James Renner's Favorite Halloween Costume

Author and journalist James Renner visited Mentor Library earlier this month to discuss the fun, frightening and possibly fictional denizens of this state for his book, It Came from Ohio: True Tales of the Weird, Wild and Unexplained.

When we interviewed him about his book, he told us an awesome story about his favorite Halloween costume. At the time, we couldn't work the anecdote into our video, but we also didn't forget about it either.

So, as a special Halloween treat, we present Renner's favorite Halloween costume:

And remember, on Halloween, kids can wear their costumes and go trick-or-treating at any of the Mentor Public Library branches!

Can Your Fines food drive returns to Mentor Library

Dropping off donations from last year's Can Your Fines food drive.

The Can Your Fines food drive is returning to Mentor Public Library and, once again, library patrons can donate food in exchange for forgiveness of their fines.

The food drive will run all through November and people can donate at any of Mentor Public Library’s branches.

The donated food will go to local food pantries at St. Gabriel and St. John Vianney. The pantries will, in turn, give it to families in need.

Each nonperishable food item that somebody donates will be worth up to a dollar off of the fines they owe. People can get up to five dollars in fines waived this way.

Patrons can only trade food for fines once during the Can Your Fines food drive. Those whose fines have gone to collections are not eligible to participate.

Last year, patrons donated 880 pounds of food during the Can Your Fines drive.

For more information, contact the Mentor Public Library at (440) 255-8811.

Get your Halloween costumes ready

Olivia just needs a cauldron to win Halloween bingo.

The countdown to Halloween continues!

On Saturday, kids had a scavenger hunt and played Halloween Bingo at our Mentor-on-the-Lake Branch during our Halloween Spooktacular.

But the most fun part was the costumes some of the kids wore.

Darin--pardon me, the Flash--reads a clue during the Halloween scavenger hunt.

What does the Fox say?

And remember, on Halloween, kids can wear their costumes and go trick-or-treating at the library!

For more photos from our Halloween Spooktacular, visit our Facebook page.

Luke searches the bookshelves of our Lake Branch for the next clue in our Halloween scavenger hunt.

Share Memories & Memorabilia from the Championship Browns Teams

When Kermit Pike and his wife, Joyce, married in the summer of 1964, they used $100 from their wedding gifts to buy season tickets for the Cleveland Browns.

That year, they watched Gary Collins and Jim Brown—still Pike’s favorite player—lead the Browns to the league championship. They shut out the Baltimore Colts 27-0 in front of more than 79,000 fans.

The Pikes kept their ticket stubs from that game; and, ever since, Kermit Pike has collected memorabilia—including tickets, programs, posters, trading cards, autographs and more—from that championship team.

Pike will bring some of his collection on Monday, Nov. 3, to Mentor Public Library’s Main Branch for a special program. He’ll be joined by Don Gries, whose grandfather is a former minority of the Browns.

Both Gries and Pike will share their Browns memorabilia and stories, and they hope others will come to the library to share their memorabilia and memories, as well.

“Everybody’s invited to bring their own collectibles too,” Pike said. “I’m looking forward to reminiscing with other fans.”

More of Pike’s collectibles are on display as part of the new exhibit, 1964: When Browns Town Was Title Town at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland. The exhibit includes:

• Jim Brown’s contract with the Cleveland Browns, signed Oct. 31, 1964
• Offensive and defensive playbooks from the 1964 and 1965 seasons
• Trading cards featuring “Jimmy” Brown
• Never-before exhibited photos and video from the championship season
• Game-worn jerseys, autographed helmets and more.

The exhibit runs through February 2015.

The program at Mentor Library is free and open to everyone. People can register by calling (440) 255-8811 ext. 215 or on the library’s website.

The WRHS exhibit is included with the history center’s admission price—ten dollars for adults, $9 for seniors and $5 for children. More information is available on WRHS’s website.

10 Favorite Places to Read Outdoors

The Read House, which is next door to Mentor Library's Main Branch, is a cozy place for an outdoor read.

I love autumn. Summer can get too hot; winter, too cold; and everything makes me sneeze in the spring.

But autumn’s just about perfect. And one of my favorite things to do in the fall is read outside.

I grab a good book, which is easy to do because I work in a library. Then I find somewhere cozy to read, preferably with some fall foliage.

