Free ACT Prep Sessions Available at Mentor Library

Mentor Library is offering free ACT prep courses to teens on Saturdays, Sept. 6 and 13.

Stressed out about the ACTs?

Why wouldn't you be?

It’s one of the cruel truths of young adulthood that you spend four years volunteering, participating in student groups and working hard in class, and then a single standardized test taken on a Saturday morning can completely undermine you.

So standardized test are, in a word, stressful.

But there’s no better remedy for that stress than being well prepared.

The Mentor Public Library is offering two free ACT prep sessions this September. The first session is from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 6. It will focus on general test preparation and the reading courses. The next session is Sept. 13. Its focus will be the science and math sections of the ACT. You can register for them on our website.

These sessions provide practical experience in terms of the types of questions you’ll see on the ACT, and they also offer strategies for test prep (that, by the way, work on tests besides the ACT.)

All sessions will be led by Dr. John Foster, one of our reference librarians at Mentor Public Library. Foster has a doctorate in history from the University of Washington and has taught at both the high school and college level.

And, yes, all of our sessions are free and open to anyone preparing for the ACT.

If you have any questions on our ACT prep sessions, you can call the library at (440) 255-8811 ext. 215.

Students prepare for their upcoming ACT at Mentor Public Library

Talk 'The Fault in our Stars' with our new Teen Book Club

Mentor Library's Teen Book Club will meet Saturday, Sept. 6, to talk about The Fault in our Stars.

Remember reading for fun?

Not reading something because it might be on the test or because someone told you to—but reading for the thrill of it, the joy, to find out what happens on the next page.

Mentor Public Library started a book club just for teens at our Mentor-on-the-Lake Branch because we want to get back to that fun.

Our next meeting is at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6. We'll be talking about John Green's The Fault in our Stars. Anyone who's in ninth through 12th grade is welcome to join us.

If you want, you can borrow one of our copies of The Fault in our Stars. Just come by the Lake Branch and check one out.

If you know a teen who likes reading, loves reading or is just looking for some new people to talk about The Fault in our Stars with, tell them about our Teen Book Club.

We meet the first Saturday afternoon of each month at our Mentor-on-the-Lake Branch to talk about books from YA authors like Rainbow Rowell, Ransom Riggs and Terry Pratchett.

When our club meets in October, we'll be talking about Pratchett's Nation. (And, as always, you can check the book out from us beforehand.)

If you have any questions regarding the Teen Book Club, call Mentor Library’s Mentor-on-the-Lake Branch at 440-257-2512.

Volunteers Give Children's Area a Makeover

Alyssa Weese and the other volunteers from Selman gave our Children's Department a fun and brightly colored makeover Friday morning.

Sue Manning smiled as she looked at the fresh layer of robin's-egg blue paint in the Children's Section of the Mentor Public Library.

"I love it," she said. "My granddaughter is four. I can't wait to bring her up here and say, 'This is what grandma did.'"

Manning is just one of more than a dozen volunteers from Selman & Company, a third-party insurance administrator and marketer, that gave MPL's children's section a makeover Friday morning.

They painted the second floor of our library's main branch in vibrant blues, yellows and greens. And they did it all from the goodness of their hearts.

Gary Sheplavy helps brighten the children's department.

Selman volunteers repainted our Children's Department as part of their Annual Volunteer Day, and they helped more than Mentor Public Library. They volunteered at other nonprofits in Northeast Ohio, including Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Lake County Board of Developmental Disabilities’ Deepwood Facility, Lake MetroParks and PAWSibilities.

"David Selman (the president of Selman & Co.,) he wants his company to give back," Manning said. "That's how our company is."

Erin Sheplavy stretches to reach the framing around our carousel.

Manning said she would be back at the library soon—and not just to show off her painting to her granddaughter.

"The library means a lot me," she said. "I'm an avid reader."

Everyone at Mentor Library can't thank the Selman volunteers enough for their kindness, help and consideration. We love the new look in our Children's Area, and we hope the kids and parents love it too!

We also have one more thank you to bestow. Thanks to all of our patrons who were so understanding that our Children's Area was closed Friday morning. Kids and books are a great combination. Kids, books and paint—well, that can get messy.

Blue Mordini smiles as she paints Friday morning.

Reading to the pups

Jacob reads Harry Potter to Kacey during MPL's Paws to Read program Wednesday night.

We've written about Paws to Read before. We'll write about it again.

After all, we at Mentor Public Library love almost any program that gets children reading—not just reading, but loving it!

And few things get kids more excited about reading—or anything else for that matter—than a warm, snuggly pooch listening to them.

Hey, they aren't reading. Olivia and Caesar have a quick ear-scratching break.

Paws to Read pairs young readers (between the ages of six and 12 years old) with therapy dogs, who listen to the children as they read.

