SFL Prepares for Summer Programming, But Needs Your Help to Make Plans Happen!
ALL POINTS BULLETIN!!! We Need Your Help Again! Summer Reading is fast approaching and that means getting our craft supplies in order for the kiddos. Here’s what we’re looking for so far:
1. Twist off bottle caps like the ones shown in the pictures! All colors welcome. Brands and sources not relevant, these were just examples of the type and size of caps we’re looking for. This is for summer reading crafts, so the sooner we can get them the better.
2. We still need red and white fabric strips (single color or monotone patterns please) of 24″ minimum length. This is also for summer reading crafts. Uncut fabric pieces we can cut into the strips we need is great too! Check those scrap fabric stashes sewers!
Questions or clarifications? Drop in or call us at 785-336-2377! Thank you in advance!
ANNOUNCEMENT (March 28, 2025): There will be no Cooking with Kids the weeks of April 1-11! Stay tuned for updates on the next session!
REPORT (March 27, 2025): Walk into a true Italian restaurant and ask for Alfredo sauce and they will look at you like you have arms growing out of your ears (true story). But ask our Cooking with Kids Crew and they will whip up a Chicken Alfredo from scratch so good it puts Olive Garden to shame! The April 27th class did just that, and with the help of friends and family, facilitator Deb Haverkamp was able to rustle up enough burners and pans to let all of the kids make their own Chicken Alfredo from start to finish. Thanks to our returning kiddos for participating, and a special thanks again to Librarian Deb Haverkamp who makes this program possible and a patron favorite!
REPORT (March 20, 2025): This week’s Cooking with Kids crew hit the spring greens early; not the golf course, mind you, but some dishes worthy of the clubhouse kitchen for sure! Fresh cut veggies and homemade ranch dip, a pea salad (think seven layer salad without the lettuce or bacon), and a baked spinach dip to die for. Deb reports the kids were visibly distressed seeing nothing but vegetables on the prep table to start, but by the end of the session they were loving what they made! Thanks to this week’s crew for joining us, and a special thanks to our facilitator, Deb Haverkamp, who regularly makes this program such a beloved success for the kids!
REPORT (March 6, 2025): The Cooking with Kids crew Marched right into the month of St. Patty’s Day with potatoes aplenty! Twice baked, mashed, and hash browns were on the menu for March 6th’s session. They even had the opportunity to work with golden, red, and russet variations of potatoes and discussed how each type cooks differently, making certain potatoes better for certain recipes or foods. We thank this week’s cooking kiddos for joining us and especially give a special thanks to our practiced professional, Deb Haverkamp, for leading such an informative and practical potato prepping practice!
REPORT (February 27, 2025:) Our last Cooking with Kids session on February 27th, brought the kids back to basics. Biscuit basics, that is. Hand-mixed, butter folded in, rolled out, and cut to form biscuits! And I can say from experience that they were light and fluffy to boot! Thanks to our terrific trio that showed up to the session, and a special thank you to our facilitator, Deb Haverkamp, who does such an amazing job putting the classes together and leading them!
REPORT (February 13, 2025): Thursday, February 13, 2025: Our Cooking with Kids crew really put their hearts into this week’s recipe! They mixed up, decorated, and baked sugar cookie cutouts for Valentine’s Day. Based on the cookies they brought over, it looks like they had a lot of fun designing and decorating their super tasty creations, and they were Gooooood!
Special thanks to our Cooking Kiddos, the parents who get them here, and especially our facilitator, Deb Haverkamp! It’s always an inspiration seeing what Deb and the Kids cook up each class!
REPORT (January 16, 2025): The Cooking with Kids Crew did one mean classic brew with homemade taco soup Thursday, January 16, 2025! They browned their meats, cut up the veggies, and put together a season packet to tingle the taste buds with just the right spice to heat up a cold day. They even shredded their own cheese to top it all off with! We didn’t get many pictures of this session as it was a busy afternoon on the library side and Deb and the kids were occupied cooking away, but they brought this lucky librarian a bowl to try and boy-howdy was it good! Great job kids and special thanks to Deb Haverkamp for bringing this kitchen classic to the kids’ table!
REPORT (January 2, 2025): Our Cooking with Kids Crew started 2025 with a sizzle instead of a bang on Thursday, January 2. Librarian Deb Haverkamp introduced an international favorite to the kiddos and taught them how to make crepes! True to crepe fashion, they then added freshly cut berries and homemade whipped toppings for a light and crisp treat they won’t soon forget. Special thanks to all our kiddos for braving the cold and our parents who came in ahead of the day to sign our new registration forms! Big thanks to Deb Haverkamp for making this extra special class even more special and fun!
