Peter Fletcher to perform in Tilden

I know it's unusual for me to be here this often, but I have some great news. We will be having another Alida Hall Memorial concert this fall. We will be hosting Peter Fletcher, classical guitarist. Visit www.peterfletcher.com to hear samples of his music and check out his schedule. He will be performing at Carnegie Hall on April 1st. Is that amazing?

He will be here at our Lied Audiorium sometime in October. Wow. I'll let you know when the date is finalized. Couldn't keep that to myself.

Time marchs on, or not.

Wow, the things that happen on this job. Any given day you don't know with what you will be dealing. (See how I avoided ending that sentence with a preposition? Seems cumbersome, doesn't it? Would it offend any one if I don't bother next time?) So many times I come to work with certain things to accomplish and circumstances intervene to take me on a completely different tack. This week for instance:

I climbed up the 6' stepladder to change the 21" clock to reflect Daylight Savings Time (My opinion of DST would require an entire post) and scampered back down, put away the ladder and discovered that time was certainly passing slowly. Check that, according to our beautiful Loricron 21" French Antique Regulator timepiece it wasn't passing at all. No problem, I'd just replace the battery.

Get ladder-climb-replace battery-scamper down- put away ladder. Discover that time is still not passing.

Why doesn't she stay on the ladder until she knows if the clock is working?, you ask. Well, she's going to tell you. This particular clock has two smaller dials within the larger dial. One is a second hand and one is to be set for any time zone you desire. Those dials are working. Since the second hand is not connected to the large dial, waiting for the minute hand to move is tedious. And, she asks, who would expect a new battery not to solve the problem? Therefore:

Get ladder-climb-get clock-slowly descend- don't put away ladder, just lean against the wall.

Take clock into office and do the equivalent of kicking the little black box containing the works. Replace battery and let stand (for some reason none of the dials work if the clock is horizontal--another trial and error discovery) on a chair out of traffic. Time passes!!! Hurray!!!!

Reset ladder-climb-rehang clock-slowly descend-put away ladder.

Fast forward to a patron commenting on the quietness in the library. "Where are the school kids?" "Oh", I confidently reply, "It's a little early." The patron says "Well, it's 4:00 o'clock." Not according to the library's 21" French Antique Regulator clock - it's 2:30. (I don't think this clock likes DST, either)

Go get ladder-climb-take down clock-lumber down-lean ladder against wall.

Clean battery terminals, kick little works box (not literally, of course more like a vigorous shaking) and utter a strange combination of curse and prayer. Time refuses to march on.

Do online search to discover cost of replacement works. Looks like $11.00 for the works. But they need the measurement of the shaft, this would require taking the clock apart. I'm not going to do that.

Give up. Put away ladder. Suffer innumerable questions from patrons and staff as to the time. "Look on your computer" I tell staff. I glance at my watch to advise patrons. Go home.

NEXT DAY:

I decide I will replace the large clock with a smaller one from another room so at least the time is available for everyone.

Get ladder-climb-replace 21" round clock with a 10" square one-scamper down (it's the next morning, so I'm refreshed)-put away ladder.

First patron to come in says, "Didn't you used to have a different clock? Was it bigger?"

Go get ladder-climb-take down little square clock and replace with a 12" round one-scamper down-put away ladder.

Felt this last trip was worth it, because now we could claim that the other clock just shrank. Did make sure not to use the other round clock with Roman numerals, because we have youngsters who can barely tell time with Arabic numerals.

Local Handyman stopped to look over the clock problem. I could hear him imploring: "Run". Meanwhile, I did an online search to locate this particular clock to see if repair or new purchase was the route to go. Some one was sure they had seen this very clock at Target for maybe $60. The clock has no identifying marks. Local Handyman refuses to do more than the battery trick and faux kicking.

I finally Google the name of the works and stumbled across the exact model. (that's where I got the description I quoted above). Turns out it retails at $234. Hmmmm-might just be worth fixing. Can't find a clock repair shop listed in yellow pages. Decide to query a relatively local jeweler. He thought they could do it and I trust him to be fair price wise. Now we just have to get the clock to him. Problem (which did not exist before DST) is close to solved.

