New Library Hours, starting in July

Due to town-wide budget reductions for fiscal year 2009, and the failure of a prop 2 1/2 override proposal, the Upton Town Library must reduce its hours of operation from 40 to 38 hours per week.
We will be closing 2 hours earlier on Friday afternoons.

Starting July 1st, 2008 our new hours are:
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 10am-8pm
Friday and Saturday: 10am-2pm
Sunday and Monday closed.

If you have any questions about our change in hours of operation or other effects of the town budget reductions on library services, please contact Matthew Bachtold, library director.

Curious George visited the Library yesterday!!

It was a beautiful day on Friday afternoon, and approx. 200 people came to the library, between 2 and 4pm to meet Curious George!! Thanks to the Friends of the Upton Town Library, and Barnes & Noble of Millbury, for making this fun event possible!

(Friends of the Library volunteers offered snacks and face painting for a donation on Friday, and will be here again on Wednesday! THANK YOU, Friends!!)

Don't miss this week's special events:
Lil' Folk Farm will be here on Wednesday, from 1-3pm, and then our Summer Kick-Off Event: a LIVE THEATRE Performance of THE UGLY DUCKLING behind Nipmuc Regional HS, beginning at 6:30pm!

Hope to see you there!!

more Summer Reading info ...

When you register for the Summer Reading Program, you may also choose to register for some of the specific reading groups that we're offering this year, such as the BRAND NEW Spanish StoryTime, which will be offered on 4 Tuesday mornings during the Summer, at 10:30, in the Library. The dates for this program are as follows: Tuesdays July 1, 15, 29, and August 12. This program is intended for children entering grades K-3 in the Fall, and Readers will be middle school students from the Mendon-Upton Regional School System's Spanish-Immersion Program. The students will read 2 stories aloud in Spanish, and then lead the younger children in a related arts & crafts activity, with each session having a different theme, in keeping with the overall theme of Wild Reads.


Other book groups include The Magic Tree House Book Club intended for ages 5-8, based on the popular book series of the same name. This group will meet 5 times, on Wednesday mornings (June 25, July 2, 9, 16, 23) at the Memorial School Media Center at 10:30. Children in this group will be encouraged to read a book from this series each week and be prepared to discuss it at the next meeting, and do a related arts & crafts activity. They will also be guided and encouraged to do some research on the specific topic covered each week. Since we will not be reading the books in sequential order, if you're not familiar with the series you may want to read the first few books ahead of time, on your own. I will be introducing the series at the first session and letting you know which 4 books we will be reading as a group at that time. Copies of the book to be read for week 2 will be available to check out at the first session. Please register in advance for this group, at the library, when you sign-up for Summer Reading!

For 9-12 year olds, I am working on a book group called "Our Growing Community: A Summer Reading & Gardening Club" which I am really looking forward to! This group will meet 4 Tuesday mornings at 10:30, at the Library (June 24, July 8, 22 and Aug.5) and will read some books, including Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman and do some actual gardening! There will be a creative writing and/or art 'assignment' as well!
Please register in advance for this group, at the library, when you sign-up for Summer Reading!

Wild Reads at the Upton Town Library!

Registration begins THIS week!!! The first day to register for the 2008 Summer Reading Program, Wild Reads @ Upton Town Library is Tuesday, June 10th, but registration will be ongoing all summer long.

When you register for the program, you will receive a cool bag filled with surprises, including some discount coupons, a bookmark and your Reading Log, which you will use to keep track of the time you spend reading. Each clock on the log represents 1-hour, and for every 2 hours you read, you can choose a prize from our Treasure Chest! Stop by soon to sign up and start reading! Although you can start tracking your reading time as soon as you sign up, the Treasure Chest will not be open until after the official 'kick-off' of the Summer Reading Program next week, so the first day to get prizes will be on Thursday, June 19th.

Don't miss any of our fun family events scheduled for this month!

Check out the Summer Reading Lists from our local schools, by clicking here.

Happy Reading!!

Summer Reading Lists from Local Schools

To view the Summer Reading Assignments for the schools in Upton, click here!

Fun is Sprouting at the Library!

StoryTime has had a spring theme over the past couple of months, with stories about rain ("April Showers Bring May Flowers"), frogs , and ducks in April; and lots of flowers in May!

On May 15, we planted Sunflower seeds! After 2 weeks, I brought the ones we planted at the library home to transplant in my garden because they were getting so big!

I planted a few more at the Library so we can watch those grow, too! The kids who planted seeds to take home that day have been reporting their growth progress each week!

Last week we read stories & learned all about a different yellow flower, DANDELIONS!
Today we read stories and learned about sunflowers and the birds that like to eat their seeds! Here are some pictures of recent crafts we've done, including today's participation!