View from library's terrace overlooking St. Croix River

October 2023

LIBRARY NEWS

We Are Water MN: Oct. 12 - Dec. 3

Exhibit

We Are Water MN is an interactive traveling exhibit steeped in stories. Explore the science, history, story, culture, and relationships of water in Minnesota and the lower St. Croix River Valley. The exhibit will be on view at Stillwater Public Library from October 12 through December 3, 2023, and will feature local water perspectives from Astoria Jespersen, Emily Tweed, Fred Grieco, Greg Seitz, Pam Carlson, Rosie Peters, Amy Frischmon, Andy Veu, Kami Mendlik, Daniel Bruber, Mark Edlund, and Paul Red Elk.

The beautiful exhibit pieces are designed for curious people of all ages from water experts to water lovers to water users to wee ones. We all need water!

We Are Water MN is led by the Minnesota Humanities Center in partnership with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; Board of Water and Soil Resources; the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources; the Minnesota Historical Society; and University of Minnesota Extension. We Are Water MN is funded in part by the Clean Water, Land, & Legacy Fund and the National Endowment for the Humanities and was brought to the library in partnership with ArtReach St. Croix.

Programs

In conjunction with the exhibit, we’re offering a special series of programs that further explore water stories:

Hydroponic Gardening the Very Easy Way: Saturday, October 7 at 10:30 AM

Tour the St. Croix Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant: Tuesday, October 17 at 10:45 AM

Anton Treuer presents Native Americans and Logging the Northwoods, an Indigenous History: Thursday, October 19 at 6 PM (online)

Minnesota Waters – Cultural Significance Through Storytelling & Art: Tuesday, October 24 at 4 PM

Water – Sustaining Bird Life with Joanna Eckles, American Bird Conservancy: Monday, October 30 at 5:30 PM (online)

We are Water Artists Reception: Thursday, November 16 at 6:30 PM

Marvelous Mussels: Thursday, November 30; Stop in on the main floor anytime between 2-3:30 PM to learn about mussels from a MN DNR park naturalist.

Discovery Room

The Discovery Room is ready for imaginative play centered around the theme of water and the St. Croix River. Children can investigate a pretend pool containing stuffie fish and puppet animals that are found in the St. Croix River Valley; navigate boats through lift bridges on a tabletop river; identify animal tracks; purchase fishing nets and magnifiers at the play Water Discovery store; and investigate wind currents with chiffon scarves and felt rain clouds with the flight lab wind tunnel. Open during library hours, the Discovery Room is a place for kids and caregivers to play and imagine together.

Attend a Program

Mystery Writing Contest for Youth

Calling all young writers ages 8-12. Enter our mystery writing contest based on Long Lost, a middle-grade novel by Minnesota Book Award Winner, Jacqueline West! Choose one of Jacqueline’s writing prompts, write a short story, and submit it to us. Stories should be original work by the writer and should be no more than 2000 words. All stories must be submitted to the library by the twelfth stroke of midnight on Friday, October 13.

Jacqueline West and our youth services librarian will choose a grand prize winner to receive their own personalized, autographed copy of Long Lost, and their story published on the library’s webpage. Runner-ups will receive signed copies of The Collectors, the first of a duology written by Jacqueline, and their stories published on the library’s webpage. Winners will be announced during Jacqueline's author visit on Thursday, October 26 from 6 – 7:30 PM.

Learn More

Mystery Youth Writing Contest and Author Visit

Library Closed

On Monday, October 9, the library building will be closed until 2 PM for staff training. The library will be open from 2 - 8 PM.

Friends Book Sale and Drive

Book lovers and bargain hunters - you are in for a treat! Shop the Friends of the Stillwater Public Library Used Book Sale for bargains on popular fiction and nonfiction titles for adults, teens, and children. Hardcover books, trade paperbacks, audiobooks, and movies are priced at just $2. Cash or check only. A $35 non-refundable charge applies for use of a scanner.

Members-Only Preview Sale*

Wednesday, Nov. 1 5-7:30 PM

*Not a member of Friends of the Stillwater Public Library? Join at the door.

Open to the Public

Thursday, Nov. 2 10:15 AM-7:30 PM

Friday, Nov. 3 10:15 AM-4:30 PM

Saturday, Nov. 4 10:15 AM-4:30 PM

Bag sale all day on Saturday! Grab a whole bag of books for just $10!

Donate Your Books!

Saturday, October 28

10:30 AM - 3 PM

Donate your gently used books! We will be collecting books for the sale in the library’s parking ramp on Third Street. Drive into the ramp, and volunteers will help unload your materials.

None of the following items will be accepted: encyclopedias; magazines; Reader’s Digest Condensed Books; textbooks; religious materials; National Geographic; videos; cassettes; partially used puzzle books; books that are worn, stained, mildewed or contain mold, handwriting, or highlighting.

Help support the library one book at a time!

LIBBY TIPS & TRICKS

Borrow Your Favorite Magazines

A recent Libby update makes enjoying your favorite magazines even easier! You can browse magazines in the digital newsstand, and you can also subscribe to specific magazines and receive notifications when the latest issues hit your magazine rack.

Browse the Newsstand and Read with One Tap

Libby's added a newsstand feature to help you quickly find and open magazines - perfect for browsing while at the doctor's office or while waiting to pick up kids from activities. To activate the newsstand feature, check out a magazine from Libby. Then go to your Shelf. Below your loans, you’ll see a new section called Magazine Rack. On the Magazine Rack, tap the blank cover image to browse for more magazines. The most popular titles will be displayed, or you can click on a subject to filter by type. Simply tap on a cover to start reading immediately.

Subscribe to Automatically Receive New Issues

You can subscribe to magazines using a new Subscribe button that now appears in the search results, the magazine details screen, and in the newsstand. If you select subscribe, you will be notified when the latest issue is automatically added to your magazine rack.

Need additional help with Libby? Stop in, call, or send an email with your questions, and we’ll help make sure you’re getting the most out of Libby when reading and listening to digital materials.

Get Libby

FROM OUR ARCHIVES

Feeding the Loggers, Circa 1886

Oh là là! With this many French-named cooks in the kitchen, we imagine it was Frog Legs and Escargot every day for the hardworking loggers of the St. Croix Boom Company!

Information with the photo reads: "The cooks in the cook-house of the St. Croix Boom Company at Stillwater, Minnesota, on the St. Croix River in 1886. Back row left to right, Tim Harvieux, C. A. Parent, D. Sicard, E. Carufel, O. Payette, Henri Harvieux. Front row left to right, E. Payette, W. Sicard, Wm. Bergeron, F. O. Harvieux. Photo by Ed C. Fisher of St. Paul, Minnesota. Collected by John Runk, photographer, Stillwater, Minn. U.S.A."

This photo and other photos in the John Runk Photo Collection can be viewed anytime the library is open in the St. Croix Collection room. The library also has many resources on the lumber industry and its history in Stillwater and the St. Croix Valley.