Dressed to Protect: Veteran’s Day @ BML

As you may have already noticed, BML tends to host family programs on days when there is no school.  When I first stared at BML (oh so many years ago!), there were two holidays that I really wanted to do something more meaningful out of respect for reason behind the holidays.  And because they are important days to recognize why they are holidays.  Veteran’s Day is one of those holidays and the one I struggled with the most trying to come up with an interesting and family-friendly program idea.  Finally, with the help of some friends and family, I landed on military uniforms throughout our nation’s history and that’s how “Dressed to Protect” came about.  Last year was our first year and while not strongly attended, it was one of the most fascinating programs I’ve had the privilege watch. Of course I had to have it again!

“Dressed to Protect: A History of Military Uniforms” will be at 10:30am on Wednesday, November 11 and is intended for ages 6 and up. Alex Johnson of the 140th New York Volunteer Infantry Living History Organization will come in his Civil War uniform and Scott Clark, Captain of the Dog Company, 16th US Infantry, 1st Division Reenactors will be here in full World War II uniform. Both will talk not just about their uniforms but the day-to-day life as a soldier in each of those wars. I hope you’ll join us as it promises to be just as fascinating this year!

See you at the library!
♥ Ms. Elissa

Hero Dogs

On Thursday, July 30, we hosted a fantastic program with Massasauga Search and Rescue highlighting their K9 hero dogs.  I learned ALOT and had fun interacting with the dogs.  Thank you to Kathryn, Dana, and Tim with their amazing dogs Hawk, Libby, Jack, and Deuces for visiting us!

See you at the library!

♥ Ms. Elissa

Stuffed Animal Sleepover

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This past Thursday/Friday, we held our annual Stuffed Animal Sleepover–with a record number of stuffed animals spending the night in the library this year!  As always, we snapped some photos of their adventures.  Thank you to all of the children who brought their animals in!  Enjoy the slideshow!

Summer Storytimes & Community Heroes

After last week’s storytime, which was all about summer and fireworks, all of our summer storytimes will feature heroes of our community.  We kicked things off with a visit from Brighton Fire Department as Firefighter Ricky showed off the firetruck and handed out hats to those who attended our 10am storytime.  Be sure to join us next Wednesday for another surprise visitor!

Unplugging for Screen Free Week

As I’ve mentioned before, Screen Free Week is coming up soon from Monday, May 4 – Sunday, May 10.  Sponsored by Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, Screen Free Week invites you to unplug from digital entertainment and enjoy other activities. In support of this, we will be turning off both computers in the Discovery Room and the three Internet computers in the Children’s Center. (Of course, if there is a schoolwork need for the computers, just let a Children’s Librarian know!)  The catalog computers will still be available, as will the Parent Internet computer.

For your screen-free enjoyment, we’ll have puzzles, games, and other activities available to you…not to mention that the Brighton Kiwanis Discovery Room is just full of fun stuff! And don’t forget all those books available on our shelves! We’ll also be hosting Family Game Nights each night that week from 5-8:30pm on Monday through Thursday and 2-5:30pm on Friday with Family Game Day on Saturday from 11am-3:30pm. See our calendar for more details.  We’ll have lots of board games and card games for you to drop-in and play during these programs—classics new and old! I hope you’ll join us!

♥ Ms. Elissa

Bored during break week?

…not when you see what we’ve got going on!

It’s hard to believe that spring break for BCSD and the surrounding Rochester area starts next week.  In spite of the lingering snow, spring really is here!  If you are looking for things to do during break week, we’ve got you covered.  And remember, all of our programs are free and open to the public–all thanks to the Friends of Brighton Memorial Library!  Check out what’s happening next week, and see the calendar for more details:

• Just Clowning Around will be here for a magic show on Monday, March 30 at 10:30am (ages 3 and up; arrive early as seating is limited).
• Scrap Art challenges you to transform and upcycle scraps into works of art on Tuesday, March 31 at 10:30am (ages 6 and up).
• Experience the toys and games of the past with 19th Century Games and Toys with the Genesee Country Village and Museum on Wednesday, April 1 at 10:30am (ages 6 and up).
• See the family movie Penguins of Madagascar on Thursday, April 2 at 2pm (rated PG, approximately 92 minutes).
• See Hiro and his robot Baymax team up with friends to form a band of high-tech heroes in Big Hero 6 on Friday, April 3 at 2pm (rated PG, approximately 102 minutes).
• Celebrate upcoming Earth Day with Disneynature: Bears on Saturday, April 4 at 10:30am (rated G, approximately 77 minutes).

See you at the library!
♥ Ms. Elissa

Keep those books a-rolling!

So we had a slow start for ordering books and materials in 2015.  I won’t bore you with the bureaucratic details but instead tell you that books, movies, and more have been rolling in these past few weeks and I’m thrilled to see these new items on our shelves!  If you tried earlier to find a new book at BML but were unable to, please give us a call, stop in to ask, or check the online catalog to see if it’s here yet.  Still don’t see what you want?  Please let us know and we’ll see what can be done to get it here for you.

I also want to point out another change on the blog–the calendar!  Instead of having a month-by-month page listing things going on here at BML, I invite you to review the calendar page which will list the programs and their details.  My goal is to keep it updated several months in advance to help you see what’s going on and to better help you plan.  As of today, you can find our scheduled children’s programs through the end of May.  Feel free to let us know what you think!

♥ Ms. Elissa

Beating the Cabin Fever Blues

It’s been so cold and snowy here in Brighton and the surrounding Rochester area, that it made for good timing to host our first ever Indoor Family Field Day.  We set up six stations of fun, set a timer for 4-5 minutes at each station, and folks just moved through the stations having fun and letting out some pent up energy.  We offered indoor bowling, balloon tennis, Get Up and Move dice, bean bag toss, ring toss, and an egg relay race.  (For more info on each, click on the Pinterest link to the right and you’ll see our board of ideas for this event.)  Of course, I didn’t think to snap a photo of the program until close to the end when most people had left…probably because I was using my phone as a countdown timer and not a camera!…

Cupcakes and break week

Break week is well underway and in spite of the chilly (dare I say, arctic?) weather, folks are braving the cold to visit BML.  We had a packed room for the jugglers, Gravitational Bull, yesterday and a full roster for the Cupcake Decorating today!  One thing I love about programs like Cupcake Decorating and Lego Club and the upcoming in Spring Break Scrap Art is to see how creative kids can be.  At today’s cupcake program, Amy from Tops Cooking School gave the kids some ideas to help get their creative juices flowing but then let them create whatever and however they wanted.  And I am always impressed by what they make!  See the slideshow below for some of their delicious and very creative cupcakes!

♥ Ms. Elissa

Dancin’ the morning away

Toddler dance party was this morning and it was fun, fun, FUN!  I made a few changes this time around–of course those changes were about 30 minutes before it started–and I hope everyone else who came to dance was as happy with it as I was.  We danced with scarves, stamped our boots courtesy of Laurie Berkner, and, of course, played with bubbles.  If you haven’t joined us for a dance party in the past, I hope you will in the near future.  If you have joined us in the past, I hope you continue to in the future.  These dance parties have become one of my most favorite programs and I look forward to it each month!  We host them once a month and our next toddler dance party will be Tuesday, March 10 at 10:15am.  I hope to see you there!

♥ Ms. Elissa