Make sense of your cents during Money Smart Week

Learn about investing, retirement savings, and how to get the most out of your money during Money Smart Week at Mentor Public Library.

When it comes to money smarts, if you don’t have sense, you’ll be left without any cents.

That’s why Mentor Public Library is hosting a series of programs designed to help people learn about investing, couponing, saving for retirement and, in general, making smart financial decisions. It’s called Money Smart Week and it runs from April 20 through 25.

It also gives everyone a chance to learn about different financial topics in a nonthreatening, impartial environment.

It can be intimidating or even embarrassing to talk frankly about money. Some people may not feel comfortable walking into a bank and asking a lot of financial questions. Hosting these programs at the library lets you listen to and ask questions from an expert on neutral ground.

The programs include:

• Everyday Saving with Joe the Coupon Guy at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 20. To kick off Money Smart Week, Joe "the Coupon Guy" Daugirdas will share how to save money on every grocery trip. Learn how to keep your budget in line and save money on everything and anything.
• Women, Money & Finance at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22. Whether you're preparing for the future, facing career changes, transitioning into retirement, or any number of other financial turning points, together we can address your concerns and turn challenges into opportunities. Carol Ganser, a financial and income specialist, will discuss topics pertinent to women, and address any questions you may have.
• Investment Basics at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 23. Learn the basics of investments from an expert at the Society for Financial Awareness. We'll discuss what types of investments there are, how to invest, and how to protect your money. Come prepared with questions, and learn how to make your money work for you.
• Retirement Planning Basics at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 25. Ease your road to retirement by planning ahead. Join a speaker from the Society for Financial Awareness as we discuss all aspects of retirement planning, from investments to income.

All Money Smart programs will be held at our Main Branch.

Also, for each Money Smart program you attend this week, you'll receive a ticket for a drawing; and the winner will receive a very money smart prize.

For more information on Money Smart Week at Mentor Public Library, visit www.mentorpl.org or call (440) 255-8811 ext. 215.

Get your documents shredded at Mentor Public Library

Have sensitive documents like tax forms or medical records that you want to get rid of?

Bring them to the library.

Mentor Public Library is partnering with Xpress Shredding for its fifth annual Shred Day in which you can have your documents shredded for free.

Shred Day will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 18, in the library’s auxiliary parking lot on the corner of Mentor Avenue and Sharonlee Drive.

The service is free and open to everyone. You can drop off as many five document-storage boxes or bags of paper.

And you don’t have to worry about your sensitive documents being stolen instead of shredded. Everything will be loaded into locked bins on a secure truck, which will be attended at all times by Xpress Shredding staff. Then the truck will be taken to the company’s secure shredding facility.

The documents will then be shredded and the shredded paper recycled.

Shred Day will be held rain or shine. Xpress staff will even help patrons remove their boxes or bags from their cars for them.

10 interesting facts about Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross

Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross

In honor of Women's History Month, Carol Starre-Kmiecik visited the Mentor Library to talk about the life of Clara Barton, battlefield nurse and founder of the American Red Cross, while in character as Clara.

Here are just 10 things we learned from her talk:

