$5 Book Sale at the Read House this Weekend

Hopefully, there won't be any snow the day of the book sale.

The Friends of Mentor Public Library will hold a $5 bag sale at Mentor Library’s Read House from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday, Feb. 20, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Sunday, Feb. 21.

That means you can buy as many books—picture books, chapter books, fiction, nonfiction, whatever you want—that fit in a bag for just five dollars.

Best of all, the money from these book sales go to support library programs and services, including:

• Summer reading programs
• Author visits
• Children’s story time and programs
• Teen programs

So visit the Read House, buy some cool books (for really cheap,) and help support the library.

And if you’d rather not spend money on books, that’s fine. I know this cool place where you can borrow as many books as you want for free.

What happens to your book after you donate it?

Your donations help fill our Pop-Up Library, which gives away books all around the community.

When you place a book or two in our donations box—thank you, by the way—do you ever wonder what happens to it?

Where does it go? Will anyone ever read your book again?

The answer is your book could go to a lot of different places; but, wherever it goes, that book is helping someone.

We give a lot of donated books away. We firmly believe everyone should have access to books. If that means giving away a book that we might have sold at a book sale, we’re fine with that.

We’ve given away hundreds of books during My Community Monday where we donate books to local nonprofits, including schools, churches, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Deepwood, Lake Metropolitan Housing Authority, Hannah’s Home, Boy and Girl Scouts, and more.

The books you donate help fill the Little Free Libraries in parks, restaurants and businesses all over the city. We also give them away at city pools and at Mentor Headlands Beach so people never lack for a good summer read.

Your donations also fill the Pop-Up Library that gives away books at CityFest, Beachfest, schools and more.

And many of the donations we receive are sold during the Friends of the Mentor Public Library book sales at our Read House. In turn, that money goes to support library events and programming. The money that pays for an author talk or buys supplies for children’s programs often begins with the book you donate.

Furthermore, thanks to donations from people like you, we’ve given away more than 10,000 books this year.

And that doesn’t happen without your donations, so thank you! Thank you for your support, your donations, and for making us your community library.

Diane Frangos picks donations from the shelves of our Read House for the Girl Scouts.

Donations Drop-Off Box Moving at Mentor Library

Our donations box will be moving on Nov. 4 to outside of our Read House.

The donations drop-off box will be moving at Mentor Public Library’s Main Branch.

Beginning Wednesday, Nov. 4, people will be required to drop off their donations to Mentor Library—including books, movies and music—in the outdoor box provided at the Read House, which is next door to the library’s Main Branch.

A new turn-around driveway was added to the Read House, so patrons can enter and exit the property safely without needing to back out on Mentor Avenue.

There will no longer a donation box beside the driveway at the Main Branch.

The move puts the donations closer to where they are stored at the Read House. From there, they are given away via MPL’s Little Free Libraries or Pop-Up Library, donated to local nonprofit organizations, or sold during a Friends of the Mentor Public Library Book Sale.

The donation box moving is also the first step in a project that will add a drive-up window to the Main Branch and change its driveway’s direction.

Teddy Bear Picnic!

Madelyn gives her teddy bear a squeeze during our picnic.

I don't want to sound uppity, but our story times at Mentor Library can get pretty adorable with the mixed-up fashion shows, stuffed animal clinics and Ninja Turtles.

So how do we make it even cuter?

We told kids to bring along their teddy bears.

Abby sketches a portrait of her teddy bear outside of our Read House.

We had a Teddy Bear Picnic on Friday outside of our Read House with stories, games and crafts.
And I could tell you all about it, or I could just show you the pictures? So which would you prefer: words or photos of kids with their stuffed best friends?

The bears get in the game during Teddy Bear Shotput.

Kids play ring toss with their bears.

Marco makes a name tag for his bear.

By the way, if your kid likes teddy bears, then we probably have some books they would enjoy.

See you at the library!

Teens can face off in Hunger Games Water War this Saturday

Water grenades, sponge bombs, squirt guns of varied capacity and velocity—the artillery is ready. Are you?

Teens can face off in a Hunger Games Water War this Saturday, Aug. 15, at Mentor Library’s Read House.

We'll supply the weaponry. You can also bring their own gear to add to the group stockpile. However, you'll be getting your weapons cornucopia-style, so any artillery you bring could fall into the hands of an opponent.

The water war begins at 3 p.m. However, teens that show up at early to set up will be handsomely rewarded.

Reserve your space or be weaponless. Competitors may sign up for the water war on our website by calling Mentor Library at 440-255-8811 ext. 216.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

Mentor Library lets loose the reptiles for Summer Reading Finale Party

Emma and Sophia pet the bearded dragon from Herps Alive, a rescue refuge for reptiles.

Mentor Public Library celebrated the conclusion of one of its biggest summers ever by inviting pythons, boas, tortoises, skinks and more to a party at its Read House.

More than 300 kids and adults met, touched, learned about and even held the rescued reptiles and amphibians from Keith Gisser’s Herps Alive during the library’s Summer Reading Finale Party on Thursday, Aug. 6.

Grant dons his cape during the Summer Reading Finale Party at Mentor Library.

