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Library Blog

Running in Circles

January 12, 2023 by kmerwin Leave a Comment

A Bold New Economy at the Gold Mine 

By Craig Barry, Managing Director, Gold Mine Stores

Roughly 15,000 vehicles roll through the alley behind the The Gold Mine thrift store each year donating roughly 225,000 items— from vintage ski pants to flat screen TVs to Waterford crystal goblets. We triage the donations, sort, cull, price, and put the best-of-the-best of them on the floor for sale. Purchases from the Gold Mine help support the programs, classes, and collections at The Community Library, as well as employing 17 people, and supporting an icon of the local community (est. 1955).  

When you donate something to The Gold Mine, you’re doing much more than clearing out space in your closet or garage. When you purchase something from the Gold Mine, much more than a “screaming good deal” is happening.  

You’re helping change the world, one ski hat, one coffee maker, one cashmere sweater at a time.  

Recycling is a concept or practice with which we all feel pretty comfortable. Recycling, however, is often misunderstood, and over the past several decades has increasingly shown its age. 

A new era in thinking has emerged in how we should better address consumption … Enter the circular economy.

The ubiquitous chasing arrows represented how we, as consumers, were supposed to approach the material objects in our lives. These arrows depict how we should first and foremost: 

  • “reduce” the amount of materials needed; 
  • “reuse” those items that find their way into our lives;  
  • and finally once we’re finished with something, “recycle” what’s left. 

Yet reduction is often overlooked, reuse is often conflated with recycling and true recycling works for a limited set of items. What kicked off in the 1980s as means to interrupt a linear progression of materials – extraction, manufacturing, consumption to ultimately disposal or landfilling – is now a firmly rooted, if not somewhat weathered, vestige of a decades old perception of how to save the planet. 

That was then; this is now. A lot has changed. 

We’ve realized that recycling is actually pretty challenging—and even more so in rural areas like ours.  We’ve realized that recycling does a great job with certain materials (aluminum, cardboard, office paper) but not for all (mixed paper, plastics). Most importantly, we’ve realized that this approach to the complicated way that our society uses materials is oversimplistic and ultimately inadequate in addressing increasingly more serious climate concerns. 

Far from the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” paradigm that kicked off in the 1980s, a new era in thinking has emerged in how we should better address consumption. Instead of trying to moderate a linear system, it wants to entirely shift this paradigm to a circular system.  

Enter the circular economy. 

This shift seeks to meld the world of finite material resources with the world of renewables such as energy and biodegradable items including compost and food waste. 

Conceptually, the circular economy looks to repudiate longstanding linear models. These linear models all relied on an assumption that there was always somewhere else materials could go (just throw it away) and that there would always be an amount of finite materials to feed our economy. Neither of those assumptions are true and, as the years advance, seem more and more absurd. Whether it’s water, oil, clean air, or lithium, it’s clear that we have been increasingly taxing our resources and that this trend shows no sign of abating. 

The circular economy seeks to change all that by introducing a new way of thinking for renewables and materials. It is based upon three basic principles that are rooted in “smart design”:  

  1. Elimination of waste and pollution by breaking the “take-make-waste” system 
  1. Preserve products and materials at their highest value by fostering greater circulation 
  1. Regenerate nature by designing products to return to a natural or biodegradable state 

It’s much more than “keeping items out of the landfill.” It’s about acknowledging that these items possess intrinsic value that are worth much more than they would have been if they were disassembled and recycled or landfilled.

So what might all this have to do with our community? Thrifts, such as the Gold Mine, the Attic, Barkin, and the Building Thrift, are all squarely aimed at principle #2 – preserving products at their highest value. It’s much more than “keeping items out of the landfill.” It’s about acknowledging that these items possess intrinsic value that are worth much more than they would have been if they were disassembled and recycled or landfilled. Moreover, our secondhand stores are not only reusing items but they are reusing items that come from the community itself. It is not unusual for items to circulate through the Gold Mine several times, renewing its value at each cycle. Ideally, these items would also be manufactured here (think Jytte hat) but by recirculating items locally we help bolster this circular economy.  

Could we do more? Sure. In addition to promoting more reuse, we can also look towards prolonging the usefulness of items by properly maintaining and repairing them. Why buy a new vacuum when you could repair this one? We could also look at strengthening our sharing economy. Why own a drill that sits idle 95% of the time when you can borrow one? These are all areas in which we could expand our services and areas that would help strengthen our circular economy.  

So next time you’re looking to “recycle” clothes, gear, housewares, etc. at the Gold Mine, remember that you are doing so much more than “recycling.” You are recognizing that your items possess more value in their present form than they could ever have being recycled or landfilled. Just as our donors help stock our store, our customers help complete that circle with their purchases. They not only provide much needed funds to support worthy causes, but they are also helping to shift our economy in more sustainable and circular directions. 

