Lawrence Public Library » Kim F.

Summer in the City: Out and About!

bmichener — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:00:20 +0000

Summer is almost here! The Library summer program will get under way Tuesday, May 28. Adults, teens, and kids will have two ways to participate: read (or listen) for a certain number of hours, or finish a certain number of books, for prizes! And don’t miss the special events for every age. Because of our smaller temporary location, some events will be held outside the library at the Carnegie Building, Watkins Museum, Natural History Museum, and other fun places around town. So check the location before you leave home!

Saturday, June 1, 10 am to noon, in the Library parking lot, we’re formally kicking off summer with the Library’s own version of “Summer School”. No more homework, no more books, just experts from around town to teach you some fun DIY. Want to know how to change a tire? Make an Origami Yoda? Make a throwie (figure out what a throwie is). Dance moves, cupcake decorating, paper flower making, gardening, bike maintenance, and lots of other cool things. We are partnering with tons of awesome community organizations to teach you some fun new skills to show off to your friends. Put this on your calendar.

Seasons and Space

bmichener — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:00:33 +0000

Changes are abrewin’… Spring Break and Summer are upon us and there will be some slight changes to our programming. A good majority of our programs will remain at the Borders building but due to the size of the Events space we can’t have everything here. Please make sure that you look at the locations of the programs, especially concerning programs over the Spring Break Week and during the Summer time! All of our storytimes will remain in the Borders Events space, but our performance series, and the larger craft days, will be at the Carnegie Building at 200 W. 9th St. This information can be found on our paper calendar, right under the time and date. If you look for this information on our website, on the events calendar there is a “Location” spot, or it will be directly in the article that you are reading. Please do not hesitate to call us at the library so we can help clarify further! We are looking forward to seeing the school age kids at our programs!

Storytimes are coming…

bmichener — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 13:00:46 +0000

The Library is open again and things are starting to run smoothly, so the Children’s Department is getting ready to start storytimes again! Due to space restraints we have had to make some scheduling changes to our story times.

Books & Babies with Miss Jenny (for 8 to 23 months and their families) will be on Wednesdays at 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. starting Feb. 13

Toddler Storytime with Miss Jane (for 2 year olds and their families) will be on Mondays and Thursdays at 10:30 a.m., starting Feb. 11

Library Storytime (for ages 3 and up and their families) will be presented four times a week starting Feb 12: Tuesdays & Fridays at 10:30 a.m.(Miss Linda), Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. (Miss Linda) and Sundays at 3:30 p.m. (Miss Becca)

In addition to our offerings for the little ones, our programs for school age kids will be starting again on February 6 with a Valentine Card Workshop for the whole family, and February 9 with Magic Tree House Adventures for ages 5-8. We will also have craft programs, and book clubs this month too! Due to our space constraints we apologize but we will need to require registration for most of the school-age programs. Please give us a call to sign up for your spot!

We’re looking forward to seeing you back at the library.

And the winners are….

bmichener — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 20:55:56 +0000

At the end of the year all of the booksellers get together and make their lists of books that they think will be popular for the holiday season. But at the beginning of the year, the librarians get together to announce the winners of the American Library Association Book and Media Awards. This year they met in Seattle, Washington and it looked like they had a fun time. If you would like to watch the awards yourself they will be posted to the ALA Youth Media Awards YouTube page in the very near future. Here are some of the highlights from yesterdays announcement:

John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to Children’s Literature, 2013 Winner:

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Honors:

Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz

Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children, 2013 Winner:

This Is Not My Hat illustrated and written by Jon Klassen

Honors:

Creepy Carrots! illustrated by Peter Brown, written by Aaron Reynolds

Extra Yarn illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett

Green illustrated and written by Laura Vaccaro Seeger and published by Neal Porter Books

One Cool Friend illustrated by David Small, written by Toni Buzzeo

Sleep Like a Tiger illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Mary Logue

Coretta Scott King Book Awards recognize an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults. 2013 Author Winner:

Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney (The last name might look familiar and yes he is related to Jerry Pinkney.)

Honors

Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E. B. Lewis

No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, 2013 Winner:

I, Too, Am America by Langston Hughes, illustrated by Bryan Collier (on order)

Honor Books:

H. O. R. S. E. illustrated and written by Christopher Myers (on order)

Ellen’s Broom illustrated by Daniel Minter, written by Kelly Starling Lyon

I Have a Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr. illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you would like to see more results or to find out more about the standards of how winners are chosen from the Awards this year please take a look at the Association of Library Service to Children website.

Great Audiobooks

bmichener — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 08:00:37 +0000

If you are looking for some great audiobooks to listen to in the car with your kids I have some for you to try. I sometimes have a hard time just sitting down and reading a children’s book, even as a librarian, but I never have a problem when I listen to a well-narrated one. We know that a lot of families are going to be travelling with their families for the holidays so here are some of my favorite audiobook series that are good for a family with 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th graders.

1. Any of the original Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. There is a fourth book now but I haven’t listened to that one yet. The narrator of these books is Simon Jones; he uses different voices for all of the different characters and does a really nice job. I listened to all three of them in a row, and that doesn’t usually happen for me, I often need a break:

The Amulet of Samarkand (Book 1)

The Golem’s Eye (Book 2)

Ptolemy’s Gate (Book 3)

2. The Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld is another really good series for listening in the car. This book is actually found in the teen section. The narrator is Alan Cummings, and apparently he and Scott Westerfeld really got along well while Cummings was recording the books, which influenced the way that Westerfeld wrote the later books in the series.

Leviathan (Book 1)

Behemoth (Book 2)

Goliath (Book 3)

3. I really enjoyed the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins. This is another series by the woman who wrote The Hunger Games trilogy, but for younger readers. They are read by Paul Boehmer, and you probably won’t want to leave your car when you are listening to these books.

Gregor the Overlander (Book 1)

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane (Book 2)

Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (Book 3)

Gregor and the Marks of Secret (Book 4)

Gregor and the Code of Claw (Book 5)

4. You can never go wrong with the Harry Potter audiobooks. The narrator Jim Dale does a really lovely job and they are great for long car rides. As you know, the later books get a little more sad but his reading certainly does them justice.

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Book 1)

2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2)

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3)

4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4)

5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5)

6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)

Storytime changes

bmichener — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 21:09:09 +0000

The sad news is, storytimes will be taking a break from December 17 until late January 2013. As many of you know, the entire library will be moving into 700 New Hampshire (the old Borders location), while our current building is totally renovated and expanded. Luckily we will have a storytime space in our temporary building, but it is only one space, so we are going to be making some adjustments to the schedule.

Starting probably in late January, Books & Babies will be only on Wednesday mornings at its current times (no Monday B&B). Toddler Storytime will be on Monday and Thursday mornings. Library Storytime will continue to be Tuesday and Friday mornings, Thursday evenings, and Sunday afternoons. Watch the storytime page for changes and clarification.

During times of the year when we are very busy, such as spring break and summer, we will be doing some of our programming off-site so that we can accommodate larger attendance. As these times approach we will do our best to communicate where different events will be happening. We are looking forward to trying new things, so please be patient with us as we move forward.