Noodles, noodles, noodles!

The Liberal Memorial Library will be going noodles on Monday night, August 26, at 6:30 p.m.

The Library will be hosting its monthly Recipe Swap and the theme is, you guessed it, noodles! And because it’s noodles, we’re going to have a special presentation. How special? So special that we’ve brought someone all the way from China to come to Liberal and make his world-renowned famous noodles.

The talented Tian Feng Shan will grace us with his presence and noodle acumen. Tian will be making Chinese noodles from scratch. Watch as he combines the ingredients to make the dough and then the fun really begins. Like a magician, he stretches the dough again and again and before your very eyes, noodles are created.

And afterwards we’ll sample the strands of deliciousness!!

So come down and watch all the noodle fun this Monday!

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The Liberal Memorial Library is offering another Family Place Library workshop.

The five-week program involves toddlers and their parents and caregivers; featuring local professionals who serve as resources for parents; emphasizing the role of parents as the first teachers of their children; facilitating early intervention; and teaching strategies for healthy child development and early literacy.

The five-week workshop begins on August 29 at 6:30 p.m. at the Library, running every Thursday through September 26.

Some of the local professionals who will be attending the program include Diane Hensley, the parent and family liaison for USD 480, Jan Nondorf, the executive director of PACT, Parents and Children Together and Susan Lukwago, a nutritionist with the Seward County Health Department, plus others.

The program is open and free to the public, but space is limited and registration is required. 

The Family Place Library workshop this past spring had over 15 families and 40 children attend.

The Family Place Library give parents and caregivers an additional place for children, between the ages of zero and five, to play, read and socialize with other children. Parents can interact with their kids through play, get answers to their parenting questions and meet other parents.

And remember, Family Place Library is fun and not just a workshop where parents come and listen. 

For more information about Family Place Library and the workshops, come down to the Library or call (620) 626-0180.

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Attention! Attention! Calling all knitters and crocheters! The Liberal Memorial Library is once again “knitting” to raise awareness about normal infant crying and the dangers of shaking an infant.

The Library is participating in the CLICK for Babies: Period of PURPLE Crying Caps campaign, which invites knitters and crocheters to make purple colored baby caps.

 

This year, there will be a series of “knit ins” held Saturdays during September. The dates are September 7 and 21 from 9 a.m. to noon.

The public is invited to come and make baby caps. We’ll supply the yarn and serve snacks and refreshments.

The caps will be donated to Kansas Children’s Service League who will distribute them in November and December to new babies by hospitals and birthing centers across the state.

Last year, the Liberal Memorial Library donated close to 100 caps to the cause.

For more information about the CLICK for Babies campaign, including patterns for caps, guidelines and details about the national campaign are available at www.CLICKforbabies.org.

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Don’t forget that the Library has Tumblebooks, which are e-books with audio for kids.  Children can read along, or just have the book read to them.  All books play directly in your internet browser window, so there is no software or files to download to your computer. Additionally, Tumblebooks has been set up so that no login is required to access our account.

Just go to our website, lmlibrary.org, and click on the Tumblebooks icon.

There are no limits to how many books or other materials you use on Tumblebooks. 

Most materials will be for children elementary grades 2-3 and younger, though older students may enjoy access to classic stories like Anne of Green Gables or The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood.

Other options and materials:

• Reading comprehension quizzes and games (word searches, puzzles) for most books.  Some of these features do not yet work for mobile access, but that is coming soon. 
• Videos, most commonly associated with non-fiction books.  Example: Meet the Meerkat has a short video provided by National Geographic.  
• Language Learning section contains picture books translated into other languages.  There are currently books in Spanish, French, Chinese, and Russian. 
• Playlist feature--add multiple titles to a playlist for uninterrupted storytime on your computer! 

Parent/Child Workshop and Watch Party @ the Library

Summer vacation is over and it is time to hit the books again. The library is hosting two special programs that will be of interest to everyone in the community.

 Family Place Library Parent/Child Workshop

The first program is a parent/child workshop aimed at families with children who are between the ages of two and five. The five week program starts on August 29th and is held on Thursdays from 6:30 to 7:30 in the evening. The library held the same program in the spring, and the program is a lot of fun for kids (and the parents/grandparents/adults that accompany the kids got something out of the program too!).

