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Dr. Donald Kraybill, who is nationally recognized for his scholarship on the Amish and other Anabaptist groups, is the author or editor of more than 25 books and dozens of professional articles. His 2007 non-fiction book “Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy” with Steven M. Nolt and David L. Weaver-Zercher examines the Amish understanding of forgiveness and explores how and why they responded to the 2006 killing of Amish school children at Nickel Mines in Lancaster County with grace.
On Thurs., Oct. 13, at 7 p.m. Dr. Kraybill is scheduled to give a presentation in the Weber Chapel Auditorium at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove. Doors will open at 6 p.m. There is no reserved seating.
The free public event is presented as part of the 2011 Read Across the Valley project “Living Simple, Living Plain.” A cooperative effort of one academic and 13 public libraries, the Read Across the Valley project encourages exploring regional cultures, reading, and building a sense of community by encouraging residents to talk about what they read.
Member libraries are: Beavertown Community Library, Degenstein Community Library, Herr Memorial Library, James V. Brown Library, McClure Community Library, Middleburg Community Library, Milton Public Library, Montgomery House Warrior Run Area Public Library, Priestly-Forsyth Memorial Library, The Public Library for Union County, Selinsgrove Community Library, Blough-Weis Library of Susquehanna University, Thomas Beaver Free Library, and West End Library.
The National Endowment for the Humanities and numerous private foundations have supported Dr. Kraybill’s research projects, and he is the series editor of “Young Center Books in Anabaptist and Pietist Studies” published by the Johns Hopkins University Press.
His presentation is the final of four Read Across the Valley presentations in 2011. Kevin Williams, editor of “The Amish Cook” column and co-author of several “Amish Cook” books, spoke in Sunbury in July. Marta Perry, author of a series of Amish suspense books, spoke in Sunbury in August. Tamar Myers, prolific author of two mystery series, spoke in September in Williamsport.
“Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy” and Dr. Kraybill’s 2010 book will be available to purchase at the event, and Dr. Kraybill will be available to sign materials after the presentation.
The author’s presentation is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities’ “We the People” initiative. Additional Read Across the Valley sponsors include Kohl’s, Sam’s Club, Sunbury Broadcasting Corp., and the Wal-Mart Foundation.
For more information about the Read Across the Valley project, follow the organization on Facebook or visit www.readacrossvalley.org
The Public Library for Union County, 255 Reitz Blvd. in Lewisburg, will close at 1 p.m. on Thurs., Sept. 8, due to flooding and impassable roads in the area. A decision about operation on Fri., Sept. 9, is to be determined.
The three members of the Union County Library System — The Public Library for Union County in Lewisburg, Herr Memorial Library in Mifflinburg, and West End Library in Laurelton — will be closed on Mon., Sept. 5, for Labor Day. Each library has an outdoor book drop available for the return of books and magazines, and The Public Library for Union County also has a special drop box for audiovisual materials such as movies, music, and books on CD.
Library card holders who have registered in advance at their home library may renew eligible materials by accessing their accounts through the system’s website www.unioncountylibrarysystem.com or through any of the individual libraries’ websites.
For more information, call 523-1172 for the library in Lewisburg, 966-0831 for the library in Mifflinburg, and 922-4773 for the library in Laurelton.
Perhaps best-known for her “Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery with Recipe” series, author Tamar Myers will talk about her latest novels, “The Witch Doctor’s Wife” and “The Headhunter’s Daughter” at 7 p.m. on Wed., Sept. 14, at James V. Brown Library in Williamsport. The free event is presented as part of the 2011 Read Across the Valley project “Living Simple, Living Plain.”
Although she herself is not Amish, Myers explains that her ancestors were and that she draws on family history in her new books.
“You would not believe my mother’s family tree!” Myers said in a recent interview for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council. “I am descended from the great Amish patriarch Jacob Hochstetler, who immigrated to America on the ‘Charming Nancy’ in the 1730s along with the first great wave of Amish from Switzerland.”
The Read Across the Valley project is a cooperative effort of one academic and 13 public libraries with the purpose of exploring regional cultures, promoting reading, and building a sense of community by encouraging residents to talk about what they read.
