New library hours

Starting on January 2, 2009, the library hours will change to: M-W 10am - 8:00pm; Th-F 10:00 am - 6:00 pm; and Sat 9:00 am - 3:00 pm. These hours will be the same all year long (no more reduced summer hours!) Please give us a call if you have any questions.

Library closed Dec. 24 and 25

Just a reminder that the library will be closed both on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Happy holidays!

Holiday cheer!

Well, technically, it doesn't have anything to do with the holidays, but the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest will cheer you up! It's a "literary competition that challenges entrants to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels." There's a variety of categories, including Westerns, Romance, and Science Fiction. Here's one small sample - the Grand Prize Winner from 2004: "She resolved to end the love affair with Ramon tonight . . . summarily, like Martha Stewart ripping the sand vein out of a shrimp's tail . . . though the term "love affair" now struck her as a ridiculous euphemism . . . not unlike "sand vein," which is after all an intestine, not a vein . . . and that tarry substance inside certainly isn't sand . . . and that brought her back to Ramon."

Why do we do the things we do?

In Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior, authors Ori and Rom Brafman look at the factors that undermine people's efforts to behave rationally. Conversational in tone and full of entertaining anecdotes, the book will amuse and enlighten you at the same time!

The air that you breathe

We've all been enjoying the recent brisk breezes - but do you know why the wind blows? In An Ocean of Air, author Gabrielle Walker explains why the wind blows and all sorts of other fascinating details about the atmosphere. Learn about (among other people): "A one-eyed barnstorming pilot [who] finds a set of winds that constantly blow five miles above our heads; an impoverished American farmer [who] figures out why hurricanes move in a circle by carving equations with his pitchfork on a barn door; and a well-meaning inventor [who] nearly destroys the ozone layer. A great book - check it out!

Best Books of the Year

Several more entries in our ongoing series of links to various "Best Books of the Year" lists.

NY Times 10 Best Books of 2008
NY Times Notable Crime Fiction of 2008
USA Today’s Holiday Guide Gift Books
Stephen King’s 10 Best Books of 2008
Top Ten Hockey Books of 2008

New DVDs

Newly arrived at the library:

Sex and The City: The Movie (Rotten Tomatoes rating 50%)





Leatherheads (Rotten Tomatoes rating 52%)





The 4400: The Complete First Season (featuring Red Wing's Patrick Flueger)




30 Days of Night (Rotten Tomatoes rating 50%)





Belle Toujours (Rotten Tomatoes rating 64%)

Zero, zip, zilch, nada...

is the amount you will pay in overdue fines on children's books and magazines checked out starting in 2009, because we are eliminating overdue fines on children's books and magazines. It's just one of a series of changes coming in the New Year, all of which are designed to make things simpler and more convenient for our patrons. The reduced summer hours are being eliminated - we'll be open 10-8 M-W, 10-6 Th-F, and 9-3 on Sat. all year 'round. Almost all checkout periods will follow 'the rule of 2' - 2 week checkouts with 2 renewals allowed, and 20 cent fines on materials which still incur fines. Ask one of our staff members if you have any questions!

Snow Emergencies

Heavy snowfalls such as we just experienced can trigger the declaration by the City of Red Wing of a snow emergency. There is not one currently in effect, but if you ever have questions about anything to do with Red Wing snow emergencies (including if one has been declared and the location of snow emergency routes), check out the City's snow emergency page.

Best Books of the Year

Two more entries in our ongoing series of "Best Books of the Year" lists. NPR's 10 Best Cookbooks of 2008 and NPR's Best Gift Books of 2008.

Software upgrade on Monday, Dec. 8

The catalog software for the SELCO system is being upgraded on Monday Dec. 8. During this time, you will not be able to search the catalog or place requests for materials. However, reference staff will be able to help you find what you're looking for or place requests - so please don't hesitate to ask! Internet access on the public computers will not be affected.

Stories with the Miss Red Wing Royalty

Stop by tonight on your way to the Holiday Stroll and enjoy stories read by the Miss Red Wing Royalty as well as cider and cookies provided by the Friends of the Library (4:00pm in the story well of the library)

Holiday Stroll

Downtown Red Wing's annual Holiday Stroll is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 28 from 4:00 to 8:00pm. There will be "live musicians and caroling, chili, lighting ceremony, horse-drawn wagon rides, chestnuts and refreshments available at businesses." And don't forget to stop by the library while you're out and about!