If your child can read independently but doesn’t like to do it in front of other people, you might try signing them up for Paws to Read. The program works well for dog lovers, but it's also helped some kids who are scared of dogs get over their phobia.

Aylish reads Dog Rules to Kody.

The next session is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 17, at Mentor Library’s Main Branch.

Registration fills up quickly, so contact the children’s department at Mentor Public Library soon if you think you child could benefit from Paws to Read.

There is often a waiting list for the program once registration begins.

For more information on Paws to Read and other children’s programs at Mentor Public Library call (440) 255-8811 ext. 221.

Elizabeth meets Caesar during Paws to Read.

For more photos from Paws to Read, visit Mentor Library’s Facebook page.

Fun at Flash Libraries

Kids could make a craft during our Flash Library at Concord Community Days

Have you seen one of our Flash Libraries yet?

We've popped up everywhere from Civic Center Park to Atlas Cinemas to Mentor Schools this summer. We also had a Flash Library during Concord Community Days last Saturday.

Kids made a craft (boliche, the classic cup-and-ball game,) while grown-ups could check out books and movies from Mentor Library.

We also brought one of our Little Free Libraries to Community Days, so people could look through them and find something to read.

A family checks out the selection in our Little Free Library Saturday.

If you’re not familiar with our Flash Libraries, they’re similar to Bookmobiles. We come to your neck of the woods with popular movies and books. If you have a library card you can check them out—same as if you were in a brick-and-mortar library. And if you don’t have a library card, well you can get one of those too. (And you really should have a library card.)

We still have more Flash Libraries coming this month. We'll be at the Mentor Senior Center this Friday afternoon during their weekly matinee and at the city of Mentor's Final Friday Farmers Market on Aug. 29 in Civic Center Park.

And you'll find us at Wildwood Cultural Center, James A. Garfield National Historic Site, Penitentiary Glen and more this September.

So always keep have your library card on you, just in case. You'll never know when you can use it.

Nicole (right) and her friend, Rebecca, try to catch the ball in the cup.

For more photos from our Flash Library at Concord Community Days, visit Mentor Public Library's Facebook page.

Making Rockets at the Headlands Branch

On Wednesday, we used water, Alka-Seltzer tablets and old film canisters to make some backyard-safe rockets at our Headlands Branch.

This is a fun and simple craft you and your kid can do if you have any Alka-Seltzer tablets left over from making your own lava lamp.

All you need to do is:

1. Get a container that closes airtight. The smaller it is, the easier this experiment will be. We used old film canisters. (They make a satisfying *pop* noise that you can hear repeatedly in our video.) But you could even use a Ziploc bag as long as you close it securely.

2. Put water in the canister.

3. Drop in an Alka-Seltezer tablet.

4. Secure the top onto the canister so it's airtight.

5. Set the canister down and give it some space. The tablet and the water are interacting and creating carbon dioxide. Eventually, it will create too much gas for the container to hold and shoot its top off.

There won't be any fire in this explosion, but it could still hypothetically whack you in the eye; so it would be safest to wear goggles.

By the way, if you put less water in the canister, then it actually causes a bigger pop because it leaves space for more gas. However, you'll have to wait longer for your container to pop.

You can do a similar experiment with a Ziploc bag, warm water, baking soda and vinegar. Put the warm water in the bag first, then three scoops of baking soda wrapped in a tissue, and finally the vinegar. Make sure the bag is sealed completely shut or it will just leak instead of popping.

For more fun experiments and programs at Mentor Library, visit www.mentorpl.org.

Olivia and Bella prep their rockets for launch.

Mentor Library kids enjoy a little Wordplay

Eric Remchick brainstorms what he would write in a journal.

Mentor Public Library has a book club for children who love to read, a comics club for fans of sequential art and Studio MPL for kids who love every other kind of art.

But, until recently, it didn’t have a club for burgeoning writers. That’s why Judy Schulz started our Wordplay Creative Writing Club.

“I decided to start this monthly club after working with Lisa Layton on our Studio MPL programs and with Marilyn Weiss on our Comics Club,” Judy said. “The one area we don’t address is writing, but we have had several children who have mentioned that they write stories. I thought that a group like Wordplay could bring together the children who enjoy writing.”

Valerie Akins and Juliana Kless share their stories during Wordplay.

Wordplay give the kids some creative ways to develop their interests. This week, kids learned about journals, diaries and different fiction books like the Wimpy Kid, Ellie McDoodle and Amelia series, which use journals as a narrative tool.

Wordplay Creative Writing Club meets at 4:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of every month at our Main Branch. It's free and open to any kids in third through sixth grade. The next meeting is Sept. 10.

You can register your child for Wordplay by calling (440) 255-8811 ext. 221 or by visiting the Mentor Library's website.

Julie Namciu writes where her imagination takes her.

