WHAT—the LIBRARY IS CLOSED on Spring Break?!?! Don’t worry; the librarians didn’t just decide they needed a Spring Break, although I wouldn’t mind migrating to a sunny beach for the week, or hopping over to Europe for a visit…anybody have extra space? No, no vacations for the Librarians.
The Library will be addressing some major maintenance issues and updating to fancy new (and easy-to-use) self-checks while we are closed. I am really excited about the new self-checks, and I think you will be, too. No more of that beeping through your entire stack of books only to find out that nothing has checked out! The new machine will have different sounds, so you will always know when something is wrong! There are lots of other cool features, but that is for another blog. With ladders, tools, and workmen all over the building, the library won’t be a safe place for you to visit this Spring Break.
Now, you might be asking yourself, “What are those Librarians going to do with a whole week off?” Well, we won’t actually be taking the week off, so no hopping over to another continent for me. The Librarians are going to put their Bob-the-Builder hard hats on and work through the construction. We will be cataloging and processing TONS of new materials for you to check out after we reopen! Can we do it? YES, WE CAN!
The Library is scheduled to be closed from March 27-April 2. If, by chance, the maintenance work gets done early, we will gladly reopen our doors early (that is why the Librarians can’t skip out of the country). But it is major work and we aren’t sure what is in store for us that week. We will try to keep you updated throughout the week and wish you the very best Spring Break.
Since the Library will be closed, please suggest some other places close to home families with young children might want to visit.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Volcanoes Erupt in Preschool Pals!
Bubbles, fizz, and oozzzzzing red foam flow from our mountain of tin foil! Of course, the experience is even better when we make bang, pop, and hissing sounds. How cool is that?
We learn that deep, deep, deep beneath the ground is hot melted rock, called magma. Sometimes red hot magma can burst up in a volcano mountain from cracks in the earth. Lava is the hot magma flowing down the volcano mountain.
Three and four year olds love to play make believe and can learn a lot of fun facts in the process. After learning about volcanoes, we made one with a few household supplies: baking soda, water and soap, red coloring, vinegar, cup and foil and a plate to catch the mess.
Baking Soda Mixture
Mix together in the small cup:
3 Tablespoons Baking Soda
Pinch of red paint or food coloring
3 or 4 Tablespoons Water with a few drops of dishwashing soap
Volcano Mountain
Make Volcano Mountain:
Tin foil (clay with sticks and other earth features make it even more realistic)
Plate or pan to catch the flowing “lava”
Create a mountain of foil over the cup with the baking soda mixture. Poke a hole in the top of the mountain so that you can add the final ingredient- Vinegar.
Lava
Start the lava flowing:
Add sound effects: "Rumble", "hissssss", "Crack"
Pour about 1/2 C vinegar through the small hole and watch the lava flow.
To extend the experience further check out an excellent book about volcanoes for beginners called,
Jump Into Science: Volcano! By Ellen j. Prager.
We learn that deep, deep, deep beneath the ground is hot melted rock, called magma. Sometimes red hot magma can burst up in a volcano mountain from cracks in the earth. Lava is the hot magma flowing down the volcano mountain.
Three and four year olds love to play make believe and can learn a lot of fun facts in the process. After learning about volcanoes, we made one with a few household supplies: baking soda, water and soap, red coloring, vinegar, cup and foil and a plate to catch the mess.
Baking Soda Mixture
Mix together in the small cup:
3 Tablespoons Baking Soda
Pinch of red paint or food coloring
3 or 4 Tablespoons Water with a few drops of dishwashing soap
Volcano Mountain
Make Volcano Mountain:
Tin foil (clay with sticks and other earth features make it even more realistic)
Plate or pan to catch the flowing “lava”
Create a mountain of foil over the cup with the baking soda mixture. Poke a hole in the top of the mountain so that you can add the final ingredient- Vinegar.
Lava
Start the lava flowing:
Add sound effects: "Rumble", "hissssss", "Crack"
Pour about 1/2 C vinegar through the small hole and watch the lava flow.
