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Spring is almost here, and at Shreve Memorial Library, we are helping you prepare for warmer temperature by learning new things. Now is the time to plant a garden, create a spring wreath to adorn your home, and explore a new hobby. At the library, you can do it all with great programs and digital resources.

On Monday, March 22, Shreve Memorial Library and Green Thumb at Your Service invite you to take part in the backyard gardening hobby that is growing in popularity. Experience the joy of harvesting power crops of healthy, delicious, sweet, crunchy vegetables in a virtual Power Vegetable Gardening program starting at 6:00 p.m. via Zoom. You will learn basic techniques of vegetable gardening including site selection, fertilization, watering, pest control and harvesting. The program is perfect for new and experienced gardeners. Sign up at https://bit.ly/SMLGardens.

For those of us without a green thumb (myself included), find a new craft to usher in springtime. The staff at Shreve Memorial Library have created some amazing DIY tutorials available on the library’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. You can learn to make everything from mod podge coasters and spring floral arrangements to memory jars made with old mason jars and flowers made from ribbon. You can even learn to paint your very own tulip-filled masterpiece with SML Art Club at home. These crafts are easy to do and many times feature materials you already have lying around the house. The best part is that since these tutorials are available online, you can view and complete your craft at your convenience. 

In addition to our original DIY video tutorials, your Shreve Memorial Library card also gives you access to amazing digital resources such as CreativeBug and LinkedIn Learning. CreativeBug is your go to place for all of your hobby interests and arts and crafts needs. CreativeBug features more than 1,000 award-winning art and craft video classes taught by recognized design experts. You can learn to sew, quilt, create paper crafts, knit, crochet, and make jewelry. For those looking to hone more technical skills, then LinkedIn Learning is for you. Formerly Lynda.com, LinkedIn Learning offers video courses in a variety of topics including software, technology, art, communication, graphic design, music and more. Both CreativeBug and LinkedIn Learning are available for free on the Shreve Memorial Library website. All you need is your library card to check it out.

No matter what hobby you decide to explore this spring, Shreve Memorial Library has the resources available to help you dream, discover, do. I think I will get started on my next project now, if only I could decide which one to start first.

What’s New at the Library

If I Disappear by Eliza Jane Brazier (fiction)

When her favorite true crime podcast host goes missing, an adrift young woman sets out to investigate and plunges headfirst into the wild backcountry of Northern California and her own dangerous obsession. Sera loves true crime podcasts. They give her a sense of control in a world where women just like her disappear daily. She’s sure they are preparing her for something. So when Rachel, her favorite podcast host, goes missing, Sera knows it’s time to act. Rachel has always taught her to trust her instincts. Sera follows the clues hidden in the episodes to an isolated ranch outside Rachel’s small hometown to begin her search. She’s convinced her investigation will make Rachel so proud. But the more Sera digs into this unfamiliar world, the more off things start to feel. Because Rachel is not the first woman to vanish from the ranch, and she won’t be the last…

Cathedral by Ben Hopkins (fiction)

A thoroughly immersive read and a remarkable feat of imagination, Cathedral tells a sweeping story about obsession, mysticism, art, and earthly desire in gripping prose. It deftly combines historical fiction and a tale of adventure and intrigue. At the center of this story is the Cathedral. Its design and construction in the 13th and 14th centuries in the Rhineland town of Hagenburg unites a vast array of unforgettable characters whose fortunes are inseparable from the shifting political factions and economic interests vying for supremacy. From the bishop to his treasure to local merchants and lowly stonecutters, everyone, even the town’s Jewish denizens, is implicated and affected by the slow rise of Hagenburg’s Cathedral, which in no way enforces morality or charity. Around this narrative center, Ben Hopkins has constructed his own monumental edifice, a novel that is rich with the vicissitudes of mercantilism, politics, religion, and human enterprise. Fans of Umberto Eco, Hilary Mantel, and Ken Follett will delight at the atmosphere, the beautiful prose, and the vivid characters of Ben Hopkin’s Cathedral.

Walk in My Combat Boots: True Stories From America’s Bravest Warriors by James Patterson (nonfiction)

Walk in My Combat Boots is a powerful collection crafted from hundreds of original interviews by James Patterson, the world’s #1 bestselling writer, and First Sergeant US Army (Ret.) Matt Eversmann, part of the Ranger unit portrayed in the movie Black Hawk Down. These are the brutally honest stories usually only shared amongst comrades in arms. Here, in the voices of the men and women who’ve fought overseas from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan, is a rare eye-opening look into what wearing the uniform, fighting combat, losing friends and coming home is really like. Readers who next thank a military member for their service will finally have a true understanding of what that thanks is for. 

Samantha Bonnette is Marketing & Development Manager at Shreve Memorial Library.

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