That time of year again

Ah, the joys of summer. The long days hanging out with friends, the vacations and beach trips, the lazy afternoons devoted to Guitar Hero and Wii...

And then, before you know it, the first day of school is looming right around the corner. And to make matters worse... you just realized that you haven't even started your summer reading list for school!!!!

Yup, it's a mad rush to get those popular summer reading titles that hundreds of other students all around the city are rushing to read. Now, we at the library have plenty of these titles by normal standards. But the mad rush for these books takes everything to a whole 'notha level.

Anyway, we don't have enough of each title for every student in the city to read at the same time, so the kids are freaking out. No, that's not true...the kids still don't really care. The PARENTS are freaking out. "I NEED this book for my son" shouts a mother with a bored looking 13 year old by her side. "What do you MEAN you don't have a copy!?" Exclaims a dad who hasn't even bothered to bring his daughter. And my favorite, "I can't believe you are so unprepared for students and their summer reading lists!" says a perfectly coiffed mom with perfectly manicured nails and the perfect summery outfit (complete with spiky heeled sandals and sparkle-y diamond jewelry).

Um, I'm sorry, what? *I'm* unprepared?!?! Say nothing of your child who has waited to the last minute (school starts in exactly one week from tomorrow) to start reading their required titles. Say nothing about the fact that you obviously didn't think it necessary to prompt your child to read said titles until a week before school starts.

Well, whatever. Not my problem. I do what I can, and I am as helpful as I can be.

Obviously, this was a problem last year, too...

Fire Safety Tuesday!

This morning, we had a very special guest at Story Time!! Gail from the Nashville Fire Department came to the library to read us a story and give us some fire safety tips! She even brought a smoke detector and had a fun song to share with the kids! Not only did she read and share some tips, but she also brought fire hats and coloring books for everyone!! What a day!! Gail read No Dragons for Tea: Fire Safety for Kids by Jean Pendziwol.


And, of course, it's FMRNS!!! WHOOOOT!!!! I absolutely LOVE Tuesdays!!! A and I were excited yesterday because we were able to get together for FMRNS Bonus Night Double Feature!!! Last night we watched a couple more of our NetFlix movies. The first one we watched was Jean de Florette, a foreign film from 1986 with Yves Montand and Gerard Depardieu. We are also planning on watching the second part of this series called Manon of the Spring, also from 1986. The second movie we watched last night was Fail-Safe, a drama from 1964 with Dan O'Herlihy and Walter Matthau. We were supposed to watch that one last week, but we had a minor problem. The audio on A's DVD player burned out!! It was the craziest thing - a loud popping noise, and then nothing! Luckily, we were prepared with a back up!! Last week we ended up watching Torch Song Trilogy, a dramedy from 1988 with Anne Bancroft and Matthew Broderick.

Anyway, back to this week!! Tonight we are going to watch Frankenstein Unbound, a horror from 1990 with John Hurt and Raul Julia. I'm not entirely excited for a horror movie, but A says is has a great twist to it!!

Mr. Roboto with a twist of America

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Since we're still in the midst of our Starship Adventure Summer Reading program, I thought I would read some books about Robots. Yes, I know they aren't technically within the space theme, but I'm going to read them all anyway!! (Besides, Robots are kind of "out of this world" right? haha) Plus, as an added bonus, I have a really cute Fourth of July book that I'm going to tack on - just for fun!

Lots of Bots by Kiki Thorpe (based on characters from the Disney film Wall-E)

Hello Robots by Bob Staake

Robots Everywhere by Denny Hebson

Fourth of July Mice by Bethany Roberts

And, as always, it's FMRNS!!! Seriously, Tuesday is the BEST.DAY.EVER!! Last Tuesday, we watched Lair of the White Worm, a "horredy" from 1988 with Amanda Donohoe and Hugh Grant, and then on Bonus Night we decided to watch Bill, a made for TV drama from 1981 with Mickey Rooney and Dennis Quaid.

This week we have a couple more movies from our NetFlix queue. The first one is Fail-Safe, a Drama/Sci-Fi/Thriller from 1964 with Dan O'Herlihy and Walter Matthau. The second choice is Frankenstein Unbound, a horror movie from 1990 with John Hurt and Raul Julia. I'm not super excited for another horror, but hey - it's on the list, so it HAS to be fabulous, right??

Miss Solar System

We just had the best program @ the 'brary today!! Melba Toast came to the library as Miss Solar System - and the kids all had a BLAST!!! This amazing woman is full of life and animation, and a fantastic costume!! Check out her MySpace page to hear some of her music!

Over 70 people come to the program today - WHOOOOOT!!!

In related news, as of Thursday, we have 837 kids signed up for summer reading for our one branch alone!! HOOOORAY for reading!!!!!

Worms anyone?

Happy Tuesday!!! I know I have been a blog slacker - I apologize. I really need to get my ass back in gear, don't I? Well, we'll start with this FABULOUS Tuesday post!!!

