KIDS! Come to a Mad Hatter Tea Party on Feb. 11. Boys and girls age 5 to 9 are invited to particpate in this Second Saturday activity. At registration, each child will receive a top hat to take home and decorate. Hats will be judged at the party and the winner for the most outlandish hat will win a copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. There is a $3.00 fee and a limit of 12 children. Register at the library or by calling 734-4927 or email mmlib@comcast.net.

Second Saturday is a new monthly program at the library. On the second Saturday of each month there will be a special program for children. Watch this website or the newspaper to see what we'll be doing each month.

The 3rd Annual Library Tea will be held February 12 at 2:00 p.m. The program, presented by Betty Obendorf, will be "Hats and History". Participants will enjoy quiche (vegetable or Lorraine), scones with toppings, an assortment of sweets, and--of course--all the tea you can drink. Seating is limited, so tickets ($15) must be purchased no later than Thursday, Feb. 9. Please provide your own place setting of sandwich plate, teacup and saucer, silverware and a cloth napkin. Also, whether old or new, store-bought or hand decorated, we invite you to wear your favorite hat. This programis open to adults and mature children 10 years and older who are acompanied by an adult.

The Mt. Morris Library has joined the OMNI eBook consortium. Beginning the end of February Mt. Morris Library card holders will be able to access thousands of eBooks, free of charge, through the library website. If you are interested in this service, please leave your name at the front desk (or send an email to mmlib@comcast.net) and we will register you. You must have a valid library card and be register in order to access this collection.

Check out our latest book displays, located by the front door. See 50 of the Best Books of 2011 as determined by book critics and readers. These are titles that appeared on lists created by Publishers Weekly, Booklist, New York Times, Amazon, Library Journal, Chicago Tribune, and many others. The most acclaimed books of the year were The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides, In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larsen, The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht, State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, and 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami.

As a companion display, the staff has selected the best books they read in 2011. We also threw in a few movies that we especially enjoyed. All of these can be checked out. We'd also like to  know what your favorite book was in 2011.

Jeffrey Anderson, tour coordinator at the Robert R. McCormick Museum in Wheaton, IL, will give an informational lecture on Colonel McCormick on March 25. This presentation will begin at 2:00 p.m. The Mt. Morris Community Library Foundation will provide refreshments. It is helpful to us if you register ahead of time for library programs. You may do so by calling (815-734-4927), emailing (mmlib@comcast.net), or stopping by the library.

Students of all ages (especially junior high, senior high and college)--are you looking for reliable, accurate information for a school paper or project? You can link to hundreds of excellent reference books right here.

Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) has information on history, the arts, literature, health, biography, the environment, science, the animal world, geography, and much more.

GVRL is very user friendly with excellent indexing. Because these are digitized books (that is, they are exactly the same as the print version--just easier to use!), they are considered book resources.

If you need help or have questions about how to use this resource, please feel free to come into the library, or call (734-4927), for assistance.