Today is National Gaming Day

The Takoma Park Library is participating in National Gaming Day today from 1-4. Please join us for board games, cards, chess, puzzles, and of course, we will set up the wii for sports. Also, today is Crafternoon, so in addition to games, we will be making turkey crafts for the bulletin board in the children's room. We have fun for all ages this afternoon and we hope to see you there!

PJ Story Time Tonight: Other Great Events this Week

Just a reminder that PJ story time is tonight at 7 pm. Children ages 0-6 (with an adult) are encouraged to attend to enjoy stories, songs, coloring, and snacks. Feel free to bring your stuffed animal or lovey and enjoy the story time! We hope to see you tonight.

There are also some other great events taking place this week. Summer reading registration closes at the end of this month, so if you haven't enrolled and want to win prizes, please come in to one of our events and sign up for summer reading this week!

Tonight, July 21

Program: PJ Story Time

Age: 0-6

Time: 7:00

Description: Snuggle up with stories, songs & snacks. Feel free to wear your pjs & slippers and bring your stuffed animal or lovey.

Wednesday, July 22

Program: Kathy McMillan - Children's Story Teller

Age: all ages

Time: 10:30

Description: explore American Sign Language through music and stories.

Program: Art in the Afternoon

Age: 6+

Time: 3:30

Description: Join us for art techniques, art book exploration, drawing, and sketching. Each participant has a chance to win a small prize bag if their artwork is voted the 'favorite' of the afternoon session by staff, customers, and other participants.

Saturday, July 25

Program: Crafternoon

Age: 8 and up or below 8 with an adult

Time: 2:00

Description: Come in and make a simple story-inspired or seasonal craft. There will aslo be drawing paper for those who would rather sketch and color.

Be Creative Saturday This Afternoon

Just a reminder that we will have a Be Creative event in the children's room this afternoon. One of my colleauges from another branch had his crafters make craft stick puppets. They turned out quite precious so I thought, why not? We have piles of jumbo craft sticks downstairs in the art supplies cupboard and this is a perfect way to use them. If you don't want to make a popsicle stick puppet, you are welcome to do some drawing or writing. I will have some art books pulled for your enjoyment! See you today at 2:00 in the children's room!

Teen and Children's Programs Tomorrow!

For those of you looking for something fun to do tomorrow, come check out what's going on at the library. You can sign up for summer reading and participate in our fun and creative programs. The Young Adult Librarian will be hosting karaoke for teens and I will be hosting an arts and crafts session for ages 4+.

Karaoke and Arts and Crafts (Crafternoon), both start at 2:00. Singing will be downstairs in the programming room and Crafternoon activities will be on the main floor in the children's section. We hope to see you then. Don't forget to bring in your completed reading logs for prizes or sign up for Summer Reading if you haven't done so already!

Be Creative Saturday!

Today starting at 2:oo pm we will have our "Be Creative Saturday" for June. For those feeling crafty we will be making pinwheel pencils. This craft is easy for children of all ages, but for those under 5, please make sure they are with an adult.

For those who don't feel like crafting but would rather draw or sketch, come check out our awesome assortment of drawing books. We recently received some new manga how to draw books as well as some books on drawing wizards, witches, and fantasy creatures. It will be a fun afternoon so stop on by for arts, crafts, and snacks.

Crafternoon Today!

I forgot to post a reminder yesterday...oops! I will be hosting crafternoon today at 2:00 as part of our "Be Creative @ Your Library" Summer Reading Program. Children 8+ and younger children with an adult are encouraged to attend. We will be making accordion comic books today! I will have the basic comic book frame pre-constructed so children of all ages are encouraged to attend. You can change it up if you like and make a flip book, picture story, or found art piece if you don't want to do a comic book. Art is flexible, you know? We have a huge assortment of drawing books and art books that will be available for check out.

I hope to see you today at 2:00!

Calling All Shutterbugs!

I just found out about a really cool photo contest being sponsored by DCPL. To celebrate some of the wonderful images of the DC Metro area put up on the DCPL Flickr Commons, the public library system is hosting a photo contest.

To enter, simply:
1. Browse photos at the DCPL Commons and look for buildings or locations still around today

2. Photograph a building or locale in a fun or interesting way

3. Add your photographs to the DC Then & Now group on Flickr. You are free to represent the content in anyway (collage form, black and white, etc)

4. In the description of your photo you must include a link to the original photo from the DCPL Commons.

5. Assign a Creative Commons license to your entry. An easy way to do this is under “Additional Information” on your photo’s page.

Photos must be submitted by July 3rd. On July 10th the winners will be announced!

There are some great prizes for the winner, first, and second runners up, including a Flip MinoHD Camcorder, Wireless SD Card, and a Holga Starter Kit! This a fun way for adults and kids to be creative this summer using resources from DCPL.

Be Creative @ Saturday Crafternoon

This past weekend our "Be Creative Saturday", which is one of many Summer Reading activities, was a huge success. Inspired by picture book art, children used a variety of media to make their own story book characters. Birds and Dogs were a popular theme.

Just a note that our Crafternoon and Be Creative events will take a brief hiatus for the rest of May. We will pick up again with 2 Crafternoons and 1 Be Creative Saturday in June. The dates for arts and crafts in June will be the 6th, the 13th, and the 20th. Stay tuned for future detail.