City of Grand Island

Grand Island, Neb. — The Grand Island Public Library’s Bygone Book Club resumes this month, with the first meeting of 2025 taking place on Saturday, January 11 at 11:30 a.m. in Meeting Room BC.

The club will be discussing “Down the Tracks of Time: A Nostalgic Journey: Memoirs of Bonnie (Prendergast) McGovern,” by Mary Ann (McGovern) Carson. Stephanie Crosby from the Hall County Historical Society will lead the discussion, with a special guest visit from the author, Mary Ann Carson.

In 1942, while many men and women enlisted to help with the war effort, a labor shortage grew on the home front. 18-year-old Bonnie Prendergast, a young farm girl from Iowa, was recruited by the Union Pacific to become a telegrapher and soon was sent to Western Nebraska. In this memoir, Carson explores the thoughts and experiences her mother faced to keep the trains rolling.

The full reading list of the 2024-2025 Bygone Book Club is available at https://gilibrary.org/services/adult-services/book-clubs. The Bygone Book Club is a partnership between the Grand Island Public Library and the Hall County Historical Society. Local historians lead monthly discussions of books featuring Grand Island, Hall County, Nebraska or regional history. Membership in the book club is monthly, and participants can choose which month/book is of interest to them without committing to the entire series.

The Grand Island Public Library serves both residents of the City of Grand Island and Hall County. Anyone who lives in or owns property anywhere within Hall County may apply for a library card at no cost. Keep up to date with all library happenings and hours online at https://www.gilibrary.org, Facebook and Instagram. You can also access your library account, search the catalog, and discover our digital collections at https://gilibrary.tlcdelivers.com.