Meet our newest board member

MPL's newest board member, Terri Mervo, introduces herself during the Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday.

We have our newest trustee.

The Mentor Board of Education has chosen Terri Mervo to serve on our Board of Trustees. She will fill the position that opened when Terry Kilbourne announced his retirement after 16 years on the board.

Terri came to our Board meeting Wednesday to introduce herself, but the introduction was hardly necessary. She's been coming to Mentor Public Library for decades—first with her daughter, now with her grandchildren.

Her term begins Jan. 1, 2015 and will run through Dec. 31, 2021.

Terri and her husband have lived in Mentor for 40 years. She had worked at Mentor Public Schools for much of that time and is now retired.

“I have always been an advocate of our public library and am extremely excited to have the opportunity to serve our community on its behalf,” Terri said. “I truly believe in the importance of providing this invaluable resource for people of all ages to enjoy and find enrichment.”

At the same meeting in which we said hello to Terri Mervo, we said good-bye to Terry Kilbourne. (Well, not goodbye. I suspect Terry will still be a frequent visitor. After all, everybody needs a good book sometimes.) While we'll miss Terry and can never thank him enough, we're grateful for all he's done.

And we're also excited to welcome Terri aboard!

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.

Our newest Little Free Library location

We dropped off our newest Little Free Library at Memorial Middle School on Friday.

Short post today to celebrate our newest Little Free Library at Memorial Middle School.

We love kids, we love books and we love giving books to kids; so having a Little Free Library at a school is a delight for us. Thanks to Principal Dudziak for making it happen!

This is our 16th Little Free Library—17th if you count the one we take with us during our Flash Libraries. People often tell us how much they like them and thank us for them; but, honestly, it's we who should be thankful.

We're thankful to all our partners who host them, thankful to all our volunteers who make sure they stay filled, thankful to everyone who donates books, and thankful to everyone who takes a book to read. Without all of you, our Little Free Libraries would just be handsome blue bird houses.

Never stop reading!

Story Time with the Sterling Morton Kindergartners

Once a month, the kindergartners from the nearby Sterling Morton Elementary School walk to our Mentor Headlands Library branch for story time.

Then, one our children's library associates -- this week, it was Judy Schulz -- reads to the kids and leads them in songs and dances.

Now, I could write 1,500 words describing how nice it is to watch the kids enjoy reading or I could just post the photos. And the photos are really cute.

I assume you would prefer to see the photos:

Trisha Schock from Sterling Morting walks the kids to the library.

Trick question. Before reading the kids "The Day my Mom Came with me to Kindergarten," Judy asked the children if any of them were in kindergarten.

In the aforementioned book, the mom answers a question with "Dinosaur!" I think "Dinosaur!" is a pretty good answer for most questions.

For example: "How are you feeling today?" "Dinosaur!"

Judy also read the kids "Again!" (which stars a cranky, princess-eating dragon) and "Princesses on the Run." (In "Princesses on the Run," Rapunzel decides to bob her hair so it's easier to manage and Sleeping Beauty improves her energy levels by doing yoga.)

And, then, the kids hopped on one foot.

The kids dance along to a song where they are instructed to spin around...

And then freeze like a statue.

More story time? Sounds fun.

Kindergartners pretending to sleep while standing up, cute. The girl on the left's "Voted Most Lovable" shirt, even cuter.

The kids were told to hide. One child tried harder than the rest.

Yeah, this seems like an appropriate way to end this photo gallery.