I’m in my glory with a good book and a cozy nook to read in. Fortunately, we’re blessed with a plethora of beautiful locations around Lake County.

In no particular order, my ten favorite places to read outside in Lake County are:

1. Wildwood Cultural Center & Park. I love to sit on one of the benches right outside of the Tudor home and enjoy the architecture and arboreal atmosphere.
2. Squire’s Castle. The perfect place for a medieval tale.
3. Mentor Beach Park. Headlands Beach State Park is beautiful too—anywhere along the lake, really—but Mentor Beach Park in Mentor-on-the-Lake is a personal favorite because it’s quiet and cozy.
4. Holden Arboretum. There are a lot of picturesque places around the arboretum. My favorite—the lantern court gardens.
5. Veterans Park. There is more than one Veterans Park in Lake County. I’m talking about the one in Mentor, though I have a soft spot for the Painesville park too. I like to sit at the edge of the dock and dangle my feet over Granger Pond as I read.
6. Mentor Marsh/Mentor Lagoons. Two different, but adjacent nature preserves. Both are tranquil, lovely and perfect for Saturday afternoon reading.
7. Wes Point Park. In the middle of busy downtown Willoughby, you have this pretty slice of verdure. Visit when they have the farmers markets and grab something to eat between chapters.
8. Eleanor Garfield Park. I like to sit on the bridge that crosses the pond and listen to the ducks while I read.
9. James A. Garfield National Historic Site. The president was an avid reader with more than 3,000 books in his library, so it makes sense that his Lake County home is such a cozy place to read. There are cozy, secluded picnic tables sprinkled around the park, but I like the bench behind the visitor’s center.
10. Mentor Public Library’s Read House. During my lunch breaks, I enjoy going next door, sitting on Roberts Round Stage and appreciating a quiet corner of the city that’s right off Mentor Avenue.

By the way, Mentor Public Library has Little Free Libraries at parks all around town in case you forget to bring a book with you.

And if you need a reading recommendation? Well, we’re good for that too.

Where’s your favorite place to read outdoors in Lake County?

Making Slime at Halloween Time

As you've probably noticed. We love Halloween at Mentor Public Library.

No, seriously, we really, really love Halloween.

So we're starting the party early.

On Tuesday, we made slime, played spooky games and crafted a ghost that kids could use as a Halloween decoration.

Andrew makes a beard with his slime.

Even the snack was spooky.

Colin makes himself a mummy during one of our games.

Alyssa tests the slime to make sure it's good and sticky.

Alexandria finds something else to snack on.

And the party's not over!

On Halloween, kids can wear their costumes and go trick-or-treating at the library!

For more photos from our spooky story time, visit our Facebook page.

Do you want to be on the Mentor Library Board of Trustees?

The Mentor Board of Education is seeking applicants for a vacancy on the Mentor Library Board of Trustees due to a retirement. Library board trustees are appointed to terms for seven years, with this particular term scheduled to begin Jan. 1, 2015 and end Dec. 31, 2021.

In Ohio, local boards of education have appointing authority for public library trustees.

Applicants should submit a letter of interest to the board including the following information:

• Place of residence
• Length of time residing at current address
• Reason for interest in serving on the library board
• Community involvement and service experience
• Names and contact information for up to three individuals who may serve as references

The deadline for applications is Nov. 14, 2014. Applications will be reviewed by two school board members, two library trustees, the superintendent and chief financial officer of Mentor Public Schools.

This committee will recommend one individual to the board of education for appointment. The board will appoint a trustee no later than Dec. 31, 2014.

Applications should be sent to the Mentor Board of Education, attn. Daniel L. Wilson, 6451 Center Street, Mentor, Ohio 44060.

More information is available on the district’s website or can be obtained by calling the Chief Financial Officer’s Office at (440) 974-5230.

A special thanks to two special volunteers

We can never thank our volunteers enough but that doesn't excuse us from trying.

Very soon, we will be saying goodbye to a pair of wonderful volunteers and good friends, and we'd like to take this opportunity to thank them.

Hayley (one of our Paws to Read dogs,) along with her owner Carol, are retiring.

They volunteered at their final Paws to Read session Wednesday.

We can think of no better way to thank Carol and Hayley than with a gallery of some of the children they've helped over the years—just by listening.

Thank you, Carol! Thank you, Hayley! And dogspeed!

