Saturday, March 12, 2011

Pilgrimage to Gettysburg

Re-enactors at Gettysburg
The Ligonier Valley Library's Pennsylvania Room is gearing up for the 2011 Historic Photography Show that will be on display from May 3 thru May 31. This year's show, "Ligonier Valley Goes To War, 1861-1865: The American Civil War," commemorates the 150th Anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War.  Among the programs being offered is an all-day bus trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on Friday, May 13.

Travel the historic battlefields of Gettysburg and witness history come alive through the eyes of a Gettysburg National Military Park Licensed Guide. Your visit will include the Gettysburg Cyclorama, the Film "A New Birth of Freedom" and the Gettysburg Museum of the Civil War, all at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center, a guided Battlefield Tour, a tour of the David Wills House, a box lunch, dinner at the Dobbin House Tavern, RT transportation, meal gratuity, and taxes.  The bus will depart on Friday, May 13, from St. James Lutheran Church (West Main Street, Ligonier) at 6:00 am.

Pennsylvania Monument
The cost for the trip is $99 per person. Download a Reservation Form & Trip Itinerary here (by clicking on the link) or pick up a copy at the Ligonier Valley Library.  

Please return the reservation portion of the form and your payment to the Ligonier Valley Library no later than Saturday, April 9. Please make checks payable to the Ligonier Valley Library.


Living in Ligonier, where we are surrounded by history and the importance our town played in the French & Indian War, we are often left wondering if any place can possibly be as meaningful or spectacular. Gettysburg is such a place. A quiet and beautiful countryside that bears witness, with stunning memorials, to the Civil War. The Pilgrimage to Gettysburg will be a wonderful way to experience this piece of history, both for those who have been before and especially for those who have not.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Spring into Decluttering


The weather is gradually becoming warmer and sunnier; and rain showers are beginning to replace those pesky ice and snow storms. Spring brings with it an urge to throw open the windows and clean away the winter cobwebs. It also inspires a desire to declutter our lives and our homes.

Over the years, we have managed to collect a lot of treasured objects d'art, for example: the finger painting that your child created when he or she was 5 years old (you know, the one you still have 20 years later). We keep things that at the moment seemed tremendously important. Spring sheds a new light on these items, making us reevaluate their importance. Your local library or used bookstore can help you find new homes for the nice books you've collected. (Visit our Re-Readables Bookstore page to learn more about donating to our used bookstore.)

Organizing and decluttering your life and home can be a tremendous and overwhelming process, and often the urge to do so only lasts so long.

Check your library system for books on decluttering.  These books will not only teach you how to effectively perform the task, but they will offer ideas and provide actual, proven methods that will keep you from re-cluttering. Here are a couple you can find at the Ligonier Valley Library:

Or, of course, you can do like the rest of us - borrow a new fiction book and take a trip far away from the clutter!  After all, you only have 2 weeks to read the book, and you can't possibly clean and read at the same time.  Can you?

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

"Read Across America" Celebration


Help the Ligonier Valley Library create our "Cat in the Hat" Reading Chain!

As part of the "Read Across America" celebration, our library is making a "Cat in the Hat" Reading Chain. You can help us by writing your name, the author and title of the books you read on a paper chain link (available in the Children's Department). The event continues through March 31.

Our "Reading Chain" will then be connected to chains made by readers at other libraries - and linked across America!