Rochester Public Library News and Events 101 2nd ST, SE, Rochester, MN 55905 • 507-328-2300 wwww.rochesterpubliclibrary.org/info/newsletter/index.html

Vol. 24 Number 5 Rochester, Minnesota May 2009

Libraries Change Lives Pauline Walle The New York Times touts the growing role of librar- When I came to work at the Post-Bulletin Rochester ies in this period of recession. In Rochester, friends are in 1962, I knew only one couple and a pastor. On Sun- doing job searches and checking out books for “comfort day afternoons I’d gravitate to the cozy nooks and win- food.” They flock to programs like Cathy Wurzer’s on dow seats of the Harold Crawford Library, now a Mayo Highway 61 and the Titanic exhibit at our downtown student center. The lovely Plummer Building libraries library. also held fascination. My father introduced me to the joys of reading at As a retiree I’ve gotten hung up on news and nature the classic Carnegie Library in North Hibbing. There I magazines and my morning fix of C-Span. But friends checked out as many children’s books as I could find on intervene and get me back to books. Bob Birch, former Native Americans and presidents’ Rochester Civic Theatre director, wives. A recent Hibbing Tribune story suggested “The Balkan Trilogy.” reveals that a sailor heading West Tony Sertich, executive director of lived in Hibbing long enough to serve the Rochester Symphony Orches- as a railroad crossing guard and tra & Chorale, turned me on to “The spearhead a $25,000 campaign to Shadow of the Wind,” a wonder- build that 1907 library. Grateful chil- ful translation from Spanish. It’s a dren collected money to buy Capt. book about books with wonderful William McCormick a gold watch characters. before he traveled on. I “met” Chicago Tribune col- In a few years the Hull Rust umnists while visiting Rochester Mahoning Mine -- called the “Grand transplants Pat and Joe Davis. I Canyon of Minnesota” -- encroached enjoy these writers again at Roch- on the library and my dad’s Minne- ester’s light-filled, river-view library sota Division of Lands & Minerals downtown. office. They were demolished and Meanwhile RPL’s Director Au- North Hibbing moved South. Paint- drey Betcher and staff provide book ings from the library walls now hang clubs, computer lessons, children’s in three downtown buildings. activities and Sunday afternoon My next special library was at Vil- programs with the History Center of la Maria Academy in Old Frontenac. Olmsted County. Communications Stained glass windows and tables 1949. Research Engineer, Michael Director John Hunziker makes made from square grand pianos fur- P. Walle and daughter Pauline at the them well known. We citizens can nished this former chapel in the old Lands & Minerals office in Hibbing, express our thanks at the annual li- tower building. When tornadic winds Minnesota. brary benefit with its tango lessons took out the tower glass and electric- and community issues, buffets and ity, we “Villains” got to eat ice cream prizes. bars from the freezer. A more devastating blow came in In my dreams I walk the cork floors of that North 1969 when lightning struck and the building was lost. Hibbing library again, adding yet one more book to an Villa Maria now serves as a retreat and conference cen- armful. And the fascination has come full circle. My dad ter in other buildings. would be pleased. Small radios sometimes pressed to the ear claimed the attention of teens before sending us back to libraries Library Newsletter in high school and college. I recall the formidable stacks Director Audrey Betcher at the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus. Editor John Hunziker Layout/Design Ginny Erbe May 2009 All events at Rochester Public Library are free and open to the public

Saturday, May 2 Wednesday, May 13 Thursday, May 21 Family Sing-Along with Special iFilms: International and Indepen- Senior Techies - Introduction to Guest Missy Nerland! dent Films Computers Auditorium 10:30 am Auditorium 6:00 pm Meeting Room B 1:00 pm Lake Tahoe (Drama | Mexico | English Join us for a Family Sing-Along, the Do you know how to use a mouse? Subtitles) Teenager Juan crashes his most fun you can possibly have on What’s an Enter key? What about family’s car into a telegraph pole on a Saturday morning! Missy Nerland, the different parts of the computer? If the outskirts of town, and then scours a registered Music Together teacher you are unfamiliar with these terms or the streets searching for someone to and director of Morning Star Studios, need a very basic intro to computer help him fix it. His quest will bring him is bringing her musical toolbox filled use, this class is for you! Learn the into absurd and bewildering worlds of with traditional songs from around the basics of a computer, mouse and as people he meets drag him into a world, new favorites, rhythmic chants, keyboard to prepare for all of our other one-day journey in which he will come easy dances, and instruments. computer classes. NOTE: This class to accept what he was escaping from Friday, May 8 is designed for those who have little in the first place. or no computer experience. Register Just for Kids Concert Presented by The iFilm series is intended for mature online, at the second-floor reference SEMYO adults. Please provide guidance to desk or by calling 328-2309. Auditorium 10:00 am your children. Southeastern Minnesota Youth Or- Saturday, May 23 Saturday, May 