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Now that Christmas is (barely) over, the year-end reports begin. It’s not the most fun part of our year, but recording library statistics is important at every level. It can increase our funding if we show that we are a viable part of the community. We can also determine goals for the coming year. While monthly reports are provided to the library board members, other reports are required by our district system on a quarterly basis. Then annual reports are required by the state and passed on to the federal government. We also have to provide an annual report to our insurance company with any changes to our building, equipment or employees.

Once all these reports have been completed, we can get on with planning for our Summer Reading Program. You’ll be hearing a lot more about that in the months to come, as we have some exciting events to share with you.

But first, we want to celebrate our local law enforcement employees. On National Law Enforcement Day we’re holding a Coffee with Cops event on Wednesday, January 9 at the library between 9 to 10 am. We’ll serve coffee and cinnamon rolls and you can visit with Police Chief Tristan Snyder, and deputies Adam Smith and Angie Mitchell. This event gives you a chance to get to know your local law officers, and thank them for their service to the community. Watch for the Blue Line flag to fly in front of the library as a reminder to join us that day.

In the meantime, we thank you all for your continued support and interest in your library. We wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year!

My memories of my earliest Christmases are few, although I have a few black-and-white photos to prove there were some. I do remember winter though. For the first five years of my life my family lived on Long Island, east of New York City. My mother bundled us in multiple layers, the last being a snowsuit and snow boots. She and I once built an igloo in the front yard. The snow on the east coast was wet and easy to pack into blocks of ice. I also remember Dad breaking off a long icicle that dripped from the roof. Mom put one across the kitchen sink, and we’d lick the iciness as we walked by.

Mom was an ice skater and took me with her as she skated on a small pond near our neighborhood. I tried to emulate her as she swirled around. Only I had no skates, just snow boots, and often plopped down. We had a sled and there are photos of me being pulled around the yard. Funny thing, though, I don’t remember being cold.

Indoors, our grandparents would visit for the holiday, and we’d open gifts and pose for photos. Once we moved south, though, many of our Christmases were just our family of five. We often had a cut tree, maybe from the woods across the street. There were long-needle pines, scrub oaks and cedar trees there, so our trees were cedar. I loved the large multi-colored bulbs that wrapped the tree, and the conglomeration of hand-made and vintage ornaments that graced the tree. When I left home for college, Mom kept with the times and bought one of those metallic trees. When I first married, our tree was made from a collapsed easel that was wrapped with blue-green tinsel garland from which a few bulbs were hung.

As we decorate the library for Christmas, I look back on simpler times with fondness. For I believe it’s not the decorations that counted, it was the love of family that meant the most. For those who don’t decorate, you are welcome to come visit the library to enjoy our spirit of Christmas and share the joy we find as we add color and sparkle to one of our favorite places. We hope to have our tree decorated by the time you read this. Gather around it for a photo and make your own memories of a happy time. You’re also welcome to join us for our third annual Music on Main! Chili Jam Session at 6 p.m. We look forward to seeing you whenever you visit.

Growing up, many of us learned that the early settlers in Plymouth, Massachusetts held a feast with the local Indians to celebrate their harvest. In kindergarten we might have traced our hand on construction paper. Our thumb became the turkey’s head, and our remaining fingers were Tom’s feathers. We might have made a headdress out of additional construction paper, stapling on colored feathers. Interested in learning more, I visited www.history.com to find out what happened at, and after, that first shared harvest meal. Here are excerpts from the website.

“In September 1620, a small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers — an assortment of religious separatists seeking a new home where they could freely practice their faith and other individuals lured by the promise of prosperity and land ownership in the New World. After a treacherous and uncomfortable crossing that lasted 66 days, they dropped anchor near the tip of Cape Cod, far north of their intended destination at the mouth of the Hudson River. One month later, the Mayflower crossed Massachusetts Bay, where the pilgrims began the work of establishing a village at Plymouth.

“Throughout that first brutal winter, most of the colonists remained on board the ship, where they suffered from exposure, scurvy and outbreaks of contagious disease. Only half of the original passengers and crew lived to see their first New England spring. In March, the remaining settlers moved ashore, where they received an astonishing visit from an Abenaki Indian who greeted them in English. Several days later, he returned with another Native American, Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe who had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and sold into slavery before escaping to London and returning to his homeland on an exploratory expedition. Squanto taught the Pilgrims, weakened by malnutrition and illness, how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the rivers and avoid poisonous plants. He also helped the settlers forge an alliance with the Wampanoag, a local tribe, which would endure for more than 50 years.

“In November 1621, after the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest proved successful, Gov. William Bradford organized a celebratory feast and invited a group of the fledgling colony’s Native American allies, including the Wampanoag chief Massasoit. Now remembered as America’s “first Thanksgiving” — the festival lasted for three days.

“For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn’t until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.”

To read more about Thanksgiving, the pilgrims, and the Native Americans, visit the history.com website and the library to check out our many books for children and adults about these topics. Pleasanton Lincoln Library staff and board members wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving.

A number of young visitors to the library have asked me if I own the library. I smile and tell them, no, I was hired to manage the library. I try to explain to them the owners of the library are the tax-payers of north and south Potosi townships. They are represented by a group of elected local residents who volunteer their time. This brings a blank look to the faces of the inquisitive youth.

It occurred to me that an explanation might benefit the adults in the community as well. So may I introduce my collective “boss” — the members of Pleasanton Lincoln Library’s Board of Trustees. Our esteemed board chair, Kenton Bell, is a long-time member not only of the community, but also of the library board. He has served as chair for many years, with only a brief hiatus of a year before being re-elected. Both he and his wife, Mary Lynn, have been ardent supporters of the library over the years. It is Kenton’s job to lead the board meetings, and he does this with a gentle hand.

Other officers include long-time trustee, Tel-lea Cox, who serves as treasurer, and Kathy Secrest, who serves as secretary. Tel-lea oversees the financial aspects of the library, signs checks and assists with the budget process each year. Kathy attends meetings and takes minutes of each, that are maintained in a notebook for posterity.

They are not the only trustees with great responsibilities, though. Every member helps decide library policy. This document can only be altered by a democratic vote of the members. While the policy has been altered over the years for various reasons, it is the most important document in the library. It ensures protection of the library, its contents, maintenance, and most of all, its purpose.

Other current trustees include Mark Willard, Ron Howard, Florine O’Rourke, and newest member Stephanie Brown. Each of these members has skills that help them determine how the county tax revenues, state and district funding we receive should be spent. They have varied backgrounds in how to run a business, manage funds, and make decisions based on facts. Each is important singly, but even more so as a group. They serve four-year terms, and can be re-elected by vote at the library’s annual meeting in March.
These trustees receive no compensation for their involvement on this board. Yet they benefit by getting the satisfaction of supporting one the community’s most important educational and entertainment resources — a free public library. If you see these volunteers out and about in the community, please thank them for their service, and let them know how much you appreciate having your public library.