Did You Know?

Any student at Tecumseh Public Schools is eligible for a special Tecumseh District Library Card. These TPS cards allow students access to all digital materials available at our library:

Overdrive/Libby: ebooks, audio books

MeL (Michigan eLibrary): test prep, science and tech databases, automotive guides and repair, legal

Hoopla: ebooks, audio books, movies, and music

Mango Languages: online language learning program featuring 70 languages

Students must use their Tecumseh Public Schools email address to sign up for the card.

If you already have a TDL card, you won't need this one, as you have access to our digital resources.

Click here to sign up for your TPS Student Digital Card

Questions? Contact us at (517) 423-2238

Find out how to simplify the incredibly complicated process of going through decades of accumulated stuff and preparing to live in a smaller home with decluttering and relocation expert Sharon McRill, author of Downsizing the Silver Tsunami.   Learn how to downsize with minimal stress.   Discover where you should begin, the resources available to you—in terms of people and services— and practical guidelines for going through the process without being overwhelmed. 

Sharon McRill is owner and president of The Betty Brigade, a relocation and organization company based in Ann Arbor.  Laid off from a corporate marketing job, McRill launched The Betty Brigade in 2003 with the goal of helping people live more organized lives.  She now has a dedicated team of 13.  

Visit www.bettybrigade.com for more information. 

This special event will also be streamed on Facebook Live, which can be viewed from the library’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Tecumseh-District-Library-192148050127/.

Learn about the rich history of a modest, one-and-a-half-story farmhouse along the corner of the Old Chicago Road (U.S. 12) and the La Plaisance Pike (M-50) in Irish Hills with Laurie Perkins of the Michigan History Center.  Find out how it became a gathering place where travelers could rest, enjoy a meal or stay the night.  Discover how Walker Tavern became a historic site and part of an 80-acre state park.

Features books highlighting the different colors of the rainbow!

Join Mrs. Reasoner (and her Producers Amanda Fields, George Reasoner and Gina Walmsley)
for TDL's eighth Virtual Story Time on FACEBOOK LIVE on the Library's Facebook page!

Wear your favorite colors of the rainbow!

Designed for 3-year-olds through 2nd graders, but everyone is welcome!

Registration is preferred for first timers so that reminders and info about future programs can be sent!
Click HERE to register and join the mailing list!

CANCELLED

Play bingo to win books and other prizes, have fun and make new friends.  All adults are welcome to play. 

All players will be required to wear masks while in the library.  Social distancing will be practiced.  

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED!

We are reading THE LYING GAME by RUTH WARE. Please come and join us for a spirited discussion.

Their creators meant them to stand as eternal markers to commemorate people and events, but time and the environment erode gravestones and monuments.  During this virtual seminar with David Carter of Carter’s Cemetery Preservation, you will learn how to identify and evaluate the damage to these sentries of the past and how to restore and preserve them for future generations.

Sojourner Truth was born into slavery but possessed a mind and a vision that knew no bounds.  Trace her life from her painful childhood through her remarkable emancipation to her incredible leadership in the movement for rights for both women and African Americans with Michigan Notable writer Gary D. Schmidt, author of So Tall Within: Sojourner Truth’s Long Walk Toward Freedom.

Gary Schmidt is the best-selling author of many books for young readers, including the Newbery Honor and Printz Honor book, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, and the Newbery Honor book, The Wednesday Wars.  He is a professor of English at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Each month’s Teen Book Box will include a surprise library book hand selected for you to borrow, and some treats for you to keep. Register here to order your Teen Book Box.

On the registration form, you’ll answer questions to help library staff select a book tailored to your interests. You'll get an email or phone call once your Book Box is ready to pick up. Then you can stop by the library and pick up your Book Box like any other reserve.

By checking out a Book Box, you agree to be responsible for any fines and fees for late returns or damaged books, just like checking out any other library book.

Please return the book and box by dropping it in the outdoor drop box. Everything else is yours to keep! Returned books will be quarantined for 5 days before being checked in.

Many people in southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio are proud of our motorcar culture and history. And countless others are fascinated by the widespread criminality that was so prevalent in our local region during the Prohibition era. 