1. We know her as Clara Barton, but her full name is Clarissa Harlowe Barton. She was named after a character from the novel Clarissa or the History of a Young Lady, which her aunt was reading when Clara was born in 1821.
2. Clara grew up on a farm in Oxford, Mass. When she was six, she saw an ox slaughtered for food and was a vegetarian from thereon.
3. When she was eight years old, a phrenologist—one who surmises a person's psychology using the shape of their patient's head—predicted that Clara would "always be good and helping people." (It was also a phrenologist that later recommended she become a teacher to overcome her shyness.)
4. When she was 11, her brother, David fell from the roof of their family barn. Clara was tasked with caring for and feeding him. She also leeched him twice a day for two years. It was not until a visiting doctor told them to stop leeching him that David recovered. This was Clara's first exposure to tending for the wounded.
5. Clara became a teacher at the age of 16. Later, when she was 30, she opened a free school in Bordentown, New Jersey, where there had only been subscription schools before. Under her lead, the school's attendance grew to more than 600; but its board still hired a man (with less experience than Clara) instead of her as principal (and paid him more than her.) She left the school soon thereafter.
6. Afterward, she got a job as a clerk in the U.S. Patent Office. In fact, she may well have been the first full-time female employee of the federal government. As you may have guessed, some of her male coworkers treated her poorly—even going so far as to spit tobacco in her skirt.
7. When the Civil War began, she worked as a battlefield nurse. One of the soldiers to whom she tended told her, "This is the second time you saved my life." He then explained that she had been his teacher in New Jersey. Clara risked her own life by being on the battlefield. Once, a bullet went through her sleeve and killed the soldier behind her.
8. Clara was first introduced to the International Red Cross when she visited Switzerland while recovering from a nervous breakdown after the war. When she recommended joining the Red Cross to President Rutherford B. Hayes, he disapproved. However, when she suggested starting an American Red Cross to his antecessor, President Chester Arthur, he loved it. Clara was named its first president in 1881.
9. When Clara moved the American Red Cross headquarters from Washington D.C. to Glen Echo, Maryland, she would often make the volunteers lunch using food grown in the office's garden.
10. Clara lived to be 91. Her last words: "Let me go."

For more information on Clara Barton, check out a book or two from our collection.

Mentor Library helping community grow with seed library

Mentor Public Library is helping seed the community with its new seed library, which launches April 1.

Gardeners—from the greenest sprouts to experienced green thumbs—can borrow heirloom and organic seeds from Mentor Library for free.

Here’s how it works. Anyone with a MPL card in good standing can check out seeds from the library for their own garden. The library’s collection already includes more than 100 varieties of seed, including herbs, flowers, vegetables and fruit.

People can check out as many as 15 types of seed per year.

With the seed library, people check out the seeds from MPL’s collection, grow them into plants, save some of the seed and then, finally, return those seeds from the propagated plant.

Mentor Library is also hosting a series of botanical programs in April to get people thinking green.

At 2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1, at MPL’s Main Branch, the Master Gardeners will give a primer on how to properly wake a garden. They will discuss cleanup, composting, pruning, fertilizing, soil testing, mole problems and impatient gardeners.

Then, at 6:30 p.m. on the same day at the Main Branch, Maria Zampini—the author of Gardenpedia: An A-to-Z Guide to Gardening Terms—will offer fun and helpful tips on how to be a successful gardener. After her talk, she will also sell and sign copies of her book.

Next, at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 16, the cofounders of the Cleveland Seed Bank—Marilyn McHugh and Chris Kennedy—will talk about seed preservation at MPL’s Main Branch. They will offer their expertise on how to both save and preserve heirloom seeds.

All these talks are free and open to the public. To sign up for them, either call (440) 255-8811 ext. 215 or register on the library’s online event calendar.

Mentor Library is also accepting donations of heirloom and organic seeds for its seed library. If anyone wishes to donate, they can call Senior Services Manager Darlene Workman at (440) 255-8811 or email her at Darlene.workman@mentorpl.org.

St. Patrick's Party at Mentor Library!

Maddie makes a colorful Fruit loops rainbow during our St. Patrick's Day party.

We threw a St. Patrick's Day party for kids at our Lake Branch on Tuesday. We made pinwheels, shamrock wands and cereal rainbows.

But, instead of just talking about it, how about we get straight to the cute photos...

Evy and the other kids also made shamrock wands and pinwheels.

Avery places the Fruit Loops along his glue lines.

Rheay carefully places the Fruit Loops in her rainbow. (It probably would have been more seasonally appropriate to use Lucky Charms.)

For more photos, check out Mentor Library's Facebook page. For more programs for kids and adults, check out our event calendar.

Studio MPL & the Art of the Imaginary Friend

Jayce's imaginary friend is named Louis. She created him using randomly selected attributes.

Jayce's imaginary friend is named Louis. She created him using randomly selected attributes.

Studio MPL—Mentor Library’s art club for kids—flexed their artistic muscles by drawing their own imaginary friends on Monday, March 16.

The young artists drew inspiration from The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat, which MPL children’s associate Lisa Layton read to them. The 2015 Caldecott Award-winning book tells the story of a young who creates an imaginary friend.