Getting ready for Halloween

Lauren decorates her customized Trick-or-Treat bag at our Lake Branch.

Kids had the day off school on Friday for NEOEA Day, so we held programs to get them in the Halloween spirit at all three of our branches.

At our Main Branch, Mr. Zap performed a magic show for more than 100 kids and parents.

Mr. Zap plays to a packed house

At our Mentor Headlands Branch, kids crafted spiders while sipping on cider.

Lucius wants to make the scariest spider of all.

Then, at our Mentor-on-the-Lake Branch, kids made customized trick-or-treat bags.

Olivia gets a little help decorating from her aunt.

And the Halloween fun has just started! On Tuesday, Oct. 21, kids can make a spooky ghost and play some haunted games at our Main Branch. (There are still a few spots open if you want to register your children.) Then, on Saturday, Oct. 25, we're hosting a Halloween Spooktacular at our Mentor-on-the-Lake Branch with ghost stories and a scavenger hunt.

Finally, on Friday, Oct. 31, kids can wear their costumes and go trick-or-treating at the library!

You don't have to wear your costume to our Halloween programs, but it does make it more fun.

We take Halloween very seriously at Mentor Library.

For more photos from our Halloween programs, visit Mentor Library's Facebook page.

Four fun facts about magic, folklore and herbs

The Herb Society of America talked about where folklore, magic and herbalism meet.

Karen Kennedy of the Herb Society of America visited our Main Branch on Wednesday to talk about where folklore, magic and herbalism intersect.

Here are four fun facts from her talk:

1. Basil is said to be a protective herb. Hence the saying, "Where basil grows no evil goes."

Other protection herbs: chive, lavender (especially for children and homes) and garlic.

2. Chive has the longest recorded herb history, dating back 5,000 years. Etchings of it have been found on ancient Egyptian monuments.

3. It was said that when the devil walked out of the Garden of Eden after the fall of man, garlic bloomed wherever his left foot landed. (And I thought it was a protective herb...)

4. The yarrow plant's Latin name, Achillea Millefolium, comes from the Greek hero (or villain, if you're a Trojan,) Achilles.

The plant was said to grow from his rusty spear shavings. It has a history of being used on the battlefield to stop bleeding.

The Herb Society has spoken at the library before. Last year, Karen talked about the best practices for preserving herbs.

The society has chapters all across the country, and it's based in Kirtland. It's a great resource for both seasoned and neophyte green thumbs.

Karen Kennedy talks about botanical folklore.

Why James Renner investigates monsters and myths

Author and journalist James Renner spent years collecting stories about the weird and wonderful denizens of this state for his book, It Came from Ohio: True Tales of the Weird, Wild and Unexplained.

On Monday, he visited Mentor Public Library and discussed the Loveland Frog, Lake Erie Monster, the Melonheads of Kirtland and other myths and monsters from the Buckeye state.

He also talked about how we went from writing true crime stories to investigating tales of moth men.

If you want, you can check out It Came from Ohio, as well as Renner's true-crime stories or his mystery novel, from Mentor Library.

Kids meet the animals of Mentor Marsh

Cheyenne touches the soft fur of an opossum.

The pelts of an opossum, skunk, beaver, raccoon, rabbit, gray fox, and two red foxes—both a summer and thicker winter coat—covered the floor of the Mentor Headlands Library Branch on Saturday afternoon.

The kids sat in a semicircle around them and took turns looking at the beak of a great horned owl and a pair of turkey feathers.

None of them realized just how much wildlife lived so nearby.

Zach looks at the different types of feathers that grow on a turkey.

Naturalist Becky Donaldson from the Mentor Marsh visited the library to tell the kids about the unique habitat that's just a few miles from their home.

The marsh is unlike any other park in the region. More than 200 kinds of birds (including a pair of bald eagles) nest in its mixed oak swamp some time during the year.

During a walk, you can see staghorn sumac and Northern shovelers, rose hips and heron, gadwalls and wild raspberry.

And it's free to visit and open from dawn to dusk every day. Its nature center is also open from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Raven and Lucius check out the pelt of a red fox. In the winter, the fox's fur grows thicker.

The marsh also offers hikes from 2 to 3:30 p.m. each Sunday.

On Oct. 19, a naturalist will lead a fall foliage hike through the marsh. On Oct. 26, there will be a spooky scavenger hunt that busts some common myths about local wildlife. Then, on Nov. 2, nature lovers can learn about white-tailed deer and even practice their tracking skills by looking for signs of deer along the marsh's trails.

