This week at storytimes at Traverwood and Westgate, Elizabeth told stories about snakes! Ssssssss! We heard Mama Hen’s Big Day, where Mama Hen has to find the perfect place to lay her beautiful egg, and The Gruffalo, where mouse plays a trick on all the forest creatures (including snake, of course!). We also read The Snake Who Said Shhh, by Jodie Parachini and heard the story of Samantha the snake who lost her silly snake siblings while babysitting and had to go search for them!

AADL storytimes are intended for ages 2-5 and are free and open to the public. For details about our storytimes at every location, visit the Jump page!

This week at storytimes at Traverwood and Westgate, Elizabeth told stories with hearts in them! We heard about The Love-Me Bird, who has to change her call to find a mate, and saw zoo animals made out of hearts in the book My Heart is Like a Zoo. We also heard the brightly colored rhyme The Shape of My Heart and the gentle classic story A Kiss for Little Bear. And we got some love letters in the mail in a special Valentine’s rhyme (even though it’s April!).

AADL storytimes are intended for ages 2-5 and take place at all of our locations and are free and open to the public. For a full list of our storytimes visit our JUMP page, specifically for parents and teachers.

This week at Traverwood and Westgate storytimes on Thursday and Friday, Elizabeth told LOUD stories! We heard the folktale of The Squeaky Door, where lots of farm animals get put into the bed to try and comfort a scared little boy. In The Seven Chinese Sisters, sound effects helped us tell the story of brave sisters who rescue their littlest baby sister from a hungry dragon! And, in Robert Munsch’s Mortimer, we heard the story of the boy who likes to play instruments at bedtime instead of going to sleep!

And a LOUD storytime wouldn’t be complete without the “5 Hot Dogs in a Frying Pan” rhyme. You know what happens when the grease gets hot! One goes BAM!

Storytimes take place at all AADL locations and are free and open to the public. For more information about storytimes, visit our Jump page, created especially for parents and teachers.

Elizabeth told stories about the farm, farm animals and farmers this week at her storytimes at Traverwood and Westgate. We heard the story of Lazy Jack, a retelling of the folktale about the silly little boy who works for various farmers but can never seem to figure out how to carry home his earnings. We also heard about the cowboy who’s trying to find a horse in the fun story Are You a Horse? by Andy Rash. And, we read about the infamous typing cows in Doreen Cronin’s Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type. Finally, the farm animals drove the farmer’s tractor in AADL’s felt version of The Gobble Gobble Moooooo Tractor Book, by Jez Alborough.

AADL storytimes take place at all locations and are open to all. For a complete list of storytimes and locations, visit our Jump page, created for parents and teachers.

The Ann Arbor District Library's Westgate branch is filled with new things. After all, it just reopened in September 2016 after a massive expansion and remodel.

But even newer than the computers, coffee shop, and shiny shiny bathrooms are three large paintings by Ann Arbor native Ben Cowan. The video above gives you a guided tour of Cowan's paintings. We also interviewed the artist about growing up in Ann Arbor, his influences, and how he came to create the works from his Neighborhood Views series, which have ended up finding permanent homes in the library.

This week at storytimes at Westgate and Traverwood, AADL storyteller Elizabeth shared stories about wind! Whoooosh! An old man complained about his noisy house and the wind outside in Too Much Noise, until the town’s wise woman solved his problem in a unique way. Ben floated away to the moon with his red balloon in Come Back, Ben and the mouse and his boat were blown every which way by the wind in The Mouse and the Wind, a story from Arnold Lobel’s classic Mouse Tales. We also tracked down the owner of a lovely hat that the wind had whisked away in Whose Hat Is That?

For more windy favorites for preschoolers, try Windblown by Edouard Manceau and The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins.

Elizabeth shared Dog stories this week at storytimes at Traverwood and Westgate! We heard about the adorable, yet misbehaving dog who wouldn’t drop the shoe in Drop It, Rocket … until he heard a story, of course! Farm animals had to bravely venture into the scary doghouse to find their missing ball in Jan Thomas’ The Doghouse. Mack the dog ate a cake intended for the farmer in The Cake That Mack Ate, and we met a “talking” dog in Lois Ehlert’s Rrralph! Of course, storytime wouldn’t have been complete without a rousing version of B-I-N-G-O!

AADL’s new Westgate storytimes take place three times a week in the program room:

Mondays, from 11:00-11:30am
Wednesdays, from 1:00-1:30pm
Fridays, from 10:00-10:30am

Storytimes are intended for ages 2-5 years. All are welcome and no sign-up or registration is required.

In preparation for the grand reopening of the Westgate Branch, AADL has opportunities for community members who want to lend a hand. Adult volunteers (ages 18+) can help staff complete specific projects at Westgate in late August - early September before the branch opens (exact dates and times TBD). Those wishing to sign up should email volunteer(at)aadl(dot)org by 8/18/16 with the following information:

- subject line: "Westgate Volunteer"
- first and last name
- birthdate (day/month/year)
- phone number (cell phone preferred)
- any questions or additional information about yourself that may be important for staff to know

Our Volunteer Coordinator will contact interested participants when specific volunteer shifts become available.

The deadline to sign up is Thursday, 8/18/16.

Whether you call them periodicals, zines or just plain magazines you will find some cool selections in the aadl magazine collection which, except for the current issue, can be put on hold with your library card and borrowed for two weeks. Titles like Michigan Riparian, Pointe, Bee Culture, Brick Journal, Treasures, Babybug, Cheng Ming, Scrapbooking & Beyond, G.I. jobs, or a multitude of popular glossies can be browsed at the library or at aadl.org. That’s also where you can click on Research and use the General Reference Center Gold database for magazines that we no longer carry. No matter what you call them, AADL has a magazine for everyone!

This year, consider wrapping your holiday gifts in something their recipients can actually use: an attractive, reusable AADL tote bag.

These little numbers come in black, emblazoned on one side with our fetching teal logo. They look pretty sharp when coordinated with a contrasting color of tissue paper (I'm liking blue, red and silver). Oh, and did I mention they're only $1?

Wow your friends and family this holiday season with your eco-friendliness and discerning sense of style! Our totes are roomy enough to hold your holiday gifts, as well as groceries for years to come. AADL totes are for sale at the circulation desks of all branches of the library. This year, wrap in the gift that keeps on giving!