The Family Place Library parent/child workshop has two main goals. The first is to get young children out of the house and to get them playing with their parents. Parents are a child’s first teacher and young children learn through playing. The second goal of the workshop is to connect parents with other parents from the community. Not only are parents supposed to mingle with each other and talk about the problems of parenting, but each week, there is a different community member who comes and interacts with parents to answer questions about child development, health issues, parenting and more.

If you have issues with a picky eater, sign up for this free workshop, because we have a nutritionist coming as a guest one week. If you have development issues in a small child, sign up for the program, because we have several different experts lined up that are trained in development issues that can give you information on where to go to get help. If you don’t have any issues, sign up and bring your children for free fun at the library. Registration is required, and parents don’t need a library card to sign up. The workshop is free and the library will have translators available to bridge any communication gaps.

Affordable Care Act Watch Party 

The second program at Liberal Memorial Library is a Watch Party giving an overview of the Affordable Care Act on Thursday, August 22nd from 7 to 8 in the evening. The State Library of Kansas in partnership with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will present this webinar, which is the first of three. The other two watch parties will be held September 12th and September 26th at 7:00 p.m. No registration is required for this free event at the library.

Starting October 1, 2013, the Health Insurance Marketplace, sometimes known as the health insurance "exchange" will begin open enrollment. Coverage starts January 1, 2014. The Marketplace website, HealthCare.gov will be the primary tool for delivering information to Americans about their health coverage options. For Spanish speaking consumers, CuidadoDeSalud.gov is also available.

Health Insurance Marketplaces are where people and small businesses can shop for and buy private health insurance. Consumers will have the same health plan choices available to members of Congress. The marketplaces are not private insurance companies or government-run health plans.

With one application, consumers can find out if they qualify for health plans in the marketplace, and other programs like Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), tax credits, and cost-sharing reductions.

We hope to see you at the library for these events. For more information, stop by the library at 519 N. Kansas Avenue or give us a call at (620) 626-0180.

Catch a library program before the summer’s over!

The summer reading programs have wrapped up for the year. It was an astounding success! The adult program finished a week ago and we’re in the beginning stages of planning a Murder Mystery for the lucky individuals who received bingo's on their bingo cards.

Library staff has so far been out in the community twice this month.  First at the Five State Fair where we met a lot of patrons and non-patrons, a nice opportunity to showcase our services and secondly at  the Teacher Fair this past week welcoming the new teachers at USD 480 into the community.   We’ve been particularly excited over the fact that many new teachers have already stopped by the library to sign up for library cards before the fair!  It establishes a great connection for us particularly when they have projects and assignments for the kids throughout the school year. We love being prepared for requests from the kids particularly if we can get more materials into the library. We are most definitely here to provide extra resources!  I even have had the chance to get to know one of my new neighbors, a new fourth grade teacher. 

This week, kids (and adults alike) had a chance to learn about bike repair.  We had a few bikes that kids brought in and were shown how to fix all the ailments of their bicycles by Mr. Ed.  Some of us may also have learned how to pump bicycle tires.

Ms. Casandra, our children’s librarian, has a few programs in the works this month before the start of school.  There will be a program “Back-to-School with Amelia Bedelia” celebrating her 50th birthday this year. It’s a back to school event with crafts, fun, and stories, on Tuesday, August 13 at 6 p.m. Registration is required so call the library at 626-0180.  There will also be “Camping at the library” on Wednesday, August 14 at 2 p.m.  Come set up a tent, learn about camping, and tell scary stories.  Join the camp out!  Ms. Casandra will also be hosting Chess on Thursdays, August 15 at 2 p.m., Monday, August 19 at 6 p.m., and Monday, August 26 at 6 p.m.  Come beginners and advanced players!

And of course our much awaited adult programs!  Library and Lunch will be held on Tuesday, August 13 at noon for “Ladies Night” by Mary Kay Andrews.  Last month, we decided an end of the summer book was in order.  The novel follows Grace Stanton who finds herself locked out of her home, checking account, and her beloved blog after she catches her husband cheating and torpedoes his pricey sports car.  She starts attending court-mandated weekly therapy session with three other women and one man.  Their “divorce coach” starts acting suspiciously and they decide to start their own Wednesday “Ladies’ Night” sessions.  

