UPDATE

Due to the weather and other concerns, the scrapbooking workshop has been postponed until further notice. If you have already registered for the class and paid your fee, the library will return your money. Thank you for understanding.

On Tuesday, May 3rd, Robyn Rogers will be conducting a scrapbooking workshop in the Garland County Library’s multipurpose room (adjacent to the children’s library) from 12-2 pm. This genre of personal journaling is an excellent way to preserve your photographs and memorabilia with meaning and context. Come join us to start your own summer or mini-travel scrapbook. Remember, patrons must pre-register in person and pay a 5 dollar fee to attend. While you’re here, browse our extensive collection of scrappy titles under Dewey number 745.593 in the non-fiction stacks. For more information on this or any of our other upcoming programs call 501-623-4161 or 501-922-4483.

Enjoy your summer and Happy Scrapping!!!

Photograph courtesy Wikimedia Commons

GCL to Celebrate Arbor Day with Tree Planting

We will celebrate Arbor Day with a tree planting ceremony on Thursday, April 28^th at 10 am. Tree saplings will be given away while supplies last. John Slater of the Arkansas Forestry Commission will plant the tree and offer advice for those interested in planting trees on their property.

“Actually, Arbor Day is the next day according to most calendars, but it’s never too early to plant a tree,” John Wells, Library Director said. “We’ve planted several trees on the library grounds and it’s always fun to watch them grow and think about how they’ll be here when we’re long gone. I hope that lots of people will join us.”

For more information, call the library at 623-4161 or 922-4483.

Earth Day Celebration - April 22nd

"There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known." - Carl Sagan

The Garland County Library will be celebrating Earth Day 2011 by offering a number of programs that will teach different practices of good stewardship. On Earth Day, April 22nd @ 11 am, we will host a discussion with Bill Burrough, Hot Springs Sanitation Director, about the city's very successful Earth Angel recycling program. This will be followed by a talk with Adam Roberts, Executive Director of the Hot Springs/Garland County Beautification Commission.

Also during this time, Master Gardener Diane Daniel will be giving a demonstration about how to compost. Composting is an integral part of keeping a healthy garden, which in turn saves water, improves soil quality, and alleviates the need to ship food long distances from farm to table. Keeping a compost pile also keeps tons of beneficial nutrients in the ecosystem and out of landfills. It is, in short, in the interest not only of national security, but the continued survival of the human species.

These events will feature prize giveaways and participants are invited to bring a (recyclable) brown bag lunch.

Then, on April 29th from 12-2pm, we will be holding a class on upcycling. For those who do not know, upcycling is the repurposing of old items into new items! We will be turning old t-shirts into book totes, knapsacks, or anything else you wish to create by cutting, stitching, tying, and sewing together. You don't have to know how to sew to take the class, but you do have to register.

Yurt

The yurt is a relatively small structure originally used by the nomadic Mongolian and Turkic tribes of Central Asia. It was used primarily as a temporary shelter by these tribes as they followed the herds of sheep and yak across the rugged and unforgiving terrain. The yurt is a surprisingly strong and formidable home, and could withstand the severe changes in the weather and adapt to the type of region on which it was built.

The word “yurt,” in the Turkic language, refers to the imprint the shelter leaves once it has been packed up and moved. Russians call them “yurta,” Mongolians call them “ger,” Kazakhs call them “киіз үй,” Kyrgyz call them “боз үй,” Afghans call them “kherga,” Pakistanis call them “gher,” and Persians call them “xeyme.”

Ayaz Qala yurt camp (Uzbekistan)
photo courtesy flickr commons

The oldest yurt discovered has been estimated to be well over 3,000 years old, predating Jesus, Mohammed, and Buddha. In all probability, the proud yet simple yurt stood long before even then, providing shelter from the ever-harsh Central Asian terrain. There is no solid evidence as to which tribe or people invented the yurt, though the debate is highly charged amongst different factions, all of which want credit for the birth of the yurt.

Kyrghiz family in front of their yurt near Issyk-Kul lake, Kirghizstan
photo courtesy wikicommons

Since timber was very hard to come by for the tribes, saplings were used and then covered with wool which was layered and watered into a felt. The word “felt” was originally a synonym for “nomads,” or the “felt people.” The felt, or animal fur covering the yurt, could be packed on in the winter for more warmth or removed during the summer for more ventilation.

In some cultures, the type of door on the yurt defined the owner’s status. For instance, Mongolian yurts use a thick wooden door, but the Turkic use rug flaps or brilliantly decorated cloth.

Originally, women were in charge of building and designing the yurt, which is much more complicated and impressive than it looks. It is circular in shape, which drives the wind around the structure as opposed to directly into or at it. The walls are made of lattice, and the roof beams, depending on the culture, can be extremely intricate and difficult to assemble. Oftentimes the building of the yurt was a community effort.

Of all the yurt-building tribes that ever were, the Mongolians seem to be the most strict and serious about their yurts. For them it was “centering point in a moving universe” and their floor plan represented the four directions, with the door always facing south. The east and west, the yin and the yang, defined the man’s half and the woman’s half. The man would store his goods, such as hunting gear and whiskey on his half, and the woman would store her goods, such as pots, pans, and children.

An example of a modern yurt in the United States
photo courtesy flickr creative commons

While the original yurt was taken very seriously and used as a means of primary survival, once the modern westerner got wind of the thing they, as per usual, began creating yurts that go beyond science fiction. Today, a yurt can cost from $10,000-$30,000, depending on how ridiculous you want to take it. There are yurts available which stand larger than the average house, with all the high-tech gadgetry, wood floors, multiple rooms and stories that define our current home architecture. Some of these yurts are stunning to look at after studying the ancient model.

Cold kickin' it all up in tha yurt
photo courtesy flickr creative commons

The Garland County Library has several books concerning the yurt, most notably Paul King's The Complete Yurt Handbook and Len Charney's Build a Yurt, the Low Cost Mongolian Round House.

A two-story yurt
photo courtesy flickr commons