The Great Dust Bowl

A dust storm approaches Elkhart, Kansas, in May 1937

The Great Dust Bowl of the 1930s, exacerbating the pain and suffering of the Great Depression and seared into the consciousness of America by John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and a host of iconic photographs, has long challenged climatologists to account for its intensity and persistence. Now a new study encapsulated in this brief report on “Predicting Droughts With Greater Certainty” in Science Daily adds to our understanding of the causes and conditions of the Great Dust Bowl. It also exposes new avenues for enhancing current climate models by adding depth to the data which grounds their validity.

For more images of Dust Bowl Kansas and neighboring states, visit Kansas State University’s multimedia The Dust Bowl

Summer Reading Program Begins

Today at 10 AM the Haysville Community Library Summer Reading Program for 2009 kicked off with the rousing initial performance by Thad Beach before an audience of 142 enthusiastic kids and 27 parents.

Next week two performances are scheduled: Jo Ho on Tuesday June 9th at 10 AM, and Mad Science on Thursday June 11th at 10 AM.

We hope to see you there.

The Big Move — Day 3

. . . and Continues

. . . and Continues

The Big Move Begins . . .

Volunteers and library staff members began the final inventory and packing of the library for the big move to the brand new Haysville Community Library. Later this week or the next the new shelves should be delivered and assembled. Inventory – a long and involved process – will consume the next two weeks, and as we evaluate, count and assess each and every book in the collection, we’ll also be packing and moving. By the end of the month, we’ll back in operation in our new location.

In the meantime, of course, the Summer Reading Program continues at the old library, as do sales of citywide cleanup permits. For details on these, see the immediately preceding post.

Here’s a little of what transpired at the beginning of our first inventory and moving day: