Teens and pre-teens, join us for May’s teen program: laser tag in the park! Meet Margaret at the library at 1:30 on Saturday, May 11, to go to the park across the street. Program ends at 3:00.

Light snacks will be provided. For ages 11-18. No need to sign up. Free to attend!

Questions? Call Margaret at the Atwater Library during the week: 320-974-3363; or at the Litchfield Library on Saturday: 320-693-2483.

The Litchfield Library Foundation is holding a contest for kids in grades 5-12 to design a new bookmark for the library! Entry forms are available at the library and at the Litchfield middle and high schools. The 1st place design will be used for the bookmark handed out by the library unit in this year’s Watercade parade and at the library after the parade. The top 3 designs will get a cash prize. All submitted designs will be displayed at the library. Kids, show us your best library, reading, or book-themed design!

Drop your new or gently used shoes off at the Litchfield Library for the Litchfield Rotary shoe drive, now until June 29th. The donation bin is in the copy room.

Have questions about gardening? Need some expert advice? Drop in between 10:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Friday, May 17 to ask a master gardener! Someone from McLeod and Meeker Master Gardeners will be in the meeting room, available to answer your questions. No registration required, and it’s free!

Local author Krystle Greene will be holding an event in the Litchfield Library meeting room on Thursday, May 9th, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. She will be talking about and reading from her children’s book Affirmations from A to Z. She will also have fun activities for kids, and she’ll sign her books. No need to sign up – drop in!

by Beth Cronk, Meeker County Librarian

It is with sadness that I write this column, my final one in the soon-to-cease Independent Review. I have been a columnist for the newspaper since I became the Litchfield Library’s head librarian thirteen years ago, taking over from previous head librarian Jeanette Stottrup. I can’t lie: it has been a bit like a constant homework assignment, with an essay to write every other week. But it has also been a wonderful opportunity for me and for the library.

The newspaper has allowed me to reach the people who then showed up to restart our wonderful Friends of the Litchfield Library group. It has given me the opportunity to tell the general public about new books, and I have enjoyed it immensely when people would come in and say to me, “I read your article; can I get that book you talked about?”  The column has been a way to share all types of library news, whether about programs, new technology, updated policies, or any other developments.

I know people have read my column through the years, because I have heard from them about the things they learned from it. People have also come into the library talking about the columns written by the Litchfield children’s librarian, who has taken turns with me to write the weekly article: Jan Pease, Rachelle Golde, and now Rachel Clark, during the years I have worked at the library. From what I can find in the library records, it appears that there has been a Litchfield Library column in the Independent Review since the 1980s.

One of the lasting joys for me personally is that having a regular column in the local newspaper allowed me to become a part of history. Newspapers become part of the historical record. At the library, we have microfilm of the Litchfield Independent back to the 1800s, and I help people view those reels regularly. People most often look for family history, but they also seek out community history. Newspapers help us find details about the past, gathered at the time things happened, rather than based on someone’s memory later.

The mother of a close friend of mine wrote a column for her Wisconsin hometown paper for many years. After her mom died last year, my friend went to the microfilm collection at her hometown library and found her mom’s writings. Her mother was part of the archives of her local history, and her children still have access to the things she wrote.

I don’t know how Litchfield or Hutchinson happenings will be recorded and archived going forward, or how people will find a central, reliable source of information on current local events, other than the radio station. This is an issue in so many communities these days as newspapers are shut down. No one is archiving social media or the ever-changing websites run by multiple organizations. We will all need to be mindful of finding the facts of local news instead of just believing the rumors that inevitably spread in any community.

According to the Associated Press in late 2023, the United States has lost one-third of its newspapers and two-thirds of its newspaper journalists since 2005. Most of these were weekly publications in areas with few or no other sources for news, with rural and impoverished areas affected the most. Studies have shown that the absence of a reliable local news source increases political polarization and misinformation, and that a void in news coverage allows more political corruption, which can result when there are no journalists covering local government. This concern is bigger than just Litchfield and Hutchinson, and it’s not the fault of our local newspapers. It’s a troubling trend for our entire country.

I would like to thank the staff of the Independent Review and the Leader for their many years of excellent work. Editor Brent Schacherer produced newspapers of outstanding quality, and I’m grateful for the years of service he gave the community. I wish him and his staff well as they transition to life after the end of these newspapers.

To find out what’s happening at the library going forward, visit our website at www.litchfield.lib.mn.us. We update it often, and we have started creating a monthly events calendar that’s posted on the “Library Calendar” tab of that site. You can pick up a paper version of the calendar at the front desk. The library also has a Facebook page, an Instagram account, and a TikTok account; just make sure you’re looking at the Litchfield Library in Minnesota, since there are Litchfields all over the country that have libraries!

And, of course, you can always stop in and take a look at all of the new books, DVDs, and CDs at the library, as well as the flyers about upcoming library events. There is a community bulletin board in the copy room where anyone can post a flyer, so that’s another source of printed information about events happening in the community.

It has been my privilege to speak to you through this column for so many years. Thank you for reading!

On Tuesday, April 30, MNLINK will change. You will still be able to request items from libraries across the state, but regular users will notice that the website is different. That’s because MNLINK is moving to a new software platform.

While it will look a bit different, under the hood the service is still the same. You’ll continue to use your library barcode and PIN to log in and make requests. However, please be aware that any requests made prior to the transition won’t appear on the new system when you log in. Rest assured that library staff will be working behind the scenes to fulfill those requests.

In preparation for the move, your MNLINK requests are temporarily limited to 10 items per card beginning March 25. Renewals to out of system items are also suspended at this time.  As with any software change, it’s likely there will be a few bumps in the road.  We’re doing all we can to help the process go smoothly, and appreciate your patience.

If you haven’t discovered MNLINK yet, this is a great time to start. All you need is your library card and PIN to access a wide array of collections beyond your local library.

This year’s Adult Winter Reading Program is done. 121 people participated at the Litchfield Library this year! So much reading happened this winter. 🙂

A prize drawing was done from the reading logs that were completed with 6 books read and reviewed. Congratulations to Tiffany S., Irene S., and Kevin N. for having their names drawn! Thank you to the Friends of the Litchfield Public Library for sponsoring the gift certificates to Jomas Hill Vineyard, Papa’s Sweet Tooth, and Natural Food Co-op.

If you didn’t get a book bag when you signed up for the reading program, let library staff know if you still want one; a few more became available later.