Updates from Eccles-Lesher!

Come check out our Christmas tree in the entrance of the library! This tree is decked out with the best kind of ornaments around: children from our programs! OK, so the kids themselves aren’t hanging on the tree, but little handmade ornaments with their pictures are! If you know any kids that go to East Brady Headstart, Rimersburg Headstart, Pre-K Counts in Sligo, Helping Hands in Sligo, or the library’s Storytime and Wiggle Time, come see if you can find them on our tree! Thanks to all the great kids who participate in our programs!

Eccles-Lesher Memorial Library would like to thank all the patrons, organizations, and businesses that have shown us support during 2008, our 40^th anniversary year. We’ve made a lot of progress at the library and we hope to continue this upward trend, even in these strained economic times. Just to show how much we appreciate everyone’s help and patronage, the week of December 15^th through December 20^th will be Patron Appreciation Week! We will be offering our ever-popular coffee bar during our hours of operation. Stop in for a hot cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate and enjoy while you read the local news or check out a magazine. We will also have two of our awesome fine deals going that week. For every $1 you put toward any fines you currently have, we will take $2 worth of fines off your account! Also! If you bring in any overdue materials during the week of the 15^th through the 20^th we won’t charge you the fines due on those items! These are really sweet deals! Start off 2009 right by clearing all your fines at the library, then have a warm cup of coffee or hot chocolate to celebrate on us!

If you’re between the ages of 13 and 17 and like to play games of all kinds, you should pick up a permission slip to attend our Teen Game Night here at the Eccles-Lesher Memorial Library on Friday, December 19^th from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. We’re closing down the library at 5 p.m. to give teens the run of the place! Figuratively speaking that is! All 10 computers in our computer lab will be open for teens to play. We’ll have an XBox 360 set up with Rockband 2 and possibly other games throughout the evening. Board games, various card games like Magic, D&D, snacks, and no cranky adults telling you to shush!!! Space is limited for this event so pick up a permission slip which must be signed by a parent or guardian before attending. Any questions just call Rachel or Sharon at 473-3800!

Speaking of games, every Wednesday the library offers Guitar Hero 3 or Rockband 2 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. for pre-teens and teens ages 10-17. Thursdays are Halo 3 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. If you enjoy playing against other people in person come on down to the library community room where we project the game up on the wall. Bigger is better! Permission slips are required for these activities, so make sure to pick up a slip and get it signed by a parent or guardian!

Teen Book Discussion Group – Lit and Latte on Monday, December 22^nd at 3:30 p.m. at the library: Ever wondered what would happen if some catastrophic natural disaster were to happen on a global scale? Author Susan B. Pfeffer takes on this grave topic in her young adult novel, Life as We Knew It. This book follows the story of Pennsylvania teenager Miranda whose life is turned upside down when a meteor hits the moon, pushing it closer to the earth. This seemingly insignificant event ends up causing all kinds of havoc including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcano eruptions, food and gas shortages, along with extreme weather changes. Follow Miranda’s day-by-day journal entries through this thought-provoking and engaging story. Pick up a copy of this book at the library and come join the discussion!

Other programs running through the rest of December:

Wiggle Time every Monday at 11 AM with Judy Bashline! – One hour of supervised play time for children up to five years old. This is a great time for them to play with other children and make new friends! Monday, December 22^nd will focus on blocks, while Monday December 29^th will be geared toward toys!

Storytime every Thursday at 1 PM with Nancy Shanafelt and Judy Bashline – A 45-60 minute program for 3 to 5 year olds. Nancy and Judy read stories to the children and then do a craft with them, providing snacks and fun! Thursday, December 18^th they will be reading My Penguin Osbert by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel. The craft for that program will be creating penguin snow measures so you can tell how deep the snow is outside!

Special Hours for the Holidays: The library will be closed Wednesday, December 24^th through Friday, December 26^th for Christmas. We will also be closed Wednesday, Decmeber 31^st and Thursday, January 1^st for New Year’s. We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Safe New Year!!