Thank you to everyone who has donated money to the Van Horn Public Library during Give to the Max Day on the 14th. We are close to our goal and hope you can help us out! So far, we have raised $905. Can you help us get to $1000 or even higher? Give to the Max may be one day, but our fundraising campaign goes through the end of the year. Every dollar goes to the library and is put into a foundation account to save for our future.
Thank you for supporting the library!
We are closed November 11 in honor or Veteran’s Day. Thank you to all who served our in America’s Armed Forces!
We are participating in Give to the Max Day for the first time this year. Please consider donating to the library as we look to the future and the possibilities it holds for us! Follow this link and click on “Donate” to give online. If you would prefer to write a check, please make it out to SELCO Foundation and write Van Horn Public Library in the memo line before dropping it off or mailing it in.
Thank you all for your continued support!
We have a new newsletter out today!
We are closing on Monday, September 30 at 5:00 pm for a staff meeting. Thank you!
We are working on a Strategic Plan this fall and we need your input! Please take a few minutes to fill out our Community Survey and let us know what direction you see us going. No library experience or knowledge required.
You can fill out the survey online or come in for a paper copy of the survey here at the library. Either way, ask library staff for a small notebook as a thank you from us to you!
Congratulations to our Grand Prize Winners!
#1: Handmade Harry Potter Basket: Hannah Johnson
#2: Hugo and Pete’s Dragon Movie Night: Maleah Browns
#3: Harry Potter Lego Set: Greta Hemingson
#4: Secret Life of Pets and Emperor’s New Groove Movie Night: Amarah Dennison
#5: Family Game Night: Charles Nelson
#6: Disney Storybook, Wooden Puzzle, and Peter Pan Basket: Gemma Bauer
Our August Newsletter is out and ready to be read! 
We are very excited to announce a couple of concerts this summer!
Laura MacKenzie is performing July 18 at 7:00pm. Join us in the Pine Island City Hall’s Council Chamber on the 2nd floor.
“Celtic” can describe music from a number of areas, including Ireland and Scotland, regions of France, Northern Spain, Wales and Nova Scotia. “The Magic of Celtic Music” presents traditional music on a fascinating array of wind-powered instruments, including a variety of wooden flutes and tin whistles, various types of bagpipes (bellows and blown), concertina, gemshorn and voice. In a program intriguing to both youth and adults, we learn how air is transformed into music on the various wind-powered instruments and what makes the airs, dance tunes, and songs “Celtic.” We explore the rhythms of traditional Irish and Scottish dance music, and even use the voice (a wind instrument) to sing jigs and reels in Gaelic.
Elisa Korenne is coming to the Olde Pine Theatre on August 6 at 7:00pm.
Elisa Korenne is gaining a reputation for her songs about characters and events that are too fascinating for the history books, and she has mastered the art of telling those untold stories from the stage. Minnesota’s Ordinarily Unsung Concert is an award-winning concert series about unsung, unique, and unusual people in Minnesota history. The Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission commissioned award-winning songwriter and student of history to create Minnesota’s Ordinarily Unsung concerts and workshops to celebrate Minnesota’s 150th anniversary as a state.
We hope you can join us for these exciting singers this summer!
Chicago in the 1890s was a place for dreams. Daniel Hudson Burnham was one of the architects that dreamt of bringing the world to Chicago for a World’s Fair to celebrate Columbus’s discovery of the New World. Henry H Holmes, on the other hand, dreamt of bringing death to pretty young ladies attending the fair. Both of their stories are told and intertwined by Larson with his deft storytelling and extensive research. This book bounced between these and other major players of the World’s Colombian Exposition, but I did not find that distracting. Instead, it was a very smart way to allow readers to have a rest from the trickery and death of Holmes so they are not overwhelmed by him.
My favorite bit about this book was learning a lot about the challenges and wonders of the Fair, including the creation of the original Ferris Wheel that stood 264 feet in the air and allowed for 2160 people to ride at any given time. Of course, I was also fascinated with the story of Holmes and his self-designed “castle”/hotel that had airtight rooms, a crematorium, and multiple other macabre mysteries.
I recommend this book for anyone interested in American History or just like a well told story. Holmes’s story and methods are told in a manner of fact fashion and is not gory. You can find our copy in the Large Print section of the library. It’s call number is LP 364.15 LAR.