REPORT: Librarian Deb Haverkamp brought the Christmas Cheer with holiday music in the background, a Christmas classic on the menu, and a touch of Christmas (TV) Magic to make the time limitations doable. Without any intention involved, the Cooking with Kids crew even managed to make Gingerbread Folks on National Gingerbread Day! Who knew? To kick things off, Deb had the kids make the cookie dough using the recipe as normal. But cutout cookies require a solid hour or more of chill time to ensure they keep their shape after being cut and baked. (Cookies baked without this step tend to spread on the pan while they cook, a positive where peanut butter or chocolate chip cookies are concerned, but not so much for cutouts.) An hour is a long time in kid language and in library programming time. As a very wise woman once said, “Ain’t nobody got time for that.” So Deb premixed a batch of the same cookie dough and chilled it overnight for the kids to cutout and bake without missing a beat! This time-saving magic even gave the kids a chance to practice using a pipette and frosting bag to frost and decorate their cookies! The kids were able to divide up the freshly mixed dough and take it home with them to share their new skills with their families. Thanks to our Cooking Crew for making this such a fun time and special thanks to Deb Haverkamp for making this amazing program possible!
REPORT: Cooking with Kids hit a sweet note in Thursday’s session! Deb Haverkamp gave them a reason to be Thankful for pumpkin as they mixed and baked Pumpkin Cookies! They even made their own almond butter in the food processor and maple cream cheese icing to frost the cookies with. And I gotta tell ya, folks, these cookies were G-O-O-D! They’re like happiness in a tiny baked treat. While they waited for the cookies to bake, our cooking crew did clean up and made pumpkin smoothies. It was originally Deb’s hope to teach the kids how to make pumpkin pie, but sadly, oven limitations and time constraints made it too restrictive to do. Hopefully our young master chefs will get a chance to help with pies over the upcoming holiday! You couldn’t ask for better help than our cooking kids! We look forward to hearing about their culinary adventures when we come back from break in December. Special thanks to our participants, and especially to Deb Haverkamp for making this another awesome event!
Want to give the pumpkin cookies a try? Visit sallysbakingaddiction.com/pumpkin-cookies/ for the recipe! (It’s there, I promise, just go to the print friendly version to get around all the fluff and filler.)
REPORT: This Thursday’s Cooking with Kids brought back breakfast for dinner! (11/7/2024) Deb Haverkamp started the kids off by making home style breakfast burritos with browned sausage, scrambled eggs, and home shredded cheddar topped with fresh cut avocado and salsa. (Take notes, adults, we’ve got kids that can de-stone an avocado like a pro!) Once the first round of dishes were done, the kids went back to work making strawberry and banana smoothies with Greek yogurt, peanut butter, oatmeal, and honey. The kids had a blast and this librarian is lucky to share that the breakfast burritos were awesome and the smoothies were creamy and delicious. Great job, kids! And special thanks to Deb Haverkamp for teaching another installment of this fan favorite program!
REPORT: Thursday’s Cooking with Kids was wickedly wonderful! (10/24/2024) Deb Haverkamp led our cooking crew through how to build a frightfully festive veggie tray and they made their own ranch dip from scratch (without even using a ranch seasoning packet!). Deb said she even plans to use this recipe at home from now on instead of using the season packets, everyone liked it so much. They also made popcorn balls and learned first hand how humidity and temperature variations can impact cooking. Special thanks to Librarian Deb Haverkamp for hosting another fun and educational Cooking with Kids event!
REPORT: Cooking with Kids hit the harvest season running on Thursday, September 26. They made chili cheese dogs in honor of fall sports, apple cake from scratch, and fresh applesauce with zero additives. The kids had so much fun mashing apples in the sieve they didn’t want to go home at the end of the session! Special thanks to Deb Haverkamp for hosting yet another fantastic session of Cooking with Kids! This session, we also extend an extra special thanks to the Knapp family for sharing their orchard fresh apples and inspiring this week’s cooking projects!
REPORT: Deb Haverkamp and the Cooking with Kids crew went full meal prep on September 19. They started with Deb’s daycare-famous goulash recipe, chopped and mixed a classic broccoli salad with real freshly fried bacon crumbles, and topped off the session with toasted garlic bread. This crew could open a restaurant if they had the mind to. They did such an awesome job! It looked great and tasted amazing, as evidenced by the extras they shared with this lucky librarian. Bravisimo, kids! And a special thanks to Deb Haverkamp for hosting yet another fantastic session of Cooking with Kids!
