October 25, 2011

ROSLYN LIBRARY NOW LENDING E-BOOKS AND E-AUDIOBOOKS

ROSLYN – Perhaps you have a new e-book reader or are thinking of getting one soon for yourself or a family member. They are a popular gadget that allows you to download books of all kinds. Or perhaps you would like to listen to books on your i-Pod® as you commute to work or take a long trip. The only problem is that even though these books are electronic files instead of bound paper and ink or thick packages of discs, you still have to buy them at regular book prices, which can be more than your budget allows.

But now, you can use your Roslyn Library card to download e-books from their collection of over 2,000 bestselling and classic titles to your e-book reader, all for free. And, if you are an audiobook junkie, the Roslyn Library’s collection has over 2,000 audiobooks available to download, as well.

Here’s how it works. First, you visit the library’s website to browse their collection for the books you are interested in reading or listening to, then you check them out using your valid library card. And last, you download them to your computer or mobile device where you can enjoy them immediately or transfer them to a variety of devices, including iPod®, Sony® Reader™, Kindle®, and others. It’s easy:

1. Browse
2. Check Out
3. Download

To make this work, you will also need to install free software. To read e-books, you will need Adobe® Digital Editions™. To listen to audiobooks, you will need Overdrive® Media Console™. Some audio titles can also be burned to CD to listen on-the-go. Titles will automatically expire at the end of the lending period, usually 14 or 21 days: There are no late fees! And you can have up to 5 books checked out at a time. If all of the copies of the book are in use, you can get on a waiting list, and you will receive an email when it becomes available to check out, just as if it were a physical book.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer this new collection as we’ve seen people’s desire for materials in electronic formats increase,” said Erin Krake, Roslyn librarian. “The library Board and I have been working toward being able to offer downloadable e-books and e-audiobooks for the past couple of years. Thanks to a partnership with the Washington State Library, we can afford to do it, and that is very exciting and fortunate. We believe that the demand for these formats will only grow, and we want to make sure we can meet those needs.”

The Roslyn Library is currently the only library in Kittitas County offering this collection. To get started, visit the Roslyn Library’s website, at www.roslynlibrary.org, and click on the   icon. For technical assistance, contact the library at (509) 649-3420 or by email at rpl@inlandnet.com.

To sign up for a Roslyn Library card, visit the library during regular open hours. Bring your driver’s license or other photo identification along with proof of your current street address. Cards are free to anyone living in Kittitas County, except for residents of the Town of South Cle Elum, who must pay $35 per year per card. If you are a resident of Cle Elum, Kittitas or Ellensburg, you must first have a valid library card from your own city library before you can apply for one from the Roslyn Library. For more information, visit the library’s website at www.roslynlibrary.org, scroll to the bottom, and click on “About Us.”

The Roslyn Library is temporarily located at 109 South First Street in Roslyn. The library is open five days a week, from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday through Thursday, and from 1:00 to 5:00 pm on Sunday. For more information, call (509) 649-3420 or visit the library online at www.roslynlibrary.org. 

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October 4, 2011

ROSLYN - The Roslyn Library Board of Trustees has one position open as of this month due to the retirement of board member Susan Johnson.  Library board members are community volunteers who meet monthly to guide the municipal library. The rest of the current board consists of Marc Brodine, Chairperson, Tuesday Bosch, Kim Grantier, and Chris Fitch.

Duties and responsibilities of a Trustee include:

• Meet monthly to establish library plans, policies, and direction for the library.
• Authorize the librarian to take specific action as required.
• Actively seek funding for the library’s needs and services.
• Continually promote the library in the community and explain policies and services when called upon.
• Continually appraise the effectiveness of the librarian. 
• Annually review the library’s operations and policies.

In addition to the monthly meetings, Board members convene for a half day retreat once a year for planning and policy review.

The Roslyn Public Library promotes lifelong learning through books, programs, and technology. The board’s goals are:

1. To ensure the library’s budget allocation is sufficient to meet the needs of the community. 

2. To provide adequate and competent staffing to meet public service and management needs.

3. To better the library experience for the community by providing a safe, accessible and fully functional library facility.

4. To provide access to a robust collection of books and other materials that serve as a valuable resource for learning, information and pleasure.

5. To provide programs for children and adults which promote lifelong learning, cultural enrichment, and community belonging.

