Doctor Who Day

This is possibly my favorite photo ever.  David Tennant is cardboard, and the TARDIS is the one I made.

What can I say about Doctor Who Day?  The idea came from a patron who is a huge fan, and we were off and running.  We picked a day and started thinking up ideas.  I had anticipated we'd get 5-10 people, and was hoping for 20, so imagine my surprise when we had 40 people show up!  Many of them came in costume, too!  We had several Doctors, many with the trademark long scarf, and we even had one 11th Doctor with her friend dressed as a TARDIS!  (I thought I had a photo of them, but I don't! DARN!) We even had one girl who came as a weeping angel, and a classic Whovian in a Doctor Who shirt from the 70s! It was amazing!  The age range was about 5 years old through about 60, and was mostly teenagers; most of the people came in the morning and stayed all day long.  (Said one parent, "I came to pick him up and he didn't want to leave.") 

Of course, we would watch episodes of the TV show; we decided on episodes from the new run of the show rather than classic Doctor Who, because that's what most people are watching, and I asked opinions from many various people about which episodes they thought we should watch.  We ended up with 5 episodes with both the 10th and 11th Doctors.  We had a little extra time at the end, so I had the crowd pick another episode to watch, too.

Just in case you're interested, the episodes we watched were:
“Blink” (season 3, episode 10),
“Silence in the Library” (season 4, episode 8)
“Forest of the Dead” (season 4, episode 9),
“The Pandorica Opens” (season 5, episode 12)
“The Big Bang” (season 5, episode 13)
and by popular vote, "School Reunion" (season 2, episode 3)

Watching your favorite show is more fun when everyone else is into it, too.

Besides the show, which was on all day, we had a trivia contest (with questions culled from various Doctor Who quizzes I found online, which were checked by the fan who wanted Doctor Who Day in the first place).  I had intended to assign point values to the questions and tally up a winner that way, but we had so many people involved that we did it "Spelling Bee Style," where if you got an answer wrong, you sat down, and if you got it right, you'd go to the back of the line.  It was a heated contest, and the winner was excited to get his prize - a wind-up Dalek that patrolled around the tabletop.

Oh, yes! There was also the TARDIS.  This was made (with help by Sophie, who also loaned us her cardboard David Tennant) out a folding partition, some construction paper and printer paper, a pizza box, a plastic blue tablecloth, and a jam jar taped to the top of a light for the light on top.

Not bad, if I do say so myself!

We put this in front of the door, so you had to go through the TARDIS into the meeting room, so it was bigger on the inside.  There was also a Cyberman cake, baked and decorated by yours truly, which was completely gone by noon.

Not a tenth as scary as an actual cyberman. I would like to say this looked better in person, but... it tasted good.

We also went through 9 bags of microwave popcorn and about 6 pitchers of lemonade.  I had not been expecting 40 people in my wildest dreams, so I was unprepared for how much food we needed, but I won't underestimate again.  We have now had requests for other theme days, and we're hoping to hold one a month until people stop showing up.  The next day scheduled is Firefly Day (the space-western Joss Whedon series, not the bug), which will be on March 9. Sci-Fi Saturday is penciled in for May 4.  Others TBD, but they will come. 

So, tell us - what other theme days would you like to see? 

Warm Thoughts for a Chilly Day

Brrr, it's cold out today! 

In a loving nod to the cold, and in order to make it seem more fun and less freezing, today's storytime theme was penguins.  We read penguin books, danced the penguin hokey-pokey (some of us more than others), and made a lovely penguin craft involving both glue sticks and googly eyes (because everything is better with googly eyes).

Last night, we had Jewelry Club for middle and high school students, and we made double-strand beaded bracelets, which are a lot less complicated than they look.  This one's mine:

The girls were having a lot of fun designing their own patterns, and they all turned out great!  Better than mine, if truth be told.  They've asked that next time we meet, we do the same jewelry we've done before, so the people who couldn't come to other meetings get to learn everything.  That works for me!  We'll be making beaded bracelets, recycled paper beads, and duct tape bracelets. 

