NetLibrary Access

Did you know that as a cardholder at the Fort Plain Free Library, you are able to download digital versions of popular bestsellers, book club favorites, and books by award-winning authors free of charge? Over 1,200 titles are available with an additional 30 added each month. Books may be downloaded to your home computer and to many portable listening devices including portable music players, portable media centers, pocket PC's, and some select smart phone devices. Books you choose are circulated for three weeks and are guaranteed to be available whenever requested.

The download service is available 24/7 from the NetLibrary web site that provides access to the downloadable audio book collection that the library has purchased and made available to patrons. First time users must create an account following the directions at http://netlibrary.sals.edu/. After creating an account, users will be able to log in directly to the audio book website without going through a verification process.

Further information on this opportunity or tips for getting started will be provided in person at the library or by calling the library at (518) 993-4646.

Yer Old Sod!

An Irish Country Courtship (Patrick Taylor), Death of a Gentle Lady (M.C. Beaton)…I spent most of February reading myself through Ireland. Just when I thought I was ready to revisit Jan Karon's Mitford, North Carolina, where did she take her readers but to Ireland via In the Company of Others? Aside from catching a glimpse of people of another time and place or catching up with already familiar characters in their time and place, there is often another gift to be found when reading fiction. I came away with several thoughts beyond the storylines of these excellent books. It's nice to read about people who are satisfied with what they do and care about the people in their charge. They are sturdy, unpretentious, and dependable. They and their likes are the foundation of a community. Moreover, they slow things down for us and, by example, teach us to appreciate the people we know and the beauty of the world around us.

While on the topic of the Irish and upcoming St. Patrick's Day, The Little Book of Irish Family Cooking by Ruth Isabel Ross offers up two interesting recipes, Apple Amber and Bread and Butter Pudding. Check the book out of the library and try one of these recipes for the upcoming holiday. Irish Crochet Techniques and Projects is available on interlibrary loan for those who are a little experienced in crochet. You may want to Google "Mountmellick," Irish Whitework, embroidery as well.

A friend sent me her favorite St. Patrick's Day recipe for Corned Beef Casserole.
Take ten ounces of medium wide egg noodles, par cook, drain, and place in large bowl.
To this, add one twelve ounce can of corned beef, shredded, eight ounces of sharp, diced cheddar cheese, one can of cream of chicken soup, and one cup of milk.
Pour into a greased 2 ½ quart casserole and top with ¾ cup buttered breadcrumbs.
Bake at 350 degrees for forty-five minutes.
Serves six. Very good!

On Tuesday evening, March 15^th, beginning at 6:00pm, Sherri Byrne will present a program dealing with natural fragrances in the home. She will offer recipes for furniture polish, rug deodorizer, bath salts, dusting powder, and potpourri. Materials are provided by the library, but enrollment is limited to fifteen, so please register at the library prior to the program to make certain there is a spot for you.

For further information on programs or publications, please call the library at (518) 993-4646.

The Old Erie Canal in Fort Plain

A Power Point presentation featuring images of the Erie Canal in the mid to late 1800's

The Big Chill

I recently read that the Miriam Webster dictionary company word for the year 2010 was austerity. It brings to mind the native Mohawks for whom the word austerity was a fact of life in February of a bad year. When the Palatine Germans arrived, bringing with them their own lifestyle, pre-planning for the austerity of late winter was slightly more attainable. The harsh existence of ages passed was accepted as day to day life. Yet each culture still found the time and the means to express the beauty of the world around them. With the Palatines in mind, the Fort Plain Free Library will present a program on pierced paper Valentines on Wednesday, February 9^th, beginning at 6:00 pm with local artist and instructor Joanne Resch. Participants will create a project reminiscent of German Fraktur work. The program is free and open to the public but seating is limited.
An upcoming program tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, March 15, beginning at 6:00 with Sherri Byrne will focus on herbal fragrances. More details will follow next month. Art and herbs, two ingredients of life, expressed and utilized by every culture that has come into this valley. Through our libraries, we can learn about their continuing influences on our everyday life.
If Cornell Cooperative Extension had been around two centuries ago, it probably would have offered a program called Save Energy, Save Your Energy. Today it's called Save Energy, Save Dollars and on Thursday, February 10^th, from 1:00 – 2:30, Craig Clark of Cornell Cooperative Extension will offer local residents practical advice on how to lower their utility bills through no-cost/low-cost means.
Those of you who haven't been chilled enough by the weather might enjoy reading At the Mercy of the Mountains: True Stories of Survival and Tragedy in New York's Adirondacks by Peter Bronski. As for myself, I'm taking an armchair flight to the warmer climate of Ballybucklebo, County Down, Northern Ireland via An Irish Country Courtship, the fifth book in the Irish Country series by Patrick Taylor.
For further information on any of these programs or publications, please call the library at (518) 993-4646.
Submitted by Sally Taylor, member of the Board of Trustees

