It's Almost April!

Good Monday young Pomonans! Weeks fly by so fast around here. It's almost April! (Are you getting your April fools jokes in order?) We are. We're going to have really silly stories in story time. The sillier the better!

Our weekly activities are:

Monday 12-2pm Elf

Tuesday: 12:15pm Preschool story time
3:00pm After school story time

Wednesday: 3:30-4:30pm Grandparents and books.

Thursday: 12:15pm Infant story time

The homework help center will be closed for the next two weeks. If you need homework help, we are here for you but the Cal Poly students won't be.

Joke of the day: How can you tell when a whale is sad?
Answer: By its blubber-ing. :)

New Books at PPL

Good mid-week young Pomonans! It's getting closer to the weekend. :)

These are pictures of new books we got into the library. I used them yesterday in story time. The first one, "What's the Time Grandma Wolf" by Ken Brown is very cute. Several different animals visit Grandma Wolf and each of them asks her what time it was. Eventually is is dinner time and instead of eating the animals she serves them chicken soup and reads them their favorite story. The illustrations are good and picture Grandma Wolf with big white teeth. It is a familiar story with a nice twist at the end.

The second one is "Shoo Fly", by Iza Trapani, is a take off of an old song. It pictures a very cute fly annoying a mouse.

Next is "Butterfly", by Petr Horaek, featuring bright colors. A little girl is playing with a beautiful butterfly which she temporarily loses and finds lots of insects along her way. She ends finding the butterfly being a pop-up on the last page.

Lastly, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", is also a take of of an old song. The illustrations are bright and clear and this ends with baseball facts on the last page.

We have copies of these that check out as well as in our Storyhour Collection. Come in and check them out!

Joke of the day: How did the trumpet do when he auditioned for the orchestra?
Answer: He blew it. :)

Welcome Spring and Peter Rabbit

Fabulous Tuesday young Pomonans! Because it is officially spring and because of the beautiful day we have here in Southern California, I decided to bring out my Aunt Bonnie's collection of Peter Rabbit memorabilia. I had forgotten how pretty it all is. While my Aunt can no longer appreciate it, she gave them to me to display for all you great Pomonans. There are several pieces that are mine but most of the work and care for this collection was hers.

In 1993, it was 100 years since Peter Rabbit had been published. As I recall the Montclair Plaza had artists come out and you could have your pieces personalized. Some of these pieces have Bonnie's name and some have mine. Now that Bonnie is near the end of her life, I can all the more appreciate these pieces and share them with all of you.

Come in and see them. The pictures don't do them justice.

Joke of the day: What would you get if you crossed a rabbit with an amoeba?
Answer: A bunny that can multiply and divide itself! :)

The week of March 23rd:

Blue Morpho Monday
Originally uploaded by Jus' fi

Happy Monday, young Pomonans! Yes, it's Monday again. What is there to do at Pomona Public Library? Let me tell you:

Monday: 12-2pm Come play at ELF

Tuesday: 12:15pm Preschool story time
3:00pm After school story time

Wednesday: 3:30-4:30pm Grandparents and books

Thursday: 12:15pm Infant story time

Remember that the homework help center will be closed for the next three weeks. Ms. Nissa and I will be here to help you on the computers and to help you get books. Come on in and see us.

Joke for the day: Why did the tree travel to his hometown?
Answer: He was searching for his roots. :)

Homework Center Closing for Three Weeks

Happy Friday young Pomonans! As you can see, our homework help center will be closed for three weeks. It as to do with Cal Poly's spring break and your spring break being on two different weeks. They also have to get more volunteers to help staff the center. So for a couple of weeks you are on your own but it will open again in April.

Joke of the day: What kind of music do shoemakers love?
Answer: Sole music. :)

The President Visits Village Academy High School

Greetings, young Pomonans! I drove by Village Academy High School this morning on my way to work. They will meet President Obama this morning and I am so happy for them. They did a very courageous thing by making a dvd on how the economy is affecting them and they sent it to the President. The President viewed it and referenced it in a speech. Now he gets to meet them.

I am so impressed that the President will meet these kids. It seems he really listens to kids. Nothing could impress me more.

Joke of the day: What do DVD players and dogs have in common?
Answer: They both have pause. :)

Village Academy High School on TV

24
Originally uploaded by jchurch

Hello young Pomonans! Be sure to turn on your TV's this weekend to watch our own Village Academy High School. They recorded a DVD entitled "Is Anybody Listening" and sent it to President Obama. He viewed it and mentioned it in a speech.

They will be on:

KCET channel 28
Thursday at 8:00pm
Friday at 8:30pm
Saturday at 6:00pm
Sunday at 6:30pm

They also will be on 20/20 Friday at 10:00pm on ABC channel 7

Let's watch and support our kids!

Joke of the day: What vegetable watches too much television?
Answer: A couch potato. :)

Irish Americana St. Patricks Day Lad/Lass Fond Memories

Irish Americana St. Patricks Day Lad/Lass Fond Memories
Originally uploaded by UpNorth Memories - Donald (Don) Harrison

Good Monday, young Pomonans! Remember that tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. Wear your green! We will have green stories at story time.

Here is our weekly schedule:

Monday: 12-2pm Elf

Tuesday: 12:15pm Preschool story time
3:00pm After school story time
4:00-6:00pm Homework help center

Wednesday: 3:30-4:30pm Grandparents and Books
4:00-6:00pm Homework help center

Thursday: 12:15pm Infant story time
4:00-6:00pm Homework help center

Come on in and see us. We are here for you.