Member libraries are: Beavertown Community Library, Degenstein Community Library, Herr Memorial Library, James V. Brown Library, McClure Community Library, Middleburg Community Library, Milton Public Library, Montgomery House Warrior Run Area Public Library, Priestly-Forsyth Memorial Library, The Public Library for Union County, Selinsgrove Community Library, Blough-Weis Library of Susquehanna University, Thomas Beaver Free Library, and West End Library.
According to Myers “The Headhunter’s Daughter,” released in January of this year, essentially is about a kidnapping plan gone wrong.
“The story idea came from the fact that my eight-times-great-grandfather, Joseph Hochstetler, was captured by the Delaware Indians in 1750 and adopted by a loving Indian family,” she told PHC. “He was eleven years old at the time.”
Myers’ presentation is the third of four that are scheduled in the area through mid-October. Kevin Williams, editor of “The Amish Cook” column and co-author of several “Amish Cook” books, spoke in Sunbury in July. Marta Perry, author of a series of Amish suspense books, spoke in Sunbury in August. Dr. Donald B. Kraybill, co-author of “Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy,” will speak in Selinsgrove in October.
The doors will open at 6 p.m. for Tamar Myers’ presentation in the Lowry Room on the third floor of the Welch Wing of the James V. Brown Library in Williamsport. There is no reserved seating. Free parking will be available in the municipal lot directly behind the library. Otto’s Bookstore will be on hand to sell Myers’ books, and she will be available to sign them after she speaks.
Myers’ presentation is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities’ “We the People” initiative. Additional Read Across the Valley sponsors include Kohl’s, Sam’s Club, Sunbury Broadcasting Corp., and the Wal-Mart Foundation.
For more information about the Tamar Myers presentation, contact Shawn Newcomer at 570-326-0536 or snewcomer@jvbrown.edu. For more information about Read Across the Valley, look on Facebook or visit www.readacrossvalley.org
The three libraries in the Union County Library System — The Public Library for Union County in Lewisburg, the Herr Memorial Library in Mifflinburg, and the West End Library in Laurelton — will be closed to the public after 5 p.m. on Wed., Aug. 24, and all day on Thurs., Aug. 25, for a system upgrade and to allow staff members to focus on development and training. On the libraries’ websites neither the “My account” service nor the online materials catalog will be available from 5 p.m. on Aug. 24 through 11 a.m. Aug. 25. All three libraries will resume regular hours of operation on Fri., Aug. 26.
For more information about the libraries visit www.unioncountylibrarysystem.com or call 523-1172 for the library in Lewisburg, 966-0831 for the library in Mifflinburg, or 922-4773 for the library in Laurelton.
Kevin Williams, editor of “The Amish Cook” syndicated newspaper column, and friend of the late Elizabeth Coblentz and of her daughter Lovina Eicher, will talk about his experiences with the Amish community at 7 p.m. on Tues., July 26, at Degenstein Community Library in Sunbury. The free event is presented as part of the 2011 Read Across the Valley project “Living Simple, Living Plain.”
Williams has been involved with the Amish community since 1991 when he first began editing and promoting Coblentz’s column. In addition to the column, which includes updates family activities along with recipes and is now written by Eicher, Williams has collaborated on three “Amish Cook” books and recently finished a memoir.
The Read Across the Valley project is a cooperative effort of one academic and 13 public libraries: Beavertown Community Library, Degenstein Community Library, Herr Memorial Library, James V. Brown Library, McClure Community Library, Middleburg Community Library, Milton Public Library, Montgomery House Warrior Run Area Public Library, Priestly-Forsyth Memorial Library, The Public Library for Union County, Selinsgrove Community Library, Blough-Weis Library of Susquehanna University, Thomas Beaver Free Library, and West End Library.
Williams’ presentation is the first of four that are scheduled in the area through mid-October. With the goal of exploring regional cultures, promoting reading, and building a sense of community by encouraging residents to talk about what they read, Read Across the Valley member libraries also have invited Marta Perry, author of a new series of “Amish Suspense” books, Tamar Myers, whose books feature characters based on her religious upbringing, and Dr. Donald B. Kraybill, co-author of “Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy,” to speak.
The doors will open at 6 p.m. for Kevin Williams’ presentation at Degenstein Community Library, located at 40 South Fifth Street, in Sunbury. There is no reserved seating.
Williams’ presentation is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities’ “We the People” initiative. Additional Read Across the Valley sponsors include Kohl’s, Sam’s Club, Sunbury Broadcasting Corp., and the Wal-Mart Foundation.
