How Mentor Library celebrates spring in Lake County

Our Pop-Up Library will be popping up all over the place now that the weather's warmer.

Is it finally over? The subzero temperatures? The freezing wind? The snow? (So much snow.)

Is winter truly gone?

It must be because the sun is out, and some plants have even dared to bloom.

Here are some of our favorite things to do during springtime in Lake County:

1. Get planting

Maybe you're already a certifiable green thumb. Maybe you've never grown anything except dandelions. Either way, we're about to make gardening a little easier for you.

Mentor Library just launched a new seed library.

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.

2. Read outside

We are blessed with a plethora of lovely parks—city, county, state and even national parks.

There are few things we enjoy more than a good book in a beautiful place. Some of our favorite places to read outdoors include Wildwood Cultural Center & Park, Squire’s Castle, Mentor Beach Park, James A. Garfield National Historic Site, Eleanor Garfield Park and the Read House next door to our Main Branch.

Visit them sometime on a quiet afternoon or even during your lunch break. And if you need reading material, we can help.

3. Get out there
We're not blessed with a surfeit of sunshine in Northeast Ohio; so, when we get a little glimmer, we need to make the most of it.

That's why this spring and summer, you're going to see us all around the community. We'll be bringing our Pop-Up Library to parks, schools and other places all around Mentor and Mentor-on-the-Lake. Whenever you see it, feel free to grab a book or two.

The books are free to keep forever. You don't need to return them to the library. If you like, you can drop the book off in one of our Little Free Libraries when you're finished.

You'll also see our Flash Libraries during the city of Mentor's summer concert series and farmers markets, as well as Concord Community Days. So when you see us out there, feel free to say hello and (of course) get yourself or your kids something to read.

Skipper from the Lake County Captains checks out a book during one of  our Flash Libraries.

Come to MPL's Flash Library during the Throwback to Giveback Health Fair this Saturday

Look for Mentor Library at the Throwback to Giveback Health Fair this Saturday at Captains Stadium.

Mentor Library is having one of its Flash Libraries during the Throwback to Giveback Health Fair & Fun Run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Saturday, April 11, at Classic Park.

We'll be giving away free books on health, exercise and diet. Drop by if you want a free book and information on ways to get healthier. (You can get a library card too, if you want.)

The health fair is organized by Leadership Lake County's Junior Leadership Program.

It will begin with a Fun Run led by the Captain's mascot, Skipper. The health fair will also feature a DJ, Zumba, dance contests, face painting, mini golf, a healthy snack station and much more.

All proceeds raised from the event will be donated to St. James Soup Kitchen in Painesville to buy necessary kitchen equipment so it can provide food for local people in need. (They serve more than 23,000 meals a year to people who need it.)

Admission to health fair is free, and its vendors include Big Brothers Big Sisters NEO, Crossroads, American Heart Association and more.

See you there!

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!

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.

Flash libraries popping up in your neighborhood

Kristin, one of our reference librarians, at a flash library in Veterans Park.

In a perfect world, nobody would live more than a block from the library. Every person—child, teen or adult—could come to the library on a whim.

However, we live in a world of finite resources, and it would be impossible for us to build a branch on every block. So we try to do the next best thing and bring the library to you.

We do it in a lot of ways: our digital services that let you download eBooks, stream video and music, or download mp3s from home; our little free libraries; Beach Reads.

And our Flash Libraries are going to be springing up at parks, cul-de-sacs and farmers' markets this summer.

If you're not familiar with a Flash Library, 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 have already brought our Flash Library to Lake Metroparks Veterans Park and you'll likely see us there again soon.

We're also bringing our Flash Library to the city of Mentor's Final Fridays, Headlands BeachFest on July 26 and Concord Community Days on Aug. 16.

Where else do you want to see our Flash Library? How can we help bring Mentor Library to you?