It's Easy Being Green: A Sustainable Living Expo / Sunday, September 27, 12:30-5:30 PM

Tue, 08/25/2015 - 3:57pm by erin

It's Easy Being Green is a day-long learning, local buying, and eating exposition celebrating living a life that’s better for the planet and not so hard on the wallet. From supporting efforts to reduce your carbon footprint to learning homesteading skills for living a more hands-on, DIY life, It's Easy Being Green has you covered!

Join us on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, from 12:30-5:30 PM. The library is open from 12:00-6:00PM. FREE Parking on Sundays too!

The Expo features:

A Keynote presentation, "Plants, Pollinators, and Why They Matter," plus 11 learning sessions on a variety of topics including bike commuting, rain & container gardening, permaculture, fermentation, and more.

Over 20 vendors selling upcycled, recycled, handmade wares including jewelry, clothes, bath products, artwork, wool and other fibers. Plus vendors selling mushroom growing kits, outdoor animal keeping supplies, fermented products, and shrubs (drinking vinegars). Vendors include The Brinery, McClary Brothers Drinking Vinegars, Ann Arbor Seed Company, Happy Fuzzy Yarn, Divine Iguana, Lead Head Glass, among others.

Opportunities to chat with representatives from area organizations such as Recycle Ann Arbor, Project Grow, Ann Arbor Backyard Beekeepers, Sic Transit, Natural Area Preservation, Slow Food Huron Valley, Agrarian Adventure, Leslie Science & Nature Center, Ecology Center, and other green neighbors.

There will be three outdoor food vendors: The Shimmy Shack (vegetarian/vegan), and Mani Strada (the new venture from the Mani Osteria & Isalita purveyors) and Hello Ice Cream..

Learning Sessions Schedule:

12:30-1:15

Keynote: Plants, Pollinators, and Why They Matter with Joseph Tychonievich, Greensparrow Gardens

1:30-2:15

Family Bike Commuting with Michael Firn of Sic Transit Cycles
Container Gardening with Growing Hope

2:30-3:15

Rain Gardens with Jesse Tack of Abundant MI Permaculture and Whole Culture Repair
Mending Workshop with Karen LePage of Gentle Clothing
Bee Keeping with Jamie Berlin of Ypsi Melissa

3:30-4:15

Permaculture with the People’s Food Co-Op
Keeping Animals with Harnois Farms

4:30-5:15

Intro to Canning with Cynthia Hodges
Vermiculture with Starr Valley Farms
Fermentation 101 with The Brinery

Nerd Nite Ann Arbor presented by AADL at LIVE 102 S First St.

Thursday November 19, 2015: 7:00pm to 9:30pm
LIVE (102 S 1st Street)
Adults

Nerd Nite Ann Arbor followed by Back to the Future Day Party presented by AADL at LIVE 102 S First St.

Wednesday October 21, 2015: 7:00pm to 9:30pm
LIVE (102 S 1st Street)
Adults

Smell & Tell: Enflowering the Carnal: The Scent of Fracas

Wednesday September 30, 2015: 6:30pm to 8:45pm
Downtown Library: 4th Floor Meeting Room
Adults And Teens In Grade 6 And Up.

Smell and Tell: Fleurs Hypnotiques et Fleurs Exotiques

Wednesday August 26, 2015: 6:30pm to 8:45pm
Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room
Adults And Teens Grade 6 And Up

Floral Living Jewelry with Designer Susan McLeary

Tuesday September 8, 2015: 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room
Adults And Teens In Grade 6 And Up.

Parent’s Corner: Go Outside and Play

Fri, 05/15/2015 - 2:56pm by manz

It’s spring, it’s summer, it’s spring it’s summer! The grass is green, it probably already needed mowing, the lilacs are blooming, baseball practices have started up, and kids are on their bikes all over town! With the warm weather comes kids wanting to go outside. Whether it’s gardening fun or shooting hoops, there are all sorts of ways to keep kids safe and having fun outdoors.

For some guidance the Parent Shelf is located in the downtown youth area, and on this shelf you’ll find a variety of parent-child related books on a multitude of topics- including everything from food and nutrition to potty training to time-outs to homework. These books are available for checkout and can be found in the catalog when searching “parent shelf.” There are many books on outdoors and gardening with kids! Here are a few to get you started:

Touch a butterfly: Wildlife gardening with kids

How to grow a school garden: A complete guide for parents and teachers

Toad cottages & shooting stars: Grandma's bag of tricks

I love dirt! : 52 activities to help you and your kids discover the wonders of nature

And here are a few more titles to keep you playing outside.

Award Winning Audiobook: The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time

Thu, 04/30/2015 - 5:42pm by BugsAndSlugs

The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time. Originally published in 1994, recorded for audio in 2012. 12 hrs. 20 mins.

Awards: Audiofile Magazine's Earphones Award 2010; in print, the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, 1995.

Author: Jonathan Weiner

Narrator: Victor Bevine

Synopsis:
Peter and Rosemary Grant are evolutionary biologists that have observed and studied about 20 generations of the finches living on the island of Daphne Major since 1973. The subjects of their research are a few of the 15 species known as “Darwin’s Finches” - some of the many creatures gathered by Charles Darwin during his voyage on the HMS Beagle . Darwin’s finch specimens were instrumental in the development of his theory of evolution by natural selection, and he discussed the divergence of Galapagos bird species in his book, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.

Jonathan Weiner’s engaging writing reinforces the premise that change happens continually, and that evolution is ongoing and non-stop. Weiner’s interviews with the Grants fit seamlessly with his other examples of advancing evolution: insect and bacterial resistance to substances once used for control and the pressure of sexual selection and predation on colorful male guppies. The Beak of the Finch is a wonderful introduction for anyone curious about evolution, and Victor Bevine’s narration gives life to the Grant’s mission. I consider this audiobook a personal favorite!

For more information about evolution and natural selection, try these audiobook titles:
Biology: The Science of Life: Part 1 and Part 2 by Stephen Nowicki
On the Origin of Species (abridged) by Charles Darwin
The Joy of Science (Lecture 57) by Robert M. Hazen
Origins of Life: Part 2 of 2 (Lecture 23) by Robert M. Hazen
Evolutionary Biology: The Darwinian Revolution Part 1 by Allen MacNeill

Folded Page Snowflakes

Monday December 7, 2015: 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Malletts Creek Branch: Program Room
Adults And Teens Grade 6 And Up

Nature Anatomy: a book for the eye and the mind

Tue, 04/28/2015 - 7:05pm by eapearce

The awesome new book Nature Anatomy, by Julia Rothman, is a delight for the eyes and the mind. In it, Rothman takes “the curious parts and pieces of the natural world” and diagrams and explains them beautifully. “If you’ve ever wanted to see how mountains are formed or wondered about the life cycle of a mushroom or the different types of feathers on a bird, you’ll delight in exploring Rothman’s diagrams, drawings and dissections,” reads the back cover of the book. I loved how “un-textbook” Rothman’s work is. Her drawings and explanations are simple, well-placed, and alternatingly cute and beautiful. There is enough detail to really learn about a given subject, but not so much that the casual reader would feel bogged down or bored. Truly, Nature Anatomy is a gem for both the least and the most science-minded.

Rothman is also the author of Farm Anatomy, a similarly designed and equally rewarding read.