Library closed as of 3/17
COVID-19 Library Updates
COVID-19 Community Care
Virtual Programs
Storytime with Monica
Tuesdays and Thursday at 10:30am on Facebook live and Youtube
Cyndi Kernahan - Defining Racism: How Race Shapes our Lives
Thursday, August 13 from 6-7pm on the River Falls Public Library's Facebook live - no registration
In this short talk, you will learn more about the complexities of racism, including new definitions that will help you to better understand the current moment. Time for questions and further resources for learning will be provided. Join the River Falls Public Library on Facebook Live with Cyndi Kernahan, Professor of Psychology and Assistant Dean for Teaching and Learning at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls. Cyndi is a Social Psychologist who specializes in the area of race, bias, and prejudice. She is also the author of Teaching about Race and Racism in the College Classroom: Notes from a White Professor.
Psychology of Prejudice and Racism Resource List
John Kinville - Hidden History of Women's Ku Klux Klan in Wisconsin
Thursday, September 10 from 6-7pm on the River Falls Public Library's Facebook live or Youtube channel - no registration required
In the xenophobic atmosphere of the 1920s and 1930s, Ku Klux Klan activity spiked in Wisconsin and gave rise to Women's Klan no. 14, also known as the Grey Eagles of Chippewa Falls. Against a national backdrop that saw the male and female Klan hurl its collective might into influencing presidential elections and federal legislation, quotidian matters often stole the attention of the Grey Eagles. Join River Falls Public Library on Facebook Live with John E. Kinville, author of The Grey Eagles of Chippewa Falls: A Hidden History of a Women's Ku Klux in Wisconsin.
Michael Edmonds - News, Fake News, and Spin: Deciding Who to Trust in an Age of Disinformation
Thursday, October 1 from 6-7pm - registration required at rflearns.org
Cynthia Ruchti - Hemmed in Hope
Thursday, October 8 from 6-7pm on the River Falls Public Library's Facebook live or Youtube channel - no registration required
Award-winning Wisconsin author Cynthia Ruchti will discuss her novels, novellas, devotions, and non-fiction, and her speaking for women’s events and writers’ conferences. She's written and produced a daily radio broadcast for 33 years. She serves as PR Liaison for American Christian Fiction Writers, is a board member of the Deliver Hope ministry, is part of her church worship team, and is a literary agent with Books & Such Literary Management.
Terry Root - Climate Change: Changing … Well … Everything
Monday, October 12 from 6-7pm on the River Falls Public Library's Facebook live or Youtube channel - no registration required
Even in a pandemic we must be concerned about extreme heat, extended droughts, massive fires, and powerful hurricanes. These are all connected to the disruption of our climate due to greenhouse gas emissions. Since the late 1800s, the average global temperature has increased about 2oF (1.1oC) and we are on track to surpass the Paris Agreement target of 2.7oF (1.5oC) by 2030. In response to this rapid warming, much is changing on our planet, including earlier spring warming so flowers are blooming and birds are breeding earlier, species are also moving to cooler areas on land and in the oceans. Unless we soon slow the rapid warming, enumerable people will suffer due to heatwaves, storm surges, and spreading diseases. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of species—including species we rely upon—will face extinction. We must stop our fossil-fuel addiction to avoid such problems. Thankfully, there are many things that we can do, collectively and individually, to decrease the emissions of CO2. We just need the will to do it.
Terry L. Root is Professor Emerita at Stanford University. She was a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change 4th Assessment Report that in 2007 was co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Vice President Al Gore. Also, she was a lead author for the 3rd Assessment Report (2001) and a Review Editor for the 5th Assessment Report (2014). In addition to other honors, Root was awarded the Spirit of Defenders Award for Science by Defenders of Wildlife in 2010, and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 for the conservation organization Point Blue. She served on the National Audubon Board of Directors from 2010 to 2019, currently serves on the board of Defenders of Wildlife, and is on numerous science advisory boards, including the American Wind and Wildlife Institute.
Root earned her undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of New Mexico, her master’s degree in Biology from the University of Colorado and her doctorate in Biology from Princeton University. She was a professor at the University of Michigan for 15 years, and then at Stanford University for 15 years. She now resides in Sarasota, FL.
Pat Miller, St. Croix Job Center - Job Hunting
Tuesday, November 10 from 2-3pm on the River Falls Public Library's Facebook live or Youtube channel - no registration required
Kathleen Ernst - Writing at the Intersection of People, Places & the Past
Thursday, November 12 from 6-7pm on the River Falls Public Library's Facebook live or Youtube channel - no registration required
Best-selling WLA Notable Wisconsin Author Kathleen Ernst will talk about her award-winning Chloe Ellefson mysteries for adults, American Girl mysteries for young readers, and American Civil War books for both. She spent 10 years as museum curator for Old World Wisconsin. She has won numerous honors, including an Emmy for educational TV, Edgar and Agatha mystery awards, and a Legacy Award for Excellence in Children's Literature.
Juliet Grames - The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
Thursday, January 14, 2021 from 6-7pm on the River Falls Public Library Facebook live or Youtube channel - no registration required
Debut author and Soho Press book editor/associate publisher, Juliet Grames, grew up in a tight-knit Italian-American family. This novel, her first, is about Italian sisterhood & secrets, immigration & the American dream, family loyalty & betrayal, & one woman’s tenacious fight against her own fate. It is being published in the US, Canada, the Philippines, all over Europe; and in Spanish and Hebrew. It is already an ABA Indie Next Selection, a B&N Discover Great New Writers Selection, and a Library Reads Selection.