Hamann Memorial Library

09/05/2026

Saturday Spotlight
September ~ Post 1
Last week my husband and I along with his middle sister and her husband traveled to North Dakota to visit the North Dakota Badlands and a few other sights. One of those sights was the newly opened Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library that was just unveiled on the Fourth of July.
I am not going to lie it was overwhelming. There is no way you could visit everything in one afternoon. We did not give it nearly enough scheduled time. I usually write my non-fiction on the last week of the month but since this just happened I am writing it this week. Unfortunately, the Hamann Memorial Library does not have any books on Theodore Roosevelt. With that being said I am going to our trusty Juvenile Non-fiction books and borrowing from them. “The Encyclopedia of the Presidents and Their Times” by David Rubel has 9 pages dedicated to President Theodore Roosevelt. It is well worth the 30 minutes spent reading about our 26th President.
Come on down the Hamann Memorial Library and check this book out or any book of your choice
Written by Darla Baird

08/29/2026

Saturday Spotlight
August ~ Post 5
Usually on the last Saturday of the month I try to write on a non-fiction book. However, when it is a five Saturday month I make it a juvenile non-fiction. Last night high school football started for many of the schools here in Iowa. Today, my husband and I will be traveling to Seward, Nebraska to Concordia University to watch the Concordia Bulldogs host the Waldorf Warriors. Our daughter’s youngest two girls attend Concordia. Leah, the older of the two is a Bulldog cheerleader and Lana, the youngest is a competitive dancer for the Bulldogs.
With that being said, the book I am spotlighting is simply called “Football” by Ray McClellan. I have been watching football since 1972 when the Miami Dolphins went undefeated 17-0 to win the Super Bowl. I never have been a Dolphins fan but I have always loved football. I cheered for football starting in high school and ending my senior year of college. This book can be read in 10 minutes or less and if you miss something you can read it again. Even the most challenged football fan may be able to pick up something new.
Come on down to the Hamann Memorial Library and check out this “Football” book and stay in tune to the how and why of this great fall sport of football.
Written by Darla Baird

08/22/2026

Saturday Spotlight
August ~ Post 4
When I chose “An Unlikely Blessing” by Judy Baer for our action aisle display at the Hamann Memorial Library I had no idea if I was going to like this author. Oh boy! When I read a book I want you to know I read it from cover to cover. On the copyright page it says,…published in the year 2011 by arrangement with Guideposts. Boy howdy, did that make me excited!
When I was a kid I could not wait to go to my Gramma’s house to look at her Guideposts and her Hi-Light magazines. I knew right away I would love this book and I was not wrong!
Alex Armstrong, notice the alliteration, has answered the call to pastor a two-point parish. To me and probably a lot of the readers do not find this odd. A lot of small town pastors have more than one parish. As you know many have three and even four. Anyway, Alex and his nephew Jared made a cross state journey from Minnesota to North Dakota to come to Grassy Valley to be the pastor of two congregations.
Come on down to the Hamann Memorial library and check out “An Unlikely Blessing” to see what this blessing may be or pick out a book of your choice.
Written by Darla Baird

08/15/2026

Saturday Spotlight
August ~ Post 3
This week I am spotlighting a mystery. I would like to say this is what I would call a cozy mystery. It is one that reminds me of a “Murder She Wrote Episode”. Another thing I like about this series is the things that Koko and Yum Yum, Jim Quilleran’s two Siamese cats, come up with. Besides being a cozy mystery it is also very humorous. My type of book, one more thing, y’all know I love alliteration. Thelma Thackeray is an actress who has lived decades in Hollywood and has decided to return to Pickax to retire.
Come on down to the Hamann Memorial Library and check out this book so you can read Lilian Jackson Braun’s, “The Cat Who Brought Down the House” to see what the mystery is in Pickax.
Written by Darla Baird

08/08/2026

Saturday Spotlight
August ~ Post 2
This week I am spotlighting our featured author. Drum roll please…. Janet Evanovich. Janet began her career writing short contemporary romance novels under the pen name, Steffie Hall. She gained her fame through romance, humor, adventure and mystery writing a series featuring Stephanie Plum.
There are several books by Evanovich on the Hamann Memorial Library’s shelves. Come on down to the library and check out the plethora of choices.
Written by Darla Baird

08/01/2026

Saturday Spotlight
August ~ Post 1
This week I am spotlighting part of a western trio. “The Teton Bunch” by Les Savage Jr. is the third story of this western trio. Unfortunately, the love of money does seem to be the root of all evil.
In this short story there are a couple of bags of double eagle dollars that have been missing for years. It happens that a few of them start to make an appearance when Gordie Hammer comes back from being away.
A few comments I have about this story is I don’t like when bad things happen to animals. I can’t even watch those animal commercials where people neglect their pets. Don’t have an animal if you can’t take care of it! Another thing, stay away from the Old Faithful geysers! It is not a hot tub! It’s a bit hotter than a hot tub. Can’t you see the steam?
Come on down to the Hamann Memorial Library and check “The Teton Bunch” out and see whom if anyone has the bags of double eagle coins.
Written by Darla Baird

07/28/2026

What an awesome day for our Summer Reading Program ~ special thanks to the Woodbury County Sheriff's Deputy Zane Chwirka ~ he spent the morning informing us all about the equipment & experience of our Law Enforcement friends ~ Thanks for a great year!

07/26/2026

07/25/2026

Due to the extreme heat & concerns for safety we have decided to cancel our Bike Rodeo ~ Instead Deputy Zane will still be joining us & we are going to focus on fun ~ Games ~ Crafts ~ door prizes & all in Air Conditioning

07/25/2026

Saturday Spotlight
July ~ Post 4
This week I feel like old times at the Hamann Memorial Library. We received five new books to our library by way of Library Talk and patron donations. I absolutely love this program. What is one library’s discards are another library’s new to their shelves books. We received two large print, one larger print, and one two regular print. Let me start with the regular print. Both are copyright 2025. The first is “With a Vengeance” by Riley Sager and the second is “The King’s Ransom” by Janet Evanovich. Next, the larger print is by Susan Wiggs titled “Between You and Me”. The copyright date is 2018 on this particular book.
Finally, our two large print novels are copyrighted in 2020 and 2021. So as you can see all five of these novels would be considered contemporary. “There is a Season” is a Civil War novel written by Andrea Boeshaar and is a Christian fiction. The other novel is by Jodi Picoult titled “The Book of Two Ways” and is considered a realistic fiction.
Come on down to the Hamann Memorial Library and check one of these books out.
Written by Darla Baird