Greetings from Byron G Merrill Library…. So much is happening… Day-light savings is in place, spring has arrived, and we are surprised daily with every kind of weather….one more week and we will be saying hello to April!

St. Patrick’s Day was well celebrated last week, and we are now pleased to announce the winner of our “Gold Coins” Guessing Jar contest – Congratulations to Pepper Bellemy who outguessed the other eighteen entries! Yay

We will be open Saturday 10-1, Monday 10-1, and Wednesday 1-5… Hope you will stop in.

All Week – Our “Read Across America” challenge continues for this last week. We are delighted with the number of books that have been selected from our special display. The readers of Rumney ARE interested in learning about other cultures and countries.

Monday – 10-12 is Family Fun Time at the Library…stories, games, crafts, and a time to just have fun.

Jane has a new book to read, The Littlest Yak and a fun activity planned. A BIG THANK YOU to the dads who returned tables, chairs, doors etc. to the attic now that our “winterization” project is complete.

Thursday – 1-3 is our “Organize Rumney Memorabilia” time. Stop in and join us as we sort, file, cut and paste! So proud of all we have accomplished.

NYT Best Selling Fiction...

1. Run, Rose, Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson  *coming from a patron!
2. Shadows Reel by C J Box   *On order
3. The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley  *On order
4. The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen   *On order
5. High Stakes by Danielle Steel  *coming from a patron

2022 National Book Award for Fiction has just been presented to Honoree Fanonne Jeffers for her debut novel, The Love Songs of W. E. B.  Du Bois, that explores class, colorism, and privilege through the story of a young Black woman growing up in Georgia in the late 20th century, and the story of her ancestors. And we have this book ready to be checked out!!

Books for the younger set and our Astronomy Display

Picture Books  

• The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, by Mo Willems.  When Pigeon finds a delicious hot dog, he can hardly wait to shove the entire thing in his beak. But . . . then a very sly and hungry duckling enters the scene and wants a bite. Who will be the cleverer bird?
  
  
• The Pigeon Needs a Bath, by Mo Willems. The Pigeon really needs a bath! Except, the Pigeon's not so sure about that. Besides, he took a bath last month! Maybe. It's going to take some serious convincing to try and get the Pigeon to take the plunge. 
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• Maple Syrup from the Sugar House, by Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton. Maple syrup season is here! Kelsey and her father begin harvesting sap from maple sugar trees. Join their family and friends in this farm-to-table process of turning sap into maple syrup.
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•  Sugar on Snow, by Nan Parson Rossiter. “Sap's rising!” A father, his two sons, and one dog set off at dawn to the sugar bush to begin the process of making syrup. A picture book that pays tribute to the spirit and traditions of rural New England found on family farms.

   JF-Yellow

• The Venom Spreads, Bravelands Sandtongue#2, by Erin Hunter. Friends and family are split as longtime allies turn on each other, and born foes form unlikely bonds. The very threat that led Bramble to leave the place he called home has snared the creatures who live on the mountain.

 Teen-Orange

• Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, by Ray Terciero. A graphic retelling of the classic Little Women with a twist: four sisters from a blended family experience the challenges and triumphs of life in NYC in this beautiful full-color graphic novel 
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• Daughter of the Deep, by Rick Riordan. Ana is a freshman at Harding-Pencroft Academy, a five-year high school that graduates the best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators, and underwater explorers in the world. Ana's freshman year culminates with the class's weekend trial at sea, the details of which have been kept secret. She only hopes she has what it'll take to succeed.

New Display – Everything Astronomy for all ages! We will be featuring our “space” books” for children and adults and challenging our readers with weekly quests. Hope you will get involved and you might even learn something new!  

• Challenge #1: What is astronomy? (Astronomy is the study of everything in the universe beyond the Earth's atmosphere. (It includes objects we can see with our naked eyes like the sun, the moon, the planets and the stars. It also includes objects we can see with a telescope like faraway galaxies.)
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• Challenge #2: Name the eight planets in order starting with the planet nearest the sun. (We will let you figure this one out!)

Kickstart your Week by enjoying the start of spring as we watch for the flowers to pop up and the mud to disappear! Wishing you a good week and we will see you at the library! Susan and the Library Ladies (Have a question? Send it along to sturbyne@rumneylibrary.org)