Mercer County Library Blog

You know it is spring break when there is a barrage of museum pass pickups at the library. I am not much of a museum person; however, earlier this spring I got swept into museum mania and I found myself at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown. The museum houses a remarkable collection of pre-industrial tools, stunning in their preservation, yet reminding one of the loss of trades and cultures. Being there brought back memories of my own favorite gadget, a kitchen tool. The object called to my mind was a much-loved Konkani traditional contraption called Addoli . It is a wooden plank with a scythe-like blade fixed on to it. The plank serves as a seat, the sharp rounded blade functions as a vegetable chopper, while the spiky end is used for grating coconuts. The device sits close to ground, which means sitting in almost a bound angled pose (aka cobbler’s pose) was an everyday thing for women in these kitchens. No wonder my mom and my aunts would laugh in my face at the mention of an exerc

As the air gets chillier and the leaves start changing colors, it may still be hard to picture what our community might have looked like hundreds of years ago. Thankfully, that’s where our friends at the Tulpehaking Nature Center come in! In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, the Tulpehaking Nature Center and the Mercer County Parks Commission are partnering up with the Mercer County Library System this November for four special events! The Lenape Indians, also known as the Delaware Indians or the Lenni Lenape, were a tribe who originated in parts of New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Staff from the Tulpehaking Nature Center will be teaching us the history of the Lenni Lenape who lived in our area through various activities, pottery, and games. The Tulpehaking Nature Center will be at the Hightstown branch on Saturday, November 2 nd at 10:00 am, hosting an outdoor Lenape Games program, and then will be at the Robbinsville branch at 2:30 pm for a pottery even

November is Gluten-Free Diet Awareness Month. The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) founded this awareness month to bring attention to celiac disease and other gluten-related disorders. Their mission is to improve the lives of those in the celiac and gluten-free communities by educating about the gluten-free diet. If you or a friend or family member follows a gluten-free diet, you don’t have to miss out on delicious food this holiday season. The Mercer County Library System has many holiday cookbooks for you to check out! Gluten-Free Small Bites – eBook “The voice behind glutenfreeonashoestring.com, Nicole's been making gluten-free goodies that are delicious as they are safe for nearly ten years. Indulge in her new recipes for Crab Rangoon, Cheddar Hush Puppies, Fried Pickle Chips, Mozzarella Sticks, Pizza Pinwheels, Miniature Mac and Cheese Cups, Spanakopita Bites. . . and more!” – Provided by publisher Something Sweet: 100+ Gluten-Free Recipes for Delicious Dess

Similar to everyone around the world, there are things I do for myself that bring me happiness: spending time with loved ones, cooking, crocheting, drinking coffee, and watching a TV show or movie. But the one thing I absolutely love to do that, without a doubt, brings me happiness is re-reading a book. But why? Why would a librarian surrounded by great literature rather re-read The Shining by Stephen King for the 10th time?    One of the reasons that I enjoy re-reading is that I may find a new detail I had glossed over in previous readings of the book. Re-reading the book helps me better understand the story and what the author wanted the audience to gain. When I find those hidden details and foreshadowing I missed, it feels like I am reading the book for the first time. I can form my own theories about the themes of the book, take a deeper look at the perspective of the characters, and understand why they might have acted the way they did. I can then share those theories with other

The Mercer County Library System Teen Advisory Board is full of talented teenagers. Throughout the year, these teenagers create social media posts, write zines for young patrons and write book reviews which are posted to the library’s GoodReads account. Please enjoy this recent review by TAB member Olamide, who loves the library as much as her books! If you’d told me that by the end of reading Unbroken , Laura Hillenbrand’s historical non-fiction that retells Louie Zamperini’s story of “survival, resilience, and redemption,” I would be sobbing at home on a random Monday at 11pm, I would’ve laughed, or maybe thrown you a skeptical glance, and gone about my day. In fact, even if you’d given me a heads up to the tearworks a hundred pages into the book, I still wouldn’t have given you the time of day. But there was something about the 200-page mark, the beginning of a depreciating life in Japan’s slave camps during WWII, that drew me in. My once hazy eyes refocused and Unbroken became

Many people have their own special traditions for Halloween night, like taking their kids trick or treating, going to Halloween parties, or watching a horror movie marathon. One of my traditions is to read at least one new scary short story. Even if you have other things to do, reading a truly well-crafted short horror story can get you in the Halloween mood like nothing else. I’ve always thought that the short story is a better literary medium for horror than the novel because, being short and compact, they can be more viscerally scary. In just a few pages drawing you in and leading you into a shocking revelation or a terrifying twist ending. I want to keep it short for this post so I’m sharing just a few selected recommendations for Halloween short stories, both classic and new, that you can read on Halloween night for a terrifying thrill. I’ll start with Edgar Allen Poe, who is of course well-known as the nineteenth-century American master of short horror stories. If you’ve neve

It’s hard to believe that Halloween is already here! If you’re anything like me, sometimes holidays just sneak up on you – and you realize that you’re out of time to prepare. Don’t worry, the library has you covered with some last-minute ideas to ensure your ghostly celebration is a hit! Costumes Creativebug offers a wide range of high-quality crafting tutorials; just log in with your library card number to check out some last-minute costume ideas for you or a young person in your life. Whimsical Felt Beards are the key for an Abraham Lincoln or lumberjack costume – or get creative and go for a hot pink beard full of birds! Throw on your favorite green outfit and add a Felt Flower Headband for a quick floral look Customize your plumage with the Quick and Easy Bird Costume   Pair zombie makeup with regular clothes for an instant costume or try some of the other classic Halloween faces in this Face Painting tutorial Ambience What’s Halloween without a creepy soundtrack?  I’ve al

Bug boy. That’s what we’ve called James, my oldest son who is now 17, since he was little. He has always been fascinated by bugs of all kinds, and spiders have been a favorite of his. We’ve learned over the years that he’s a little unusual in this regard. There are a lot of people out there who really don’t like spiders! I get it – they have lots of little legs and lots of eyes and creep around and some can even bite you. But, James has helped me grow fond of them and I truly believe that the more people learn about these fascinating little creatures, the more they’ll grow to love them – or at least not freak out at the sight of them.   Thanks to James, there are four pet spiders in our home – a pink toed tarantula and 3 wolf spiders. Two of the wolf spiders he has raised from slings.  “Sling” or “spiderling” is what a baby spider is called.  Doesn’t that make them seem a little bit cuter already??  It turns out spiders are pretty easy pets.  They’re not messy and they don’t need to ea