Odds & Ends

The end of summer reading is here! I hope everyone had a great Midsummer Knight's Read! Remember, turn in your reading logs by August 15 to be considered for at Top Ten Reader prize.

I will be having a storytime this Saturday, July 30 at 10 a.m. so please do stop by if you are in a listening mood.

I'll be gone on vacation next week, so there won't be any children's programs. That means there will be no Teen Book Club meeting, no Thursday morning storytime, and no Lap Time. Everything will start up again on Tuesday, Aug. 9.

Being on vacation means I'll have time to read! I have lots of books picked out, such as Mike Lupica's The Big Field, Sharon Draper's Out of My Mind, and Alex Sanchez's Getting It. I'll also be reading a few books for grown-ups like Ann Patchett's State of Wonder and Kat Richardson's Greywalker.

I'll see everyone when I get back, and I'll have more books to talk about. I hope you will, too!

Summer Reading is Over Soon

Next week is the last week of our summer reading program! If you are counting minutes or books, please stop counting on Friday, July 29. You will have until Monday, Aug. 15 to turn in your reading logs in order to be considered for a Top Ten Reader prize.

Next week is the last week for tons of programs, too. On Monday the 25th at 10 a.m. we will be doing games from the past such as juggling, and learning about calligraphy. On Tuesday the 26th at 2:30 p.m. we'll be doing puppets and plays. This is all thanks to a "Playing With Shakespeare" kit that will be loaned to us from the Museum of the Grand Prairie (formerly the Early American Museum) in Mahomet. Please sign up for these programs if you're interested. Next week will also be the last Monday afternoon storytime until next summer.

There will be some programming changes in August! There will be no programs during the first week of August, since I will be on vacation. However, starting on Aug. 9, there will be a Baby Lap time every Tuesday morning at 9:30. Teen book club meetings will continue on Wednesday afternoons on Aug. 10, and Thursday morning storytimes will continue at 11 a.m. on Aug. 11. These three programs will run year-round.

Please let me know if you have questions about anything. Stay cool this week!

Gary Paulsen

Lately I've been a bit puzzled about a few of Gary Paulsen's newer books. Two of them are Lawn Boy and Lawn Boy Returns. Another is called Liar, Liar and its sequel, Flat Broke. These books are all REALLY short - ranging from 88-119 pages - which indicated that maybe they should go in our chapter book section. But as I read jacket flaps and reviews of these books, it seemed to me like they featured older characters and slightly more mature situations (a boy trying to get a girl to go out with him in Liar, Liar for example), making me think they might not be a good fit in the chapter book section. However, the problem with just tossing all of them in the Teen section is that they may not circulate very well if the kids think they look too babyish.

I'm planning on reading them before deciding for sure, but if you all have read them or have an opinion/advice, I'd love to hear it.

Summer Fun Continues!

We still have three more weeks of exciting summer programs for kids here at the library! On Monday, July 11 we'll have a presentation by the Macon County Conservation District about Animals of the Night. The children will get to see and learn about live animals at the program. And then on Tuesday, July 12 at 2:30 we'll have a Royal Ball, where kids will make crowns or princess hats and play a Find the Royal Slipper game.

The week after that, we'll have a Wands program on Monday the 18th. Kids will make edible wands from pretzel sticks and frosting, as well as wood and paper wands to take home. And on Tuesday the 19th, we will have a unicorn craft at 2:30. Please call me or stop by if you have any questions or to sign up.