Did you know that when the 1869 bond to build a Jail in Allen County passed, it was done so with a budget of $8,400? The 35-by-37 foot limestone structure featured a second story used…

Roger Carswell returns to the library at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 21, with photos and tales of a three-week tour last fall of eastern Germany and western Poland.  He traveled with a friend he met…

Just returned from a trip to Scotland, Roger Carswell, former Iola Public Library director, presents “A Scottish Trek” August 18 at 7 p.m. in the library meeting room. Carswell will show photographs of the country’s…

Sharon Moreland believes a public library offers something unique: A free, open space to relax, read, learn and even conduct business.  “You can come and read the paper, go to children’s story time and learn…

Roger Carswell is ready for adventure. After serving as library director for almost 29 years, the 64-year-old Quenemo native is retiring, especially so as to pursue his passion for travel. Before hitting the road, however,…

Roger Carswell, executive director of the Iola Public Library, will soon have a new room at the library named in his honor. Iola City Council members approved a request Monday by the Library Board to…

The name Caroline Cooney may be a “blast from the past” for many readers. She made her reputation writing 90 young adult novels, notably “The Face on the Milk Carton.” Now Cooney has turned to…

A family road trip from hell is forced upon three siblings in “He Started It” by Samantha Downing. Twenty years ago, Beth, Eddie and Portia were taken on a 14-day road trip by their grandfather.…

Many readers will be glad to see “Olive Again” by Elizabeth Strout, a sequel to her Pulitzer Prize-winning “Olive Kitteridge” which also became an HBO series.  The earlier novel explored the relationships of people in…

Two years after finding and marrying his soul mate, Rafael Zhettah loses her to murder in “Confessions of an Innocent Man” by David Dow.  Bewildered, he soon finds himself on death row for the crime,…