The entire Staples and Motley area is invited to “Hop on Board” as celebrations for the Staples Public Library and Staples City Hall Grand Opening begin Thursday, Feb. 25 with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 2 p.m.

The new library opened for business Monday, Feb. 1 at the new city hall and library building at 122 6th St. N.E. Planning and construction involved local, regional and statewide interests including the City of Staples, Great River Regional Library (GRRL), the state of Minnesota and the Friends of the Staples Public Library.

Ribbon cutting guests include Staples Mayor Chris Etzler, Friends of the Staples Public Library President Gloria Palmer, GRRL Director Kirsty Smith and State Librarian Suzanne Miller. Everybody is invited to join in the celebration by climbing on board for library tours and refreshments.

Separate tours of the library and city hall will begin at 2:30 p.m. and continue every 30 minutes until 6 p.m.

Informational tables will be set up in the building atrium by the Staples Motley Early Childhood Coalition, Great River Regional Library and the Friends of the Staples Public Library.

Register for prizes and get your boarding pass to visit various stations within the library that highlight services and improvements.

The new building has a variety of energy efficiency features including modulated lighting and heating systems. Sensors measure the carbon dioxide within rooms to know if people are present.

The library has a designated children’s ‘roundhouse’ area, a programming space shared with City Hall, comfortable reading areas and a workroom that will increase staff efficiency. Four new public internet stations have been added to the two existing stations.

Patrons will also benefit from efforts made by library staff to refresh the collection of books and other materials. Mic Golden, GRRL’s Collection Development Coordinator, said 200 new books had been sent to Staples soon after it opened and a steady stream would be directed there in future weeks and months.

Programming

Thursday, Feb. 25, 6:30-7:15 p.m. - Wizard School: Children of all ages are invited to attend a fun Wizard School program at the library, funded by the Friends of the Staples Public Library. Robert and Lynn from 20th Century Magic will present this comedy show complete with magic and illusions.

Friday, Feb. 26, 2-3 p.m. - Tracing Your Roots: Adults are invited to this genealogy seminar led by Stephen Barthel. Barthel is an accredited genealogist in German research and worked from 1983-2004 at the world’s largest genealogical library (the Family History Library) in Salt Lake City. He has researched genealogies for VIPs including Walter Cronkite, the President of Germany, Presidents Clinton and Bush, and others. He has published more than two dozen family history books, and is currently an assistant archivist at the Stearns Museum in St. Cloud.

Friday, Feb. 26, 3-4- p.m. - Rick Weber: All ages are invited to hear local storyteller and lifelong Staples resident Rick Weber recount childhood stories from his neighborhood from the 1950s. He invites others to bring photos and to share their own childhood memories to add to the discussion.

Saturday, Feb. 27, 10:30-11:30 a.m. - Mr. Song-Strummin’ Story Man Jack Pearson: Children in grades K-6 will enjoy listening to the song-strummin’ story man sing, strum, write, tell, fiddle and dance. Each year brings him to approximately 200 concerts and K-6 school visits as a performer and resident artist where he leads workshops for children exploring music, writing and storytelling.

His work has been recognized with Parents’ Choice Gold and Silver Honor Awards as well as Pegasus and

Storytelling World Honor awards.

Saturday, Feb. 27, noon-1 p.m. – Teen Texting Tournament: teens

are invited to flex those pinkies and warm up their thumbs for the first Teen Texting Tournament. Teens can sign up for this fun new tournament to see who has the fastest fingers in the north. Competition will be by age group. Bring your own cell phone. Registration required; rules available at the library. Prizes and “Teen Titan” title awarded.

Programming is funded in part with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008 which dedicated funding to preserve Minnesota’s arts and cultural heritage.

For the latest information on grand opening activities, please contact the Staples Public Library, stop by to get a preview of what the library offers, or visit the library’s page on the GRRL website at www.griver.org.

Hours at the Staples Public Library are Monday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Tuesday 2-8 p.m., Wednesday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Thursday 2-8 p.m., Friday 1-5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-1 p.m.