Wednesday, September 12, 2:30pm

Mercer Island Library

Ages 6 to 10 are invited to join Sarah Heller from Washington Arboretum.Enjoy stories, a scavenger hunt and other hands-on activities to help you discover some of the secrets of native plants
and how the Native Americans used them for many different purposes. Make a pine cone critter out of natural materials .            

Please register.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Mercer Island Library.

Thursday, August 9, 2pm

A book on magic inspired Jeff Evans to learn the art of magic a quarter of a century ago.  Jeff's newest show breaks the fun barrier with amazing magic celebrating Summer Reading.  Woven throughout the mysterious tricks is the message that anything you dream about and want to learn can be found in books.  Jeff attempts to recreate one of his childhood dreams; floating in mid-air.  So amazing, you'll have to pinch yourself to make sure you're really awake!

When:  Monday afternoons from 2-4 

• June 25
• July 2, 9, and 16
  

Join one of America's funniest storytellers, Chris Fascione,  and his not-so-scary, delightfully silly, nighttime stories that provide just the right amount of shivers and giggles!  This unique combination of acting, comedy and storytelling will tickle your goose bumps. 

Ages 3 and older

Tuesday, June 19, 10 am

  Pajamas are welcome but there won't be any sleeping in this not-for-bedtime concert.  Award winning singer and songwriter Nancy Stewart will have you dancing and singing with songs about coyotes, suzzy slippers, and a monster or two and lots more!

  Ages 3 and older. 

• Frog and Toad in the Garden Puppet Show - Wednesday, May 2, @ 10 am
  Toad is excited to plant a garden just like his friend Frog's. He discovers that it is a lot of work!  Enjoy these beloved friends as they garden and have other adventures. Ages 3-6, no registration required.

• Exploring Nature's Secrets - Saturday, May 5, @ 2:00 pm
  Join Sarah Heller from the Washington Park Arboretum for hands-on activities and games. Explore and discover the secrets of plants and other natural critters!  Some activities will be held in our new Discovery Garden. Ages 5-10, families welcome.  Sponsored by the Friends of the Mercer Island Library and University of Washington Botanic Gardens.  Registration is required -- register here. 
• Garden Critters - Wednesday, May 9, @ 10:00 am
  There are many small wildlife creatures that burrow, fly or scurry in our discovery garden just outside the library. Meet some of these wildlife critters through stories. Take a walk through the garden and see where some of these birds and animals live. Make a pine cone critter out of natural materials. Ages 4 and older with an adult. Registration is required -- register here.
  
  
• Draw, Paint, and Write in a Nature Journal - Saturday, May 12, @ 1:30 pm
  Celebrate the season by taking a close look at birds' eggs, nests, insects, trees in their springtime greens, and the earliest flowers, like trilliums. Draw, paint and write about your subjects, and discover insights. Molly Hashimoto will bring field guides and other books about nature, as well as her own journals. Art and writing supplies also provided. KIDS! Please come at 1:30pm to explore the Discovery Garden -- you will find and collect objects to draw, paint and write about. Volunteers and a librarian will be on hand to help. Ages 8-11, parents welcome. Registration is required -- register here.
  
  
• Nature Garden Discoveries - Wednesday, May 16, @ 10:00 am
  Native plants and trees have many shapes, colors and senses. Take a listening walk through the Discovery Garden outside the library. Listen, touch and smell some of the things that are growing in the garden. Enjoy stories about nature and create your own nature garden using natural materials and air dry clay. Ages 4 and older with an adult. Registration is required -- register here.
  
  All programs start in the meeting room of the library.  Please call the library @ 206 - 236 - 3537 if you have questions, or email Margaret Martin  margmart@kcls.org  or  Carrie Bowman  clbowman@kcls.org.
  Photographs courtesy of University of Washington Botanic Gardens
  Watercolor courtesy of Molly Hashimoto
  

30 days, 50,000 words, 1 Novel, A lifetime of bragging rights!
Everyone has a story to tell, including you. November is the perfect time for aspiring writers to get their creative juices flowing. The formula is simple, the deadline is set. Take 30 days and write 50,000 words. Don't worry about grammar or punctuation; don't worry about plot holes or character development, just focus on the artistic endeavor of writing. Come out the other side a different writer, reader and person.

