Banned Book Week

Next week (September 30-October 6) is Banned Books Week, and this year's theme is Thirty Years of Liberating Literature.  Brutus has been looking over the display in Owosso and trying to decide which book to read.  None of them are about dogs so he may have to expand his choices a little.   So far The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn appeals to him the most.  He has overheard several staff members talking about fall vacation trips, and if he can sneak into one of their cars, he can read while traveling.  Since he has been working hard all summer, he has been whining about a little change of scenery.

Brutus Researches His Family Tree

Brutus has been busy working on his family tree.  He has been sniffing out his ancestors and finding their obituaries.  The  library's obituary index to the Argus Press has been very helpful.  He was surprised to learn that almost 105,000 names were listed.  Soon he will looking at the library's genealogical databases--Ancestry, HeritageQuest, and CLIO.  He's sure that there is a lot more information to be found if he just follows his nose.

Brutus and the Summer Reading Program

Brutus has been enjoying this summer's adult summer reading program.  He has been working hard to complete his bingo sheet for a prize.  He is having a hard time finding a book for the Michigan history category about dogs though.  He wishes to remind all his friends that the program continues through July 28th so there is still plenty of time to finish a bingo sheet!  This has also been a perfect summer for reading--it's too hot to do anything else.  Just ask the staff to stamp the appropriate square after completing a task.  (And Brutus thinks that his paw print makes a better stamp than the library logo which has been used).

Brutus Enters the Photography Contest

Brutus is all set to enter the library's photography contest, as soon as he can find a subject for his picture.  Since the pictures must be taken at night or in low light to fit this summer's theme--Reading by the Northern Lights--he is carrying his trusty flashlight as well as a camera.  Brutus isn't eligible for one of the prizes which will be gift cards from Wal-Mart, but he can't wait to see the pictures submitted.   The deadline for submissions is Saturday, July 28th with voting by the public for a winner the following week.

Brutus Meets Jackie, Gary & Cooper

Brutus is enjoying Jackie & Gary's music this afternoon.  He is also planning on attending this evening's program at 7 p.m. as several staff members say that they remember the New Christie Minstrels.  He also met Cooper, their dog (who is in the background).  They had a good time getting acquainted, and Brutus hopes to visit with Cooper again tonight as well as you.  (By the way, Brutus behaved himself this morning and did not chase the magician's rabbit).

Summer Programs

Brutus is excited about Tuesday, June 26th.  He is going to be busy all day at library programs.  Bill the Baffling Magician will be at the library at 11 a.m.  Brutus wondered if he will be allowed to chase Gus the Rabbit; but he has been told that if he does that, Bill might make make him disappear.  If he disappears will he still be able to enjoy the two musical programs later in the day?

Jackie and Gary will be performing at 2:30 p.m. for the kids and at 7 p.m. for the entire family.  Jackie used to sing for the New Christie Minstrels and Gary is a retired music teacher.  They do a fun program with lots of action for the children; Brutus hopes to join in and meet their dog Cooper who will also be attending.  The evening program will feature classical and original folk music.  Cooper will also be at that show so Brutus is hoping for more time to visit with his new friend.  Also, are dogs allowed to join in a song-along?

Brutus Salutes Our Veterans

Brutus is preparing to salute our veterans, especially those who fought in World War II, next week (May 17th at 6:30 p.m. in Owosso).  He is anxious to hear Larry Martin's presentation in the veteran's own words.  He has also been doing some reading about Pearl Harbor and D-Day.  He heard that there will be a nurse here talking about her experiences, too. 

He has lots of questions about the role of dogs in the war, and Margaret showed him a website about the Marine Corps dogs; he was surprised (and sad) to learn that some of his cousins were killed in battle.

For more information on Martin's program, visit his website, http://www.lmww2.com/ 

Also, staff  have informed Brutus that there were only 48 stars in the U.S. flag during the war.  He's never seen a flag without 50 stars.  If anyone has a small 48 star flag, he'd love to have you bring it so that he could have his picture taken with it!