6. To utilize various types of appropriate technology to meet the information needs of the community and the administrative needs of staff.

7. To promote the professional administration of the library.

8. To encourage the public’s use of the library.

For more information about the library board, please visit the library’s website at www.roslynlibrary.org, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click on “About Us.”

Applications for the Trustee position, which is appointed by the Mayor of Roslyn, will be accepted through October 31^st and are available at the Roslyn Library  at 109 S. First Street in Roslyn. To receive an application packet through email, call (509) 649-3420 or contact the library at rpl@inlandnet.com. 

The Roslyn Library is temporarily located at 109 South First Street in Roslyn. The library is open five days a week, from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday through Thursday, and from 1:00 to 5:00 pm on Sunday. For more information, call (509) 649-3420 or visit the library online at www.roslynlibrary.org. 

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August 23, 2011

SUMMER READERS MEET GOAL AND READ 1713 HOURS

ROSLYN – The Summer Reading Program at our community libraries ended last week with a magic show at the Roslyn Park on Wednesday. The group of young readers was celebrating a summer spent with books, many of them that followed the program’s theme “One World, Many Stories” – books that were about travel and stories from other countries and cultures.

Over the course of the 8 week program, dozens of kids logged the time they spent with books. Out of 115 registrations at the Roslyn Library, 43 kids met their goal. Collectively, the kids read for a record 1,713 hours. As promised, library assistant Shawna Graham colored her hair the color that got the most votes, and the winner was “Rainbow.” Graham unveiled her wacky new locks at the end of the magic show to much applause.

“I got a cream pie in the face last year,” librarian Erin Krake said. “I don’t quite know how Shawna got a cut and dye job instead. It’s cute! But then again, the whole idea is to get the kids motivated, not only to read, but to keep track of their reading time, to come into the library, and to stay involved with the program.”

The Roslyn Library held 10 free and fun programs over the summer, attended by 361 participants. Activities were often created and planned by talented community volunteers and included making homemade tortillas with chef Frank Schuchman, designing and printing cards with artist Cathy Cook, building candy houses with teacher-in-training Ann Fuller, and listening to the traditional stories and harp music of Finland with actress and singer Karen Ingalls. There was also a Japanese manga, party, a geocaching treasure hunt, and a digital scavenger hunt, in addition to a kick off ice cream party and the finale magic show in the park with performer Louie Foxx.

Every child who met their reading goal received rewards and raffle prizes. Makayla Nestor was the grand prize winner of the Kindle e-book reader raffle for kids over 10, and Quin Fillo, Sidney Copp, and Griffin Bator all won bikes in the under 10 raffle.

To view photos from the events, and to see a list of program sponsors and supporters, please visit the Roslyn Library’s website at www.roslynlibrary.org.

The Roslyn Library is temporarily located at 109 South First Street in Roslyn. The library is open five days a week, from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday through Thursday, and from 1:00 to 5:00 pm on Sunday. For more information, call (509) 649-3420 or visit the library online at www.roslynlibrary.org. 

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June 11, 2011

LIBRARY RECOMMENDS WORLDLY TITLES FOR A SUMMER OF ADVENTURE

ROSLYN – Our public libraries’ summer reading programs may be geared for children, but that doesn’t mean adults can’t find adventure with books this summer, too. Why should the kids have all the fun?

This summer’s reading theme is about traveling to other countries and experiencing other cultures. On the Roslyn Library’s adult shelves, you will find luggage tags sticking out of books to help you find places you might like to go, too. The little tag means that between that book’s pages is a tale set in a foreign land. Below is a sample of these types of books.

Experience the rich and volatile history of Mexico at the turn of the 20^th century in the captivating book The Hummingbird’s Daughter, by Luis Alberto Urrea. This historical novel is based on Urrea's real great-aunt Teresita, who had healing powers and was acclaimed as a saint. She makes a compelling book character in a fascinating time and place. Another Mexican adventure can be found in Barbara Kingsolver’s latest novel The Lacuna, a “poignant story of a man pulled between two nations”, Mexico and the United States, in the early part of the 20^th century.

Cross the pond for a taste of Europe. Who doesn’t want to experience the exquisite Spanish city of Barcelona? Read Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s atmospheric novel The Shadow of the Wind, about a boy's quest through the secrets and shadows of postwar Barcelona for a mysterious author whose book has proved as dangerous to own as it is impossible to forget.