“The story has so much depth and meaning,” Ms. Lisa said. “So we peeled back the layers of the story through the artwork. At first, the kids see a blobby character. With a second look at the illustrations, it becomes clear that Beekle is a sheet of paper. The story is a metaphor about how an author and illustrator come together to create a story.”

Mira's imaginary friend, Max, has a blue head, pumpkin body and big smile.

The kids then created their own imaginary friends. These new friends had fur, claws, top hats, pumpkin bodies and many more fantastical details.

“Cool moment, because the kids wanted to talk about them,” Ms. Lisa said. “Their imaginary friends were so vibrant and important to them.”

Finally, the kids worked in groups to create a second imaginary friend. They suggested different attributes: purple eyes, a fur coat, likes to sing, and so on. Then, the kids randomly picked from the compiled attributes and used them to draw imaginary friends.

Layton explained that the exercise serves two purposes: one, it encourages artists to work together (like a writer and illustrator) and, two, the random suggestions can serve as a cure for artist's block.

Rosa and Taryn work together to create imaginary friends.

Studio MPL meets on the third Monday of each month. If your kid likes art—any kind of art—they can join the fun!

Next month’s session will be April 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 our online event calendar.

Rose makes a rainbow background for her imaginary friend.

MPL Talks: The women who defied gravity

For International Women's Month, Connie Luhta of the International Women Air & Space Museum visited our Main Branch to talk about the female pioneers of aviation.

If you missed her talk earlier, you can now see it in its entirety here.

For more information on programs at Mentor Library, visit our online event calendar. To learn more about the International Women Air & Space Museum, visit www.iwasm.org.

Play Alice Munro Bingo

Want to play a little game the next your reading Nobel Laureate and international treasure Alice Munro?

Break out one of our bingo cards and see what recurring themes appear in her short stories (or her novel, Lives of Girls and Women.)

Does somebody drown? Is there a turkey farm? A hotel restaurant? Does someone cheat on their spouse?

Keep track and win a No-Prize (and the joy of reading Munro.)

Click here for 10 Alice Munro bingo cards that you can pick up for your most erudite dinner party. (Oooh, dinner party. That should be a square!)

Of course we had to make Canada the Free Space.

Party with the 'Princess & the Frog'

We were just getting warmed up after our Frozen program.

This time, we decided to host a program for Disney's most ambitious princess, Chef Tiana.

For our Princess & the Frog program, kids made their own crowns (and frogs.) They also played games and had a sing-along.

The sing-along quickly turned into a dance party.

Then the children went to Tiana's restaurant to make their own 3-course snack: a fruit frog, pizza and chocolate pie. The kids turned out to be quite the gourmands.

There's no such thing as too many sprinkles.

For more photos from our Princess & the Frog program, visit Mentor Library's Facebook page. For more programs for kids (and adults too,) check out our online event calendar.

Sink your teeth into an Edible Books contest

What’s sweeter than cake and almost as nourishing as a good book? The Edible Book contest at Mentor Public Library.

Anyone can participate. All you have to do is pick you favorite book—or any book, really—and create a dish that evokes it.

Get as creative as you like. An armless gingerbread man could be Ernest Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms.” Make a pastry version of Gandalf, a “Pudd’nhead Wilson” dessert or a “Grapes of Wrath” fruit salad. See if a Hungry Caterpillar cake can eat a hole in itself. Pinterest is filled with great ideas.

The dishes will be judged from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 4, at our Main Branch.

Prizes will be awarded in five categories:

1. Most Bookish—What food best evokes the book it’s based upon?
2. Most Creative—What dish wows the most with its creativity?
3. Most Mouth-Watering—What offering looks the most delicious?
4. Most Noteworthy—What entry grabs your attention (though it may not necessarily fit into the other categories?)
5. Best Student Entry—Best overall dish entered by someone 18 or younger.

The winners in all five categories will receive MPL mugs, window clings, flash drives and other sundry.

Want to participate but don’t consider yourself much of a chef? Be a judge.

Three dollars gets anyone a ballot to vote and a fork to enjoy all the entries.

