News from your library

Try the Seed Library!

A cabinet with several drawers labeled flowers, plants, grasses, vegetables, herbs, and resources Get ready for next year's planting season, or share the bounty of your garden from this past harvest! Seed libraries are now available at:

Cedar Lake
Highland
Hobart
Lake Station-New Chicago

Each branch has different seeds; you'll find flowers, vegetables, and herbs of different varieties in different locations. Stock will change regularly as more people use the library!

Anyone can take seed packets and anyone can contribute. We accept openly pollinated and heirloom seeds. Please clean and dry your seeds before donating!

Featured Program:

Take a Family Photo!

Getting your holiday correspondence ready? Include a special family photo, taken in front of the library's green screen!

We'll have different wintry backgrounds for you to choose from to create a photo perfect for end-of-year newsletters, Christmas cards, or gifts!

See what else is happening at the library!

From the Stacks:

Staff Recommends: Lark Ascending by Silas House

A lyrical, poignant novel set in a dystopian world that's all too recognizable.

Have You Tried Weiss Financial Ratings?

Everything you need to learn to budget, invest wisely, and grow your wealth!

You Asked, We Answered!

Question: Where does pumpkin pie come from? Someone told me it was French, but aren't pumpkins native to North America?

Answer: This looks like a job for the AtoZ World Food database! (It's free with your library card if you want to explore more food-related topics - and recipes!)

Here's what AtoZ had to say:

"The pumpkin is a type of winter squash native to North America, and it was first grown by northeastern Native Americans as a food source. ...the first pumpkin pie was not really a pie but more likely made by baking a whole pumpkin in hot ashes. An early export to France, the pumpkin was cultivated there and by the 17th century recipes for pumpkin pie could be found in English cookbooks. It wasn’t until 1796 that a recipe for the dish appeared in an American cookbook called American Cookery by Amelia Simmons."

So there you have it! The pumpkin originated in North America, did a gap year (or century) in France, and then came home for the holiday.

You can read the full pumpkin pie entry and check out the recipe by signing in to AtoZ World Food with your library card and searching 'pumpkin pie'.