Saying goodbye to summer reading for another year

Libby Davis tries to blow the world's most stupendous bubble during our Summer Reading finale party.

It was a great summer.

We built hovercrafts, made lava lamps, learned how to train our dragons, blew up pop bottles, learned how to take fingerprints and were visited by one of the NASA scientists who helped make the Mars Rover.

We also got to Know Poe.

More than 1,400 kids, 350 adults and almost 200 teens participated in our summer reading programs. We got to give away a bunch of cool prizes, including 573 Library Champion signs to all the kids who read 15 hours or more.

Lexi Neigoot (with a little help from Shana) enters a ticket to win a second-chance raffle at our Summer Reading finale party.

Thursday night, we had a Summer Reading finale party. Kids got to recreate their favorite Mad Science Monday experiments. (Bubbles!) And we capped the evening with a concert from Eve 'N Stephen Music Fun Band.

From all of us at Mentor Public Library, we hope you had as much fun this summer as we did.

We hope you learned new things, stimulated your imagination and had a great time.

Most of all, we hope to see you again soon at the library.

Because summer reading may end, but the fun never has to.

Zackary Posen dances with his sister, Victoria, and mom, Katherine.

For more photos from our Summer Reading finale party, visit Mentor Library's Facebook page.

Another big summer at Mentor Public Library

Kids (like Hazel here) earned Library Champion signs by reading (or being read to) for 15 hours.

Our Summer Reading Program may be over but the fun isn't done.

You can join us for an End of Summer party from 6 to 8 p.m. this Thursday, Aug. 7, at the Read House, which is next door to our Main Branch on Mentor Avenue.

We'll be hosting a special concert with the Eve 'n Stephen Music Fun Band. They'll be taking the stage at 7 p.m.

Before then, kids can see if they won any of our awesome Summer Reading prizes and perform some of their favorite Mad Science Monday experiments.

Now with more bubbles!

There will also be second-chance raffles where kids can get more fun prizes, but you have to be at our party to win.

This year, we dedicated the summer to science. We built hovercrafts, made lava lamps, blew up pop bottles, learned how to take fingerprints and were visited by one of the NASA scientists who helped make the Mars Rover. (We also learned how to train dragons; but that, admittedly, may not have been scientifically accurate.)

And then we got spooky when we dedicated July to Edgar Allan Poe.

We celebrated all aspects of Poe: his writing; his influence on art and cinema; his groundbreaking work in suspense and detective fiction; his interest in codes and cryptography. It wasn't easy, but we even found an age-appropriate way to introduce Poe to kids.

Zack squeezes the Tell-Tale Heart during our Poe-themed obstacle course.

More children than ever before—1,462, to be exact—signed up for our summer reading program at Mentor Library. And they read or were read to for 17,385 hours. (Also, a record high for us.) And 586 kids earned library champion signs by reading or being read to at least 15 hours this summer.

We also had more than 500 teens and adults sign up for summer reading, and they read more than 3,200 books.

All totaled, it was one of our biggest summer reading programs ever!

Of course, that just means we need to think even bigger next year.

See you at the library!

Kacey and Annalise grab a quick snack after an afternoon of granting wishes yesterday by our Read House.

A little night music at Mentor Library

A short update today—mostly just wanted to share our video from Mentor Library's jazz age garden party.

We have a couple of other concerts coming up this summer if you're looking for a little night music.

The Travelin' Man Band will perform from 6:30 to 8 p.m. July 23 at our Mentor Headlands Branch. They play everything from Rolling Stones to Janis Joplin, so stop by for some good music and good times. The concert—like all of our programming—is free.

Then, on Aug. 7, we have a special concert for kids to close out our children's summer reading program.

By the way, there's still time to sign up for our summer reading programs—yes, even you grownups.

Kicking Off Summer Reading with COSI

In 10 days, nearly 700 children, 200 adults and about 75 teens have already signed up for our summer reading program, but there’s always room for more.

This year’s summer reading program is dedicated to science. So when the library held its kickoff party Saturday, we invited the COSI to participate too.

Lucy learns about friction and kinetic energy by playing with the magnetized marble slides at our summer reading kickoff party.

COSI brought science kiosks that allowed kids to perform small experiments and games that taught the kids about magnetism, friction, air pressure, kinetic energy and more.

The library will host fun programs—many dedicated to science—all summer.

Gabriel stands on his father’s knee so he’s tall enough to reach the blocks.

We'll be having Mad Science Mondays where children can perform hands-on experiments and make crafts using different themes each week. We're also hosting Trashy Tuesdays every other week where kids can make fun crafts using recycled supplies.

Teens will have Weird Science Wednesdays throughout June that feature experiments with photography and weather.

Jordan is stymied by one of COSI’s puzzles.

