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Arlington Public Library

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Librarians: On a Mission to Your School!

Over the next few weeks, your children’s librarians will visit each of the 22 Arlington public elementary schools.

Why? To emphasize the fun of summer reading!

(We don’t tell the kids about the academic value of reading over the summer–that’s for the grownups).

Sure, the kids receive a small prize for reading a certain number of books, but we’ll be promoting reading for fun, by introducing the kids to a wide range of books that will appeal to a wide range of readers.

Our hope is that your child will rush home from school declaring that he or she must go to the library to sign up for the summer reading program and to get a copy of The Stinky Giant or Bad Kitty for President or  Little Monsters or Wonder.

Last year, a record 7,371 youth signed up for the summer reading program.  Can we top that this year?  

 

Summer Reading 2012 registration begins Saturday, June 2.

 

From Our Archives: Arlington Postcards

As a certain fictional ad virtuoso from the 20th century would say, an old postcard “takes us to a place where we ache to go again.”

Any old postcard works. But it’s the ones from home–maybe just a block away but with a distance of decades–that tug the most. A “Colorchrome” backstory can again make vibrant the most familiar, forgotten or repurposed neighbor.

The art deco Chrysler/Plymouth dealer becomes a Gold’s Gym. Small, boxey Clarendon Trust on McKinley now belongs to the fourth largest bank in the country.  And even a century back, sightseeing could overwhelm judging by a Luna Park visitor’s handwritten anguish: “Wish I was home am so tired/Momma.”

View Arlington in Postcards

Arlington Public Library’s Virginia Room has assembled an engrossing digital collection of local historic postcards–some from the Library’s holdings and others from collectors who generously wished to share their materials with the community.

Enjoy.

And note to Google Street View: Take a new trip down North Randolph . The former Super Pollo-Roy Rogers-Hardees-Red Barn is now lost to history, just like $1.29 “complete” fried chicken dinners for two.

The Library’s postcard collection was featured in the Washington Post Magazine on Dec. 5, 2012.

Through the Library website, our archives are always open. Find this collection and more online in our Arlington’s Story Digital Archive.

How to Preserve Arlington’s Past

The Virginia Room at Central Library is the County’s official history archive.

But how does the Library keep a steady flow of history coming in? Donations, from people like you.

Scott McCaffrey of the Sun Gazette was on hand for a recent donation by the Potomac Women’s Club, just one of several civic groups that now has its newsletters, yearbooks and scrapbooks preserved for future generations of Arlington residents and researchers.

In the case of the Potomac Women’s Club, the records go back to the early 1950s and create a fascinating timeline of both dramatic changes in the County and the evolving influence of women’s organizations nationwide.

See more images from the Potomac Women’s Club donation.

 

Learn more about the Virginia Room and local history. 

 

Maria Abbott: Beloved ESL Teacher

On Monday evenings, nearly 20 people gather for a lively English conversation class led by an equally lively volunteer…

An 84-year old Arlington resident, Maria Abbott has been teaching ESL conversation classes at Central Library for a number of years.

As a native of Brazil, Maria understands the challenge of learning English as a second language. The students, who come from all around the world, spend 90 minutes each week exploring the basics of English conversation and culture. They discuss a variety of themes, including American holidays, being a good citizen, and current events.

Maria’s students also take turns sharing about their own cultures and countries, such as Azerbaijan and Turkey, in order to demonstrate and understand the multi-culturalism within the United States.

 

Learn more about Volunteer Opportunities at the Arlington Public Library.

 

 

Bookmarks for Kids Club

Kids learn to make creative bookmarks, with the help of a special guest.

On Monday, May 9, Crafter Elizabeth Tung shared her creative ideas with the Aurora Hills Branch Library Kids Club.

Ms. Tung showed us the special, one-of-a-kind bookmarks she creates, involving a combination of threading, sewing and pin hole punching. She is an accomplished crafter who has taught many classes at her local church in North Potomac, MD, and won first prize in the Washington Post Holiday Crafts Contest in 2011.

About 20 children and their parents had a wonderful time creating the bookmark – and left happy with ballooon animals as well!

 

Learn more about Kids Events at the Library.

 

 

Spring Preschool Storytimes End Friday, May 26

Summer Storytimes Begin July 9

While you’re waiting for Summer storytimes to begin, visit our For Kids page and try these early-literacy activities:

  • Read Mr. Gumpy’s Outing  – then have a tea party with fruity flavored iced tea.
  • Play I Spy with rhyming words –  “I spy something that rhymes with BAT.”
  • Make sand letters – when you go to the beach.
  • Keep books and CDs in the car – Great for running errands!
  • Leave a few words out when you sing a favorite song – Then ask your child to remember the missing words.
  • Sing nursery songs and rhymes to your baby.

Early literacy is what children learn about reading and writing before they can actually read or write.

 

Summer Reading sign-up starts June 2 – check back soon for all the details!

 

The Brick Central Visited Westover…

…and they made a video!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAq_v_M9wnc[/youtube]

Westover Branch Library, May 2, 2012

 

The Brick Central team is Josh, Izzy and BrickChick – local siblings who love Legos so much that they created a YouTube channel for reviewing Lego sets and doing Lego giveaways. The building challenge they gave to our kids was to build something from nature.

Brick Central will also show some of their finished creations at BrickFair VA, coming to the Dulles Expo Center this August.

 

A Perfect Day for Trucks

Beautiful weather, huge vehicles, and hundreds of families made “Truck Day 2012” an overwhelming success!

The only disappointment was when the fire truck got called to an emergency, but even the youngest kids understood (mostly).

Special thanks to all the participating agencies and companies that provided the vehicles visiting Central Library, and to our great teen volunteers from Yorktown High School.

You can also see all of these photos and many more on our flickr page.

Thanks to everyone who participated – we’ll see you again next year!

 

 

Video: Meet the Artist with Nova Payton

DC Native in the Spotlight

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sXVI-X4dhw[/youtube]

Nova Y. Payton has been performing all her life – from her stage debut at age 3 as a flower in “Santa Comes to Cabbage Patch Land,” to her recent role as Motormouth Maybelle in Signature’s excellent production of Hairspray.

This interview was filmed last February at the Shirlington Branch Library, as a special Meet the Artist interview for African American Heritage Month.

 

Learn more about Theater Events at the Library.

 

 

 

15 Words to Write a Poem

Threading words into verse…

In March, participants in the Shirlington Branch Library Poetry Workshop were asked to think of 15 words – words having no particular relevance to each other – and write them down in list form. Then the writers were then asked to pass their lists to the person on their left.

They then used the list to write a three stanza poem, using only 5 of the words per stanza.

Here is one of the results:

The Embroiderer, by Marcia Montenegro

She sat below walls
Covered with blessings –
Hope – Faith – Peace
Sewn into fine linen
Embroidered for life
Behind glassy frames.
But what of despair? Or grief?
She could not sew them,
She could not say them.

Her fervor was only to sew words
That would stay the dementia
That would cross stitch peace
Into a mind with frayed edges.
Harmony – Serenity – Tranquility.
She was creating walls to
Whisper tender intimacies
As her fingers worked faster and faster
Before the threads would break.

The walls became her private poem
Of solitude, a mirror
To her spirit as it faded
With the sun in the west.
Shadows crouched in corners
Ready to swell across the words
And down the walls,
A dark stain of death
Descending, unraveling all.

 

Learn more about the Poetry Workshop.

 

 



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