A Very Hoopla Halloween

Check out some of our favorite Halloween videos for free with Hoopla and your MPL card.

Looking for a spooky movie, ebook or audiobook for Halloween?

Mentor Public Library has you covered. You don't even need to visit one of our branches to browse the hundreds of Halloween selections available from our digital selections.

For example, Hoopla has video, music and books that you can check out right now, including:

• Dozens of scary stories from authors like Stephen King and Edgar Allan Poe that you can stream anywhere (as well as some slightly less scary stories if you're looking for something for kids)
• Twenty classic Goosebumps audiobooks from R.L. Stine
• Halloween videos for kids and terrifying films that are very much not for children
• And even music for your Halloween party.

Here are a few of our favorites. (And, remember, you can check out up to 10 albums, videos, ebooks or audiobooks from Hoopla each month.)

1. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead: It's a movie about a play based on another play (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead) which is based on another play (Hamlet.) Also, there are vampires.
2. The Wiggles: Wiggly Halloween: Need a kid-friendly Halloween video? You can trust the Wiggles.
3. Stonehearst Asylum: Based on an Edgar Allan Poe short story, this movie tells the tale of an asylum where it's impossible to tell the patients from the staff. Starring Kate Beckinsale, Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley.
4. A Very Brave Witch: A short, kid-friendly story about a witch who wants to see what Halloween's all about. Based on the Alison McGhee picture book.
5. The Crazies: A reinvention of the George Romero classic. A vat of chemicals in the drinking water transforms an idyllic, rural town into a murderous free-for-all.
6. Alligator X: It's a horror story starring an enormous, prehistoric monster billed as "the T-Rex of the ocean." What more do you need?
7. Room on the Broom: From the creators of The Gruffalo. A gang of animals cooperate to save a friendly witch from a scary (but not too scary) dragon after she shows them kindness.
8. Bride of Frankenstein: The Boris Karloff classic, one of the most popular horror films of all time.
9. The Sisterhood of the Night: A modern horror story about three girls who slip off the social-media grid and create a mysterious sisterhood that's invitation-only and protected by a vow of silence.
10. Mind of a Rampage Killer: Scary for a completely different reason than anything else on this list. The PBS special discusses the combination of circumstances that compel someone to commit the most inhumane of crimes.

Check out Hoopla and the rest of our digital services for more free movies, music, ebooks, eaudiobooks and more.

Mentor Library launches 3 Free for Me card for kids

Kids can borrow up to three children's books with the 3 Free for Me card.

Mentor Public Library wants everyone to have access to books, especially children.

That’s why MPL has launched the 3 Free for Me library card just for kids.

The 3 Free for Me card doesn’t require a parent or guardian’s signature. With it, kids 12 and younger can borrow up to three children’s books at any Mentor Library branch. That way, no child has to leave the library empty handed.

This special card is only good for children’s books. It cannot be used to check out movies, music or adult books. If children want to borrow any of those items, then they will need their parent’s or legal guardian’s permission to get a MPL all-access card.

Getting a new book (or three) to read, just got easier with the 3 Free for Me card from Mentor Library.

Kids armor up during the Cool Knights program at Mentor Library

Alyssa takes a close look at a helmet that is hundreds of years old.

Ever wished you could get closer to the exhibits at the museum—so close you could touch them?

The kids who came to our Cool Knights program got to do just that.

They got to see, touch and even wear real armor from the European Middle Ages and Renaissance on Wednesday evening at Mentor Library’s Main Branch.

The armor was from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection and included a gauntlet, crossbow bolt, close helmet, breastplate, vambrace and more.

The kids also got to learn about where the armor originated and how it was used.

Nicolas sees what it's like to wear a knight's gauntlet.

For more information on Mentor Library's children's programs, check out our event calendar. For more photos from our Cool Knights program, visit our Facebook page.

Meet the K-9s of Big Creek Search Dog Team at Mentor Library

Want to know what a search dog does or learn how they're trained?

If so, come meet the K-9s of the Big Creek Search Dog Team at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 2, at our Main Branch.

These dogs (and their human partners) assist law enforcement, fire departments, park services and other agencies by locating missing persons.

Find out how these amazing K-9s work on Monday.

The talk is free and open to the public. People are asked to register for the program beforehand. They can do so on Mentor Library's website or by calling 440-255-8811 ext. 216.

We love our working dogs at Mentor Public Library. That includes the therapy dogs who visit each month for Paws to Read and Mentor Police K-9 Bo who has joined us for a special story time.

We look forward to meeting the Big Creek Search Dog Team, as well, this Monday.

Halloween Fun at Mentor Library

The kids race to see who can turn themselves into a mummy quickest during the Goosebumps Party at MPL's Lake Branch.

We threw a Goosebumps-themed party Monday at our Lake Branch.

Kids transformed themselves into mummies, played a spooky guessing game, and created glow-in-the-dark slime that they could take home.

Owen tries to guess what's waiting for him in the bowl.

The Halloween fun isn't over at Mentor Library either.

Kids can make monster boxes tonight at our Main Branch.

Then, Mr. Dennis will host his annual spooktacular puppet show on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at our Headlands Branch.

Finally, kids can trick or treat at Mentor Library’s Main Branch from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at our Main Branch on Friday, Oct. 30.

All programs are free but some require registration. For more information, call Mentor Public Library at 440-255-8811 or visit Mentor Library’s website.

Olivia gets all wrapped up during the mummy race.

For some more photos from the Goosebumps party, visit Mentor Library's Facebook page.

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.

A Magical Day at Hogwarts (at Mentor Library)

Paige sports the Luna Lovegood look during her day at Hogwarts.

Some kids who had Friday off from muggle school because of NEOEA Day decided to try their hand at wizarding school, instead.

For one day only, Mentor Public Library transformed its Main Branch into Hogwarts on Oct. 16.

The young wizards made and decorated their own hats and wands. Then they attended magic and potions classes. They even had lunch in a room that had been redecorated to look like Hogwarts’ Great Hall.

Jaden makes sand art, mixing the various colors during the potions class.

During potions class, the children mixed different colored sands to make colorful art. Each of the sands had a fun label on their bottle, claiming they contained octopus tentacles, spider hair, sea horse tails and more.

Finally, the kids took magic class with magician Mr. Zap, also known as Bob Durante. First, they watched his magic show; then, he taught them a few sleight-of-hand tricks of their own.

Professor Zap shows Anna how a poacher's pouch works.

Mentor Public Library has more Halloween programs coming up in the next few weeks including:

• a special Goosebumps-themed party on Monday, Oct. 26,at our Lake Branch.
• Mr. Dennis’s annual Halloween puppet show on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at our Headlands Branch.

Finally, kids can trick or treat at Mentor Library’s Main Branch from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at its Main Branch on Friday, Oct. 30.

All programs are free but some require registration. For more information, call Mentor Public Library at 440-255-8811 or visit Mentor Library's website.