Filed Under: Library Blog

Best Reads of 2022

January 9, 2023 by kmerwin Leave a Comment

Our Librarians have scoured the stacks to curate a list that will help you find your next great read. Drumroll please!

Download a printable version here.

General Fiction

  • All Good People Here | Ashley Flowers | FICTION Flowers
  • The Angel of Rome: and Other Stories | Jess Walter | FICTION Walter
  • Anywhere You Run | Wanda Morris | FICTION Morris
  • Black Cake | Charmaine Wilkerson | FICTION Wilkerson
  • Atomic Anna | Rachel Barenbaum | FICTION Barenbaum
  • Brother Alive | Zain Khalid | FICTION Khalid
  • Demon Copperhead | Barbara Kingsolver | FICTION Kingsolver
  • Eleutheria | Allegra Hyde | FICTION Hyde
  • French Braid | Anne Tyler | FICTION Tyler
  • How It Went: Thirteen Late Stories of the Port William Membership | Wendell Berry | FICTION Berry
  • Lessons | Ian McEwan | FICTION McEwan
  • Lessons in Chemistry | Bonnie Garmus | FICTION Garmus
  • The Latecomer | Jean Hanff Korelitz | FICTION Korelitz
  • The Lioness | Chris Bohjalian| FICTION Bohjalian
  • Love in Defiance of Pain | Aly Kinsella et al | FICTION Kinsella
  • The Marriage Portrait | Maggie O’Farrell | FICTION O’Farrell
  • Memphis | Tara M. Stringfellow | FICTION Stringfellow
  • The Passenger | By Cormac McCarthy | FICTION McCarthy
  • Properties of Thirst | Marianne Wiggins | FICTION Wiggins
  • Shutter | Ramona Emerson | FICTION Emerson
  • Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm | Laura Warrell | FICTION Warrell
  • Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow | by Gabrielle Zevin | FICTION Gabrielle
  • The Town of Babylon | by Alejandro Varela | FICTION Varela
  • True Biz | Sara Novic | FICTION Novic
  • Trust | Herman Diaz | FICTION Diaz
  • The Winners | Frederick Backman | FICTION Backman
  • White Horse | Erika T. Wurth | FICTION Wurth
  • Violeta | Isabelle Allende | FICTION Allende

Mystery & Crime

  • Alias Emma | Ava Glass | FICTION Glass
  • Lavender House | Lev A. C. Rosen | MYSTERY Rosen
  • Killers of A Certain Age | Deanna Rayborn | MYSTERY Rayborn
  • The Maid | Nita Prose | MYSTERY Prose
  • Moon Bones: A Nellie Burns and Moonshine Mystery | Julie Weston | MYSTERY Weston

Science Fiction/Fantasy

  • All the Seas of the World | Guy Gavriel Kay | SCIFIC KAY
  • Fevered Star | Rebecca Roanhorse | SCIFIC ROA
  • The Kaiju Preservation Society | John Scalzi | SCIFIC SCA
  • A Prayer for the Crown-Shy | Becky Chambers | SCIFIC CHA
  • The Singing Hills Cycle | Nghi Vo | SCIFIC VO
  • The Spare Man | Mary Robinette Kowal | SCIFIC KOW
  • Where it Rains in Color | Denise Crittendon | SCIFIC CRI
  • The World We Make | N. K. Jemisin | SCIFIC JEM

Nonfiction

  • An Immense World | Ed Yong | 591.5 YON
  • Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus | David Quammen | 614.592 QUA
  • Freezing Order | Bill Browder | 332.6 BRO
  • Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America | Juan Gonzalez | 973.046 GON
  • In Sensorium: Notes for My People | Tanwi Nandini Islam | 973.049 TAN
  • Into the Great Emptiness: Peril and Survival on the Greenland Ice Cap | David Roberts | 919.82 ROB
  • Kingdom of Characters: The Language Revolution that Made China Modern | Jing Tsu | 495.11 TSU
  • The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy | Moiya McTeir | 523.113 MCT
  • The Mind of a Bee | Lars Chittka | 595.799
  • Morgenthau: Power, Privilege, and the Rise of an American Dynasty | Andrew Meier | 973.049 MEI
  • Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas | Jennifer Raff | 576.58 RAF
  • Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World | Irene Vallejo Moreu | 002.09 VAL
  • Picasso’s War: How Modern Art Came to America | Hugh Eakin | 709.2 EAK
  • Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution | Eric Jay Dolin | 973.35 DOL
  • The Sewing Girl’s Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America | John Wood Sweet | 345.73 SWE
  • Silent Spring Revolution | Douglas Brinkley | 363.73 BRI
  • Solito | Javiet Zamora | 92 ZAM
  • South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon | Perry Imani |917.504 IMA
  • Tanqueray | Stephanie Johnson | 792.78 JOH
  • These Precious Days | Ann Patchett | 814.54 PAT
  • The Trayvon Generation | Elizabeth Alexander | 305.89 ALE
  • Uncommon Measure: A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time | Natalie Hodges | 781.43 HOD
  • Wild New World: The Epic Story of Animas and People in America | Dan L. Flores | 591.97 FLO
  • Year of the Tiger | Alice Wong | 92 WON

Filed Under: Library Blog

Book Review: Joyful Noise

December 29, 2022 by kmerwin Leave a Comment

Children’s and Young Adult Library Director, Deann Campbell, recommends Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman.