REPORT: Cooking with Kids returned September 12 in the corniest way possible! Librarian Deb Haverkamp and the kids popped into harvest season with all things corn. They started with a baking project and made some amazing cornbread. Next they shucked full ears of corn and boiled them for corn on the cob. Then they learned three different methods for making popcorn which included air popped, machine popped, and stove top popping. Because the kids did such a great job following instructions and keeping up on the cleanup, they even had enough time to practice making oven baked CARAMEL CORN! And let me tell you, I’m not a big fan of most caramel corn, but this lightly glazed batch was pretty darn tasty and had a great texture. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to try it! And you can too with the recipe shared in the images below! Special thanks to Deb Haverkamp for hosting this class and all of our participants who made it possible!
REPORT: Librarian Deb Haverkamp hosted the last summer program session of Cooking with Kids on Thursday, August 8, 2024. The threatened rain held off and the overcast skies made for a perfect day to do another round of campfire cooking! This time they made breakfast with camp sausage patties and pancakes from scratch over wood coals. The kids had a great time and the library took on an aura of camp nostalgia as the smell of burning wood trickled in from outside. It was a great way to wrap up our season of adventure before the kids go back to school for the fall semester. Thank you to our participants, and a big thanks to Deb Haverkamp for providing our young chefs with these amazing experiences!
REPORT: Cooking with Kids met on Thursday, July 25, with Librarian Deb Haverkamp leading the group. Plans had to pivot rather quickly for this session as it was determined that cooking the kids along with the menu items outside would be an unfortunate side effect of the unanticipated spike in heat. Instead, Deb and the kids made snickerdoodle cookies in the community room that came out with a delightfully crisp and airy texture as well as a warm and light flavor! As you can see in the pictures, the kids were eager to add creativity to their culinary skills today. Great job kids! (And thanks for sharing!)
REPORT: Thursday, July 18, 2024’s Cooking with Kids session with Librarian Deb Haverkamp was a summertime home run! The kids took to the campfire again and made Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler! The librarians working the circulation desk were fortunate enough to get to try the results, and I think everyone agrees, the results were super good! Great job kids, and special thanks to Deb Haverkamp for stepping up each session and coming up with fun and exciting new things for the kids to try!
REPORT: Cooking with kids took a turn for the rustic on Thursday, June 20, 2024 as Librarian Deb Haverkamp brought the crew outside for a session of camp cooking! Deb brought in a portable fire pit and set up in the rock parking lot behind the building. She pre-fired a batch of coals to be ready for the kids to arrive. The kids diced onions and peppers while the hamburger browned in the Dutch Oven on the coals. Once the meat was cooked, they added their vegetables and tomato sauce, and finally stirred in some cubed Velveeta. The final result of the Hamburger Corn Casserole looked amazing and it was a great experience for the kids to try a new cooking technique!
REPORT: Thursday, June 13, 2024 the Cooking with Kids crew got one of their biggest wishes fulfilled. They made their own pizzas, with crust from scratch, homemade sauce, and their choice of freshly browned hamburger, sausage, pepperoni and cheese. The aroma coming from the pizza oven was out of this world amazing. Everyone was super excited with this cooking project and it sounded like they had a lot of fun as well!
REPORT: Thursday, May 9 2024 Deb Haverkamp and our cooking with kids crew made fruit pizza!
This is where the gallery would go if our social media guy had remembered to post the pictures he and Deb took from the event. They were some really good pictures. But here’s an example of what the kids made, “borrowed” from the internet instead:
REPORT: Thursday, April 25, 2024 the Cooking with Kids crew made Corn and Black Bean Salsa, fresh Guacamole, and Blackened Fish Tacos. Librarian Deb Haverkamp admitted the kids were a little tentative about the tacos at first, but once they tried them, the majority agreed they were a hit. Going in for pictures early on, the salsa smelled and looked amazing. And you know the kids loved what they made when the circulation desk workers don’t even see any leftovers!
Stay tuned for future Cooking with Kids Sessions with Deb coming up in May. She’s already got the wheels turning on what she wants to do next with the crew!
REPORT: Thursday, April 4th Cooking with Kids featured spaghetti with homemade meatballs and sauce! It looked and smelled amazing. These kids have skills and keep learning new things each time! Special thanks to Librarian Deb Haverkamp for running this program and making it as fun and successful as it is!
As a reminder, we only have a total of 6 spaces for each Cooking with Kids session due to space, safety, and supervision reasons. Slots are filled on a first come, first serve order, as much as we hate having to turn anybody away for a session. Make sure your little chef is signed up well before the class starts. This isn’t a class we can slip in a last-minute addition as much as we might want to.