Tidbits & Tidings--January, 2011

I thought that this month's topic had found me when I was gifted with a sixty year old magazine. I was going to begin with the subject of January, named for Janus who in Roman mythology was the god of portals, of beginnings and endings, and how this May, 1948 publication seemed to be serving that very function. I was going to expound upon what I learned regarding our society at that time via the articles, photos, and advertisements; what anyone could learn about us by simply reading a publication of a certain time. I spent two evenings immersed in the 184 page issue, half-expecting to wake up like Christopher Reeves in Somewhere in Time. Alas, it will have to wait because….
    This morning I read about a new project called culturomics. Harvard linguists and Google engineers have teamed up to build a database of more than 500 billion words gleaned from five million books published over the last four centuries. It's touted as a new and powerful tool to study cultural change; a beginning that I'm sure will expand to include other facets of our cultural DNA. In the meantime, it's www.culturomics.org, and we would appreciate your comments on this new site.
While looking through the local history section at the library, I found a new title, An Historic Resource Survey, Village of Fort Plain funded by a Preserve New York Grant awarded to the village of Fort Plain by the Preservation League of New York State and the New York State Council on the Arts. As stated in the introduction, this survey assesses the village's "historic resources in a consistent fashion and determines what steps might be taken to further their enhancement and preservation." All properties fifty years old or older are included in the assessment. Included are a description of existing conditions, an historical and architectural overview, a description of historic building styles, photographs of all properties older than 50 years, potential National Register eligibility for these properties, as well as conclusions and recommendations in regard to future planning and development of the area. Full of all kinds of intriguing facts, maps, and photographs, the Historic Resource Survey is available for your perusal and enjoyment during the long winter months ahead.
Looking back over 2010, our craft workshops ranged from redwork embroidery to beaded ornaments and boasted enthusiastic audiences. Looking ahead, potpourri, pin-broidery, pierced paper (typical of early German valentines), and the yo-yo quilt motif are some of the programs in the works for 2011. Meanwhile, in shelf space or cyberspace, the prose and poetry, rhyme and rhetoric contained within the Fort Plain Free Library silently awaits another New Year and the sound of patrons seeking the finest works humankind has to offer.

Time Traveler

Imagine what our ancestors might have thought if someone told them that all they had to do to get to California was get in a huge aluminum cylinder with fixed wings and strap themselves in. No wagon train, no endless weeks on the trail, no horses or oxen…just noise and an invisible power propelling them down a cement runway until the earth seems to fall away and they are rising higher and higher…they level off and the plane seems to stop! I don't have to imagine this scenario. It's how I feel every time I have to fly. But we do what we have to do, in order to do what we need or want to do, in the time we have to do it in.
Now, returning to my home place and a lifestyle that straddles past and future, projects planned and books piled, I am ready to face winter. I would recommend a newer novel, New York, by Edward Rutherfurd and Fall of Giants by Ken Follett, and, though I haven't read it yet, The Autobiography of Mark Twain, edited by a team led by Harriet Elinor Smith. How fitting that this author with his extensive imagination would pen his autobiography with instructions that it wasn't to be published until a hundred years after his death. The first of three volumes is 700 pages and covers the years 1870 – 1906. What an end to our celebration of Mark Twain's visit to Fort Plain. Well, almost end….
On Wednesday, December 8^th at 2:20 and again on Tuesday the 21^st at 6:00, the Fort Plain Free Library will host a Gilded Gimcrack workshop. Each participant will create a beaded ornament cover reminiscent of The Gilded Age, a phrase coined by Mark Twain to describe a time and way of life. This program is free and open to the public. Each class is limited to ten participants so those who would like to be guaranteed a place may want to pre-register at the library. A refreshment featuring Mark Twain's favorite dessert will be served.
There are new offerings almost daily in the book sale as well as some remaining needlework books. In a tight economy, a gently used book would make a great Christmas gift as well as some handmade gift or baked offering. The library's collection will give you thousands of ideas.
For further information on any of these programs or publications, please call the library at (518) 993-4646.

The Side Show

Hopefully, October will end drier than it began for all the Halloween trick-or-treaters. Nothing like a crisp, quiet, and dark evening to bring out the imagination! The bakers out there might want to peruse the recipe for Party Monsters on page 28 of the October/November issue of Taste of Home. These hilarious treats are from What's New Cupcake? by Alan Richardson and Karen Tack. For those who are into needlework, this month's American Spirit magazine has an article on a graveyard quilt. The library book sale has been given dozens of embroidery and craft magazines. It's time to plan some winter projects as well as to stock up on reading material for those cold days ahead.
The Glass Castle, a superbly written work by Jeannette Walls, provided a thought-provoking evening for the recent book discussion. I believe that we are all a memoir in the making to our family and friends and even unto ourselves; that we should allow this thought to gently guide us through our days. Most of the people I know have more purposeful lives than some of the "celebrities" that make the news.
I read that it is the fifty-fifth anniversary of the green bean casserole. This is also the fiftieth anniversary of the Thanksgiving that my mother (who was normally a wonderful cook) decided to experiment with the stuffing by adding a generous amount of garlic. The aroma and taste permeated the bird to its wingtips and leached into the gravy. The sides circulated the table and filled plates and stomachs. I decided it's time to add something new to our family's Thanksgiving this year. I perused the library shelves and found Sides by Melicia Phillips with offerings such as Glazed Onions (page 80) and Broiled Stuffed Mushroom Caps with Parmesan (page 96). While these two side-dish offerings sound good, I know that there are hundreds of other ones of the shelves and dozens of time-tested sides to be found in our library patrons' kitchens. To this end, we invite area cooks to bring in recipes for their new or old favorite side-dishes to share with others. Toward Thanksgiving, we will draw a recipe at random from the entries and present that person with a gift certificate from the Plain Food Coop. Please make sure your name and phone number is on the recipe.
On Sunday afternoon, October 17^th, the library will host a book discussion on The Complete Stories of Dorothy Parker from 2:00 – 4:00 pm. Barbara Ungar will facilitate this discussion. Copies of the book are available for loan through the library; the title may also be acquired as a book on CD by placing a request either on line or at the library. In addition, a Flower Fairy Wreath workshop will be held on Tuesday evening, October 19^th, from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. Supplies for this free program are furnished by the library, but seating is limited.
For further information on any of these programs or publications, please call the library at (518) 993-4646.