Science Night at the Library on June 28th!

Stop by anytime between 4:30 and 7 pm to visit stations provided by the Library staff, science students and professionals, and Science Ambassadors from Dow Agro Sciences who will be available to talk to you about careers in science and will design activities for the advanced students.

It will be hot tomorrow.  Look for a station in the south east corner of the parking lot.  We will test to see if we can fry an egg.  We will also discuss and test the  temperature generated in a car from the heat of the sun.

Horsey Pop Up Prize!

 I can't believe it's June 25th already; this summer is flying by! June 25th also means a new week is starting and that means a new pop-up prize! You won't want to miss it. Trot on over, log your hours, and be a pop prize recipient. Hurry, there's a limited supply!

Summer Reading Goals

Everyone has their own goals for summer reading.  Some teens strive to reach 10,000 pages so they can get their hands on one of five different $5 gift cards.  Adults may be striving to reach a certain number of books because their favorite village store has donated a coupon that they can earn by reading.  I am not ashamed to say it, but I have browsed the adult prizes and I have definitely set a goal to read a certain number of books so I can get a discounted coupon from a store I have been telling myself for years that I need to visit.  Personal reading goals aside, I am officially challenging all teens and adults in Zionsville to sign up for summer reading.  More than 400 teens have signed up for Teen Summer Reading and more than 200 adults are participating in Adult Summer Reading.  Here's the deal, I want more than 600 teens to sign up for Teen Summer Reading and more than 400 adults to sign up for Adult Summer Reading.  Why not?  Are you reading?  Do you not like free food, awesome prizes, and free candy?  Then be rewarded for reading when you are already reading.  It is easy!  Just visit our website and click on the Summer Reading Banner and click "online registration," or come in to the library and ask to sign up and staff and volunteers will likely begin tripping over themselves in an effort to get you signed up.  See you soon!

Summer Staple: Spending Time at the Library

If you glanced through the Sunday Star, you may have noticed an article pointing you towards your local public library.  Why?  Air conditioning,  books, movies and music to check out, and of course, great summer programs for customers of all ages.  Here in Zionsville, we have a team of librarians that specialize in programs for children ranging from birth to fifth grade, a teen librarian who focuses on programs for those in grades 6-12 and college, and an adult librarian who creates quality adult programs.  We're going to take this opportunity to brag about a few of those programs:

For teens, on Wednesday, July 11 you can sign up for Life Sized Candyland, where you are the piece and there is real candy involved.  There are also openings for the Cooking Through the Decades teen program on Tuesday, July 24, where you will learn how to make foods like tye dye popcorn, yum!  Here at Zionsville, we also have fantastic programs for adults.  One is The Psychology of Money on Tuesday, July 10, where you will learn about how men and women spend and save differently.  I am really, really excited for Texas Roadhouse Grilling 101.  We're blocking off part of the parking lot and bringing in the experts who are going to teach you how to sear and grill steaks and prepare side dishes.  Did I mention there will be samples and recipes for you to take home?  Registration is required for all of the above programs, so grab your calendar, shuffle your schedule, and get signed up for these and other great summer reading programs.

Pop-Up Prize: Google-Eye Pens

Pop-up prizes have started!

Remember: You can only get ONE pop-up prize per week and supplies are limited. When they are gone, they are gone!

So get to reading, get to that next prize level, and bring in your log sheets. One token buys one pop-up prize.

Here is the current pop-up prize:

New Paperback Book Club!

Do you like the feel of a paperback in your hand in the summer? We are pleased to announce our new *Paperback Book Club! Here's how to get your hands on some great paperbacks this summer:

1. Register at the Youth Services Desk for the club.
2. Thumb through the paperbacks on the table behind the YS desk. Find one you want to read. (You are allowed two books at a time.)
3. Take the book to the YS desk.
4. Each book has an orange-ish colored Borrower's card in it. The librarian will help you fill out the Borrower's Name and info.
5. Leave the card with the librarian and take your book home.
6. Read and enjoy.
7. Return the book to the YS desk and get another.
8. Repeat throughout the summer for maximum Summer Reading enjoyment!