Digital Bookmobile coming to Mentor Library

Remember the old bookmobiles? They would come to your neck of the woods and you could check out a book or two?

The OverDrive Digital Bookmobile is kind of like that... except it's going to show you how you can download as many eBooks as you want from Mentor Public Library for free whenever you like.

It will also show you how to stream video via OverDrive to your computers, phones and devices—once again, for free, as long as you have a Mentor Library card.

You can even test out different kinds of tablets, smart phones and eReaders in the Digital Bookmobile's gadget gallery.

At 74-feet long, this bookmobile is also a little bit bigger than its predecessor. But it takes an 18-wheel tractor-trailer to house all this cool stuff.

You can check out OverDrive's Digital Bookmobile (and all of Mentor Public Library's digital services) when it visits from 2 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19, at our Main Branch.

The vehicle is equipped with Internet-connected PCs, high-definition monitors, premium sound systems, and a variety of portable media players, all of which help you explore MPL’s digital services.

It doesn't matter if you use a Kindle, iPad, Nook, smartphone or even your computer. You can use it to stream video or music, download songs, read your favorite magazine or check out a book from Mentor Library.

Come by MPL's Main Branch Tuesday, check the Digital Bookmobile out and learn how you can get even more out of your library card.

Fantasy Football mastermind sharing his knowledge at Mentor Library

Matt Borcas also knew about LeBron coming back before you.

When it comes to fantasy football, everybody has an opinion but not everybody knows their stuff.

Matt Borcas knows his stuff, and he'll be sharing his fantasy-football acumen for free on Wednesday, Aug. 20, at Mentor Public Library's Main Branch.

Borcas has been writing about fantasy football since August 2012 for Grantland, the Disney-owned sports and lifestyle website. He earned his position by winning a season-long fantasy writing competition during the 2012 football season.

The Lake Catholic graduate had stiff competition—including two published authors, a journalist who had written for the New York Times and another who wrote for a newspaper in Washington, D.C.—but he still came out on top.

Borcas will discuss the upcoming fantasy season at the library, including positional previews, general tips for owners, draft-day etiquette, sleepers to watch and more.

And you better hear what he has to say; because, even if you don't, the other guys in your league will.

"Though I can't guarantee you'll win your league as a result of attending this event, not coming would put you at a severe disadvantage," Borcas said.

(And you should trust Borcas's predictions. After all, he knew LeBron was coming back.)

To register for Borcas's Fantasy Football preview, visit Mentor Library's website or call 440-255-8811 ext. 215. For more of his wisdom on everything from Drake's cronies to the Flying J scandal, you can follow him on Twitter.

Health District talks about building healthy meals

My Plate is an update on the food pyramid.

You're probably familiar with USDA's food pyramid. It had grains on bottom, then fruits and veggies, meat and dairy, and finally a little bit of sugar on top. (If you're a bit older, you remember the four food groups.)

The USDA has updated its nutrition guide and replaced its pyramid with a plate.

My Plate encourages people to proportion their daily meals. It suggests each meal be half fruits and vegetables, a fourth whole grains and a fourth lean protein. A serving of low-fat dairy can be added too.

The Lake County General Health District visited the Mentor Library last week to talk about My Plate and offer some tips on how to keep both your meals and your diet balanced.

1. Make at least half your grains whole

When you can, choose whole-grain cereals, breads, rice and pasta.

2. Make half your plate fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are good for your body. Use them as snacks, side dishes and work them into your entrees. Eat a variety of fruits and veggies to get as many nutrients as possible.

3. Eat the right amount of calories for you

Watch your portion sizes, and that's easier to do if you're cooking at home. However, if you are eating out, try to choose a lower-calorie option. The My Plate website even has a food tracker to help you reach your nutrition goals.

4. Vary your protein food choices

You don't have to just eat chicken with each meal. You can eat seafood, beans and peas, nuts, eggs and other lean meats, along with poultry. Try grilling, broiling, poaching or roasting your food. These preparations don't add any extra fat to your meal.

5. Switch to skim or 1% milk

Low-fat milk has the same amount of calcium and other essential nutrients with fewer calories than 2-percent or whole milk.

6. Drink water instead of sugary drinks

Energy drinks, sports drinks and soda are easy ways to tack on sugar and calories. Cut those calories by drinking water or other unsweetened beverages instead.

7. Be physically active your way

Diet is just part of the equation. To be healthy, you need to get active. Of course, that doesn't mean you need to run a marathon tomorrow. Pick activities you like and start by doing what you can, at least 10 minutes at a time. You'll be surprised how much you can do as your endurance improves.

8. Cut back on foods high in solid fats, added sugars and salt

Be mindful of how much fat, sugar and salt you're allowing in your diet. We know it's not good for us, but we let ourselves forget when something looks good at the restaurant or at the grocery store.

