Splish Splash at HAC!

Did you know that we have Herrick Literacy Heroes who volunteer to go to the Holland Community Aquatic Center once a month to read at the Splish Splash Story Times?  On the first Monday of each month meet Miss Debbie or Miss Lori for some great stories, songs, and fingerplays!  We’re not sure who has more fun, the kids or the readers! 

They meet from 9:30 am to 10:00 am. at the Aquatic Center. That’s just before the preschool swim time which runs from 10:00 to noon.  It’s a great opportunity to exercise their brains as well as their bodies!  For more information see the Holland Aquatic Center’s informative flyer here.

This is just one of the many ways that our Literacy Heroes read with kids in our community.  They are doing great things!  If you like to read with kids, and have some time to volunteer, you may want to consider joining the team.   Our next training sessions for Literacy Heroes will be in September on the 23rd and 30th!  Mark your calendars and watch for more information on our website starting in August.

It's not too late!

Registrations for the children and teens reading programs will be available for most of the summer on our website or at the library.  We would like to encourage you to register your child, or set some reading goals for him/her, to help them keep their reading skills strong over the summer.  Make it fun! 

Story times continue through the summer and we are also offering some great special programs including a visit from the Traveling John Ball Zoo, Kalamazoo Nature Center, and Drummunity.  Get the details on our website or stop by to pick up an events calendar!

Attention Book Groups

In this powerful book two Pulitzer Prize winners, Nicholas Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn, issue a call to arms against our era's most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women in the developing world. They show that a little help can transform the lives of women and girls abroad and that the key to economic progress lies in unleashing women's potential.  Available as a Book Group to Go Bag.
(description from Novelist)

PRIDE Comes to Holland

Holland PRIDE Festival June 29th

The LGBT PRIDE Festival arrives in Holland on June 29th, kicking off in Centennial Park at 1:00 and finishing at the Park Theater in the evening.  This will be the city's first outdoor PRIDE celebration!  Check out the schedule of events and be a part of history in the making.

You may not be aware that Herrick has a collection of LGBT films available for checkout.  They range from lighthearted comedies (like Kinky Boots and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert), to international classics (check out Deepa Mehta's Fire, or the French masterpiece Ma Vie en Rose), to recent acquisitions (such as Albert Nobbs, Yossi, Yossi & Jagger, and In the Family).  Link to our catalog for a complete listing of LGBT films at Herrick.

Wade Rouse is Coming!!!

This is me, playing it casual....
"So...got plans for Tuesday night?"
"Nah."
"Want to go hear Wade Rouse speak at the library?"
"Wade Rouse? The guy that's on Michigan Radio?"
"That's him! Did you know that Writer's Magazine named him as the #2 person, dead or alive, that they'd like to have drinks with? He was behind Ernest Hemingway, but I think he got robbed."
"Agreed. Hemingway's hygiene would make drinks with him a grotesque misadventure."
"Seriously. I read At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream after they recommended it on The Today Show, but only after It's All Relative did I truly understand the beauty of boxed wine."
"He is a wise man.  So, when did you say he's going to be at the library?"
"Tuesday, June 25th at 7pm. He's signing books afterward."

And this is what I really want to say....
OH MY GOSH!!!  WADE ROUSE IS COMING!!!  WADE ROUSE, EVERYBODY!!!!  YOU HAVE TO COME! HE'S A BLAST!!!  AND SERIOUSLY, ONE OF THE NICEST PEOPLE YOU'LL EVER MEET!!!

Uh, right.  So....see you Tuesday night?

Attention Book Groups

Hattie Big Sky, a historical fiction book for young adults is available as a Book Group To Go bag for your book group. After inheriting her uncle's homesteading claim in Montana, sixteen-year-old orphan Hattie Brooks travels from Iowa in 1917 to make a home for herself. Despite many hardships, Hattie forges ahead, sharing her adventures with her friends--especially Charlie, fighting in France--through letters and articles for her hometown paper.

Her backbreaking quest for a home is lightened by her neighbors, the Muellers. But she feels threatened by pressure to be a "Loyal" American, forbidding friendships with folks of German descent. Despite everything, Hattie's determined to stay until a tragedy causes her to discover the true meaning of home.  

Time to Read Aloud!

Need any more convincing about reading out loud to your kids?  Take a look at this....

I copied this from Nancy Ann's Blog, and she's got the right idea!  I, for one, am headed home to construct some bookshelves in my son's bathroom.

Happy Reading, y'all--remember to share it!

Homes Wins for Women's Fiction

Now that we're no longer scratching our heads, wondering about the significance of the color Orange in literary prizes (hooray for international snafus that result in award names making much more sense), the Women's Prize for Fiction was announced this week, going to A.M. Homes for her novel, May We Be Forgiven.

This is the story of Harold Silver who stands in awe of his younger brother George's life of flashy success: the major career, the beautiful home in the suburbs, the enviable wife and children--a man who seems to have it all.  Harry, a Nixon scholar and historian, lives a low-key life until George commits an act of violence so monstrous that both brothers seek absolution.
While I haven't read this one, I suspect it must be awesome because the competition on the shortlist for the prize was fierce, including Hilary Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies, which has already won roughly every other literary prize known to mankind this year. Regardless, if you're looking for some summer reading suggestions, the longlist should keep you busy through most of your summer vacation.
Happy Reading!

Keep ‘em Reading!

Do you have a child who hasn’t discovered how much fun it can be to read a good book?  Do they find reading a chore?  We have a a few programs designed to help them through the summer and keep them reading!  Both programs require preregistration.

Reading Buddies is a program where a young reader is paired with an older reading buddy (teen or adult) and they read and share books together once a week at the library.   

Growing Bookworms is a program designed to reinforce math and phonics skills for children going into 1st and 2nd grades.  We will read stories together and have fun with games and puzzles to review some basic skills.

Find out more and sign up on our website here, call the children’s department at 616-355-3736, or stop by and we would be happy to help you in person.

Note: We are still looking for a few more older reading partners for the Reading Buddies program.  Sign up here!