December Family Fun Time

Thursday, Dec.13th from 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm will be Family Fun Time at the Auburndale Library. This event is FREE and is appropriate for ages 3 - 11. Come decorate cookies and make ornaments, necklaces, and gift bags. Enjoy our beautiful decorations while you make your own and get into the Christmas spirit. So come see us and enjoy this holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
Just to bust the Thanksgiving myth and maybe help some of you with your next trivia game, no the tryptophan in turkey does not make you sleepy. Purified tryptophan is a mild sleep-inducing agent, but it does not function well as part of a meal. Eating foods containing it may cause blood levels of the amino acid to rise, but not enough will get to the brain to make you sleepy. Tryptophan needs to be taken on an empty stomach and without any other amino acids or protein to make you sleepy. The fact is that soybeans even have a higher concentration of tryptophan than turkey does. Plain old overeating alone can make you sleepy. It takes lots of energy to digest a large meal. When your stomach is full, blood is directed away from your other organs, including your nervous system, to your digestive system. This will make you feel tired, especially if the meal was high in fats and carbohydrates. There are other reasons you will get tired after a Thanksgiving meal, but I will leave you to research that yourself.
I hope you all enjoy your meals. When your laying down to take your nap or snoozing at half-time, take a moment to think about what you are thankful for, even if it is just that you have a full stomach. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Movie Update

The outdoor movie was great! It started to rain and we thought we would have to cancel, but at the last minute it quit. About 80 people showed up and enjoyed the popcorn, drinks, and movie. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. If you attended it, I would love to hear your input.

Reading is Fundamental (RIF)

This is a really great website. Check out the RIF Reading Planet. Right now they are featuring the Reading Planet Powwow. There is a "Story Tent", "Food and Games Table", and "Dance Circle". November is National American Indian Heritage Month so check it out at http://www.rif.org . One section is for ages 0-5. The other is for ages 6-15. There are also a lot of interesting items for parents and educators.

The site is FREE and includes:

Reading Activity Calendars
Read Along Stories for Kids
Spanish-Language Resources
Literacy Games
Printable Parent Guides
Booklists
e-Cards
Web Resources
Activities
Lesson Plans
Seasonal Ideas

Family Fun Time - Outdoor Movie

The Auburndale Library will be hosting another FAMILY FUN TIME event. November 15th, we will be showing a movie outside!! Come enjoy free popcorn and drinks while you watch Beethoven's 4th outside. Bring your chairs and/or blankets. THE EVENT IS FREE SO BRING YOUR WHOLE FAMILY AND INVITE ALL YOUR FRIENDS!!!! This movie is rated G so it is good for all ages. Let me know what you think of this event.

November Closures

We will be closed Nov. 12, 2007 in observance of Veteran's Day. We will also be closed Nov. 22nd and Nov. 23rd to celebrate Thanksgiving. I hope you all are able to enjoy the holidays!

Mailing List

We are in the process of creating mailing lists for programs. There will be two program listings, adult and children. To be added to the listing please put "adult program mailing list" in the subject line and send it to wmccarty@pclc.lib.fl.us or "children's program mailing list" in the subject line and send it to yvonne@pclc.lib.fl.us. Whenever there is a program coming up, we will send out an email to anyone in the list. Programs may include author talks, book signings, puppet shows, family fun events, tax help, craft days, etc. If you ever choose to be removed from the list, just send an email to the list master with "remove from mailing list" in the subject line. If you choose to provide a reason, that would be helpful since this is a new service and we are constantly looking for ways to improve on it. I hope you will find this new service helpful.

Savings Calculator

I received a very interesting email the other day. On the State Library and Archives of Florida website there is a personal savings calculator. On this site, you can plug in how many books, movies, audios, etc. that you checkout from the library. You can also plug in how many times you use the computers, meeting room, or how many programs you attend. After you have entered the information, it will calculate the value of your library use. In other words, how much you would pay out-of-pocket for your library services if there was a charge. I played with it a little bit and it is really neat! In a vast underestimate of what I actually use, the value was $3,108. There is a link that lets you know how the figures were calculated so you know whether the amounts used are reasonable. Try it out and let me know what you think!

http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/savingscalculator/

Children's Programs

It's that time of year again! On Wednesday mornings the parking lots are full. Children with smiling faces are walking into the library. Glue covers the tables and glitter covers the carpet. That's right. It is children's story hour at the Auburndale Library. Kids come to the library to do a craft, listen to stories, watch puppet shows, and dance to the music. Yvonne, Mickie, the kids, and accompanying adults all have a great time. Children learn how to interact with each other, develop friendships, and learn skills that will help them once they start school. They have a great time and don't realize how much they are learning. Come check it out!

Storytime Hours
2 year olds - Thursday at 9:30am
3-5 year old - Thursday at 11:00

Family Fun Time at the Library

We are going to try to start having Family Fun Time at the library. One day a month we will have a special activity that is different from our normal programming. We are discussing programs like outdoor movies, craft day, puppet shows, and guest speakers. We are really excited but are in the beginning stages of development. The programs will be free to whoever would like to attend. We are trying to come up with programs that will be good for the whole family. They will be geared a little bit more towards children because right now that is what we are used to doing and adults can do younger activities easier than kids can do older activities.

Our first scheduled program is October 20th. October is Drug Prevention Month and we will be hosting a puppet show on self-esteem. We hope to see you there!