penny

Do you find credit ratings and debt management baffling? Start the new year out right by taking a three part class on Making Sense of Credit and Debt taught by the Michigan State University Extension. Classes begin on January 14 at the Washtenaw County Library Learning Resource Center. Pre-registration is required. Call 734-222-3943 before January 10 to register.

If going to a class doesn’t fit into your schedule, check out a book from the library's collection on credit and debt management like Starting Out by Sheryl Garrett. Start out 2008 with financial knowledge.

Cup Stacking

Spend some time at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum enjoying their Winter Break Cool Adventures Series. Enjoy storytelling with Rowena Conahan, Ron Loyd the Bubbleman, juggling, dancing and more.

Don’t miss cup stacking on Jan. 2 from 1-3 PM with AADL librarians Elizabeth Schneider and Laura Raynor at AAHOM. Try your hand at stacking pyramids. By the end of the afternoon, you’ll be a stacking fiend!

Join the Pokemon Frenzy! Bring your DS and your copy of Pokemon Diamond or Pearl to battle in such places as the Pokemon Union Room or the Hoenn Underground! Prizes will be award to the top two finishers each day. Come at the beginning of the event to register to be in the tournament.

December 26: Level 50 & Under Tournament
Downtown Library Multipurpose Room, 1-5 PM

December 27: Level 51 & Over Tournament
Downtown Library Multipurpose Room, 1-5 PM

December 28: Pokemania Championship
Downtown Library Multipurpose Room, 1-5 PM

Don’t have a Nintendo DS? Don’t worry about it. Come anyway and battle using our house Pokemon. Or bring your XD and have impromtu matches with friends at the event. Hope to see you there!

handsonmuseum

The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum is featuring a family day themed "The Big Freeze" running December 26-31 from 10am-5pm. You'll be able to check out liquid nitrogen demonstrations, hands-on ice cream making, arctic facts and live reindeer. Check the museum's full schedule for those days to see what activities are happening when!
Hands-on Museum, $8 (members and infants free), 220 E. Ann St. 995-5439.

The University of Michigan School of Dentistry and the Mott's Children Health Center in Flint, Michigan have created a website designed to support Kindergarten through elementary school teachers in their efforts to promote healthy oral hygiene and prevent dental disease. Check out an array of lesson plans, activities and worksheets. Help make those Michigan smiles stay healthy and white!

Pair the lesson with some good books from the library like:
Stories to Go: Teeth
Maisy, Charley and the Wobbly Tooth
Vera Goes to the Dentist
Junie B., First Grader: Toothless Wonder

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Take a break from holiday shopping and take advantage of the Twisted Christmas series at the State Theater. Every Sunday in December at 3:30 PM, starting December 2, relax with popcorn while watching Christmas classics and not-so Christmas classics.
The twisted line-up includes:
December 2 How the Grinch Stole Christmas
December 9 Die Hard
December 16 Bad Santa
December 23 Scrooged

For more traditional Christmas cheer, visit the Michigan Theater on December 9 and take part in the Christmas Sing-Along and watch A Muppet Christmas Carol.

Stop by the library on your way downtown and pick up good reading material. We've got a great holiday collection in the Downtown Youth Department that will get you in the mood for Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

Do you have your holiday shopping done? Or started? If you’re in grades 6-12 come to the Northeast Branch December 15th from 1-3 p.m. to make your own wrapping paper for your special gifts!

Laith Alattar kicks off a delightful afternoon on Sunday, December 2nd at 2:00 pm at the Downtown Library with his fabulous instrument, the Oud, for our Arab Family Cultural Celebration. Music, treats donated from Masri Sweets, and a geometric paper rug craft will entertain the whole family.

microwave

Learn how to make delicious dishes and savory snacks in this hands-on workshop. Leave with a fistful of recipes to impress your family and friends.

Join us 2:00-3:30 p.m. Saturday, December 1st.

Ann Arbor home

There’s a nation-wide movement to make neighborhoods more comfortable places in which to grow old. These organized neighborhoods called villages are supported by members of the neighborhood or community. If you would like to find our more about the legal aspects of forming a village, come to the next meeting on Thursday, February 14 at 11:45am in the Malletts Creek Branch Program Room AB to hear Neel Hajra from NEW Center explore the advantages and limitations of becoming a non-profit village. "It Takes A Village" brownbag discussion is sponsored by the Blueprint For Aging.