Updates & reminders

As you can probably tell, no one was interested in discussing our book online. I'm a little bummed about that, but can understand that it's not everyone's "thing". Oh well, we gave it a shot.

As the community prepares to celebrate its 125th anniversary, I want to remind everyone about a few things going on at the Library.

The One Book ~ One Community program is going strong—many people are reading Song of Sampo Lake by William Durbin. It is an interesting story about a Finnish immigrant family as they homestead in Minnesota. We still have copies available (they are only $3.00) and you still have time to read it (you don’t have to finish it to come to the author presentation). The author presentation will be on Friday, July 3 at noon. Everyone is invited to this free event. Bring a bag lunch if you want—we will provide cardamom bread and beverages. If you are interested in helping out please let me know.

During the 125th celebration, our hours will be:
Friday, July 3 – 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Saturday, July 4 – 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Sunday, July 5 – closed
We will be closed Monday, July 6th in observance of Independence Day.

As visitors come to our community, please remind them that they can “stay connected” by using one of our internet computers or they can bring their own laptop and use our wi-fi connection.

And just so there is no confusion—we are NOT holding our Annual Used Book Sale during the celebration—it will be held on Wednesday, July 29, 4-8 pm, and Thursday, July 30, 8 am to 4 pm, in the City Hall Ballroom. We are claiming the Book Sale as the last 125th Anniversary celebration event! J

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Song of Sampo Lake--Chapter 1

The Kalevala is mentioned throughout the book, beginning in chapter one. If you are interested in the Kalevala, we have it available at the Library.

Epic of the North
Women of the Kalevala
Kalevala Mythology
The Kalevala: the epic of the Finnish people

Song of Sampo Lake--Chapter 1

"That's it,' Father said. "Show us your sisu"

For those of us who aren't Finnish, the word sisu is "a Finnish word that meant strength, courage, and stubbornness all wrapped into one." Tell us about your sisu in the "comments" section below.

Song of Sampo Lake--Chapter 1

Matti is 15 years old, yet he is working ten hour shifts hammering in a mine where "the iron ore was so hard that it took an hour to bore a hole deep enough for a single stick of dynamite". Share some examples of work you did at that age in the "comments" below.

Song of Sampo Lake--intro and author info

If you would like to know more about Song of Sampo Lake, please click here, information about the author, William Durbin, is available here or on his website. Read an excerpt of Song of Sampo Lake by following this link.

You may be interested in learning more about Finnish immigrants. These web articles are very interesting:

Finnish Immigrants in the United States

Finnish American from Wikipedia

The Finns in America

Finnish Immigration to America

The immigrants in Song of Sampo Lake probably have many similar experiences as the immigratns who settled New York Mills 125 years ago.

The New York Mills name first appeared in 1872, when a firm from Oleans, New York, moved to the spot, bought land and started to build a sawmill, which it named New York Mills. After the sawmill came the post office, which was set up in the railroad depot, and so the whole village received the name of New York Mills. Most of the village was originally homestead land owned by one R. L. Frazee, who sold it to the New York Mills Lumber Company, which wasted no time in beginning logging operations. For the first few years, then, the village was essentially made up of loggers and sawmill workers, and farming was almost unknown. (East Ottertail History Museum)

Although New York Mills was a logging community and Soudan, the town in the book, was a mining community, please make note as you read what experiences you think would have been similar for a Finnish immigrant coming to New York Mills. Post your observations by clicking on the "comments" link below.

ONE BOOK ~ ONE COMMUNITY

In celebration of the 125th anniversary of New York Mills, we invite everyone in the community to read the same book, Song of Sampo Lake, about Finnish immigrants who homestead in Minnesota in the 1900's.

"One Book ~ One Community" will run now through July 3. On July 3, we will meet with the author William Durbin. The program will be at noon on that day, here in the Library.

Song of Sampo Lake is on sale now at the Library--only $3.00 per book!

I hope to have some online discussions about the book during the month. Please check back often!

New DVDs

Due to concerns expressed by a local business owner, the Library Board has agreed to delay adding new popular DVDs to our collection for at least 45 days after their release.

If you have any questions or concerns about our new proceedure, please make sure to talk to Julie.

Email Notification

We are pleased to announce a NEW SERVICE! We now are able to send overdue notices via email and “pre-notification”—an email 3 days before your book is due. In order to start this service, please send me an email (jadams@newyorkmills.lib.mn.us) with the following information:

Your name, address, phone number, and library barcode. The email address you use to send me this information will be the one used unless you instruct me otherwise.

Computer Tutoring Sessions

Our volunteer is no longer available to do the Computer Tutoring sessions. We apologize for the inconvenience, but all scheduled sessions will be cancelled. Thank you for your understanding.

VOLUNTEER HELP WANTED

We have several volunteer opportunities available:

* Substitute volunteer shelver

* Summer Reading Program volunteer

* Volunteer to organize a children's "Reader's Theater" group

* Volunteer to help us start a "Book & Movie Club" for kids and/or adults

If any of these sound like something that interests you, please contact me!!