REPORT: Cooking with Kids had another full turnout on Thursday, March 21, as Librarian Deb Haverkamp taught the class how to make biscuits and gravy from scratch! The kids had a great time working together and Deb reported that the biscuits and gravy were a big hit with everybody. Great job to our chefs in the making and Deb Haverkamp in cooking up a classic this session!
REPORT: Thursday, February 22, Cooking with Kids met for another learning experience in food and fun, this time baking coffee cake and trying out an assortment of smoothie recipes. The entry smelled like fresh baked cinnamon, drawing comments of delight from patrons and librarians alike.
REPORT: Thursday February 8 Cooking with Kids was busy making Ham Loaf, Meat Balls and 7 Layer Salad! Don’t come on these days, if you are hungry, it’s hard to resist the aroma.
Let’s get messy.
The pictures below are from the January 11th class making Chicken Noodle Soup.
Making noodles!Cooking chicken and dicing veggies.Enjoying the results.
Nothing beats fresh fruit as a bright, tasty treat or side dish, but when it comes to food pantry donations, fresh fruit can be hard to get distributed before it goes bad and frozen fruits just aren’t really feasible. That’s why, in April, Seneca Free Library is requesting canned fruit as our Nemaha County Food Pantry focus! You can drop off unopened and unexpired canned fruit or any number of other food and hygiene items right here at the library during our regular business hours: M-Th 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM, Fri 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Sat 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
This is a service we offer the community. The Food Pantry is staffed by volunteers and is open one day a week. Rather than having to remember what day and hours they are open, you can drop your donations by the library and we will deliver them for you! We highlight different items to donate each month just to offer some direction and promote awareness. When everything is needed on a regular basis, it can be helpful to have some guidance.
If you have large donations it is best to deliver them directly to the food pantry. We can help facilitate a drop off time if needed. Call us during regular business hours at 785-336-2377.
Some Important Points to Note:
* The Food Pantry is closed the second Wednesday of every month.
* Paper goods and personal hygiene products are also always needed!
* Opened and outdated products are NOT accepted at the Pantry.
Each Family receives the following items Once a Month.
1 breakfast item
4 cans of vegetables
1 can of beans
1 package of rice
1 pasta and sauce
1 jar of peanut butter
1 box of crackers
2 cans of fruit
1 can of tuna or chicken
2 cans of soup
1 dessert
1 pound of meat.
While we highlight different donation items each month here at the library, the following items are ALWAYS NEEDED:
Paper products [toilet paper, paper towels, Kleenex]
personal products [feminine hygiene, sanitary wipes, etc.]
boxed cereals
oatmeal
pancake mix and pancake syrup
canned vegetables
rice
pasta and pasta sauce
peanut butter
boxed crackers
canned fruit
canned tuna
canned chicken
boxed tuna and chicken helper
canned soups
jello and pudding mixes
cookies
cake mixes and frosting
pie mix
and more!
They also accept laundry detergent, dish soap, shampoo, and bath soap.
If you or someone you know knits, crochets, embroiders, cross stitches, or does handwork with yarns or threads, this initiative is for you! Bring your current projects and work beside fellow stitchers while sharing tips, tricks, techniques, and your love of the craft. Solo crafts are great when you need the personal time for yourself, but sometimes it’s nice to just have somebody to chat with while you do the activities you love (especially when they love them too!).
The next meeting of the Thread Collective will be Tuesday, April 8, 2025 and will run from 6:45 PM – 8:00 PM. We can’t wait to see what you’re working on!
For more information, call the library at 785-336-2377 or stop by the circulation desk!
Sun Sets on MyLibro as Aspen LiDA Takes Over Account Management in April
Our contract with MyLibro will end sometime in April and we are moving to the Aspen LiDA app for our patron account access and management services. Why? Because Aspen LiDA is produced by and linked directly to our library system software, which means big financial savings for us and easier access for you to the features you use most often, including a one stop “shop” to find and place holds on items available on Hoopla, Libby, and on our library shelves.
Download the Aspen LiDA app from your usual app source, pick Seneca Free Library as your local library, enter your library card number when prompted and enter your password (defaulted to your birth date mmddyyyy). If you have Libby and/or Hoopla installed on your device, accessing eContent is as easy as doing a search in LiDA and following the links to the content you crave. It’s really that simple! Questions or concerns, let us know! Drop in at the desk or call 785-336-2377 for assistance or more information!
Seneca Free Library Presents: YOUTH ART SHOW March 12-15 in the main library.