*Books are suited for 2nd-5th grade fiction readers.
If you have paperback books at home that you love and would like to donate to the club, bring them in!

Zionsville Winners!

Is there an author that has changed your view on the world or changed you? What would you say to them if you were to write them a letter? 

Seventy Indiana students recently won awards for the letters they wrote to such an author through the Letters About Literature program sponsored by the Center for the Book and Target. The Indiana Center for the Book through the Indiana State Library and Target administer the program and the awards. Among the sixteen Indiana finalists are five Zionsville students! Let's here it for our young people!

In the Level One division for 4-6th graders, Rachel Stemme won second place for her letter to Sally Nichols, author of Ways to Live Forever (a book I enjoyed). Beki Slaughter and Annie Hockel both received honorable mention for their letters to Ellen Hopkins and Tom Burpo respectively. For the Level Two division, Dominic Rossi won first place and Nick Luker third. Dominic wrote to Walter Isaacson for his book Steve Jobs and Nick to Carl Deuker for his teen title, Gym Candy. Congratulations to you all!! Check out the Indiana State Library news release for more information! 

Going state and nationwide, Paw Soe from Fort Wayne, Indiana was a National Honor Recipient in the high school, or Level Three, division. She wrote to Cynthia Kadahota who wrote Kira, Kira.

You can learn more about this contest here and other state's winners here. Next year's program starts in August of this year. So ... get busy reading this summer, and maybe you'll find material to write your own winning entry this fall! 

In fact, attention tweens: we've created a whole new section at the library just for YOU. We've pulled books out of our JFIC section that are a more challenging reading level or are about things more appropriate for your age, and we've put a tween sticker on them to make them easy to find. They're shelved at the beginning of the JFIC section on the first floor; feel free to ask a librarian, and we would be happy to show you. Browse through and let us know what you think.

Celebration Station Is Open!!!

Wow! So many of you are off to a booming start with your summer reading! Awesome job, everyone!

New Prize System! We have a new way to claim prizes this year. To help learn the new prize system, here's a little primer:

1. Bring your log sheet to the library.
2. Show your log sheet to the Teen Volunteer (look for the Orange t-shirted teens) or Youth Services librarian.
3. You will be given a library nickel (aka "token") for every prize level you have reached. 
4. Go to the prize area and exchange each token for one prize or book. (There is a special prize room for prizes and books at or above the 25 level.) (If you want a different prize than is available this week, you can take your token home and bring it back to the library on a different week to claim another week's prize.)
5. When you reach 50 (our goal for everyone this summer), write your name on a paper candle for our bulletin board and receive a voucher for a Kennedy Half Dollar!*
6. Ambitious readers can continue reading with the Extreme Reading Log, which lets you record up to 200! (Those prizes are awarded every 25 hours or books. There are no prizes after 200, although you are encouraged to read as much as you can!)

Don't forget the Weekly Raffles! Our weekly raffles are intended to keep you reading every week. Make sure you read and record at least 5 books, hours, or days each week and we will automatically enter you in our weekly drawing where you can win tickets to all sorts of fun activities in our community.

The Summer Reading Program Is Well Underway: Are YOU Signed Up?

We are off to a great start with Summer Reading this year!

Over 700 of you signed up for the youth services Let's Read 50! Summer Reading Program within just the first couple of days, and many more of you have signed up here this week! We hope to see you soon, if we haven't already!

Drum roll, please, and a big round of applause to ... all of you who contributed to a record year for our Scholastic Sale! A big *grin* for the best year ever! We heartily thank you as your purchases provide us the ability to add more books to the collection and to our prize book options.

Speaking of prizes ... many of you are off to a fantastic start already this summer. I've seen quite a few rapidly filling log sheets. The fruit of your labors will be rewarded - starting today. The Celebration Station prize room opens today, Friday, June 8th and will be open the rest of the summer.

So ... stop on by, pick up a log if you haven't, register if you still need to (there are a few sign up prize ducks left, but not many so hurry), and start cashing in on your prizes. 

Happy Reading :)