It's spring cleaning time — and your local library can help

Most of us don’t like the day-to-day cleaning that has to take place to survive in our houses, but for some spring cleaning is different. It signals the end of winter confinement, which culminates in the need to freshen up and air out.

Stuff accumulates over the winter, and books like the first highlighted below will help you organize and sort through it. The second highlighted book is for those necessary breaks needed while spring-cleaning, so you don’t overdo it. You’ll find your library has plenty of both types.

“Martha Stewart’s Organizing: the Manual for Bringing Order to your Life, Home and Routines,” by Martha Stewart

Trust Martha to help you master all things organizing — sorting, purging, tidying, and simplifying your life — with smart solutions and inspiration. Here, she offers her best guidance, methods, and DIY projects for organizing in and around your home. Topics include room-by-room strategies (how to sort office paperwork, when to purge the garage or attic), seasonal advice (when to swap out bedding and clothing, how to put away holiday decorations), and day-by-day or week-by-week plans for projects such as de-cluttering, house cleaning, creating a filing system, overhauling the closet, and more. Martha’s indispensable expertise walks you through goal-setting, principles of organizing, useful supplies, and creating systems for ongoing success. A look into Martha’s own personal calendars offers a template for scheduling essential tasks. Last, plenty of strategies, how-tos, timelines, and checklists will help you stay organized all year long.

“Spring Cleaning,” by Antonio Manzini

Rocco is still reeling from the death of his best friend’s girlfriend, who was murdered as she slept in his bed. There’s no doubt that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and paid the ultimate price. With the identity of the hitman still unknown, a cloud lingers over Rocco, dulling his judgment and leaving this anti-hero exposed to other threats. For Rocco has stepped on one too many people’s toes over the years, namely the mafia that is still being rooted out in Aosta. To complicate matters, the kidnapped teenager that Rocco saved has not fully recovered. But all is not as it appears with that family. Her mother, father, and boyfriend are all running some sort of farce that Rocco can’t easily crack. And now he must grapple between these two parallel investigations and find answers once and for all…before one too many skeletons come after him.

• Related: Read more about the latest happenings at the Detroit Lakes Public Library at dl-online.com .

Lake Agassiz Regional Library (LARL) has scheduled a virtual presentation in celebration of its 60th anniversary on Tuesday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m.

Ross Bernstein will bring the 60th anniversary of an exciting Minnesota sports year to life with a presentation featuring stories from the Minnesota Vikings, the Minnesota Twins and more. As a sports historian and author of nearly 50 books, Bernstein has chronicled many of the events which took place in 1961 and in this presentation he will highlight what was so special about that year – the year that the Vikings and the Twins came to be, the Gopher Football team played its last Rose Bowl and the Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles. Learn about the many heroes from that era in a fun-filled evening you don’t want to miss.

This event is made possible thanks to funding from the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund. This live virtual event will be available Tuesday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m. on the Lake Agassiz Regional Library Facebook page ( facebook.com/larlmn ). No pre-registration is required and a recording will be available following the presentation at larl.org/athome .

"Frozen Music, The Midwestern Architectural Prints of James Tiernan O’Rourke," a traveling exhibition from the Permanent Collections of The Rourke Art Gallery + Museum will be on view at Breckenridge Public Library, April 1-May 16; Detroit Lakes Public Library, May 18-June 28; and Moorhead Public Library, June 29-Aug. 10.

James Tiernan O’Rourke (1933 - 2011) was a celebrated regional artist, arts leader, and the founding director of The Rourke Art Gallery and Museum in Moorhead as well as the Plains Art Museum in Fargo. James’ studio practice was wide-ranging, but he remains best known for his woodcut and linocut prints.

This exhibit highlights many of the structures and places that captured James’ imagination in Minnesota and North Dakota. Some of the sites featured are iconic and immediately recognizable to the residents of our region. Others have been lost to mishap or the march of time. James’ bold, lyrical linework, limited color palette, and the deliberate flattening of forms memorialize the unique “skylines” of the high plains. This activity is funded in part by a grant from the Lake Region Arts Council through a Minnesota State Legislative appropriation.

Adam Thielen Poetry Contest: Write a poem inspired by hometown hero Adam Thielen’s football legacy! Win a Thielen-autographed football donated by Choice Bank, a Thielen Vikings jersey or other great prizes. Poems will be accepted from now through April 9. Learn more at larl.org/poetrycontest . Open to participants in grades 4-12. Winners will be announced on April 30.

Library Hours: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; closed Sunday.

For more information on Detroit Lakes Library services and programs, please call 218-847-2168 or visit your Library at 1000 Washington Ave. Information is also available online at www.larl.org . Detroit Lakes Library is a branch of Lake Agassiz Regional Library.