March 28, 2024

Kids’ program on winter bird survival at Newton Public Library on Jan. 30

Wonderful Winter

Birds Program

Children in kindergarten through sixth grade are invited to attend a Wonderful Winter Birds program at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30, in the library meeting room. Jasper County Conservation Board naturalist Katie Cantu will teach how birds survive during harsh Iowa winters. No preregistration is necessary. Call Youth Services Librarian Phyllis Peter at (641) 792-4108 with questions.

Book Review of the Week

“Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn, an adult fiction book about a toxic marriage, is the book everyone is talking about and wanting to read now — with great reason. It is a thriller you cannot put down once you start reading!

One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn, takes readers to  dark places in this masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Washington Post said Flynn “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Check out “Gone Girl” from the library, but you may want to call and get your name on the hold list because this is currently a “must read” title.

Movie Night

We will kick off our “Smart Investing @ Your Library” program with a showing of “Ten Trillion and Counting,” a PBS Frontline special about the national debt crisis, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 17, in the library meeting room. The DVD is about one hour in length.

Smart Investing @ Your Library

The Newton Public Library will launch the “Smart Investing @ Your Library” program to promote investor education in two sessions on Thursday, Jan. 31: the first at 2:30 and the second at 5:30 p.m. Anyone in the Jasper County area is invited to participate and should stop by the library, call (641) 792-4108 or email spadilla@newton.lib.ia.us to register.

Participants will continue their education via four weeks of online classes at their convenience, either at home or at the library. An investment manual will be provided to the first 25 registrants, and online investment resources also will be shared. A face-to-face wrap-up session will beat 5:30 p.m. March 5. The only cost to attend the program is a commitment to learn more about investing.

The Smart Investing @ Your Library program is made possible through a $72,438 grant to Library Services of Iowa funded by the American Library Association and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Investor Education Foundation. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach is a cooperating partner in the program. Newton Public Library is one of 18 rural libraries in Iowa selected by Library Services of Iowa for participation in 2013.

Read with Porsche

Read with Porsche, a therapy dog, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. each Wednesday in the children’s area of the library. Porsche is certified with Therapy Dogs International along with her handler, Lisa Gibbons. Porsche also visited Thomas Jefferson Elementary last fall to read with children.

This program is for children who are beginning to read independently and would benefit from practice reading aloud. No pre-registration is necessary; simply stop by during the program and take a turn reading to Porsche. Call Youth Services Librarian Phyllis Peter at (641) 792-4108 with questions.

Story Times at Newton Public Library

• Enjoy stories about friends 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 received 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 that are specific to different e-readers.