Join us on the first Tuesday of each month at 10AM for a cup of coffee and some word and logic games! Mingle with your friends and neighbors while enjoying a crossword or sudoku puzzle or playing board games like Scrabble, Boggle, and more! Upcoming dates include:
Celebrate Banned Books Week with the Carpe Librum Book Club as we discuss Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. According to the American Library Association, Morrison's 1970 debut was the third most challenged book of 2022, with 73 different challenges being brought against it in schools and libraries around the country. Join us for a discussion about this classic and other banned books at our monthly meeting. Copies of the book will be available for check-out at the circulation desk beginning September 1st.
New members are always welcome to join the Carpe Librum group! Please contact Kelly McKewin at kmckewin [at] rgpl.org with any questions.
Are you an avid true crime podcast listener? Join fellow podcast enthusiasts at the library once a month to discuss the genre as we make our way through different shows. Like a book club but for podcasts, you'll listen to the assigned episodes for the month at home and then meet at the library to discuss the crime, the podcast, and everything in-between. For our fall series, we'll be listening to Unsolved: Season One, a podcast about a 47-year-old Wisconsin cold case hosted by Gina Barton of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Due to the power outage that cancelled our September meeting, we'll be discussing five entire episodes this month! Join us as we talk through the podcast, the crime, and look at some of the in-depth reporting and sources the Journal Sentinel used to put this story together:
In November, we will wrap up season one of Unsolved by discussing the final two episodes and the show on a whole. Missed the previous meetings? Anyone is welcome to catch up on all the episodes and join in the discussion of the whole season.
Audioboom (best for desktop)
The Friends of the Library Annual meeting will be held in the library community room at 6:30PM. An agenda will be posted shortly.
Have you had an idea for a business, side project, blog, or podcast that you’ve wanted to start for years, but haven’t found the time for or don’t know how to get started? Amber Field is an Author and Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Computer Science at UW-Madison who lives right here in Cross Plains. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll finally start that project! Amber will discuss lean start-up concepts from her new book, Agile Discovery & Delivery: A Survival Guide for New Software Engineers & Entrepreneurs, then guide the group through a series of activities to kick-off their projects. The workshop will cover how to identify your target audience, gain valuable customer insights, prototype ideas, and iterate towards a successful product or project. You’ll walk away with a start, some useful tools, and clear next steps for how to continue.
Morning Movies have returned! Take a look at our fall line-up:
September: In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, join us on Friday, September 22nd first thing in the morning for a screening of In The Heights (2021), the film adaption of Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit musical. Coffee and light breakfast refreshments will be provided. The run time is 142 minutes. Rated PG-13.
October: Get ready for Halloween with a screening of the spooky comedy The Addams Family (1991). Coffee and breakfast treats will be provided. The movie will begin promptly at 9:30AM and has a runtime of 105 minutes. Rated PG-13.
November: This month's morning movie features popular book-to-movie adaption Where the Crawdads Sing (2022). Based on the Delia Owen's novel of the same name, this film tells the story of Kya, a young woman who raises herself in the North Carolina marshlands and later becomes the suspect of a murder investigation. Coffee and light breakfast refreshments will be provided. Run time 125 minutes. Rated PG-13.
All Morning Movies will be screened on the third Friday of the month at 9:30AM unless otherwise noted.
Join us this month to discuss the University of Wisconsin's Go Big Read pick for the year, How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion by David McRaney. How Minds Change takes an approachable look at the psychology behind collective and personal beliefs and examines not only how we come to form certain opinions, but why. The book club will meet in-person in the library break room at 6PM. Copies of this month's title will be available for check-out starting on Monday, October 2.
New members are always welcome to join Carpe Librum—no sign-ups are required and you're welcome to join in month-to-month as you please! Please contact Kelly McKewin at kmckewin [at] rgpl.org with any questions about the club.
Do you have a favorite soup recipe everyone is always asking you to share? Are you looking for a new dish to add to your Thanksgiving dinner menu? Are you on the hunt for the perfect pumpkin-spice themed dessert? Look no further than our fall recipe swap!
To participate, please submit a recipe you'd like to share in advance by filling out this form. Then, visit the library anytime during the week of November 13th-18th to browse through other recipes submitted and take home copies of your favorites!
**If you have trouble using the Google form above, you may email your recipe to kmckewin [at] rgpl.org (kmckewin[at]rgpl[dot]org) or drop off a paper copy at the circulation desk. Please have recipes submitted by the end of the day on Friday, November 10th to ensure they make it into the swap.
Join us for the last book club meeting of 2023, where we'll be discussing The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane. Taking place over the course of one tumultuous week, this novel follows a couple in a small town navigating the complexities of marriage, family, and re-shaping their futures when their dreams go awry. Copies of the book will be available for check-out at the circulation desk at the beginning of November—just ask for the latest Carpe Librum title!
New members are always welcome to join the Carpe Librum book club—no registration is required. Please contact Kelly McKewin at kmckewin [at] rgpl.org (kmckewin[at]rgpl[dot]org) with any questions.