On Your Mark, Get Set... READ! Summer Reading Program 2016

It's almost that time of year: SUMMER READING PROGRAM time!

Start your Reading Log!

Beginning Friday, June 3, register for the reading portion of the Summer Reading Program, pick up a log, and start reading. Keep track of all reading for summer and turn your log in for prizes! Last day to turn in logs is Wednesday, July 27 by 8:00 p.m.

This year, we have a lot of great things planned.

Mondays

Every Monday will feature Family Movie Night at 6:30 p.m. Enjoy a family movie and free popcorn.

June 6: The Good Dinosaur (G)
June 13: Hotel Transylvania 2 (PG)
June 20: Minions (PG)
June 27: Shaun the Sheep (PG)
July 4: The Library will be closed for Independence Day
July 11:  Norm of the North (PG)
July 18: Inside Out (PG)
July 25: Zootopia (PG)

Tuesdays and Thursdays

Every Tuesday and Thursday at 2:00 p.m., young readers have a chance to practice their reading skills with a junior volunteer or a reading dog!

Wednesdays

Every Wednesday at 2:00 p.m., Lt. Derek Wood from the Haltom City Fire Department will be at the library to teach a different safety topic and everyone will make a craft. On July 6, John Cooper from BNSF Rail Road will be here to discuss rail safety.

Fridays

Fridays feature the Special Guest Friday programs at 2:00 p.m.

June 3: Summer Reading Program Kick Off with the Perot Museum TECH Truck
June 10: Dinosaur Valley State Park
June 17: Dallas Zoo
June 24: Magic of Brett Roberts
July 1: Turtle Discovery
July 8: Dangerous Edison 
July 15: Author James Martinez
July 22: Boopsie the Clown
July 29: Summer Reading Finale with the Dallas Puppet Theater

Saturdays

Super Science Saturdays will continue for the Summer on the first Saturday of the month at 9:00 a.m.

June 4: Geology
July 2: Lenses, Prisms, and Optics

Special Presentations

Friday, June 10 at 3:30 p.m.: Arts Council NE MasterWorks Concert: Boitumelo
Friday, June 24 at 3:30 p.m.: Arts Council NE MasterWorks Concert: Mr. Blue Shoes
Thursday, July 7 at 11:00 a.m.: Big City Trucks with the Haltom City Public Works Department
Thursday, July 14 at 2:00 p.m.: Human Society of North Texas presents: "Safety With Animals"

Follow Us! 

Don't forget to follow the library on Facebook, Twitter, and now Instagram!

Coloring and Cookies for Grown Ups!

We had a great turnout for our first two after-hours coloring parties, Coloring and Cookies for Grown Ups. While coloring is all the rage, it does have some benefits too.

In the early 20th Century, Carl Jung, the inventor of analytical psychology, prescribed coloring of mandalas as part of therapy. A certified art therapist said that while coloring is not considered art therapy, it does retain some therapeutic benefits. She said, "Just like meditation, coloring also allows us to switch off our brains from other thoughts and focus only on the moment, helping to alleviate free-floating anxiety" (quoted in a CNN article).  It seems impossible to go through the day today without constant interaction with a cell phone, computer, or tablet. Recent studies have shown that heavy usage of these devices may be linked to depression and anxiety. Coloring helps to "unplug."

Interested in coloring? Join us on Friday, June 3rd at 6:30 p.m. and enjoy some relaxing coloring while having fun with others. You can even have cookies!

Further Reading:

"Why Adult Coloring Books are Good for You" - CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/06/health/adult-coloring-books-popularity-mental-health/.

"The Therapeutic Science Of Adult Coloring Books: How This Childhood Pastime Helps Adults Relieve Stress" - Medical Daily
http://www.medicaldaily.com/therapeutic-science-adult-coloring-books-how-childhood-pastime-helps-adults-356280.

"A Neuroscientist Patiently Explains the Allure of the Adult Coloring Book" -New York Magazine
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/01/neuroscientist-explains-adult-coloring-books.html.

First Finds! May New Book Spotlight

The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth
Genre: Australian Fiction; Love Stories
"Anna Forster, in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease at only thirty-eight years old, knows that her family is doing what they believe to be best when they take her to Rosalind House, an assisted living facility. She also knows there's just one another resident her age, Luke. What she does not expect is the love that blossoms between her and Luke even as she resists her new life at Rosalind House. As her disease steals more and more of her memory, Anna fights to hold on to what she knows, including her relationship with Luke. When Eve Bennett is suddenly thrust into the role of single mother she finds herself putting her culinary training to use at Rosalind house. When she meets Anna and Luke she is moved by the bond the pair has forged. But when a tragic incident leads Anna's and Luke's families to separate them, Eve finds herself questioning what she is willing to risk to help them"-- Provided by publisher.

'Til Death Do Us Part by Amanda Quick
Genre: Historical Romance
"The author of the New York Times bestseller Garden of Lies returns to Victorian London in an all-new novel of deadly obsession. Calista Langley operates an exclusive "introduction" agency in Victorian London, catering to respectable ladies and gentlemen who find themselves alone in the world. But now, a dangerously obsessed individual has begun sending her trinkets and gifts suitable only for those in deepest mourning--a black mirror, a funeral wreath, a ring set with black jet stone. Each is engraved with her initials. Desperate for help and fearing that the police will be of no assistance, Calista turns to Trent Hastings, a reclusive author of popular crime novels. Believing that Calista may be taking advantage of his lonely sister, who has become one of her clients, Trent doesn't trust her. Scarred by his past, he's learned to keep his emotions at bay, even as an instant attraction threatens his resolve. But as Trent and Calista comb through files of rejected clients in hopes of identifying her tormentor, it becomes clear that the danger may be coming from Calista's own secret past--and that only her death will satisfy the stalker."-- Provided by publisher.

The bad-ass librarians of Timbuktu: and their race to save the world's most precious manuscripts by Joshua Hammer
Genre: Politics and global affairs
Describes how a group of Timbuktu librarians enacted a daring plan to smuggle the city's great collection of rare Islamic manuscripts away from the threat of destruction at the hands of Al Qaeda militants to the safety of southern Mali.





Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
Genre: Autobiographies and memoirs; Life stories; Science Writing
Jahren has built three laboratories in which she's studied trees, flowers, seeds, and soil. She tells about her childhood in rural Minnesota with an uncompromising mother and a father who encouraged hours of play in his classroom|s labs; about how she found a sanctuary in science, and the disappointments, triumphs and exhilarating discoveries of scientific work. Yet at the core of this book is the story of a relationship Jahren forged with Bill, who becomes her lab partner and best friend. Their sometimes rogue adventures in science take them over the Atlantic to the ever-light skies of the North Pole and to tropical Hawaii, where she and her lab currently make their home.