Summer@HPL Sneak Peek

When spring has sprung, summer can’t be far behind, especially in the accelerated seasons of Homer. The library is gearing up for the eight-week, summer program designed to offer opportunities for kids, teens, and adults to READ, PLAY, DO, and DISCOVER at the library and around town.

READ Summer@HPL offers prizes and fun activities that inspire reading! Kids, teens, and adults are rewarded for whatever they are reading, books, e-books, magazines, picture books or graphic novels. Each program offers a reading challenge with prizes awarded.

PLAY Programs and activities through the summer offer chances to play at the library and around Homer. Events include music, storytelling, a puppet show, digital tricks, art, outdoor fun, and amazing contests.

DO Summer@HPL is all about doing. Many of the events feature opportunities for participants to create with their hands and minds. There is something for every interest.

DISCOVER A great opportunity to try something new! Whether it’s using a new technology tool or trying a new art form, the wide variety of activities will let attendees “test the waters.” All events and the reading challenge are free.

Program begins on June 4th. 11 and Under reading logs available May 14th. Register now at Homer Public Library website.

2012 Summer@HPL Activities

Dream Big READ (ages 11 and under)

Wizard of Oz all-ages puppet show with Stevens Puppets
Family Scavenger Hunt @ the library
Outdoor Outings with the Center for Alaska Coastal Studies
Storytelling and S’mores with Craig Phillips at Bishop's Beach
Summer@HPL in the July 4th parade
StoryWalk®- read and walk the library trail
2nd annual all ages LEGO® Contest
Dream On with Bobby and Sherry Norfolk! Stories for ages 2-12
Annual Ice Cream Celebration
and More to come

Own the Night (ages 12-18)

"Night" Teen Photo Contest
3D Avatars: Create and animate your own
2nd annual all ages LEGO® Contest
Zombie Survival
Interactive comics workshop with Jason Shiga, author of Meanwhile and other comics, apps, and books
Own the story: Flash Fan Fiction
Night @ the Library (ages 11-14)! (part of the National Teen Library Lock-in)
Record audio reviews
and more!

Sponsored by AlaskaUSA Federal Credit Union and the Youth Advisory Council of the Homer Foundation.

War on Weeds

As spring arrives with renewed greenery, Friends of the Homer Public Library is conducting the War on Weed 2012.

Start with a brown bag lunch talk on invasive weeds in our area by Janice Chumley of the Cooperative Extension on Monday, April 30th at noon in the Homer Public Library conference room. Learn more about what invasive weeds look like in all stages of their development to more successfully eradicate them.

Then on May 5th from 9am-noon, we’ll begin our War on Weeds in the beautiful public gardens around the Homer Public Library. Master Gardener Brenda Adams of Gardens by Design will help volunteers find and pull invasive weeds from the garden beds around the library.

Volunteers needed on May 5th and May 8th, from 9am to noon both days, for this full-scale assault on invasive weeds. Bring your favorite trowel and your enthusiasm. We’ll have snacks and camaraderie to make weeding fun.

Come enjoy the weather and the beautiful gardens.

Arctic Dreams with the HPL Book Group

On Tuesday, May 15th, at 4:30pm, the Friends of the Library Book Group will meet to discuss Barry Lopez’s book Arctic Dreams. Lopez is the keynote speaker of this year’s Kachemak Bay Writers Conference. He won the National Book Award for Nonfiction.

Lopez offers a thorough examination of this obscure world-its terrain, its wildlife, its history of Eskimo natives and intrepid explorers who have arrived on their icy shores. But what turns this marvelous work of natural history into a breathtaking study of profound originality is his unique meditation on how the landscape can shape our imagination, desires, and dreams. Its prose as hauntingly pure as the land it describes, Arctic Dreams is nothing less than an indelible classic of modern literature.