UPDATED MARCH 14, 2025: We were delighted to have such a wonderful turnout in artist entries for this event! We had 13 High School entries, 5 Middle School (grades 5-8), and 8 Elementary School (grades 1-4). Entries ran the gambit from graphite sketches to water colors, color pencils and crayons, scratch art, and even one knitted textile entry!
Our panel of guest judges had a challenge in narrowing the awesome entries down to the top picks in each age group. The Judges Choice Awards went to Laura Deters, 9th – 12th grade, “Calico Cat,” there was a TIE between Anna Jost, “The Piano” and Milo Heinen, “The Pollinator Plot” in the 5th – 8th grade category, and George Winkler’s “Brazilian Toucan” won in the 1st – 4th grades.
Patron’s Choice Awards will be determined by the end of day March 15, 2025. Here’s a quick look at our entries for our friends who couldn’t make it into the library to see them in person.
We’d like to thank all of our participants for sharing their work, our community judges, and everyone who came out to support the youth artists and participate in our patron’s choice awards! This has been a fantastic week here at Seneca Free Library!
Posted March 1, 2025: Submissions are open to Grades 1-12, 1 item per person, original artwork only that has not been submitted or shown before (i.e., if it went to fair last year it doesn’t qualify). We are following some of the suggestions for open class art that will be acceptable at the 4-H Fair. Paint by number kits and other kits are not original works and will not be accepted.
DRAWING AND PAINTING The Drawing or Painting size limit is 18×24 inches. These entries do NOT need to be matted or framed. Colored pencils, crayons, oil pastels, chalk pastels, charcoal, ink, or pencils may be used for drawing. Watercolor, acrylic, oil, and tempera are all acceptable for painting.
3-DIMENSIONAL ART 3-Dimensional Artwork should be no larger than 12x12x12 inches. Acceptable entries include sculpture, ceramics, pottery, metalwork, or woodwork.
TEXTILES Textiles should be limited to a manageable display size. Embroidery, crochet, knitting, and cross stitch are acceptable. Quilted items will not be accepted for this show.
Entries are due March 11 by 7:00 PM on Tuesday, March 11. They will go on display in the library from March 12-15. Artwork will be judged in one of 3 age groups (grades 1-4, 5-8, and 9-12) with prizes awarded to the top picks in two categories, Judges Choice and Patron Favorite.
Stop by the circulation desk or call 785-336-2377 for more details.
NOTE: It should go without saying, but the cover image generated for this posting is for promotional purposes only. AI generated “art” will not be accepted for submission.
UPDATE March 28, 2025: The survey is now closed. Thank you to those who provided their input!
While we were planning our Youth Art Show in March as part of Youth Art Month, we started wondering if we should do one in the fall for our adults also? Maybe even host a gallery night to add some fun and flare to the event? We’re all for it here at the library, but we want to take a pulse on the community interest before we put a lot of time and planning into it.
Follow this link to our survey page and let us know what you think and hope to see in our “Color Our World” programming for adults!
Love, loathe, or leave it, Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and if you’re a kid, odds are it doesn’t have all that emotional baggage and trauma tied to it yet that adults have, so why not make it fun while you can still enjoy it!
Tuesday, February 4, Seneca Free Library is hosting a free Valentine making session for kids grades 1-4, after school from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM. Due to limitations on space, supplies, and staff support, we’ll be limiting the class to 12 participants to ensure a safe, fun, and productive event. The kids will be making two unique card styles to share with someone special.
Preregister your little love-bugs to ensure they have a spot at the craft table! Call 785-336-2377 or stop by the circulation desk!
REPORT: The challenge was made. Six teams answered. Sadly, one team cancelled when the captain got sick the day before. Trivia Night at the Library: Holiday Edition was Friday, December 13. Don we did our gay apparel, oh yes we did, and the player with the most festive garb, Kylee Bergstrom, fa la la’d her way home with a lovely winter popcorn tin. The questions were fun and challenging, the competition was fierce, and two teams rose to the top at the end of 10 rounds. The tie-breaker was determined by the pregame question, “What score (out of 100) do you predict your team will get?” Team 4 was the closest to their prediction, taking home the gaggle of goodie bags, and in some cases reclaiming their champion standing from last September’s Trivia Night. We had a blast Friday night, and we want to thank all of our participants for coming out and joining us in making things merry and bright! Special thanks to our Christmas Queen and Moderator, Kate Haynie, and our Jolly Judge and Score Keeper, Cathy Enneking for all they did to make the night a success! Keep your eyes peeled for future Trivia Night announcements starting shortly after the new year!
