Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home Public Library is exploring the cost of doing its stained glass window project in stages.
The library and Friends of the Library have been collecting donations to fund the $26,000 project, said Library Director Rose Peda. The Friends have about $3,400 set aside for the project now. The effort began in 2011.
Near the end of the year, a collection jar, a gallon jar about a third full, was stolen. The alleged thieves were later convicted in the robbery of Umpqua Bank.
The library has since installed a new collection box that is more cumbersome and difficult to steal.
After the theft, the Library Board “asked me to contact Chuck Franklin to see if he would consider doing just a portion of the window,” Peda said. He was very upset to hear that someone had stolen the donations, and he told her he would be willing to work with the board and do a couple of panels at a time.
The stained glass project will feature six panels, depicting Foster Lake, above the east wall of the library.
A proposal will appear before the Library Board during its regular meeting on April 11, Peda said. The board will discuss how it wants to proceed at that point.
“I think getting something up there may entice people to donate more toward the stained glass window,” Pedea said.
The library also is gearing up for its summer reading program, Peda said. Staff members are confirming dates.
The theme will be “Dig into Reading” for elementary students and “Beneath the Surface” for teens, she said. The annual program begins at the end of June and runs through the end of July.
During the program, hundreds of Sweet Home youths earn prizes by reading. The more they read, the more prizes they may receive.
Each week, youths may attend special programs at the library.
Around the library collection, the library has replaced its quilting and handicraft books, Peda said.
Gardening has been updated, with new books on square-foot gardening. The children’s and teens’ section has new selections as the library gears up for summer reading.
The library also has some new large print books, easy readers, westerns and audiobooks.
Rebecca Swoboda has set up a display of recycled art near the entrance to celebrate the upcoming Earth Day.
It features art made from recycled items, which would normally find their way into the trash, Swoboda said. Books included in the display are getting checked out frequently.
The display also answers the question: “What can you do with a mismatched pair of socks?”
The library also has a new order out, and new books are going onto the shelves each week, Peda said.
Among them are the following:
The Orchardist, A Novel (P.S.), Coplin, Amanda – In her stunningly original and haunting debut novel, Amanda Coplin evokes a powerful sense of place, mixing tenderness and violence as she spins an engrossing tale of a solitary orchardist who provides shelter to two runaway teenage girls in the untamed American West, and the dramatic consequences of his actions.
The Death of Bees: A Novel, O’Donnell, Lisa – A riveting, brilliantly written debut novel, The Death of Bees is a coming-of-age story in which two young sisters attempt to hold the world at bay after the mysterious death of their parents.
The Day My Brain Exploded: A True Story, Rajamani, Ashok – With humor and insight, he -LESS-THAN-00178-Ashok Rajamani-GREATER-THAN-00178- describes the events of that day (his brain exploded just before his brother’s wedding!), as well as the long, difficult recovery period. Irreverent, coruscating, angry, at times shocking, but always revelatory, his memoir takes the reader into unfamiliar territory, much like the experience Alice had when she fell down the rabbit hole. That he lived to tell the story is miraculous; that he tells it with such aplomb is simply remarkable
Still Points North: One Alaskan Childhood, One Grown-up World, One Long Journey Home, Newman, Leigh – Part adventure story, part love story, part homecoming, Still Points North is a page-turning memoir that explores the extremes of belonging and exile, and the difference between how to survive and knowing how to truly live.
The Encyclopedia of Country Living, Emery Carla – The Encyclopedia of Country Living includes how to cultivate a garden, buy land, bake bread, raise farm animals, make sausage, can peaches, milk a goat, grow herbs, churn butter, build a chicken coop, catch a pig, cook on a wood stove, and much, much more. This comprehensive resource is the most authoritative guide available to a sustainable lifestyle and living off of the land.
For more information about the library and its programs, call (541) 367-5007.