By John Maruskin

Clark County Public Library

I  love meeting local artists, craft people and collectors who want to display their work or collections. 

In the past, the library has been privileged to show unique and wonderful collections like Pat Nowack’s family Valentine cards and Caribbean carved birds and paintings collected by Liz Borden and her husband.

Larry Carmichael graciously loaned the library his collections of rare Bible pages and facsimiles of the Guttenberg and Geneva Bibles. 

Fabric and needlework artists Joyce Thompson and Joan Wise filled the library’s reference area with unique and exquisite quilts, needlework, baskets and pillows. 

Winchester photographer James Robinson loaned the library more than 40 of his terrific street photographs of Labor Day celebrations and the Poynterville neighborhood. 

During June and July 2018, Joyce Morton and Anna Marie Mason donated many personal photographs for the All Together Now Adult Summer Reading Program show. 

Winchester Art Guild members Annette Wagner, Ginny Goppelt and Marshia Hawkins created stunning settings for their displays of sock dolls, baskets and pottery.

During November, Guild watercolor artist Rose Swope filled the Rose Mary Codell Brooks Community Room with her vibrant and heartfelt landscapes and flowers.

An essential part of the library’s mission is to highlight the talents and interests of Clark County residents, and as we have seen through their displays, Clark County is home to many talented artists and interesting collectors. 

If you would like to show your own work or collection, call or email me: 744-5661, ext. 110 or john.clarkbooks@gmail.com.

It’s fun, and our Clark County friends and neighbors love the displays.

If you are a mystery reader and a fan of Sherlock Holmes, “the game’s afoot” in 2019.

On Tuesday, Jan. 15, Tim Janes will be leading another evening reading group at the library, this one about the first Sherlock Holmes novel, “A Study in Scarlet.” 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote “A Study in Scarlet” when he was 27.

It first appeared in Beeton’s Christmas Annual in 1887.  Sherlock Holmes is consulted by Scotland Yard about the murders of two Americans, Enoch Drebber and Joseph Strangeson — murders that have their origins among Mormon pioneers in the U.S.

Tim Janes, a thorough Sherlockian, will lead discussions about all four Sherlock Holmes novels during 2019.   

Dates for the other novel discussions are: April 9, “Sign of the Four;” July 9, “The Valley of Fear;” Oct. 8, “The Hound of the Baskervilles.”

The library will supply copies of all the novels or you can bring your favorite edition. 

Copies of “A Study in Scarlet” are available at the library circulation desk now.  Please register to attend this reading group.

Other programs this week:

— At 10 a.m. Tuesday, Easy Email.  Easier than Pi.

— At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Meeting of Minds gets together to talk about Holiday memories and mysteries.  No rhetorical kvetching or politics allowed.  Ho, Ho, Ho!

— At 2 p.m. Wednesday, Kentucky Picture Show presents The Best Holiday romantic comedy, ever: 1945, A food writer who lied about being the perfect housewife must try to cover her deception when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her home for a traditional family Christmas.

— At noon Thursday, Book Lunch discusses three Christmas mysteries:  “The Blue Carbuncle,” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; “The Flying Stars,” by G.K. Chesterton; “Noel, Noel,” by Barry Perowne.  Copies are available at the circulation desk.

— At 10 a.m. Friday, Write Local drafts letters to Santa Claus.  It’s going to take some real grammatical gymnastics for those scribblers to get on Santa’s nice list.

— At 5:43 p.m. Friday, The Winter Solstice.  Old Shiny sits still in the South for three days and then heads back North.  Happy Solstice.

John Maruskin is director of adult services at the Clark County Public Library. He can be reached at john.clarkbooks@gmail.com.