Month: May 2020

Sizzlin’ Summer Activities

Posted on by Jamie

Things are heating up at the library! Unfortunately, due to social distancing guidelines, we will not be having in-person programs this summer, but don’t worry! We still have a summer full of reading and fun activities planned just for you!

Reading Logs

Reading logs will be available at both branches beginning June 1st. Once you have your reading log, write down all the library books you read between June 1st and July 18th. If our patrons collectively read 1,500 books, Ms. Stephanie gets a pie to the face! If our patrons read 2,000 books Ms. Stephanie AND Ms. Peggy get pies to the face. If our patrons read 2,500 books, Ms. Stephanie, Ms. Peggy, AND a yet to be determined participant get pies to the face.

But who will be throwing the pies? It could be you! If you read 50 picture books or 15 chapter books, your name will be entered into a drawing for a chance to be a pie thrower!

You can download and print the reading logs for picture books here, chapter books here, and adult books here.

July 18th is the last day to turn in your reading log. Pies will be thrown on July 24th at 10:30 at Aurora and 1:00 at Dillsboro.

Virtual Activities

Virtual activities are fun challenges for you to complete at home with whatever you have around your house! Check out our website each week for further information! You can pick up the full calendar at either branch.

Beginning June 1st

Dress up as your favorite character from a book!

Beginning June 15th

Build a scene from your favorite story!

Beginning June 29th

Try one of our mason jar experiments!

Beginning July 13th

Go on a scavenger hunt and find an item that reminds you of a story.

Take It, Make It

Take it, make it activities are projects that can be done at home with materials you can pick up at the library! Materials can be picked up at either branch. You can also request curbside pick up. Just call 812-926-0646 (Aurora) or 812-954-4151 (Dillsboro) and let us know how many of the activities you need for your family! Check out our website each week for further information. You can pick up the full calendar of activities at either branch.

Beginning June 8th

Shapes

Beginning June 22nd

Sidewalk Chalk

Beginning July 6th

Salt Dough

Beginning July 20th

Bubble Cup

Beginning July 27th

Scarecrow

It’s National Paper Airplane Day!

Posted on by Jamie

May 26th is National Paper Airplane Day! This day commemorates the aeronautical toy that you know and love!

A Brief History of Paper Airplanes

Though most historians agree that the paper airplane was most likely invented in Ancient China, there is also evidence of paper gliders being used in Japan around the same time. That being said, experts have been unable to pinpoint an exact time and location of the first paper airplane. They only know that they have been flown for centuries all over the world.

Paper airplanes gained popularity in the United States during World War II when it was no longer possible to make toys out of plastic or metal. Some of the more popular planes at this time were designed by Wallis Rigby. He published his models as books or box sets, and his designs had a “tab and slot” construction. Rigby’s models are considered collector’s items today.

More recently, with the popularity of paper airplanes growing, enthusiasts around the world started some friendly competition and began attempting world records. Guinness World Records recognizes two main paper airplane records. The first, the farthest flight by a paper aircraft, was achieved in 2012 by Joe Ayoob and aircraft designer John M. Collins in the United States. Ayoob flew the aircraft designed by Collins 226 feet and 10 inches. The second, the longest flying paper aircraft, was achieved in 2010 by Takuo Toda in Japan. Toda’s plane was airborne for 29.2 seconds.

Make Your Own Paper Airplane

Follow these steps to make a basic paper airplane!

Begin with a piece of regular 8.5″ by 11″ paper.

Fold the paper in half vertically. Once you create a crease, unfold the paper again.

Fold the top two corners into the center crease.

Fold the top edges into the center crease.

Fold the paper in half along your original center crease.

Fold the wings down, matching the top edges up with the bottom edge of the body.

Add some tape to hold the wings together, and you’re finished!

 

Check out some of our books on paper airplanes!

                                           

Happy flying!

 

 

 

No Fear Shakespeare

Posted on by Jamie

Have you ever wanted to give Shakespeare a try, but soon realized you couldn’t understand anything on the page? Is your English teacher making you read Macbeth, but you’re unsure what you’re reading? Are you tired of missing the entire Shakespeare category on Jeopardy? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then No Fear Shakespeare is for you! No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete Shakespearean text on the left-hand side with an easy to understand translation on the right! APLD has fifteen Shakespeare plays in this format, as well as a book dedicated solely to his sonnets. The days of not understanding Shakespeare are in the past with No Fear Shakespeare! Get ready to impress your friends with all your Shakespearean knowledge! Check out the examples below of the titles we have available at the library! Click on a book cover to learn more!

