On your mark...get set....

GO! 
The race is on.  The Amherst Public Library’s ninth annual Amherst Scavenger Hunt is underway. Pick up an entry form at the library and identify each of the twenty-five photos taken in downtown Amherst.  All photos were taken within easy walking distance of the library so there’s no need to worry about the price of gas.
The last day to turn in entries is Saturday, August 20.  One grand prize winner will be selected from all the completed entries. Forms will be available soon online.  Pick up a form upstairs at the library and get started today!

What's your dream?

Are you dreaming BIG this summer?  Do you have a dream for the future, or a dream for the moment?  Consider sending us a photo that we can share of what your dream may be.  Here's one example of someone Dreaming BIG.

Learn to Juggle

Today at 2 p.m. Matt Jergens will be at the Main Street Community Center (255 Park Avenue) bringing his comedy juggling act to Amherst.  Matt was one of our most popular programs last summer and he is back by popular demand for another program and juggling workshop.  Be amazed by his unicycle act, by his unusual choice of objects to juggle, and be amazed at how much you can learn.

The show begins at 2 p.m. and afterwards we'll break into groups for the juggling workshop.  Last year Matt brought in spinning plates, Chinese spools, and scarves for us to try our hand at learning to juggle.

Summer reading is all about fun.  Keep in mind that this week you can also attend Magic 101 on Thursday, June 28 at 6:30 p.m. here at the library with Professor Zap.  If you're in grades 4 or even if you're 104, you can learn a bit of magic to entertain your friends.  Learn something new this summer!

Space out

This Thursday, June 21,  is the big Sky Dome planetarium show.  Join us at St. Joe's School gym for a virtual field trip through the universe.  The show lasts about 45 minutes and takes you through our solar system for an up close look at Saturn and its moons as well as a look at the Milky Way. 

Sure it looks like a giant silver slug and you can crawl inside where you'll find more than 120,000 LED lights that are synchronized to showcase a sun rise and sun set, the Northern Lights, and even a lesson on the mythological creatures behind some of our constellations.  Any Percy Jackson fan will want to be on hand for that.

The dome will hold up to 75 people and showtimes will start at noon, 1, 2, 4, and 5 p.m.  Once a showtime is over we'll start ushering in the next group.  Seating is on a first come basis and there is no need to have a ticket or register.

Kindergartners as well as adults will enjoy the show so bring the family. 

It's Just Lunch

Members of the library's teen summer reading program stopped by today for It's Just Lunch.  Everyone enjoyed the culinary skills of Mrs. Ashton and Mrs. Stanley along with some Guitar Hero and X-Box Kinnect.  I think the Kinnect Sports won out as a favorite with teens trying their skills at the field games including the 100 yard dash and the hurdles. 

Everyone in attendance put their name in a raffle and when the gong sounded every ten minutes we drew a prize winner.  There were some sweet prizes like cotton candy and of course Nerd ropes.  I think everyone was a winner...in more ways than one.

Stop by next Monday at 2  p.m. when we'll have Mike Leuszler in the house for our super hero drawing workshop. 

Magic Tonight

Just a reminder that Professor Zap will be at the Main Street Center, 255 Park Avenue, tonight at 6:30 for Magic 101.  He'll be demonstrating some of the tricks you can learn at our upcoming series of magic workshops as well as entertaining the crowd with his own repetoire of tricks.

The library has lots of books for instructing magicians of any age.    Amazing magic tricks : apprentice level by Norm Barnhart is part of a series that takes young magicians through several levels of tricks.  Great beginning card tricks for smaller hands and other sleight of hand illusions that can be done with simple items you already have around the house make this a favorite for anyone looking for a general book that will cover a variety of topics.

 

Another series called Inside Magic includes the title Close-Up Magic.  These books by Nicholas Einhorn have a table of contents so you can zero in on the type of trick you'd like to learn.  Here is where you'll find classics like the Ping-Pong Balance and the Indestructible String.  Others in the series include a nice volume on Stand-Up Magic and Optical Illusions. 

I've always loved card magic but found advanced tricks to require a lot of practice and hand moves that were difficult for smaller hands.  Magic with Cards is a book in our children's non-fiction section that has all the good card tricks like Surprise Aces and the Magnetic String.  Many of these tricks are easy to learn. 

Remember Harry Houdini originally performed as the "King of Cards" at the beginning of his career.  It was later that he develop his escape act.  Once you master a few of the easier tricks try out The Complete Course in Magic by Mark WIlson.  Mark was just eight years old when he watched a magician perform and decided that this was something he wanted to do.  Later in high school he worked part time at a magic supply store and later went on to become known around the world for his live performances and his television work.  This volume is a complet education in magic with plenty of black and white drawings to guide you.

My favorite magic book is....wait, if I tell you then it will always be checked out.  I think I'll just keep that one to myself.  But if you find the magic book written by a young man from the Akron area...I think it will become your favorite, too.

Put it in a jar...

The stage is set and the curtain has risen on yet another summer reading program here at the Amherst Public Library.  Our first craft day starts off today and remains open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.  Stop in and make a dream jar.  Keep it by your bedside, carry it with you on vacation, hide it away in a secret place. Whatever your dream it's all up to you to make it your own.

Following their dream...

Need inspiration?  Need validation of your dreams and goals?  Check out Weapons of Mass Creation taking place this weekend.  It's a weekend dedicated to design, creativity, entrepreneurship and community activism. 

Speakers like Johnny Cupcakes, who took a joke and turned it into a multi-million dollar company starting at age 19.  Kate Binghaman Burt is listed as a creative dynamo who began her dream of being a news anchor and realized her dream when she began teaching drawing.

Get inspired.  Read the blog, explore the website, get up and go.  Dream BIG.

What's your creative dream...