History Night it Tonight

This is just a friendly reminder that tonight the library will host a historical talk at 7:00 pm. I will discuss my recent grant project to preserve, catalog, and exhibit the Takoma Park History file. The first exhibit from this project is a glimpse at the library entitled "Takoma Park Library Through the Years." The display is a random assemblage of interesting tidbits from the history of the library since it opened in 1911. I plan to run a new exhibit every two months. I hope to see you tonight for a great look at our past.

This is a DC Community Heritage Project and was made possible by a grant from the DC Humanities Council, which is affiliated with the DC State Historic Preservation Office.

Special Events This Week at Takoma Park

Sorry for the lag in posting. I have been on vacation. I'm happy to announce some wonderful special events this week at Takoma Park Neighborhood Library. Our regular Wednesday morning story time will have a special theme this week. As part of the Kids Euro Festival, which is a celebration of European art and culture by EU embassies and local partners, the Takoma Park Library will dedicate their Pre-K story time to celebrating the country of Finland. I am almost 100% Finnish so when I was told of this opportunity to partake in this festival I jumped at the chance. Please join me tomorrow morning for Finnish stories, folktales, a felt craft, and traditional Finnish pulla bread, or Nisu, for a snack. The program will start at 10:30 am tomorrow.

Another great special event this month is History Night at the library. I recently received a grant to properly store and exhibit the Takoma History File, a small archival vertical file of clippings, photos, articles, and other ephemera. I will discuss the work I did as part of this grant project and highlight the collection. Please join me as I open the Takoma History File Exhibit and introduce the newly indexed collection. History Night is Thursday, October 22 and the program will begin at 7:00 pm. This project was made possible by a grant from the DC Humanities Council which is affiliated with the DC State Historic Preservation Office.

This Week at Takoma Park Library

We have a busy week this week at Takoma Park Library, not to mention an exciting one. Our adult book club debuts on Thursday and we also have our regular programming. This week is the last week to sign up for the Silver Screen book club (September Session).

Also, please note, we are getting new books in adult and children's so please stop by to see the new book shelves today.

Monday September 14

Program: Resume Workshop

Time: 10:30-11:30 am

Age: Adults

Description: Join Adult Librarian Jeanne Lauber for a career building workshop which will show you how to master the art of resume creation. This is an essential skill for adults of all ages.

Wednesday September 16

Program: Preschool Story Time - Feelings Theme

Time: 10:30 am

Age: 3-5

Description: Join us in the children's room for stories, rhymes, songs, and activities.

Program: Art in the Afternoon

Time: 3:30 pm

Age: 6+

Description: Take part in art discussion using the "Picturing America" series and join in the drawing contest after school.

Thursday September 17

Program: Teen Games

Time: 4:00 pm

Age: 12-17

Description: Teens are welcomed to come play games, from WII to board games to Playstation.

Program: Book Club

Time: 7:00 pm

Age: Adults

Description: This is the intial meeting of the adult book club. Come and join us to discuss the scope and format of this new book group. We will also brainstorm title selections.

This Week at Takoma Park Library

Here is our weekly events calendar for the upcoming week. Also, please remember that we are closed for Labor Day on Monday, September 7th.

Wednesday, September 9th
Program: Preschool Story Time - Furry Friends Theme
Time: 10:30 am
Ages: 3-5
Description: Join us for stories, songs, rhymes and more!

Thursday, September 10th
Program: Teen Game Night
Time: 4 pm
Ages: 12-17
Description: Play games, sing songs, dance, draw.

Saturday, September 12th
Program: Crafternoon
Time: 2 pm
Ages: 6+
Description: Join us in making a simple story inspired, seasonal, or fun and funky craft.

