All library locations will be closed on Thursday, July 4th for Independence Day.
Posted on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 by Sew Happy
Let’s take a virtual tour of “reportedly” haunted locations in Callaway and Boone Counties; we have many of them between the two counties. And this being a library blog, I want to also encourage you to learn more about these locations. Come in and explore our collections when you finish scaring yourself silly! Continue reading “Let’s Tour Our Haunted Region!”
Posted on Monday, October 17, 2022 by Sew Happy
You already may know that you can check out a bag of books for your book group. Or a telescope for exploring the night sky. Here is another new type of kit, one I’m especially excited about. This Summer we are adding kits for people who would like to try knitting or crocheting for the first time, or who would like to return to the craft. Yes! I am so happy we are offering these physical kits. They live at Columbia Public Library and can be interlibrary loaned to any of the other regional branches.
These kits are made possible by the Verna Wulfekammer bequest. Continue reading “Fiber Art Kits”
Posted on Wednesday, September 28, 2022 by Reading Addict
In “The Sum of Us” Heather McGhee says, “The American landscape was once graced with resplendent public swimming pools, some big enough to hold thousands of swimmers at a time. In the 1920s, towns and cities tried to outdo one another by building the most elaborate pools; in the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration put people to work building hundreds more… Officials envisioned the distinctly American phenomenon of the grand public resort pools as ‘social melting pots.’ Like free public grade schools, public pools were part of an ’Americanizing’ project intended to overcome ethnic divisions and cohere a common identity — and it worked.” It worked, she conceded, until integration arrived. Continue reading “The Sum Of Us and a Reflection on the WPA”
Posted on Monday, September 26, 2022 by Sew Happy
Do you have memories of your parents or grandparents canning and preserving and then serving up that food to you? I do. My maternal grandmother canned just about everything. In my turn, I used to can tomatoes and beans. Opening a jar of tomatoes in January (in Minnesota!) was a joy because the entire kitchen smelled of summer for a brief time. Green beans from my small garden were not as popular with the family, unfortunately, but I still canned them for soups. This work made me feel closer to my canning ancestors, who didn’t waste anything and who had to can if they wanted to enjoy summer harvests in the cold winter months.
Want to give it a try? If you don’t have a garden, farmer’s markets are a great source. I know we are through berries and maybe done with green beans. Apples, beets, peaches and corn are still available as well as all of the pickling vegetables. Meat and soups can be canned any time you find a great sale somewhere. Continue reading “Canning the Summer Harvest to Eat Well in Winter”
Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2022 by DBRL_Katie
I first got my start with gardening through the generosity of others. Many plant lovers have a propensity for hoarding enthusiastic accrual that knows no end, and the upkeep creates plentitude as well. Between an abundance of seasonal produce, seed saving, dividing perennial bulbs, keeping the sprawling rhizomes in check, rooting eligible cuttings after a good pruning or simply gaining wisdom, plant parents always have something to share. Continue reading “Take a Plant, Leave a Plant”
Posted on Monday, September 12, 2022 by cs
I received a letter last month from a good friend. We talk frequently on the phone, so I was surprised to find something in my mailbox. Yet, it felt special and I actually re-read it several times. Letter writing and card sending have decreased due to the digital age, but it certainly is fun to receive a letter. And fun to send one. In the spirit of promoting the art of sending letters, we have created a fun activity for this month: pressed flower note cards.
We will supply pressed flowers for you, but pressing them yourself is easy to do. With fall approaching, you will soon have the opportunity to press leaves as well. The library has a collection of books to help you with this and you can easily find instructions on the internet. Along with the flowers, your kit has a notecard and envelope, Mod Podge, paint brush and instructions. If I haven’t convinced you to send a note, try framing it instead.
These kits will be available on September 23 while they last in all of our branches. You may pick them up at the Reference Desk at the Columbia library and near the service desks at our other branches.
Posted on Friday, September 9, 2022 by MaggieM
Getting involved with the Missouri Bumble Bee Atlas survey this year has turned me into a pollinator super fan and wanna-be entomologist. It quickly became apparent that identifying local bumble bees would not be enough to satisfy my addiction. There were so many non-bumble bee insects on the plants in my yard, and everywhere else I looked. I needed to know more.
I put in a request for the library to purchase two new books that had been favorably reviewed in the New York Times. Any Daniel Boone Regional Library cardholder can suggest a book for purchase, and our acquisitions team does their best to fulfill it.
“Wasps: a Guide for Eastern North America,” and “Bees: an Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide,” by Heather Holm arrived, and went straight to my holds shelf and then home with me. Both these books provide detailed, in-depth information while still remaining accessible to amateur observers. I highly recommend them! Continue reading “Watch Out for Wasps!”
Posted on Wednesday, September 7, 2022 by Seth
One of the library’s longest-running programs will celebrate its 40th anniversary this autumn: Party with the Stars. Through the decades, with a two-year pause due to Covid in 2020 and 2021, Val Germann and the Central Missouri Astronomical Association (CMAA) have been the driving force behind this collaboration. Party with the Stars has seen a seasonal program (March through October) through nearly every phase of the modern library’s growth.
Here are some excellent resources that you might want to consider checking out: Continue reading “Party With the Stars”
Posted on Wednesday, August 24, 2022 by Jason Delpire
Vegan cooking. I know, if you’re not familiar with it, you may expect bark and berries. I have found vegetarian/vegan cooking to be very freeing. (I use both terms because I have not been able to give up cheese. Well, okay, I haven’t really tried.) When I was consuming animal protein, each meal planning was kind of the same: Take a protein, add a starch and a veg, maybe a sauce, blah, blah, blah. Veganarian cooking has forced me to be more creative and more seasonal, which has resulted in also more flavorful dishes. Continue reading “Read The Recipe! Veganarian”
Posted on Friday, August 19, 2022 by Abbey Rimel
If you have a friend or loved one facing dementia or memory loss, the library offers a tool to help you help them. Memory Care Kits are designed to help people with dementia engage with friends and family, exercise their brains and spend some pleasurable hours remembering experiences from their past. These kits were designed by DBRL staff. Our staff chose themes for these kits that explore common experiences like living on a farm, homemaking, gardening, using tools, and going to a baseball game or to the movies.
That list of themes grows as we release even more new kits through the rest of 2022, so be sure to visit our catalog regularly for more engaging kits. These kits contain music, movies, puzzles, books, tactile items and activities selected especially for a person living with dementia and their family. Continue reading “Memory Care Kits”