Hooked On Books

The Hooked On Books Project is designed to promote literacy for pre-schoolers. It is a program that promotes school readiness and early literacy and instills a love of reading in our children.

Learn more about the Hooked On Books Project

Get your weekly "Library Lines" fix here, before it hits the stands. Library Lines are posted online every Friday afternoon or you can read them in the Waterville Times.
Library Lines is written by Director Jeff Reynolds. .

July 16th, 2008 - Library Lines

Waterville kids have “Caught the Reading Bug” (i.e., the handle for our 2008 summer reading program). They’re perusing apace and dropping in frequently to collect marvelous prize loot that Amanda and Jill have in store for achievers. Lots of other summer programs for children are under way, so please stop by to see what’s going on and sign up. For example…

This week, storyteller Robin Bady returns, for her third engagement at WPL, with Bugapalooza-- Friday, July 18th at 6 pm. For children ages 3-11 with their families. Join us as Robin weaves you into tall tales about tiny bugs!

We say THANK YOU to two wonderful friends of the Library, Jim Bogan and Bill Vetter, who recently washed all of our windows! Now all the better to see our gardens, Gary Allen’s spectacular corn field and spinning windmills on the horizon!

July 2nd, 2008 - Library Lines

If you haven’t been by the Library to see us lately, or haven’t seen Flip Brown’s gorgeous photos of our gardens on-line, please do stop by to have a look at your very special community place. Farmer Gary Allen’s corn is coming in beautifully and will be well above knee high by the Fourth. His field, which was in soybeans last year, provides a lovely green, groomed backdrop to our gardens and lawn. Also, have a look at Jon Olin’s hop yard, whose vines will soon be labeled as to the eleven various species represented.

Last Thursday was a big night here with the annual visit of the Utica Zoomobile. Over eighty people, including several babes-in-arms got acquainted with a real live alligator, great horned owl, snakes and scorpions in our program room. Next year, lions and tiger and bears, perhaps!

Here’s a reminder about the early literacy program we are launching in the fall. Designed for 3 and 4 year olds to introduce them to letters, numbers, colors and shapes in preparation for reading, this program will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays in two sessions, one at 9-10am or a second, from 10-11am. Children must be accompanied by an adult. For further information or two reserve a spot, call Amanda.

Summer reading is in full swing for young and old. As always, we need your help in consuming the truck loads of new titles arriving weekly. Remember that a book can give you and your family wings to explore all the wonders of the universe-- no gasoline necessary!

Last, my strong personal recommendation for a stirring trifecta-- three coming of age books about boys in Cuba, Afganistan and South Africa, respectively: Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire; The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini; and The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. We’ve got ‘em for you.

June 18th, 2008 - Library Lines

Coming up at the end of June will be our kickoff to the Summer Reading Program. This years theme is Catch the Reading Bug. We have a bunch of programs planned for this summer, so be sure to stop by the library or our website to check them out.

On June 26th at 6:30pm the Utica Zoo Mobile will be here with 4 different animals from the Utica Zoo. After the event is over your kids can pick up a Summer Reading Calendar. For every 8 hours your child read, or you read to them, they can come back to the library and get a prize! And this year if your child reads 16 hours they get a free summer reading t-shirt. *while quantities last. Children ages 1-18 can participate.

On Tuesday, June 24th at 6pm we will have a Movie Night for the whole family. We will be showing a children's fantasy movie based off a book from a great series. _________ Chronicles. Can you guess what it is? Join us for this FREE showing. (We will not have Family Movie Night this month, but it will continue on July 31st.)

Teen Movie Night will be held on Thursday, June 19th at 6pm and we will be showing a treasure hunting movie with Matthew McConaughy and Kate Hudson. Ages 13-18 are welcome to attend.

Storyteller Robin Bady will be back at the library on July 18th @ 6pm. Join us as Robin weaves your children into a story about bugs. Children ages 3-11 are welcome to attend. Robin is a fantastic storyteller, your children are sure to have a great time.

Be sure to check out all of our great programs coming up this summer. Sign up sheets for the programs can be found at the library. For a full list of programs come to the library or visit www.midyork.org/waterville. If you have any questions about the Summer Reading Program or any programs please contact Amanda Briggs at 841-4651 or ABriggs@midyork.org

May 21st, 2008 - Library Lines

A boat load of all kinds of new books arrived this past week for your summer reading pleasure. And, we remind you that large type titles arrive weekly.

Bravissimo to our Waterville High AP Art Show exhibitors—outstanding work! Many thanks to Sarah Camp, Emily Plourde, Kyle Naspyany, Kate McLane and Amanda Barwarski for sharing their photographs and prints in our gallery the past several weeks. Amanda’s photos will be up until the end of the month.

Soon, with the cooperation of Waterville Historical Society and Kingsley Wratten of Leonardsville who is providing heirloom plants, Waterville Eagle Scout candidate Jon Olin will have planted a hop yard on the Library grounds. We can’t wait to see the vines racing up their poles, but that may not be until next spring as the plants need a season of maturation.

Another family movie night rolls around on Thursday, May 29 when we will feature a famous trio of chipmunks on our big screen. Real movie theater popcorn, too!

A reminder to save the date for WPL’s second annual Jazz, Blues and Libraries,Too concert will be presented on Sunday, June 1 at 3 p.m. featuring the legendary Houston Person and quartet. Last year’s concert was standing room only, so be sure to call us soon for free tickets at 841-4651.

May 14th, 2008 - Library Lines

Introducing this spring some technological innovations at WPL that will make life easier for you...

We now have a work station (PC) located in our main reading room that is dedicated entirely to accessing the MidYork catalog. If you're over say, forty years old, you remember the card catalog--- scores of little drawers with index cards for authors, titles and subjects of books showing the magic code (the call number) to help locate a book on the shelves. Card catalog cabinets are now antiques-- (they make great end tables!)-- replaced by the OPAC (on-line public access catalog). Our new OPAC helps you find all of our Library's books plus all the nearly two million items available in the MidYork Library System.

We couldn't be more excited about the newest technological marvel at WPL-- our brand new iMac computer with an absolutely gorgeous 24 in. high resolution screen. The new iMac was recently donated by Flip Brown and her family in memory of her husband Dick; and celebration of his prodigious contributions to building the Library's historical resources. Right out of the box, we loaded the new machine with 150 years of Waterville Times data, all keyword searchable and viewable life-size on the big bright screen. We'll be adding lots of photos and other great historical resources as we go along. Also, we’ve loaded a database of U.S. Geological Survey topographical maps of New York for the new iMac. And Web resources like Google Earth have never looked so good.

Save the Date! WPL’s second annual Jazz, Blues and Libraries,Too concert will be presented on Sunday, June 1 at 3 p.m. featuring the legendary Houston Person and quartet. Last year’s concert was standing room only, so be sure to call us soon for free tickets at 841-4651.