Michigan Notable Author Visit

Brutus has expanded his reading tastes beyond books with dogs as a main character (although those are still his favorites, and he won't yet read about cats).  Michigan Notable Author Scott Sparling will be coming to Owosso on Monday, April 30th, and Brutus can't wait to meet him at 7 p.m.  He enjoyed his novel, Wire to Wire, and is thinking that it might be fun to hop a train.  Staff have warned him that it is dangerous, but he's not listening very well; hopefully hearing some of Sparling's experiences will convince him to stay in the library.  (Sparling was once kicked off a freight train in Owosso, and he has promised to tell more about that night during his presentation).  The book also mentions both Owosso and Durand briefly, which Brutus found to be very interesting.  Brutus hopes that many of you will join him in greeting this award-winning author!  This is always a great program!

Brutus Enjoys National Library Week

Brutus has been enjoying National Library Week.  He and his friends have been trying to answer the trivia questions being posted on Facebook, but they aren't fast enough to beat all the great trivia experts who use the library.  Brutus claims that it is the typing which slows him down, but he's yet to even come up with a correct answer!  Watch for more questions today through Saturday.  The first person to correctly answer via Facebook wins a coupon for two free movie rentals.  (Brutus suggests Marmaduke and Hotel for Dogs as they are a couple of his favorites).  He is also pestering for a question about dogs since (ugh) there was one about a cat!

Brutus learns about appliques

Brutus learned about appliqued quilts at tonight's program.  He was impressed with Cindy's examples of applique methods.  He had never heard of using freezer paper before!  Now he just has to learn how to thread a needle so that he can make his own quilt to bundle up in on a cold winter night.  Brutus had a pretty good night with the ladies; he even stayed out of the refreshments, and only had to be warned about the hot iron once.  Apparently being confined to his box for a few hours has taught him to obey staff commands better (but will his good behavior last?)

Brutus and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Doggone it (with apologies to Alexander and Judith Viorst) Brutus has had more than his share of problems today.  First, Margaret was busy with MeLCat requests for more than two hours and didn't have time to pay attention to him, so he decided to go outdoors and inspect the work on the library's roof.  He was caught trying to climb up the scaffolding to see the tiles (and view) on the roof.  Unfortunately, he was caught and told to stay in his box.  (Or is it fortunately that he was caught before he fell?)  However, his box is under one of the leaks so he decided to look for something to eat instead.

Brutus had heard that a registered dietitian will be speaking in Owosso at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night and he was hoping to taste test the refreshments.  He was caught (again) before he could eat very many cookies, but he wants to know if he can have some more at the program.  He was told that cookies were not considered to be healthy snacks for either people or dogs, and that there will be healthy snacks that night.  He's not quite sure how he feels about healthy snacks, as right now cookies sound much more appetizing!

Brutus is now confined to his box for the rest of his terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day.  Staff are turning a deaf ear to his whining as they are too busy with library users, computers, and tax forms to keep him out of more trouble.  At least the sun is shining and his box isn't in danger of getting wet!  If he can be good for the rest of the weekend, maybe he will be allowed out again soon.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Brutus has been wagging his tail because he is excited about meeting an author from Owosso next week.  Thomas Moorehead will be speaking about his new book at the Owosso Branch on Wednesday, February 1st at 7 p.m.  Brutus has heard the song by Gordon Lightfoot, but he wants to read this new novel, too, to learn more about the people who were on the ill-fated ship and sailing on the Great Lakes.  He plans to have a doggone good time, plus there will be refreshments (which are always appreciated by Brutus).

Brutus Learns to Download

Brutus has been busy trying to help some of the library users who received Nooks and Kindles for Christmas.  He has almost perfected the downloading of ebooks, especially since detailed instructions were added to the library's web site (http://www.sdl.lib.mi.us/) and learned that the Kindle Touch only allows downloads through a computer (not through its wireless connection).  Computer keyboards and mice are still a challenge though with paws!  His next project will be to play with the Download Station in the library for MP3 players.  He also plans on helping the librarians choose new titles for purchase and welcomes users' suggestions.  He promises to pass along titles which aren't about dogs, but doubts if he can consider books about cats; talk directly to Nancy, Anne, or Margaret for that.  He also wants to remind those who are interested in this service to call the library or stop in at your local branch to set up an account; you will need your card number (and if you come in, you can also pick up a copy of the instructions).

Kids Learn to Sew with Brutus

Last week, both branches had a sewing program for kids. In Owosso, the kids sewed felt pincushions and, in Durand, mittens. Brutus has a great time learning to sew a running stitch around his apple pincushion, but found it difficult without opposable thumbs. If you'd like to read more about this event, The Argus Press featured it in Monday's paper. Great job to all of our budding sewing enthusiasts. If you'd like to learn more about sewing, the library has lots of books full of project ideas.

