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On Friday, June 25th, the Aurora Hills Branch Library will observe George Orwell‘s 107th birthday!

Orwell, born Eric Arthur Blair, was an author and journalist famous for his witty and sometimes scathing social commentary. His novel Animal Farm, with its themes exploring totalitarianism and the universal fight for justice and equality, resonated with Post WWII readers worldwide and skyrocketed him to literary stardom, and remains a must read for students everywhere. Help us to celebrate by making “Animal Farm” your must read this summer!

(Orwell birthday trivia question – what was the author’s real name? Answer to be posted on Friday)

Popsicles, the pool, a dark movie theater and central a/c all have their strong points—but we in Arlington know there’s really nothing cooler than the Library’s Get Caught Reading summer celebration.

Now as much a tradition as July Fourth fireworks, “GCR” inspires thousands of Arlington young people to curl up with a steady (cooling) stream of good books (the audio kind are fine) and take in some great summer special events at Central and the branches.

The tide keeps coming in for “GCR”: last year, almost 5,000 kids from preschool to high school signed up and something tells me we’re looking at a new record this year. Already 1,500 have registered in the first few days and we know a big wave is coming once classes are over. Our roving Youth Services team has stopped at all 22 Arlington Public elementary schools, which means 11,000 kids plus their families know the Library is open all summer long– just like the beach!

This year’s GCR offers another terrific lineup of smart entertainment, including old favorites and some new friends. Middle- and high-schoolers get a head start on getting together with a July 1 “make-a-button” workshop at Central and July 7 board games gathering at Columbia Pike. Then the Virginia Aquarium’s “Ocean in Motion” traveling aquarium returns to kick things off for the younger kids on July 8 at Central. I know I’m looking forward to “Now This Kids!” on August 9, when they bring out their musical spoofs from rap to opera.

Just a reminder–you’ll need free tickets for the elementary-school age performances so pick them up beginning the day before each event.

And finally a big thanks to the Friends of the Arlington Public Library, who make the “GCR” prizes and events possible. It really wouldn’t be summer without Friends and “Get Caught Reading” so make sure you join in the fun!

-Diane

The Aurora Highlands Civic Association held their Passport to Summer 2010 Kickoff event at the Aurora Hills Community Center and the Aurora Hills Branch Library on Wednesday June 16th!

The Civic Association provided pizza, ice cream, games, and crafts for all the patrons who attended and because of their efforts the Aurora Hills Library signed up 88 new users! What a wonderful way to kick off the season!

USGS satellite map of Arlington County

On the evening of Tuesday, June 15, Arlington citizens talked to WAMU radio show host Kojo Nnamdi about what they like – and don’t like – about living in Arlington County.

Among the many topics discussed were development, affordability, stewardship education, Metro contributions and government transparency – as well as the diversity along the Columbia Pike corridor where there are 128 nationalities living within one zip code.

The Library’s own Heather Crocetto, from the Virginia Room, also discussed the challenges an archivist faces documenting the continuous changes taking place in Arlington.

You can read more about the event on ARLnow.com, where they provide a good summery of the evening, or listen to the entire broadcast yourself.

Beginning July 1, the Library will operate under a new schedule of public hours. 

We know new hours can be hard to get used to, so we’re taking steps to help ease the transition:

•  The Library’s homepage now features a “Now Open” display for a real-time check of the operating status of each location. (This tool is in beta, so let us know if you have any issues.)
• The new version of our “Hours & Locations” page includes a handy new hours chart and an interactive map.
• Look for new schedule-bookmarks, coming soon to each Library location.

Puwen shows the lettuce and broccolli to curious patrons

We got to talk to the Arlington Food Assistance Center’s Puwen Lee today as she harvested the first crop of green leaf lettuce (and one head of broccoli) from our Plot Against Hunger garden.

