Happy Easter from your friends at the Delaware County District Library! This Sunday, April 21, all locations will be closed as we allow our staff time with their family and friends to celebrate. But never fear, the library website is always available 24/7 with plenty of digital content free to download with your library card until we reopen with regular hours Monday.
If you’re still in the Easter spirit this coming week, stop by our Delaware Main Library or Powell Branch Library to visit the chick-hatching incubators. The chick eggs are already at Powell, getting nice and warm and ready to hatch within the next two weeks. On Tuesday, April 23, the chick eggs will be delivered to the Delaware Main Library, and there will be a presentation for all ages at 6:30 p.m. to learn about eggs and chicks.
The incubators will keep the chicks warm while they grow and continue to while they hatch. Keep your eyes close to our social media over the next two weeks. We hope to do some live streaming on Facebook or Instagram as the chicks begin to hatch. A grand announcement will be made and library patrons will be able to visit the baby chicks.
Another fun all ages program this week is titled “What is a Nyckelharpa?” Local musician Genelle Denzin will share the history and sound of this incredible Scandinavian instrument. The program will take place on Thursday, April 25, at 7 p.m. in the Ostrander Branch Library. This unique instrument is sometimes also called a “keyed fiddle,” or literally a “key harp.” Part fiddle, there are also keys attached to tangents that, when depressed, serve as frets to change the pitch of the string. Music lovers won’t want to miss the one-of-a-kind performance.
While you ring in spring with chicks, lovely music, and more happening at your Delaware Library, see what new books we have on the shelves in the nature and science genres.
• “Earth-Shattering” by Bob Berman. A chronicle of the universe’s biggest explosions, beginning (naturally) with the Big Bang. Author and astronomer Bob Berman chronicles cosmic catastrophes in an engaging and accessible manner.
• “Europe: A Natural History” by Tim Flannery. Welcome to Europe, the tropical archipelago that formed 100 million years ago and, following floods, ice ages, and other events, transformed into the geographically and biologically diverse region we know today. Move from its history into what’s to come, confronting the existential threats of climate change, according to Australian author and paleontologist Tim Flannery.
• “Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction” by Judith Grisel. A behavioral neuroscientist with a history of substance abuse examines addiction from a scientific and personal perspective. Author Judith Grisel appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air to discuss both the book and her experiences with addiction. Grisel notes, “The opposite of addiction, I have learned, is not sobriety but choice.”
• “No Beast So Fierce” by Dane Huckelbridge. The story of the notorious Champawat Tiger, which killed more than 400 people in Nepal in the early 1900s — and the intrepid hunter that tracked her down and killed her. Read it for a suspenseful account of the hunt, evocative descriptions of the tiger’s territory, and reflections on environmental issues.
