National Family History Month (October)

October is National Family History Month. By way of reminder, we have prepared the video below. We hope you enjoy it and will explore your family history in the weeks and months ahead. Your family is a "treasure trove" of historical information awaiting your exploration.

OverDrive Digital Books at MPL

On October 11, 2010, Mooresville Public Library (Mooresville, Indiana) will be joining OverDrive, the online digital books provider, enabling patrons to check-out and download eBooks using their library cards. Our video below highlights the program:

Baskets From Junior's Farm at Anderson Orchard Autumn Apple Festival (Sept. 25-26, 2010)

Baskets From Junior's Farm graciously donated the prize baskets given away at the library's booth at this year's Old Settlers Festival & Picnic in August. They have a wide range of custom-made, handwoven baskets from which to choose. Check out some of these baskets on Facebook

On Saturday and Sunday, September 25-26, 2010, Baskets From Junior's Farm will have a booth at Anderson Orchard's autumn apple festival. Anderson's is situated along Greencastle Road just a few miles west of Mooresville, Indiana. Stop by if you're in the neighborhood. Around these parts, the fall festivals are wondrous and delightful.

(Photos © 2010 by Samantha M. Buckley. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by Permission.)

Book News (Two Soundtrack Versions)

Mooresville Public Library (Mooresville, Indiana) offers the online readers' advisory service, BOOK NEWS, through its web site. We offer two program trailers promoting the service, each with a different soundtrack. (Both tracks appear on the 2010 music CD Through Abstract Eyes by Danny Buckley, which is available through the composer's website--http://www.dannybuckleycomposer.com-- as well as through the library's music page at Soundcloud.com).

Please let us know which version you like best by either (1) casting your "thumbs up" vote on YouTube or (2) adding a comment to this blog. Thanks for listening!

SOUNDTRACK VERSION #1: "Crystal Rain," by Danny Buckley

SOUNDTRACK VERSION #2: "Sleeping in the Rose Garden," by Danny Buckley

MPL "Got Access?" Library Card Business Discount Program

Mooresville Public Library, in partnership with businesses from Mooresville, Indiana and the surrounding vicinity, has, for several years, spearheaded the "Got Access" library card sign-up program for residents of Brown Township (Morgan County) and others eligible for MPL library cards (e.g., local school staff and students, as well as purchasers of the Indiana State Library's PLAC [Public Library Access Card]). As a charter member of the Evergreen Indiana public library consortium, MPL offers Evergreen Indiana library cards (good at any E.I. public Library), in addition to the MPL-only "Got Access" cards (for eligible non-residents of Brown Township).

Library cardholders receive various discounts from participating businesses when they show their library cards at the time of purchase.

The library has prepared this "program video" about the "Got Access" library card program. For further details, please contact the Library at wecare@mooresville.lib.in.us, visit the MPL website, or call Meghan Adams, MPL Adult Programs Coordinator, at (317) 831-7323.

Hoosier Artists on Display at MPL (Part #2)

Mooresville Public Library presents its second video showcasing artwork on display at the library. The artists in this video hailed from Mooresville and Morgan County, Indiana.

Hoosier Artwork on Display at MPL

We present the first in a series of "treasure trove" history videos showcasing the Hoosier artwork on display at Mooresville Public Library. We feature several artists from Mooresville, Morgan County, and elsewhere in Indiana.

Wii & Video Gaming in the YAZ

Mooresville Public Library (Mooresville, Indiana) offers another program trailer, this time featuring its Friday afternoon Wii & video gaming sessions in the library's Young Adult Zone (YAZ) (3:00-4:45 p.m.). Check the library's calendar at http://www.mooresvillelib.org/ for more details.

MPL Promo (or Program) Trailers

Mooresville Public Library (Mooresville, Indiana) now has a playlist on its YouTube Channel featuring program trailers, which are videos promoting various library programs. To see the videos available on this playlist, click the left and right arrows on the edges of the screen below.

Indiana Ghost Stories (con't.)