This Week at Takoma Park

Fall is finally starting to show itself, even if just a smidge! This pleases me immensely, as I am quite fond of Fall weather (not to mention Fall fashion.) I hope the changing season finds you in good spirits as well. We have a few upcoming events this week at the library, including our weekly Pre-K story time for 3-5 year olds as well as the new Teen Gaming Club. Our story time this week will focus on shapes and colors. I have a great flannel board planned as well as some interesting concept books. Our Young Adult Librarian, Miss Heather, has some great ideas for game night.

Also, dont' forget about our new book clubs for adults and children. The first informational session of the Adult Book Group will take place on Thursday the 17th. Additionally, it is not too late to sign up for the Silver Screen Book Club. We are reading a fantastic book by Roald Dahl. Our book group will meet on the 22nd and is designed for children 9-14. We will discuss the book to be immediately followed by a film screening. We hope to see you at a library event soon!

September 2, 2009
Program: Preschool Story Time - Color and Shape Theme
Time: 10:30 am
Ages: 3-5
Description: Join us in the children's room for stories, songs, rhymes, and more!

Program: Art in the Afternoon
Time: 3:30 pm
Ages: 6+
Description: Join us for art discussion using artwork from the "Picturing America" series to be followed by art techniques and an art contest.


September 4, 2009
Program: Teen Game Night
Time: 4:00 pm
Ages: 12-17
Description: Play games, sing, dance, draw. Be your loud silly selves!

The Sundance Worked!

Despite warnings of a looming thunderstorm, the sun peaked out at 11:00 and our summer reading roundup party went off without a hitch! It was a great event to celebrate the accomplishments of all of our summer readers. We had a duck pond, a ball toss, sidewalk chalk art, kites, and refreshments. We had over 75 people attend! It was a great afternoon. I would like to give a special thanks to the Friends of the Takoma Park Library, the library staff, and last, but certainly not least, our awesome customers! Thanks for making today so special.

This Week at Takoma Park Library

Since it is the first week of school, the library is taking a little breather from programming during this week. We only have one regular program scheduled. However, we do have our Summer Reading Roundup Party this weekend. All of those summer readers who completed the program (read 6 books or more and turned in their reading lists to a librarian) are invited to attend our party. There is no rain date for this party, so if we have rainy weather the party is canceled. This celebration is just for those participants that registered at Takoma Park.

Wednesday, August 26

Program: Preschool Story Time

Time: 10:30 a.m.

Ages: 3-5

Description: Joins us in the children's room for stories, songs, rhymes and more!

Saturday, August 29

Program: Summer Reading Round Up - Summer Readers Party

Time: 11:30-1:00

Ages: Summer Readers of All Ages who completed the Summer reading Program

Description: Celebrate your summer reading achievements with games, cake, and fun. We will have a duck pond, sidewalk chalk art, a ball toss, cake, and of course, prizes! We hope to see you there!

The Library Rocks

We will be having guitar hero today for teens at 2:00. It seems only fitting to have a guitar hero event this weekend in honor of guitar legend and genius inventor Les Paul's passing. Les Paul, one of the quintessential influences in the guitar world, is known not only as an early innovator of the solid body guitar and the world famous Les Paul model of Gibson guitars, but also because he was just a freaking awesome good guitar player. To read a tribute article, go over to Guitar World magazine.

If you are interested in guitars, guitar playing, and some awesome rock and roll, feel free to come into the library or check the online catalog. We have guitar instruction books, a huge assortment of CDs, from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones, AC DC to ZZ Top. We not only have classic rock, but also a good selection of new rock as well. No matter what, we want to get the community to not only read, but to rock.

This Week at Takoma Park!

Registration for summer reading is now closed, but that doesn't mean there is no reason to come into the library! Those who already enrolled can still read and earn prizes throughout August. For those who didn't enroll, feel free to come in and enjoy some of our weekly programming, check out some books, or surf the Internet.

This week, we have a few upcoming programs:

Wednesday August 5th
Program: Preschool Story Time - Elephant theme!
Time: 10:30
Ages: 3-5
Description: Join us in the Children's Room for stories, songs, rhymes, and more!

Program: Art in the Afternoon
Time: 3:30
Ages: 6+
Description: Join us for art techniques, art book exploration, art discussion, drawing, and sketching. This program now features a new piece from the "Picturing America" series each week. After each session staff and customers vote for their favorite artistic masterpiece.

Thursday August 7th
Program: Daniel Barash - Puppeteer
Time: 1:30
Ages: 4-8
Description: Learn the art of shadow puppetry & watch a puppet show.

Saturday August 8th
Program: Be Creative Saturday
Time: 2:00
Ages: 6-12
Description: Join me for an afternoon of amazing arts and crafts. This week we will be making bird masks. We'll look at birds in picture books and nature books to get inspired, and then we will create our own feathered-friend personas through the art of mask making. Let's get glued and feathered!

This Week at Takoma Park

This is an exciting week at Takoma Park Library. Just a reminder that it is the last week to sign up for summer reading at your library. We will close registration for the summer reading program on July 31st. Those enrolled can continue to read and earn prizes into August, but new registrants will not be allowed after July 31st.

We have some wonderful programs coming up this week, the headliner being the ever popular Mr. Derby! Continue reading for some amazing news on upcoming events.

Wednesday July 29

Program: Mr. Derby's Jam Session

Time: 10:30 am

Ages: 4-8
Description: Sing and dance to classic nursery tunes performed live with keyboard accompaniment.

Wednesday July 29

Program: Art in the Afternoon

Time: 3:30 pm

Ages: 6+

Description: Join us for sketching, drawing, art techniques, and art book exploration. Participants will have a chance to win a small prize bag if their artwork is the favorite of the afternoon.

Thursday July 30

Program: O. Dibinga - Poet

Time: 4:00

Ages: Teens

Description: Come enjoy an afternoon with a creative spoken word poet.

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.

Upcoming Events: This Week at Takoma Park

We have a busy week this week at Takoma Park Neighborhood Library. Summer reading programs are in full swing, not to mention we are still offering our Wednesday Preschool Story Time. In addition to special and regular programming we are delighted to offer a new program that will take place on Wednesday afternoons. I will be hosting "Art in the Afternoon" every Wednesday for the rest of this month. I will demonstrate art techniques, highlight our art book collection, and let participants free style sketch, draw, and/or paint for each afternoon session. At the end of the afternoon, staff and customers will vote for their favorite piece of art and the winner will receive a prize bag. Each participant will get a free prize from the summer reading prize box as well. We hope to see you at one, or more, of our many great programs this week.

Tuesday July 14th

Program: Lyn Dancing

Time: 6:30

Ages: Teens

Wednesday July 15th

Program: Preschool Story Time

Time: 10:30

Ages: 3-5 year olds

Description: Join us in the Children's Room for stories, songs, rhymes and more!

Wednesday July 15th

Program: Art in the Afternoon

Time: 3:30

Ages: 6+

Description: Join us for art techniques, drawing, art book exploration, and sketching. One artist will be voted the top winner for that day and they will receive a small prize bag.

Thursday July 16th

Program: Fast Freddy the Clown

Time: 1:30

Ages: All Ages

Description: Join us as we host Fast Freddy the Clown and his comedic and artistic magic.

Saturday July 18th

Program: Expressin' Out Teens

Time: 2:00

Ages: Teens

Description: Join YA Librarian Heather Petsche while she hosts a project runway contest. Bring in a t-shirt which you can then learn how to reshape and style into a whole new look.

Summer Reading Continues!

The 4th of July is over, but there is still plenty of time to rock out at the Takoma Park Library. Children and teens are able to sign up for the summer reading program until the end of July. The summer reading programs "Be Creative @ Your Library" for children and "Express Yourself" for teens have some great performers and special events coming up in July and August. If you match the reading goal of six books you can earn some fun incentive prizes and also get your name entered in the raffle for the big award at the end of the summer.

