Library Blog

New In February at the Library

Our February Master Gardener’s program will be all about Victory Gardens presented by Loretta Craig on Tuesday, February 5 at 4PM. Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany during World War I and World War II.  She will talk about the history of Victory Gardens during the wars and why we should do a Vegetable Garden today.

Our monthly Lego Club is back on February 6th! Join us on the first Wednesday of each month at 4pm to have fun with friends. We have the Legos, idea books, and the space. Legos are a wonderful way to excite children about problem solving and innovative thinking.

We are adding a few new monthly Saturday programs for families and children. On Saturday, February 9th at 10:30am we will host our first Family Storytime geared towards preschoolers. Join Miss Debbie as we have fun learning about Valentine’s Day, create mailboxes to receive special Valentine’s Day cards, and sing some songs.

Our new Toddler Time is starting up on February 16th at 10:30am. It is a fun program for babies up to 3-years with the same rhymes and stories you love with added sensory activities. Miss Emily has some squishy fun planned. One of the best ways for children to learn is by watching the grownups around them, so grownups are highly encouraged to fully participate with their child. Keep up to date with the new programs by visiting our website, www.lansingkslibrary.org.

We will be hosting Cote Smith, author of the new novel, Limetime. It is the prequel to the #1 podcast about a teenager who learns of a mysterious research facility where over three hundred people have disappeared—including her uncle—with clues that become the key to discovering the secrets of this strange town. See the trailer here.

Our next Paint & Sip Fundraiser is scheduled for Friday, March 8th. Doors open at 6pm and painting begins at 6:30pm. The Friends of the Library hold these fundraisers to help support the Reading Program events and prizes, Kids Create, and other special events throughout the year. We hope you will join in the fun as we create a fun painting (see below). The Friends will provide snacks for the evening and you can BYOB. Tickets are available online here or by clicking on the picture below.

Finally, the Library Advisory Board wants to hear from you! Have ideas, suggestions for programming or the collection? Want to share your comments? They are hosting a Question & Answer session at the library on Tuesday, February 26th from 5pm to 6:30pm. We hope you can join us as we continue to plan for the future.

You can find our calendar is on our website under Activities.

See you at the library!

Library News

You asked and we listened. Positive changes began on January 1st. We are happy and excited to bring you extended library hours and checkout periods for books and audiobooks. Our new hours are:

  • Monday                              9am – 6pm
  • Tuesday – Thursday     9am – 7pm
  • Friday – Saturday          9am – 5pm
  • Sunday                               Closed

We also extended our book and audiobook checkout periods from 2 weeks to 3 weeks. We appreciate your feedback and support in making these changes happen. The Library Board will have a Question and Answer session on February 26 from 5:00pm – 6:30pm. Drop in anytime to share your ideas.

Beginning in February, we are adding a few new monthly weekend programs for families and children. On Saturday, February 9th at 10:30am we will host our first Family Storytime geared towards preschoolers. Our new Toddler Time is starting up on February 16th at 10:30am. It is a fun program for babies up to 3-years with the same rhymes and stories you love with added sensory activities. One of the best ways for children to learn is by watching the grownups around them, so grownups are highly encouraged to fully participate with their child. Keep up to date with the new programs by visiting our website, www.lansingkslibrary.org.

We will be hosting Cote Smith, author of the new novel, Limetime. It is the prequel to the #1 podcast about a teenager who learns of a mysterious research facility where over three hundred people have disappeared—including her uncle—with clues that become the key to discovering the secrets of this strange town. See the trailer here.

Our next Paint & Sip Fundraiser is scheduled for Friday, March 8th. Doors open at 6pm and painting begins at 6:30pm. The Friends of the Library hold these fundraisers to help support the Reading Program events and prizes, Kids Create, and other special events throughout the year. We hope you will join in the fun as we create a fun painting (see below). The Friends will provide snacks for the evening and you can BYOB. Tickets are available online here or by clicking on the picture below.

You can find our calendar is on our website under Activities.

See you at the library!

1,958 Books Read!

Thank you to all the patrons who participated in this year’s Winter Reading Program. It was such a hit! We had 94 people read 1,958 books! Last year, we had 76 people reading 432 books. The winners of the Winter Reading prizes were:

  • Basket 1: Brandi Renner
  • Basket 2: Ricardo Vazquez
  • Basket 3: Olivia Stockton
  • Basket 4: Alice Walters
  • Basket 5: Salena McLilly
  • Basket 6: Sofia Vazquez
  • Basket 7: Annie Vodarick
  • Basket 8: Christine Farrington

Many thanks to the Friends of the Library & the Ice Machine Co. for sponsoring the prizes this year. We couldn’t do it without our business partners in the community. If you are interested in sponsoring other events like the Reading Programs and Special Events throughout the year, just let us know.

We want to hear what you have to say – join us on Tuesday, January 22nd at 5:30pm to share ideas with our Library Board members. We are evaluating the services we provide to you and want to know what you think. Help us plan for the future.

