About a decade or so ago, I remember reading how
libraries were on their way out and would soon be replaced by the computer and
the internet. I’m reminded of Mark
Twain, who, when reading about his death in a newspaper, said, “The reports of
my death have been greatly exaggerated.”
Libraries—public,
school, academic and special--the big ones and the little ones are
flourishing. This week (April 10-16) we
honor them. We applaud these places where books are special—and made available to everyone. We reflect on
the theme “Libraries Transform.”
I
remember the eight years I attended a one-room country school, where our
library was but four shelves of books in the back of the school room, next to
the big rusty wood burning stove. By the
time I was in fifth grade I read every book and began reading them over
again. In those days, I did not have
access to the village library. But I
loved books, loved holding them, and so much appreciated what I was
reading. Books took me to far places in
the world, got me thinking about things I never thought about, and learning
about people so different from those in my rural community.
Arnol
Roberts owned the Mercantile in Wild Rose.
In the basement, Mr. Roberts had a table of new books. When he knew of my interest in reading, and
after I had saved money from picking potatoes or cucumbers, he took me to the
basement and told me about the books he thought I’d like to read: Swiss Family
Robinson by Johann Wyss, Hans Brinker by Mary Mapes Dodge, The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson and more. They were forty-nine cents, in hardcover, and
I have them on my shelf today.
One
of the reasons I’m a writer is my great love for books. And today’s libraries
make them available to everyone. Over the
past several years, I have spoken at 121 Wisconsin libraries, from north to
south, from east to west, from the tiniest of the tiny to the biggest of the
big.
So
my hat is off to libraries, they are the community centers in many state’s
villages and cities, places where people gather, read books, and chat with each
other. As the theme for National Library Week suggests, “Libraries Transform.”
THE OLD TIMER SAYS:
Read a good book lately? Stop by your local library and check one out.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Writing Workshops for 2016
Telling Your Story Workshop at Wild Rose Library,
Saturday June 11, 9-4. Call 920-622-3835 to get your name on the list as
enrollment is limited.
Telling Your Story Workshop at The Clearing in Door
County. Friday, August 12, 9-4. Call 920-854-4088 to get your name on the
list.
UPCOMING EVENTS.
April
14, 12:00 p.m. Wild Rose Hospital Auxiliary Luncheon speaker.
Farm Stories
April
17, 7:00 p.m. Lebanon Historical
Society and Dodge County Geological Group, Watertown Senior
and Community Center, 514 South First Street, Watertown. Whispers and
Shadows.
April
19, 6:00 p.m. Union Grove Library.
Wisconsin Agriculture: A History
May
26, 7:00 p.m. Richfield Historical Society, 4128 Hubertus Road, Richfield, WI Whispers and Shadows.
June
7, Cambria Library.
June
11, 9-4 Writing Workshop, Wild Rose Library.
Telling Your Story
June
14.9:00 a.m. Keynote speech. Country Heritage Day, St. John the Baptist Church,
Montello. Barns of Wisconsin.
August
9, 6:30 p.m.. Evening. Winnebago County Historical Society. Oshkosh Library. Ag. History
August
12 9-4, Writing Workshop, The Clearing, Door County.
August
20, 10:30-11:30 am. Waupaca Annual Arts
on the Square.
Purchase
Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose,
Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them):
The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs:
Emmy Winner, A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based on The Quiet Season book.)
Jerry Apps a Farm
Story (based on Rural Wit and
Wisdom and Old Farm books.)
The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and Shadows.)
Also available are several of Jerry’s signed books including:
Jerry’s newest novel, The
Great Sand Fracas of Ames County. and Wisconsin
Agriculture: A History.
Contact
the library for prices and special package deals.
Patterson
Memorial Library
500 Division Street
1 comment:
Jerry,
You've reminded me of a part of my childhood I had forgotten about. Door County had a Bookmobile that traveled between the schools providing new and used to be read by students for a week or two and then returned. Mr. Ralph Arnold was the driver and caretaker of the books. During the Summer he stopped at various locations to allow kids to continue reading. He must have known of my penchant for books as he stopped right in front of our driveway and allowed me to grab a few books I might like. What an act of kindness!
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