Happy New Year!

Loudoun County Public Libraries will be closed January 1 and 2. Happy New Year from the staff of Lovettsville Library!

Happy Thanksgiving Day!!

Library will be closed on November 27th and 28th to observe Thanksgiving. Have a happy one from the staff at the Lovettsville Library!!

Here is a little tidbit about Thanksgiving from our History Resource Center database, which can be used for any history project for kids or adults. Click here to visit our database page.

A national holiday in the United States since 1863, Thanksgiving has come to play a number of important roles in popular culture. It was customary in Europe to hold days of thanksgiving both for successful harvests and for events such as military victories, deliverance from plagues, and royal births. The date and site of the first Thanksgiving in what is now the United States are still debated, but the most famous in pre-independence times was that held in October, 1621 in the Plymouth Colony. There, European immigrants, "the Pilgrims," and indigenous Wampanoag Indians celebrated the harvest season with feasting that included the dish that would become a traditional part of the day: turkey. Throughout the colonial era, days of thanksgiving were common, especially in New England, but not universal or regular. Although national days of thanksgiving were proclaimed by the Continental Congress in 1777 and by President Washington in 1789, there was no great clamor for an annual festival until the nineteenth century.

Credit for the establishment of Thanksgiving Day as a nation-wide holiday must go to Sarah Josepha Buell Hale, the editor of an influential women's magazine (and author of "Mary Had a Little Lamb") who lobbied legislatures and presidents from 1827 on. In 1863 Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a day of "thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens," and since then it has been an annual celebration, though the date has varied. From 1939-1941 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in response to the complaints of businessmen that there was insufficient shopping time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, proclaimed Thanksgiving to be the third Thursday in November. This, however, created conflicts with the dating of the holiday in many states which had their own Thanksgiving legislation, so Congress in 1941 passed a joint resolution decreeing that the observance should fall on the fourth Thursday of November.

"Thanksgiving." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. 5 vols. St. James Press, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/

Halloween Fun @ Lovettsville Library

Halloween is over but the Lovettsville Library had a blast with their activities last week, so we wanted to share the photos with you.

Library Closed for Columbus Day

Here is an excerpt from one of our databases, WorldBook Online, as to why we celebrate Columbus day:

Columbus Day honors the first voyage to America by the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus. Columbus first sailed to America from Spain in 1492. Columbus Day became a legal federal holiday in the United States in 1971. It is celebrated on the second Monday in October.

The first Columbus Day celebration was held in 1792, when New York City celebrated the 300th anniversary of the landing. Columbus Day has been celebrated annually in the United States since 1920. Although the land Columbus reached was not named after him, many other places are. For example, the Republic of Colombia in South America and the District of Columbia in the United States both bear his name.

Many Latin American countries celebrate October 12 as the Dia de la Raza (Day of the Race). It honors the Spanish background and culture of the peoples of Latin America.

"Columbus Day." World Book Kids. 2008. [Lovettsville Library.] 6 Oct. 2008 .

Library Closed for Labor Day

Here is some interesting information about the history of Labor Day, from one of the databases we offer, World Book Online:

Labor Day is a holiday honoring working people. It is observed as a legal holiday on the first Monday in September throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada. Labor organizations sponsor various celebrations, but for most people it is a day of rest and recreation. The holiday also has become a symbol of the end of summer. In Australia, Labor Day is called Eight Hour Day, and it commemorates the successful struggle for a shorter working day. In Europe, Labor Day is observed on May 1.

Two men have been credited with suggesting a holiday to honor working people in the United States—Matthew Maguire, a machinist from Paterson, New Jersey, and Peter J. McGuire, a New York City carpenter who helped found the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. Both men played an important part in staging the first Labor Day parade in New York City in September 1882. In 1887, Oregon became the first state to make Labor Day a legal holiday. President Grover Cleveland signed a bill in 1894 making Labor Day a national holiday.

Enjoy your day off!