The theme for this month’s Recipe Swap on Monday, August 26 at 6:30 p.m. is noodles!  My favorite food group in the form of homemade chicken noodle soup which my aunt made when my sister and I were growing up or lo-mein by far the best comfort food or my attempts at pierogi (they’re so noodley!) for which after years of experimenting I have found the perfect dough recipe.  Next on my personal list is tortellini.  In the meantime at this Recipe Swap, Mr. Tian will be demonstrating noodle-making at the library.  One of these days he will teach me how to make his Chinese dumplings.

So for the latest library programming take a peek at the library website or grab a newsletter from the circulation desk. Stay tuned and connected through our social media pages.  If you have any questions or suggestions about books or programs don’t hesitate to ask.  See you at the library this month!

Database Spotlight

Today we’ll go over two of the many online resources (http://www.kslib.info/librarians/eor.html) made available to all Kansas residents free of charge by the State Library of Kansas and by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Mango Languages

Have you ever wanted to learn another language but haven’t had the opportunity, time, or money to do so? Now you access Mango Languages, using either your browser or the app available for your phone or other device. Mango is an online language learning program that offers sixty-one foreign language courses for English speakers and courses to learn English from seventeen different languages. On the lighter side, there is even a course in learning to speak like a pirate.

Most of the courses offer a choice of either basic lessons to teach simple, practical skills for common, polite conversation situations in only a few short hours, or complete lessons, which teach in-depth and comprehensive language and grammar skills. You can create a username and password to be able to keep track of your progress or just click on start learning to browse through the available courses.

LearningExpress

LearningExpress offers practice tests, courses, and eBooks which are arranged by categories or Learning Centers geared toward certain age groups or interests:

• Elementary School
• Middle School
• High School
• College Preparation
• College Students
• Popular Software Tutorials
• GED Preparation
• Workplace Skills
• Occupation Practice Tests
• Skill Building for Adults
• U.S. Citizenship
• Recursos para Hispanohablantes
• Computer & Internet Basics

Using the Learning Centers, a person can find help with Math, Reading Comprehension, Social Studies, Writing, Logic and Reasoning, Science, Statistics, Trigonometry, Vocabulary and Spelling, Writing and Grammar, as well as preparation for many standardized tests. Are you studying to get your CDL or studying to take the Electrician's License Test? There’s help for that too in the Occupation Practice Tests learning center.

The Job & Career Accelerator is also available through LearningExpress. It offers help with searching for a job, writing a resume, writing a cover letter, learning basic computer skills, learning a computer program, filling out a job application, and exploring careers.

Both of these databases can be accessed by visiting the library’s website, lmlibrary.org, or by going to http://www.kslib.info/librarians/eor.html. If these links don’t work for any reason, you can also access the databases using your Kansas Library Card, which is free to any Kansas resident and can be obtained from any library in Kansas.

3M Cloud eBook news and updates

• The 3M Cloud app is now available for Kindle Fire through SlideME.org

If you have a Kindle Fire and wish to check out library eBooks from 3M Cloud, it has now gotten much simpler. Before the app was only available through Google play (which Kindle Fires can’t use). Now it is available through SlideME.org as well.

To install the app, turn on the ability to "Download apps from external/unknown sources" under "Settings", go to SlideMe.org in your web browser on your Kindle Fire, search for "3M Cloud Library" and install the app.

• The 3M Cloud app now works with VoiceOver.

The Apple mobile app now is fully functional with VoiceOver, which means that visually impaired patrons have access to the 3M Cloud eBooks library on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. For more information see visit the http://www.kslib.info/digitalbooks/3m/3mnews.html

• Digital Book Request Form If there is an audiobook or eBook that you wish was in our digital library collection, you can fill out a Digital Book Request Form on the Kansas EZ Library website (http://www.kslib.info/digitalbooks.html). You’ll be notified if the book is available for purchase, but please realize that some publishers are unwilling to allow their digital books to be purchased by libraries.