You can register for any of these hikes by calling the Mentor Marsh Nature Center at 440-257-0777 or by emailing rdonalds@cmnh.org.

Naturalist Becky Donaldson explains that while opossum do have prehensile tails, they don't hang upside down to sleep.

Becky Donaldson will return to our Headlands Branch in April to talk about bald eagles. It's a little too soon to register for the program but never too soon to get excited.

You can visit our Facebook page for more fun photos from library programs. You can also check out Mentor Marsh's Facebook page for some beautiful snapshots, if you'd like

Renew your books up to 10 times at Mentor Library

We know you meant to read that book awhile ago, but life gets busy. Sometimes, two weeks just isn't long enough.

We at Mentor Public Library understand and want you to share as much time as you need with the books you love.

Until recently, you could renew a MPL book up to four times—as long as no one else had it on hold—for a total of eight weeks.

Anybody with a lawn to mow or dishes to wash or children to care for knows how quickly eight weeks can evaporate.

So we've changed our policy so you can now renew your books up to 10 times. That means you have up to 20 weeks with a book, as long as no one else puts it on hold.

Patrons will still have to renew their books manually—either by calling, via our website or at one of the our branches.

The change in MPL’s renewal policy is specifically for books—movies and CDs can still be renewed four times.

Studio MPL and the art of the good hair day

Kelsey focuses on her pink and magenta locks.

The summer hiatus is over and Studio MPL is back!

Oh, you haven't heard of Studio MPL?

It’s Mentor Library’s art club for kids in first through fifth grade, and it's six scoops of awesome.

They've made sun catchers, painted sunsets, weaved and even garnered inspiration from Jackson Pollock.

Giselle laughs as she draws brightly colored shocks of hair during the Studio MPL meeting Monday.

This month, we talked about art as a reflection of who we are—and we did it using hair. We gave the young artists colored pencils, markers and other art supplies, and we told them to draw a person's hair; and the hair would represent what's going on inside of them.

And the kids got more creative than we could imagine. One girl made her hair a series of googly eyes. A boy turned his artwork into two necklaces—one that he could wear and another for his grandma.

Darin packs a lot of bright colors close together to create contrast.

Studio MPL meets on the third Monday of each month.

Next month’s session will be Oct. 20 at our Main Branch. You can register for it here.

For more photos from our Studio MPL session, check out our Facebook page. For more information on programs and events for children, teens and adults at Mentor Public Library, visit www.mentorpl.org.

Ella's hair looks like a rainbow with its layers of color.

Mentor Library is going to the dogs (and that's OK)

You've probably heard of Paws to Read, our program that pairs young readers with therapy dogs. It's a splendid symbiosis. The kids get a supportive listener and the dogs enjoy story time.

You may have even thought, "That would be perfect for my kid."

Well, now is the perfect time to find out.

We are holding our final Paws to Read sessions this year on Wednesday evening, Oct. 15, at our Mentor-on-the-Lake Branch, but we still have a few openings available as of today. (Today, in this instance, is Thursday, Oct.9.) But these openings won't last until Oct. 15, so you should call Mentor Library if you're interested.

You can register your child for Paws to Read by calling (440) 255-8811 ext. 221.

Paws to Read is for readers between the ages of six and 12 years old.

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.

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

Discover More About Where You Live: Mentor Marsh

The Newhous Pond in Mentor Marsh after the foliage has started to turn for the season

We are fortunate to live in this beautiful community.

We are surrounded by scenic city, county, state and even national parks. But how often do we think about or visit them?

Take, for example, the Mentor Marsh. It's nearly 700 acres are unlike any other habitat in the world. It provides a home to more than 200 kinds of bird, including the blue-winged teal, yellow warbler, American wigeon, gadwall, heron, American black duck, red-winged blackbirds, Northern shoveler and hooded merganser.

It combines a mixed oak swamp forest—an increasingly rare kind of habitat—with the largest phragmite marsh in the state. There are also picturesque walking trails that pass through thickets of staghorn sumac, rose hips, wild raspberry and more.

Kids can learn more about the Mentor Marsh when Naturalist Becky Donaldson visits Mentor Library's Mentor-on-the-Lake Branch on 2 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 11. (You can register for the program on our website.) Donaldson will have hands-on items for kids to touch and explore as well as audio sounds of the marsh wildlife.