Before reading Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman, I had enjoyed poetry—loved it even. But I had mostly read poetry. This is not a collection to be read, it is a collection to be performed… with someone else. After all, these are poems for two voices.  

The first poem of the collection may have given me goosebumps. Mostly, I remember how clever it was: Grasshoppers hopping, hatching out, into spring, hopping, leapfrogging, longjumping grasshoppers. Plus, there was the back and forth of the readers voices and rhythm and cadence that I’d never heard with poetry. These poems have a sing-songy element melded with the characteristics of insects and the rhythm of words, and hopping, striding, flying insects. The poems all focus on insects: Moths, Mayflies, Cicadas, Water Striders, Fireflies, Bumblebees.  

There is a click clackety and a back and forth-ness to the poems. A joy in reading and reciting. Together, these poems for two voices make a joyful noise.  

The poems are clever, funny, spry, and sometimes somber. The illustrations, too, are wonderful. In them Eric Beddows gives life, whimsey and accuracy to the starring characters. On the cover is a beautiful and accurately drawn butterfly who, upon closer inspection, taps a tambourine.  

The true joy, however, is in reading the poem with a partner or friend. While not difficult, it may take a little practice before the poems are performance worthy. There is a knack to time the lines that you say alone and the lines that are spoken in chorus. There is a click clackety and a back and forth-ness to the poems. A joy in reading and reciting. Together, these poems for two voices make a joyful noise.  

Note: This book was the recipient of the 1989 Newbery Medal. The Newbery Medal recognizes “The most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.” The Newbery Award and Caldecott, the two most prestigious awards in Children’s Literature each year, will be announced in January.  

Filed Under: Library Blog

Book Review: Crying in H Mart

December 23, 2022 by kmerwin Leave a Comment

Circulation Manager Pam Parker recommends Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Dinner and a Movie? Or, Noodles and a Book? 

When she’s not fronting her indie-pop band, “Japanese Breakfast,” Michelle Zauner has a side gig. She’s an author—and Crying in H Mart (2021) is Zauner’s best-selling debut about finding solace in an unusual place, the Asian market known as H Mart.

“It’s a beautiful, holy place,” she wrote about H Mart in The New Yorker essay by the same title that spurred a book deal with Knopf publishing. The book has also been optioned as a major motion picture, and Michelle is writing the screenplay. Meanwhile, her musical career has blossomed into a third album, Jubilee (2022), which has been Grammy nominated.

The story explores the unexpected death of her mother shortly before the younger Zauner is jettisoned into pop-star status in 2014. The circumstances forced the budding musician to deal with both grief and rising fame simultaneously. 

In a reversal of heart, Michelle fully embraces her duality as Korean and American after her mother’s death. In H Mart, she reminisces about certain brands and ingredients that carry meaning and memory.

Comfort foods–specifically myriad Korean dishes–take front row during this process. Cold Radish Soup (dongchimi), spicy fried chicken (yangnyeom), kimchi (samgyupsal), and her mother’s favorite noodle soup (jjamppong) are some of the dishes that flavor her recollection of her childhood growing up in Eugene, Oregon, and visits to stay with her Korean grandmother in Seoul.

Michelle studied creative writing at Bryn Mawr, a liberal arts college for women on the East Coast. Her mother was not supportive of the choice nor of her ambitions to be a musician, and their relationship was admittedly strained. “My mother was always trying to shape me into the most perfect version of myself.” Even though her mother, Chongmi, was often critical of her daughter, Michelle recognizes that they were very close even when they disagreed.

When leaving the hometown of Eugene for college on the East Coast, Chongmi’s parting words for Michelle had been, “So you want to be a starving musician…then go live like one.” And, she did. But when Chongmi falls ill, Michelle races back to Eugene to help with her care, putting her fledgling music career on the backburner. Ironically, it is not until Chongmi’s death that her break comes as her band “Japanese Breakfast” starts to take off in popularity and commercial success.

Throughout the process that is Chongmi’s illness, Michelle fears losing her Koreaness if her mom dies. As a typical American teenager, she had aimed to fit in with the cool crowd—yet, after being bullied by a popular girl about her race, she doubled down on how not to stand out. She confesses to pretending not to have a middle name, which is Chongmi (after her mother), to play down her heritage. 