Everyone who participates in our summer reading programs—either by reading and/or attending library programs—has a chance to win prizes. Grand prizes include a $100 gift card from Toys ‘R’ Us for kids and Nook eReaders for teens and adults. The more someone reads, the better chance they have of winning something.

If you want to sign up for summer reading, you can register for it at any of our branches.

Elizabeth tries to balance COSI's rod and learns an object lesson in gravity and momentum.

Visit our Facebook page for more photos from our summer reading program kickoff party.

Read your dreams and make them true

Geoffrey Landis loved science fiction as a kid—Asimov, Clarke, Bradbury, all the big names. He loved science fiction so much that he started to love the science behind it.

Now, he's a scientist for NASA. And an award-winning science-fiction author.

Reading can help you become whatever you want. It helped Landis build Mars rovers for NASA. It can help you (or your kid) become an archaeologist or paleontologist or artist.

Reading can be (and often is) the first step for making a dream come true.

Then again, reading isn't where a dream ends. (Unless, of course, your dream is to read a lot. And that's a perfectly wonderful dream.)

Landis himself said, "The heart of science is doing things... Any place you can go and interact with the world, that's science."

So we don't want you to just read about science this summer, though we want you to do that too. We want everyone to get involved in science.

That's why we're bringing COSI our summer reading kickoff party this Saturday. That's why we're hosting Weird Science Wednesdays all this month. That's why storm chasers are coming to the library next month.

We want you to get out there, learn something new and have fun while doing it.

Landis did that and it took him all the way to Mars. Who knows where it can take you?

NASA Scientist, Award-Winning Author Coming to Mentor Library

Geoffrey Landis

This year's summer reading program is dedicated to science and, of course, reading. So who better to kickoff the summer than a NASA scientist and award-winning author?

Geoffrey Landis works at the John Glenn Research Center in Brook Park. He's a member of the Mars Exploration Rovers team that landed rovers Opportunity and Spirit on Mars. After a decade of exploration and discovery, Opportunity continues to travel the surface of our nearest planetary neighbor and provide information to us.

Dr. Landis—he received his doctorate from Brown University—also researches and develops technology for future space missions for NASA. He's even written about the possibilities and mechanics of setting up bases on the moon, Mars and Venus.

Landis is giving a free talk at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, June 2, at Mentor Public Library's Main Branch. (You can register for it here.) Astrological enthusiasts and dilettantes alike are welcome.

The scientist will share his knowledge of the Mars rover, Curiosity, and his role in its explorations. He will also discuss the new discoveries Curiosity has made in the last few years. By the way, Curiosity was built and designed to assess if Mars' environment could ever have supported microscopic life.

Landis is not just a scientist (as if there is such a thing as just a scientist.) He also writes science fiction and has won Nebula, Hugo and Locus awards for his stories.

He received the Robert A. Heinlen Award last week during Balticon. The award is "bestowed for outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings that inspire the human exploration of space."

His fiction includes the novel Mars Crossing, the short story collection Impact Parameter, poetry collection Iron Angels and several other short stories and novellas. (You can learn more about his fiction writing and order it here.)

So come here Dr. Landis speak at the library, learn something about the solar system and, while you're at the library, sign up for our summer reading program.

It's mad science this summer at Mentor Library

Last year, Mentor Public Library had its biggest summer reading program ever. More than 2,000 kids, teens and adults signed up.

This year we want it to be even bigger.

We are running a trio of summer reading programs this year—one for children, teens and adults, respectively—and all three are focused on science. The children’s program is Fizz, Boom, Read; the teens’ is Spark a Reaction; and adults’ is Literary Elements.

People can start registering for summer reading on May 31 and there will be a special kickoff party for kids on Saturday, June 7, at the Read House, which is next door to the our Main Branch. COSI (the Center of Science and Industry) will bring its traveling exhibits to the party and show kids how much fun science can be.

By the way, our party is free, open to everyone and no registration is necessary.

But that's just the beginning. Mentor Library will host fun programs to get kids, teens and adults excited about science all through the summer.

We’re having Mad Science Mondays from June 16 to Aug. 4 at the Read House, which will be open to kids of all ages. The children will have the opportunity to perform hands-on experiments and make crafts using different themes every Monday.

Meanwhile, teens will have Weird Science Wednesdays throughout June that feature experiments with photography and weather. The series kicks off on June 11 when teens will test popular myths with their own version of Mythbusters.

Both teens and adults are welcome to our Monday University series, which will feature two exciting science-themed programs this summer: “Exploring Mars with NASA’s Geoffrey Landis” on June 2 and “Storm Chasers” on July 14 with Aaron Rigsby of the Ohio Storm Chasers.

Everyone who participates in the summer reading programs has a chance to win prizes—from gift cards at Toys ‘R’ Us to Lake County Captains tickets to Nook eReaders. The more someone reads, the better chance they have of winning.

For more information on Mentor Library’s summer reading program, call 440-255-8811 or visit your nearest branch.