August 2021
August brings an end to our Summer Reading Programs for Children, Teens, and Adults. We welcomed enthusiastic readers and shoppers to our Store and Basket Raffles and we were energized by your excitement. A second “Give Back Summer” involved many gift card purchases (and some donations!) from our local business friends who have always supported us in the past. It felt great to step up and help them through some tough times these last two summers. Those Mystery Bags just kept flying out the door!
If you are interested in our last few activities, stop in to pick a Stress Ball Grab & Go Kit on Monday, August 2 and be sure to sign up online for Teen Aromatherapy which is a ZOOM program led by Kim Larkin on Thursday August 5 @ 4:30 (ages 10+). Kits for this program are available to pick up in advance.
All Basket Raffle winners will be telephoned August 9. Please be sure to check your messages if you miss our call.
Looking ahead, we will offer monthly Grab & Go kits on the first Monday of the month, beginning Sept.13 (due to the holiday). Online Story Times will resume in September and they will be posted to our YouTube channel on Mondays. Thanks to our new software, Beanstack, we will offer a fun month-long program in October – Hallow-Read with books and activities to suit the season. Watch our website and social media for further details.
Keep reading, my friends!
Maris Frey
July 2021
Sum, Sum, Summertime!
Many things are happening this month for children and teens! Remember to sign up for Summer Reading if you haven’t had a chance to yet. Our new software, Beanstack, is proving to be a popular resource. You can sign up (all ages) at stoningtonfreelibrary.beanstack.org and then track everything when you download the Beanstack app. As a heads up, as the parent, you are creating the account for the family in your name (the “driver” or account creator) and everyone else is an additional reader in your “car”. That way it’s only one account, one user name, one password. The app is simple to use, colorful and fun without being too busy, and also has a built in timer! In this transition year, we are still offering paper logs and money to give everyone the opportunity to visually track their reading and reinforce their math skills.
Hula Hoop Dancing is back on the lawn July 7 at 1pm, weather permitting with a rain date of July 14. Online registration opens June 25. We have a ZOOM Chocolate Tasting Workshop on July 15 at 4pm for ages 8 – 14. Space is limited and online registration opens July 8 with kits available for pickup at the library beginning that day also. Candy Sushi will be a Grab & Go on July 29 with online registration beginning July 17. This program will be for ages 7 – 11 and also ages 12+. Again, space will be limited. A Zoom Teen Aromatherapy Workshop with both botanical pillow and soap making will be August 5 with registration opening July 24. This workshop is for ages 10+ with limited space. Kits will be available for pickup beginning July 28. Mondays will be our Grab & Go days with Placemat Coloring (ages 2 – 7) July 12, Kool Aid Playdough Making (ages 3 – 8) July 19, Candle Decorating (ages 7 – 14) July 26 and Waterbead Stress Balls (great for back to school!) (ages 7 – 14) August 2.
The last day for all Summer Reading redemptions is August 6 by 5pm.
Happy Reading!!
June 2021
Summer is Coming . . .
We paid close attention to all your comments in our survey last summer and with them in mind, we have a new, exciting, user friendly experience to offer this year. Our new software program, Beanstack will make participating in our summer reading programs faster and easier. You can register your entire family with one login and password and use a simple app on your mobile devices to log reading time. We will have paper logs for your child to keep track of their time and paper money to reinforce those math skills. The store will be back with social distancing guidelines and all patrons age 2 and older will need to wear masks covering their noses and mouths in the library. This is to keep everyone healthy and safe.
Registration Week will begin June 14 and the Store will open June 21. You will be able to register for the program online at Stoningtonfreelibrary.beanstack.org beginning June 14. Download the Beanstack app to any device, look for our library and you can quickly and easily log your reading (Adult Summer Reading also!) Look for further information to come home from school and on our website. Challenging times can provide opportunities for improvements and we are excited to share some of our new features. Sneak peek – the Littles group will have their own, exclusive raffle baskets with virtual ticket entries!
Our first program will be a Grab and Go Birdfeeder kit on June 29 for ages 4 and older, while supplies last. Can’t wait to get started!
Happy Reading,
Maris Frey and Cathy Taylor
May 2021
Pequot Plant Farm donated some adorable succulent plants when our evergreen seedlings didn’t arrive in time for our Earth Day Grab and Go. Happy to report that our seedlings have arrived, so please come by the library starting Monday, May 3 to get your free tree to plant.
On the subject of Grab and Go, on May 7, we will have a great gift for the mom in your life – bath fizzie kits! Enjoy making and indulge Mom in a mini spa treatment.
We paid close attention to all your comments in our survey last summer and with them in mind, we have a new, exciting, user friendly experience to offer this year. Our new software program, Beanstack will make participating in our summer reading programs faster and easier. You can register your entire family with one login and password and use a simple app on your mobile devices to log reading time. We will have paper logs for your child to keep track of their time and paper money to reinforce those math skills. The store will be back with social distancing guidelines and raffle tickets will be digital. There will be some small changes in age groups and Littles will count books read, instead of time. We are adapting programs, as we navigate new elements that work and tweaking things to attempt to maintain the most enjoyable aspects of our Summer Reading Program. Registration Week will begin June 14 and the Store will open June 21. Look for further information to come home from school or on our website.
APRIL 2021
Spring is upon us, with the joys of emerging flowers, longer days, increasingly warm sunshine, and since we live in New England – mud.
It is a time of rebirth and an opportunity to take pleasure in all the beautiful sights around us. There is increased hope for relief from the COVID virus that has overshadowed our days. There is also a growing awareness that we have frequently overlooked the people and things that are truly most important in our lives. We have been given a chance to see that our families, our friends, and the small everyday interactions we have with those around us are truly what brings meaning to our lives. So let us move forward with a resolution to keep those “most important things” front and center in our lives.
Let’s live with
Kindness
Wonder
Empathy
Happiness
Gentle words
Acceptance
Humor
It is always a good day to see the world through the eyes of a child.
MARCH 2021
March is National Women’s History Month and a time to take note of the extraordinary and sometimes unknown roles that women have played throughout history. We have the opportunity to look at both the large and small differences women add to all our lives, every day.
We have a responsibility to reinforce to all our children that women are equal to men and to introduce them to women who have made contributions to our world. They may have worked to improve workers’ rights and safety – Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909, perhaps they opened up education to those denied – I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Freedom and Changed the World, Beatrice’s Goat, Temple Grandin or found paths to freedom – Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom, Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad. They may have played a sport or found expression through dance – Dirt on their Skirts: The Story of the Young Women Who Won the World Championship, A Dance like Starlight: One Ballerina’s Dream, Bunheads. They might have been notable in science – The Doctor with an Eye for Eyes: the Story of Dr. Patricia Bath, Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World, Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race, A Computer Named Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon. We can read short synopses of outstanding female contributors in Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women (Volumes 1 & 2), or Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls:100 Immigrant Women Who Changed the World, and Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History.
There are many books in the library that introduce us to famous women and also many that show us the heroism of fictional women. Rosie Revere, Iggy Peck, Ada Twist and Sofia Valdez teach us that women can become engineers, architects, scientists or presidents. It is a good month for inspiring an appreciation for the women in our lives. Reading books to our children that showcase the many and varied roles that women play in both our past and present will help guarantee equal footing for women in their future.
