Chess, an Olympic sport?

Tue, 08/12/2008 - 11:34am by K.C.

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics chess was included as a trial sport for display. However, both speed matches played ended in a draw and little has been said about it until Time magazine’s Meaghan Haire posted “ Should Chess Be an Olympic Sport?” on August 5th.

Should the Olympic committee consider adding mental sports like chess, bridge, or Go? What about a combo of mental and physical like chess boxing?

Respond here or even better share your thoughts and play some chess this Sunday, August 17 at Pittsfield Branch. Join us 1-4 p.m. for Chesstastic!

Creativity Camp Theme of the Week: Medieval Times

Mon, 08/11/2008 - 2:36pm by Cherie Lee

Creativity Campers, and any other kids who think it's a shame they weren't born in a time of lords and ladies, knights, and castles, can come to the Downtown Library's youth department and find books on the back of the new shelf that will transport them back to the middle-ages!

Cuentos en Español con Teresa Satterfield

Fri, 08/08/2008 - 3:38pm by StoryLaura

Join us for stories in Spanish for the whole family. Teresa Satterfield will share lively tales with audience participation on Thursday, August 14 at 7:00 pm at the Downtown Youth Story Corner. Unase a nosotros para disfrutar de historias y canciones en Español con Teresa Satterfield!

The Story of Islam by Rob Lloyd Jones

Fri, 08/08/2008 - 10:52am by Tahira

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A concise and accurate depiction of the history of Islam from its inception to the present. Colorful illustrations of mosques and historical photos are an additional bonus.

Creativity Camp Theme of the Week: Eco-Friendly Art!

Tue, 08/05/2008 - 8:07pm by Cherie Lee

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After finishing your eco-friendly art projects, come find books on the back of the new shelf in the library's youth department that talk about the Earth and ways we can save it!

2nd Annual Manga Drawing Contest Winners!

Tue, 08/05/2008 - 9:50am by erin

Our 2nd Annual Manga Drawing Contest has drawn to a close! This year our hard working judges were Jerzy Drozd and Shannon Towsend. They each spent hours judging the entries and providing feedback to each and every entry - thank you! In case you don't know what manga is click here. If you missed this year and are looking to find other places to post your work Jerzy made a great resource sheet. You can check out all the entries in this year's contest in our image gallery.

Click Read More to see the list of the winners!

Grades K-2 Category:
1st Place – Angela Wang
Runner-Up – Susanna Wu
Honorable Mention – Desiree Lu
Best Fan Art – Kareem El-Tawil
Best Original Character – Oliver Mayman

Grades 3-5 Category:
1st Place – Rosa Chen
Runner-Up – Natalie Liu
Honorable Mention – Alice Wu
Best Fan Art – Eric Ren
Best Original Character – Sally Lee

Grades 6-8 Category:
1st Place – Angela Wang
Runner-Up – Angela Huang
Honorable Mention – Zbyszek Sikora
Best Original Character – Genna Liu
Best Fan Art – Rujia Zha
Best Comic Strip – Connor Quigg

Grades 9-12 Category:
1st Place – Caitlin Dooley
Runner-Up – Lena Ji
Honorable Mention – Tracey Fu
Best Original Character – Lauren Houser
Best Fan Art – Stephanie Mannheim

5th grade reading UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Mon, 08/04/2008 - 11:04am by ryanikoglu

Are you going into 5th grade this fall?
SCARY! Try Double-Dare To Be Scared: Another Thirteen Chilling Tales.
ROYALS! Try Marie Antoinette or Jahanara: Princess of Princesses in the Royal Diaries series, by American Girl Publishers.
ADVENTURE! Try National Parks Mysteries with Deadly Waters set in Everglades, or Valley Of Death set in Death Valley.

Four Feet Two Sandals by Karen Lynn Williams

Fri, 08/01/2008 - 3:58pm by Tahira

Karen Lynn Williams tells a touching story of two refugee girls who learn that sharing is a way to remember.

3rd Annual LEGO ® Contest Winners!

Thu, 07/31/2008 - 10:35am by erin

Once again our annual LEGO® contest was a blast! Families dropped off their entries on Tuesday night and all day Wednesday, the judges deliberated for almost 3(!) hours and then we packed the house with people wanting to look! This year we had over 130 projects entered into the contest - making it tougher for the judges to decide. Thanks to our judges Eli Neiburger, AADL Associate Director of IT and Product Development, Eric Klooster, AADL IT Component Developer and finally Duane Collicott, local LEGO® enthusiast and Brick Bash Master. Those that placed 1st Place, Runner-Up and Honorable Mention each got gift cards to Toys R Us, plus an award medal. Award medals were also given to those who placed in the special categories. NEW this year! Stay tuned later this summer for the LEGO® Contest Photo Gallery of every project submitted!

Without further ado behold the winners!

4th Grade Reading UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Thu, 07/31/2008 - 10:24am by ryanikoglu

If you are going into 4th or 5th grades this fall, You may enjoy some of the following books:
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices From A Medieval Village won the 2008 Newbery Award!
Nic Bishop Spiders with fabulous photography, incredible factoids!
Hachiko Waits based on a true story of dog loyalty.
A Crooked Kind Of Perfect a story of how dreams of perfection evolve into reality.
No Talking or Report Card by Andrew Clements.