August 2025 News and Information
 
Are you an artist between 13 and 19 years old? We're inviting teen artists
from the six-county area to submit designs for a new sticker! Show off your creativity by taking part in the first-ever Teen Sticker Design Contest!
 
 
In partnership with over 200 libraries and bookmobiles across the state,
the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is expanding the
popular library park pass program, which provides access to state parks
and recreation areas at no cost to library patrons.
 
 
Looking to do genealogy research? Gain access to the world's largest
collection of genealogical records. Use Ancestry Library Edition
for FREE at your nearest library! 
 
 
Have you made a will? Is it up-to-date? August is National Make-A-Will Month, and we saw this as a timely opportunity to provide support, education, and advocacy, as nearly two-thirds of American adults still need an up-to-date estate plan.
 
 
Get to Know Your Library Staff
Taunja Warga: Upsala Senior Library Aide
Celebrating 15 Years with Great River Regional Library! 
 
How did you start your career with GRRL?
Wanda Erickson (Retired Library Services Coordinator for Upsala) mentioned
to my mother, Debbie Disher (Retired Library Assistant Substitute for Long Prairie/Grey Eagle), that there was a job opening for a library aide position in Upsala and thought I should apply. My mother was a Media Specialist at the Holdingford Public Schools for 37 years, and I learned a lot about libraries
from her, so I thought it was worth a shot to apply.  
What book or movie are you currently recommending?
I enjoyed watching the movie The Wild Robot with my son.
What's a fun fact about you?
I went to South Dakota State University to become a Sturgeon Biologist to raise fish at a fish hatchery. I once caught a Lake Sturgeon on the Rainy River in MN, helped raise the endangered Pallid Sturgeon at the Garrrison Dam National Fish hatchery in North Dakota, and helped catch a total of 39 White Sturgeon on the Willamette River in Oregon.
 
Staff Pick
Wild robot

"Roz, a robot, is shipwrecked on an uninhabited
island and must adapt to the harsh surroundings. Gradually Roz starts building relationships with the animals on the island, including a clever fox, and becomes the adoptive parent of an orphaned
gosling named Brightbill."
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