Mercer Island Library wants to support all local writers in this endeavor so we've pulled together a panel of top local authors to discuss, encourage, advise, and nudge you on your way to writing and publishing. 

Come for a Writer's Panel discussion where a select group of authors will discuss the writing and publishing process to give you an experienced point-of-view into the mysterious world of writing.   Books will be available for purchase and signing too!

Mark your calendar!  Our Writer's Panel will undoubtedly engage, enlighten and encourage you to tell your story!

Ann Charles is the author of NEARLY DEPARTED IN DEADWOOD and OPTICAL DELLUSIONS IN DEADWOOD, mysteries full of mayhem, humor, and a splash of romance. She is a winner of the prestigious 2010 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense and the 2011 Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award, and is a member of Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America. Ann's books are published by Corvalis Press.

Candace Dempsey, an award-winning journalist, true crime blogger and travel writer based in Seattle, writes non-fiction and is the author of MURDER IN ITALY, the definitive book on the Amanda Knox case. Her book was nominated for Best True Crime Book Editor's Choice and Reader's Choice 2010 awards. MURDER IN ITALY is published by Berkley.

Jeanne Matthews was born and raised in Georgia.  She graduated fromt he University of Georgia with a degree in Journalism and has worked as a copywriter, a high school English and Drama teacher, and a paralegal.  She currently lives in Renton, WA with her husband, who is a law professor, and a West Highland terrier, who is a prima donna.  Bones of Contention, her first novel, is a mystery set in Australia.  Bet Your Bones is the sequel and is set in Hawaii.  Both are published by Poisoned Pen Press.

Susan Schreyer is the author of DEATH BY A DARK HORSE, LEVELS OF DECEPTION and AN ERROR IN JUDGMENT. The edgy, cozy-type mysteries, laced with humor and romance, are set in the Pacific Northwest, but have gathered fans from around the world. Susan is a member of Sisters in Crime and president of the Puget Sound Chapter. She is self published in e-book and print.  

Image by UW Digital Collections via Flickr

Sunday, October 23, 1pm

Space Needle, science, skyrides, showgirls.  Many nations, monorrail stations, Elvis gyrations.  Belgian waffles, beauty queens, fashion, fine art and spectacular performance.

The 1962 Seattle World's Fair- Century 21 Exposition had it all, optimistically looking ahead to theorize and imagine what the future might hold.

HistoryLink.org staff historians Paula Becker and Alan Stein, co-authors of The Future Remembered: The 1962 Seattle World's Fair and Its Legacy, will show you a colorful history of the Seattle World's Fair.  The 60-minute program includes time for quetions and an opportunity for those who attended the fair to share their own memories of Seattle's signature event.

Come to the Mercer Island Library on Friday, September 23, and Saturday, September 24, anytime from 9 am to 6 pm.  Teens, adults, and supervised children are welcome.

We are planting the Early Learning Garden and painting tiles that will be placed throughout the garden.

Here are the details:

• meet in front of the library
• come for an hour, a few hours, or all day (9 am - 6 pm)
• activities including planting plants, painting tiles, and anything else that helps
• wear your work clothes and shoes
• bring gloves, and if you can, bring kneeling pad(s), trowels, and shovels
• snacks and water are provided (but not lunch)
  

If you have questions, please call the Mercer Island Library.

For more about the Early Learning Garden, check out this earlier blog entry.

You may be wondering about all the activity this summer in the gardens surrounding the library.  First, the ivy removal, then the installation of rocks and stumps for sitting...the construction of stairs...a rebar tunnel...flags waving and beautifully marked wooden posts...What is all the fuss about?

On Saturday, September 17 at 10:30 am

Tully's Coffee and Pomegranate Center will celebrate the hard work and talent donated by people in our community to create Mercer Island Library's Early Learning Garden.  Stop by the library for music, food, coffee, and ceremony!  A plaque will be unveiled and dedicated.

You can see a video about the project on the Pomegranate Center website and find out more about the grant that funded it.