Joke of the day: What do authors have when they're too nervous to write?
Answer: Page fright. :)

The President Hears and Responds to our own Village Academy

,
Once again Diana Sholley of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin brings us good news about Pomona's Village Academy High School. Last January the Daily Bulletin told us about how Mr. Michael Steinman (pictured above) made a dvd of his class speaking up about how the economy was affecting them. It was a very moving experience to watch these young people speak from the heart.

Mr. Steinman's goal was to send the dvd to President Obama and yesterday his goal was realized. The President gave a speech to the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. In it he shared with the nation what he had learned through this dvd that he received from Village Academy High School in Pomona. The dvd is titled "Is Anybody Listening?" In it the students told what they were experiencing at home everyday. They told of their parents losing jobs and how worries of their home life were affecting them at school.

The President's response was amazing. It gave me goosebumps. He says:

"I am listening. We are listening. America is listening and we will not rest until your parents can keep their jobs, your families can keep their homes and you can focus on what you should be focusing on - your own education."

There of course is more to the quote that you can read online. The Daily Bulletin online has a link you can click on. I would put the link here myself but I'm at home and don't have Ms. Nissa here to show me how to do it. ;) (I find it amazing I can actually blog but then Ms. Nissa showed me how to do that as well.)

The article also tells us that ABC's 20/20 was at the school on Tuesday and recorded the students reading the President's response. I for one want to see that and it will be aired March 20th on national television at 7:00pm (Pacific Standard Time.)

Does Pomona rock? Yes it does. I feel so honored to be a part of our city and especially to be in the same city as Village Academy High School. In my job at the Pomona Public Library I have the opportuniy to have teens sit down with me and share what is happening in their lives at home and school. Do I love that? Believe me there is no feeling so special to be a part of their growing up and to watch them grow up in front of my eyes. Pomona gets a bad rap on crime and more so than not the view is that Pomona teens are bad news. I am here to tell you that I see a lot of teens that come through the library and the vast majority are polite and looking forward to a bright future. Some may dress a little scary but don't let that put you off. We all need attention, especially teens. Remember that Village Academy titled their dvd "Is Anybody Listening?"

Yes young and old Pomonans alike. Let's listen to our teens.

March Craft

Welcome back, young Pomonans! This Wednesday we will have our St. Patrick's Day craft. We are making shamrocks! The green shamrock kind of looks like a grazing pasture but it's not! You can see the shamrock outlined on the backside. It will be Wednesday at 3:00pm.

This week at the Pomona Public Library:

Tuesday: 12:15pm Preschool story time
3:00pm After school story time
4:00-6:00pm Homework Assistance Center

Wednesday: 3:00pm St. Patrick's Day craft
3:30-4:30pm Grandparents and books
4:00-6:00pm Homework Assistance Center

Thursday: 12:15pm Infant story time
4:00-6:00pm Homework Assistance Center

Happy week, young Pomonans! If you've got time, stop on in.

Joke of the day: What scatterbrained creature climbed up the water spout?
Answer: The itsy ditzy spider. :)

Library of Hogwarts

Library of Hogwarts
Originally uploaded by LaTur

Happy day, young Pomonans. I found this picture on flickr. Wouldn't it be great to study in a place like this? I loved all the Harry Potter books. It has been fun discussing them with you all. I really wish we had more to look forward to.

Joke of the day:
First cow: Moo
2nd cow: Baa
First cow: What do you mean, Baa?
2nd cow: Oh, I'm learning a foreign language. :)

March Forth Pomona!

Greetings young Pomonans! Today we are featuring our wonderful Friends of the Pomona Public Library. The Friends care about the library by raising funds to support its many programs. One of the ways they do that is to sell used books at a very reasonable price. The pictures here are of the store they opened up a little over a year ago. Or has it been two years? I can't remember. It's like it has been there all along. The Friends volunteer to staff it.

They also have a once a month (2nd Saturdays) book sale. It is located in the basement and you access it from our parking lot. They sell a lot of books here including hardbacks, paperbacks, non-fiction, biographies, children's books, magazines and more! These books might not be as nice looking as the ones inside the Friends bookstore but they are priced accordingly.

Remember also that the Friends accept books if you would like to donate them. The books we don't need to add to the collection will be given to the Friends to sell. That is one way you can help your community after you have finished a book!

So march forth into the library and visit our Friends. They are very nice people!

Joke of the day: What books to owls read?
Answer: Who-dunits. :)

Weekly Activities March 2 Through 7, 2009

Happy Monday, young Pomonans! What happened to February? It went by so fast. Let's try to hang on to March. Here are our activities for this week:

Monday: 12:00-2:00pm Elf stands for Early Learning Family. We put toys out in our
story hour room for young children to play with.

Tuesday: 12:15pm Preschool story time
3:00pm After school story time
4:00-6:00pm Homework Assistance Center

Wednesday: 3:30-4:30pm Grandparents and Books
4:00-6:00pm Homework Assistance Center

Thursday: 12:15pm Infant story time
4:00-6:00pm Homework Assistance Center

Come on in and use the computers and check out books. We are here for you.

Joke of the day: Why was the computer wearing a muzzle?
Answer: So it wouldn't byte. :)