Community Reading Program

As part of this year’s One Read program, we invited you to take inspiration from “Bettyville,” and write your own mini memoir. The mini memoir could have centered around a big moment in your life, or even a small event from which you learned something profound about yourself.

We received entries about childhood and old age and everything in between. Some memoirs focused on cheerful moments, while others were more somber, but all of the entries were wonderful insights into the lives of our community. All of the writers shared their stories in less than 250 words. Thank you to everyone who entered and shared your stories of inspiration, love, loss and more.

Our two winners are Mary Jo Fritz and Starlight Katsaros. Honorable mentions go to Barbara Carter and Marcie McGuire.

We are excited to share with you the winning stories. Read More →

A huge thank you to everyone who read or listened to “Bettyville” by George Hodgman and participated in any of the excellent One Read events this year. In the month of September, we explored a wide variety of topics that ranged from caring for an aging parent to the decline and revitalization of small-town America. We learned how rescuing strays can rescue us and about resources for training our furry friends. We listened to author George Hodgman talk about his experiences that led to “Bettyville” and had the opportunity to chat with him. As a community, we investigated the topics and themes of this memoir through discussions, arts, films and lectures. We want to express our appreciation to all of you who attended these events, read the book and shared it with your friends, family, coworkers and book clubs.

Thank you for being a part of this year’s One Read!

Do you have an idea for what book our community should read next? Visit this site or any library branch in November to suggest a book for next year.

For this year’s One Read art exhibit, we asked artists from Mid-Missouri to submit works that explore the Midwestern landscape, rural communities and other scenes from this area. Thank you to all the artists who participated!

At the awards reception on September 13, the following winners were announced. Congratulations to all!

First place:

“Flyover Country,” photography

by Shane Epping

Read More →

National Museum Day is Saturday, September 24th, and the Museum of Art and Archaeology is hosting an open house featuring the portrait exhibition on display in the galleries, with a special museum display of some of Betty Hodgman’s treasures and personal items. These items were provided by One Read author, George Hodgman, and are accompanied by this statement about the collection:

This cabinet of curiosities includes many objects of particular significance to the world of my mother, Betty Hodgman, and to the memoir, Bettyville. The tiny map of Monroe County is a commemoration of the place my mother lived almost all her life, first in Madison, where she was born in 1922, and later in Paris where she resided after 1972.

Betty was not only an avid collector of antiques and old things, she was a conservator of objects important to her family. One of her passions was antique hat pins and she kept small vases full of them in our living room and on the bureau in her bedroom. Note the blue baby shoes hanging from the pins. I discovered these tiny shoes, which I once wore, wrapped in tissue and carefully preserved in our basement after my mother’s death. Read More →