Mark your calendars.  The Summer Reading Program starts Monday June 4.  Our first program will be  Snakes in the Library on June 6 at 3 PM  , with snake handler Thomas Davis.  This program will be in the auditorium at the Senior Center next door.  We have a terrific schedule of programs planned - a magician, clown, crafts, ferrets and more.  There will also be 3 programs for Teens Only.  The summer events are listed on our website. Printed calendars will be available toward the end of May.

  A Sumo wrestler and companion visited West University Library Friday.  The master sumo wrestler demonstrated various moves and taught the young audience some of the basics of his sport.

    Scrabble and Pictureka games are available for playing at the Library.  Upstairs in the Children's section, you will find the two board games on a top shelf above juvenile fiction.  Families may want to settle at one of the tables and spend a Saturday afternoon playing the games.

Doodle 4 Google is a competition open to K 12 students of U.S.

 schools to create their own Google doodle. Google hosts this program

 each year to encourage and celebrate the creativity of young people.

 This year's theme is "If I could travel in time, I'd visit..." Students

 take a blank canvas to harness their curiosity and imagine the past,

 present, and/or future anywhere in the world. Doodles must be postmarked

 by March 20. Click here for a full list of rules and regulations.

 National Winner Prizes (one recipient)

    Winning doodle featured on google.com U.S. for the entire day on

 May 18, 2012

    Winning doodle exhibited in the New York Public Library

    A $30,000 college scholarship

Valentine's Day will be the theme of next week's story time.  We'll read valentine books and create a valentine to take home.  Tuesday story  time is for children - ages 2 to 6 years old - and their caregivers.

e          The Newbery and Caldecott Award winning books were announced last week.  West University Library has both titles available.  Dead End in Norvelt won the Newbery Award and A Ball for Daisy won the Caldecott Award for best illustrations.  We also have a display of former Caldecott Award winners to check out.

  40 children had a great time decorating round and square sugar cookies.  Different colors of frosting was offered in addition to a wide variety of colored sprinkles.  Some friends shared sprinkles to spread a variety on their cookies.  It was a nice activity on a chilly winter afternoon. 

  31 little princesses joined Princess Susie for some royal magic, a craft, frog toss and sparkly cookies. Everyone wore a paper tiara and helped chant the magic words "Bippity boppity boo" to make magic happen.

         If you missed doing some of the crafts we created this summer, you have another chance to decorate a hummingbird feeder or wand, plant a seed, practice origami, make a macaroni necklace and more.  We will have a "leftover" craft program Wednesday August 10  at 3 PM.  Supplies are limited to what is on hand. 

    65 children and 44 adults were entertained by Jon Bartell of Science Quest at the final children's event of the summer reading program.  Mr. Jon amazed the audience with all kinds of fun science facts and experiments utilizing everyday household items.  He brought along several of his rescued animals, such as a ferret, hedgehog, parrotlet, tortoise, chichilla and several reptiles.  Children were able to pet the animals and ask questions.

Mr. Jon emphasized that science is all around us and can be fun if we use our imaginations.  He has all sorts of fact sheets, coloring pages and simple experiments on his website www.science-quest.com