Speaking of upcoming programs, this Saturday is Doctor Who Day, and I'm getting all geared up for it. We're planning to watch several episodes of the tv show while enjoying some Cyberman cake and some popcorn. There will be a trivia contest at 2 p.m. for bragging rights and a chance to win a special piece of Whovian swag.  Come hang out with fellow fans and get your picture taken with the library's very own TARDIS!  It is optional but encouraged to come dressed from your favorite time period or as your favorite character.  I'm not sure that anybody will come dressed up, but you never know!  You don't have to register for this - just stop on by.

Also coming up:

Next week's Tech Talk will feature guest speaker Cheryl Hayden, who will  be talking about how to use MuseScore, a Free and Open Source Software that works on Linux, Windows, and Mac, which is used for composing, scoring and notating music.  This event will be held on Thursday, January 31, at 6:30 p.m.

February is Love Your Library Month!  Food For Fines Week will be running from 2/12 through 2/16: bring in non-perishable food items and have your fines waived!  Stop by for details about this program. 

We will have Valentine Cookie Decorating for grades K-4 on Saturday, 2/2, and for grades 5-12 on Thursday, 2/14!  You need to register for these programs, so please sign up on our website and reserve your space today!

The Movie Saturday on 2/9 is the newly-on-DVD Tim Burton film about a boy who brings his dog back to life, just in time for the science fair! We will also be watching a movie during the day on Thursday, 2/21, which is in the middle of school vacation week: that one features classic horror movie monsters and the posh resort where they go for vacation! 

Miss Shannon has been working hard planning her Candy Land Tea Party, which will be held on Saturday, February 16.  Kids 5 and older are welcome to join us for stories, games, crafts, and (of course) candy!  You need to register for this program as well;please sign up on our website if you'd like to attend!

For details about these and all our other great programs, please stop by or take a peek at our Event Calendar!


Lucky the Dog is wearing: Gryffindor scarf and warm hat.
Current scratch-n-sniff bookmark scent: gumballs.

New and Exciting Things

It's quite the exciting week at the library! We've been anticipating an upcoming program, and we got a cool new toy!

First, the program: Author David Rottenberg will be coming to visit us on Saturday, March 16, to read his book, Gwendolyn the Graceful Pig.  The story features Gwendolyn, who desperately wants to be a ballerina, and her friend Omar, who very badly wants to play football.  It's too bad they're both pigs!  Will they ever make their dreams come true?  Mr. Rottenberg will be bringing dancers from the Harvard Academy of Dance to perform the story for us, too!  We're excited already!

Some of us are even more excited than others.

If that wasn't enough excitement, we also received a package today that will change our lives! (At least, it'll make them a bit more fun.)  Behold - the newest library acquisition!

Please forgive the poor photo quality.  I was too excited about this to get the camera, so we took it on a cell phone.

It's an inflatable movie screen!  The Friends of the Lawrence Library were kind enough to buy this for us, to make our movie events and video game events even more awesome.  Better yet - it's even bigger than it looks!  If you look carefully, you can see the plastic clips around the outside edges, where the screen clips onto; the screen itself measures 12' on the diagonal, and it stands about 11' tall.  (I am only 5'2", and am in the photo for scale, and to show off my Vanna White skills.)

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm wicked excited about both of these things.  It's a good day to be a librarian.

Lucky the Dog is wearing: Gryffindor scarf and warm hat.  It's cold out!
Current scratch-n-sniff bookmark scent: gumballs.

What Dewey Do At The Library?

Welcome to the official blog of the Lawrence Library in Pepperell, Massachusetts!

This photo was not taken today, as it's currently melty-snow weather. 

The library is a great place to be.  We have books, naturally, as well as audio books and playaways (books on self-contained MP3 players).  We also have music CDs, magazines, and DVDs available to check out; as well as newspapers, board games, and computers to use in-house; and toys in the children's room for the little ones.  We also have live music once a month, an art gallery full of beautiful works of art by local artists, and a collection of local birds.  There are often events going on - check our Event Calendar for details!