Blog Entries

I have been called odd my entire life.  Growing up, when people used the word “odd” it was meant as a negative connotation.  Today the word “odd” could go either way, but most people use it in a positive way.  I don’t mind being called odd because it shows I have my own identity.  Now people say, “a special snowflake” instead of odd.  But, the great thing about snowflakes is their individuality and when they gather together, snowflakes can stop the world (both people snowflakes and winter snowflakes.)

The Library recently hosted a program on making your own Beeswax Wraps as part of our monthly series on DIY Homesteading.

It’s a common enough scenario: you rent a time machine and set the dial to your favorite era in history. Just for a little sightseeing, you know? Instead your malfunctioning time machine hurls you back hundreds of thousands of years into the past and refuses to budge once you’re there. You are stuck somewhere in the past, with no way to return to the future and no one around to sue. What do you do next? 

We’re getting closer! It’s almost time for us to say goodbye to our current location and move to our new location at 101 Highway CC, Linn, MO. As we make this transition, there will be some challenges that come with moving an entire library.

During the move, the Osage Branch will be closed from February 24-March 8, 2020. The Bookmobile will be in Linn at the City Pool Parking Lot to check out materials, in addition to their regularly scheduled stops.

Monday, February 24, 2020 11am-1pm 

Monday, March 2, 2020 11am-1pm 

This is my favorite time of year, the Autumn/Mabon season. The Fall crops are harvesting, leaves are crisp, pumpkins, and finally Halloween and Samhain. In Jefferson City every time you take a deep breath, the air is cool and clean. Some people call this time of year, “The Season of the Witch”.

The first vision that comes to my mind when I think of a hacker is the mysterious loner, wearing a hoodie twenty-four hours a day, drinking energy drinks by the gallon, and staring at fifty computers at once.  I either seen too many movies or my vision is correct.  Think of Chris Hemsworth in the movie, Blackhat; he sometimes fits this description.

In reality most hackers use sophisticated hardware and software to do the heavy lifting.  Some hackers work for the government, some are loners but most are a group of people who communicate and help each other.

You may not know MRRL has access to much more than you can see on the shelves. 

And that’s not all! We have ways to help you -- even when you’re not sure what you’re looking for.

It’s really satisfying when we can help point you to something you want  -- and you can always ask us to help!

DIY’er? Use the library catalog, in the library or online.

When Karen Piper’s Dad, Earl Piper, finds himself without work in the seventies, he takes a job at the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in the middle of the California’s Mojave desert.  The family is uprooted from their Seattle home where Mr. Piper had worked at Boeing until staffing cuts left him jobless.  His new job at China Lake lands him in the precarious position of main engineer on the Vietnam-era Sidewinder missile. His days are devoted to analyzing and attempting to correct the accuracy of this legendary missile.

Monitoring your child’s phone may seem like an invasion of privacy, but you have to keep in mind the opportunities and accessibilities kids have to indulge in inappropriate behavior, or be exposed to inappropriate content. Keep reading if you want to learn how to monitor and control your child’s access to technology.

In Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer, author Barbara Ehrenreich, probably best known for Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, focuses her skeptical eye on the many, varied, and to her mind futile, steps we take to prolong our lives. Ehrenreich, who has a PhD in cellular immunology, puts her scientific background to good use as she examines and pokes holes in everything from the idea that our immune systems protect us from disease, to the concept of healthy, or successful, aging.

I spend a lot of time on the computer, writing plays, and working on my blog; life is so much easier for me when I double and triple check facts using the library databases.

EbscoHost is a wealth of information with all the different sites I can access.  ERIC is a database which has all sorts of educational literature, an ebook section which is mainly nonfiction books, and many databases under this one name. 

Have you ever watched “Let’s Make a Deal?” It’s fun watching contestants try to make the correct decision to win a nice price and avoid getting zonked.    

I’m a huge picture book enthusiast.  Story time is one of my FAVORITE times.  Reading to my little one at home is a big highlight of my day.

One of the things I overhear occasionally at the library that makes my heart deflate a tidbit is the limitations of that “picture book love” to a “pick one or two” mentality with kids.  Sure, it’s better than none, but to picture book enthusiasts like myself it’s like saying “Here’s a breadstick kid, never mind there’s an entire pizza buffet before you.”

Twenty years ago, Laurie Halse Anderson felt driven by a voice in her to write a book about a young girl who was raped just before she entered high school. This book was Speak.  It sparked much controversy and many conversations about the trauma of rape and rape culture. Through the conversations with survivors after writing Speak and the #metoo movement, Halse Anderson again felt compelled to write Shout.  It is a book of free verse poetry that tells the story of her life including the trauma of her rape at thirteen.

April, designated as National Humor Month and Holy Humor Month, is home to a lot of funny business.