FallCon Comic Book Celebration is coming!

Calling all superheroes, wizards, Jedi knights, and geeks of all stripes: the annual autumn celebration of comic books is almost here! FallCon is set for 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Saturday, October 5. Tickets are $8 at the door ($1 off if you bring a canned good to donate).

Check out the guest list to see which of your favorite artists and writers will be in attendance. Nearly all artists have art for sale--some will even do a commission for you on the spot! And if there's a hard-to-find comic on your wishlist, THIS is the place to track it down.

We've been regular attendees for years now and it's great to see so many wonderful comic creators, comic and collectible dealers, and fans of all ages come together. There's always superheroes in costume for you and the kids to get your picture taken with. The whole event is definitely family friendly and a lot of fun!

WHEN: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Saturday, October 5.

WHERE: Minnesota State Fairgrounds at the Education Building

HOW MUCH: $8 for adults / $1 off with canned good / kids 9 and under are FREE!

Hope to see you there!

SCI-tember: FINAL WEEK!

There's a batch of new science and science fiction books  and comics in the library. We've saved some of the best for last--including space opera sagas, cyberpunk thrillers, steampunk super teams, and turn-of-the-century interplanetary adventures!

Be sure to stop by and check 'em out!

Thank you to our generous book donors!

We've been very fortunate over the last few months to receive a fresh supply of books from neighbors, friends, and even other little free libraries!

Hopefully we've thanked you all in person (or with a personal message) but we wanted to express what your generosity has meant to us in fulfilling our mission of promoting literacy, enjoying good reads with one another, and bringing our neighborhood together. Here's a selection of some of the most recent donations:

Great graphic novels! 

Ground-breaking Science!

A whole slew of William Gibson cyberpunk! 

A collection of Canadian classics from Little Free Library 1849 in Winnipeg, Manitoba! 

Look for these and many more donated books to be added to the library throughout the next few months. And to those gracious donors you know who you are. Thank you for your generosity and fellowship!

Space Gets Wild with Rocket Raccoon!

Landing at the library today to help celebrate SCI-tember: classic adventures of the furriest, swashbuckler in the cosmos--Rocket Raccoon! If you've not heard of him, you will soon--he's the best-known member of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (think: Avengers in space!). A new movie in the works, due to hit theaters next year, will feature Bradley Cooper's voice in the role. Keep an eye on RR--you'll be seeing him everywhere come next summer!

Double-sized Rocket Raccoon issue with Guardians of the Galaxy preview issue!

This classic Rocket story is included in the special issue!

Now's your chance to get caught up on the classic escapades from his title in the 80s that made him famous! We've even added an additional preview comic for the latest Guardians of the Galaxy series, as a primer for his new adventures as a member of that team. 

Rocket was created by  Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen. Mantlo wrote the character as a quick-witted, raygun-slinging hero that was quick with one-liners, but he also intended for the title to have a more meaningful message. 

The Rocket Raccoon special issue has several stories and is appropriate for all ages. Guardians will likely appeal to older audiences (we've marked it "T" for teen, but your mileage may vary).

Be sure to stop by and check them out!

New science books in stock!

It's gonna be a HOT one today--so pick up a new book from the library today and hunker down in some air conditioning! We've added new books covering a range of topics in science. From kids books on dinosaurs, animals, and--of course!--meteorology, to some cerebral titles exploring the cosmos and the human genome.

In the Library of Justice:

Kids -

• Dinosaur Combat - exciting early-reader, slim book with great illustrations
• Prairie Animals - learn about creatures great and small from our region
• Penguins - National Geographic reader on everyone's favorite arctic bird
• Amazing Weather: Facts and Trivia - fun coil-bound flip book on weather phenomenon

Grown ups -

• Genome - Washington Post journalist Matt Ridley's in-depth essay on this century's most important advance: mapping the human genome to unlock the body's secrets in treating disease
• Parallel Worlds - you've seen Prof. Michio Kaku on the Science Channel and History Channel talking about the cosmos, here's his bestseller explaining in plain language how we probably live in just one out of endless universes
• Contact - Cosmologist Carl Sagan's one and only sci-fi novel is grounded in hard science and was turned into a major motion picture starring Jodi Foster
• The Earth After Us: What Legacy Will Humans Leave in the Rocks? - Journey with Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz millions of years into the future to learn what mankind will leave behind for our descendants to find
• The Stem Cell Dilemma: The Scientific Breakthroughs, Ethical Concerns, Political Tensions, and Hope Surrounding Stem Cell Research - Learn about the incredible potential and risks surrounding stem cell advances from U of M researcher  
  Leo Furcht and author William Hoffman, with foreward Brock Reeve (brother of the late Christopher "Superman" Reeve)

Stop by and check 'em out!

Explore Infinity and Beyond: September is SCI-TEMBER!

Switch on your lightsaber, power-up your electron microscope, and prime those thrusters--it's SCI-tember! We're celebrating science AND science fiction throughout the month of September. That means lots of fresh books and comics celebrating the wonders of nature and imagination from all corners of the universe!

This morning we stocked several new additions including books by sci-fi greats, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, and Margaret Atwood. Not to mention, the first "sequel" Star Wars book by Timothy Zahn that featured characters and events following the storyline in Return of the Jedi. We've even got the only sci-fi novel ever written by astronomer Carl Sagan! (Hint: it was later made it into a movie.) We also snagged a copy of Daniel H. Wilson's Robopocalypse, about an android takeover--which is in developement to become a film directed by Steven Spielberg!

When you stop by this month, you'll also see some great comic books and graphic novels, including some non-fiction science comics (I bet you didn't know those existed!). We'll also have some great selections on the natural world for kids--just in time for back to school!

Look for more selections from science fiction greats this week and throughout the month!