Yarn bombing at Dover Public Library

Image credit:Dover Public Library

In Dover, Ohio: Crafters of all ages and creative ideas are invited, beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, to celebrate International Yarn Bombing Day by decorating the front entrance of the Dover Public Library. In a news release submitted to the (New Philadelphia) Times Reporter, writer Jim Gill advised that people attending are asked to bring at least one full skein or several partial skeins of acrylic yarn to participate in a yarn swap. Crafters are welcome to knit, crochet, wrap yarn or make pom poms for the project.

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Timaru Library, NZ: Yarn bombing planned

At the Timaru Library in New Zealand, crafters are creating artwork for International Yarn Bombing Day on Saturday, June 11. Via a news account published by the Timaru Herald: the exhibition is part of a “Now we’re talking” project to raise awareness of family domestic violence. It will be on display from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

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‘On Your Mark, Get Set ... READ!’

Jackson County Library Services is promoting “Summer Read” activities that begin as soon as school lets out. Registration is free, and sign-ups can be done at any branch in the system.

‘Ashland Reads,’ book donation to Bellview library

A bagful of books was waiting for me, courtesy of the Rotary Club of Ashland, when I returned to Bellview library after the Memorial Day weekend. The books were donated through “Ashland Reads,” a celebration of literacy.

‘Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet’

A sense that outcasts were building their own society particularly appealed to me when reading Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet by H.P. Wood (SOURCEBOOKS Landmark, June 2016).

For the tourists who flock to Coney Island, circa 1907, Magruder’s is a “dime museum” in a less-fashionable area of the park. Dominant cultural attitudes about race, sexual orientation, gender presentation and “typical” physicality mean that sideshow performers are subjects of curiosity for ticket-paying tourists, but they are also marginalized and excluded from broader society. In the museum basement, Magruder’s provides a gathering place for the performers free from tourists’ stares.