and time to Fall into Reading!
Squirrels 
Leaves 
October 30: Halloween
(one of my personal favorites, I will happily admit!) is a bit long and didn't seem to hold the younger children's attention in the morning session -- they just wanted to get right to the part with the scissors and glue!"... As you know, I love our local library, and visit it nearly every week with my kids. We've attended Story Time off and on . . . and always enjoy the songs and stories. I want to express my concern, however, at the particular selection of books presented last Thursday for the preschool age group.
Fairy Houses, by Tracy Kane, seemed innocuous enough -and who doesn't love nature?- but in conjunction with The Care and Feeding of Sprites, by the Spiderwick creators, and alongside Child of Faerie, Child of Earth, Story Time took on spiritual, if not religious, overtones.
As both a woman of faith and an avid reader, I try to foster my kids' imagination while also safeguarding them from darker spiritual elements found in books by the likes of Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. I realize that discerning where healthy fantasy ends and wicca begins is tricky, but in the future I hope to see our public library choose texts more carefully when reading to a diverse group of small children.
I hope that you won't be offended by my input, but I'm quite sure I'm not the only local mom who would prefer a traditional, wholesome curriculum for our little ones."
A is for Apple: Alphabet Fun 
It's Fall! 
Wild Reads @ The Upton Town Library
The 2008 Summer Library Adventure: Final Report
This year’s registration began on Tuesday, June 10, and our Summer Program officially began on Wednesday, June 18 with a kick-off event featuring The University of NH’s traveling theatre troupe performing “The Ugly Duckling” at Nipmuc H.S., and ended with a finale event on Saturday, August 16th, at the Library, featuring free Henna Tattoos, Make-Your-Own Sundaes and a Nintendo Wii system set up with the projection screen in the Children’s Area.
During the 10-weeks, we offered a total of 5 programs, with a total of 18 sessions and 7 events, with a grand total of 1,999 people attending! Registration was open to children ages 1-17, and a total of 601 signed up (86 MORE than last year!) Of that number, we calculated a participation total of 412 (up from 295 last year), roughly 69% (up from 57% last year). Participation was defined as redeeming clock hours as part of the Reading program, and/or attending programs or events. Participants logged 3,241 hours (compared to 3,027 hours in 2007).
TeenTuesdays (ages 12-18) Total from 3 sessions = 35
MagicTreeHouse book club (ages 5-9) Total from 5 sessions = 129
"Our Growing Community" book & gardening club (ages 9-12) Total from 4 sessions = 11
Babysitter Certification Course (ages 11-15) Total from 2 sessions = 30
Spanish StoryTime Total from 4 sessions = 32
Participation and Expense of Events:
New England Aquarium $ 392 ($50 paid by CPC) attendance= 223
Curious George visit $ Free (Friends/B&N) attendance= 201
Rainforest Reptiles $ Free ($500 paid by CPC) attendance= 224
Kick-off (UNH) $ 400 attendance= 293
“BubbleMania” $ Free ($545 paid by Men’s Club) attendance= 297
Finale (Henna Tattoos & Sundaes)$ 100 ($40 paid by FULTI) attendance= 92
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$ 892 (down from $1,000 last year)
Other expenses included:
$ 400 for Incentives (Raffle Prizes, treasure chest prizes, etc.)
$ 200 for Registration Kits (JanWay)
$ 100 for in house events
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$ 700 (down from $885 last year)
grand total: $1,592.00
(Down from $1,885 last year)
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