To extend the experience further check out an excellent book about volcanoes for beginners called,
Jump Into Science: Volcano! By Ellen j. Prager.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Queen FaFa Received Many Flowers and Cards
Queen FaFa receiving gift of thanks
Originally uploaded by HMMPL YOUTH
Everyone had a visit with the Queen to give her cards and flowers. At the conclusion of the visit, she left us to see the library director, Martha Catt. I am sure the Queen will share with her about the wonderful visit she had with the children at the Hussey-Mayfield Library.
Queen FaFa escorted by Rosie O Leprechaun
Queen FaFa escorted by Rosie O Leprechaun
Originally uploaded by HMMPL YOUTH
Queen FaFa Escorted to the Royal Tea
Instruction from Fairy Ms Manners
Fairy Princess Ms Manners taught us to sit up straight, keep hands in our lap, and wait for the guest of honor, Queen Fa Fa, to share a toast to SPRING!
We could not sip our juice or eat our cookies until Queen Fa Fa ate first. It was hard to wait, but we did have our very best manners!
We could not sip our juice or eat our cookies until Queen Fa Fa ate first. It was hard to wait, but we did have our very best manners!
Princess Fairy Lindsey
Princess Fairy Lindsey had fun preparing the tea (apple juice) and cookies for all the children.
Miss Stephanie of Indy Dance Academy
A talented instructor, Miss Stephanie, from the Indy Dance Academy taught us ballet moves. She even prepared us to perform a dance for the queen. Everyone was graceful and listened intently to Miss Stephanie.
Waiting for the Event to Begin!
Everyone dressed their part for the Leprechaun and Fairy Tea. In anticipation of the Queen's arrival, green Leprechauns, girls in beautiful dresses with wings and boys in dress suits, filled the room.
We colored our placemats while we waited.
We colored our placemats while we waited.
Royal Leprechaun and Fairy Tea
We welcomed the spring rains today with over 80 Fairies and Leprechauns during our special tea time! We decorated the story time room with lights, glittery butterflies, and flowers.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Currently Reading
by KelliAlthough many books have the ability to put a smile on my face or a lump in my throat, very few go the extra mile and cause me to break out in fits of laughter or wipe my eyes of tears.
I am currently enthralled with Richard Peck and his books A Long Way from Chicago, A Year Down Yonder, and A Season of Gifts. All three follow the life of Grandma Dowdel, one of the most memorable book characters of all time. As I read about her, I can't help but be reminded of my own late grandfather, with a touch of my mother-in-law thrown in for good measure. Author Richard Peck is often compared to Mark Twain and for good reason because of his ability to formulate rich dialog that defines a character and a time.
I look forward to reading these books with my son and witnessing his reaction to Grandma Dowdel's funny antics and optimistic view of life.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Teen iSpy Wall
The wall is a way of celebrating National Puzzles and Games week. From March 1 – 12 teens are invited to grab two raffle tickets from the TAS desk, find the four items listed, put their name and phone number on the back, and place the tickets in a container at the TAS desk.
After the 12th a winner will be drawn at random to receive a $10 iTunes gift card (a big motivator for teens). The teen librarian picked items completely at random, the more strange the item was, the more she wanted it for the wall.
Let us know what you think. Do you like iSpy?
Ruining library books is not funny!
What is the worst way you have ever ruined a library book?
Right before going on a car trip to Vermont, Miss Laura spilled her entire cup of coffee in her bag of Library books. A librarian ruining library books—not funny! Miss Laura didn’t think so, that was quite an expensive send-off—definitely not a good way to start a relaxing vacation!
Looking back, a Librarian ruining Library books, it kind of sounds like a Dav Pilkey novel, and when you think about it, that is kind of funny! In hindsight, we can look at things and laugh--the library often gets a glimpse of these moments, here are a few we would like to share with you.
Once, a child returned a book that was completely wet. When we asked him why the library book he returned was wet, he confided that he had taken a liking to reading in the bathtub and accidentally dropped the book in the water. It is never funny to ruin a library book, but when I think back to that incident, I do laugh a little inside!
Also, I didn’t ever have to use the excuse, “The dog ate my homework” at school, but a library patron had to use that excuse when she had to return a library book in a bag because it was shredded to pieces. Her puppy brought ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION upon that unfortunate book. Again, not funny, but thinking back on that book-in-a-bag, I have to smile at the image.