If you haven’t yet read Stieg Larsson’s famous Millenium trilogy that begins with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, you may be one of the last people on earth who hasn’t. And, you have denied yourself the challenging pleasure of pronouncing Swedish names in your head, too. I personally did not like this book, but that doesn’t mean I could stop reading it once I started. And, apparently 80% of the world’s population loves it.

But, perhaps you are more of an Anglophile. There are plenty of mysteries to satiate one’s craving for the distinct flavor of the British empire – Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Martha Grimes, Dorothy Sayers, M.C. Beaton’s Death of a … series, Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus, and on and on. But, have you read Kate Atkinson? Her newly published Started Early, Took my Dog is the latest addition to her fabulous detective Jackson Brodie mystery novels that include Case Histories, One Good Turn, and When Will There be Good News? If mysteries aren’t your thing, don’t despair, there’s plenty in the books of British novelists Ian McEwan, Nick Hornby, and Alexander McCall Smith to sweep you off to the U.K.

Africa may call to the more daring among us, and there are a number of books that will give you a strong sense of both the giant continent’s woes and triumphs. Try Say You’re One of Them, a collection of Ethiopian short stories by Uwen Akpan. Each story pays tribute to the wisdom and resilience of children, even in the face of the most agonizing circumstances. What is the What, by Dave Eggers, illuminates the history of the civil war in Sudan through the eyes of a refugee now living in the United States. We follow his life as he's driven from his home as a boy and walks, with thousands of orphans, to Ethiopia. Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexander Fuller is a compelling memoir of growing up on several farms in southern and central Africa in the 1970’s. I laughed and cried all the way through that one and get you donating your pennies to their cause to build and maintain schools in that remote and volatile region.

There are a numerous novels set in Asia and Southeast Asia in the library, from the great Amy Tan and newcomer Lisa See writing of modern China, to A Suitable Boy and A Fine Balance, both sweeping and epic family and historic novels of India. A journey to China or India promises to be an engrossing, complex, and thrilling one.

We all have plenty to learn about the Middle East. If you haven’t yet read them, there are Khalid Hosseini’s best-selling novels, both of which are set in Afghanistan. The Kite Runner takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy through the horrific rule of the Taliban. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson is a real life look at the lives and culture of the mountain people in the highlands of Afghanistan and Pakistan, a book that may change your view of the region and its people.

For another real-life look at the region, this one at the Israel-Palestine conflict, try The Lemon Tree: an Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East, by Sandy Tolan. This book was recommended by a local soldier who was just leaving to serve a tour in Afghanistan last summer. Plus, there are many others on the conflicts and cultures in that area, from the travels of the fascinating pioneer Freya Stark at the turn of the 20^th century to The Fall of Baghdad by New Yorker writer Jon Lee Anderson.

There are so many more: In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez will take you to the Dominican Republic; The Bone People by Keri Hulme to New Zealand, Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto or anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez to South America; and the classic Anna Karenina to Russia.

So, even if you don’t go far from home this summer in a physical sense, you can still experience other cultures and their wonders through the many books at your local library. Just look for the little luggage tags, or ask your friendly library staff and volunteers for their recommendations. Then, kick back and explore our world from the comfort of your favorite lawn chair. 

The Roslyn Library is temporarily located at 109 South First Street in Roslyn. The library is open five days a week, from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday through Thursday, and from 1:00 to 5:00 pm on Sunday. For more information, call (509) 649-3420 or visit the library online at www.roslynlibrary.org.

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June 6, 2011

Conversations on the 1934 Western Miners Strike Continue at the Roslyn Library on June 16

ROSLYN - Roslyn’s 1934 labor strike and the Western Miners movement have been the focus of much community interest since David Bullock’s October presentation at the Roslyn Public Library.

Bullock is the grandson of Roslyn miner, Herman Swanson, and he has been researching the causes and consequences of the mining strike that paralyzed the community and lead to 60 arrests of men, women and children here in 1934.

Bullock is returning to Roslyn to continue the community conversation on Thursday, June 16 at 7 p.m. at the Roslyn Library. Anyone with perspectives to share, family stories, or community memories is invited to attend, and the meeting is free and open to the public.

