School is here, football is being played again, and the temperatures are falling (well, some of the time).  That must mean fall has arrived.  It also means a new batch of great programs for kids at the library. 

Wee Read and Storytime will once again be held for our toddlers and preschool students respectively.  These are led by Jolisa and are always quality times for interaction, singing, crafts, and stories.  These meetings will begin on Monday, September 13.

The K-2nd graders are invited to Storybook Club where we will be reading from Susan Cooper's book, The Magician's Boy, about a magician's assistant sent to story land to look for the missing St. George so he can slay the dragon.  The club will have a lot of fun with crafts and activities related to the characters and events throughout the story.  Storybook Club meets each Tuesday at 4 p.m. from September 22 through October 27.

A Science Club is in store for our 3rd - 5th graders this fall.  Club members will examine how the world around them works studying things like gravity, fluids, magnetism, motion, and more.  A special guest (an engineer who has done work for NASA) will be speaking to the kids at a special meeting in September.  The Club itself runs from September 14 through November 2, each Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Sign-ups are now open at the kids circulation desk but they are filling up fast.  Stop by soon so your child can be a part of the fun this fall.

A big congrats to all the readers who were part of our summer reading club!  We had over 150 participants and over 50 of these reached the 500 minute goal.  We gave away 28 prizes at the pool party last week with about ninety people in attendance.  Remember to keep reading throughout the summer and thanks for making the summer reading club such a success.

A big thanks to Pam Holz, Naturalist at Marr Park, for being a part of our summer reading club.  Pam used bracelets to teach club members about the water cycle.  Different stations around the room represented different stages of the water cycle in the environment such as stream, clouds, animals, or oceans.  The kids would add a colored bead from each station as they followed the cycle.  It was a fun and creative way to learn.  Thanks, Pam!

If you missed the presentations by Chasing4Life's Eddy Weiss this past Wednesday you missed a storm.  Eddy, the founder of Chasing4Life and an experienced researcher, storm chaser, and emergency care specialist, wowed the audiences with his high energy, exciting stories, and hard-hitting message to stay safe in severe weather.  He proved quite versatile in adapting his presentation to teens, children, and families throughout three presentations at the WPL (Eddy had also been in Wellman and Kalona earlier in the day).  Eddy told many stories about the storms he had been involved with and described the changes in the weather leading to an increase in severe weather both numerically and geographically.  His focus was staying safe during severe weather by taking cover.  Eddy repeatedly mentioned the fact that there is no place where storms, tornados, hail, etc. do not happen.  Most injuries and fatalities are to people who remain outside to watch tornados and take pictures.  We hope to have Chasing4Life back in the future to enthrall and encourage us

The library is proud to be hosting a Chasing4Life event as the kick-off to our Summer Reading Club.  There will be three programs throughout the day of June 9, each one geared toward a specific group.  At 3 PM we will have a program for the teenagers (6th - 12th grade), at 4:30 a program for the elementary age kids (K - 5th grade), and at 7 PM a program for families and the general public.

Each program will feature an exciting multimedia presentation filled with tornado facts, lessons about radar and storm chasing, and lessons on severe weather safety along with  stories of storm chases from present day and long ago.  Our speaker is the founder of Chasing4Life.  Eddy Weiss is a rising star on the speaking circuit with his history in weather monitoring and research.  With his background in emergency management, disaster response and firefighting, his insight has created hundreds of presentations that have become a valuable resource for many.
 

 

Registration is now open for this year's Summer Reading Club at your Washington Public Library.  Teenagers can sign up online, while younger students (5th grade and down) can register at the children's circulation desk at the library.

K - 5th graders will receive a calendar where they can keep track of how many minutes they read or are read to.  If they bring their calendars into the library once each week, they can receive a prize.  If they also attend the club meetings each Tuesday morning at 10 AM we will also move a splash drop with their name on it across the large bulletin board to track their progress.  There are three clubs: The Wave Pool for 3rd - 5th graders, The Splash Zone for 1st and 2nd graders, and The Duck Pond for kindergarten students.  Clubs are determined by which grade each student has recently finished.