Joe Boggs, author of Prohibition's Proving Ground, a book recently published by University of Toledo press, will demonstrate how our region's automobility played a large part in the successes of local rumrunners and the difficulties of dry enforcers. 

Booze, cars, cops, and crime: an interesting mix and a presentation you won't want to miss! 

In 1836, Michigan’s first railroad began operation between Toledo and Adrian. The first trains were pulled by horses. From that humble start, a network covering both of Michigan’s peninsulas grew and prospered. From the mid-1800s to today, mainline railroads have served the state’s industries, and have carried passengers both intrastate and on long-distance journeys. Branch lines and small railroads have served rural areas. While Michigan’s rail network has shrunk in recent decades, the transportation benefit of today’s system continues to be enormous. Five of North America’s eight major railroads operate in Michigan. In this virtual presentation, historian Bill McKnight will discuss railroads of all eras, illustrating them with maps and photos. He will also tell us about Michigan’s logging railroads and car ferries.

This special event will also be streamed on Facebook Live, which can be viewed from the library’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Tecumseh-District-Library-192148050127/.

Would you like to discover how to plan the wedding of your dreams?  Explore practical planning tools with Faythe Emens, owner of Your Big Day Weddings and Events, LLC.  Learn how to prepare the budget, plan the wedding timeline, and source reputable vendors.

Faythe Emens is a certified wedding and event planner. She earned certification in wedding and event planning from the U. S. Career Institute in Fort Collins, Colorado and is also an ordained wedding minister/officiant through World Christianship Ministries.
 

Author Lisa Ludwinski, owner and head baker of Sister Pie, will share her story of her small, but phenomenally successful bakery.  Lisa will talk about her cookbook Sister Pie: The Recipes & Stories of a Big-Hearted Bakery in Detroit, which was featured as one of the Best Fall Cookbooks by the New York Times and as a Michigan Notable Book. 

Play bingo to win books and other prizes, have fun and make new friends.  All adults are welcome to play. 

All players will be required to wear masks while in the library.  Social distancing will be practiced.  

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED!

We are reading THE TWELVE LIVES OF SAMUEL HAWLEY by HANNAH TINTI. Please come and join us for a spirited discussion.

Learn about the role of Chief Tecumseh in the War of 1812 and his legacy in terms of how American history views him and why so many places are named after him with retired educator and park ranger Ron Jones.  Find out about the “immediate” legacy of this war, which includes giving national identity to Americans and Canadians and the national anthem as a result of the battle at Ft. McHenry.  Explore the rise of the Cotton Kingdom, the Monroe Doctrine, Manifest Destiny and the Spanish-American War (1898). 

Learn about Neighbors of Hope Women and Children’s Ministry Center with Cass Hollenbeck, Women and Children’s Ministry Director, and Pastor Steven Palmer, Neighbors of Hope Executive Director.  Find out about the Women’s Fresh Start program, the Good Neighbor Center Campaign 2020, Word Made Flesh podcasts and its vision for growth and development of the center.  Discover ways that you can partner with the center.  

The lecture, Once upon a Time at the Opera House, with author James Berton Harris will address the importance of opera houses to the cultural and community life in nonmetropolitan areas of the country during the Golden Age of Opera Houses (1865-1915). The primary focus will be on three of the over one hundred facilities that Michigan hosted during that period: the Tibbits Opera House in Coldwater, the Calumet Theatre, and the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee. As both the civic and arts center for the community, they were a venue for community meetings, political rallies, concerts, lectures, and theatrical entertainment. Whereas almost every town in the state once had a facility referred to as an opera house, few remain and, of those that do, few are open for business. However, the opera houses in Coldwater, Calumet, and Manistee are still in operation and are still serving their communities as they have for over a hundred years.

J. B. (James Berton) Harris is the author of a 2019 Michigan History Award winning book, Once upon a Time at the Opera House: Drama at Three Historic Michigan Theatres. Presently, he is eagerly awaiting the publication of his most recent literary endeavor, Six Degrees of Betty Grable: A Musical Soap Opera with no Music and just a little Soap.

This special event will also be streamed on Facebook Live, which can be viewed from the library’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Tecumseh-District-Library-192148050127/.

