Did you accidentally bring home a green or blue light-up laser tag bracelet after Saturday’s teen laser tag event at Prairie Park? They need to be returned to the kit the library borrowed from Prairielands Library Exchange. Please drop it off at the Litchfield Library this week if possible.

Writers and aspiring writers, join us for a series of creative writing events at the Litchfield and Dassel libraries! In November and December, The Loft Literary Center will hold three seminars at the Litchfield Library for adults and one at the Dassel Library for children. Registration is required for the children’s program Make a Picture Book, but no sign-up is needed for the adult sessions. All are free to attend, with funding from Minnesota’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

Workshop details:

The ABCs of Children’s Books. Thursday, November 12, 5-6:30 p.m. Litchfield Library meeting room. For adults & older teens. No registration needed. Learn the basic formats of children’s books and how children’s books get made, from ABC books to teen fiction.

Make a Picture Book. Saturday, November 14, 10-11:30 a.m. Dassel Library, held in the city hall meeting room behind the library. For ages 6-12. Registration required: call the Dassel Library at 320-275-3756 or stop at the Dassel Library to sign up.  Children will read picture books and discuss how the authors created the characters and plot. Then they’ll write and illustrate their own picture books to take home. Children younger than 8 must have an adult or teen caregiver with them to assist.

Beginner’s Guide to Starting Your Novel. Monday, November 23, 5-6:30 p.m. Litchfield Library, held in the meeting room. For adults and older teens. No registration needed. Bring a notebook and pen for a writing exercise. Learn how to use essential craft elements such as character, setting, plot, and structure to discover your story, establish a starting point, and get the right words on the page.

Narrative Healing. Monday, December 14, 5-6:30 p.m. Litchfield Library, held in the meeting room. For adults and older teens. No registration needed. This workshop is an opportunity to explore writing as a healing art. The instructor will teach about writing for healing, remembering, and connecting.

Libby, our e-book service, is now requiring users to enter a PIN. This will be required for signing into Libby, and you will occasionally be prompted to verify your account. It is the same PIN you use for Pioneerland’s online catalog.

If you’re a Libby user but don’t sign into your library card account on the Pioneerland catalog, library staff will be happy to help you set one up.

Take a look at how the September project turned out for the Adult Arts & Crafts participants!

Knitters of all ages are welcome to bring their work in progress to Knitting Club on the 3rd Thursday of the month, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Crocheters welcome, too!

Enjoy social time with other fiber artists. Need advice? Kristin is a state fair blue ribbon knitter and can share her knowledge.

Dates:
September 17
October 15
November 19
December 17

Litchfield Library will offer two informal Homeschool Gathering programs this fall: Wednesdays, September 16 and November 18, 1-3 p.m. These will be casual opportunities for families to meet each other and for the kids to do fun activity stations. No formal instruction will be offered.

Free! No need to sign up. Open to families with homeschool students of any age.

September’s program will be held on the lawn next to the library.

Library Column for September 10, 2026

By Jennifer Barnes, Litchfield Children’ s Librarian

In the blink of an eye, or so it seems, summer ended and the calendar flipped to September, and our fall programming schedule has begun. I feel a sense of relief that we have successfully wrapped up our annual Summer Reading Program. From donated prizes to cooperative programming that took us beyond the library walls, the community has been so supportive, and that support contributed a great deal to the success of this year’s program.

We would like to extend our thanks to local businesses and organizations who donated tour 2026 Summer Reading Program: Plant a Seed, Read:

Arby’s-Hutchinson

Jimmy’s Pizza- Litchfield

Taco John’s-Litchfield

Stockmen’s Nursery

Rise + Roam

Ramsey Printing

Dairy Queen-Litchfield

Subway

McDonald’s

Fantastic Sams

Kwik Trip

Pizza Hut-Litchfield

Startled Fruit Design

Simply Good Coffee

Litchfield Area Community Foundation

We had 345 youth sign up this year, and of those 58 were tweens and teens aged 11-18. Loads of reading logs were turned in throughout the summer, so much so that we had to go shopping to refill our prize stash at least three times.

This summer the library provided 47 youth programs, with an approximately 1600 people attending these events. A sample of activities we did this summer include making teacup fairy gardens, turmeric sun painting for teens, painting and art classes, and the MN Science Museum. And who can forget the Raptor Center? The library also sent home approximately 253 take-n-make crafts for kids and teens.

This year the library tried several new things. We took programming offsite. This included a monthly bilingual storytime at Memorial Park, an event at Jimmy’s Pizza, storytime at the Community Market, and a storytime and craft at Rise + Roam. We wrapped up August with a storytime at the Wreede Good Apple Orchard and a Venus flytrap escape room for teens.

We had numerous community organizations as special guests for our Friday morning storytimes: our local Farm Bureau, a representative from the local branch of Pheasants Forever, the Watercade Royalty, the Meeker County Dairy Princesses, a local USDA conservationist, and a state park naturalist.

In addition to all of this, we had wonderful online participation as followers tried to guess where in town the Good Egg had been each week. Thank you to all of the businesses and organizations who graciously assisted me as I photographed the Good Egg all around town. Meanwhile, the Bad Seed hid all around the library, and countless children spent time finding this mischievous mascot. As promised, one lucky child won the Bad Seed stuffie. We drew a name from all of the reading logs that were turned in.

It truly is a community coming together that made our 2026 Summer Reading Program such an enormous success. We cannot express our gratitude enough. Thank you again to the businesses and community organizations who donated. Whether it be tangible items or time, your support has not gone unnoticed. Thank you also to the patrons who showed up. Parents, grandparents, teens, childcare centers, and all of the kids who are excited to come to the library-you make us smile. You are the reason we work hard each day. You are the reason the library is a community hub. Thank you.