Small prizes for children include inflatable guitars (which my lovely niece Amelie is showing off in the photo), sports balls, stuffed animals, light up pens, puppets, and many other things. Small prizes for teens include glitter lamps, light up pens, MP3 players, flash drives, and art sets. These cool trinkets and prizes could be yours and all you have to do is read! So whether you're into Very Hungry Caterpillars, Lions, Witches, and Wardrobes, or teenage vampires, you can earn some fun awards. Stop by the library today to sign up!

Also, for those interested, here are some upcoming events at the library this week:

Tuesday July 7th at 1:30: Janice the Griot - Storyteller for children

Wednesday July 8th at 10:30: Preschool Story Time for children 3-5

Friday July 10th: Young Adult program at 1:30

Saturay July 11th: Be Creative Saturday at 2:00 for children 8+ or younger with an adult

Summer Reading Special Performance Tomorrow

Tomorrow, as part of our Summer Reading Program, we will be hosting a special performance by Susan McNells. Her show, entitled "Oh Susannah!" encourages children to sing, clap, and tap along with her award-winning songs and guitar playing. Her show is an eclectic mix of the Waltz, Polka, Twist, and Charleston dances along with the musical sounds of Zydeco and bluegrass.

Program: Oh Susannah!
Date: Wednesday, June 10th
Time: 10:30 am
Ages: 4-9

Preschool Story Time Tomorrow

Just a reminder that we will be offering our neighborhood Preschool Story Time tomorrow morning. We hope to see you there.

Program: Preschool Story Time

Date: May 20

Time: 10:30 a.m.

Ages: for 3-5 year olds

Description: Join us for stories, songs, rhymes and more!

Coming Up in the Children's Room

We have some great events coming up in the Children's Room this week. Children's librarian Miss Rachel will host the ever popular PJ story time and dont' forget weekly preschool story time.

Next Monday, as part of the special events schedule for Summer Reading, we will host a special performance by Nicolo Whimsey.

Program: PJ Story Time
Date: May 12

Time: 7:00 p.m.
Ages:0-6 w/an adult
Description: Snuggle up with stories, songs, & snacks. Feel free to wear your pjs and slippers and bring your stuffed animal or lovey.

Program: Preschool Story Time
Date: May 13
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Ages: for 3-5 year olds
Description: Join us for stories, songs, rhymes and more!

Program: The Nicolo Whimsey Show

Date: May 18

Time: 10:30 a.m.

Ages: 4-9
Description: This show combines juggling, music, poetry, and storytelling. Nicolo emphasizes language skills and encourages children' to discover and voice their creativity.

(Image courtesy of About Faces Entertainment)

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.

April Events in the Children's Room

Our major Spring program, Eggstravaganza, took place on April 4th and it was a huge success. Nearly a hundred people showed up to hunt for eggs and candy on the front lawn of the library. Children's librarians Rachel Meit and I carefully hid over 300 hundred candy filled eggs. What took us an hour to hide, the children found in just a few minutes flat!

Besides the egg hunt, we also offered crafts, coloring, a bean bag toss, a jelly bean guessing jar, and of course, refreshments. If you missed Eggstravaganza, don't fret! We still have lots of great programs coming up this April.

Program: Preschool Story Time
Date: Every Wednesday in April
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Ages: for 3-5 year olds
Description: Join us for stories, songs, rhymes and more!

Program: Pajama Story Time
Date: Tuesday April 14th
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Ages: 0-6 with an adult
Description: Snuggle up with stories, songs, and snacks. Feel free to wear your pjs and slippers and bring your stuffed animal or lovey!

Program: Saturday Crafternoon
Date: April 25th
Time: 2 p.m.
Ages: 4+ with an adult
Description: Join us in making a simple story-inspired or seasonal craft.

For more information on children's programs and events or to schedule a class visit please contact one of the children's librarians: Ms. Rachel Meit or Ms. Lindsay Halkola.