J.H. Robbins Memorial Library

It’s been a beautiful fall — the trees have been gorgeous this year — but now the days are getting colder. Time to start looking for a good book to curl up and read in the evenings when it is too cold and dark to go outside.
Speaking of good books, we have a display of books and movies from WWII out for the rest of the month that was given to us by Dorothy Grothusen. They were her husband Dale’s, and she wanted to be able to share them with the community.
Dale was drafted into military service and joined the U.S. Army Air Force (predecessor to the USAF) in August 1942. During his tour of duty in Europe, Dale completed 50 bombing missions as a gunner in a B-17 bomber according to a June 6, 1985, story in the Ellsworth Reporter.  Dorothy called him a flight engineer.  
“He never got shot down, but came close,” she said.
He built quite a collection of WWII books, and we are glad we can help Dorothy share them with you during the month of November in honor of Veterans Day. Thank you, Dorothy.
Programs at the library are going strong. We have started a program for fifth and sixth graders called “Kids That Thrive.” This program piggybacks off “Kids of the Kingdom” and “Kids of the Mission.” I talked to Alice Robson about it and she said, “Go for it,” so we did. Thanks Alice, and thanks to the parents who donated money to help with snacks and other items.   
Our book club is growing and growing, which is really fun to see, but our Geezer Book Club could use a little help. It’s not going so well, but we will keep trying.
Don’t forget we have movies the first Wednesday of the month at 1 p.m. We have our Christmas movie coming up Dec. 7. Queen Latifah acts as the main character.  It’s a really good one.
We have been showing movies every other Saturday as well. We will have one Saturday, Nov. 19. Instead of a movie, on Dec. 3 we are going to have a Christmas sing-along. Bring two-dozen cookies to share and we will provide the drinks. We would love to see you at either one of these events, which both start at 6:30 p.m.
And don’t forget the Christmas Cookie Exchange is Dec. 20. Details for that event and everything else I’ve mentioned are available at the library. You can call for details, or we can email you the schedule. We are always happy to help you in whatever way we can.
We’re starting to look to the new year and want to know if there is anything you would like to see us do. We would love to hear from you, the community. Please give us your ideas, no matter how big or small — we are interested.
So, come in and talk to us, grab a good book and happy reading. Also, happy Thanksgiving from our family here at the library to all of yours.
Happy Reading!

Colleen Sippel is the director of the J.H. Robbins Memorial Library. She can be reached at (785) 472-3969 or 219 N. Lincoln, Ellsworth, Kan. 67439.