We are pleased to announce that author, Cote Smith, will be at the Library on January 23rd at 5:30pm. He has just released his 2nd novel, Limetown, about a teenager who learns of a mysterious research facility where over three hundred people have disappeared—including her uncle—with clues that become the key to discovering the secrets of this strange town.  It is the prequel to the #1 podcast, Limetown.

To keep up with the latest going on at the Library you can sign up for the newsletter by going to our website (www.lansingkslibrary.org)

Winter Reading 2018

Winter Reading 2018 is here! Log your books, attend programs, and donate to the Mayor’s Christmas Tree Program to receive tickets for these awesome family oriented prizes. The prize hats are on display at the library. All prizes are available to all age groups. Register for programs now!

Start logging the books you read between November 17, 2018 and January 1, 2019 by creating an account using these links.

Get a ticket for each book you read, program you attend, and donation to the Mayor’s Christmas Tree project. The calendar is on our website under Activities. Check out the cool Saturday movies being shown! This is for all age groups (including the big people).

 

Writing Contest Participants Celebrated

Those who placed in the top 3 who were able to come read their stories.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Fall 2018 writing contest here at Lansing Library!

All of the stories about why strange things are happening here in the library were so well written and it was hard to choose the top 3 in each age category, but our wonderful judges were able to pick a few. Here are a few pictures from the celebration and readings. Be sure to check out the Leavenworth Times soon to read Colin’s story in its entirety.

Colin R. – Grand Champion Story
Amy R. – 1st Place in the Adult Category
Elyse R. – 1st Place in the Teen Category

Short Story Writing Contest

Strange things have been happening at Lansing Community Library after everyone has gone home. Books falling from shelves, chairs moved around, and lights turning on and off on their own! Who or what has been causing these things to happen? And why?

Age Groups :

  • Kindergarten – 5th Grade
  • 6th Grade – 12th Grade
  • Adults

Turn in your short stories by October 15th to be in the running for one of the gift cards for the top two stories in each category. The Grand Champion’s story will have an excerpt published in the Leavenworth Times. A celebration for all of the contestants will be held on October 30th at the library. Get the details HERE.

1000 Books B4 Kindergarten Program

We are excited to introduce a new way to log your child’s books for the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program.

You no longer have to wait to get new log sheets and print off their milestone certificates. Just log into the website to set up your child’s account and begin reading away! The website is  accessible by clicking on the 1000 Books picture below. Be sure to use your child’s name to set up the account so the certificate has their name on it. Paper copies of the log sheets are still available – we are just offering another way to participate in the program. Stop in to add stickers to the milestone ladder and pick up prizes along the way.

Remember storytimes and Books & Babies count in the reading log. In 2019, join in on our special 1000 Books quarterly events.

Enjoy!

Want to Volunteer?

Have you been looking for an opportunity to volunteer in the community? Have we got a deal for you! The Lansing Community Library is looking for a few adults to help a day or two a week for a few hours in the afternoon. If you are interested, stop by the library to find out more or fill out the volunteer application and bring it in. Some of the opportunities include:

  • Shelving books, DVDs and other library items.
  • Maintaining the order of items on shelves.
  • Assisting with the preparation of materials for craft projects.
  • Assisting with children’s programming before and/or after programming.
  • Preparing library materials for circulation.
  • Partnering with a library staff member to provide outreach services.
  • Gathering, sorting, and preparing library materials for distribution to other NEKLS libraries.
  • Special Projects and other activities as needed.

Help for Your Student?

The School Center and Student Success Skills Center in LearningExpress Library  https://kslib.info/lel) promote skills that are vital for success in high school, college, and in life.  Tutorials for a variety of school subjects and life skills are available for students of all ages.

  • Multitasking
  • Mime management strategies
  • How to memorize
  • How to take notes
  • Research skills
  • life skills such as credit, debt, and money management
  • How to find good sources
  • Understanding and avoiding plagiarism
  • Improving academic writing (includes the benefits using the library and the librarian)
  • Understanding information literacy

Go to https://kslib.info/LEL and click on the tile School Center or Student Success Skills.

Funding for this database provided by the State Library of Kansas through a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Still Time for Fun!

There is still time to get in on all the fun and put your name in for the baskets that were donated by local families and businesses.  We still have Mad Science coming on Saturday, July 21st and our end of the summer tea party on Friday, July 28th. Be sure to register early for the tea party! We will have a special storytime, princesses, and lots of fun.

Visit these links to create your account to log your books:

Adults (18+):      www.wandooreader.com/lansing/adults
Teens (13-17):     www.wandooreader.com/lansing/teens
Tweens (9-12):    www.wandooreader.com/lansing/tweens
Kids (5-8):           www.wandooreader.com/lansing/kids

Toddlers & Preschoolers are able to participate too! Pick up your child’s sheet at the library!

You can stop by the library or give us a call if you have any questions or problems when registering for events or creating your accounts.