Bullock will review his in-depth research that now incorporates many of your stories. After the presentation, you will have an opportunity to share your memories. Bullock is incorporating the information gathered here into a book on the strike.

The Roslyn Library is temporarily located at 109 South First Street in Roslyn. The library is open five days a week, from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday through Thursday, and from 1:00 to 5:00 pm on Sunday. For more information, call (509) 649-3420 or visit the library online at www.roslynlibrary.org. 

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February 15, 2011

IT’S A GOOD TIME TO READ A GOOD BOOK: GARLIC AND SAPPHIRES

KITTITAS COUNTY – Public libraries in our county are on a mission to get everyone reading and talking about one particular book. It is part of a national program called One Book One Community, and the purpose is to get adults reading for pleasure while fostering the bonds of community through the common experience of sharing a good read.  

This year’s county-wide read is a memoir by the popular food critic and editor, Ruth Reichl. The book is called Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise. As with her other books, such as Tender at the Bone and Comfort Me With Apples, Reichl’s style is warm and engaging. With Garlic and Sapphires, Ruth recounts her time working for The New York Times, a position so influential and powerful that she resorts to wearing disguises while eating out to keep from being identified by restaurant staff.

Reading this book is like taking a guided foodie tour of New York City. Reichl, a native New Yorker, takes us through the open air markets and dim-sum restaurants of Flushing’s bustling Chinatown. She brings us along to some little-known neighborhood bakeries and butcher shops in Brooklyn and on to Coney Island to visit a traditional candy maker.  She shows us how to properly enjoy traditional sushi, spends entire afternoons in tiny, smoky Korean joints, and feasts on course after course of lobster bisque, white truffles, black bass, and foie gras in the most exclusive and expensive restaurants of Manhattan.

Through it all, Reichl explains in sensual detail just how everything tastes and smells and feels, both the good and the bad. She describes the dining room décors and the city views, the servers and the sommeliers, as she dissects the courses laid before her, expertly divining each spice and every culinary technique the talented chefs throw at her. It is absolutely delicious. Added to the mix are glimpses of the inner offices and staff at the most prestigious newspaper in the western hemisphere, and of her personal life with her young son and husband. And through it all, runs the idea of becoming someone else.

Reichl introduces the reader to each one of the varied personas she creates in her quest to remain anonymous as she critiques a restaurant’s service, ambience, wine list, and especially, food. Dressing up over and over as these characters – from friendly Brenda, her “best self,” to sour, demanding Emily, her worst – Reichl finds herself questioning her own ego, behavior and motives, and ultimately rediscovering what it is she most loves about a good meal and a fine restaurant.

The Roslyn Library Book Club will discuss the book at their monthly discussion on Thursday, March 3^rd at 6:00 pm at the Roslyn Library. Special food events are being planned for March in Roslyn and Ellensburg to complement the book and to keep people reading and talking about it.

Copies of Garlic and Sapphires are available now to borrow from all of the public libraries at no cost. For more information, visit http://www.roslynlibrary.org/events.html#one_book or call your local library.

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February 14, 2011

SEUSSAPALOOZA IS A FUNDRAISER FOR THE YOUNG AT HEART

ROSLYN – A lot of people think “Huh?” when they first hear about the Friends of the Roslyn Library’s biggest fundraiser of the year – Seussapalooza. “Is it a Dr. Seuss thing, they ask. “Or some kind of concert extravanganza, like Lollapalooza? What’s the library got to do with it? And what’s with all the weird, cut-and-paste flyers around town?”

It’s hard to explain, even if you’ve attended the event every year. Yes, it is held around Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Yes, it features entertainment. Yes, it is a fundraiser for the Roslyn Library. And the flyers? Well, they’ve become tradition. They help convey the sense of silliness and fun that the event embodies.

Created as a fundraiser by the Friends of the Roslyn Library, Seussapalooza has become a neighborhood event that people look forward to as winter is winding down. It’s a reason for people to get out of the house and visit with folks they haven’t seen in a long while.  

“You always see a lot of smiles, a lot of hugs, at Seussapalooza,” says Erin Krake, Roslyn librarian. She says there’s a multi-generational feeling to it, too. “It’s something you can bring your kids or your grandparents to, but that’s not just for kids or for seniors. It’s a family affair.”

