National Library Week The library has something for everyone, and now’s the time to celebrate that fact! National Library Week is April 12-18, 2015.

Join us to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. All types of libraries-school, public, academic and special-participate, and we’re no exception. In fact, we’ve got lots of events planned for the whole family. Remember, all programs are free. We hope you’ll join us!

Tai Chi Maring-Hunt Library Daily, April 13-17, 3:30pm Enjoy a relaxing hour of tai chi with instructor Sara Lyttle. Tai chi is an ancient Chinese form of exercise involving a series of movements performed in a slow, focused manner and accompanied by deep breathing. Never tried tai chi? No problem! All skill levels welcome. Sign up at the Maring-Hunt Circulation Desk, the Maring-Hunt Information Desk, or by calling Dennis at 741-7331.

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“We value our relationship with each other and the community and will treat everyone with respect and courtesy.” That is one of the Library’s stated values. It is a value that guides our words, actions and policies. We welcome everyone, regardless of circumstances, affiliations or beliefs.

Once the crippling lash of discrimination has been witnessed or felt, it is difficult to understand how one could perpetrate or encourage it through words, actions or policies. The insidious nature of prejudice and its evil twin, discrimination, requires people of good will to engage in conversation and shed light on what follows in their wake.

The Library will be exploring the nature of discrimination and prejudice in the months ahead. We will be partnering with others as we expand the conversation and explore what we value as a community and as a city.

Enjoy,Ginny Nilles, Director

Image is from the website Open For Service, created by Indianapolis resident, Josh Driver.

Library ConnectionsApril 2015

We Heart Volunteers!

At the Library, there’s always work to be done: books to be checked in, papers to be shredded, and shelves to be dusted. Our employees are great at keeping the library in tip-top shape, but we receive enormous help from our dedicated volunteers, who help make our Libraries better places for everyone!

That’s why we’re hosting a Volunteer Fair on Tuesday, April 14 from 1-6pm at all MPL Libraries. If you’re a current volunteer, stop by the Library where you volunteer for free refreshments and heaping praise from Library staff.

If you’re not a current volunteer, but would like to be, stop by the Volunteer Fair at any location to learn more about how you can make a

difference at your Library. We’ll have a list of available opportunities and volunteer registration forms.

Food Dudes Maring-Hunt Library, uDo CenterApril 14, 1-5:30pmThis great program for kids and adults lets you turn a fruit or vegetable into a person! Use decorations and supplies to make the best grapefruit girls or broccoli boys in town. Come in and craft anytime between 1-5pm. Winners will be revealed at 5:30pm.

Library Discovery Day Maring-Hunt LibraryApril 15, 3-6pm The library is more than just books and movies. Discover how to start a family tree, download streaming music and movies for free, watch our 3D-printer in action, and much, much more! We’ll have information tables set up around the building for your browsing pleasure.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 (PG-13) Maring-Hunt Library April 16, 4:30-7pm Join us for a free showing of the thrilling hit movie, Mockingjay, Part I. We’ll also provide free popcorn for the perfect movie-going experience. Late Night Storytime: Wild, Wild West Kennedy Library April 17, 6pm Can’t make our regular morning storytimes? No problem! Kids and parents of all ages can join us for this evening-hour storytime. April’s theme is the Wild, Wild West.

National Library Week (continued)

Get Growing with MPL’s Seed Swap If you’re the type who relishes the feeling of dirt underneath your fingernails, you can break ground a little earlier this year thanks to our seed swap! Gardeners of all ages and experience levels are welcome to stop by Kennedy Library on Saturday, April 18, from 2-4pm.

Says seed swap organizer and Kennedy Library Branch Manager Mary Lou Gentis, “I got the idea for the program after a [library program attendee] shared some red sunflower seeds with me...it occurred to me that I should bring her some seeds of my own to pay her back.”

To participate, bring your extra seeds--hand-gathered or store-bought--to trade with fellow gardeners. This event will take place in the grassy lot on the north side of Kennedy Library. In case of rain, the event will move inside to the Meeting Room.

Community Seed Swap Kennedy Library April 18, 2-4pm

It might be hard to imagine the classic storybook line ‘once upon a time’ paired up with a computer science club, but that’s exactly what a new Library program will do. Google’s CS First is an after-school computer science club dedicated to increasing 9-14 year-olds’ exposure to technology through a variety of modules and subjects. Miranda Elias, a Digital Mentor at Maring-Hunt’s uDo Center, will lead Muncie Public Library’s club and will focus on a storytelling module.

“I think it’s important to give kids a chance to work on their writing skills; to let them be creative and let their imaginations run wild as they get to tell their own story,” said Elias.

The club will meet weekly on Thursdays at 4:30pm from April 2 through May 21. Each week, varied activities will expose participants to aspects of storytelling--such as dialogue, setting, and characterization--through Scratch, an animation software developed by MIT.

According to Elias participants will benefit in a number of ways, “I hope that participants gain confidence in problem-solving and computer skills. I want them to understand what they can create on the computer.”

Computer Science Club: Storytelling Maring-Hunt Library, uDo Center Thursdays, April 2-May 21, 4:30pm

Learning Technology Through Storytelling

All Muncie Public Libraries will be closed on Sunday, April 5, for Easter. Have a safe and happy holiday!

