We supply the materials—you create the project! Our Maker Monday series is brought to you in partnership with local craftspeople and Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Visit the links below to learn more and register:
Join us for storytime online every Tuesday and Thursday at 10:30am! Visit our events calendar to read along with Dance Express's Miss Mitzi, Good Counsel's Sister Rita Anne, and Mankato Clinic speech therapist Stephanie Blume! Our own Miss Jennifer and Miss Kelly also lead early literacy activities with kits available for pickup afterward.
The Deep Valley Book Festival is back—virtually—on March 6 and 7! Tune in for this Cabin Fever Edition of the free, family-friendly event and hear from presenters including Newbery Honor winner Margi Preus, mystery author Chris Norbury, and more. Learn more and register at the Deep Valley Book Festival website.
Mysterious Creatures of Minnesota
Saturday, March 13 at 10:30am
Author Chad Lewis will discuss mysterious creatures from Minnesota lore, from lake monsters to Bigfoot! Chad has been featured on the Discovery Channel's "A Haunting," ABC's "World's Scariest Places," and "Monsters and Mysteries in America." This project is made possible thanks to Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the people of Minnesota for Library Legacy activities. Click here to join us (virtually!) for this exciting event.
Blue Earth County Library Book Club
Tuesday, March 30 at 6:00pm
This month, our book club will discuss Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole by Dr. Jerri Nielsen with Maryanne Vollers. During the winter of 1999, Nielsen discovered a lump in her breast. As the only physician on staff at the South Pole, she was forced to perform a biopsy and chemotherapy on herself to survive until conditions permitted her rescue.
Call 507-304-4001 to request a copy of the book and visit our events calendar for the Zoom link.
WHAT'S NEW AT THE LIBRARY?
The Blue Earth County Library System has received a grant from the Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging through the Minnesota Board on Aging and the CARES Act to provide mail delivery of library materials to county residents, supplementing our ongoing rural library services. Any patron wishing to receive library materials by mail during this time should visit our website or call 507-304-4001. Please spread the word!
BEC Library Reading Challenges!
Want to show off your reading chops and earn prizes? Join the Blue Earth County Library Reading Challenges through Beanstack, a website and app that lets you log books, write reviews, and more! For all ages: visit our website to register.
Not sure what to read? You're in luck!
Tell us what you love to read, and a librarian will create a customized list of titles for you! Forms are available for adults, kids, and homework needs. Ask a Book Nerd for a recommendation today!
Our Lego Club has gone virtual! Follow us on Facebook to learn each month's theme and challenge. Share a picture of your masterpiece in the comments on our Facebook page to be entered for a chance to win monthly prizes and an annual grand prize!
BOOKS FOR ADULTS
My Year Abroad | Chang-Rae Lee
From the award-winning author of Native Speaker, an exuberant, provocative story about a young American life transformed by an unusual Asian adventure – and about the human capacities for pleasure, pain, and connection. My Year Abroad is a novel that only Chang-rae Lee could have written, and one that will be read and discussed for years to come.
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain | George Saunders
From the New York Times bestselling, Booker Prize-winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo, a literary masterclass on what makes great stories work and what they can tell us about how to live. Funny, frank, and rigorous, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain ultimately shows how great fiction can change a person's life and become a benchmark of one's moral and ethical beliefs.
Dog Flowers | Danielle Geller
A daughter returns home to the Navajo reservation to retrace her mother’s life in a memoir that is both a narrative and an archive of one family’s troubled history. Exploring loss and inheritance, beauty and balance, Danielle Geller pays homage to our pasts, traditions, and heritage, to the families we are given and the families we choose.
BOOKS FOR CHILDREN & YOUNG ADULTS
Dog Man #10: Mothering Heights | Dav Pilkey
Dog Man and Petey face their biggest challenges yet in the tenth Dog Man book from worldwide bestselling author and illustrator Dav Pilkey. This wildly popular series appeals to readers of all ages and explores universally positive themes, including love, empathy, kindness, persistence, and the importance of doing good. Plus, you'll howl with laughter!
Chain of Iron | Cassandra Clare
The Shadowhunters must catch a killer in Edwardian London in this dangerous and romantic sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling novel Chain of Gold. Cordelia Carstairs seems to have everything she ever wanted: she’s engaged to marry James Herondale, has a new life in London with the Merry Thieves, and bears the sword Cortana, a legendary hero’s blade...
Becoming (for Young Readers) | Michelle Obama
The worldwide bestselling memoir, Becoming, is now adapted for young readers! Michelle Obama shares her views on how all young people can help themselves as well as help others, no matter their status in life. She asks readers to realize that no one is perfect, and that the process of becoming is what matters, as finding yourself is ever evolving.
