"White Christmas" - Holiday Display

If you have been busy lately with holiday activities, you may not have seen our latest display window by Antonia Russo. Patrons have been enjoying this peaceful, fantasy winter scene. Toni has dedicated this display, titled White Christmas, to Irving Berlin's classic Christmas song of the same name. The display will be up through mid-January.

No Storytime This Week

There will be no Tuesday morning storytime on December 28. We will be back to our regular schedule on January 5th.

Holiday Hours at the Library

Tuesday Storytime With Jennifer

'Tis the season for holiday stories! On Tuesday, December 22, we will be reading Christmas stories and making a candy cane craft. Preschool storytime meets at 10:30 a.m. and is geared for ages 2-5, but siblings are always welcome. Each session consists of 20-25 minutes of stories, songs, and action rhymes followed by a craft. No registration is required.

Puzzle Kings and Queens

Way back in November, we set out a jigsaw puzzle on one of the back tables for National Puzzle Month. It was such a hit that we decided to continue leaving out a different puzzle after each one was completed. Here are Zach and Haley with another finished puzzle!

No Pajama Time Wednesday Dec. 23rd or 30th

We will be taking a break from Pajama Time December 23rd and 30th for the holidays. Pajama Time will resume Wednesday January 6th. Have a wonderful holiday!

The New Shelf is Overflowing!

A few weeks ago, the library received a very generous donation from the Coralville/North Corridor Rotary Club. The donation allowed us to buy over 170 new books!! We used the money to purchase new materials in the junior fiction and early chapter book sections. The primary focus was on updating series that we already owned and buying new series for each area. Here are some examples of the series we purchased or updated: Geronimo Stilton by Geronimo Stilton Allie Finkle's Rules For Girls by Meg Cabot The Time Warp Trio by Jon Scieszka Funny Families by Jackie French Regarding the Fountain by Kate and Sarah Klise Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III by Cressida Cowell Andrew Lost by J.C. Greenburg Sammy Keyes by Wendelin Van Draanen Suddenly Supernatural by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel The Baseball Card Adventures by Dan Gutman Stink by Megan McDonald And many more! We also bought one more copy of each of the Iowa Children's Choice Award nominees for the 2009-2010 school year. So we now have two copies of each title. Most of these book can be found on the junior fiction new shelves, but not everything would fit, so some things are in the beginning chapter book blue dot section or the junior fiction section.

Who's ready for a party? On Tuesday, December 15, storytime is all about birthdays! We will be reading one of my favorite books, A Birthday For Cow by Jan Thomas. We won't be doing a craft this week because we are doing something really special instead. I don't want to give away the surprise, but it is going to be really fun! The picture is a hint of what we are going to do. Preschool storytime meets at 10:30 a.m. and is geared for ages 2-5, but siblings are always welcome. Each session consists of 20-25 minutes of stories, songs, and action rhymes followed by a craft. No registration is required.

When Santa Came to the Library

Thursday night was the holiday party at the library and we all had so much fun! Even though the weather conditions were not ideal, families ventured out for the party and we had a much bigger crowd than we had expected. Santa was a big hit and so were the crafts. Everyone got to make their own scratch board star ornament and decorate a Christmas tree with stickers. We are so glad that we decided not to cancel the program, and we want to thank everyone who came. More pictures can be found at our Flickr page.

Pajama time with Kelly Wednesday, December 16th at 7pm.

Put your pajamas on, grab your favorite bear, and come to the children's section of the library to relax and share stories and rhymes. This weekly program is designed for children under 7 and their families. The program will last approximately 30 minutes. It is a great way to get ready for bed (toothbrush optional)!

Donations, Donations

We get a lot of phone calls at the library asking if we accept donations. Well the answer is a resound YES!! We love to get donations of books magazines, videos, DVDs, and puzzles. Whether it is just one item or a whole box full we are always happy to receive a donation. We go through every donation and decide whether it should be added to the collection or if it should go to the Friends of the Library for one of their book sales. In either case, the item will be used by one person, or many people. A lot of the donations are used to replace older, worn out copies of popular titles. For example, our copy of Dan Brown's Angels and Demons has seen better days. It has been taped and glued more times than we can count. So if anyone has a copy of that book they no longer need, we will gladly accept it! There are a few things that we cannot accept as donations. We will not take any Reader's Digest condensed books or textbooks. Also, anything that is moldy or dirty. Other than that we would love to have it! So the next time you are cleaning out your shelves, feel free to bring any unwanted books over to the library!

Last Chance to Bid

This week is the last chance to bid on the hand-crafted dollhouse at the library. Proceeds from the sale of the house will go to the library foundation. This is also your last chance to take home one of the Christmas trees in the library. Bidding is becoming intense for the twenty trees that were donated by families, business, and clubs in the community. Money from the auction will go to Habitat for Humanity. Both auctions end at noon on Saturday, December 12, so be here to make sure your bid is the winner!

Tuesday Storytime With Jennifer

On Tuesday, December 8, the storytime theme will be horses. So gallop on over to the library for some fun horse stories and a horse craft. Preschool storytime meets at 10:30 a.m. and is geared for ages 2-5, but siblings are always welcome. Each session consists of 20-25 minutes of stories, songs, and action rhymes followed by a craft. No registration is required.