Join us at the Malletts Creek Branch this and every Saturday afternoon at 1:30. Native Spanish speakers will tell stories and lead songs in Spanish. Participants do not need to understand Spanish to enjoy this event!

Join us at the Malletts Creek Branch every Saturday afternoon at 1:30, beginning on September 10, 2011. Native Spanish speakers will tell stories and lead songs in Spanish. Participants do not need to understand Spanish to enjoy this event!

All those fantastic library craft programs from the past have made for lots of leftover scraps and arts and crafts treasures. Bring your imagination and create a pipe cleaner character with buttons and ribbons, or a paper roll creature and paper bag puppet with all kinds of fun texture and color! Summer might be over but the play and fun continues for Kindergarten through fifth graders on September 8 at 4:00 pm.

In These Hands, a grandfather tells his grandson some of the things he used to be able to do with his hands while he teaches him how to tie his shoe, play a tune on the piano, hit a line drive and shuffle a deck of cards. He also tells him what his hands were not allowed to do; touch the bread dough at the Wonder Bread factory. His hands were only allowed to sweep the floor of the factory where he used to work. Margaret H. Mason tells a story of how many hands working for a common cause can make a difference in this inspiring picture book.

Thursday, August 18 | 7:00-8:30 PM | All Ages

Join us for a nature walk through Furstenberg Nature Area with the City of Ann Arbor Natural Area Preservation staff. We’ll walk through prairie and woodlands viewing native plants and trees, and learning about the ecological restoration going on at this site. Mosquitos are likely to be abundant so bring along some protection.

Park in the lot off Fuller Road (across from Huron High School). We’ll meet near the restrooms.

If you missed this year's 6th Annual LEGO contest held at Weber's Inn last night you missed the highlight of some Ann Arborites' year! Breaking all previous records this year's contest was the biggest ever with 206 entries in 6 categories: Preschool, Grades K-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12 and Adult. And about 600 people attended the awards ceremony last night too! Thanks to all of this year's participants and we look forward to seeing you next year. Sometime soon there will be photographs of every winner's LEGO project linked here and permanently found on our contest page. Without further ado, the winners (after the jump).

Come to the Pittsfield Branch Library on Tuesday, August 9 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. for a Family Camp-in. We'll sit around the campfire, tell stories and sing songs. The music will be led by musician Sara Melton Keller. We'll also play a game and do some crafts. No campfire is complete without s'mores. We'll make some of those, too!

For some fun books about camping, click here.

Have you been waiting to watch some of the newest youth DVD releases? Has your family been wanting to see Rio and other popular movies that were in theaters recently? Well, the AADL has some great new and popular youth DVDs! Stop in at the downtown youth department or at any of our branch locations to check out or put a hold on some of these awesome titles. Here are just a few of them:

Rango
Tangled
Gnomeo & Juliet
The Chronicles of Narnia. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Hopefully you have been working hard on your LEGO project for this week's upcoming 6th Annual LEGO Contest held at Weber's Inn this Thursday! If you haven't be sure to read the rules and guidelines and get cracking! Preschoolers all the way through Adults are invited to enter or come look at this always exciting contest. The doors will be open for the public to come take a look from 6:00-8:00 PM with the Award Ceremony to immediately follow at 8:00 PM. As always there will be gift cards to Target for the winners, special ribbons and LEGO trophies! Hope to see you there! Check out our video of some of last year's winners.

Friday July 29, 2011: 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm -- Traverwood Branch: Program Room

Ever seen a gargoyle looking down from a balcony of a tall building? We're giving you a chance to create your own gargoyle and give it a customized expression of your own. We'll have supplies, you come with the artistic vision.