Month: December 2023

Maker Corner: December

Over the past few years, we’ve been developing and expanding our reach into the world of making, by offering both programs and resources.

What exactly is making? Well, we actually helped craft a formal definition for it for library staff across the nation. But the short answer is pretty simple: it is the process of being willing to get your hands dirty and learn while you create whatever you want to make to accomplish a task or just have fun. Do you cook?  Do you craft? Do you invent? Do you build? Do you fix things? You are a maker! 

In fact, some are even talking about making as at the core of a new type of literacy: invention literacy  (i.e., the ability to look around you and figure out how human-made things work). Like any type of literacy, you can never be too old or too young to start your making journey and nurturing the growth mindset on which all making depends. You also can never have enough tools in the forms of books to get your creative juices flowing.

So, this year we plan to highlight all of the various making resources we have–which range from needlework to Legos to more. December is all about homesteading and self-sufficiency!

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Book Buzz: Nonfiction Extravaganza

Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For December, we’re looking at travel-themed memoirs, new cookbooks, history (both American and ancient), heartwarming pet stories, and adventure gone wrong. We have lots of holiday-themed books and movies too, but if you’re looking for a change of pace from that, well, this post is for you!

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$150K Down, $150K to Go Before December 31st!

In early November, our Berryville Library Building Project launched a fundraising challenge: raise $300,000 before the end of the year. If we reach this goal, we have an anonymous donor who will donate $100,000 to the building fund. The combined $400,000 from this challenge would get us to $3.2 million already raised since April 2021 and allow us to set a date to break ground in 2024. The plan is to then raise the remaining $300,000 needed during the building process.

In November, we raised an amazing $150,000, 50% of our goal, through a mailing, radio spots on our local KTHS and KUAF stations, and a telethon on KTHS.

We cannot thank the people who donated and helped us with the telethon and mailing and other fundraising efforts enough. However, we still need to raise that other 50% to reach our goal!

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Walk a Mile in My Shoes: December

This year, our theme is “Walk A Mile In My Shoes.” The idea that you can’t understand someone (and shouldn’t judge them) until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes is a pretty common sentiment. And research has shown that reading fiction is one way to really get such a walk going. So, that’s what we are going to do this year: use fiction (and some nonfiction when we just can’t resist) to take walks in someone’s shoes. We hope you join our journey. For December, our theme is poverty.

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