Join Josie Barnes Parker and Laura Pershin Raynor for sophisticated stories with Betsy Beckerman and Sara Melton Keller for lovely tunes on Friday, April 19th at 7:00 pm at the Downtown Library. Parents and care givers who have loyally attended baby and preschool storytimes over the past years will see a whole other side of storytelling as Josie and Laura share original and personal tales for ages 13 and up.

March through early May, AADL has been presenting America's Music Project, celebrating and tracing the history of American popular music through film, discussion and free performances. Prior weeks have talked about Blues, Gospel, Jazz, Tin Pan Alley.

The week of April 22 is devoted to the history of Rock and Roll, and Saturday Looks Good to Me will perform Monday, April 22, at 7pm in the Multipurpose Room Downtown.

From its year-2000 birth as a home recording project to its prolific 2002-7 stretch of releases to its recent return to playing and recording, Saturday Looks Good To Me has consistently brought together the jubilant fun of Motown and Northern soul with an indie approach. Thomas and an evolving cast of musicians draw on a variety of past influences while remaining firmly rooted in the present.

No tickets or registration required, no admission fee.

The AADL is one of fifty sites nationwide to host the America’s Music series, a project of the Tribeca Film Institute in collaboration with the American Library Association, Tribeca Flashpoint, and the Society for American Music.

The AADL series is cosponsored by Kerrytown Concert House, UMS, WCBN 88.3 FM, and the Friends of the AADL. America’s Music has been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.

Please join in the fun this Sunday, April 21, at the Traverwood branch of the Ann Arbor District Library.

Players of all ages and abilities will be dropping by from 1:00 - 4:00 pm and getting in either one or two

games, or possibly staying the full three hours. We have chess books, magazines,

and DVD's to pick from in our collections too. So check out some of these materials. See you Sunday!

Sunday, April 21 | 2-2:45pm | Downtown Multi-Purpose Room | K-5th Grades with an adult

It's National Library Week! Let's celebrate with a live performance!

Join us for a shadow puppet show with master puppeteer Patrick Elkins. Perhaps you saw him wandering and performing downtown a few weeks ago during FoolMoon?! The Ypsilanti-based Elkins will be performing a wonderful shadow puppet show geared towards kids in grades K-5. Adults welcome! See you there!

Wednesday April 17, 2013: 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Mark Clague, Associate Professor of Musicology and Director of Research at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, leads this screening and discussion session on Country And Bluegrass Music focusing on the film High Lonesome: The Story of Bluegrass Music.

The film provides on-camera commentary by bluegrass greats including Mac Wiseman and Jimmy Martin, as well as rarely seen tapes of Flatt and Scruggs, both of whom played with Monroe's Bluegrass Boys.

America's Music has been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.

Wednesday, April 17 | 7:00-8:00pm | Pittsfield Branch | 6th - Adult

It's National Library Week! Let's celebrate the DIY way.

Stencil up a plain canvas tote bag any way you’d like! We'll have the totes, the paint, and stencil supplies, you bring the design ideas. We'll be exploring freezer paper and contact paper methods. It’ll be totes fun. (Feel free to bring a drawing or a print of a design you think would work as a stencil to put on a tote.)

A graduate of the University of Chicago and NYU's MFA program, Lauren Oliver has showcased her talents from middle grade reads, Spindlers and Liesl & Po to a best-selling teen trilogy which starts with Delirium.
Set in a dystopian United States, a government-mandated cure prevents the 'delirium' of love, leading to a safe and predictable life. However, main character Lena finds herself falling in love just weeks before her scheduled 'cure' at age 18. Finishing this trilogy of non-stop action, rebellion, and risk-taking for love is Requiem which was just released in March.

Lauren currently co-owns the literary development company Paper Lantern Lit., while also writing wonderful stories pretty much full-time.

Ms. Oliver is also a Judge for this year's It's All Write short story writing contest for teens.

The panel of 10 judges will look at the finalists in three grade categories of 6-7-8 (Middle School), 9-10 (High School) and 11-12 (High School) and select the winners who are announced at an Awards Ceremony on May 11, with A. S. King as guest speaker.

Tuesday April 16, 2013: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Pittsfield Branch: Program Room

The Creature Conservancy returns for a more information-filled evening for teens and adults, with their wonderful collection of wild animals! This session may include a kangaroo, a kookaburra, an armadillo and an indigo snake. Here's your chance to see and learn about these truly unique creatures and get your questions answered.

This event is for teens (grades 6-12) and adults.

If you've been thinking of becoming a U.S. citizen, AADL is holding a workshop on the topic. You can meet with an attorney or law student to begin the steps in the process. Attorney Ruby Robinson from the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center will discuss the steps in becoming a citizen. It's best if you call the MIRC ahead to register so they can get some documents ready for you at 734-998-6100 ext. 459. Bring copies of your documents or plan on making copies at aadl.org. The workshop is Sunday April 14 from 1:00-4:00 on the 4th Floor of the downtown library. For a list of documents you'll need to bring, click on 'Read More'.

When we first heard the Wanna Bees at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival’s Top of the Park last year, we thought that we should surely have them back for more fun! On April 14th at 4 pm at the Downtown Library we will kick off National Library Week with rock and roll for kids!

Wanna Bees