Johnathan Celestin’s concert is available now! The video will also be accessible via our Facebook page, and will be available for the next month. You can watch any time until then! Feel free to share it with anyone you think would enjoy the positive messages and love that Johnathan Celestin promotes. This video covers issues such as self-love, empathy, and fighting mental illness.

Keep an eye out in this video for your friends here at the library! Many of us are wearing our masks, but I bet you can make out who is who! We’ve got Rachelle, Sophia, Dan, Wendy, Jeff, Mackenzie, and Nicole! And some of us are even dancing.

Thanks for watching!

Didn’t get to catch the live September 17th Zoom lecture on the Presidential Impact on Sports by Evan Weiner? Never fear! The discussion was recorded, and you can view it here:

Learn how to make tissue paper pom poms with Rachelle! A few free take home kits will be available at the Vermillion Public Library, while supplies last.

Materials needed:

• 14 sheets of 12 x 20″ tissue paper
• 1 pipe cleaner, or chenille stem
• Scissors

Share your creations with us! Email a photo to [email protected], or post to Facebook or Instagram and tag @VermillionPublicLibrary.

Find more crafts like this on Creativebug! Free subscription included with your Vermillion Public Library card.

Learn how to make tissue paper pom poms this Monday with the Adult Take ‘n Make Craft video! We will have limited supplies available here at the library so you can make your own tissue paper pom pom at home! While they last! Video will be available to watch anytime after 7:00 am CT.

Musical artist Johnathan Celestin will be recording a special concert for the Vermillion Public Library, and you are invited to watch! The video goes live on September 24th at 7:00 pm. Register at bit.ly/vplconcert to get it sent straight to your email!

The most recent selection in the 17-year history of the One Book South Dakota program is “Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church” by Megan Phelps-Roper. Learn about and discuss the book via Zoom during your lunch break! Friday, September 4th at 12:00 pm Central. Copies of the book are available for checkout from the Vermillion Public Library. Registration is required: bit.ly/onebookvpl. The first 30 people to register will each get a free Reader Guide and a South Dakota Humanities Council sticky pad!

About the book:

The activist and TED speaker Megan Phelps-Roper reveals her life growing up in the most hated family in America.

At the age of five, Megan Phelps-Roper began protesting homosexuality and other alleged vices alongside fellow members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. Founded by her grandfather and consisting almost entirely of her extended family, the tiny group would gain worldwide notoriety for its pickets at military funerals and celebrations of death and tragedy. As Phelps-Roper grew up, she saw that church members were close companions and accomplished debaters, applying the logic of predestination and the language of the King James Bible to everyday life with aplomb―which, as the church’s Twitter spokeswoman, she learned to do with great skill. Soon, however, dialogue on Twitter caused her to begin doubting the church’s leaders and message: If humans were sinful and fallible, how could the church itself be so confident about its beliefs? As she digitally jousted with critics, she started to wonder if sometimes they had a point―and then she began exchanging messages with a man who would help change her life.

A gripping memoir of escaping extremism and falling in love, “Unfollow” relates Phelps-Roper’s moral awakening, her departure from the church, and how she exchanged the absolutes she grew up with for new forms of warmth and community. Rich with suspense and thoughtful reflection, Phelps-Roper’s life story exposes the dangers of black-and-white thinking and the need for true humility in a time of angry polarization.

Register below to access the Zoom session, hosted by the Edith B. Siegrist Vermillion Public Library, and lead by SDHC Scholar, Dr. Marilyn Carlson Aronson. Please register by September 3rd, 2020: bit.ly/onebookvpl.

This program was made possible by the South Dakota Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Celebrate the end of the 2020 Summer Reading Program with just one more Science Bonus Saturday video!

Brought to you by Absolute Science and the Vermillion Public Library.

Rick Eugene Magic Short Show #2: The fun continues with Magician Rick Eugene showing you ropes, cards, and coins. Rick will teach you how to perform some of these simple magic tricks for yourself to Amaze Your Friends! (12 minutes)

Miss Beth reads the last few chapters of “Junie B., First Grader: Boss of Lunch” by Barbara Park!

The Eisner Awards are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. Check out some of the 2020 nominees from the Vermillion Public Library today!

2020 Eisner Awards Nominees Available at the Vermillion Public Library

Best Publications for Early Readers:

• The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! by Mo Willems (P W)
• Who Wet My Pants? by Bob Shea (EF SHE)

Best Publications for Kids:

• Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls by Dav Pilkey (GR PIL)
• Guts by Raina Telgmeier (GR TEL)
• New Kid by Jerry Craft (GR CRA)
• The Wolf in Underpants by Wilfrid Lupano (EF LUP)

Best Publications for Teens:

• Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki & Steve Pugh (GRAPHIC Tamaki)
• Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki & Rosemary Valero-O’Connell (GRAPHIC Tamaki)

Best Reality-Based Work:

• They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, and Harmony Becker (GRAPHIC Takei)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium:

• The Giver by Lois Lowry, adapted by P. Craig Russell (GRAPHIC Lowry)
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, adapted by Renee Nault (GRAPHIC Atwood)

Make a cardboard, rubber band musical instrument with Miss Beth! This is the final Art @ Home video of the Summer Reading Program!