There will also be a number of special events during the Summer Reading Club.  First, the Chasing4Life Storm Education Team will be here on June 9 with a special program for our elementary grade students.  Second, naturalist Pam Holz, always a favorite, will share with us on June 17.  The Mad Science guys will be here with their crazy experiments on June 24 followed by magician Rick Eugene on June 30.  We will wrap things up with a pool party at the Washington Aquatic Center on July 8.

The teenagers will meet each Monday for the Lunch Bunch where they will be reading and discussing the book, "Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits" by Robin McKinley.  The teens will also be hearing from the Chasing4Life team, screening a number of water-themed movies, and joining in on the wrap-up pool party.

We would love to get your opinion of the library books you are reading.  Please submit a review of a book you loved, thought was overrated, or somewhere in between (just keep it civil, please).  We will post those reviews here on the blog.  Just look under the "Read a Good Book Lately?" section.

Now that we have been open for a few months, we would like to get your thoughts on the new building.  Please let us know what you like, what you don't like, and how you feel the change is going.

People have been asking if the new library will be opening in August, a guess we were making at the start of summer.  Due to some unforseen circumstances (I think that's how you say it) the library will now open near the end of September.  This is a firmer timeframe than we have been given in the past so it looks like we should make it this time.

Speaking of looking, take the time to look at the new pictures at the link under 'library info.'  Or you can walk down the street in front of the library now and might get a peek in the window.

Leave a reply below on what you are the most excited about at the new library.

Thanks to everyone who came out for Jazz in the Park yesterday!  We had great weather and enjoyed some fantastic music by the Mid-Prairie High School Jazz Band.  We even had some extra percussion from the new library's work site.  A special thanks to all the band members and their director, Dave Kunz, for all their hard work.

Join us next week on Tuesday, June 16th, as naturalist Pam Holz comes to speak to our kids about 'Animals on the Move.'  The Books on the Move summer reading club keeps on movin'.

Progress is quick at the new building and we have new pictures to show it.  You can see walls going up inside and some closer up looks of the brick work outside.  There is a link to the pictures under the 'About Us' tab.  Let us know what you think about what you see.

The Summer Reading Club is now open for registration at your Washington Public Library.  Parents can register their child at the circulation desk and take home a calendar to keep track of your reading.  More details about special events and reading prizes are printed on the calendar.  We hope to see you soon!

Construction continues at the new library site on the south side of the square.  Take a look as you pass by or check out the pictures on the website.  Let us know what you think of the progress.

Holidays can create interesting choices at the library since they do not have the same meaning for every person.  And there are always holidays which are only observed by certain people groups.  Easter seems to be more widely celebrated than most, at least in regards to Wal-Mart and other stores who gear up huge marketing campaigns.

What does Easter mean to you and how can we best provide Easter materials at your library?

Many of you have been asking about the summer reading program.  Thank you, we are glad you are excited about what is coming this summer.  Early information will be posted starting next Monday  with more details coming throughout the spring months.  Thanks again for your interest.

Wow, it has been a while since anyone has posted to the WPL blog!  Just so you know we didn't forget about it, this was due to a staff change (one of our quality staff, Debbie, moved to Alaska).  Hopefully, now that I have had a chance to settle in, you will see regular postings here again.

Let me know what you would be interested seeing in this space.  Maybe book discussions, topics regarding the new library building, or library tech questions?  Please make a comment and let me know.

* * * All Iowa Reads * * *

The All Iowa Reads book this year is The Rope Walk by Carrie Brown.  There are copies of the book reserved in the library from April 27th to May 27th.  There will be a discussion of the book in late May.  Between now and then, please feel free to add your comments onto this post.  Just click on "Add a Comment"!

Cozy up with a good book today!

Sign up for Winter programs @ the Library!

Happy New Year!

The library will close at 5 p.m. on New Year's Eve and will be closed all day January 1st.  We will open again as usual at 9 a.m. Friday!

Have a safe and joyous holiday!

Here are the Library's holiday hours:

Wednesday, Dec. 24th (Christmas Eve): CLOSED

Thursday, Dec. 25th (Christmas Day): CLOSED

Friday, Dec. 26th & Saturday, Dec. 27th: OPEN 9 a.m.-1 p.m.