Brutus shows off his pincushion

Happy sewers in Owosso

Brutus Takes a Vacation

Brutus hitchhiked his way along the Blue Ridge Parkway and back to Michigan last week. He had a wonderful trip, and is seen here planning his route. Map reading was a new skill for Brutus to learn, but he quickly learned that the squiggly lines on the very large (and hard to handle) paper showed where the roads went. He has heard people in the library talking about GPS units, but he thinks that he'll stick to the old-fashioned map for the time being.

The food on the trip was delicious. Here he is ready to steal a couple of hot dogs off the grill. Now that he knows not only how good they smell, but also that they aren't made from dogs, he'll eat as many as he can get!

More photos from his trip, see the library's Facebook page.

Brutus would like to take some more trips--possibly next summer. Be thinking now of where you'd like to take him and watch for details this spring on how to enter your pictures.

Brutus Enjoys the Great Fall Weather

Brutus escaped from the library on Monday afternoon to enjoy mid-Michigan's great fall weather. He sniffed out the bike trail along the Shiawassee River between Owosso and Corunna. These are a few of the sights he enjoyed. Lots of other dogs had been on the trail, but he didn't see any of them. He did see a few ducks in the river, but they flew away before he could really meet them.

He enjoyed himself so much that he is now pestering to be taken on a trip to see more of the beautiful fall leaves. Several staff members have been talking about trips to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Maybe if he whines enough and promises to be on his best behavior someone will take him on a trip. By the way, he wants to know what a mountain is why hasn't he ever seen one around here?

Brutus Loves to Read

Brutus just finished the newest book in the Chet & Bernie Mystery Series--The Dog Who Knew Too Much. Spencer Quinn is one of Brutus' favorite authors; no one else is able to tell a story from a dog's point of view as well.

This book finds Chet and Bernie looking for a missing boy. Devon disappeared during the night while on a hike. Bernie suspects he was bullied by the other boys; his camp counselor insists that he just wandered off; but Chet's nose can't find evidence of either scenerio. The truth ends up being much more sinister, involving meth labs and murder. Bernie is also arrested for the counselor's murder leaving his girlfriend Suzie and Chet to decipher much of the puzzle. Will they find Devon before it is too late? A tail-wagging good read in Brutus' estimation. He gives it four wags out of a possible five.

Back to School

With the kids now back in school, it is also time for Brutus to return to (obedience) school. He is excited about returning, even to the point of bringing his leash up to the desk and wagging his tail. He has also picked out some books for his class--How to Train Your Hard to Train Dog and Marley and Me (as an example of how not to train a dog).

Now that he is past the chewing stage, staff is relieved to have him interested in learning. They want to him to learn some new tricks. However, Brutus wants to take a law class and see if he can be exempted from the city leash laws.

Brutus Prepares for the Reading Party

Brutus is trying to decide which book he should report on at the September 7th reading party. The staff has been trying to encourage him to broaden his interests beyond dog stories, but there's more than 400 fiction books about dogs in the library catalog! (And he knows that dogs are smarter than cats--their superior instincts have solved many mysteries from the Hound of the Baskervilles to Rita Mae Brown's A Nose for Justice. Sneaky Pie, Koko, and Yum Yum have nothing on his favorite dog sleuths).

He was wagging his tail over this pile of dog stories. Plenty to choose from and only two more weeks to to decide and read his book! He is supposed to choose the best book he read this summer or his favorite, but how can a little dog make such a big decision? He wonders if anyone will notice if he watches the movie Where the Red Fern Grows instead of reading the book. (He's heard of kids doing this with their school assignments). It's much easier to operate a DVD player with his nose than turn pages in a book.

Improvements to Owosso 's Adult Department

Brutus is enjoying some of the new items in Owosso's Adult Department. He likes the new computers and has been using them to look up information of canine health. Today he found vetinfo.com which has a lot of materials about keeping your dog healthy. There was even a section on asking a vet a question! Best of all, he found a recipe for dog treats; now he just has to convince someone to make them for him.

Brutus has also been using the reading lights and outlets on some of the tables. Today he was skimming What Your Dog is Trying to Tell You for hints on communicating his desire for treats to the staff. He has also seen a number of people with laptop computers using the new electrical outlets.