All proceeds from the Edible Book contest will go to the Friends of the Mentor Public Library, which will, in turn, use the money to support library programs and events.

Those who want more information about the Edible Books contest or wish to sign up can call Mentor Public Library at 440-255-8811 ext. 219 or email amanda.densmore@mentorpl.org.

Jamming at our Preschool Dance Party

Need to shake out your sillies? We threw a preschool dance party Monday where kids could burn all that energy they had pent up during this long, cold winter.

We hope our party makes you want to jam too!

Do the Dinosaur Stomp!

Meeting Caroline with the American Girl Book Club

Sophie makes a fleece pillow during our American Girl Book Club where we met Caroline.

You know our American Girl Book Club? The one where kids make everything from kites to rag dolls to dreamcatchers and talk about classic American Girl books?

Well, it just got easier for your child (or children) to join. We've now stretched the age range so kids from six to 12 years old can get in on the fun.

Our American Girl Book Club meets on the first Wednesday of each month to discuss a different American Girl book and make a new craft.

Summer brought Meredith to our American Girl Book Club meeting last Wednesday.

If you have a child who likes the American Girl books or dolls, then he or she can join the fun. They can even bring their dolls with them, if they like. (Of course, the dolls aren’t required.)

Our next meeting is 4 p.m. on April 1 in the children’s section of our Main Branch on Mentor Avenue. The girls will be meeting Josefina.

You can register your child for the book club on our web site or by calling (440) 255-8811 ext. 221.

Maddie and Clara, along with their dolls, Sage and Isabel,) work on their craft at the book club.

Becoming the artist you want to be with Mentor Library

Artist Sandy D'amico offers some suggestions to Anne during a Basic Drawing class at Mentor Library.

Do you know what it takes to be an artist?

You have to create art. That's it.

It doesn't have to be the most incredible art ever. Nobody has to offer you a million dollars to display your work in their gallery.

You just have to create.

And if you want to be an artist, we can help.

This month, we're hosting a series a basic drawing classes for adults with artist Sandy D'Amico at our Main Branch.

During our first class Thursday, we practiced sketching basic shapes—spheres, cubes, pyramids and the like. As the classes continue, we'll learn how to draw more complicated figures.

Rick fills his sketchpad during our Basic Drawing class.

If that sounds like fun to you, we're also hosting a series of free intermediate drawing classes in May. Registration for them begins April 13.

But you don't need to wait until May to get started. We have dozens of books and DVDs to help teach you how to draw, paint, sculpt and even direct your own videos. You can also take free art, music, graphic design and digital photography classes through Gale Courses with your library card. (The city of Mentor also offers some fun arts classes you can try.)

Don't worry if you can't draw a straight line yet or all of your paintings look like acrylic explosions. Keep doing it, practice, have fun, take a class at the library—it's how you get better.

Stimulate your curiosity. You may never become a great artist, but it will make you a better person.

Cynthia starts with simple shapes during our Basic Drawing class.

For more information on programs and events at Mentor Public Library, visit our online event calendar.

Snow Day Like Today

This winter has been too cold, too snowy and too long. If we saw the sun any less, we'd be nocturnal. If this cold lasts any longer, we'll assume there's a wicked witch behind it.

But if people can turn lemons into lemonade or brussel sprouts into chocolate-covered brussel sprouts, then we can use this excess of winter as a theme for an adorable story time at our Headlands Branch.

Ryan shows off his marshmallow snowman.

On Saturday, we had our Snow Day Like Today program where we made marshmallow snowmen, glittery snow globes and crafty plow trucks, as well as read some seasonally appropriate stories.

While the weather outside is still cold, at the Headlands Branch, we were just cool.

Riley plays with her glittery snow globe that she made during the Snow Day Like Today story time.

For more information on our story times and programs at all of our branches, visit our online event calendar. For more photos from our Snow Day Like Today story time, check out our Facebook page.

Painting masterpieces without brushes

On Saturday at our Mentor-on-the-Lake Branch, we gave children paint of every shade of the rainbow. Then we gave them plastics forks, bubble wrap, Q-tips, balloons, sponges, combs, cardboard tubes and plastics bottles.

