Craftiness Pays Off

 

Bernardsville Library's crafting group, Saturday Crafters, met recently to share project ideas and conversation. Led by library staff member Evelyn Fischel, the group is encouraged to cure cabin fever by crafting together one Saturday afternoon a month at the library.  Saturday Crafters is open to the public, and crafters work on their own projects while Evelyn showcases the newest library books and magazines dealing with crafting topics.  The February group brought some interesting projects, including charity knitting and crocheting as well as jewelry making and needlepointing.  The next meeting of Saturday Crafters will take place on Saturday, March 17th, at 3 p.m.

Library Book Group Now Reading "Unbroken"

Laura Hillenbrand's 2010 bestseller, Unbroken: a World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption, will be discussed by Bernardsville Library's book group, Memoirs and Coffee, on Feb. 28th at 10:30 a.m.  Army Air Force pilot Louis Zamperini is the subject of Unbroken which recounts his years of torment after his plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean during wartime. The author's webpage notes that "Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater.  Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve,and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will."  Copies of Unbroken are available at the circulation desk, and this group discussion will be open to the public.

Black History Month Displays at Bernardsville Library

 Black History Month at Bernardsville Library is being observed with book displays in both the Biography and Youth Services sections.  A variety of picture books for young readers are showcased in the children's area along with a posterboard featuring one new fact a day about Black History Month.  Come by and learn a thing or two while enjoying these great kids books.

Bernardsville Library's Biography section now offers a month-long display showcasing many interesting books on the lives of notable African Americans. Sojourner Truth, Paul Robeson, Langston Hughes, and Thurgood Marshall are all famous names in history, but how about the resilient Mr. Jimmy Winkfield, the last African American jockey to win the Kentucky Derby?  He was the 17th child of sharecroppers, but fled to Europe to escape threats from the KKK after his derby win. Winkfield raced horses in Russia, riding the Tsar's horse, and later acquired  property and status in France, only to be hounded out of that country by the Nazis.  Black Maestro: the epic life of an American legend by Joe Drape recounts this man's amazing life.