I don't want you to think that all I did was climb up and down ladders for two days. I managed to do some work. Searching for local Civil War Veterans is a current project, updating our library policy and including an emergency/disaster plan and providing information for the library website. All of this is very time consuming but since Daylight Savings Time gives us an 'extra hour' it's not a problem right? More next time.

Marjorie Whitwer

A sad note that I want to pass along. Marjorie Whitwer, wife of Raymond A. Whitwer, passed away in San Diego on January 8. She was 83. She had been injured in a fall and was in a coma since January 2.

Marjorie was very instrumental in Raymond choosing to build a library in Tilden, NE She told him that the town needed a library. At her suggestion, Raymond met with the Librarian, City Clerk, Library and Foundation boards and offered us a new library if the city would provide the site. That's how it started.

During the building process, I had the privilege of visiting Marjorie in their home in San Diego in 2000. She was a lovely lady with a quiet, clever sense of humor. Marjorie spent a lot of time in San Diego while Raymond worked on the library building in Tilden. In fact, Raymond was in Tilden at the time I visited San Diego. She joked about the minor repairs needed around her kitchen, which were left wanting while he built buildings. How typical of all of us. Our prayers and thoughts are with her family.

For anyone wishing to send condolences to Raymond, his address is:
Raymond A. Whitwer, 4470 Braeburn Road, San Diego, CA 92116

Avoiding reports

She's back!!! I'm avoiding the inevitable State Statistical report.

Wanted to fill you all in on the eBay auction that The Tilden Library Foundation held in December. We sold 80 of 116 items. I understand that is a pretty good percentage. The auction included excess City property like old library books and used computers. I still have a little bookkeeping to do in order to determine exactly how much we made. It was a learning experience and I'm hoping we can get an online store started in the near future. The Foundation is also registered with Mission Fish as a nonprofit organization which allows you to donate a portion of your eBay sales to the library and qualify for a percentage of your eBay costs to be refunded. What a deal. Check it out at www.missionfish.org .

The Road to Hell

You know what they say? The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I had wonderful plans to be a faithful blogger and it has been 5 months since I've made an entry. I'm not proud of it, just stating the fact. It seems as though I haven't had a minute since then. Let's see, what's been going on?

TRAVELING EXHIBIT

The Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln's Journey to Emancipation national traveling exhibit was in the library from June 28 through August 10. What a wonderful adventure. We had so many great programs. Two gentlemen from the Civil War Veteran's Museum in Nebraska City helped us open the exhibit with their display of Civil War artifacts. Bill Dean was kind enough to leave some of his personal collection for us to display during the exhibition. We also had Ken Winkle, Lincoln Scholar, give a very informative program on the part the Great Plains played in the Civil War. Then we hosted Spencer and Vivian Davis during Tilden Prairie Days. They portrayed Abraham Lincoln and Sojourner Truth (who actually did meet in the White House) They also rode in the parade in Don Mollhoff's wagon. Mr. Davis did an afternoon program as Lincoln and answered many interesting questions from the attending crowd. He did a great job staying in character. They both seemed to enjoy the day. The final day of the exhibit, Dan Holtz presented a program featuring Civil War songs. These exhibits value go far beyond their physical presence. They provide the subject and the incentive to do terrific programming. Thanks to the Nebraska Humanities Council the library could afford to provide these quality programs.

TILDEN PRAIRIE DAYS

The library was instrumental in starting Tilden's Prairie Days celebration in 2004. It continues to do a lot of things in conjunction with Prairie Days. This year we hosted the Lincoln exhibit and hosted the two Lincoln programs as well as the annual Pieces of the Good Life Quilt show. The beautiful Lied Auditorium of the library is the perfect place to display the 100 items that are featured in the three day show. In addition Yvonne Hollenbeck did programs on Saturday and Sunday. Yvonne is a nationally recognized Cowgirl Poet. Visit her website: http://www.yvonnehollenbeck.com/ She is definitely worth knowing about. She was so personable and such a good sport. The Library also sponsors the annual, sanctioned, "Triple T" C1o*w Chip Throw. Yvonne consented to be a VIP contestant. It was great (see picture above)-. She was joined by Rod Wagner, Nebraska Library Commission Director from Lincoln, Nanette Day, Tilden City Council member and State Senator Mike Flood.

