I’m sorry to report our friend and colleague, Nancy Albrecht, is leaving us to enjoy her much-earned retirement.
Nancy has worked at the Avon Lake Public Library for over 24 years, starting in the Children’s Department and then moving to Technical Services where she has served as the Acquisitions Specialist for children’s materials. Nancy processes orders for books and other materials and then receives them and prepares them for the cataloger. It involves a lot of detail work and a good deal of organization. Nancy excels at it. She also works at the Circulation desk where you may have had the pleasure of being assisted by her and been treated to one of her warm smiles.
She’s also a wonder at team work, pitching in for other staff and doing whatever it takes to get the job done. Even more importantly, Nancy is valued for her warmth, her kindness and her evident joy in life. Her co-workers are grateful for her frequent words of encouragement when one of us takes on some new task we’re not quite sure about. And we will miss her laughter (and husband Skip’s gifts of cinnamon bagels whenever Nancy worked a Saturday!).
Nancy plans to spend time with her mother, enjoy her grandchildren Maya, Andrew, Katie, Jack and Henry, and travel with her beloved husband Skip. Our loss is their gain.
Enjoy yourself to the fullest, Nancy, and come and see us all often!
The High Strung played here last night to an enthusiastic crowd. When told of our Picture You Reading Contest, the band members took a moment out for some reading of their own:
Join them in our contest. Just take a picture of you or a family member reading a book in a setting appropriate to the book and send it to us to add to our Library flickr account. Read the rules here. See the photos already in our collection here. And send us your entry at refdesk@avonlake.lib.oh.us.
This Tuesday evening, June 17, this Library will be rockin’! Detroit Garage band The High Strung will be here to lead off our summer reading program with a few hot guitar licks! There will be no shhshing going on here that night (the concert will actually take place on our south lawn – bring your blanket or lawn chair).
With an opening act by Avon Lake’s own sensation, Alana Bilancini, this concert promises to be one of the big acts of the summer here in Avon Lake and is suitable for all ages. The audience will participate in improvising and performing a premier rock ‘n roll composition.
While you’re here, be sure to sign up for one of our three, count them, three, summer reading contests. We’ve got contests, and prizes, for children, teens and adults! And don’t forget our Picture You ReadingContest.
Did you pick out a new puppy or adult dog at our Adopt-a-Stray program today? Or do you already have a dog at home who could use some training or re-training? Join experienced dog trainer Carol Homola of Trained Solid Dog Training and Obedience Center at the Library Thursday night to learn solid techniques to train, or re-train, your canine friend.Carol will provide answers to all kinds of questions about dogs and teach you problem-solving methods to achieve a well-behaved house pet.
The program will begin at 7:30 Thursday, June 12 in the Library Gallery. Only human participants can be admitted to the program but your canine friend will thank you for attending!
Regular readers of this blog and visitors to the Avon Lake Library may recall Rachel’s Mugs. Rachel Miller is a peace corp worker from Painesville working in Guinagourou, Benin. Rachel is working with the community there to build a library and her mom, Susan, who’s a skilled potter, created and sold some gorgeous mugs to raise money for the project. Our patrons and staff purchased many of those mugs. Rachel is home on leave for her sister’s high school graduation and she and Susan stopped by to say hi and give us an update.
All the money has been raised, the foundation poured, and Rachel worked along side community members of all ages to make 8000 huge bricks! The roof, made of tin, will be raised shortly. The first books are on order and six teen intern librarians have been chosen to work under a village teacher’s supervision to staff what is truly a community library!
Rachel, Susan and the people of Guinagourou are grateful for the support of the people of Avon Lake who contributed half the money needed to make this library happen. And we’re grateful for our beautiful mugs (dishwasher and microwave safe even).
Saturday, June 7th, 1-4 pm, Friends of ALPL welcomes local volunteer-run shelter Love-A-Stray. They will bring cats and dogs needing homes to our patio outside the library. The last time they were here, there was a lineup outside the Friends Room, so don’t miss the cute critters and a chance to make one your own.
You might also take this opportunity to find out how YOU can help foster animals. It is a rewarding experience.
Join Joe Reitz, Avon Lake City Engineer and Al, the infamous alligator from the sewer, to learn about the City’s work to preserve water quality and what you can do to assure that you, your family and your neighbors will continue to have fresh, clean water to enjoy.Joe and Al have an entertaining and informative presentation to share and there will be ample opportunity for questions and discussion.Clean, pure, highly potable Avon Lake water will be served.
We’ve been hearing for years about how our book drop was an annoying incovenience for patrons.
Shortly after we built it, we had to re-route traffic in our parking lot that made it impossible to do a driver-side drop-off without chaos ensuing. It was also still desirable to be able to drop off passengers at our entrance.
How to fix? A “double loop” with one exit solves the problems. About $24,000 was used to complete the project. Some folks are still a bit confused, but we are beefing up the signage and adding more stripes and chicanes and chevrons to make it clear. Time will help as well.
Last March, Volunteer Docent Joe Mayo came out to Avon Lake to do a program on the beautiful Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, Ohio. He left Kirtland in a blizzard to come to Avon Lake where the sun was shining and we expected a good turnout for his program. But you know what they say about the best laid plans! Only a small handful of folks showed up that afternoon for his slides and stories and literature. Joe was a good sport about it, but he told me that after the trip he made through snow covered roads, I had better make a trip out to Holden myself!
Last weekend, my husband and I finally made it. We strolled through the beautiful Butterfly Garden filled with lovely flowers and a proud Mama and Papa Goose with their two goslings. We enjoyed the lush Wildflower Garden with its several different ecosystems all in different stages of bloom. We wandered down a couple forested trails labeled “rugged” but quite moderate compared to most parks and studded with benches. I wish I had taken pictures to share with you, but I was too taken with reveling in the beauty to think to record it.
Holden Arboretum would make a beautiful day trip from Avon Lake. It’s about 48 miles from the Library. Much closer than some of the usual summer destinations many of us are foregoing this year. The Arboretum is child and adult friendly with lots of learning opportunities as well as the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful day. When you go, should you run into Joe Mayo, let him know Avon Lake Public Library sent you!
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Posted by Gerry 
Posted by cindythelibrarian 