16 chestras proudly present the Just Family Film Program: Mouse Tales Family Films: Curious George/Curi- for Kids concert at Rochester Public Auditorium 10:30 am Library! Children and their families will ous George Goes to the Hospital Owen - Owen the mouse loves his be entertained with musical selections Auditorium 10:30 am blanket. But he will not cooperate Curious George, the mischievous presented by Symphonic Winds and when his parents try to get him to give monkey, is up to his usual tricks in Chamber Strings. SEMYO will also up his favorite blanket before school two films based on the classic picture demonstrate the sounds of various in- starts. Can Owen’s parents find a books by H.A. Rey. struments in the band and orchestras. happy solution to the problem? Saturday, May 9 Sunday, May 17 Mouse Around - A small mouse has Family Film Program: Favorite Fairy Youth Film Contest Awards a wonderful journey all around town Tales Program when he falls from his nest into a Auditorium 10:30 am Auditorium 2:00 pm plumber’s back pocket. This humorous program features three Please join us as we announce the Tuesday, May 26 winners of the youth short film contest. favorite fairy tales based on picture Young Adult Writers’ Group books by children’s author James Monday, May 18 Meeting Room A 7:00 pm Marshall: Goldilocks and the Three GOAT Meeting - Group Of Advising Do you like to write? Would you like Bears, Red Riding Hood, and The to meet other tweens/teens who like Three Little Pigs. Teens Meeting Room A 4:00 pm to write? Would you like to share your Tuesday, May 12 Join other Rochester Area youth (age work, and get advice on how to im- Writing Group 12-18) and take a leadership role to prove? If the answer is yes, join us at Meeting Room A 6:30 pm discuss ideas and make plans for our meetings. We meet the last Tues- Stuck on your first draft? Not sure youth library programs, teen Web day of each month in Meeting Room A about your plot? Let’s get together page, and other ideas. Any questions, at 7 P.M. and help each other out. contact Lynette @ 328-2305. Thursday, May 28 Senior Techies – email Meeting Room B 1:00 pm Rochester Public Library will be We will set up free email accounts in this beginner computer class. closed on Memorial Day, May 25. Register online, at the second-floor reference desk or by calling 328-2309 What’s @ the Library - Computers The library has 37 EPAC stations. 2007 to help with being productive some available for check-out. Some of No, EPACs are not miniature llamas; while online. Hey, while you’re online, the audiobooks are even compatible those are alpacas. Although very cool check out our MySpace and Facebook with iPods now! animals, alpacas cannot help you find pages (Rochester Public Library) and Our digital collection also includes the latest John Sanford book or tell follow us on Twitter (RochPubLibrary). music and movies! The best part of you how many copies of Twilight we We have three computers dedicated checking out a digital selection is that have in our collection. for off-line productivity. These comput- you don’t have to worry about their EPAC is library jargon for Electronic ers also have Microsoft Office Suite becoming overdue or losing them. Public Access Catalogs… Yeah, my 2007, which includes Word (word pro- They return automatically to the col- eyes glazed over for a second there cessing, writing resumes or the next lection after a set period of time. And if too. These wonderful EPAC stations best seller), PowerPoint (creating pre- you have a book on your MP3 player, are located conveniently all over the sentations and slide shows), Publisher you can listen to it over and over again library, some in plain sight while others (newsletters, posters, and flyers) and - until you delete it! are hidden in private nooks. Excel (spreadsheets). One of these There are Little Tyke computers in From these computers you can use computers has a flatbed scanner and the children’s area, self-check com- the online catalog to find any material has Photoshop Elements 5.0 (photo puters near the exit, DVD machines, that the library currently has - and if it editing). These computers are located and automated book returns. We can’t doesn’t, you can find out which library on the first floor near the windows in forget about the laptops that we use does. We’ll talk about interlibrary loans the fiction area. for our computer classes or the adap- in a future newsletter. After all of that productivity, you’ll tive workstation that allows people who Tutor.com, our online homework need to print your stuff, or at least save are blind or have low vision access to help works from any of these stations. it somewhere. You can print black and the cyber world. Another computer has You can also surf the library webpage, white for 10¢ per page or color for a microfilm scanner attached. It allows but you can’t get on the actual Internet 25¢ per page. The computers have you to e-mail your scans of those old from these. CD burners so you can burn your own newspaper articles to yourself so you That brings us to our Internet com- CDs or you can purchase one for $1 at don’t have to print them! puters. These are available on a the public service desk. We also have If you’re not too sure about us- first-come, first-served basis. There USB memory devices (a.k.a, jump ing computers, we do hold computer are 16 stations on the second floor of drives, flash