Storytime Part of Special Memorial Day Flags Event

Click photo to enlarge it.

Despite the heat, the Memorial Day flag raising over the proposed new Veterans Memorial and a Memorial Day storytime still took place last Monday!

The six service flags were raised one at a time as each hymn played. The breeze unfurled the flags perfectly! See details about the Memorial Day books that were read here.

Abigail (left) and Melissa Jacobs both read during the Memorial Day storytime. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

The post-ceremony picnic in Rotary Park–Flags, Families and Fun–also featured music by two great bands, good food prepared by the Rotary and the 2nd annual Honeoye Falls (rubber) Duck Race. Proceeds from the event will benefit the plans for a new Veterans Memorial in the Honeoye Falls Cemetery.

A big thank you to our Memorial Day storytime readers: former town board member and former library board of trustees president Shari Stottler; current trustee Melissa Jacobs; and Manor School third grader Abigal Jacobs. Thanks also to Shari, trustee Margaret Bailey and Friends of Mendon Library member Sandy Nicholson for their help with setup, booth staffing and take down!

Friends Offer Memorial Day Storytime During Family Picnic Event

The Friends of Mendon Public Library will host a special storytime at the Flags, Families and Fun Memorial Day family picnic. The event will be held on Monday, May 28, in Rotary Park on N. Main St. in Honeoye Falls, immediately following the parade and cemetery service.

Free picnic admission includes music by two bands and the 1:30 p.m. storytime at the Friends of the Mendon Library tent. Food and games will be available for purchase, and all proceeds from the event will benefit the new Veterans’ Memorial planned for Honeoye Falls.

Books that may be read during this special storytime include The Memorial Day Surprise by Theresa Martin Golding and The Wall by Eve Bunting and Ronald Himler.

The Memorial Day Surprise features a young boy whose mother tells him that the Memorial Day parade will include a big surprise, but it isn’t the bands or the candy. In the end, the boy discovers that the surprise is far more wonderful–it’s that his grandfather is a veteran in the parade.

The Wall is about a boy who travels to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial with his father to seek out his grandfather’s name.

Stoney Clover Book Club Meets Around Tichenor Table

The Stoney Clover Book Club is one of three book groups that meet in the library each month. As pictured here, the club typically sits around the beautiful conference table that was donated to the library by Mary Tichenor in loving memory of her husband, Paul.

Southco Bench Offers Comfortable Spot for Reading

This mom and daughter couldn’t wait to get home to read one of the books they selected, so they took a few moments to read it in the library while sitting on the lovely bench provided by Southco.

Early Literacy Popular With Patrons

Friday mornings you will find stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes lounging in the Jacobs Family Reading Room while they wait for the sound of little feet and voices.

It’s not uncommon to also hear music from a recorder, singing, clapping, and a variety of fun voices as Miss Lydia makes books come alive for the children.

Our story times continue to be a favorite weekly event at the library. If you can’t make Friday mornings, you can always attend the story time on Monday or Tuesday at 10 a.m., or our Pajamarama Story Time (also hosted by Miss Lydia) on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m.

June Book Sale Features Bonus ‘Bargain Days’

Shop the first weekend of the June book sale (it’s Father’s Day weekend, same as Festival on the Green, at the old library, 15 Monroe St.) and get first picks! Then, shop two special bonus days for great bargains! See below for detailed hours…

Donations of books, videotapes, DVDs and children’s board games are still being accepted. Donate them during open hours at the new library, 22 N. Main St. Or, when the new library is closed, donate your materials in the vestibule of the old library.

View this past post for information about helping to sort books.

‘First Picks’ Weekend, June 14-16:
4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Thurs. June 14: Friends members-only sale (Join at the door!)
11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Fri, June.15: Public sale
11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sat. June 16: Public sale

‘Bonus Bargain Days’: June 21-22

11 p.m. to 8 p.m., Thurs. June 21: Public 1/2 price sale

11 .m. to 4 p.m., Fri. June 22: Bag sale and the first day of summer reading!

The revenue you help the Friends of the Mendon Library generate by supporting the sale is used for library enhancements, such as special programs and collection items, and new technology. We look forward to seeing you!

June Book Sale Sorting has Begun: Volunteers Welcome!

Thanks to a group of dedicated volunteers, sorting is underway for the Friends of Mendon Public Library’s next book sale. The main sale is slated for Father’s Day weekend, in conjuction with Festival on the Green, with the half price/bag sale the following weekend. Watch this space for specific sale dates and hours!

If you’d like to help with sorting beforehand or staffing during the sale, please contact Stephanie Livingston-Heywood.

Sorting and staffing aren’t the only ways to help. Donating books is also very important to the sale’s success! You can bring your donations to the “new” library at 22 N. Main St. during open hours. Or, if the library is closed, please leave your donations in the vestibule of the “old” library at 15 Monroe St.

Thank you for supporting Mendon Public Library!

Kids’ Building Blocks Club Based on Books and Teamwork

Terra proudly displays her “A Movie & Activity Night” creation.

What do you get when you cross books, Legos and creative kids who work together?

Masterpieces.

Mendon Public Library’s Building Blocks club is proof. Meeting every first and third Thursday from 3:30-4:30 p.m., Building Blocks Club introduces a theme (such as “space” or “aircraft”), provides books for ideas, and then encourages kids ages six to 12 to work together in small groups and get creative!

Perry (left), Isaac, Holden and Victoria worked together to create this complex structure. Click on the image to make it larger.

Finished products are placed on display in the library’s Children’s Area for a limited time.

Register your child for an upcoming club meeting by calling 624-6067. Space is limited to 10 so there are enough blocks for everyone.

Book Sale: Tonight’s 1/2 Price; Tomorrow’s $2/Bag

Shopping Friday’s half price sale and Saturday’s bag sale will mean tapping the best prices of the sale–and the latest donations! Be sure to stop by the “old library” at 15 Monroe St.:

4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Fri. Nov. 4: Public 1/2 price sale

9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sat. Nov. 5: Public bag sale ($2/bag)

Your Library’s Value: $601,770 in Materials Town-Wide in Two Months

How much would we all pay out of pocket for books and other materials if we couldn’t use Mendon Public Library?

In the first two months it was open in the new building (July and August 2011), Mendon Public Library circulated 23,145 items. According to the School Library Journal, the average cost of a book today is $26. So if all those materials were books (some were videos, audio books etc.), they would have cost us $601,770 to purchase.

The library’s entire 2011 budget is $286,000–so that’s a very good return. Plus, it’s a real opportunity for anyone who’s feeling the pinch of this down economy.  If you don’t already use the library, stop on by!

If you like this way of looking at the value of your library, you may wish to try out Maine State Library’s library use calculator, which will figure more specifically your personal savings, based on how many of which kinds of materials you typically borrow–plus programs you attend, magazines and newspapers you read, computers you use and reference questions you ask.

I tried it and the library services my family of three uses in a year easily totals $4,000. What do you get? Please post your results and thoughts in the comments.