Getting into a cranberry kind of mood

The Lawrence Public Library is going all out to celebrate the March 13 appearance by NPR special correspondent Susan Stamberg at the Lied Center in Lawrence. The event, presented by the Lawrence Public Library Foundation, is a fundraiser for the planned major renovation of the 40-year-old library building. Because Stamberg’s speech is called “Libraries, Cranberries and New Stories” (Stamberg’s radio feature on her mother-in-law’s Pepto-Bismol-pink cranberry relish recipe has become an NPR Thanksgiving staple every year), the Lawrence Library Foundation’s executive director, Kathleen Morgan, jumped on the cranberry theme.

Last Sunday, Morgan organized a cranberry dessert competition, featuring the five finalists from a “Cranberry Creations Contest.” Lawrence restaurateurs Robert and Molly Krause winnowed the entries to the final five; the contestants baked their entries and brought them to the library for judging — and a public tasting.