Local Flavors: Spring Greens

New week, new program! This week's offering is "Local Flavors: Spring Greens"on Thursday, April 30 at 6:00pm. To keep within the Going Green theme, we decided to have a cooking program-YUM! It's always a treat to make food at the library. I just wish we had the facility to have a kitchen island with a large mirror over the top for easier viewing-just a wish, sigh...

Our local University of Illinois Extension Office has been great with giving us program ideas and presenters. Their variety and appeal can't be beat! But I wish our participation at these events would be more consistent. Our turnout has been average so far for spring, with large numbers at one program and small ones at another. I guess it all evens out in the end.

National Library Week April12-18, 2009

It's the end of National Library Week, and I hope all you librarians out there had a great time! I know it's hard when budget shortages are on your mind, but try to think of all the good you've done and think positive thoughts.

Our library gave away "go green" reusable book bags to patrons who signed up or renewed their library card. They can also receive one if they bring a friend to sign up or renew their card. I think we're almost out, and we had 250 to give away. Very cool!

Our next program is our 11th Annual Teen Poetry Slam on Thursday, April 23 at 6:00pm. Teens are invited to share their original works of poetry. Prizes are awarded to 7th through 12th graders. I don't know if my teens will share anything, but they usually go just to listen.

Reducing Your Carbon Footprint

A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc.

I want to know how buying that computer, car, or lawnmower impacts my environment. If I ate that organic cereal from my local grocery store is going to be a good choice. Which choices that we can make today can be good for the earth's future? I'm hoping other people are asking themselves those very same questions. We are having a program at the library this Thursday, on carbon footprint reduction that was picked up by our local newspaper. I saw it in last Sunday's paper, and I hope other people saw it, too.

Foreign Flicks: "Elling" (Norway)

Foreign Films at our library has really been a big draw! Tonight's presentation is no exception. We have several people already registered for the Norwegian comedy, Elling, and I hope to see more just show up (which is usually the case). Elling is one of those movies that you wonder if you should laugh at a scene or not because it might show to others how deranged you really are. This movie is a cross between The Odd Couple and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. If you liked either film, I think you would like this one.

Here's a summary:

This Norwegian comedy (nominated for an Academy Award®) concerns two men being released from a state home. Until the death of his mother, Elling rarely left the apartment where they lived; Kjell has lived in institutions most of his life and is obsessed with sex, as any virgin in his 30s might be. Thanks to a new social program, the two roommates are given an apartment in Oslo--if they can manage to live independently. At first simply answering the phone or buying groceries is a struggle, but as they taste freedom, their lives become an exciting adventure. In a Hollywood movie, these two would be cute goofballs; what makes Elling so very engaging is how genuinely awkward and uncomfortable Elling and Kjell are. Their difficulties in the world are treated with respect and realism, which makes their progress bracing and their success delightful. A charming film. --Bret Fetzer

This film is rated R for language and some sexual content.