March 28, 2024

Library closed Friday, also on Christmas and New Year’s Day

Library Closure

The library will be closed from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7,  so the Library Board may have a holiday luncheon with the library staff.

The library also will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 24 and 25, as well as Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. On Monday, Dec. 31, the library will be open but will close at 5 p.m.

ABC Author Book Club

The ABC Author Book Club will meet from 1 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12, in the library’s conference room. Call or stop by the library’s information desk to choose from a list of books by this month’s featured author, Agatha Christie. New members are always welcome, and the book club meets on the second Wednesday of each month.

Read with Porsche

Read with Porsche, a therapy dog, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. each Wednesday beginning Dec. 12 in the children’s area of the library. Porsche is certified with Therapy Dogs International along with her handler, Lisa Gibbons. Porsche has visited Thomas Jefferson Elementary this fall to read with children also. This program is for children who are beginning to read independently and would benefit from practice reading aloud. No pre-registration is necessary. Call Youth Services Librarian Phyllis Peter at (641) 792-4108 with questions.

Story Times at Newton

Public Library

• Enjoy stories about gingerbread men with Youth Services Librarian Phyllis Peter during Preschool Story Time, for children ages 3 to 5, at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. Each story time includes books, music, fingerplays and a simple craft.

• Toddlers and Twos Story Time, which is for children ages 18 months to 36 months old, will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. A second Toddlers and Twos Story Time will follow at 11 a.m. Choose to attend one session, but not both as back-to-back sessions are offered so neither will be too large. All story times meet in the Carousel Horse Room, except on holidays, and are free and open to all children and their caregivers. Contact Youth Services Librarian Phyllis Peter at (641) 792-4108 with questions.

Downloadable E-books, Audio Books Available

Downloadable e-books and audio books are available at the library through the library’s catalog for Newton, Lambs Grove, Reasnor and rural Jasper County residents. If someone on your Christmas list is receiving a Nook, Kindle, iPad, Sony e-reader or other e-book device this holiday season, be sure to stop by the library’s information desk for instructions on how to access these books at the library.

Book Review of the Week

by Youth Services Librarian Phyllis Peter

A new teen fiction book that is moving up on the bestseller list is “The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight” by Jennifer E. Smith. Although written for teens, any reader looking for a heartwarming, light-hearted romance will enjoy this book. Despite being light-hearted, the characters have some heavy issues on the side to deal with, and Smith uses these issues to give the characters depth.

Seventeen-year-old Hadley meets Oliver from Great Britain when she misses her flight to London. He is a student at Yale and is flying home for a funeral. She is flying to London for her father’s wedding to the younger woman that he left Hadley’s mom for, and Hadley is less than thrilled about this event. Both characters have to deal with a lot of emotions and heavy situations. They are brought together in a crowded waiting area at Kennedy airport in New York, they talk on the flight to London and then lose each other at the baggage carousel. This is love at first sight, however statistically improbable. “The Statistical Probability” is a sweet, romantic book that this reader hopes is made into a movie!