drives, sticks, keys, etc...) classes that go over setting up your the library for adults to use, 6 in the available for $10. own email account, surfing the Inter- Young Adult area for, you guessed it: As a huge fan of downloadable au- net, manipulating digital photos, using teens, and 4 in the Children’s area. For diobooks, let me introduce the down- our library catalog. You can learn how a complete rundown of our Internet load station. This computer, located to use our online resources such as policy, search on our home page for next to the Fiction, Movies & Music Ancestry and Heritage Quest, Value- “Internet Policy” and it should be the desk, will allow you to download audio- line and MorningStar, and many more. top one on the list. books from our digital collection onto Keep checking our events calendars Most of the Internet stations are your MP3 player. By the way, if you for class dates and times.  equipped with Microsoft Office Suite don’t have an MP3 player, we have Youth Short Film Contest Voting • May 1-14 Vote for your favorite short film by going to the library’s teen page: www.rochesterpubliclibrary.org/teens. And the finalists are… Dangerous Games by Jennifer Zemke Day at the Library by Michael Nowakowski & Sam Weigel Rubinescence by Mike Wang Whoa Whoa by Michael Nowakowski & Sam Weigel Winners announced Sunday, May 17 • 2:00 pm Third Annual Amuzing Race Competitors are being sought for the Rochester Public Library Founda- ZIN tion’s coming scavenger hunt that is based on the reality show “The Amazing U Race.” Our Race, to be held on Saturday, June 13, will begin with check-in at M G the Rochester Public Library at 7:30 am. The Race itself begins promptly at 8:30 am. A Participants in this family-oriented fundraiser will race around Olmsted 2009 County, competing in a number of different legs. To advance to the next leg, teams must solve clues to figure out where to go next. To complete some R legs, teams must perform a task or work corroboratively with another team. E The first team to complete all legs, wins. Immediately following the race, A C there will be an award picnic. Teams may compose any combination of four people, but must include A Fund Raiser for the one person who can drive and is over 21 years old. Rochester Public Library Foundation The Amuzing Race is intended to raise funds to support the mission and vision of the Rochester Public Library Foundation. The library uses Founda- www.amuzingrace.org tion funds to augment collections, expand programs, and launch pilot projects that enrich the lives of Olmsted County citizens. May 16, Latino Day at the Rochester Public Library The Rochester Public Library is hosting Latino Day May La Biblioteca Pública de Rochester presenta Latino Day 16, 2009, 2:00 PM through 5:00 PM. el 16 de mayo, 2009, a las 2:00 pm hasta las 5:00 pm. A Spanglish story time will be offered beginning at 2:00 La biblioteca va a ofrecer una cuentacuentos de Span- PM in the library auditorium. Tours of the library given in glish que empieza a las 2:00 en la tarde en el auditorio Spanish will begin at 2:30 PM, along with a Scavenger de la biblioteca. Turas de la biblioteca en español van a Hunt in the Children’s area beginning at 2:30 PM. Free empezar a las 2:30 en la tarde, incluyendo un Juego de prizes will be given for various things. Busca en el parte de la biblioteca para niños. Van a tener The movie The Transformers dubbed premios gratis durante el evento. in Spanish will be offered in the audi- La película, The Transformers, doblada en español va a torium at approximately 3:00 PM along ser mostrado en el auditorio a las 3:00 en la tarde, ¡con with free, fresh popped, popcorn. palomitas frescas y gratis! The Friends Bookstore will be open La tienda Amigos de la Biblioteca Librería va a estar abi- and featuring books in Spanish and erto y tener como atracción principal libros en español y books about Hispanic cultures. libros sobre la cultura latina. The Diversity Council will be offering a El Diversity Council va a ofrecer un presentación de efi- talk in Spanish on Efficacy Training for cacia en español para familias. Registro es necesaria por families. Registration is required for this class. Please call este clase. Por favor llama 328-2305. 328-2305. Aprendan maneras en que puedan mejorar sus hijos - “Get Smart Mindset” Training for Parents in SPANISH! Presentación para Padres y Madres en Español 2:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. 2:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Meeting Room B Meeting Room B Come to Efficacy Institute Parent Training and join other Vengan a Presentación Instituto de Eficacia para Padres y parents to: encontrar otros padres para: - Explore what leads to development and the obstacles - Explorar lo que conducir al desarrollo de los niños y los to learning estorbos en aprender - Explore ways to help your child not just to work hard - Explorar las maneras en que puede ayudar sus hijos but “work smart” a no solamente trabajar mucho pero a trabajar con - Learn how to motivate your child to get better, stronger, eficiencia and smarter - Aprender como motivar sus hijos a mejorar, y a ser más This training is coordinated by the Diversity Council on fuerte y más inteligente behalf of the Rochester Public School District Esta clase está coordinada por el Diversity Council en (www.diversitycouncil.org) representación de la Rochester Public School District