CARTHAGE, Mo. — At the Carthage Public Library, I’m No. 13 on a reserve list for a new book by one of my favorite authors. Given a couple of slow readers, a couple of fast readers, I figure I will probably get to check it out in six to eight months.
I’ll not mention the author or the title — don’t want to put pressure on anyone.
It’s my fault I’m so far down the list. I forgot to take advantage of a great service the library offers. On its Web site, it lists all the new books it has on order along with the anticipated publication dates. Just click on “Book Lists” and in the drop-down menu, click on “Books on Order.” There are also lists of books that have arrived in the current month, and lists of best sellers, both fiction and nonfiction.
You can reserve books either by e-mailing carthage@carthagelibrary.org or by calling (417) 237-7040. I just got on the waiting list for six new books that will come out between now and next May.
The waiting list is just one of many services offered by the library. It has many local genealogy resources, including Jasper County census reports between 1850 and 1930, city directories dating to 1888, Carthage Senior High School yearbooks from 1913 to the present, several Jasper County histories and Daughters of the American Revolution lineage books. Mortuary records from Knell Mortuary (1884-1940) and Ulmer Funeral Home (1916-1952) are available, and you can search microfilm of Carthage newspapers between 1866 and 2005.
Should you need a book the Carthage library doesn’t have on hand, avail yourself of the interlibrary loan program. Just fill out a request form at the circulation desk, and pay a $2 handling and shipping fee, and the book will be in your hands within days. This service is especially valuable when you are looking for older and out-of-print books. I was pleased to find a fascinating out-of-print book through the loan program: “Old Frontiers: A Story of the Cherokee Indians from Earliest Times to the Date of their Removal to the West” by John P. Brown, published in 1938.
Using the library’s computers to access the Internet can link you to Newsbank, a database of Missouri newspapers, or EBSCOhost, a database composed of thousands of articles from journals, magazines and reference books. Or, you can log on to the Learning Express Library, which offers practice tests for positions in civil service, firefighting, law enforcement or real estate, or college placement exams — a real service for nervous juniors and seniors.
You can help support the above-mentioned services by shopping at the Friends of the Library’s used-book sale from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the library annex, 612 S. Grant St. There should be lots of bargains — and you won’t have to wait six months to read these books.
And on Wednesday, the McCune-Brooks Regional Hospital Auxiliary will hold its traditional Christmas breakfast at 10 a.m. in the hospital’s community room. Auxiliary members are asked to bring an item for the Carthage Crisis Center, preferably cleaning supplies, paper goods or trash bags.
Carthage, Jasper County
Jo Ellis: Online reserves help readers
- Carthage, Jasper County
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Carthage attorney, reformer of revenue department, dies
James R. Spradling, a Carthage attorney who was noted for his reform of the Missouri Department of Revenue in the 1970s, died at 5:50 a.m. Monday at McCune-Brooks Regional Hospital.
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Bondswoman charged with false imprisonment
A bail bondswoman from Carthage is facing a charge of false imprisonment for allegedly attempting to put a man in jail without a judge’s order, then taking him home and handcuffing him to the banister of a staircase until a friend of the man paid her his bond money.
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Man’s last statement to be given to defendant
A judge ruled Monday that the Jasper County prosecutor must provide attorneys for Darren J. Winans with a videotaped statement co-defendant Matthew D. Laurin made about the Sheldon murders shortly before killing himself.
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Carthage proposes 1.6-cent rise in city property tax
A drop in the assessed value of Carthage real estate will translate to an increase of about 1.6 cents in the city’s proposed property tax rate.
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Open house to celebrate projects at courthouse
Projects completed last year at the Jasper County Courthouse will be celebrated in ceremonies Thursday in the courthouse lobby.
County officials will join representatives of local chambers of commerce and others for a ribbon-cutting and open house to mark the opening of a Route 66 display in the lobby and a new “peace star” atop the building. -
State budget cuts reduce county funds
County officials are bracing for more state budget cuts to translate into a loss of county revenues.
In an effort to balance Missouri’s budget, the state earlier this year cut the amount it reimburses county assessors for work to determine property values. The budget approved by lawmakers for fiscal 2011 calls for cutting the amount the state reimburses counties to house prisoners bound for state lockup. -
Jo Ellis: County home to rare yellowwood tree
In late spring, drifts as white as snow fill the gutters and curbs on the east side of the Jasper County Courthouse. It isn’t snow, of course; it’s the fallen petals of the yellowwood tree that grows squarely in front of the door to the Jasper County Extension office.
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Jasper County Commission gets building project update
Plans to close out one building project and start another were reviewed by the Jasper County Commission last week.
Darieus Adams, Western District associate commissioner, met Thursday with officials of the firm who designed a $292,400 project to upgrade the lighting and make other changes to make four county-owned buildings more energy efficient. -
Two men running for associate judge in 39th Circuit take case to court
Two men running for associate judge in Missouri’s 39th Circuit began battling it out in a Jasper County courtroom this week.
Jasper County Circuit Judge Gayle Crane heard arguments Wednesday concerning the disclosure of documents sought by Robert “Bobby” George, Aurora, the current Lawrence County prosecutor. -
Unveiling ceremony celebrates CHS tiger
Kandy Frazier, Carthage High School principal, summed it up once the new addition to the CHS campus was unveiled Thursday.
The bronze tiger sculpture created by Carthage artist and sculptor Bob Tommey, she said, is the kind of work that would be found at a big university. - More Carthage, Jasper County Headlines
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