This summer's Ypsilanti Crossroads Music Festival will be kicking off again on June 6th! Be sure to check out the event and appreciate our neighboring city. It will take place at the intersection of Washington and Pearl Streets every Friday night this summer from 7-10 pm. In the meantime, check out our collection on Ypsilanti history, including Ypsilanti in the 20th Century, Ypsilanti: A History in Pictures, and Our Heritage: Down by the Depot in Ypsilanti.

Summer Reading is UNDER CONSTRUCTION so keep your "thinking machine" oiled. You'll need good equipment.
Librarians are visiting schools the month of May promoting Summer Reading.
We can NAIL DOWN some good books for 1st graders, like
Amelia Bedelia Under Construction;
You Read To Me And I'll Read To You: Short Scary Stories; or
Thelonius Monster's Sky-High Fly Pie.
Just Ask!
Sign-Up BEGINS June 9, 2008 at the Library.

Folk guitarist Richie Havens burst onto the scene at the famous Woodstock Folk Festival of 1969. Since then, he has been wowing audiences with his high energy guitar playing, powerful voice and stirring lyrics. Havens comes to The Ark this Sunday, May 11. You can buy tickets online at Ticketmaster or in person at the Ark ticket office, the Michigan Union or at the Herb David Guitar Studio.

Great news! The premiere edition of The 826 Gazette published by students of 826michigan is attractive and impressive. I just picked up a copy at the downtown library youth desk, and I particularly liked the articles ”Restaurant patrons to help fight cystic fibrosis,” by Maureen McCord, and “Michigan’s Green Schools initiative aims to make schools more environmentally friendly,” by Andrew Yoo. The newspaper was written and reported by local tweens age 10-14. Erik Gable of The Daily Telegram in Adrian helped with the journalism, many volunteers assisted, and printing was donated by The Ann Arbor News. Yay! Already I’m looking forward to the next issue this summer!

The other night my son asked me a very profound question. "What would you do if you found out you only had two days left to live?" I told him that I'd spend it with my family. No parties, no wild adventures, no spending sprees, just time with my wife and kids. That got me thinking. What would I read if I could only read two books in my life. My first pick is the Bible. My second is The Hobbit.

Why The Hobbit you may ask? Well, the story of Bilbo, Gandalf and the thirteen dwarfs is a classic for all ages. Written by J. R. R. Tolkien, the story was originally intended to amuse his three sons. The library has several different versions of the story: Book on CD, Book on Cassette, DVD, graphic novel, large print, Spanish translation, and Korean translation.

So, if you could only read two books, what would they be?

Come and play one of the world's most popular games with players of all ages! Chess sets are provided.

Join us 1-4 p.m., Sunday, May 4, 2008 at the Pittsfield Branch.

Nothing warms the heart of a mother like a hand-made card or gift.
Grandmothers and aunts enjoy cards, too. Next weekend we will be giving you two chances to create some masterpieces:

Saturday, May 3rd at the Malletts Creek Branch 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Sunday, May 4th Downtown 2 - 4 p.m

Mother's Day is Sunday, May 11th.

Check out these hot new releases from Amazon which are now available at the Library:

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep. Based on a novel by Dick King-Smith, author of The Sheep Pig from which Babe was adapted, this sweet and often visually spectacular story is about the friendship of a lonely boy with the Loch Ness Monster.

Sense and Sensibility, BBC production, 2008.
This is a charming new adaptation of Austen's novel in which the eternal conflict between money, status and love again play out.

Six Degrees Could Change the World, National Geographic. (on order)
By some, this documentary can be seen as "a non-fiction counterpoint" to the feature film, The Day After Tomorrow. Based on Mark Lynas's book, Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet, this film, narrated by Alec Baldwin, shows scientists and ordinary people who are already experiencing the effects of global warming.

Join AADL and YDL Sunday April 27 for Día from 1-4 downtown. There will be fun crafts for kids; storytelling (¡en Español!) & refreshments. We will feature the festive sounds of Mariachi Cora Jose Bueno so come on down! This event is for all ages to enjoy, and parking is free on Sundays. ¡El Día de Los Niños El Día de los Libros!

"There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew." ~Marshall McLuhan, 1964

Today, April 22 is the official anniversary of Earth Day which was first observed in 1970. Since then, both national and local groups hold celebrations, usually either the weekend before or after. In Ann Arbor, Earth Day festivities will be sponsored by the Leslie Science Center on Sunday, April 27. To become more knowledgeable about enviromental issues, check out the Library's wide ranging collection of materials on global warming and energy conservation.

Did you feel the earthquake this morning (Friday, April 18) at about 5:45 a.m.? The epicenter was in Illinois but some Ann Arborites who were up that early felt some weird vibrations. Adding to that weirdness was my discovery that on April 18, 1906, the catastrophic San Francisco earthquake hit, and because of resulting fires, most of the city burned to the ground. That quake measured 8.3 on the Richter scale and was felt from Southern Oregon to south of Los Angeles and as far east as central Nevada. Scientists later determined that the San Andreas Fault had moved about 23 feet. To learn more about earthquakes, check out the Library's books and dvds.

Are you new to Ann Arbor or the USA? We would be happy to give you or your group a library tour. Call 327-8311 at least two weeks before your requested date. These tours can be very helpful for English language learners who want to utilize what Ann Arbor District Library has to offer, like My Account and our awesome Research Pages. We offer five types of tours including the Malletts Creek Green Tour and a Class Research Tour. Take a look and check out a book!

On April 11, 1633, Gallilco Galilei was put on trial by the Inquisition for his preposterous claim, originally stated by Copernicus that the Earth revolved around the Sun. When Galileo wrote a book titled, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, he angered Pope Urban VIII who contended that any theory not seeing the Earth as the center of the universe went against scripture. Galileo was placed on house arrest for the rest of his life at his home in Florence where he eventually went blind and died in 1642. It wasn't until 1835 that the Vatican removed the book from its list of banned books and in 1992, the Catholic Church formally admitted that Galileo was right.

April is The Month of the Young Child. Come celebrate with Child Care Network at Cady’s Grill in historic Depot Town. On April 29 from 6-9 pm 20% of the night’s sales will go to Child Care Network to use for training of staff and caregivers. Eat and drink for a great cause!

French architect Jean Nouvel snatched this year’s top honor in architecture. The prize which includes a $100,000 grant and a bronze medallion, is to be presented on June 2nd at the Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

The Pritzker Prize “honors annually a living architect whose built work demonstrates talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.”

Nouvel, respected for his inquisitive and agile mind, takes great risks in each of his strikingly distinctive projects, expanding the vocabulary of contemporary architecture.

Examples of Nouvel’s works include 40 Mercer (SoHo), a luxury residence; Abgar Tower in Barcelona; the Guthrie Theater (photo at left); and the Quai Branly Museum in Paris.