New at the library

Minnesota residents Karin Winegar and Judy Olausen have created a "beautifully illustrated tribute to rescued animals who have profoundly affected the people who saved them." Saved: Rescued Animals and the Lives They Transform contains a foreword by Jane Goodall and a preface by Temple Grandin. A beautiful and moving book.

Best books of the year

It's the time of the year when the "Best Books of the Year" lists start coming out. We'll be highlighting some of them each week, starting with a rather lengthy list from Publishers Weekly

Library closed on Thanksgiving Day

...but we will be open regular hours on Friday, Nov. 29 (10-6) and Sat. Nov. 30 (10-4).

National Book Award winners

The 2008 National Book Award winners, announced on Wed., are:

Shadow Country, by Peter Matthieson (fiction)
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, by Annette Gordon-Reed (non-fiction)
What I Saw and How I Lied, by Judy Blundell (young people's literature)
Fire to Fire: New and Collected Poems, by Mark Doty (poetry)

Author program canceled

Due to a death in her family, author Dianne Gray has been forced to cancel her talk at the library scheduled for this Saturday, Nov. 22. The Friends of the Library hope to reschedule this event at a later date.

Lighten the load...

...of your mail delivery person. Use the Catalog Choice web site to reduce the number of unwanted catalogs you receive. It's a win-win-win situation: businesses save money by not sending unwanted catalogs, you save time and declutter your mailbox, and the environment is helped out through the decreased use of resources. Give it a try and for other useful consumer information, see our Consumer Information web page.

Author visit

Come hear Dianne Gray, Minnesota Book Award winner and author of "Tomorrow the River" speak at the library this Saturday, November 22. The program, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, will be held at 10am in the Foot Room at the library and is free and open to the public.

Magazines and newspapers

Did you know that the Red Wing Public Library subscribes to over 20 newspapers, including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, and to well over 200 magazines for children, teens and adults? (not to mention the thousands and thousands of full-text newspapers, magazines and journals available through our Proquest and EBSCO databases). Come and browse!

New DVDs

Newly arrived at the library:

Iron Man (Rotten Tomatoes rating 93%)







The Great Debaters (Rotten Tomatoes rating 79%)







Comanche Moon (Critically acclaimed miniseries and sequel to Lonesome Dove)

Highway 61

Just arrived at the library is Tales of the Road: Highway 61 by Minnesota Public Radio's Cathy Wurzer. In this book, companion to the television documentary, Cathy Wurzer "unearths stories about places [along Highway 61] and more as she travels down the road and into the past, spotlighting famous and fascinating locations, many of them little remembered today. Learn about bootleggers crossing the St. Croix by ferry or importing hooch from Canada onboard vessels designed in White Bear Lake." It even includes a tale about Red Wing - but you'll have to check out the book to learn what it is!

Veterans Day

The library will be closed on Tuesday, Nov. 11 for Veterans Day.

25 years of live music

New at the library is the 5 DVD set Saturday Night Live: 25 Years of Music. The set includes a incredible range of performers, including The Grateful Dead, Snoop Dogg, Spinal Tap, The Dave Matthews Band, Metallica and many, many more. Come check it out!

Election results

For Minnesota results (including local Goodhue County races), visit the Secretary of State's website; for national results, try CNN's Election Center.

Voting information - one more time!

We've been getting lots of questions about where and when to vote tomorrow, so we are re-posting the information on our blog. The Secretary of State's website has information on how to register and where to vote. The library has copies of sample ballots for Goodhue County. All Goodhue County polling locations are open from 7am to 8pm except for Belle Creek Town Hall (the voting location for Belle Creek Township) which is open from 10am to 8pm. Check out our elections and voting page or just give us a call at the reference desk (651-385-3645) if you have any questions. And please don't forget to vote!

Happy Halloween!

Ever wonder why people dress up on Halloween? Who the first trick or treaters were? Why we carve pumpkins on Halloween? What are the origins of common Halloween superstitions? Learn all about Halloween on a neat site from the History Channel

Dinosaurs!

Newly arrived at the library and chock-full of the latest information, The Encylopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Life is a must read for any dinosaur fan (i.e., pretty much any boy between the ages of 5 and 10!) We have lots of other new books on dinosaurs - come check them out!

Election information

As just about everybody knows all too well, there's an election next week. But not everybody knows how to register, or where to vote, or has seen a copy of a sample ballot for Goodhue County. We can help with all those things and more! Check out our elections and voting page or just give us a call at the reference desk (651-385-3645). And please don't forget to vote!

The Gruffalo!

Coming to the Sheldon Theater next Thursday is The Gruffalo, a musical adaptation of the award winning children's book. Come to the library afterwards to check out other books by Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson!

