At the Mifflin County Library, there are many exciting things happening.

Book group meets each month and is for grown-ups. The November Book is “The Book of Lost Friends” by Lisa Wingate. If you are interested in joining book group, come even if you haven’t read the book. “The Book of Lost Friends” is a historical fiction novel about three young women in search of family members after the destruction and displacement of the Civil War. One of the women is Hannie, who was taken away from her mother and siblings before slavery’s end, who is hoping her family is still alive. This book is based on true events and on newspaper advertisements at the time of individuals, especially freed slaves, in the South desperately searching for loved ones.

Book Group takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 5:30 p.m. at the Kish Library in Belleville, and on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 2:30 p.m. at the Lewistown Library.

More information about upcoming events can be found on the library’s website.

Another new feature on the library’s website is Staff Picks. This is a “dropdown” that can be found under the Books tab. If you are interested in learning more about what books the library staff are reading or if you want to read something new, look at Staff Picks. This is a feature that we hope patrons will find useful. We’ve just started in October so there aren’t very many books listed. A brief synopsis of the book is included.

Mifflin County Library is also participating in the Festival of Ice. You can look for us on Thursday, Dec. 4 and Friday, Dec. 5 in the evening, between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. at Square One Clubhouse. The entire family or group will be able to enjoy playing a life-sized game of Candy Land. The individual is the game piece, everyone needs to take turns, and whoever reaches the end wins. It will be loads of fun. Did you know that Candy Land was created in 1948 as a way to entertain and comfort children who were hospitalized with polio?

Library staff will help keep the game in play. Check the Festival of Ice schedule for more information. The library will be open normal hours.

The library continues to be an IdentoGo enrollment center for fingerprints for employment purposes. The library now offers a self-serve kiosk instead of library staff helping to roll fingerprints. The library became an enrollment center in order to fill a community need. Most everyone who works with children are required to have clearances run through the IdentoGo service.

In return for offering this service, the library receives a stipend, which now is reduced due to the change to the kiosk. That’s just the way things go nowadays. This new way of doing things isn’t necessarily better. In fact, it can be quite frustrating for library patrons who need to be fingerprinted and for library staff alike. Having the kiosk has not been without a learning curve. It’s been quite the challenge for library staff. But we appreciate your patience. To schedule an appointment to have your clearances run, visit the library’s website and click on the fingerprint graphic.

Check out our website to see what other services are available.

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Susan Miriello is the Executive Director of the Mifflin County Library. You can call the library at (717) 242-2391. Kish Library’s phone number is (717) 935-2880. Visit the library website at www.mifflincountylibrary.org.