thomas jefferson library, library of congress, peninsula community library, pcl, old mission peninsula, old mission, old mission michigan, pure michigan, old mission gazette, peninsula township, valentines day
Thomas Jefferson Library of Congress
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Throughout his lifetime, books were a treasure to Thomas Jefferson. After a fire in 1770 at his family home Shadwell, he most lamented the loss of his books. During the American Revolution and during his years as the United States minister to France, he acquired literally thousands of books for his personal collection at Monticello. When the British in 1814 burned the U.S. Capitol and the Library of Congress, Jefferson held the largest personal collection of books in the United States. Jefferson sold his collection to the Library of Congress to replace those lost. The cost? Just under $24,000 for 6487 volumes, more than double the number of books destroyed by the fire. How times have changed! Today, the Library of Congress holds more than 164 million items on 838 miles of bookshelves!

Our new library will most certainly not have 838 miles of bookshelves. However, we are looking forward to more space to include more of your beloved titles, movies, music and activity, as well as community space galore! We are very pleased to say that on January 22, our township planning commissioners voted to move forward with the special use permit for our building project by directing the planner to prepare a facts and findings document to send to the town board for the next step. Read more about the meeting here. Thank you to the “crowd-full” of YOU who showed up in support. Click here to learn more about how you can support the new library.

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Some upcoming programming:

TEENS @PCL! Teens & pre-teens may create beautiful cupcakes for their Valentine on Feb. 12 at 6:30 p.m. Bring a dozen unfrosted cupcakes, and we will provide the décor. Pizza and pop, too. Please call by Feb. 10, (231) 223-7700, to let us know you are coming. Space is limited to 12!

Art for Grownups. Adults create a wall-worthy masterpiece of modern art with painter’s tape and acrylics on Feb. 22 at 6:30 p.m. No fee, but call by Feb. 17 to RSVP!

Consumer Education. The State of Michigan’s Attorney General will offer a program on phone, mail and e-scams at Peninsula Community Library on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.      

Regular programming includes Pageturners on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m. (read their book line-up here). Gentle Yoga happens Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. for $7. The Great Start Collaborative offers their 5 to One playgroup on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays at 9:30 a.m.

Story Stew for kids is offered the 2nd, 4th and any 5th Thursdays at 9:30 a.m. Our Reading Therapy Dog Zeb loves to listen to kids read – call for times.

Kids enjoy crafts and play in our Imagination Station. Bring your project to THREADS at PCL on Mondays at 10 a.m. and work among friends! Chapter Chicks Mother-Daughter Book Club  meets next March 17 at 9:30 a.m.

Notary service and help with mobile tech devices is available, too – call. We also have Large Print materials, audio-books and DVDs!

Please note that PCL will be closed on Monday, Feb. 19 until 6 p.m. so that staff may attend a development day at the Traverse Area District Library. We will be open that evening from 6-8 p.m. for the Consumer’s Education program at 7 p.m.  There will be no Threads that morning. 

On Feb. 20 at 7:30 a.m., be sure to tune your radio into the Ron Jolly show on WTCM NewsTalk 580 when myself and Marilyn Elliott will be on the air to talk about the expanded role our new library will have in the community, the status of the capital campaign, and the push into the homestretch for donations.

And, our school family needs your help! A school carnival is planned for Friday, Feb. 23 from 5:30-8 p.m. They need help with set-up and knockdown, as well as baked goods for the cake walk. Brownies and bags of cookies count, too!  If you can help out, please email me, [email protected], and let me know soon. The cakes may be dropped off in the library the day before or morning of the carnival. Graduates of Old Mission Peninsula School are encouraged to help out, as well!

Here is the scoop from PTO president, Julia Phelps:

“Due to popular demand, we are hosting a winter carnival in the OMPS gymnasium. We have contracted with a gaming company that will deliver, set up and tear down the games. For this big event, we are in need of volunteers to cover half-hour shifts per game, as well as set up, clean up, food service and ticket sales.”

Peninsula Community Library today holds well over the number of items donated by Thomas Jefferson for the Library of Congress.   In fact, as of June 30, 2017, we owned 30,250 items. Our budget for books and audio visual items is well over the $24,000 the Library of Congress paid for Jefferson’s collection. Our annual budget for our collection this fiscal year is $31,000! Jefferson is often quoted as saying, “I cannot live without books.” A public library guarantees that you will never have to!

A NOTE FROM JANE: I started Old Mission Gazette in 2015 because I felt a calling to provide the Old Mission Peninsula community with local news. After decades of writing for newspapers and magazines like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Family Circle and Ladies' Home Journal, I really just wanted to write about my own community where I grew up on a cherry farm and raised my own family. So I started my own newspaper. Because the Gazette is mainly reader-supported, I hope you'll consider tossing a few bucks my way if I mention your event, your business, your organization or your news item, or if you simply love reading about what's happening on the OMP. Check out the donation page here. Thank you so much for your support. -jb

Bay View Insurance of Traverse City Michigan

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