after I returned to DeForest, cranes flew over my house which means there were cranes in DeForest in February. It really has been a warm winter. If you can't make it to Nebraska this Spring, you can still get the crane experience. This is the local Audubon link to their "crane cam" : http://rowe.audubon.org/crane-cam. If you watch at dawn and dusk you'll see thousands upon thousands of cranes and geese coming onto the Platte River or leaving it. It will give you some sense of the enormous numbers. But enough of my adventures, now it's time for your to have some. There are many ripping yarns and tales of derring-do for your reading enjoyment below. Read on!

If you were slightly confused by this part of last week's column, it was my bad. I got a week ahead of myself in my desire to get to Spring as soon as possible. So the stuff I said last week that was time sensitive is really accurate this week. There is less than a week to go of February even with our leap day thrown in and that means the month-long community read, "DeForest Reads 'Til Pigs Fly" is nearing its conclusion. It is still true that the run of warm weather we've been having continues. Even when we have snow, the sun has come out and melted it all away. Right now the 10-day extended forecast still shows warm (for this time of year) temperatures and any precipitation that falls looks to be rain. You know we're experiencing a very special winter, when the weather forecasters talk about a cold front coming through that will drop temperatures back to where we'd normally be this time of year. And when the same said forecasters say it's going to be cold and they mean temperatures in the 30s, one has to ask "Really? That's cold? Isn't this February? Isn't this Wisconsin?" Be that as it may, the books in last week's column were not a week ahead. We did (and still do) have them now. This week we have even more new books to offer for your reading enjoyment!

So, we had a little cold snap a week ago and a little arctic front came through to drop the temperatures to a chilling day-time high of 20 degrees and now we're back in the mid-to-upper 30s. The weather has been anything but typical of a Wisconsin winter, yet the long-established patterns of nature are persisting. The male cardinals have started singing at first light (which at this time of year is 6:30 a.m. or so), the chickadees have started singing their "phoebe" song which means they're starting to get back in the dating game. The Decorah Eagles - that on-line phenomena which has me keeping a window open on my desktop in case any eagle action occurs. They have been caught on camera making whoopee - so it won't be too long before momma eagle is laying an egg or two or three. I've seen flocks of starlings hanging around, and geese and ducks are flying. As you read this, there is less than two weeks left in February, even with leap day thrown in. And we all know that March puts us on the downhill slope towards Spring. There may be a few snowstorms - sometimes real corkers, usually during the WIAA basketball tournaments-but by March you can almost smell the beginnings of Spring. While you're waiting around for Spring to arrive, we have a lot of interesting and entertaining books for you. If you scroll your eyes further down the page, you will find out what they are. Enjoy!

February is one of those months that has a lot of holidays - some more exciting than others-in preparation apparently for the month of March, that doesn't offer a lot. I mean, here we are, on the ninth day of February, and already we've had Ground Hog's Day (Way to go, Jimmy!) and Super Bowl Sunday (Way to go (1) Eli or (2) Tom!), and Valentine's Day is but five days away. But before that we get Lincoln's birthday on the 12th followed by Washington's birthday on the 22nd, celebrated jointly on President's Day, the 20th. We also get Ash Wednesday on the 22nd, which means that Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday or Mardi gras is the 21st. And just when you think the month of February couldn't get any more exciting, we get an extra day! Because this is leap year, we get a leap day which is February 29th. That extra day means more time for reading and there are plenty of good books for you to consider. Scroll your eyes down the page and see what treats are in store for you. Enjoy!

Happy Ground Hog's Day! Those of you who are weather or rodent aficionados or indeed, weather and rodent wonks, were all a-twitter this morning waiting for the prognostication from the famous rodent that lives east of here in Sun Prairie, or even further east of here in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Whether or not you're fans of Jimmy or Phil, you've got to admit that a celebration based on waking up a large, sleeping rodent to determine if winter is going to stick around for another six weeks or not, tells you a whole lot about the human psyche and our need for hope when we are struggling against the cold and darkness of the winter months in northern climes. By the time you read this the illustrious Phil or Jimmy shall have already made their predictions and finally been allowed to return to their burrows for six more weeks of hibernating -- because we all know that winter in these northern latitudes will be pretty much over in mid-March no matter what the ground hogs say. But what better thing is there to do but settle in for a long-winter's read (and possibly, the Super Bowl) this weekend? I have lots of books to tell you about, so just mosey on down the page to see what might help you make it through the next six weeks of winter.

