For a calendar of other Big Read events, click here.

The Beginner’s Crochet Class will meet on five Saturday mornings from 9:30 – 12:00.

The Beginner’s Knitting Class will meet on five Saturday afternoons from 1:00 – 3:30.

Class dates are March 6, 13, 20, 27, and April 3

The classes are free, but as space is limited, registration is required.

A list of materials to bring will be provided upon registration.

To register, stop by the circulation desk or call 797-4816.

For children, we will host two evenings of games and crafts based on adaptations of Twain’s book. On Monday, March 1st, we will be reading The Birthday Boy, in which Tom and his brother Sid learn about honesty, forgiveness, and birthday cake.  After reading and briefly discussing the book, we will play simple birthday games and, of course, have cake!  Children in grades kindergarten and 1st are invited to join us at 6 p.m.; children in second grade may attend our program at 7 p.m.  Registration is required to insure we have enough supplies for everyone.

On Monday, March 15th, we will read The Spelling Bee, in which both Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher compete to win a free ticket to the circus.  We will make circus train magnets and even do some spelling.  (Don’t worry — if you can spell your name, you’ll have no trouble with this activity!)  Again, the 6 p.m. program is for kindergarten and 1st grade, while the 7 p.m. program is for 2nd graders.  Registration again required.

Middle School students are invited to a book discussion of the Classic Starts version of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, adapted by Martin Woodside.  Read the book before the meeting on Monday, March 29th, then join us at 7 p.m. for the discussion.   Contact the library to see about copies of the book — we may have some to give away.   No registration is required for this program.

Adults will have the opportunity to discuss the classic version of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer on Thursday, March 18th at 6:30 p.m.   No registration required.

Tickets for “An Evening with Mark Twain”, a one-man show at the Fireside Theatre on Willow Street, are now available at the library.  Shows will be held on Thursday, February 25th at 7 p.m., and Friday, February 26th at 4 and 7 p.m.  Ask at either the Main Desk or the Children’s Room Desk.

The Highlights:

• Circulation – 80,424 – a 5% increase over 2008 & the highest annual circulation since 2000.
• 39,700 library visits – an 11% increase
• 9,412 uses of the public computers
• 723 new library cards issued
• 4,887 new items added to the collection

How busy was the library in 2009?  One item (book, DVD, magazine, etc.) was checked out every 2.5 minutes.

Check out the full report for more information and stay tuned for a busy 2010!

Regular hours will resume on Tuesday.

For more information about the program, call the library at (607) 797-4816.For more information about the book, click here.

Fiction
• Wild Child: and other stories, by T.C. Boyle
• Burning Land, by Bernard Cornwell
• Queen’s Governess, by Karen Harper
• Brightest Star in the Sky, by Marian Keyes
• Doors Open, by Ian Rankin

Non-Fiction
• Marriage & Other Acts of Charity, by Kate Braestrup
• Independent Investor’s Handbook, by Louis Foreman
• Tears of Mermaids: the secret story of pearls, by Stephen Bloom
• Living Oprah: my one year experiment to walk the walk of the queen of talk, by Robyn Okrant
• White Horse King: the life of Alfred the Great, by Benjamin Merkle

For more information about the program, call the library at (607) 797-4816.

For more information about The Help, click here.

The booklet, entitled Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online is available for download. (Adobe Acrobat Reader Required)

More online safety information can be found at OnGuardOnline.gov