This summer, Mentor Library celebrated all kinds of heroes including the literary, local and caped varieties. The library had special story times with teachers, firefighters and nurses, as well as programs dedicated to Captain America, Captain Underpants, Pete the Cat, Junie B. Jones and more.

More children than ever before—1,485, to be exact—signed up for Mentor Library’s summer reading program. And they read or were read to for 18,416 hours. (Also, a record high for the library.) And 608 kids earned library champion signs by reading or being read to at least 15 hours this summer.

“It's great knowing the kids in the area are reading over the summer,” said Kim Sidorick, the children’s services manager at Mentor Library. “Our goal is for kids to continue reading over the summer; and, you can see by the numbers, they are.”

Eleven kids help hold the python from Herps Alive at the Summer Reading Finale Party.

Additionally, more than 500 teens and adults sign up for summer reading at Mentor Library, and they read more than 3,200 books.

"We want to thank everyone who participated in our summer reading program this year,” said Amanda Densmore, the reference manager at Mentor Library. “We hope you read something that stimulated your curiosity or taught you something new, and we hope that you had as much fun as we did."

While summer reading may be finished, there are always more programs and events coming at Mentor Library. To see what’s happening next, visit the our website, www.mentorpl.org.

Sydnee becomes superhero Squidnee when she wears her mask.

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

Folk duo Simple Gifts performing at MPL's Read House

Linda Littleton and Karen Hirshon, also known as the folk duo Simple Gifts, will perform a free concert this Wednesday at MPL's Read House.

Sometimes, the simplest gifts are the sweetest.

Linda Littleton and Karen Hirshion—collectively known as Simple Gifts—play 12 instruments between the two of them, everything from pianos and fiddles to hammered dulcimers and tablas.

Simple Gifts also create their own arrangements of Irish jigs, American reels, Gypsy melodies, Balkan dance music and more.

On Wednesday, July 29, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., they will perform a free concert at Mentor Public Library's Read House. Fun for the whole family and no registration is necessary.

Get a taste of Simple Gifts by checking out the videos on their YouTube page, then come see them perform live this Wednesday.

Make Mondays marvelous at Mentor Library

Violet and Roman came to Marvelous Mondays dressed as The Incredibles.

Why have a typical Monday when you can make them marvelous at Mentor Library?

Every Monday through June and July, we're going to have super fun with crafts, games, science and more from 1 to 2 p.m. at our Read House.

This Monday, kids came dressed as their favorite hero to make their own masks and play games.

Then, on Monday, June 15, kids will use rubber bands to help their favorite superhero fly.

Each week will have a different theme:

• June 22, Guardians of the Galaxy
• June 29, the Avengers
• July 6, superhero sidekicks
• July 13, Captain America
• July 20, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• July 27, Captain Underpants

Join us for one or all of them. No registration is necessary. Just come over and have fun!

Oliver suited up as Iron Man for Marvelous Monday at Mentor Library.

And while you're at the library, you can sign up for summer reading. For every hour a child reads or is read to, they receive a raffle ticket that can help them win one of dozens of cool prizes—from telescopes and microscopes to Lego sets and Superhero Barbie. The more someone reads, the better chance they have of winning.

If a child reads 20 hours by Aug. 1, they will be entered into a special raffle to win one of two $50 gift certificates from Toys 'R Us.

Mentor Library also has a summer reading program (and prizes) for teens and adults, as well. For more information about summer reading, call 440-255-8811 or visit Mentor Library’s website.

Supergirl (alias: Mya) tests her super aim.

For more photos from Marvelous Mondays, visit Mentor Library's Facebook page.

$5 Book Sale at the Read House this Weekend

Buy as many books as you can fit into a bag for $5 this weekend at MPL's Read House.

The Friends of Mentor Public Library will hold a $5 bag sale at Mentor Library's Read House from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday, May 23, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Sunday, May 24.

That means you can buy as many books—picture books, chapter books, fiction, nonfiction, whatever you want—for just five dollars.

Best of all, the money from these book sales go to support library programs and services, including:

• Summer reading programs
• Author visits
• Children’s story time and programs
• Teen programs

So visit the Read House, buy some cool books (for really cheap,) and help support the library.

And if you'd rather not spend money on books, that's fine. I know this cool place where you can borrow as many books as you want for free.

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!

My Community Monday gets books to those who need it

Diane Frangos picks donations from the shelves of our Read House for the Girl Scouts.

Mentor Public Library receives more book donations than we could ever use—more than we could fit on our shelves, even more than could be sold during the Friends of the Mentor Public Library's book sales.

Instead of letting good books go to waste, we wanted to make them available to people who could use them; so we invited local nonprofits—Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Broadmoor, Hannah's Home, St. John Vianney, Lake-Geauga Recovery Center and more— to visit our Read House on Monday, Jan. 19, and pick out books they thought their members, clients, patrons or parishioners would enjoy.

We call it My Community Monday, and we hope it put books in the hands of a lot of people—kids, teens and adults—who will dig them.

If you work for a local nonprofit and want to come to our next My Community Monday on Feb. 9, email our Community Outreach Coordinator Jason Lea.

Finally, we need to thank everyone who donates books to Mentor Public Library! We appreciate your generosity. You're helping a lot of organizations that make Lake County a better place to live!

Gail Keegan of Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers looks for books for their clients and children at Lake and Oak House.

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?