Needless to say it was a very busy 3-day celebration. Everyone should mark their calendars for next year. It will be the last full weekend in July.

There's a lot that's happened since the end of July 2007, but I'll have to add more at a later time. I'll try to be more faithful. Don't want to go down the path of good intentions.

It's about time-I was busy, okay?

People like me should not make committments they don't keep. Rather than writing a bunch of stuff about why I haven't blogged lately, I'm going to just share the promotional items that I have been working on the last couple of months. The following is a news release about the national traveling exhibit that will be in our library starting next week. It's pretty awesome!!



Raymond A. Whitwer Tilden Public Library to host “Forever Free” traveling exhibition

Tilden – Why did a nation founded on ideals of freedom and equality tolerate for so long one of the harshest labor systems the world has known? A new traveling exhibition opening at the Raymond A. Whitwer Tilden Public Library on June 28, 2007 looks for answers to this question by tracing Abraham Lincoln’s gradual transformation from an antislavery moderate into “The Great Emancipator,” who freed all slaves with a revolutionary war-time proclamation in 1863. “Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation” will be on display at the library until August 10.
Organized by the Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif., and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York City, in cooperation with the American Library Association (ALA), this traveling exhibition is made possible through major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, created by Congress and charged with planning the national celebration of Lincoln’s 200th birthday.
“We are pleased to have been selected as the only site in Nebraska to receive this exhibition, “said Library Director Dixie Kucera. “The Civil War and slavery are topics which must constantly be revisited in order to help 21st century Americans better understand their causes and more clearly see how their effects are still with us today. This exhibit offers our community an opportunity to learn more about how Abraham Lincoln decided upon emancipation of the slaves, even as he tried to hold together a
fragile coalition of states in order to preserve the Union. It is a revealing insight into the values, principles, and ideals that guided one of our greatest Presidents.”
Abraham Lincoln was an obscure Illinois lawyer and politician of humble origins who rose in an astonishingly short time to world renown as the leader of a young nation during one of its most troubled times. Throughout his life, Lincoln’s dedication to the ideals of freedom and equality for all people did not waver. “I want every man to have the chance—and I believe a black man is entitled to it—in which he can better his condition,” he said early in his political career.
Lincoln was also a pragmatic politician who believed that a direct attack on slavery in the South would split the Union and end America’s experiment in self-government. He steered a middle course during the early years of the Civil War but became convinced that ending slavery would help the Union militarily. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation transformed the character of the war by re-committing the nation to its founders’ vision of freedom and equality for all people.
“Forever Free” draws upon original documents in the collections of the Huntington Library and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. It was curated by John Rhodehamel, Norris Foundation Curator of American historical manuscripts at the Huntington Library.
The library is sponsoring free programs and other events for the public in connection with the exhibition. Contact: Dixie Kucera 402-368-5306 Email: dkucera@tildenlibrary.org
or visit www.tildenlibrary.org for more information.

eBay woes

Not woes, really. Actually, I'm pretty proud. I just listed my first item for sale on eBay for The Tilden Library Foundation. I have spent about a week getting signed up with MissionFish so that the foundation can direct sell as a nonprofit. I'm almost there. Didn't read the directions closely and neglected to fax in one of the necessary documents. If all goes well it should be a done deal by tomorrow. The upshot of all this is that the Foundation will be able to sell the library's excess property items at an online auction sometime soon. Soon, being whenever we can get the items all listed. Have to check into Turbo List, etc. Quite a learning curve for an old lady.

People please check out Jed Marum's website. He is going to be here at the library on May 20. I'll have posters up soon. He is from Fort Worth, TX and the Hall family is so very generous to provide this entertainment free to the public. Don't miss this chance. You'll be glad you came, I assure you.