5 Reasons We Host Concerts At Mentor Public Library

The Travelin' Man Band performed a free concert Wednesday at our Lake Branch. The good news: it was a great show and a lot of fun. The bad news: that performance closed out another concert season at Mentor Public Library.

Most people don't associate libraries with live music, though we've been hosting concerts at Mentor Public Library for a few years now.

We do it for a lot of reasons. Here are the five biggest.

1. We love music

Sometimes, it's really that simple. We love music—all kinds, from jazz to country to pop and back again—and this is one of the ways we share that love.

It's also one of the reasons we offer Freegal and Hoopla—digital services that let you download and stream music, respectively—and have stacks upon stacks of CDs for you to borrow.

2. Libraries aren't just places to borrow books. They're cultural centers

Don't get me wrong. We love books. Most people who work in a library are there, in part, because they love to read.

But libraries aren't just about books.

They're a place to engage with the culture, and culture doesn't end in the written word. It includes music, fashion, art -- pretty much any way a person expresses themselves.

3. It lets us promote local talent

Last year, we launched our Rock Roots Summer Concert Series.

We featured four local bands over the span of three free shows. All four bands—Altered Generation, Brendan Burt Band, Cheap Clone and Hedgehog's Dilemma—have roots in Mentor.

This not only gives these bands a chance to perform on their home turf, it also exposes them to a new audience who might not hear of them otherwise.

4. The concerts might introduce you to something new that you'll love

Mentor Public Library is all about lifelong learning. That's why we host computer classes and programs about the Mars Rover, Edgar Allan Poe and make rockets from Alka-Seltzer tablets and water. (And that was just this summer.)

That's also why we bring in an eclectic range of performers. We've hosted jazz, country, alternative, indie pop, oldies and Beatles tribute bands.

We hope you've enjoyed our myriad shows, and we hope you enjoy our concerts next summer too.

5. The concerts are a lot of fun

It really is that simple sometimes.

For the Love of The Beatles

That's what I'm talking about.

I can't think of anything better than a beautiful summer's evening and Beatles music.

If you missed the Abbey Road concert Wednesday at the Read House, the video gives you a taste of all the fun. (But, to be honest, it's just a taste.)

Abbey Road is one of the longest-performing Beatles tribute bands in the world. They have more than 30 years of experience playing the tunes of the Fab Four. On Wednesday night, they played for about 170 people outside of Mentor Public Library's Main Branch.

We host concerts at Mentor Public Library for a lot of reasons. Sometimes, it's to promote local talent. Sometimes, it's to introduce you to something new.

Now, granted, there aren't many people left on this planet who don't know The Beatles. But, believe it or not, there were some young children who came to the Abbey Road concert last night who didn't know their "Hard Day's Night" from their "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

Now they do. They got to learn about The Beatles in the funnest way possible without a time machine. I suspect they'll be some kids raiding their parents CD collections this weekend... or their grandparents' records.

Another thing we love about concerts -- the costumes.

But the two biggest reasons we host concerts is because they're fun and we love music.

So we want to thank the band and everyone who saw them perform. (And the Mentor Arts Commission who sponsored the performance.) We hope you all had as much fun as us.

By the way, that may have been the last outdoors concert of the season over at the Read House, but we have a couple of other performances coming up.

Travelin' Man Band will be playing everything from The Rolling Stones to Sam Cooke to Janis Joplin at 2 p.m. Saturday at our Mentor-on-the-Lake Branch. (The show will be right after the Labor Day Parade.)

Then, on Sept. 9, a clarinet quartet will talk about the evolution of jazz and perform songs from the 1920s through 1950s in the Garfield Room at our Main Branch.

Both shows are free. We hope to see you there.

One last thing: if you love music, you should check out Freegal. As its name implies, it's a free and legal way to download mp3s from hundreds of artists including Pink, Beyonce and Kenny Chesney.

You can download up to three mp3s per week. And they're yours to keep -- load them on your iPod, burn them on CD, play them on loop ad infinitum -- forever.

And it's free with a Mentor Public Library card.

The Beatles Are Invading Mentor Public Library

Because of weather, this cancel has been rescheduled for 6:30 to 8 p.m. August 28 -- still at the Read House. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Abbey Road performs last year at the Steel Valley Super Nationals in Salem, Ohio.

Do you love The Beatles?

