From the desk of Alison Gibson, Director
Last week we posted a pretty good-looking postcard of the Proctor K. Smiley. Browsing on the web, we found this lovely photo of the Smiley looking back on Ripley which gives us a good shot of the buildings. You can see the Bank Hotel clearly and the one that stands to the left of it is a bit of a mystery—looks like it says Thompson Light Coal, but we’re guessing not in business at that location for long—can’t find it in the Ripley Bee and the Sanborn maps only specify that building as being A. J. Stivers’ Tobacco Warehouse (1884-1904 maps) or a steamboat supplies building (1920-1932 maps). So, somewhere in the ‘gap’ years, or maybe just an office front for Thompson? Next week—another cool Smiley/riverfront picture—we’re on a roll. We asked permission to post, so the image is courtesy of Murphy Library Special Collections/ARC, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Looking at the new books sitting on the shelf, we have A Hunger to Kill but Kim Mager, true crime about a serial killer in Ashland, Ohio, Janet Dailey continues her Calder series with Calder Country, in our self-preservation/homestead section we’ve added The Essential Home-Ground Flour Book after having several requests as well as Harvesting Rainwater for Your Homestead in 9 Days or Less. Always something new and different on our shelves.
Short break from kids’ programs as school starts next week (where did the summer vacation go?!) Our Toddler Twos-day will start on September 3rd at 10:30-11:00 a.m. We love to have the 2-year-olds get in the habit of coming to the library, listening to a story, doing silly and fun activities and meeting other little library patrons! Our pre-school 3-5 year old program will start Wednesday September 4th at 11:00 a.m. at the Ripley Library. Last call for summer reading–If your child is near the 50 book mark for a t-shirt, encourage them to push through—we’ll honor the 50 until school starts.