The only thing we didn't give them was a paint brush.

But that's OK. Who needs a brush when you have the muse?

And, as you can see, the kids didn't need brushes to create something memorable.

It wasn't just the kids who got creative. When we ran out of table cloths, we used plastic bags to cover our tables.

The idea for No Brushes Allowed came from Lake Branch Manager Ariel Johnson. She said she thought of it while looking at the textures in some of her favorite works of art.

"Sometimes I look at a painting and think, 'There’s no way they did that with a paintbrush.' That’s when I started looking at everyday things in a different way!" she said.

Ariel told the kids that Saturday's program was all about creativity—using items in a way they aren't always used. Of course, you don't have to explain creativity to a kid. By the end of the program, they had used typical household items to paint things we couldn't have imagined.

And when they were finished, the kids got another set of plastic utensils, sponges, combs, cardboard tubes and bottles to take home with them, in case they wanted to paint some more later!

Adlyn finds some paint in her big sister's hair. (We assured Sidni that her hair wouldn't be orange forever.)

For more programs and events at our Lake Branch, check out or our event calendar. If your kids enjoy painting and art, they make also like Studio MPL—our art club for kids.

Get more out of your computers, smartphones, tablets & eReaders at Mentor Library

Learn how to get the most out of your eReaders, tablets, smartphones and computers from the experts at Mentor Library.

Do you have a computer, smartphone or tablet but aren’t sure how to get the most out of it?

Sign up for a 30-minute personal tutorial with the expert librarians at Mentor Library, and they’ll show you how to download eBooks or stream music and video to your device for free with your library card.

Have an iPad? Kindle Fire? Nook? It doesn't matter; we can help!

These Device Advice sessions are slated from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, March 9 through 12, though some sessions have already been booked.

Patrons must have a Mentor Public Library card for this tutorial and registration is required.

You can register on our online event calendar or by calling 440-255-8811 ext. 216.

There are only a few slots remaining so you'll want to sign up as soon as possible!

The joy of Seuss and of reading to children

When I talked with Amy Popik from The News-Herald about Read Across America, we mentioned who read Dr. Seuss to us when we were kids. For me, it was my grandma; for her, her mom.

Now, the actual who doesn't matter so much. It can be an older sibling, parent, cousin, teacher, neighbor, whomever. What matters is that somebody read to us.

And that sort of connection is generational. I share the joy of reading with my child in part because someone shared it with me. And if you hang around long enough at the library, you'll see parents that used to be story-time children reading to their own kids.

And while we love to celebrate Seuss, we don't just celebrate his birthday because of his characters, illustrations, rhymes or even the morals that stay true no matter how old you get. (A person is still a person, no matter how small.) We celebrate Seuss because he shared the joy of reading with so many, and he'll continue to do so for generations to come.

Terri, one of our MPL Board members, reads to the children during a special Seuss story time at our Headlands Branch.

So we hope you joined us for Dr. Seuss's birthday on Monday. We hope you made a candy Cat-in-the-Hat at our Lake Branch, played Seuss-pendous birthday games at our Headlands Branch, or learned the "Green Eggs & Ham" song from Seussical at our Main Branch.

But if you couldn't join us Monday, there's an easy way to make up for it.

Read. Read to someone you love.

If you're looking for suggestions, I like The Lorax and Yertle the Turtle, but it doesn't need to be my favorites. It doesn't even have to be Dr. Seuss.

Just read. It's a beautiful gift to give to anyone. And when the opportunity comes, I know whomever you read to will pass that gift along.

Linsay makes her own Cat-in-the-Hat hat at Mentor Library.

For more photos from our Dr. Seuss birthday party, check out Mentor Library's Facebook page.

Pergola Construction With Boy Scout Troop 280: Part 2

These pergolas will look even cooler when the surrounding terrain isn't covered in snow and salt.

Boy Scout Troop 280 is at it again.

Two years ago, they built a beautiful pergola for our Headlands Branch.

Now, troop member Michael Judy (with help from other scouts and volunteers) has built two pergolas along the walkway from our Main Branch to the Read House.

And, yes, they did it in this weather.

We can't thank Mike and the whole troop enough!