Lopez is a connoisseur of natural phenomena, and he conveys what he sees with precision: “There were 250,000 lesser snow geese at Tule Lake. At dawn I would find them floating on the water, close together in a raft three-quarters of a mile long and perhaps 500 yards wide. When a flock begins to rise from the surface of the water, the sound is like a storm squall arriving, a great racket of shaken sheets of corrugated tin. (If you try to separate the individual sounds in your head, they are like dry cotton towels snapping on a wind-blown clothesline.)”

Please join us for a spirited discussion of Lopez’s masterwork before his keynote speech in June. This will be a wonderful opportunity to learn more about his work and discuss what makes this an award winning book.

Thank you for Celebration of Lifelong Learning Support

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the businesses and people who helped with the Celebration of Lifelong Learning. So many people pitched in towards raising the funds that the Friends of the Homer Public Library uses to support library programs and services.
Thank you to Ray Troll; to the musicians who charmed us on Friday night, Scotty and Kate Meyer, Teresa Sundmark, Willy Dunne, and Mike Patch; to the musicians who so ably created the Homer Ratfish Wranglers on Saturday night, Caressa Starshine, Johnny B, Jeff Szarzi, Mike Mitchell, Knute Tonga, Jason Cameron, Dave Alpin, and Rick Foster; to the individuals and business that donated goods for the events and auction, Two Sisters Bakery, Loopy Lupine, The Grog Shop, Christa Collier, Ann Dixon, North Wind Home Collection, Gregoire Construction, Gardens by Design, NOMAR, Redden Marine, Daniel Westerburg, Homer Theatre, Timeless Toys, Ashore Water Taxi, Dr. Paul Eneboe, Homer Brewing Company, Ring of Fire Meadery, Dana Stabenow, Grant Aviation, Ken Castner, and Megan Janetta; to Kathleen Gustafson for the challenging trivia contest; to Maura’s Café and Catering for the delicious food; and to the Homer Drama, Debate and Forensic Team for providing such cheerful and efficient servers.

The Friends of the Homer Public Library had so much fun; let’s do it again next year!

Library Director’s Corner:

Recently someone asked, “What do Friends of the Homer Library do?” When I look at the month of April alone, I am astounded at the energy and organization contributed by so many volunteers. Celebration of Lifelong Learning (two programs this year, both hugely successful), an evening of poetry, the semi-annual book and plant sale (another two-day event), Saturday morning workshops with visiting novelist Andromeda Romano-Lax, sponsorship of a new genealogy group, a brown-bag lunch workshop on identifying invasive species, and guerilla poetry (just for fun). But wait – there’s more: on-going technology classes, Reading Between the Lines, and a week’s worth of goodies during National Library Week to show appreciation for staff. What a quiet – too quiet – place the Library would be without Friends!

Volunteers don’t just help to keep this library running – they keep it vital and lively and integral to the community. While library staff is busy managing day-to-day operations, Friends make special things happen. I’m thinking the question needs to be rephrased: “What don’t Friends of the Library do?” From pulling weeds to sorting donations to shelving books, mending materials, and organizing programs, FHL volunteers are an essential part of HPL.

Happening @ the Library in May!

Read details on the Calendar page!

Introductory computing class
1:30pm, First Friday of each month
• Free, first-come, first-serve computer help for beginners.

Internet Basics
3:30pm, Friday, May 4
• An introduction to a variety of computer skills.

Knitting Circle
Mondays, 2:00-5:00pm
• All are welcome. Refreshments.

Preschool Story Hour
Wednesdays, 10:00-11:00am

Infant Lap Sit
Thursdays, 11:30-noon

War on Weeds
9am-noon, Saturday, May 5
9am-noon, Tuesday, May 8
• Volunteers needed

Genealogy Study Group
4:00pm, Tuesday, May 8 and 22
• All are welcome.

Video Basics
3:30pm, Friday, May 11
• Learn more about video

Summer@HPL Reading Program
Monday, April 14
• Register now
• Reading logs available

HPL Book Discussion Group
4:30pm, Tuesday, May 15
• Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez.

eReader Basics
2:00pm, Saturday, Feb. 25
• Adults invited to learn more about eReaders of all varieties.