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Public Event

Sensation Stations

Monday July 11, 2016: 10:30am to 11:30am
Malletts Creek Branch: Program Room
Ages 10 Months–2 Years

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Public Event

Sensation Stations

Thursday June 9, 2016: 10:30am to 11:30am
Pittsfield Branch: Program Room
Ages 10 Months–2 Years

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Exhibits

A Walk In The World: Pathways of Artistic Exploration in the Waldorf Curriculum from Early Childhood to Grade 12

Tuesday March 1, 2016: 9:00am to Thursday April 14, 2016
Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room Exhibit, Downtown Library: Lower Level Display Cases

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Blog Post

Livin' On The Line ~ The Community High School Line-Up Debacle of 1996

by oldnews

It seemed like a good idea in January,1996: To deal with overwhelming demand for placements at Community High School, AAPS would hold a lottery for the first 50 slots and then the rest could wait in line "for a few days" before the April 1st sign-up date. Except the line started at 8:45 a.m. on Sunday, March 17th when Tappan Middle School student Maisie Wilhelm lined up outside the Balas Building. And they came, and they came and they came, with tents, and cook stations and couches and campfires. Parents set up temporary homes in vans, temporary offices in tents, and a Line-Up headquarters. Hopeful middle-schoolers played Hacky Sack (remember Hacky Sack?), strummed guitars (of course), and exhibited almost-Community High cool.

This being Michigan and March, a late-winter storm hit Ann Arbor on March 20. By March 27, the Ann Arbor News had seen enough of frozen kids and sacrificing parents and called for an end to the Line-Up in favor of an all-lottery system. Apparently the situation got so tense a Community High School student had to remind News readers it was the AAPS and not the students who lined up who caused the Line-Up debacle at Balas. April 1, 1996 finally arrived and a cold and wrapped-up Maisie was officially welcomed by Community High School dean Judy Hamilton Conger. And by April 2, Superintendent John O. Simpson had read enough Letters to the Editor, seen enough images of tents and announced that AAPS would move to a lottery system for filling slots at all three alternative schools. And thus ended another chapter in the colorful history of Community High.

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Blog Post

Euphoria: a slim novel jam-packed with action and feeling

by eapearce

Many of us have heard of the fascinating 2014 Kirkus Prize winning novel Euphoria, by Lily King. The bright cover caught my eye almost a year ago, but I finally found the chance to read it just this past week. King’s novel is told from several perspectives, and tells the story of three young and gifted anthropologists studying the tribes of New Guinea in the early 1930s. Husband and wife team Nell and Fen have just finished studying the violent and superstitious Mumbanyo tribe, and their relationship and sanity are both on thin ice. When they encounter fellow anthropologist Bankson, he leads them to the peaceful, female-dominated Tam tribe to study and recover. However, an ensuing love triangle, and the misdeed’s of Nell’s husband Fen threaten their careers, their friendship, and their lives. This book is both a fascinating portrait of intimate relationships, and an accurate and shocking tale of what some of the first anthropologists encountered when they ventured out into the field.

It’s particularly interesting to note that King based the character of Nell Stone on real events in the life of revolutionary anthropologist Margaret Mead. Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa is her psychological study of tribal youth, and documents her travels to Samoa at age twenty-three, where she conducted her first fieldwork. It has been compared to Darwin's Origin of Species for its scientific relevance as well as its readability. You can also read Jane Howard’s biography of Margaret Mead, titled Margaret Mead: A Life, to find out even more about the amazing woman that inspired King to write Euphoria.

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Public Event

Sensation Stations

Thursday May 12, 2016: 10:30am to 11:30am
Downtown Library: Secret Lab
Ages 10 Months–2 Years

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Public Event

Sensation Stations

Monday April 11, 2016: 10:30am to 11:30am
Traverwood Branch: Program Room
Ages 10 Months–2 Years

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Public Event

Sensation Stations

Thursday March 10, 2016: 10:30am to 11:30am
Pittsfield Branch: Program Room
Ages 10 Months–2 Years

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Public Event

Sensation Stations

Thursday February 11, 2016: 10:30am to 11:30am
Downtown Library: Secret Lab
Ages 10 Months–2 Years

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Blog Post

A Back to School Story Worth Watching

by oldnews

There's "back to school" and then there's Cody High and the Cody Rouge community comeback. Cody High: A Life Remodeled Project, an award-winning documentary that focuses on the efforts to remake Detroit's Cody High School and the blighted neighborhood surrounding it, is now available for online streaming through AADL.

Cody High students and their families, neighbors, and over 10,000 volunteers remodeled three schools, tore down three burned-out houses, remodeled 25 homes of students and their families, boarded up 254 vacant houses, and removed blight on 303 blocks of Detroit. The film follows struggles that are universal to all teenagers and unique to the Cody Rouge community, providing new perspectives on commitment and courage in a complex world.