Today is a food distribution day at AFAC, so these greens will be given out by this afternoon.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YbnvcIwuxI]

Kids book author Tom Angleberger will join us Friday, June 25, at 4:00 pm in Central Library’s Youth Service’s “Rabbit Hole” room, to tell us all about his new book – The Strange Case of Origami Yoda.

“The Strange Case of Origami Yoda” is a novel about a weird kid who makes a Yoda finger puppet out of paper. The kid seems completely clueless, but Origami Yoda is totally Jedi-wise.

Some kids believe in Origami Yoda. Some think he’s just a piece of paper. One kid, Tommy, decides to find out the truth…

Angleberger will meet and talk to young readers, and show us some of his cool Yoda folding.

So as the Jedi Master says, “Come to the Library, you must.”

The Westover Branch Library recently received a visit from a PBS film crew, including Miss Rosa, the host of Mornings on PBS Kids. Miss Rosa and the crew taped several short spots in Westover Village locations, including the Library. Anne Pettit, one of Westover’s children’s librarians, even got to act in one of the scenes (playing a librarian, of course).

We asked Anne a few questions about what it was like to be part of the production:

What was being filmed?
During the PBS Kids morning show, there are education breaks in between the regularly scheduled shows. One of these breaks was recently filmed in the Westover neighborhood. Miss Rosa, the host, visited Lost Dog Cafe and learned how to make a pizza! Then she visited the Westover Market and the Westover Library. She wanted to learn what happened to a book once it was returned in the drop box.

Anne gets ready for her close-up

What was your role? 
I explained to Ms. Rosa how the books get checked in and then shelved.

What was the best part?
Getting my own hair, make-up and wardrobe people!

How many takes did you have to do?
About 20!!! The scene will only be about 60 seconds when it airs but it took 5 hours to get it right!

When will your segment be broadcast? 
This September.

Do you plan to leave the library and go into acting?
I’m expecting a call from a Hollywood casting director any day now…
(editor’s note: she’s just kidding – right?)

Did you know that June 21 – 27 is National Pollinator Week? Here’s an explanation from the National Pollinator Week website, about the importance of the animals and insects that act as pollinators:

“Three years ago the U.S. Senate’s unanimous approval and designation of the final week in June as “National Pollinator Week” marked a necessary step toward addressing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations…. Pollinating animals, including bees, birds, butterflies, bats, beetles and others, are vital to our delicate ecosystem, supporting terrestrial wildlife, providing healthy watershed, and more. Therefore, Pollinator Week is a week to get the importance of pollinators’ message out to as many people as possible.
It’s not too early to start thinking about an event at your school, garden, church, store, etc. Pollinators positively effect all our lives- let’s SAVE them and CELEBRATE them!”

You can visit a Pollinator Garden here in Arlington – at the Glencarlyn Branch Library, Central Library, or the Columbia Pike Branch Library – and see bees and butterflies hard at work.

You can also see photos of our gardens on flickr, or take a short video tour of Central Library’s Pollinator Garden:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN5KNHCE-yQ]

We just received word that the Columbia Pike Documentary Project photographers have been invited to attend Kojo Nnamdi’s ‘Kojo In Your Community‘ Arlington show, on Tuesday evening.

Paula Endo of CPDP writes:

I told [the producer] about Teen Photo and the book we produced celebrating our community with portraits and stories.  She was very interested in our work and asked me to bring her copies. She expressed special interest in the issue of development that is considerate and fair to current residents, rather than concentrating on expensive, “high-end” re-development that drives out the people and shops that give our neighborhood its richly diverse character.  She said it would be great to have some community folks like Teen Photo members, their families and friends, and other neighborhood supporters come be a part of the audience.

I’m sharing this invitation with you so that you could join in the show–if not in person, then at least by listening to the radio and maybe participating by calling in! It should be fun!

The show will be broadcast live from St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, in Arlington, starting at 6:30 p.m., on WAMU 88.5 FM.  Anyone interested in being part of the audience should arrive by 6:15 p.m.