Well. Since last we communicated the Packer's football season has come to an end and we are a little more than a week away from the Super Bowl. Some of us, who are one-sport fanatics - that sport being professional football in my case-are at about the end of our sport and have a long, barren time to get through before the pre-season hoopla starts. Those of you who are not football fans or are not mono-fanatics, are probably already counting the days until spring training starts (The beginning of March, I believe). Why, the way this month is flying past, next thing you know it will be Ground Hogs' Day and then we are only about six weeks away from Spring (Ground hog willing.) In case you're keeping track, we have been adding daylight at a great clip. Since January 10th, we've been gaining time at both ends of the day. The sun is now rising 10 minutes earlier in the morning and setting forty minutes later in the evening. Now that's progress if you ask me! And as we progress through the month of January, we are getting closer and closer to the start of our month of community reading. This year's read is called "DeForest Reads 'Til Pigs Fly". If the title intrigues you, check out our website or stop by the library for more information. We have a number of new books for your reading enjoyment so cast your eyes down the page to see what we have in store for you.

I am writing this on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Half of the football quarterfinals were fought out on Saturday. Right now the Texans are battling the Ravens and in a few hours the future happiness of Wisconsinites will be determined by the outcome of the Green Bay Packers / New York Giants game. Right now, everything seems possible. A little bit like how the Confederate Army felt on the battlefield at Gettysburg, on July 3rd at 1 p.m. before Pickett's Charge. The Confederacy was as far into the North as it would get and if it could have defeated Meade at Gettysburg, well, things might have been different. By the time you are reading the battle will be over and your psychological state will be moving towards equilibrium. Either you will be dragging yourself up from the slough of despond or you will be climbing down from the state of euphoria you have been in. Reading is a good way to take your mind of things. The new books continue to come in. Cast your eyes down the page and you'll see lots of exciting new topics to help you while away the time. Enjoy!

Even though we're still waiting for Winter to arrive, the library's Winter Reading Program is well underway. If you read - and since you're reading this that isn't too far-fetched a notion-and you sign up for the program, you can earn rewards for reading. Details are available on our website (www.deforestlibrary.org) or in the library. Even though we are still waiting for Winter to arrive, we have already turned the corner as far as daylight is concerned. December 10th is the earliest sunset of the year. Since that date we have been adding a minute every now and then and as of today (the 12th of January) we have added 22 minutes to the tail end of the day. And as of January 10th, we gained a minute of day light on the sunrise end of things. So things are looking brighter, literally. Just to give you something else to make you think that Spring is not that far away, I saw robins on my front lawn last Friday. They were bopping along, eating berries that were falling out of the tree a couple of squirrels were clambering around in. Now we all know that "one robin does not a Spring make" (which should actually be "one swallow does not a Spring make" from the Aesop's fable or "One swallow does not make spring, nor does one fine day" ~Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, bk 1, ch. 7 (C. 335 BCE)) but robins in January can certainly lift your heart. It's only three weeks until Ground Hog's Day and we all know how much closer to Spring that makes us feel. In the meantime, there are lots of new books to read. Enjoy!

Welcome to the fifth day of the year 2012. I hope you had a marvelous New Year's Eve celebration and are sufficiently recovered to get on with keeping the resolutions you made the day after. I hope some of those resolutions included reading and using the library more. The year 2012 is an interesting year at least calendar-wise. We have all lived through various end-of-days scenarios as certain dates approached - like the year 2000, and this past year wasn't something predicted for October 21st, ? Well, for those of you who look forward to those kinds of things, there is something to look forward to in 2012. On December 21st, 2012 - the Mayan calendar (the long one, not the round one) comes to an end on that date (although some argue that it doesn't) which have lead some to conclude that that means the world ends on that date. In case you think this scenario might have some merit, I thought I'd let you know that you have 351 days to prepare. In the meantime, we are in the midst of a winter reading program where you can get rewarded for reading - something you obviously already enjoy doing because why else would you be reading this?-and we have a number of new titles you might find enjoyable. So cast your eyes down the page and see what good reads are waiting for you at your library. Enjoy!