Mary Thorn's Journal

Step into the 1800’s and visit the life of a Quaker girl from the Chili area.

Yesterday the Chili Public Library was glad to receive the donated book Mary Thorn's Journal: A Quaker Girl's Life in 1855. The book is an annotated transcription by Barb Chapman of the diary of Mary's Thorn. Sandra Erickson, a librarian from the Central library presented the book in honor of Ms. Chapman who was present.

Mary Thorn was 21 years old when she wrote the diary. She had finished her schooling at the Chili District No.4 Cobblestone Schoolhouse when she was fifteen years old. She taught at both the Chili Cobblestone School and at the Scottsville District No. 1 School on East Genesee Street. At the time that she was writing the diary, she lived on a farm with her family on Scottsville Road in the Town of Chili. She had responsibility for the two young children in the Thorn household and of helping with the cooking and cleaning.

The original diary is in the Skivington Library at the Sage-Marlowe House, owned by the Wheatland Historical Association, in Scottsville. The book is a welcome addition to our local history division.

Mrs. Barbara M. Ireland

The library lost a good friend with the passing of Mrs. Barbara M. Ireland on January 23. She was one of the founding members of our library and served on the Board of Trustees in the early days of the library. Through her persistence and dedication her dream became a reality when in 1961 the Chili Public Library became a member of the Monroe County Library System and subsequently opened its doors to the public on October 15, 1962. It was under her leadership of the first library board that Chili’s public library took root. In later years she remained an active supporter of the library and was a member of the Friends of the Chili Public Library. The library extends our sympathy to her family and to her many friends.

The Friends of the Chili Public Library Winter Booksale

It's time to find that special book you have been looking for a fraction of the price! The Friends of the Chili Public Library will be holding their Winter Booksale! Be the first to get your foot in the door Friday, February 29th as there will be the Friends preview sale from 2:30-4:30pm. You may join to be a Friend at the door. Learn about becoming a Friend of the Chili Public Library at the following website http://libraryweb.org/chili/friends%20membership%20form.htm.

Saturday, March 1st the sale will be open to the public from 9:00am - 4:00pm. Enjoy!

What is the best non-fiction or fiction book have you ready lately?

One of you asked me to put this question out in the blog and I think that is a great idea. Let's hear what you are reading. Please leave your comment and if you like share with everyone what you liked about the book!

Love Your Library License Plate

Recently I contacted the Department of Motor Vehicles Custom Plates Unit and obtained a Love Your Library License Plate. It’s a beaut! The license plate features a design logo of books, computer keyboard, and the globe and includes the words "READ * LEARN * EXPLORE."

Getting a Love Your Library License Plate is one way library lovers can show appreciation of their libraries. Proceeds from the plate's annual fee go to the Love Your Library Fund, which supports the New York State Library's Statewide Summer Reading Program at public libraries across the State. Each custom plate displays a designated plate number, but you can select a personalized combination for many custom plates for an additional fee.

The Department also issues custom license plates for other organization and causes such as a plate that supports the Environmental Protection Fund, New York State Cultural Institutions and Museums, Olympic Spirit, the Empire State Flower, and the Lions Club for example.
To order a custom license plate contact the DMV's website at http://www.nysdmv.com/, DMV's Custom Plates Unit at 518-402-4838, and all local Issuing Offices.

A Word Cloud

What is a word cloud?

Sounds like the dream one has after an all night read.

Actually, the word cloud is part of our Visual Catalog. The Visual Catalog helps you think of the best search term for the item you are trying to find in the library.

Try it out at our library’s website at www.chililibrary.org by selecting ‘Visual Catalog”
When the Visual Catalog appears enter any word and you will see an explosion of related words surround it. I typed in the word ‘Bear’ and the words Grizzly, Berenstain, Teddy, and Paddington appeared. By selecting the word Teddy my search was further refined and I decided on the book The First Teddy Bear by Helen Kay. The book is a history of the stuffed toy. What I like about the word cloud is that it brings back the browse-ability we used to get with the traditional card catalogs. Give it a try.

Web Poll Results - How My Favorite Time at CPL is Spent

The web poll How My Favorite Time at CPL is Spent is now closed. With 10 votes in, the number one activity chosen is Browsing the New Books Section, with 60% of the vote. 30% voted for Reading by the Fireplace, 10% for Using the New Computers and Software, and 10% voted for Walking the Children’s Literary Garden. Thank you to those who responded to the poll.

If there is any other web poll you would like me to put up on the blog, just let me know!

Staff Picks

Staff Picks is a new feature on the library’s homepage http://www.chililibrary.org/. With Staff Picks we offer our suggestions of material new and old at the library for your reading and listening enjoyment. We update the list on a regular basis.

My recommendation this month is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Kingsolver is a well known storyteller who portrays strong characters in her books. Bean Trees and the Poisonwood Bible are two well known novels by her. She now ventures into non-fiction recounting a year in which her family made every attempt to feed themselves only from animals and vegetables raised in their own neighborhood, or raised by themselves.

If you would like to follow up on her project visit http://animalvegetablemiracle.org/. There you can take an online tour of her farm, get recipe ideas, and see links to organizations with relevance to local, sustainable and responsible food.

www.chililibrary.org

It is now easier to remember the library's web address. Try the new web site address of www.chililibrary.org. It will lead you to the library's webpage where you will find the online catalog, magazine articles, upcoming library programs, staff picks, and more. If you are still partial to using the old web site address of www.libraryweb.org/chili that still works too.