Of course you do. You're human.

It doesn't matter if you're 60 or 16, there's a good chance you've cried while listening to Yesterday, danced to I Saw Her Standing There or sang the end of Hey Jude at the top of your lungs.

Even the most iconoclastic malcontent has a favorite Beatles song.

And there's a good chance you'll hear Abbey Road perform your favorite Beatles tune this Wednesday, August 28, at Mentor Public Library's Read House. (Because of weather, the concert was rescheduled from August 7 to August 28.)

Abbey Road started performing together 30 years ago. It is one of the oldest and best known Beatles tribute bands in the world!

They don't just play the music of The Fab Four. They also wear the costumes (and with a band that spanned as many eras as The Beatles, costume changes are a must.) Abbey Road even uses the same guitars, Vox amplifiers and drums that The Beatles used in their concerts.

So come to the Read House Wednesday and enjoy a free evening of Beatles music. (The Read House is next door to our Main Branch at 8215 Mentor Ave. in Mentor, Ohio.) The music starts at 6:30 p.m.!

And, yes, to be clear, this concert is absolutely free thanks to the Mentor Arts Commission who are sponsoring it.

So tell another Beatles fan. (Tell anyone. There's a good chance they'll be a Beatles fan.) And I'll see you Wednesday. I'll be the one singing every word of Hello, Goodbye.

For more information on programs and events at the Mentor Public Library, visit www.mentorpl.org.

5 Reasons We Host Concerts At Mentor Public Library

The Sunset Country Band is performing a concert Wednesday evening at our Mentor-on-the-Lake Library Branch. It's our way of helping to kick off that long Fourth of July weekend.

Sunset Country Band mixes classic and contemporary country music. If you go to their shows, you'll hear everything from Merle Haggard to Zac Brown Band to Toby Keith.

Here's a short video from when they performed at the Mentor Public Library's Main Branch earlier this summer.

You don't have to register for the concert or anything like that. Just show up, bring a blanket or lawn chair if you like, relax and enjoy the music.

Most people don't associate libraries with live music, though we've been hosting concerts at Mentor Public Library for a couple of years now.

We do it for a lot of reasons. Here are the five biggest.

1. We love music.

Sometimes, it's really that simple. We love music -- all kinds, from jazz to country to pop and back again -- and this is one of the ways we share that love.

It's also one of the reasons we offer Freegal, which is a free and legal way for library patrons to download mp3s, and have stacks upon stacks of CDs for you to borrow.

2. Libraries aren't just places to borrow books. They're cultural centers.

Don't get me wrong. We love books. Most people who work in a library are there, in part, because they love to read.

But libraries aren't just about books.

They're a place to engage with the culture, and culture doesn't end in the written word. It includes music, fashion, art -- pretty much any way a person expresses themselves.

3. It lets us promote local talent.

This July, we're launching our Rock Roots Summer Concert Series.

We're featuring four local bands over the span of three free shows. All four bands -- Altered Generation, Brendan Burt Band, Cheap Clone and Hedgehog's Dilemma -- have roots in Mentor.

This not only gives these bands a chance to perform on their home turf, it also exposes them to a new audience who might not hear of them otherwise.

You can check out our program schedule for more information on our Rock Roots series. The shows are from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on July 10, 17 and 31 -- all Wednesdays -- at the Main Branch.

4. The concerts might introduce you to something new that you'll love.

Mentor Public Library is all about lifelong learning. That's why we host computer classes and programs about the Civil War, origami and spelunking. (And that's just in July.)

That's also why we bring in an eclectic range of performers. We've already hosted jazz and country groups this summer; and we've got alternative, indie pop, oldies and Beatles tribute bands lined up for July and August.

We hope you come to all of the shows. Even if you don't think of yourself as an indie pop or a country fan, you might discover something new to love.

5. The concerts are a lot of fun.

It really is that simple sometimes.

The Party May Be Over But The Fun Has Just Started

So you missed our Summer Reading Kickoff Party last week?

That's OK. I mean, it was a lot of fun -- I especially liked the kids who sang "Who Let the Dogs Out?" -- but it's not like the fun stops just because the party ended.

You can still sign up for our summer reading programs at any of our branches. (And I mean "you" in the ustedes sense. It doesn't matter if you're a kid, teen or adult. We have a summer reading program for you -- complete with prizes.)