In our last installment, we discussed Hoosier author Karl C. B. Muilliwey's book, Haunting at Sycamore Lake. Muilliwey has had numerous encounters with the paranormal, including one possibly out-of-the-body experience (OBE), which could have been clairvoyance, or, arguably, hallucination, although this latter explanation would, in most instances, require a pathological or chemical cause, and none was present in this case. Muilliwey recounts the episode (shown in blue below):

Although I have experienced unexplained paranormal phenomena, I am not psychically inclined. On one occasion, however, I recall awakening from sleep to a level just below complete consciousness. I was unable to open my eyelids, which were closed throughout the experience. Nevertheless, I could see my bedroom clearly. While continuing to be aware that my eyelids were closed, this strange ability to see panned from left to right, observing in complete detail the arrangement of items on the dresser and night stand. I noticed one of my children's photographs on the dresser had been partially knocked over, probably by one of our house cats; I was certain that the frame was not in this condition when I went to bed, as I placed my pocket contents immediately adjacent to the picture. The room was bathed in a bluish-white/grey light, which evenly illuminated the entire room. No lights were on in the bedroom, as I had extinguished them upon retiring; the moon was covered by clouds, so little illumination entered the window when I lay down. It was quite dark in the room when I fell asleep, and I was positive that it was still as dark. But this eerie bluish illumination lit the room brightly enough to have read a printed page.

My peculiar ability to see clearly with my eyes tightly shut continued. As my perception of the room slowly moved, I saw, plainly and vividly, a figure standing in the bedroom doorway. It appeared to be male and as solid as any person in the flesh. He was wearing clothing typical of Hoosier pioneers from the middle 1850s. The type and length of coat, coupled with the buttoning on both coat and shirt, and the style of pants and boots he wore were typical of this time period. (Indiana history is something of a hobby of mine.) He had a satchel that rested at his left hip with the strap extending over his right shoulder. He wore a hat that looked similar to those I had seen in historical photographs from around the Civil War. I was able to note all this in a twinkling.

Then, a powerful wave of fear flooded through me--there was, after all, an unidentified man standing in my bedroom door in the middle of the night--but I felt a weird paralysis over my entire body. With a supreme exertion, my body began thrashing upon the bed, with my legs kicking wildly toward the doorway figure. (I must add that the man stood still and made no menacing gestures or movements. In fact, his facial expression seemed one of curiosity or possibly mild amusement.)

I was now fully awake. The room was almost completely dark, but a small nightlight in the hallway outside the bedroom offered meager illumination. The man in the doorway was gone. Everything appeared as it normally would. Beside me my wife lay asleep and undisturbed by my thrashing about. (My wife could sleep through a tornado lifting the house as it did in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz). I checked the entire house, but there was nobody present apart from my family.

The easiest explanation, of course, is that I dreamed the entire sequence; however, one knows the difference between dreaming and waking consciousness, and my thought processes during this experience were clearly the same as when I am awake. I was cognizant that my eyelids were shut and that I could not open them, but I could still perceive everything around me. Hallucination is possible but unlikely--I have never had an hallucination and have never used illicit drugs--and I was taking no medications at the time of the incident.

So what happened? Many of the paranormal books I have read afford various conceivable explanations, but I have reached no firm conclusions. I know that something extraordinary occurred, but, beyond that, I am open to possible interpretations.

Thanks to Karl Muilliwey for permitting us to reprint his account of this unusual, "ghostly" encounter. As with any good ghost story, we observe that there is an ancient cemetery (dating from the 1840s) a few hundred feet from Muilliwey's home, and several homesteads existed during the time in the general vicinity. It may be worth noting that the burial plots have been disturbed over the years as a result of road and building construction. (Muilliwey considers these points irrelevant to his experience. So do we, but we think it makes a better ghostly tale by mentioning them.)

Indiana Ghost Stories

Local groceries are already stocking Halloween candy, reminding us that October is fast approaching. If you like ghost stories, Indiana has its share of haunted tales amongst its facts and folklore.

Indiana author Karl C. B. Muilliwey has encountered his share of Hoosier ghosts over the past 20 years. Our book trailer below provides a summary of Haunting at Sycamore Lake, one of his books on the paranormal. Another of our blogs, MPL Readers' Advisory, serialized this book in earlier articles. To read the serialization, click this hyperlink and type sycamore lake in the Blogger search line (upper left-hand corner of the screen). This will retrieve only those blog articles discussing the book.

There are basically three types of ghost scenarios: (1) phantasms of the dead; (2) phantasms of the living (sometimes associated with astral projection, or out-of-body experiences [OBEs]); and (3) "things that go bump in the night" (poltergeists). In our YouTube Channel paranormal playlist, we have featured several books on these subjects. Check them out at our YouTube Channel (click the arrows on the right and left sides of the screen below to navigate among the various videos available on the playlist).

One of the "living phantasm" variety of Hoosier ghost tales was related in The Phenomena of Astral Projection, by Sylvan Muldoon and Hereward Carrington (London: Rider & Co., 1951), pp. 186-187. We reproduce the episode from the book below.] If the images below are too small, right-click them and save them to your desktop. Then use a photo viewer or photo editing software to see them at full-scanned size. (If that doesn't work, email billb@mooresville.lib.in.us to request copies emailed to you.)

