Guilderland Library Notes for Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Come to Guilderland Public Library on Wednesday, July 8, at 2 p.m., and learn the answer to these fascinating questions: Can you smell with your tongue? Can you see in the dark?

Jump in and learn all about senses in this hands-on exploratory program. We will learn about our own five senses as well of those of some of the animals that live at the CNSE CMOST museum through experimenting at our sense stations. Students will have the opportunity to see like a bug, play musical instruments and more.

Registration is required and limited to 25 children, pre-kindergarten through grade one. Please call 456-2400, ext. 4 to let us know you’ll be there.

Blood drive

The library will host a Red Cross Blood Drive on Tuesday, July 8, from noon until 6 p.m.

The need for blood locally remains constant, and donations are needed to offset summer blood shortages. People can donate a pint of blood every 56 days. Donors are encouraged to eat a meal prior to giving blood and drink plenty of water. Photo ID is required at donation time. Blood donation requirements include a minimum weight of 115 pounds and minimum age of 17. A 16-year old may donate blood with written parental consent. There is no upper age limit for donating blood. Many health conditions and medications do not prevent someone from donating blood. People taking insulin, blood pressure, thyroid, and cholesterol medications, aspirin, antidepressants, and hormone replacement, can give blood. Tattoos are also okay as long as they are healed and have been done in a reputable tattoo facility.
To make a donation appointment, please call the Red Cross at 1-800 RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

Book buddies

The Book Buddies program is back and calling all kids entering grades one through four. Register for this program so that you can come to GPL on Wednesdays in July, from 10:30 a.m. to noon, and Thursdays in July, 3 to 5 p.m., and read to a teen buddy to build up your reading skills and self-confidence.

The Book Buddy sessions are 30-minutes long. The sessions begin every half hour. Please specify one time slot that works best for your child when you register. We will do our best to be accommodating.  All reading levels welcome.

To register, call 456-2400, ext. 4, or go online to www.guilpl.org.

Story laboratory

 This writing workshop, being held on Wednesday, July 9, at 2 p.m., is designed for tweens ages nine through 12 to help foster their creativity while teaching them the basic tools of creative writing.

 Registration is required; please call 456-2400, ext. 4 or go to www.guilpl.org.

Drop-in card gaming

 Kids and Teens, bring your Magic the Gathering, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! or other cards to GPL on Thursday, July 10, at 11 a.m.,  for a fun hour playing and sharing strategies.

This is just the first meet: You can get together to do it again on Thursdays at 11 a.m., on July 17, 24, 31, and Aug. 7.  Come with a friend or make new ones. No need to register; just drop in.

Bongo Joe and the science of music and rhythm

Using instruments from around the world, Bongo Joe will be at GPL on Thursday, July 10, at 7 p.m., to introduce children to the science of sound through ventriloquism and puppetry in this musical comedy show. We’ve seen what he does; this is going to be a hoot. No registration required.

Preschool movies

Beat the heat at GPL and join us for our summer preschool movie series at 10:30 a.m., on Fridays, July 11, 18, 25 and Aug. 1 at 10 a.m. We'll be watching short, literature-based films, appropriate for children ages three through five.

Kids’ Just Dance

summer party

Kids in kindergarten through grade two are invited to a Wii Just Dance Party on Friday, July 11, at 1:30 p.m., using the popular Wii Just Dance on the big screen games for younger kids.

While you wait your turn to dance, create cool crafts and color when you need to rest your dancing feet. We’ve got balloons, hula hoops, and fun crafts, all we need is you.

Please register for the Kids Wii Just Dance Party by calling 456-2400, ext.  4, or by visiting www.guilpl.org.

Tweens’ Wii Just Dance

summer party

 Tweens are invited to a summer dance party using the popular Wii Just Dance games on the big screen; it all happens on Friday, July 11, at 3:30 p.m.

You will get to create an awesome craft while you rest your dancing feet. We’ve got the hula hoops, party lights, and freeze pops, all we need is you. For grades three through six.

Please call us at 456-2400, ext. 4 to let us know you’re coming; or, you can register online at www.guilpl.org.

Elephant toothpaste

While there will be no real live elephants in the room on Saturday, July 12, at 10:30 a.m., Barbara Lukas from local PBS Station WMHT will lead you in creating an eruption of foam that looks like it was squeezed from an elephant-sized tube of toothpaste.

You will then conduct your own experiment when you mix a mild acid with a microscopic fungus and create an amazing, foaming, exothermic reaction.

Registration is required and is open for children in grades two through six. Each child must be accompanied by an adult caregiver. Please register at 456-2400, ext. 4, or www.guilpl.org.

Board meets

GPL’s board of trustees will meet on Thursday, July 10, at 7 p.m., for its annual meeting during which new trustees Karen Carpenter Palumbo and Carolyn Williams will be sworn in, as will incumbent trustees Robert Feller and Barbara Fraterrigo. 

At 7:30 p.m., the board will hold its regularly scheduled bi-monthly business meeting.

Board meetings are video-recorded and broadcast on Guilderland cable channel 17 at 2 p.m., on the Sunday following the meeting, and again at 1 and 7 p.m. on the Monday following the meeting.

“Play Ball!”

All American Girls Professional Baseball League player Dolly Konwinski, active during the AAGPBL’s 1947-52 seasons, will speak about her own League of Their Own experience at GPL on Thursday, July 10, at noon. 

The event begins with a showing of Kalamazoo Klouters, a short video narrated by Mel Allen. Dolly will then read from her book, Summertime Dreams: Yes – Girls Can Play Baseball, and participate in a question and answer session.

Happy Independence Day

The library will be closed from Friday, July 4, through Sunday, July 6, and will open at 10 a.m. on Monday, July 7. 

Just a reminder: GPL goes to summer hours during July and August; GPL is closed on Sundays and the library’s Friday hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Library info

 The Guilderland Public Library is located at 2228 Western Ave. in Guilderland. Visit the library's website at www.guilpl.org. Check out the unofficial library updates at facebook.com/Guilderland.Library and follow the library on Twitter (@GuilderlandLib).