Monthly Archives: April 2019

04 24, 2019

The Life & Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder

By |2019-04-24T06:00:49-04:00April 24, 2019|

Even if you watched Little House on the Prairie or read the books that inspired the show, how well do you know their author, Laura Ingalls Wilder?

Because her life is – well, wilder – than anything in her phenomenal fiction.

Travel back to the Pioneer Years with your tour guide, MPL Reference Librarian Meredith Tomeo. Learn:

  • which stories from Wilder’s life didn’t make it into her books
  • all about Rose Wilder, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s headstrong daughter who was instrumental in getting her mother published
  • how a Missouri library was duped out of the right to the Little House books.

By the way, several of Wilder’s books (including her letters and autobiography) are available in our collection. Feel free to read (or re-read) them, if you wish. It’s a fun way to visit Wilder’s world before the program.

04 21, 2019

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

By |2019-04-21T06:00:08-04:00April 21, 2019|

No presidential assassination is inconsequential, but Abraham Lincoln’s murder was a pivotal moment in our nation’s history. It set the tone for the lengthy and contentious Reconstruction Era – though perhaps not the way in which his assassin, John Wilkes Booth, and co-conspirators intended.

Learn all about Booth, his conspiracy to behead the Union, and Lincoln’s final hours from the experts at James A. Garfield National Historic SiteYou’ll discover:

  • how Booth was able to target and kill Lincoln so easily
  • the story of the first woman ever executed by the US government
  • the surprising connection between Edwin Booth (the assassin’s brother) and Robert Lincoln (the president’s son.)

Our Civil War series continues at noon on Wednesday, May 8, at our Main Branch. We’ll learn about the Fourteenth Amendment. As always, the talk is free and open to all.

By the way, if you’re interested in Civil War history, several talks in our Civil War series can be viewed online in their entirety, including:

04 5, 2019

Draft wills, POAs & more for free with Gale Legal Forms

By |2022-10-04T16:50:06-04:00April 5, 2019|

Draft legal forms yourself with Legal Forms Library.

Draft legal forms yourself with Legal Forms Library.

Legal forms can be confusing. Attorneys can be expensive.

Consequently, it can be a pricey venture if you need help creating a will, affidavit or some other legal form.

Wouldn’t it be great if someone set up a database with different legal-form templates that people could view or even download for free?

Someone (or, rather, someones) did. It’s called the Gale Legal Forms, and it’s one of the dozens of databases that we offer access to for free.

There are thousands of form templates for all types of topics: divorce, bankruptcy, power of attorney, name changes, wills, estates and more. (So you know, you’ll need to click through to the Legal Forms Library from the Mentor Public Library site for these hyperlinks to work.) And you can view, download or edit all these templates for free. There are also completed samples that you can view as a PDF or Microsoft Word file. This can give you an idea what your finished form should look like.

There are also legal definitions and explanations for each form, so you can understand what you’re reading.

The forms available on the Legal Forms Library include forms drafted by attorneys for a particular legal matter, forms from public records and participating companies and attorneys. “Official” forms for many states are included, as well.

For more information, you can visit the FAQ section of the Legal Forms website.

By the way, you can also use our databases to search your family history, check product recommendations, learn a foreign language, fix your carget help with your job search or picking your next book.

A final disclaimer here: Mentor Public Library cannot provide legal advice. Users should consult an attorney in all serious legal matters.

04 2, 2019

Library History in Photos: On the Move

By |2019-04-02T06:00:45-04:00April 2, 2019|

Mentor Library's first building of its own is taken on the road in 1960. Courtesy of David Gartner.

Mentor Library’s first building of its own is taken on the road in 1960. Courtesy of David Gartner.

As part of our bicentennial, we asked for your historical photos from Mentor Public Library. And, wow, did we get a doozy this week.

Local photographer David Gartner snapped some gorgeous photos on the day our original library building moved down the street.

A little history is helpful here:

For nearly the first century of our existence, Mentor Library didn’t have a home of its own. Our books were housed in private residences or, later, in Mentor Village Hall.

We finally moved up and out at the beginning of the 20th century when a Mr. Addison Goodall offered $1,500 to $2,000 toward a library building if our Board President James R. Garfield and the rest of the board could raise the remainder.

(To keep your Garfields straight, James R. Garfield is the son of President James A. Garfield.)

Abram Garfield, a famous architect and another son of President Garfield, designed our new building. It opened on May 31, 1903, at the corner of Center Street and Mentor Avenue.

Now, this building may look familiar. It still exists and currently houses the Confectionary Cupboard.

So you may be wondering (1.) why isn’t it a library anymore and (2.) how did a building move from Mentor Avenue to the intersection of Center and Nowlen Streets.

The answer to your first question: we outgrew our first home and moved to what we then called our Garfield Unit in 1960. You now know it as our Main Branch. It’s been expanded and renovated in the last 60 years, but it’s been one of our homes ever since. (Well, not counting the two years we needed to relocate to Tyler Road.)

As per the second question: the credit for saving that historical building goes to one heroic woman, Lila Moore Schaefer. Ms. Schaefer recognized the value of the building, purchased it and had it moved to its present location in 1960. She lived in the building and also used it to house her real-estate business until she passed away in 1964.

Then, insurance brokers Don and Marguerite Krueger purchased it. In 1979, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Thanks to David Gartner for making it possible!

04 1, 2019

Video: Perfect perennials for constant color in your garden

By |2019-04-01T06:00:57-04:00April 1, 2019|

Master Gardener Shelley Baeslack explained how you can use perennials to create interest in your garden all four seasons when she visited our library last week.

If you missed her talk (or wish to revisit it,) we filmed it and are sharing it in its entirety online.

By the way, any green thumbs should check out the special collection from Holden Forests & Gardens’ Corning Library available at our Main Branch.

In addition to a gorgeous arboretum in Kirtland, Holden also has a spectacular collection of gardening, horticulture, environmental and botany books at Corning Library within its arboretum.

Dozens of Corning Library’s books are now available to borrow at our Main Branch. Thanks to a partnership between libraries, you can use your cards to check out books from this special collection. Our typical lending rules apply.

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