Little Free Library Decorating Party

LFL Decorating PartyWe still have more Little Free Libraries to decorate before they go out into the community. Help us decorate two more libraries with old books, book covers, and mod podge. The library will provide all the necessary supplies, we just need your hands!

Join us Monday, September 9 from 6-7pm for a Little Free Library Decorating Party! No need to register, just head to the library.

In case you aren’t already familiar with LFLs (Little Free Libraries), check out this post.

Follow us on Pinterest

Pinterest! It’s all the rage lately, and we’re happy to finally be joining in the fun!

If you haven’t already  stumbled into the Pinterest craze, let me fill you in: Pinterest is basically an online set of your own, personalized and organized bulletin boards. Think of it this way: do you tend to clip pictures and articles out of magazines, or recipes, or newspaper articles then save them to be lost forever in a drawer? Pinterest is a way to organize these things for yourself and to browse what others are clipping, or pinning.

The vast array of ideas people are finding are evident everywhere! Just this week someone asked me about some garlic monkey bread I brought to a potluck dinner. When asked where I found the recipe, I responded simply, “Pinterest.”

Now your favorite library (that’s us!) is on Pinterest, too! Find us at pinterest.com/pgtpl. We’ve got pin boards for movies, music, and books we love, as well as boards for money saving, John Green stuff, tech tips & tricks… the list goes on, and just keeps growing! We invite you to follow us and enjoy our pins, and we’ll follow you back so we can enjoy your favorite things, too 🙂

Check out a few of our pinteresting Pinterest boards…

Every Child is an Artist!

Every Child is an Artist!

There’s an art wall by the project table in the Children’s Room, where kids can always find supplies to sit down and make something creative. They can take their projects home, leave them to display, or make two, one to take and one to display.

The projects that go on the table are great for tactile learners and creative kids. They all support one of more of the five practices of the Every Child Ready to Read Initiative of the American Library Association.

The leaf project was to decorate a paper leaf with colorful paper bits. It’s amazing how different they were from each other! It tied in with the Writing aspect of the initiative. Picking up the mosaic bits and working with a glue stick helps develop the fine motor skills needed to write, and reading and writing go hand in hand.

 There’s a lot to do in the Children’s Room these days. When kids visit the library they can CREATE (project table,) DO (crawl through the giant caterpillar, play a board game,) READ (book, magazine,) PLAY WITH (train table, computers,) LISTEN TO (snuggle up with together on a cozy couch,) or ATTEND something (a library program- see what there is for your child!).
~Jan

For the Love of Knitting

One of the many passions I share with my mother, who is also a librarian, is knitting. I can remember her teaching me, just as her father taught her, how to knit as a child. Before learning to knit I would sit beside her and poke at the knitting needles as they bounced around, not realizing that by her not asking me to stop she was exhibiting quite a bit of patience…

I’m lucky to have learned how to knit so early and it’s a hobby I still turn to when I’m stressed out, in need of a creative outlet, or when I just want to make something for a friend or even myself. I love admiring yarn of all sorts; the colors, textures, and weights are appealing to both the eyes and the hands. One of my dreams is to be able to own my own yarn, coffee, and book store. Though it’s not feasible for me to live out this dream just yet, husband and wife team Dave Erica live this dream of their own! Nomad Yarns, located at 218 E. Main Street in Plainfield, is a somewhat new yarn shop for knitters, crocheters, and yarn-lovers on the west side of Indianapolis.

Lucky for us, Erica Kempf Broughton will be teaching some beginning knitting classes right here at the library in the upcoming months. Register online for this wonderful introduction to the addicting art of knitting. Though our November class is full we still have plenty of openings in December. Supplies will be provided; just bring yourself and an eager-to-learn spirit!

~Laura