I Spy...Back to School!

It seems way too early to start thinking about heading back to school...but it's just three weeks away for children in Bellevue Public Schools (first day of school--Tuesday, August 13th).

Starting school can be an emotional roller coaster ride for children.  There are usually feelings of anticipation, excitement, fear and a myriad of other emotions. Books can help address these feelings and aid in helping children get ready emotionally for school to start.  Stop by the library to pick up some books to help ease your child into another school year.  We have many on display so you can quickly choose a few!

Children can also stop by the "I Spy" Back to School table display.  There are lots of school supplies and some special things to find among it all.  Here is the poem that tells about the game.  (I adapted it from this poem).

What a lot of things to see,
When it’s time for school!
Rulers, markers, and pens for me.
When it’s time for school.
Scissors, pencils, crayons too
Lots of paper and a bottle of glue!
What a lot of things to see,
When it’s time for school!

What a lot of things to find 
When it’s time for school!
Five gold stars, four paper clips;
Three letter Bs are cool.

A rubber band, there’s one or two

Finally, one eraser, blue.

What a lot of things to find,

When it’s time for school!

Jr. Friends Pool Party

At the end of the summer reading program we like to thank our awesome Jr. Friends for all their hard work at library by hosting a pool and pizza party!  We could not have a successful summer program without them!

This year we had an especially great group of kids.  They volunteered many, many hours and didn't fizzle out towards the end!

It has been a pleasure working with you this summer!!

THANK YOU!!

A video of the pool party is available with lots of great pictures and videos from the event.  Email Miss Tammy if you would like to see it.

Summer Reading Winding Down...

Storytime Play Day!

We have a tradition here at the Bellevue Public Library.  During the last week of programming for the summer we host a Storytime Play Day.  It started out, many years ago, as "Water Fun Day" but has developed into so much more!  We invite all children who have attended our Baby & Me or Preschool/Toddler storytimes this summer to join us as we celebrate childhood with water, games, activities, and snacks! This is our second year of having both indoor and outdoor activities.

A special thanks to our Jr. Friends who helped set-up and clean-up!

Here are some pictures of the fun the children had!

Older siblings had fun too!

A great big "Thank You" to all of our wonderful storytime families, children and caregivers!!  Library children's programming will resume in September.  Stop by and say "Hi!" whenever you're at the library!  Have a wonderful "rest of your summer!!"

I Dig the Earth!

Our final Do It Yourself table with a summer theme!!

This week children can do four different activities anytime they stop into the library!

• Build a paper volcano  (here are a few the kids made!)

• Color and decorate a paper shovel 

• Fill in a Mad Lib 
• Do a word search 

The Do It Yourself Table will continue...however, beginning in August it will again have month-long activities versus weekly activities.

July 22-August 4    Dig Into Reading

August 5-August 31    Ladybugs

Park and Read/Lunchbox Storytime

Our final outdoor storytimes of the summer was held yesterday!  It was a warm and sticky day...but we had a great turn out for both events!!  Here are the brand, brand new books we shared today (no barcode or spine label yet--fresh out of the box!)

Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg
by Lori Mortensen; illustrated by Michael Allen Austin

Not Your Typical Dragon
by Dan Bar-el; illustrated by Tim Bowers

Count the Monkeys
by Mac Barnett and Kevin Cornell

Legos @ Your Library News

Today was our last Legos @ your library event for the summer!  We had 7 events with a total attendance of 437!!!!

At each Lego event children could put their name in for a drawing (that is how I gathered statistics).  We gave away these Lego books to these 5 lucky winners!!

Here are some highlights from our events!  To see all the pictures you can visit the library Lego Blog!

Legos @ your library events will begin again in the fall!