Ralls County Library Newsletter

Check out this month's newsletter to stay up to date on everything happening at the Ralls County Library.

Are you thinking of trying some new authors this year? We’ve just added four new authors to our Young Adult section, and we can’t wait for you to try them!

Melanie Cellier specializes in retellings of classic fairy tails and building magical worlds.

K. M. Shea writes clean modern urban fantasy featuring werewolves, fae, vampires, and wizards.

Tara Grayce is a master at communicating real life issues such as complicated family dynamics, racism, mental health struggles, warfare, and PTSD within a fun steampunk fantasy world featuring elves, trolls, and humans.

Deborah Grace White’s series The Vazula Chronicles features dragons and mermaids and a search for the historical truth of their societies.

While it’s often hard to find in the fantasy genre, all of these authors are known for being clean, no spice, PG rated authors. We hope you love them!

Want a book?

Want a book that we don’t have? If we can’t get it from another library, we may order it for you.

Just ask!

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Notes from the Director - Debbie Jameson

Hello Winter! What better time than to grab a new book!

I want to talk finance this month as taxes are in the forefront of our minds. Our library survives on the county real estate and personal taxes you pay. Without those taxes, there will not be a library.

The little amount of state aid (5% of our budget) is based on population of our county and must also be approved by the legislature. The last couple of years, state aid has been approved at 100% but that hasn’t always been the case. The other monetary resource from the state are competitive grants. These federal funds come from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) which must be approved each year by Congress. Over the last year, this fund has been cut and reinstated with a decreased amount.

The Ralls County Library has taken advantage of the IMLS grant money through three Summer Reading Grants (2024, 2025, 2026) and two Technology Grants (2025, 2026). All of this grant money has benefited patrons through the replacement of computers in the library, books added to our shelves, the courier system where patrons receive materials from other lending libraries and Summer Reading programming and activities.

Funding for our libraries is at a crucial time both at the state and federal level. Please continue to support our wonderful library by sharing this information with others and by contacting your legislative representative.

Debbie

Join Us at The Ralls County Library

Birth to Age 5 Programming

Dawn Snodgrass & Diane Schulte

January will be a focus on all things chilly....Penguins, winter birds, polar bears & snowmen! We will be playing penguin games, making birdfeeders, playing with kinetic ‘snow’ sand, modeling clay & puffy painting once again!

Saturday the 17th we will be playing with ‘snow’, painting, and a have creative writing opportunity.

Children/Youth

(Grades Kdg-12) Programming

Dawn Hargraves

Story Hour will be diving into folktales for the month of January, including legends, myths, tall tales, and fables. Each week we will read a new folktale and create a fun representation of that tale. Girls Club will embark on a new adventure this semester. We will be making a variety of items while learning to use a sewing machine and follow a pattern. We will also be reading about influential women throughout history. We have a few more slots available for girls in 5th-7^th grade. Please call the library for more information.

Adult Programming Milinda Wagoner

Join us for our adult programs at Ralls County Library!

Book Club: We’ll finish our discussion of Before Dorothy on January 26 at 6pm. New members are welcome—come share your thoughts and connect with fellow readers.
Classic and Company Book Club: We’ll discuss A Wrinkle in Time on February 2 at 10:30 am. All ages of readers are welcome to join the conversation.
Tech Help: Need quick tech assistance? Stop by “Ask a Tech” on January 12 from 2:00–4:00 pm for personalized help.

FAMILY NIGHTS have moved to MONDAYS! We listened, we heard you, and we pivoted. It is our hope that those of you who could not join us on Thursdays can now join us on Mondays, and those of you who did join us on Thursdays will now come to Mondays. Monday, January 12, 6-7 PM Join us for a Winter Poetry Party. We will enjoy poetry, warm drinks, and fun family time. Create and illustrate your own poetry as a family. Monday, January 26, 6-7 PM Family Night on the 26^th will kick off with a wintery story. We will then have play stations available including, “snow” kinetic sand, building with packing peanuts, and preschool learning toys & games. Hope you can join us! Come join us, bring your family, a neighbor, a friend and let’s read and explore together!	Blackstone Unlimited, one of the audio book opportunities at the Ralls County Library, will be discontinued in January 2026. The consortium that our library belongs to will stop their enrollment in the Blackstone Unlimited company. Therefore, our membership will also stop. Libby will still be available and the funds used for Blackstone will roll over to Libby decreasing wait times for our patrons. Give us a call for help setting up your Libby account and start reading! BOOK REVIEW from Milinda Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor is a richly imagined historical prequel to The Wizard of Oz that explores how Emily and Henry Gale build a life on the Kansas prairie long before a certain tornado ever comes calling. It blends family drama, Dust Bowl history, and Oz “Easter eggs” into a thoughtful, emotionally satisfying read. Ralls County Library’s adult book club will be reading Before Dorothy as the January selection, and we will conclude our discussion of the book on Monday, January 26, at the library. All are welcome—whether you’re an Oz devotee or just enjoy well‑crafted historical fiction.