The library has some cool programs coming up, as well.

Outback Ray and his cadre of exotic animals helped us kick off our Fun Day Monday series earlier this week.

And now Cassady Gammons can tell everyone she has a hat made from chinchilla.

Every Monday this summer we'll have a different fun game, craft or activity on the lawn of the Read House, which is next door to Mentor Public Library's main branch.

We also have our Tiddlywinks Song & Story Time for the youngest of the young'ns every Tuesday and Wednesday morning. (The program is for kids from birth through 36 and they need a caretaker with them. No registration needed.)

Here's a video from one of our Tiddlywinks sessions, if you want a taste.

It's always that adorable, by the way.

We have programs for adults too.

Rick Porrello -- foremost expert on the Cleveland underground and author of "To Kill The Irishman" and "The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia" -- is giving a free talk on the history of the Cleveland mob on June 25. (You can register here.)

And our Summer Concert Series continues June 26 with a performance by the Hollywood Slim Band over at the Read House.

We launched our concert series earlier this month with a show by the Sunset Country Band. (Yes, we have video of that too.) They specialize in music from the 1930s through 1960s.

So check our event calendar and I bet you'll find something fun to do at the library.

And now -- for no particular reason -- here are some more photos of adorable kids holding, petting and, in a couple of cases, wearing Outback Ray's animals.

And Rhea Sahoo can say she wore a snakeskin necklace.

Ayden Gorecki receives an enormous hug from Spongebob, an albino Burmese python.

Katelyn Zitrick meets Zombie, a hairless guinea pig.

Kevin Xue pets a meter-long blue tegu named Mr. Kipling. (Mr. Kipling, by the way, is a female. However, they didn't figure that out until after they named her.)

Ain't No Party Like A Summer Reading Party Because A Summer Reading Party Don't Stop

In 11 days, more than 600 children and about 250 teens and adults have already signed up for the summer reading programs at Mentor Public Library.

But we want more. We want to get as many people as possible excited about reading. So we're throwing a soirée.

The kickoff party for our summer reading programs will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, June 14, in the backyard of the Read House, which is next door to the library’s main branch at 8215 Mentor Ave.

Everyone's invited to sing karaoke, take snapshots in the photo booth, play Wii and check out previews for upcoming kids’, teens’ and adults’ programs.

Many of the activities at the party serve as a preview for library programs that are happening later this summer. For example, people can make an origami craft at the party in anticipation of a special presentation by the Ohio Paper Folders on July 8.

We'll have the Wii out as an appetizer for our Wii Wednesdays, which will give teens a chance to relax and play video games at the library. (There's nothing wrong with taking a break from summer reading.)

Even the karaoke serves as a preview for the many concerts the Mentor Public Library’s Main and Mentor-on-the-Lake branches will host this summer. (For a sample of our concert series, watch this video of the Sunset Country Band performing at the main branch earlier this month.)

And -- of course -- children, teens and adults can all sign up for our summer reading programs during the party, as well.

Kids who are entering the sixth grade or lower can register for the children’s Dig Into Reading program.

For every hour children read or are read to, they will receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win one of the library’s awesome grand prizes. Plus for every five hours read, up to 15 hours, children will receive a prize. After completing five hours of reading, children will earn a free Lake County Captains baseball game ticket. Fifteen-hour readers will receive a “Library Champion Lives Here” yard sign (one sign per family.)

If a child reads 20 hours, they get a golden ticket for a chance to win a $100 Toys “R” Us gift card. Champion readers will also have the opportunity to have their picture posted on the library website.

Likewise, teens and adults can sign up for the our Beneath the Surface summer reading program.

For every book they read or library program they attend, adults and teens will receive one raffle ticket for a chance to win one of the library’s grand prizes – a Nook e-reader – or to redeem at the Mystery Box, which is filled with gift cards and coupons from local restaurants and other businesses.

(By the way, I need to pause here and thank all of our wonderful sponsors. We sincerely could not do this without you.)

Children, teens and adults can still sign up for summer reading programs at any of the Mentor Public Library’s branches up through and until, Saturday, Aug. 10. Grand prize winners will be posted at the library’s End of Summer Carnival at the Read House on Thursday, Aug. 15.

For more information on programs and events this summer at the Mentor Public Library, call (440) 255-8811 ext. 247 or visit www.mentorpl.org.

See you at the party!