Great shows!

We've had two fabulous shows in the last week: Mime Mikael Rudolph (sponsored by Innovative Technologies) and Miller & Mike's comedy act (sponsored by Horicon Bank). We love all of our sponsors, and if you came to the shows and enjoyed them, or if you missed the shows but like the library, please tell them so!


I listed all the sponsors before, but here they are again! Michelle Wanie, Surefire, Paul Kreul Sr., Horicon Family Chiropractic, Subway, Wisconsin Aviation, Kwik Trip (West side), Leroy Meats, Marshland Pharmacy, Danny Frey, Horicon Kiwanis, Horicon Lions, Rock River Tap, Ginger's Hideaway & the aforementioned Horicon Bank & Innovative Technologies. And Subway!

Watch some of Miller & Mike's show!


Or Mikael Rudolph's show! I only put on brief excerpts (and not of the absolutely funniest moments) so you can enjoy the show if you ever get a chance to see them live. The "dog" in the Rudolph clip is Lahn N. of Horicon. I love the way Lahn knew exactly what was expected of him without a word being spoken. What a good sport (or a good dog!)

Cabin Fever?

If you are SICK and TIRED of being cooped up, come and enjoy one of our Cabin Fever programs. We have everything from Chocolate-tasting to Celtic Music to Storm Spotting. Click HERE for our full calendar of events.

Pets at the library

Tortoises & Chinchillas in the library! Kimberly Weggeland of Hoffers Tropic Life in Milwaukee has been bringing exotic pets to the Tuesday morning storytimes. On November 11th the kids got to pet the softest fur in the world--that of Chili the Chinchilla. Chili showed us how much chinchillas love to take dust baths.

On November 25th, Kimberly brought two tortoises to storytime--one tiny baby, and the other a much larger five-year-old. The storytime kids counted the bumps on the tortoises backs (always 13!) and held the baby tortoise (you hold it like a cheeseburger!) and touched the lumpy scaly skin of the larger tortoise.

Who knows what may come next? Come to storytime and find out: Tuesdays at 10 and 11 a.m. This year's last daytime storytime will be on December 16. Evening storytimes are Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m., until the 17th. Sadly, there are no pets at the evening storytimes--but we have plenty of fun without them.

Go to our flickr account to see lots of photos of our special guests.

Cooking Classes and other stuff you don't normally find at the library

Sometimes I'll tell people about my upcoming events at the library and they are shocked. Recently I was telling a friend about our teen cooking classes and she couldn't believe it. "Why on earth would a library have a cooking class?!" she wondered. It's a fair question. Lots of people still think of libraries as those hushed emporiums of the serious and scholarly. In last weeks' charades with Scooby, a 4-year-old, when posed with the dilemma of acting out "librarian" simply put her fingers to her lips as if to say "Shh." Everyone knew immediately what she was getting at (it was sad.) So what happened? Why are libraries now raucous, busy places, with cooking classes and such?

I've always said my job is to connect people with ideas. Notice how the word "Books" doesn't come into play there. Books are part of it, of course, but ideas are everywhere: books, movies, games, classes, just hanging out...so we include all of that into our standard library procedure. Looking up a recipe for tiramisu isn't the same as making it with guidance and a bunch of your friends--which do you think will be more likely to encourage a 15-year-old to cook?

Next week's 'Queen for a Day' spa program is another stumper for some people. Why paint girls' nails and do facials and their "colors"? What is the idea we're promoting anyway? Beauty comes from bottles?! I have some problems with that idea, but let's face it, makeup is fun, especially when you're 12 and just figuring all that girl stuff out. Anyway, boys are allowed too, as long as their willing to paint their fingernails and wear a tiara. Basically, I just want these teens to have fun and play and maybe learn about skin care, hair care, and even *gasp* makeup. After all, most of them are going to be using it.

Waat do you think about the library's new role? Do you agree with the makeup? The cooking? And how'd you like last night's Bubble Wonders program? Let us know. And now I've got to go make some tiramisu (yum!)--scb