Friday, April 5 | 1 - 2 pm | Downtown Library | Grade 3 - 8

Learn how to make musical instruments out of household items, such as a Bee Buzzer out of popsicle sticks and rubber bands and a Brazilian Laughing Cup (aka Cuica) out of a paper cup and a paper clip. Also try making a didgeridoo, a sound sandwich, and a straw oboe!

There will be several items from the AADL's new Music Tools collection available for playing as well as for checkout.

This event is for grades 3 - 8.

Sunday, April 7 | 1:00-3:00 PM | Downtown Library | 4th Floor Meeting Room

You’ve got ideas for new comics buzzing around in your brain. Learn how to organize and turn those ideas into a fruitful comics project.

Cartoonist Sally Carson will demonstrate how she organizes her thoughts, ideas, and sketchbooks so that they become useful tools. See how to create an Affinity Diagram, a great way to generate and organize as many ideas as possible. Sally's first comic, The Skids, is an autobiographical tale about her days as a New York City bicycle messenger just after 9/11.

Join the Forum to get fresh ideas for your comics or graphic novel creation and to network with other artists. Drawing supplies are provided, so drop in!

This event is for adults and teens (grade 6 and up).

Tuesday April 9, 2013: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Join us as leaders from different religious, racial, and ethnic groups reflect on the high and low points of how their traditions have dealt with issues of race, racial justice, and racial healing.

This event is inspired by this year's Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads.

This event is co-sponsored by the Interfaith Council For Peace And Justice.

It looks like Spring is just waiting for Festifools this year! The library gang of Robots always invades the foolery on Main Street and, thanks to our friends at 826michigan, the Scrap Box, and our library patron penchant for joy, we should be well equipped! Come to the Downtown Library at 2:00ish on Sunday, April 7 and get all gussied up in gear for the Robot Invasion on Main Street!

festifools

Thursday, April 4 | 7 - 8:30 pm | Downtown Library | Grade 9 - Adult

John Farah and Nelson Williams, authors of Let's Pick It Up A Bit: A Guide To A Running Lifestyle, return to AADL to discuss fitness as a lifestyle, including ways to get in shape and get healthier. They will also review general run-training concepts and answer questions about the training plans in their book.

John and Nelson have been active in marathons for years. Let's Pick It Up A Bit is more than a collection of their tips for runners -- it is about creating a strong foundation to keep active, fit and healthy, not just physically but mentally, emotionally and spiritually as well. The challenge of life is to learn how to keep growing to keep getting better! Books will be on sale at this event, which will also include a book signing.

This event is for adults and teens (grade 9 and up).

We are celebrating the culture of the Himalayas on Thursday, April 4th at 2 pm during school vacation week. Come check out Ann Arbor’s only Nepali Rickshaw, hear stories, see story ladies dressed in traditional sherpa dresses and beautiful jewelry from the Himalayan Bazaar, and make your own rainbow colored rickshaw picture at the Downtown Library.

Thursday April 4, 2013: 6:45 pm to 8:45 pm -- Traverwood Branch: Program Room

Amigurumi is very popular in Japan where it means the art of making small crocheted (or knit) toys. We'll give you the supplies and show you how, using our "crochet cam." Unless you're a pro, the project will take the entire time.

This event is for adults and teens (grade 6 and up).

Thursday April 4, 2013: 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm -- Traverwood Branch: Program Room

Paper beads are made from scraps of paper rolled up to create easy, beautiful beads that can be added to string to make a fun necklace. Come to Traverwood next week and learn how! We will provide the supplies.

This event is for teens and pre-teens in grades 4 - 12.

Wednesday April 3, 2013: 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Need a decoration for your home? Make your own unique, stormy rain cloud mobile for a special corner of your house. We'll provide all of the supplies.

This event is for adults and teens (grade 6 and up).

Tuesday, April 2 | 7 - 8 pm | Downtown | Grade 6 - Adult

Discover the truth about bats and how they live at this multi-media presentation by the Cranbrook Institute's Organization for Bat Conservation.

Learn how bats use sound wave (echolocation) to navigate in the dark; the bat's role in the food web; and about conservation and ecosystems from Michigan and around the world. Meet bats from North and South America and Africa - some with a 3-foot wingspan!

Check out these video clips of the Organization for Bat Conservation on Ellen, The Tonight Show, Conan, and more. Also, learn more about bats with these books from the AADL.

This event is for adults and teens (grade 6 and up).