“It’s an event for the young at heart,” adds Katia Merkel, a board member for the Friends of the Roslyn Library, and one of the organizers of the event. “We have good music and variety show-style acts for entertainment. Like this year, we’ll have honky tonk piano, old time fiddle tunes, a burlesque dancer, dog tricks -- that’s the wacky element, I guess, the entertainment.”

There’s also a silent auction full of unique services and items, such as a handmade fire poker crafted by local blacksmith Jay McGowan, or lift tickets for the Pass, or a rafting trip down the Yakima. Volunteers make huge batches of dozens of kinds of chili and heaps of homemade corn bread. There’s beer and wine for the adults, and lemonade for the kids. People pool their money for a chance to win their favorite dessert from a table full of sweet offerings made by the area’s best bakers.”

Merkel says that the fundraiser has raised nearly $25,000 for the library over the past four years, allowing the library to invest in new materials, programs and equipment, while growing its building renovation fund to update the library when it moves back into its old home later this year. Their goal is to raise $8,000 this year.

“Without the Friends group, and without this event, the library would not have new materials on the shelves every month, or all of the great programs we do for children and adults, or the new computers and technology we provide for people to use,” the librarian explains. “Seussapalooza makes all of these things possible. It has made the Roslyn Library what it is.”

Krake emphasizes how important the event is to the building renovation project, as well. Construction is nearly complete on the first phase of renovation for the old city hall and library, but even with a new foundation and heating system, not much will be “renovated” on the inside of the library until Phase II gets underway. That’s where the Friends group and its fundraising will step in to fill the gap.

“We’d like to paint, look at flooring options, and revamp the layout of the library to make it more functional and friendly for our residents when we move back in,” says Krake. “We’ve got great ideas, and this fundraiser will help us carry them out.”

Seussapalooza will be held on Saturday, March 5^th in downtown Roslyn in the back of the old company store at 101 E. Pennsylvania. The doors open at 6:00 pm. Tickets are on sale now at the library, and priced at $15 for adults, $10 for children from 7 to 17 years old, and free for children 6 and under. Advanced tickets are recommended. The Roslyn Library is open from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm, Monday through Thursday, and from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Sundays.

The Friends of the Roslyn Library is an all-volunteer, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and all donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law. For more information, call the Roslyn Library at (509) 649-3420 or visit the Friends of the Roslyn Library online at www.friendsoftheroslynlibrary.org.

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January 19, 2011

THE TIME IS RIGHT TO CURL UP WITH A GOOD BOOK

ROSLYN – The holidays are over. The weather is unpredictable. Television is boring. Yes, the middle of winter is the perfect time to pick up a good book. Here are a few suggestions of books I’ve enjoyed recently.

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games is the first book in a trilogy for young adults, but, believe me, this is a fantastic read for people of all ages, even if you don’t particularly like fantasy or science fiction. Set in a post-American world, the country of Panem has 12 districts that are ruled by a ruthless Capitol which controls the districts by forcing them all to send one teen boy and one teen girl to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. With a flawed, but brave and bright heroine named Katniss as the main protagonist, the story is filled with violence, suspense, love, philosophy, politics, social commentary, adventure, and romance. You simply can’t stop reading. Even when Katniss is being petty and selfish, or maybe because she is these things, you recognize her humanity and root for her to fight against the powers that be, and hope for her to win against all odds. And the best part is that there are two more books that take you all the way through the arc of this original and compelling story. I have recommended this trilogy to people of all ages, and all of them have been hooked from the first page.

Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen

I never got around to reading Franzen’s acclaimed book The Corrections, which was an Oprah Winfrey pick ten years ago, but I thought I would take a chance on his latest, Freedom, which was getting a lot of buzz late last year. An “epic of contemporary love and marriage,” it tells the story of a modern American family while subtly exploring the ramifications of freedom and the choices it presents in its many contexts and forms. What I really liked about this book, what kept me reading throughout its 562 pages, is that this guy really gets into the interior life of his characters. It is fascinating to discover what makes these people tick, and to follow them down the different paths their freedom leads them. It is utterly realistic. You feel you know these people. And, the most important part is that you care about them in the end. If you want a deep and embroiling story, this hefty novel is for you.

Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen

If you haven’t read the tremendously popular 2006 novel Water for Elephants yet, now is the time, because it will soon be a major motion picture, and you know what they say: the book is always better than the movie. Our library book club read it last year, and everyone agreed (highly unusual) that this is a knockout - a suspense-filled, romantic page-turner. Jacob Jankowski tells us the story of joining a second-rate circus as a young veterinary school dropout and recent orphan during the Depression. Filled with gritty characters - including rubes, drunks, midgets and a bull elephant named Rosie - and historic circus lore galore, the story revolves around the growing attraction between Jacob, who is hired to tend the circus’ menagerie, and Marlena, the star performer and wife of the brutal and dangerous animal trainer, August. This story leaps off the page; you can see the sequins on Marlena’s shimmering outfit, smell the filth, and feel the rocking of the train. No wonder they made a movie! The story goes between the present, where Jacob is a 90 year old resident of a nursing home, and his flashbacks to this colorful past, a path that determines the course of his life forever, even to the very end of it.

Anything by Elmore Leonard

I’m ashamed to say I had never read anything by Mr. Leonard before this summer. But after devouring Tishomongo Blues on vacation in August, I feel secure in knowing that if I ever need a fast-paced crime story with colorful characters and catchy, funny dialogue, I’ve got a go-to author. You’ve probably read one of his books or seen a movie based on one. In his eighties, Leonard’s written dozens of book, stories, screenplays, and essays. His latest is called Djibouti, a place I had never heard of before the library hosted several Djibouti-ans just last year, and I learned it is a place of pirates, no fresh water, and a huge American naval base. Leonard’s book features a beautiful, smart, award-winning documentarian surrounded by a human parade of terrorists, thieves, big money, big ideas, plain, old maniac-killers, and yes, pirates. It sounds contemporary, relevant, and, knowing this author, I’ll bet it’s a whole lot of fun, too.

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise, by Ruth Reichl

Ruth Reichl knows a thing or two about food. She critiqued restaurants for the New York Times before serving as editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine. In this memoir, Reichl reveals the “comic absurdity, artifice, and excellence” to be found in the foodie world. To disguise herself while critiquing some of the most high-profile establishments in the biggest restaurant town in the world – New York City – she takes on a series of eccentric personalities. Our county’s public libraries will be encouraging everyone to read this book between now and the end of March as part of our county-wide One Book One Community project. To cap it off, we’ll put on several tasty events in March that we hope will deepen the readers experience of the book. Multiple copies are available at all of the libraries to borrow. For more information, visit the library’s website and click on Events & Programs, then One Book One Community Program.

Reading: It’s fun, free, relaxing, entertaining and imaginative. Why not drop by your library today and check out what’s new?

The Roslyn Library is temporarily located at 109 South First Street in Roslyn. The library is open five days a week, from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday through Thursday, and from 1:00 to 5:00 pm on Sunday. For more information, call (509) 649-3420 or visit the library online at www.roslynlibrary.org. 

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ARMCHAIR TRAVEL SERIES KICKS OFF WITH A TRIP TO AFRICA

ROSLYN – The Roslyn Library’s 2011 Armchair Travel Series will kick off on Tuesday, February 1^st at 7:00 pm with a photo presentation of Lesotho, a small country entirely surrounded by South Africa.

Phil Youngren, was born and raised in Ellensburg, Washington, but headed to Los Angeles to attend Loyola Marymount University where he received his BS in Mechanical Engineering. After that he began working in dynamic modeling and flight controls at Northrop Grumman while working towards his MS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He decided to spend some time overseas before he “got too tied down with car payments and whatnot,” and he arrived in Lesotho as a Math and Science Teacher in November 2008, then transferred to a new post with the Millennium Challenge Account – Lesotho, a Rural Water and Santitation Project - in October 2009. Youngren returned to the States just last month, and he will take armchair travelers to this small country to see what is being done there to bring rural residents their first clean water.

Three more lectures are planned in the next couple of months. There will be a trip to the Piedmont region of northern Italy on February 9^th, then we’ll attend a traditional wedding in Poland on March 9^th, and finally we’ll return to Africa to visit Mozambique, Zambia, and Zanzibar on March 21^st. All presentations are different, and all are free and open to the public.

The Roslyn Library is temporarily located at 109 South First Street in Roslyn. The library is open five days a week, from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday through Thursday, and from 1:00 to 5:00 pm on Sunday. For more information, call (509) 649-3420 or visit the library online at www.roslynlibrary.org. 

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