Crafts
Felt Ball Fun!
Saturday March 11, 2017: 2:00pm to
3:30pm
Pittsfield Branch: Program Room
Grade K - Adult
Public Event
Ultimate Design Challenge
Tuesday August 22, 2017: 2:00pm to
4:00pm
Downtown Library: Secret Lab
Grade K-5
Public Event
Ultimate Design Challenge
Tuesday August 15, 2017: 2:00pm to
4:00pm
Downtown Library: Secret Lab
Grade-K-5
Public Event
Ultimate Design Challenge
Tuesday August 8, 2017: 2:00pm to
4:00pm
Downtown Library: Secret Lab
Grade K-5
Crafts
Ultimate Design Challenge
Tuesday August 1, 2017: 2:00pm to
4:00pm
Downtown Library: Secret Lab
Grade K-5
Public Event
Science Fun with FEMMES
Saturday April 8, 2017: 1:00pm to
2:30pm
Westgate Branch: West Side Room
Grade 2 - 6
Blog Post
From the Page to the Screen: Hidden Figures
by PizzaPuppy
The new movie Hidden Figures is in theaters now, and is already generating positive reviews and a plethora of award nominations. This amazing true story, first published as Hidden Figures: the American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly, chronicles the trials and tribulations of a group of extraordinarily talented and dedicated African American female mathematicians, whose calculations launched John Glenn into Earth's orbit and won the space race. These "human computers" used slide rules, pencils, and adding machines to perform the advanced mathematics needed to calculate trajectories, launch windows, and navigational charts in case of electrical failures, among others. These brave women faced adversity through sexism and segregation, but persevere through it all to become key players in evolution of NASA and space exploration. This amazing story is also available on audiobook and Large Print.
Author Margot Lee Shetterly will be speaking at Rackham Auditorium on January 24th from 4-8:15 PM. More information is available here.
Looking to learn more about the phenomenal women scientists that propelled us into space? Check out Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars (also available here in Large Print. Or learn more about the many women who have since traveled to outer space through items such as Promised the Moon, Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, and Astronaut Pam: Countdown to Commander (an especially interesting nonfiction movie that follows Commander Pam Melroy and her crew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery). We also have books about women inventors, such as Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women.
Also check out our resources regarding two very famous pioneering female astronauts: Mae Jemison and Sally Ride. Books on Sally Ride for an adult audience include this photobiography and Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space. To the Stars, Sally Ride: Life on a Mission, and Who Was Sally Ride? are all intended for kids interested in learning more about Sally Ride. We also have many resources on Mae Jemison, the first African American woman to travel to space, such as this biography, You Should Meet Mae Jemison or Mae Jemison, Awesome Astronaut!. You can even read books written by the astronaut herself, such as The 100 Year Starship.
Just into space? We have lots for you to check out here at the library, such as Eyewitness Space Exploration, or the Astronaut Handbook. The Dream is Alive is a fascinating DVD that uncovers life on a space station, and witnesses the first space walk performed by an American woman. We also have a Library Space Camp program for kids coming on Thursday, April 6th at the Downtown branch, where you can learn all about what makes a successful astronaut and complete cool space activities.
Blog Post
New Picture Books!
by manz
The new book section at AADL is full of amazing finds! Fiction, non-fiction, youth, teen, and adult! Here are few favorite picture books I found recently.
Kevin Henkes does it again with Egg. It’s a darling story about eggs ready to hatch, and one that just won’t. When it finally does it's a wonderful surprise. With simple words and pretty colors the story demonstrates waiting and friendship. Kids will enjoy the repetition and simple images.
A Greyhound, A Groundhog by Chris Appelhans is a simple and silly book with repeated text featuring rhymes and tongue twisters, as a greyhound and a groundhog go around and around from page to page. I really love the watercolor illustrations in this one.
In Lucky Lazlo by Steve Light a young boy finds a rose and plans to take it to his friend’s play to give to her after her performance. But on the way a cat crosses his path and chaos ensues. The book also includes a lovely author’s note which lists the many superstitions in theater and stage that are found throughout the book. And yes, the illustrations are wonderful.
Crafts
Scientists, Crafts, and Women!
Saturday March 25, 2017: 2:00pm to
3:00pm
Downtown Library: Secret Lab
Grade K-7
Blog Post
Coming Soon: Writing Contests for Kids and Teens!
by krayla
Come one, come all for the amazing, spectacular, once-every-year-without-fail WRITING CONTESTS hosted by the Ann Arbor District Library! Starting on Monday, January 16, kids can enter the 3rd-5th Grade Short Story Contest and teens in grades 6-12 can send works of flash fiction or short stories to the "It's All Write!" Teen Writing Contest. Guidelines and writing resources are currently available for both contests, so get out your pencils, your keyboards, your quills, or your styli, because it's about to get EPIC.