Library kicks off 6-week Lincoln bash

Honest Abe couldn't fool 4-year-old Abby Higginbotham.

"That's not the real Abraham Lincoln," she said of the man standing next to her, dressed in a black suit, stove pipe hat and sporting a beard. "Because his beard isn't real."

"Yeah, that, and he would have to be hundreds of years old," Abby's brother, Daniel, 9, added.

Two hundred years, to be exact.

To help celebrate the upcoming bicentennial of Lincoln's birthday in February, Jackson County Public Library is holding a six-week Lincoln @ Your Library event at all three branches, in Seymour, Crothersville and Medora.

Planned activities include book discussion groups, a Lincoln Birthday Bash and presentations on the role of Indiana women in the Civil War and Lincoln's life in Indiana.

A kickoff program Monday night at the Seymour Library attracted a small crowd of young children, teenagers, parents and grandparents interested in learning more about the 16th president of the United States.

"It's something we thought the public would be interested in," Melessa Wiesehan, head of youth services, said. "A bicentennial is a special event that doesn't come around every day."

With President-elect Barack Obama's historic inauguration taking place Jan. 20, Wiesehan said more people are interested now in talking about presidential history.

During Monday's kickoff, children could build log cabins out of Lincoln Logs and make Abraham Lincoln masks, complete with black-yarn beards, as well as play Lincoln themed games. Adults were treated to an informational presentation from Seymour resident Darin Richart, a history major. Richart's brother, Jordan, played the Lincoln lookalike.

Michelle Wood and her children, Eli, 4, and Hannah, 9, made their way to the library to take part in the festivities.

"My daughter saw it in the children's program guide, and we thought it looked like fun," Michelle said.

The family just moved to Seymour from Paducah, Ky., and have an interest in Lincoln, who was born in Kentucky and lived in Indiana before moving on to Illinois.

"We went through the Lincoln museum on our way up here," Hannah, a student at Cortland Elementary School, said.

"We've been to a couple of Lincoln sites in Kentucky, and she's learned about him in school," Michelle added.

As for Eli, "He just likes building things," Michelle said of her son's interest in the Lincoln Logs.

Like last year's Big Read event, which highlighted the book "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan, Wiesehan said the Lincoln celebration is to encourage Jackson County residents to read and start conversations with other people, especially about Lincoln and his ideas.

"He was really a popular president and he's been written about so much for his accomplishments," she said. "There are a lot of connections people make with him. This is just about getting the community to read and sparking that conversation. So far, we've had a pretty good response."

To help foster discussion, the library is giving away free copies of Harper Lee's classic "To Kill a Mockingbird" as well as books for young children and teenagers. Also as part of the event, participants in each Lincoln event can register to win two tickets to Indiana Repertory Theatre's upcoming production of "To Kill a Mockingbird" in Indianapolis.

"To Kill a Mockingbird isn't about Lincoln, but the ideas of freedom and equality, which he stood for, are in the book," she said.

Seymour High School freshman Amanda McIntosh, 14, is a member of the library's Teen Advisory Group and was glad to see Lincoln being remembered and honored in such a way.

"I think it's very educational," she said of the program. "So he was alive 200 years ago, it's still important to learn about him and what he did, especially in helping free slaves."

Chantel Elmore, 18, who works at the library, agreed.

"It's important that the community get involved with things like this," she said.

Lincoln at the library
Seymour Library
Book discussion groups
Freedom Readers open to grades 5-9
Jan. 26, 5:30 p.m.
"Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis

Read with Friends open to grades K-2
Feb. 11, 4 p.m.
"Abe Lincoln's Hat" by Martha Brenner and Donald Cook

In-B-Tweens open to grades 3 and 4
Feb. 18, 4 p.m.
"Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books" by Kay Winters and Nancy Carpenter

Fantastic Fictioneers
Jan. 16, 11 a.m.
"To Kill a Mockingbird," by Harper Lee
Feb. 20, 11 a.m.
"Amistad: The Thunder of Freedom" by David Pesci

Special discussion of "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, open to adults and teens
Jan. 19, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 5, 5 p.m.

Teen Advisory Group book discussion of "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, open to grades 5-12
Feb. 3, 4:30 p.m.

Programs
At Home And In Harm's Way: A Story Set to Music
The Role of Indiana Women in the Civil War, open to all with a limit of 50
Feb. 7, 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Presented by award-winning storyteller Sharon Kirk Clifton and fiddler Eli Wullenweber. Light refreshments will be served. Registration required by Feb. 1.

James Madison Presents Indiana's Abraham Lincoln
Learn About Lincoln's Life in Indiana, open to all
Feb. 8, 2 p.m.
Registration required by Feb. 1.

Crothersville Library
Adult book discussion group
Jan. 21, 6 p.m.
"The Lincoln Nobody Knows" by Richard Current
Feb. 18, 6 p.m.
"To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

Program
Lincoln's Birthday Bash, open to ages 5-11
Feb. 12, 4-5 p.m.

Medora Library
Special Lincoln activities for Medora Elementary School, open to grades K-5
Feb. 2-6