So next time you have an ill-fated occasion to say “Why me?” about a library book, don’t worry, we’ll turn lemons into lemonade and laugh with you-it just might take a while!
Editor’s note: All of the books that were damaged in the above account have been paid for. We want to thank customers for replacing all items that are damaged.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Puppy in Training for Paws to Read
By Julie
We are always so excited when the TheraPets dogs come to the Library for Paws to Read—it sure does liven up the place!
The dogs come to the Library to hear stories; they especially like the tales of Clifford, Spot, and Biscuit; but really, they just love to hear children read!
This week we had a special visitor, Macy, who is just nine weeks old! She is a brand new member of the Therapets family and was ecstatic to hear her first Little Critter book! She sat very attentively while different children read their stories to her.
Macy the puppy had a great day at the Library and we can’t wait for her to come back!
We are always so excited when the TheraPets dogs come to the Library for Paws to Read—it sure does liven up the place!
The dogs come to the Library to hear stories; they especially like the tales of Clifford, Spot, and Biscuit; but really, they just love to hear children read!
This week we had a special visitor, Macy, who is just nine weeks old! She is a brand new member of the Therapets family and was ecstatic to hear her first Little Critter book! She sat very attentively while different children read their stories to her.
Macy the puppy had a great day at the Library and we can’t wait for her to come back!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Checking out the Score Sheets
Artist's Reception
On Sunday afternoon 17 winning artists, their families, librarians, and judges for the contest gathered together in Youth Services for an Artist's Reception. Posters were judged and chosen for our 2010-2011 Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library Calendar. While listening to Bach, we mingled and studied each other’s art; then everyone was treated to a banana split, donated by the Friends of the Library!
Two of the three judges, Maria Wopshall, Friends of the Library president and LeeAnn Biggs, Library Board president, attended to see the faces behind the art that was submitted for our first Calendar Poster Contest. Annette Knox, Hussey-Mayfield Library’s graphic artist was the third judge but was unable to attend. They were all impressed by the variety and creative expression from the participants ranging from three years old through adults. The posters were judged on the artist's ability to finish the sentence “Reading is…” by communicating it in words and art with “creativity and inventiveness”. They were judged on technical details of layout, neatness and use of art mediums. Some created a collage while others used simple crayon, ink or colored pencil. Water color was also used to create two beautiful chickens spying a book.
It is great to see family support for the youths and adults who participated in this project to promote reading and our public library. Each of the 18 winning posters will be featured in our calendar scheduled for sale by July. We plan to incorporate a majority of the other posters submitted in some way as well.
“Reading is… Unlocking Treasures, Out of this World, Magical, Fun and Interesting, a Precious Gift…” How else could you finish the sentence? The posters will be on display in Youth Services until March 7th. It is amazing how words and thought are expressed in art in so many different ways through the generations who participated. Come check it out!
On Sunday afternoon 17 winning artists, their families, librarians, and judges for the contest gathered together in Youth Services for an Artist's Reception. Posters were judged and chosen for our 2010-2011 Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library Calendar. While listening to Bach, we mingled and studied each other’s art; then everyone was treated to a banana split, donated by the Friends of the Library!
Two of the three judges, Maria Wopshall, Friends of the Library president and LeeAnn Biggs, Library Board president, attended to see the faces behind the art that was submitted for our first Calendar Poster Contest. Annette Knox, Hussey-Mayfield Library’s graphic artist was the third judge but was unable to attend. They were all impressed by the variety and creative expression from the participants ranging from three years old through adults. The posters were judged on the artist's ability to finish the sentence “Reading is…” by communicating it in words and art with “creativity and inventiveness”. They were judged on technical details of layout, neatness and use of art mediums. Some created a collage while others used simple crayon, ink or colored pencil. Water color was also used to create two beautiful chickens spying a book.
It is great to see family support for the youths and adults who participated in this project to promote reading and our public library. Each of the 18 winning posters will be featured in our calendar scheduled for sale by July. We plan to incorporate a majority of the other posters submitted in some way as well.
“Reading is… Unlocking Treasures, Out of this World, Magical, Fun and Interesting, a Precious Gift…” How else could you finish the sentence? The posters will be on display in Youth Services until March 7th. It is amazing how words and thought are expressed in art in so many different ways through the generations who participated. Come check it out!
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