The first time I saw Mr. Mahanna was also my first night working at the Normal Public Library. It was a blisteringly cold December night in central Illinois.

My daughter, Maddy, amazes me with her time management skills. When she has an assignment - preparing for a quiz, for example - she estimates how much time she'll need to master the content. She'll divide up the time by the number of days remaining until the quiz, and use that time promptly after school each day, carefully incorporating both new and review materials.

I have no idea where she gets this from. Not from me, not from her mother.

Last year, there came a point in our Castle Rock renovation when we had to replace the carpet. I figured we'd have to close the library. But Greg Mickells, the Manager of the Philip S. Miller Library, figured out a new wrinkle. When patrons showed up, we offered them a comfy chair, fed them cookies and lemonade, and asked them what they needed. Then we sent in staff to navigate among the roaming bookstacks (which got moved around to free up various parts of the floor) and fetch the items.

It is my pleasure to announce two exciting new literary events in Douglas County.

The first is the "Difficult Gifts" Great Books Seminar, jointly sponsored by the Douglas County Educational Foundation and the Douglas Public Library District. Credit for the idea goes to John Sheehan, a member of the Douglas County School District Board of Education. John recently attended a Great Books Seminar back east. He came back inspired.