As you know, it's Story Time Day!! WHOOOOOT!!!! I am excited for today's program because we have a special guest!! The Metro Beautification Commission is coming to present a program about...WORMS!!! To be quite honest, all I can really say about that is...EW!!! But, I know the kids are going to love it, and it's going to be fantastic!!! No books today, though!!

And, as always, it's FMRNS!!!!! We got a couple more movies in from my free trial of NetFlix, so we are pretty pumped about that!!! Last week, we were lucky enough to have a Bonus Night, where we watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a Sci-Fi movie from 1977 with Richard Dreyfuss and Teri Garr. I just LOVE Bonus Night!!!

This week, our two choices from NetFlix are Bill, a made for TV drama from 1981 with Mickey Rooney and Dennis Quaid. This was actually a two part series, Bill and Bill: On His Own (1983). We have already seen the second part (that was an accident - but even without the back story from Bill, it was fabulous - and easily followed). After watching Bill: On His Own, I know just how emotional Bill will be. In fact, after the first 10 minutes of Bill: On His Own, I was BAWLING!!! with tears streaming down my face I told A "I was SO unprepared for this!!" At least I know what's coming this time!!!

The second option is Lair of the White Worm, a "horredy" from 1988 with Amanda Donohoe and Hugh Grant. I am not quite in the bawl your eyes out drama mood, so I am guessing we'll be watching this one!! Besides, Lair of the White WORM seems to fit in with the Story Time theme, right?!?!

AND, we have about 5 hours of Shoobie (aka So You Think You Can Dance) to watch!! I always tape (yes, tape - as in VHS. I am still in the stone age!), the episodes and then bring them over to A's to watch. Since we decided to do a double feature last Tuesday, we didn't get a chance to watch Shoobie, so we have the episode (and results show) from two weeks ago, as well as last weeks episodes!! Not to mention Hell's Kitchen (they're down to the top 3!!). It's going to be an awesome evening!!!

Astronauts and Rockets!!!

It's going to be a FABULOUS story time today!!! In keeping with the Starship Adventure Summer Reading theme, I decided to read books about Astronauts and Rockets!! Here are the books I chose:

A Brave Spaceboy by Dana Kessimakis Smith


I Want to Be an Astronaut by Byron Barton


On the Launch Pad: A counting book about rockets by Michael Dahl


And, of course, it's FMRNS!!! WHOOOOOT!!!!! This past week, A and I had Double Feature Friday, which is always exciting!! I got a month long trial membership to NetFlix, and was able to get a couple of the movies we've had problems finding.
For Double Feature Friday, we watched Blaze, a drama from 1989 with Paul Newman and Lolita Davidovich (who was incredible!!). Our second feature of the evening was The Golden Child, a comedy from 1986 with Eddie Murphy and Charles Dance.

Our feature for this evening will be a foreign film, King of Masks, a drama from 1996 with Zhigang Zhang and Zhigang Zhao. I'm looking forward to it!!! We also have 3 hours of Shoobie (also known as So You Think You Can Dance) AND Hell's Kitchen!!! It's going to be FABULOUS!!!

Starship Adventure Storytime!

It's the second Tuesday of Summer Reading!!! As of yesterday (June 9) @ 12:30 PM, we had already signed up 481 kids for the summer reading program!!! That's over HALF of the number that we signed up TOTAL last summer!!! We are so excited about this, obviously!! I think we even have a small number of kids who have already finished! Craziness, and I LOVE it!

To fit in with the Space theme that we have going on this year, I decided to read books about the Moon. Here are the ones I chose this week:

Bringing Down the Moon by Jonathan Emmett


I Took the Moon for a Walk by Carolyn Curtis and Alison Jay


Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes


And, of course, it's FMRNS!!! WHOOOOT!!!! Since our last few movies have been pretty heavy dramas, A and I decided to watch something a little lighter. We just got in another copy of Barbarella, Queen of the Galaxy, a sci-fi movie from 1968 with Jane Fonda and John Phillip Law. The other option is Yankee Doodle Dandy, the musical from 1942 with James Cagney and Joan Leslie. Which one would you pick?

It's all about Summer Reading!!

Well, life at the 'brary is about to get interesting!!! Today is the official start of the Summer Reading Program - also known as Starship Adventure!!! WHOOOOT!!!!!

Summer Reading is great because the kids are so excited to read!! We give out prizes if they read (or listen to!) so many books, which just gives a little extra push! The prizes include a "Choose your Own Prize" which allows for free entry in to ONE of 6 different places (including The Adventure Science Center, Nashville Shores, or Wave Country!!

We also have some great programming coming up this summer! We have Miss Lynn coming in to sing, Conductor Jack from the band The Zinghoppers is coming to perform, Bedtime Stories, Star Catching with the Dyer Observatory, and a "Crafternoon" program where the kids will be making their own Rockets, UFO's and Aliens!! These programs are just a TASTE of what is going to be going on at the library for kids this summer!!

So, head to your local library to see what's shakin for the summer! You'll be glad you did!!