The Book Nook - El Paso District Library El Paso, Illinois

festival of wreaths (and more) going on now

11/16/2019

The Friends of the Library and other volunteers in the community have outdone themselves with the donated Christmas wreaths, small Christmas trees, and signs. You can buy any that are not already sold. You can take them home after the Christmas Extravaganza on Saturday, December 7th.

The library is decorated for the Christmas season. Our history room volunteer has made the upstairs wing look very festive. The Christmas tree is up. The wreaths and other decorations are up. Stop by and have a look!

the unconquerable: kickapoo of central illinois last Thursday, November 7th

11/11/2019

Sometimes timing is everything. I scheduled this presentation several months ago because I thought it sounded interesting and didn't realize that it coincided so well with the McLean County Museum's newest exhibit, A Community in Conflict which had its grand opening last Saturday, November 16th.

We had a good turnout for our event. Bill Kemp gave a very informative presentation about the history of the Native Americans in our area, including the Kickapoo. It just so happened that the museum has been working closely with the modern day Kickapoo and others in Kansas on their new exhibit. We were lucky enough that two of the people they had been working with (Lester Randall, Chairman of the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas and Jenny Flinders, a research project manager at the University of Kansas) were in the audience, having come to this area for the opening of the new exhibit. After Mr. Kemp was done speaking, Lester Randal also talked and answered questions from the audience. The audience got to hear about the modern day Kickapoo and more about the history that is not written in the history books. We were not expecting that and it was a wonderful surprise!

I encourage you to visit the McLean County Museum of History. It really is a treasure to our community. We are very grateful that their speakers bureau comes to our library to educate us about local history.

woodford county historical meeting is not at the library on thursday

11/11/2019

I mistakenly advertised that the Woodford County Historical Society meeting was at the library this Thursday night, November 14th. This was wrong!

The Woodford County Historical Society meeting is at the Roanoke Park Building at 7 pm this Thursday, November 14th. The topic is "Bringing Uncle Herb Home" by Beth Harms Miller and Jeanne Harms Hudson.  Herb, a WWII tail-gunner was shot down over Germany in 1944, declared M.IA. and in 1950 declared K.I.A. They will tell you of the 34 year search and the remarkable story of bringing his remain home last year in November.

I'm sorry for the confusion I may have caused.

tonight is the presentation: Unconquerable: the kickapoo of central illinois at 6:30 pm

11/7/2019

We hope you can join us for the presentation by Bill Kemp of the McLean County Museum of History at 6:30 pm. You can still attend even if you have not registered. Registering just helps us know how many to expect!

Craft Night tonight at 6:30 pm

11/5/2019

If you enjoy doing crafts and are currently working on a project, why not bring it to the library tonight and meet others who like to craft, also? We hope to create a fun environment in which "crafters" can enjoy, support, and inspire each other! It doesn't matter what your craft is - knitting, crocheting, adult coloring, embroidery, or whatever else it may be!

oops! I did it again!

11/5/2019

The correct date for the Children's Thanksgiving Party is Tuesday, November 26th at 3:15 pm. The children will watch a classic Thanksgiving 1970s cartoon. Courtney will serve some of the same snacks that the characters in the cartoon eat!

One of my pet peeves is when you read something and it doesn't answer the basic Who, What, When, Where, Why or How questions so I am very embarrassed that I made a mistake on one of those basics. It all comes from not checking your work!

festival of wreaths

11/4/2019

Calling all area crafters! Would you like to make a wreath for the Festival of Wreaths at the library?

Native American book display

11/4/2019

We have a Native American book display. We have several books about Native American tribes and it also ties in nicely with Thanksgiving.

And speaking of Native Americans, you can come to the FREE program at the library this Thursday, November 7th at 6:30 pm to hear Bill Kemp, the Librarian of the McLean County Museum of History discuss the Kickapoo Indians, that lived in this area. We'd love to give this distinguished speaker a great audience at our small town library!

Please register for the Kickapoo program by calling the library at 527-4360 or stop by the front desk.

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El Paso District Library
El Paso, Illinois