Blog Post
Ark fundraiser this weekend
by Maxine
There are still some tickets available to the annual Ann Arbor Folk Festival which is the the Ark's main fundraising event. Saturday's show is sold out but Friday's line-up looks great too, especially for those who like bluegrass music. Headliners include The Old Crow Medicine Show and The Carolina Chocolate Drops, both old-time string bands. Tickets are available at Herb David Guitar Studio and at Ticketmaster.
Blog Post
Job Interviewing Skills
by cecile
The Ann Arbor District Library is offering two programs at the Downtown Library that will assist you in improving your interviewing skills. Neither program requires registration, just come as you are!
February 11th, 10-11 a.m.: Manpower, experts with over 60 years of experience in the employment services industry, will be on hand to give you interviewing tips, and the all important interviewing do’s and don’ts.
February 18th, 10-11 a.m.: Dr. George Watts, Managing Partner of AST Management, an internationally known executive coaching firm, will conduct a seminar designed to polish your interviewing skills that will give you the confidence to walk into any situation!
Don’t miss these two job skills programs that are here to help one and all!!!
Blog Post
History Bits - Abraham Lincoln
by ryanikoglu
Birthdays and Presidents and Inauguration mentions .... Abraham Lincoln is a name that shows up with all. Read about Mr. Lincoln's life:
Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books
Abe Lincoln Remembers
Young Abe Lincoln: The Frontier Days 1809-1837
Lincoln Shot! A President's Life Remembered
We will make paper log cabins on Saturday, February 7, at Malletts Creek, starting at 1:00 pm, with clean-up by 2:30 pm. This is a K-5 grade craft, and may require sustained parent participation for K-2 grade ages.
Blog Post
Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads Event: Timothy Ferris
by andrewjmac
On Thurs., Jan. 29, Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads author Timothy Ferris will speak at 7:30 pm at the Morris Lawrence Building at Washtenaw Community College. The author of Seeing in the Dark will talk about the contributions of amateurs in the field of astronomy, both in the past and today, and share his thoughts on the universe around us. Ferris has won numerous awards for his astronomical writing, including being a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He has also created several PBS documentaries, including one based on Seeing in the Dark.
Join our online discussion of the 2009 Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads title today to get warmed up for the talk.
Blog Post
Calling All Knitters with Knit A Round
by Bertha
Knitters of all levels are welcome to an evening with the experts from Knit A Round Yarn Shop
Learn creative ways to use leftover yarn and how to cast off. We'll have a variety of simple projects for you to choose from and all yarn will be supplied. For inspiration check out, Odd Ball Knitting or Knits From the Heart.
Bring needles if you have them! Thursday, January 29 | 6:30 - 8:30 pm Traverwood | Grade 4 - Adult
Blog Post
Asparagus! Stalking the American Life
by manz
Think Local First presents a screening of Asparagus! Stalking the American Life tonight at 7:15pm at the Michigan Theater. “For 30 years, Oceana County Michigan has been the Asparagus Capital of the World. Now its spear-struck residents and family farms take on the U.S. War on Drugs, Free Trade and a Fast Food Nation, all to save their beloved roots.” Asparagus’ director Kirsten Kelly will be available for a Q & A session after the film. Proceeds from the screening of this multi-award winning film will benefit Think Local First. Planning on having asparagus for dinner before you go? Check out some of AADL's tasty vegetable cook books.
Blog Post
Music and Motion Fans!
by StoryLaura
Remember that Friday, February 6th is the next opportunity to see the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and Gari Stein join up with tuba player Fritz Kaenzig for dancing and enjoying classical music with your young child at the Downtown Library at 9:30 and 10:30 am.
Blog Post
Soaring Stories
by StoryLaura
If you like to listen to stories and watch graceful young dancers, then this program is for you! We are sure there might be a few audience members who feel like soaring along with the Ann Arbor Civic Ballet at the Downtown Library on Sunday, February 8th at 2:00 pm.
Blog Post
What are you reading...?
by amy
UM physicist Timothy McKay will be at the Downtown Library on February 2, 7:00 p.m., to answer Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Astronomy (But Were Afraid to Ask) as part of our series of Ann Arbor Reads events. We asked him what he's currently reading....
"Lately, as I often do, I've been reading about science and its history. I am currently reading two books (there are usually several). One is Ferris' Seeing in the Dark, which I find beautifully written. I am also reading Carl Zimmer's latest Soul Made Flesh, about the discovery of the connection between the brain and human identity. Much of it is about the enlightenment, a fascinating time in the history of science when it seemed possible for individuals, people like Christopher Wren, to know almost everything.
"There are two books I recently finished, both of which I really enjoyed. The first was Crysalis, by Kim Todd. This is a biography of Maria Sybylla Merian, a German woman who lived from around 1650-1720. She was a remarkably modern woman, who left her husband at the age of 45, moved to Surinam, and painted pictures designed to illustrate studies of insect metamorphosis. An amazing person.
"The other is more modern, a book called The Making of the Fittest by Sean Carroll. This book relates some of what has been discovered about evolution since the explicit sequencing of complete genomes became possible. Much of this is quite new, less than a decade old, and provides overwhelming, incontrovertible evidence for descent from common ancestors and the reality of random evolution."
Blog Post
2009 It's All Write! Short Story Writing Contest
by Bertha
It's BACK! Same generous prizes: 1st Place $250, 2nd Place $150, 3rd Place $100, same Grade Categories: Grades 6-7-8, Grades 9-10, Grades 11-12, but a different slate of judges and a batch of new short stories submitted up until March 21st.
Guidelines are attached here.
Winning stories from 2008 are available for check out in booklet form or you can read last year's winners online.
Good Luck!