Summer Reading prize drawing Aug. 20

The drawing for the eight prizes for our summer reading program is this week! Come to the library at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20 to find out if you’ve won.
Many of our summer reading program participants were able to read and keep track of books or minutes read, then add their name to the drawing for one of the eight prizes. The more books read, the more chances to enter your name. We will be accepting your reading logs up to 10 a.m. on Saturday. A participant may only win one prize.
I wish to thank all of the parents who brought their children to our Summer Story Hour on Wednesday evenings in June and July. We had a great time every week. I especially want to thank our guest readers this year: Renee Hanson, Brooke Moorse, Vickie Radloff, Caryn Hetland, Karen Dalager, Carolyn Bot, LoraLee Miller, Teresa Myhre and David Haen. If there is anyone who wishes to volunteer to be a reader during Summer Story Hours, please let the librarians know.
Look forward to Saturday Morning Story Hours beginning in October. Every third Saturday of the month we will have a children’s story hour beginning at 10:30 a.m. Our first time to meet will be Oct. 15, 2022. We will offer a story hour, open to ages 3-10, every third Saturday from October to April. Sometimes we will have a craft to accompany our story. And, as usual, Santa Claus will visit the third Saturday of December.
Something you may not know about the Minneota Library is that there is a new trend for libraries not to charge for overdue books, and Minneota Library has picked up on that trend. For nearly two years, we have not charged fines for overdue books. When newcomers register for a library card, I always tell them that we don’t charge fines, but we do like to make sure we get our books back. A patron came to the library this week and said she was sure she had overdue books from a long time ago. I checked her account, and, yes, she had about seven books that were five years overdue. Her record showed she owed us almost $200. However, since we no longer charge fines, I forgave the amount that had accrued for the books being overdue, and that lessened the charge by $50. The patron went home and found most of the books that had been “lost” and returned them. Now, there is only one book for which she needs to pay. It’s never too late to return overdue books.