Check out ChooseMyPlate.gov for more healthy tips and ways to keep track of what you eat.

Click here for more tips on how to eat and live healthy from the Lake County General Health District.

Making raised salt paintings at MPL's Headlands Branch

At Mentor Library's Headlands Branch, we thought we'd use salt to make a fun craft and teach a little bit about local history on Friday. After all, a lot of kids (and even some adults) don't realize that we live right by a rock salt mine in Fairport Harbor.

So we told the kids about how salt is made and then helped them make raised salt paintings.

Raised salt paintings are easy (if occasionally messy) to make, so we'll include some instructions in case you want to try it with your kids at home.

Kids use craft glue to make patterns on their paper.

All you need is some construction paper, craft glue, salt and watercolor paints.

You start by using your glue to make patterns on your construction paper. It can be anything—hearts, smiley faces, your name. Simple shapes and patterns look great on the paper, so it doesn't have to be complicated.

Then you sprinkle salt on top of the glue.

It might be less messy if you pour the salt yourself, or if you do the craft outside.

You don't have to wait for the glue to dry before you start painting.

The salt absorbs the water in the paint, so it dries quickly. It also spreads the color and gives the artwork texture.

And it looks beautiful.

Give it a try and let us know how it looks!

For more photos from our Raised Salt Painting program, visit Mentor Library's Facebook page. For more programs and events for kids, visit the Mentor Library's event calendar on its website.

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.

Fun free-for-all during Family Lego Challenge

Ellie and Jason answer a math problem using Lego during the Family Lego Challenge.

Those familiar with our Kids @ Work club know that we love playing with Lego at Mentor Public Library.

But it's usually just kids who get to play, so we thought it would be more fun if the entire family got a chance to break out the blocks.

We had our first Family Lego Challenge on Saturday at our Main Branch. Families used Lego blocks to construct their own family crest and answer mathematical equations. They also competed to see who could build the tallest skyscraper and strongest bridge.

Families even tested their creativity when they were given a bag with 30 randomly chosen Lego blocks and told to build whatever they could imagine.

Colin and Sarah make a space shuttle from blocks.

For more Lego fun, kids from fourth through eighth grade can come to Legomania this Saturday, Aug 9. at our Mentor-on-the-Lake Branch.

Then our Kids @ Work club returns from its summer break on the first Saturday of September.

There aren't a lot of rules to Kids @ Work. There's no need to register beforehand and children can build whatever they want with our Lego and Duplo blocks. (However, we do ask that kids younger than 8 have an adult with them; and, as with any library program, we ask that you be kind to the other patrons.)

But, in general, it's just kids playing with Lego. So if your kid likes building, feel free to bring him or her to Kids @ Work. They will fit right in.

Alec searches for just the right Lego piece among the morass.

New Book Club for Teens at Mentor Library

Our Teen Book Club's first meeting will be Saturday, Aug. 9, at our Mentor-on-the-Lake Branch.

Ariel Johnson, one of the library associates at Mentor Public Library, wishes she read more for fun when she was a teenager.

"I didn't do a ton of leisurely reading when I was in high school, mainly because I was too busy doing assigned reading," she admitted. "Looking back, I wish I had taken more time to read things for fun."

It was during the summer that Ariel would read what she wanted, which was mostly fantasy novels—J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien were favorites.

"I pretty much just read whatever was appealing to me at the time," she said.

Ariel wants to give that sense of freedom and fun to other teens, and she doesn't want it confined to summer; so she's starting a Teen Book Club at our Mentor-on-the-Lake Branch.

"I want to help inspire teens to take a bit of time out of their crazy schedules and dedicate it to reading for fun," she said. "One book a month, with no grades or tests—no stress."

The book club is open to anyone in ninth through 12th grade and its first meeting is 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9. (You can register for it on our website, if you like.)

Teens don't have to read anything before the first meeting. They can just drop by and talk about their favorite books. They can also pick up our club's first discussion book, The Fault in our Stars by John Green. (Yeah, we know that some of you may have read it before, but it's still beautiful the second time. Fair warning: It doesn't matter how many times you read it; you'll still cry.)

Then, the book club will meet again to discuss The Fault in our Stars on Sept. 6.

From then on, the club will meet the first Saturday afternoon of each month at our Mentor-on-the-Lake Branch to talk about books from YA authors Rainbow Rowell, Ransom Riggs and other writers whose names don't all start with R.

And, of course, teens can suggest books too.

"I'm frequently going to gauge the teens' interests and take book suggestions from them," Ariel said. "This is their club, after all, and I don't want it to feel like homework."

If you know a teen who likes reading, loves reading or is just looking for some new people to talk about The Fault in our Stars with, tell them about our Teen Book Club.

If you have any questions regarding the Teen Book Club, call Mentor Library's Mentor-on-the-Lake Branch at 440-257-2512.