This slide presentation with Dr. Peter Barr, Professor of Art History at Siena Heights University, will look at Adrian’s J. H. Champion House, which is located at 523 S. Winter St.  The virtual presentation will feature both historic and recent photographs of the home’s exterior but will focus on local and national ideas associated with this home in the 1850s, including the shapes and styles of antebellum houses, marvelous new technologies, the projected end of slavery at the time and the surprising link between octagon cottages and bumpy skulls.

Celebrate the music of Elvis and The Beatles with local musician Jill Maria Murdy.  The concert will also include old-time favorites, such as “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around the Ole Oak Tree.”  

Bring your own lawn chair and enjoy the outdoor musical event.  Social distancing will be practiced.  

Award-winning historian and author Peter Cozzens will discuss his new book on Shawnee leaders Tecumseh and his brother, Tenskwatawa.

Cozzens, a retired U.S. Foreign Service officer, will share his thoughts from Tecumseh and the Prophet: The Shawnee Brothers who Defied a Nation.

The book is the Shawnee leader's first biography in at least 20 years; it is also the first to make clear that his misunderstood younger brother, Tenskwatawa, was an equal partner in the last great pan-Indian alliance against the United States.

Author or editor of 16 books on the American Civil War and the Indian Wars of the American West, Cozzens in 2002 won the William R. Rivkin Award, the American Foreign Service Association's highest honor.

This special virtual historical lecture is made possible through the generosity of the Friends of Tecumseh District Library and The Tecumseh Herald.

Retired Lenawee County Homeland Security and Emergency Management coordinator, Curtis Parsons, author of Memories of Mayhem, will share real life stories that occurred over his 40 years of working the streets in Lenawee County as a member of public safety.  Find out about some of the humorous aspects of his career, including the time that teenage pranksters released two dozen chickens into a high school classroom. Get a glimpse into the world of first responders.

Dr. Ashley Bailey of Bailey Family Chiropractic has helped hundreds of headache suffers over the years.  Find out why headaches occur, common causes for headaches and simple tips and tricks for treating and preventing.  You will walk away with hope for finding solutions to better manage your headaches.    

Play bingo to win books and other prizes, have fun and make new friends.  All adults are welcome to play. 

All players will be required to wear masks.  Social distancing will be practiced.  

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED!

Ever wonder why we call it the Indian Crossing Trails?  Discover the legends and lore of this spectacular park as guide Mickey Alvarado leads you on a 2.5-mile kayaking adventure down the River Raisin.

This is a strenuous, rigorous and wet activity.  Participants will have to port their kayaks across a parking lot and up a steep hill.  They will also have to paddle through twists and turns as they maneuver their kayaks through the River Raisin, duck underneath trees and possibly slide over them as well.   

The kayaking tour begins at Tecumseh Paddling Company, 703 E. Chicago Blvd.  Participants will have the opportunity to rent kayaks from the livery.  

Rain date is Monday, July 26th from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Instructor Dixie Andres will discuss awareness and assertiveness skills as well as physical and verbal strategies when faced with unpredictable and potentially dangerous situations.

Dixie, 1st Dan Shotokan Karate, has experience in Tae Kwon Do, Tai Chi and Aikido. 

Sponsored with Blissfield Martial Arts.

Rain date is Wednesday, July 28th from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Find out how to prepare restaurant quality meals at home with Smiling Jim’s Seasonings with local entrepreneurs Jim and Deborah Bliss.  Learn about Smiling Jim’s chili seasoning, a BBQ rub, BBQ sauce seasoning and the hot special blend flavor.  Explore the story behind the beginning stages of this successful area business.

Fifty-two years ago on July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 lunar module “Eagle” put a man on the moon for the first time.  This virtual lecture with Dr. Nicolle Zellner, Chair of the Physics Department at Albion College, will explore Michigan’s many contribution to space exploration, including the astronauts and scientists of the Apollo program who have ties to Michigan, one dating as far back as 1894.

Buying a home is a big deal!  How do you know if you can afford it, how much money you need for a down payment, or if your credit is good enough?  Come get answers to these and other questions from Amy Matteson and Joe Kiser from Old National Bank.

You will be emailed a link to this event, which will be presented on WebEx.

Open Mic Night is an opportunity for local musicians, poets and other talented community members to showcase their skills in front of a relaxed and friendly audience.    