She'll also be talking about how the Marsh prepares for the winter.

Donaldson works for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, who manages the park along with the state of Ohio. Her talk is free and open to everybody.

For more online information about Mentor Marsh, you can visit:

• the Cleveland Museum of Natural History
• the Marsh's Facebook page (with several gorgeous photos, including the one above)
• the Ohio Department of Natural Resources
• Hiking Ohio Parks.

James A. Garfield National Historic Site & Mentor Library team for new book club

The first read for the new book club is "James A. Garfield" by Ira Rutkow.

James A. Garfield National Historic Site is one of Mentor Library's favorite partners. We already team with them on our Major Battles of the Civil War series. (The next talk, by the way, is on the Battle of Cedar Creek this Wednesday at noon.)

Now we're joining forces to start a book club called “Mentor Reads James A. Garfield."

The group will meet at 6:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month from now until April 2015 at our Main Branch. Volunteers from James A. Garfield National Historic Site will lead the discussions on a different book related to the president each month.

The first meeting will be this Thursday, Oct. 9, and the book discussed that evening will be James A. Garfield by Ira Rutkow.

Everyone is invited to join us. People can call or visit the library to borrow a copy of each month’s book. Those with their own copies of the books are invited to read their personal copies and attend the discussions, as well.

For more information, you can call the James A. Garfield National Historic Site at (440) 255-8722 or visit the national park's website.

See you soon!

Stop by our NyanCon booth at Lakeland Community College on Saturday!

Saturday, October 4, will henceforth be called Caturday, in honor of NyanCon, the Anime and Pop Culture Convention taking place at Lakeland Community College from noon to 9 p.m.

NyanCon is a nod to Nyan Cat, the YouTube sensation that made everyone want to get up and dance, and then quickly stop dancing and get annoyed, and then want to eat Pop-Tarts. I can’t really explain it any better than that, so maybe you should just watch it

 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH2-TGUlwu4.)

I guess I could have mentioned streaming rainbows.

Here’s a description of NyanCon from the convention’s website:

NyanCon is Lakeland Community College’s premier anime event. This is a full one-day event, free and open to students and the public. NyanCon is an all-fandoms convention where anyone with an interest in anime, gaming, comic books, science fiction, fantasy or any other geeky fandom can convene in a fun, welcoming atmosphere. NyanCon is appropriate for all ages with programming ratings and a section just for kids. We're proud to offer panels on a variety of subjects, a cosplay contest, full gaming area complete with dance, band, video, board, tabletop and card games with tournaments, video rooms, a vendors and artists section, NyanCon theater and so much more!

Here’s the gist:

It’s free.

It’s for anyone interested in anime, comics, sci-fi, fantasy, gaming.

The library will be there with cool things to do, a raffle, and great books and movies to check out (so bring your Mentor Library card!)

What else do you have to do this Caturday? Stop by NyanCon and don’t forget to say hi to your local public librarians Meredith and Marilyn!

Learning through playing at Mentor Library

Kevin builds with Duplo blocks during a Kids @ Work session at Mentor Library.

Once a month, we break out the Lego blocks and invite everyone to play. We call it Kids @ Work.

The theme for this month's Kids @ Work session was Dinosaurs. Kids could use Mentor Library's Lego and Duplo blocks to build their own terrible lizards. Of course, children's imaginations are not beholden to any theme.

So Lynn and Landon used Lego blocks to make hybrid plane-cars, Brooke and Addy built dream homes, and Tyler seemed interested in collecting all the green blocks.

Admittedly, it was a bit of a free-for-all, but there's nothing wrong with that.

Lynn and Landon pick their Lego blocks from the pile.

There are plenty of studies that talk about the benefits of playing with Lego blocks. It's supposed to improve everything from your mathematical reasoning to problem solving to social development.

It also happens to be a lot of fun.

Our next Kids @ Work session is from 2 to 3:15 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, at our Main Branch. (We schedule it for the first Saturday of the month.) And you're welcome to join us!

There aren’t a lot of rules for Kids @ Work.

Parents can help build with their kids, if they'd like.

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.

Tyler picks the blocks he needs from the pile. (And, yes, he's wearing a Superman shirt and cape. No, that's not pertinent, but it IS awesome.)