In a reversal of heart, Michelle fully embraces her duality as Korean and American after her mother’s death. In H Mart, she reminisces about certain brands and ingredients that carry meaning and memory. And, after the funeral, Michelle returns to Korea with her husband Peter for their honeymoon, a decision that seems to seal it as a place of ongoing significance to her as her mom was so hopeful for.


Crying in H Mart is a dutifully painful recounting of a young adult’s struggle to define herself in the shadow of a loved one’s terminal illness. Michelle delves into her difficult family dynamic with rare candor—at times, we wonder how she manages to overcome the challenges. A healthy serving of Chongmi’s determination plays a role. But it’s the daughter’s growing wisdom and self-confidence that carry her through and give her the boost to a happiness on her own terms.

Filed Under: Library Blog

Rear View: A Horse in the Casino Club

December 23, 2022 by Kelley Moulton Leave a Comment

By Mary Tyson, Director of Regional History

A horse in the Casino Club? Meh, not a problem for the Casino gamblers. They are clearly too engrossed in the table game to pay much attention to the man or his horse. This photo is a good snapshot of small-town nightly entertainment that was popular across America in the 1930s and 40s, with the exception (maybe) of the horse and rider.  

In Idaho, each town had jurisdiction over the local gambling laws. Ketchum allowed table games, poker, and roulette, as well as slot machines. The game table behind these players is hard to see. We can’t see the game either, but it is likely roulette.  

Sun Valley Resort, which opened in 1936, did not allow any gambling. Their guests would come a mile down the road to the Ketchum clubs to gamble and drink late into the night with sheep ranchers and other locals. 

The Casino as we know it today was built in 1926 by Elmer Ebbe with logs cut from Baldy. At first it was a hotel and then its next owners, the Werry family, turned it into a casino and bar in the thirties. Along with the Sawtooth Club, it is one of the oldest running bars in Ketchum.  

Filed Under: Library Blog

Book Review: “You Need a Budget”

December 12, 2022 by kmerwin Leave a Comment

Buffy McDonald, Reference Librarian, recommends You Need a Budget by Jesse Mecham.

As the holiday season draws near, it is a good time to take stock and think of the things you are grateful for: relationships you have, goals you’ve accomplished, etc. Maybe a personal financial plan or savings goals aren’t at the top of your list, but they could be. Developing a financial plan that helps you to live the life you want could be one of the most wonderful things you do for yourself and something you will be grateful for all year long. If I have piqued your interest, consider reading You Need a Budget by Jesse Mecham.

Are your money decisions in line with the life you want to be living? What do you want your money to do for you? Thinking of budgeting in this way is a lot different than how we normally think about it. A budget is actually a way to help you plan for the things you really want – a way of letting your priorities drive your financial choices. Start now funding the life you really want by reading this book and applying its four rules.

Are your money decisions in line with the life you want to be living? 

The magic in the four rules this book describes: The first rule is to give every dollar a job.  Meaning, as soon as any money comes into your life, whether it is a paycheck or a gift, you decide where you want it to go. It could be to help pay for your mortgage or rent, food, emergency savings, or something else. So, for every dollar that you have right now, “give it a job”. Earmark it for whatever it is you want to spend it on or save it for later. 

The second rule is to embrace your true expenses. Prepare a little bit at a time. This rule includes acknowledging that the holiday season comes every year. And, if you save in monthly installments for the amount you want to spend on gifts, the money will be there when you need it. This is also true for auto maintenance and repairs, post office box rentals, clothes, athletic gear, home improvements, etc. The trick is to save money every month to cover all of your expenses – your “true expenses”.

Next comes “roll with the punches”. This is a reminder that life does not always go as planned. Maybe inflation has increased how much you spend on food and gas. Having a budget will help you see clearly how much money you have and how much you need. If you need to spend more on food and gas, then take money from lower-priority categories in your budget or consider other alternatives. This rule gives you flexibility in your spending. As long as you keep moving toward your goals, you are succeeding.

…this is also the moment you have stopped living paycheck to paycheck

Finally, the fourth rule is to age your money. (The first three rules help you to accomplish this fourth one.)  This fourth rule is the essence of saving for the unknown. Aging your money simply means that when you have money coming in, you are not spending it as quickly as maybe you once did. You are “aging it”. You are increasing the time that passes between receiving your money and spending it. And by doing so, you are increasing your financial security and flexibility. An example: you are halfway through the current month, and you have already saved all the money you will need (including true expenses) to pay next month’s bills by the first of the month. In this case, you have aged your money at least 30 days. And happily, this is also the moment you have stopped living paycheck to paycheck. Congratulations!

I hope this book will help ease some of your financial stress.  I know it has for me.

Happy reading!

Find You Need a Budget in eBook Here.

Filed Under: Library Blog

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