Participants must be 13 years of age or older; performances cannot exceed five minutes.  Artistic expression is encouraged, but all performances must avoid the use of vulgarity in language and actions.  No endorsement of racism, sexism, violence or crime will be permitted.  You provide the talent; the library will provide the amp and microphone. 

Sign-up at the pavilion that night; arrive early to ensure a spot on the list.

Nonperformers are welcome to come and enjoy the local talent.

If you’re a recycler that also needs more plants on the windowsills, look no further!  Soda bottle planters are easy and fun to make and look stunning in your home.  You can customize the planter to your liking, and it is also an excellent way to reduce waste by upcycling old soda bottles. 

If you would like to make a planter with Sonja Downey, Tecumseh District Library’s Supervisor of Circulation Services, during this real time demonstration, you will need the following supplies:

Packing Rope

Scissors

Xacto Knife

Cat-safe House Plants

Gravel/Soil

Assorted Embellishments (silk flowers, ornamental rocks, etc.)

Textiles are one of humanity’s oldest and most influential technologies, yet we take them for granted.  Drawing on her widely praised new book The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World, author Virginia Postrel will take us on a tour of some of the innovations that gave us today’s textile abundance and the ways textiles shaped civilization as we know it.

Virginia Postrel is an award-winning journalist and independent scholar. She is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion and has been a columnist for The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. Her previous books include The Power of Glamour, The Substance of Style, and The Future and Its Enemies. Her research is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.  She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Play bingo to win books and other prizes, have fun and make new friends.  All adults are welcome to play. 

All players will be required to wear masks.  Social distancing will be practiced.  

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED!

Retired Michigan State Police detective lieutenant Clif Edwards, author of Heart Shots: The Shocking True Story of a Dark Day in the Michigan and Indiana State Police, will discuss his coldest case ever, the terror of September 30, 1957, which includes ten hours of terror, nine heroes, five heart shots, three abductions, two widows, and one fatherless son.  During his reconstruction of those horrific hours, he will reveal fascinating information leading to and following that fateful day.

Ever wonder why we call it the Indian Crossing Trails?  Discover the legends and lore of this spectacular park as guide Mickey Alvarado leads you on a 2.5-mile evening tour.  Remember to bring your camera so you can capture the flora, fauna and natural beauty of the Indian Crossing Trails. 

This is an intermediate level trail walk.  Participants can expect areas of steep terrain, possible trail obstacles and Michigan woodlands natural conditions.  Bug spray, appropriate foot gear and bottled water are recommended.

Hike begins at the Burt Street entrance.  Rain date is Thursday, August 26th, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Michigan's Cottage Food Law provides an opportunity for new, small scale food processors to "test the waters" and see if operating a food business is the right fit for them. The law also enables farmers who sell produce at farmers markets and on-farm markets to expand their product lines to include things like baked goods and jams. SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), America’s premier source of free business mentoring and education, will provide an overview of the Cottage Food Law with mentor Mark Williams and discuss opportunities to take advantage of the law’s provisions.

This special event will also be streamed on Facebook Live, which can be viewed from the library’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Tecumseh-District-Library-192148050127/.

Explore the rich history of Tecumseh with local historian Pat Van Camp of Promenade Tecumseh during a historical walking tour of the downtown area. Learn about historical businesses that were featured in Diane Proctor’s book, Beyond the Boulevard. Examine the various architectural styles in town.  Discover the historical significance of the buildings you drive past each day.

The tour begins at Old National Bank, 205 E. Chicago Blvd. Please meet on the front steps.  

Participants are encouraged to bring nonperishable food items for Tecumseh Service Club’s food pantry.

Rain date is Monday, September 13th.

Play bingo to win books and other prizes, have fun and make new friends.  All adults are welcome to play. 

All players will be required to wear masks.  Social distancing will be practiced.  

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED!

Instructor Carol Milne is the lone pioneer in the field of knitted glass. In 2006, she combined her passion for knitting with her love for cast glass sculpture and developed a process for creating glasswork that simulates fiber. In this class, you will discover the world of knitted glass as Carol leads us through the process of lost-wax casting in glass, and along a journey from small-scale, intimate works to larger-scale multi-piece projects.

This special event will also be streamed on Facebook Live, which can be viewed from the library’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Tecumseh-District-Library-192148050127/.