For more information about the Kevin Williams presentation, call 570-286-2461. For more information about Read Across the Valley, look on Facebook or visit www.readacrossvalley.org
Herr Memorial Library seeks a part-time (10 to 15 hours per week) Children’s Program Coordinator. Duties include coordinating existing programming for children from birth through age 12, creating new programming, working at the circulation desk, and assisting the library director as needed. The salary is $9.02 per hour.
The ideal Children’s Program Coordinator is a good communicator with a lot of energy and enthusiasm who really enjoys working with children and their parents. Herr Memorial Library’s mission is to be the community’s destination for information, literacy, and life-long learning. The Children’s Program Coordinator is responsible for making sure that Discover programs follow Pennsylvania’s Early Childhood standards and that all children’s and family programs are interesting, relevant, and presented in a way that will inspire people to value the library as a vital community resource.
A criminal history background check from the Pennsylvania State Police and child abuse clearance from the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare are required for employment at Herr Memorial Library.
To apply for the position of Children’s Program Coordinator, please send a resume, cover letter, and contact information for two references either by email to jobs@herrlibrary.org, or by mail to Library Director, Herr Memorial Library, 500 Market Street, Mifflinburg, PA 17844.
Herr Memorial Library seeks a part-time (10 to 15 hours per week) Adult & Teen Program Coordinator. Duties include coordinating existing programming for people age 13 and older, creating new programming, working at the circulation desk, and assisting the library director as needed. The Adult & Teen Program Coordinator also is responsible for coordinating several established annual fundraisers for the library. The salary is $9.02 per hour.
The ideal Adult & Teen Program Coordinator is a good communicator with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Herr Memorial Library’s mission is to be the community’s destination for information, literacy, and life-long learning. The Adult & Teen Program Coordinator is responsible for making sure that programs for residents age 13 and older are interesting, relevant, and presented in a way that will inspire people to value the library as a vital community resource.
A criminal history background check from the Pennsylvania State Police and child abuse clearance from the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare are required for employment at Herr Memorial Library.
To apply for the position of Adult & Teen Program Coordinator, please send a resume, cover letter, and contact information for two references either by email to jobs@herrlibrary.org, or by mail to Library Director, Herr Memorial Library, 500 Market Street, Mifflinburg, PA 17844.
The Union, Montour, Snyder, and Northumberland County members of the North Central Library District are trying out TumbleBooks — animated eBooks for children from TumbleBook Library — to see if they would like to purchase them, and area residents are invited to help make the decision.
Now through July 31 residents in the Susquehanna Valley region can receive usernames and passwords from their local libraries to use to access this interesting electronic resource. Many libraries have links for TumbleBooks on their websites, too.
TumbleBookLibrary, designed for beginning readers up through elementary school, is an online collection of narrated moving picture books. TumbleBooks are created by adding animation, sound, music, and spoken words to existing picture books in order to produce an electronic picture book for children to read or have read to them.
TumbleBooks include licensed titles from publishers such as Simon & Schuster, Chronicle Books, Candlewick Press, Charlesbridge Press, Harcourt, Little Brown, Walker & Company, Lerner Books, and HarperCollins Publishers.
TumbleBook Library includes fiction and non-fiction titles. Once a book has been opened, the electronic interface is designed to be easy to control, even for young children. The stories engage children’s interest with animation and sound effects, but maintain a literary feel by providing the entire text along with the narration. As the narrator reads, the corresponding words are highlighted in the text. Some books offer reading help that allows the user to click on a word and hear it pronounced. In addition to e-books the database includes games and puzzles that go along with the books.
Contact your local library to receive a username and password, and then let the staff know what you think.
All three members of the Union County Library System — The Public Library for Union County in Lewisburg, the Herr Memorial Library in Mifflinburg, and the West End Library in Laurelton — will be closed for Independence Day on Mon., July 4. No materials will be due on this date, but each of the libraries has a book and magazine return box that is always available for the return of books and magazines. Other materials must be returned inside when the libraries are open.
Library card holders who have registered may access their accounts online to renew eligible materials at www.unioncountylibrarysystem.com, www.publibuc.org, www.herrlibrary.org, or www.westendlibrary.org. The libraries will reopen on Tues., July 5, and resume regular hours of operation.
For more information, call 523-1172 in Lewisburg, 966-0831 in Mifflinburg, and 922-4773 in Laurelton.