 

Hamlet

Original Text

To be or not to be? That is the question-
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And, by opposing, end them? To die, to sleep-
No more- and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to- ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished! To die, to sleep.
To sleep, perchance to dream.

 

 

No Fear Shakespeare Translation

The question is: is it better to be alive or dead? Is it nobler to put up with all the nasty things that luck throws your way, or to fight against all those troubles by simply putting an end to them once and for all? Dying, sleeping—that’s all dying is—a sleep that ends all the heartache and shocks that life on earth gives us—that’s an achievement to wish for. To die, to sleep—to sleep, maybe to dream.

 

Macbeth

Original Text

Out, damned spot! Out, I say!—One, two.
Why, then, ’tis time to do ’t. Hell is murky!—
Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier, and afeard?
What need we fear who knows it, when
none can call our power to account?—Yet
who would have thought the old man to
have had so much blood in him.

 

 

 

No Fear Shakespeare Translation

Come out, damned spot! Out, I command you! One, two. OK, it’s time to do it now.—Hell is murky!—Nonsense, my lord, nonsense! You are a soldier, and yet you are afraid? Why should we be scared, when no one can lay the guilt upon us?—But who would have thought the old man would have had so much blood in him?

 

King Lear

Original Text

Turn all her mother’s pains and benefits
To laughter and contempt, that she may feel—
That she may feel
How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is
To have a thankless child.—Away, away!

 

 

 

 

No Fear Shakespeare Translation

Let it be a wicked child who mocks the mother who cares for it. Make my daughter feel—make her feel how an ungrateful child hurts worse than a snakebite.—Now let’s leave. Go!

 

Julius Caesar

Original Text

Men at some time are masters of their fates.
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Brutus and Caesar—what should be in that “Caesar”?
Why should that name be sounded more than yours?
Write them together, yours is as fair a name.
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well.

 

No Fear Shakespeare Translation

Men can be masters of their fate. It is not destiny’s fault, but our own faults, that we’re slaves. “Brutus” and “Caesar.” What’s so special about “Caesar”? Why should that name be proclaimed more than yours? Write them together—yours is just as good a name. Pronounce them—it is just as nice to say.

 

Romeo and Juliet

Original Text

But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she.

 

No Fear Shakespeare Translation

But wait, what’s that light in the window over there? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Rise up, beautiful sun, and kill the jealous moon . The moon is already sick and pale with grief because you, Juliet, her maid, are more beautiful than she.

 

Midsummer Night’s Dream

Original Text

Love can transpose to form and dignity.
Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind.
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.

 

 

No Fear Shakespeare Translation

Love can make worthless things beautiful. When we’re in love, we don’t see with our eyes but with our minds. That’s why paintings of Cupid, the god of love, always show him as blind.

 

Much Ado About Nothing

Original Text

He that hath a beard
is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than
a man; and he that is more than a youth is not for me, and
he that is less than a man, I am not for him. Therefore I will
even take sixpence in earnest of the bearherd, and lead his
apes into hell.

 

No Fear Shakespeare Translation

If he has a beard, he’s more than a boy; if he doesn’t have a beard, he’s less than a man. If he’s more than a boy, he’s not the one for me, and if he’s less than a man, I’m not the one for him. They say that women who die unmarried are destined to lead the apes to hell, and I suppose that’ll be my fate as well.

 

Check out our other No Fear Shakespeare titles!

                      


                     


                  

What Next?

Posted on by Bobbie

HAVE YOU READ EVERYTHING YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR EVER WROTE?  Sometimes it’s a year or even more until the next book is released. What is a reader supposed to do? Do you wander through the stacks trying to choose by the short blurb inside the jacket, or maybe by the title and the look of the cover? What about choosing something because your friend recommended it? Even though they are your “bestie”, they may read very differently than you do. Bestseller lists are no guarantee that the book will suit your tastes. The library can help; every member of the staff is trained in what is called Readers Advisory. Ask us to help you out, just be prepared to answer a few questions such as “what was the last thing you read that you really liked?” and “what was it that you liked about it?”

If you prefer to find books on your own, but wish there was a better way, the library can help with that too. On our web-page under the online resources tab you’ll find these reading resources:

Novelist

NoveList is a fiction database that provides subject heading access, reviews, annotations, and much more for over 120,000 fiction titles. It also includes other content of interest to fiction readers, such as Author Read-alikes, Book Discussion Guides, BookTalks, and Feature Articles.

eSequels

eSequels is a website that contains information about series. Information is provided about characters, subjects, correct reading order and more. eSequels is the place to learn everything about your favorite book series.