Boys' Adventure Club

The Youth Services Department at Mooresville Public Library features many delightful, engaging, and informative programs for children and young adults. Our "program trailer" below provides one example: the Boys' Adventure Club (grades K-6), which meets monthly. Adventures await! To register, visit our web site calendar or call Suzanne, Jaymi, or Miriam in Youth Services at (317) 831-7323.

Self-Guided Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Mooresville, IN

Every town has echoes from its past. History is largely the tale of ghosts--facts and folklore about people, places, and things that no longer exist in the same way as before. In a community like Mooresville, Indiana, which has nearly two centuries of history packed away in its attics and cellars, there is much to learn through careful observation.

Take a self-guided walking tour of historical downtown Mooresville, for instance. (That's an imperative, and not a rhetorical, sentence, by the way.) That's what one needs to do to discover the "treasure trove" of intriguing stories available in the old buildings, records, and photographs that comprise the Indiana Room Collection at Mooresville Public Library. Our program trailer below sheds some light on this activity:

Everyone who has ever lived contributed a history that is worth investigating. We probably can't explore them all, but we can take a closer look at the town we call home and learn more about those who came before to help make it the community we know today.

Booked for Lunch Bunch

Mooresville Public Library (Mooresville, Indiana) presents another "program trailer." This time we feature the library's Booked for Lunch Bunch, a group that meets monthly to discuss selected books. For more information, please contact Casey at MPL (wecare@mooresville.lib.in.us) or call (317) 831-7323. Dates are listed on our online calendar.

MPL Computer Software Classes

Mooresville Public Library (Mooresville, Indiana) presents another "program trailer" promoting the library's computer software classes. Visit the MPL web site calendar or telephone (317) 831-7323, for dates and times.

MPL Homework Help Center

Mooresville Public Library (Mooresville, Indiana) presents another "program trailer" promoting the library's homework help center.

Murder Mystery Dinners, Oct. 15-16, 2010

Mooresville Public Library (Mooresville, Indiana) presents its first "program trailer" promoting library programs. This one features the MPL Murder Mystery Dinners (Oct. 15-16, 2010).

Registration is required. Please visit the library's web site calendar at www.mooresvillelib.org to sign-up.

MPL "Banned Books Week 2010" Display

Mooresville Public Library (Mooresville, Indiana) already has its 2010 banned books display up and ready to read! This year, Banned Books Week is Sept. 25 through Oct. 2, 2010. Select a banned book of your choice to read. You have the freedom to choose! Protect it by exercising your right to read what you want.

MPL "Banned Books Week 2010" Video

Banned Books Week is Sept. 25 through Oct. 2, 2010. We offer our video below to encourage viewers to fight censorship by reading the banned book of your choice. Visit your favorite library today to check-out what you want to read. Like all freedoms, this, too, can be taken away by those who wish to control the information we receive. Let no one curtail your right to think for yourself.

Mabel Leigh Hunt, Part 2 (Mooresville Moments Series)

Here is the second installment of the Mooresville Moments (1999) newspaper column about Hoosier children's writer Mabel Leigh Hunt.

MV Moments-Mabel Leigh Hunt 2 -

This completes our reprinting of the Mooresville Moments (1999) newspaper columns written and edited by Wanda Potts, local historian and retired MPL Indiana Room Librarian (1966-2002). It has been our pleasure to reprise these fascinating glimpses of historic Mooresville, Indiana and the surrounding Morgan County area.

Mabel Leigh Hunt (Mooresville Moments Series)

Mabel Leigh Hunt (1892-1971), Hoosier author, was born in Coatesville, Indiana and lived in Greencastle (until age 10) , Plainfield (until her father passed over), and Indianapolis. She attended DePauw University (1910-12), and, in 1923-24, she attended Western Reserve University Library School (Cleveland, Ohio). In 1926 she began her career as a librarian at the Indianapolis Public Library, a position she held until 1938, when she became a full-time writer.

Hunt's best known novel, Lucinda: a Little Girl of 1860 (1934), was partially based upon her mother's experiences growing up among Quaker families. The characters from the book were derived from actual people Hunt and her family knew in Mooresville, Plainfield, and the surrounding countryside of Hendricks and Morgan Counties. Mooresville Public Library has, in its Indiana Room vertical files, a handwritten note from the author indicating the real people from which her novel's characters were drawn.

Our reprint below from Mooresville Moments (1999), written by town historian and retired MPL Indiana Room Librarian Wanda Potts, was the first of two installments about Mabel Leigh Hunt.

MV Moments-Mabel Leigh Hunt 1 -