Evening of poetry

On Friday, October 24, Robert Bly and Robert Hedin read from their newest book of translations, The Dream We Carry: Selected and Last Poems of Olav H. Hauge. The event will begin with a 6:30 pm reception at the Historic Residence in the Anderson Center, followed by a 7:30 reading in the Main Gallery. The event is free and open to the public.

More changes!

The first phase in the makeover of our storywell begins today. Please excuse the construction noise and mess of this phase - it shouldn't last more than a day or so!

New DVDs

Newly arrived at the library:

Stardust (Rotten Tomatoes rating 76%)






Grace is Gone (Rotten Tomatoes rating 58%)







Ben X (Rotten Tomatoes rating 65%)






In the Valley of Elah (Rotten Tomatoes rating 72%)







The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Rotten Tomatoes rating 94%)

The Final Frontier!

Newly arrived at the library is a set of books about the planets of our solar system. Written for 8-10 year olds, the True Book: Space series includes 12 books: The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, The Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Beyond Pluto. Boldly go to the library and check them out!

Author Steven J. Keillor to visit library

Author and historian Steven J. Keillor, brother of Garrison Keillor, will visit the library on Saturday, Oct. 18 to discuss his new book, Shaping Minnesota's Identity: 150 Years of State History. The program, sponsored by the Friends of the Red Wing Public Library, will be held at 10:00 am in the Foot Room at the library, and is free and open to the public

In the midst of a bitterly contested election season, here's a book to demonstrate that not all stories that come from Washington D.C. inspire cynicism. From the publisher: "Step by Step is the inspiring personal account of Bertie Bowman’s remarkable rise from farmer’s son in the Jim Crow South to hearing coordinator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the U.S. Capitol. For sixty years, Bertie Bowman stood at the epicenter of change and witnessed history in the making: the death of FDR, World War II, Brown v. Board of Education, the Civil Rights movement, Vietnam, and Watergate." Kirkus Reviews calls it "A heartfelt, old-school American history lesson."

A green revolution

Best selling author Thomas Friedman has a new book that covers some of the same subject areas he usually discusses - foreign policy & globalization - but also "provides an exhaustive and convincing argument about the need for the United States to transition to more sustainable systems of energy soon." Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution - and How It Can Renew America is now available at the library!

Preschool storyhour begins this week!

Don't forget that preschool storyhour begins this Wednesday, with one session at 10:15 and the other at 11:15. Preschool storyhour is for children ages 3 to 5 years old, and offers books that range from classic to new on the shelves, as well as music and finger games. There's still room in both sessions! Please call ahead (385-3645) to register.

Back to school...

Now that school's been back for about a month, many students are in the middle of researching and writing papers. If you need some help on the research or the writing, come to the library! You might find some or all of these books useful (and these are just a few of what's available):

Cite it Right






Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing






The Elements of Style





Last Minute Term Papers






MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers

Voter registration

Election time will be here soon! For information on registering to vote, see the MN Secretary of State's register to vote page or Goodhue County's election information page. Or if you're looking for information on issues and candidates, check out our elections page.

Changes to preschool storyhour

In response to changing demand, the library is altering the schedule for preschool storyhours. The Thursday at 10:15 session will be dropped, but we are adding twice a month sessions on Saturday morning during the winter (Jan. - Mar.) No registration will be required for the Saturday storyhours. The specific dates and times are yet to be determined, but will be announced later this fall. Please give us a call if you have any questions!

Banned Books Week

September 27-October 4, 2008 is Banned Books Week, a national celebration of the freedom to read. Wonder what the most challenged titles of 2007 were? How about the most challenged books of the 21st century? The American Library Association has the answers and more about what you can do to help preserve our right to read what we choose to.

What's next?

We are often asked to find out the order of books in a series, or to find, for example, the next book in a series when someone has read the first few. There are several ways to find this information. First is to Google the author's name - many authors have websites with complete information about their writings. Second is the What's Next? database from the Kent District Library. You can search this database by author, book title or series title. The third and richest source of information is the database Novelist. In it you can not only find series information, but reviews, articles, readalike suggestions and much more. You'll need your library card to access it from home. It's well worth exploring - check it out!

New DVDs

Among the latest DVDs to arrive at the library are:

Children of Dune (Rotten Tomatoes rating 80%)





Finding Neverland (Rotten Tomatoes rating 83%)





Definitely, Maybe (Rotten Tomatoes rating 71%)






Shoot 'Em Up (Rotten Tomatoes rating 66%)






Persepolis (Rotten Tomatoes rating 96%)