The Dolch Word List is a list of commonly used words originally compiled by Edward William Dolch, PhD and published in his 1948 book, Problems in Reading. Dolch com-piled the list based on children’s books of the period, and selected 220 “service words” which children need to recognize to achieve reading fluency. Why are they called sight words? Many of the 220 words in the Dolch list, cannot be “sounded out”, and must be learned by sight, according to the Dolch Sight Words website.* MPL will be promoting this word list as part of our mission to help all children be pre-pared for learning and reading We will post a few words from this list each month for you to share and review with young readers in your life. Here are this

month’s words:

• Kindergarten & 1st grade: they, this, too• 2nd grade: found, green, upon• 3rd grade: better, cut, done

All Libraries Closed for Easter

Sight Words for Young Readers

You use Muncie Public Library to explore, discover, imagine, and create.

Now, you can help others do the same.

Donate to Muncie Public Library by mailing your check to: 2005 S. High St. Muncie, IN 47302to support reading, learning, and discovery!

Upcoming Genealogy Workshops

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Looking to get in touch with your roots? Lucky for you, the Library will be hosting not one, butthree upcoming sessions about all aspects of genealogy. Learn everything from online research strategies using popular sites like Ancestry.com, to preserving your own family memorabilia, to learning about how the library can assist you in your family history search. Mark the following dates on your calendar:

Genealogy 101: Information TableMaring-Hunt Library April 15, 3-6pmVisit the genealogy table at Maring-Hunt during National Library Week to learn how to get started with your family history research. Pick up a free family tree chart, see a demonstration of Ancestry.com, and find out how the library can help you discover your roots.

Find the complete Dolch Word website at: http://www.dolchsightwords.org/index.php

Upcoming Genealogy Workshops (continued)

Coming in May: Book Club Selections

A User’s Guide to “Find a Grave”Carnegie Library April 21, 6:30-8pm“Find a Grave” is a free website popular with genealogists. Volunteers contribute photographs of gravestones, obituaries, cemetery information and memorials and make it publicly available for other genealogists. To date, there are over 121 million grave records indexed on the site. Occa-sional users, prospective volunteers and experienced contributors will have the opportunity to learn effective strategies for using and contributing to the FindAGrave.com website. Presenter Jennifer Lewis will discuss topics such as creating memorials, sources, and site management responsibilities, among others.

Preserving Your Family’s StoryCarnegie Library April 28, 6:30-8pm Presented by Maria K. VanVreede, Museum Collections Manager at the Academy of Model Aeronautics, National Model Aviation Museum.

April 26-May 2 is National Preservation Week! In honor of the occasion, we’ll be hosting a program to show you how museums care for historic treasures, and we’ll help you learn practical ways you can implement the same methods at home. Your grandmother’s wedding dress, your dad’s collection of fishing hooks, and your children’s crayon drawings and baby photos are all vital parts of your family’s story and memories. Make sure they stay intact for generations to come! Participants are encouraged to bring artifacts to the workshop for specific discussion and review.

Reading Circle Book Club The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard FlanaganMay 11 at 12pm (Noon) Kennedy Library Taking its title from 17th-century haiku poet Basho’s travel journal, The Narrow Road To The Deep North is about the impossibility of love. At its heart is one day in a Japanese slave labour camp in August 1943. As the day builds to its horrific climax, Dorrigo Evans battles and fails in his quest to save the lives of his fellow POWs, a man is killed for no reason, and a love story unfolds.

Taking its title from 17th-century haiku poet Basho’s travel journal, The Narrow Road To The Deep North is about the impossibility of love. At its heart

is one day in a Japanese slave labour camp in August 1943. As the day builds to its horrific climax, Dorrigo Evans battles and fails in his quest to save the lives of his fellow POWs, a man is killed for no reason, and a love story unfolds. (continued)

Photo of the MonthFamilies had a blast at our Thomas the Tank Engine program, where kids rode in train cars made of cardboard boxes. This picture first appeared on our Facebook page.

KB Book Club This Is How You Lose Her by Junot DíazMay 14 at 6:30pm Kennedy Library

On a beach in the Dominican Republic, a doomed relationship flounders. In the heat of a hospital laundry room in New Jersey, a woman does her lover’s washing and thinks about his wife. In Boston, a man buys his love child, his only son, a first baseball bat and glove. At the heart of these stories is the irrepressible, irresistible Yunior, a young hard-head whose longing for love is equaled only by his recklessness--and by the extraordinary women he loves and loses: artis-tic Alma; the aging Miss Lora; Magdalena, who thinks all Dominican men are cheaters; and the love of his life, whose heartbreak ultimately becomes his own.

Books on Tap Book ClubLost Horizon by James HiltonMay 26 at 6:30pm at Savage’s Ale House Downtown (Participants must be over 21) While attempting to escape a civil war, four people are kidnapped and transported to the Tibetan mountains. After their plane crashes, they are found by a mysterious Chinese man. He leads them to a monastery hidden in “the valley of the blue moon” -- a land of mystery and matchless beauty where life is lived in tranquil wonder, beyond the grasp of a doomed world.

Coming in May: Book Club Selections (continued)

Are You Social? We’re Social.

All book descriptions courtesy of goodreads.com

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