Mentor Public Library

02 12, 2020

Jill Grunenwald talks ‘Reading Behind Bars’ & recommending ‘Gatsby’ to inmates

By |2020-02-12T06:00:53-05:00February 12, 2020|

Jill Grunenwald visited us last month to discuss her new memoir, Reading Behind Bars, about her experience as a librarian in a men’s minimum-state prison.

She shared with us what she learned while working there, how she tried to help the inmates in her role as librarian, and how it affected her values. She also all tells what she thinks many people get wrong about incarcerated people.

Grunenwald’s book shares her poignancy and wit. If you enjoyed Orange Is the New Black or Shakespeare Saved My Life, then you should read it. (We even know this cool place where you can borrow it.)

 

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01 21, 2020

Registered dietitian offers advice on cutting sugar from diet

By |2020-01-21T06:00:20-05:00January 21, 2020|

By now, you know that too much sugar is unhealthy. But it’s difficult to cut sugar from the diet when it’s often lurking in supposedly healthy food.

Registered dietician and author Melanie Jatsek explains how addictive sugar is. Then she provides healthier, satisfying alternatives to the sugar-sopped foodstuffs that fill our pantries.

If Jatsek’s talk interests you, we also have some books in our collection that you’ll want to check out:

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01 19, 2020

Major Battles of the Civil War: The Battle of Middle Creek

By |2020-01-19T06:00:33-05:00January 19, 2020|

Our Civil War series continues with a spotlight on The Battle of Middle Creek, a lesser-known conflict with local importance because Mentor’s own James A. Garfield led the Union into the fray. Discover how what happened in Kentucky set Garfield on the path to the presidency.

Our Civil War series continues at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at our Main Branch. We’ll discuss the life of Abraham Lincoln. 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:

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12 28, 2019

Christmas in a Civil War Camp

By |2019-12-28T06:00:26-05:00December 28, 2019|

Our friends from James A. Garfield National Historic Site have taken us to Gettysburg, Antietam, Atlanta, and beyond during their Civil War lecture series.

But now Allison Powell of JAGNHS leads us somewhere new: Christmas during the Civil War. She depicts for us Christmas scenes from Union camps, Confederate camps, even prison camps, and both home fronts.

She also explains how the war changed Christmas traditions for our nation.

By the way, our Civil War series will continue in 2020. We’ll discuss The Battle Of Middle Creek at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at our Main Branch. As always, the talk is free and open to all. Don’t miss learning about Colonel James A. Garfield’s finest hour.

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.

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12 12, 2019

Discover the history of notorious Cleveland mobster Shondor Birns

By |2019-12-12T06:00:10-05:00December 12, 2019|

Rick Porrello – the author of The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia, To Kill the Irishman and Superthief – talked about his new book on the life and crimes of notorious Cleveland mobster, Alex Shondor Birns, when he visited us earlier this month.

Birns was an important figure in the Cleveland underworld for nearly half a century. He was killed after falling out with fellow Cleveland gangster Danny Greene.

Porrello is also the former chief of the Lyndhurst Police Department. However, his interest in the Cleveland mafia is personal. His grandfather, Raymond Porrello, and great-uncles were involved in the underground and helped supply the corn sugar that bootleggers used to make liquor. He was killed in 1932 during a card game.

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