Author Check 

An easy way to track your favorite authors.  Receive email alerts when the library receives a new book by authors you’ve selected. A full database of authors and their books, that the library owns, including author profiles.

Select Reads 

Discovering books that match your interests just got easier with SelectReads. Get monthly emails reading and recommendations customized to match your interests.

To let us help you discover your next favorite author or genre, stop by or go online at www.eAPLD.org 

Ashton’s Literary Ramblings: Suzanne Collins: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Posted on by Ashton

Most of us have either read or seen the film adaptations of the Hunger Games. The series took over every high school, middle school, and even some elementary schools by storm. Many libraries had to buy multiple copies and many families bought their children their own copies of the trilogy.

Me? I never actually bought the books or the movies, but I’ve seen all of them and read all of them. While I wasn’t as obsessed with Katniss and Peeta as I was with Bella and Edward (Twilight), I was still entertained by their story and the idea of the Hunger Games itself.

Coriolanus Snow, the villain from the Hunger Games, is getting his own book! I hated Snow because of the movies and the books; however, maybe this is the author’s way of making us understand his brilliantly evil mind. Aren’t you curious?

Expected Publication Date: May 19, 2020

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the 10th annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to out charm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined – every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute… and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

-Goodreads

It’s going to be interesting to see what made Snow into the tyrant and killer we all have come to know and hate. I’m curious as to how the games were played during the first decade or two of their creation. Hopefully, one day, we get a prequel of this prequel about Dean Casca Highbottom, the man who created the Hunger Games, or even the world before the Hunger Games and why they were created in the first place? With all these ideas that Suzanne Collins has at her disposal, I’m eager to see all that she creates in the world of her making!

Are you going to be reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes too?

It’s National Limerick Day!

Posted on by Jamie

Did you know that May 12th is National Limerick Day? A limerick is a type of poetry, usually humorous and frequently rude, that uses anapestic meter and follows an AABBA rhyming scheme. To help give you a better understanding of how they work, here’s a limerick about limericks.

Gershon Legman, who compiled the largest and most scholarly anthology of limericks, held that the true limerick as a folk form is always obscene. He described the clean limerick as a “periodic fad and object of magazine contests, rarely rising above mediocrity.” However, Edward Lear, who was widely considered the father of limericks, wrote numerous comical, nonsensical, clean limericks that are extremely popular and well known. Here is one of his most well known limericks, “There was an Old Man with a Beard.”

Here’s another limerick to help you celebrate National Limerick Day!

Maine author Bette Stevens has a terrific double limerick about Monarch butterflies on her blog.

 

This blog also has a nice link to a page by Kenn Nesbitt on how to write a limerick.

 

 

 

 

 

All these fun limericks inspired me to write my own about the library! However, I quickly realized “library” is hard to rhyme. So please enjoy my limerick about not being able to rhyme library.

Curbside Service is Now Available!

Posted on by Jamie

We know you miss the library, and we miss you too! For everyone’s safety, we will be resuming our services in phases. Beginning Thursday, May 7, 2020 we will be offering a curbside service for our patrons at both the Aurora Public Library and the Dillsboro Public Library. Here’s how to utilize the service:

 

You may request items from the online catalog (see instructions below on how to do this), or you can give us a call at 812-926-0646 and we will take care of the request for you.

 

 

We will call you when your items are ready to be picked up. Please note that items coming from the other branch may take longer than normal to arrive. We appreciate your patience.

 

 

 Once you receive a call, you may come to the library to pick up your items. Call us when you arrive and we will bring the items to your car.

 

 

If you have items to return, you may give them to us when we bring your new items. Please note that our book drops are open, so you may return your items at your convenience.

 

 

We will offer more services as soon as it is safe to do so. Thank you for patience and support of the library.

 

How to place requests online:

Visit eapld.org and type in the title in the online catalog. Then press Go.

Find the correct item in the list and select Place Hold.

A box will pop up asking you to login. Enter your library card number in the box titled Library ID. Enter your pin in the box titled PIN. Then select Log In. If you do not know your pin number please call us at 812-926-0646, and we will reset it for you.

Once you are logged in a new box will appear. Select your pickup location from the drop down menu, and select whether you want the first available copy or if you want a specific copy. Then select Submit Hold.

 

If the hold went through successfully you should see a green bar at the top of your screen that says Hold(s) Placed Successfully.