Ventriloquist Vikki Gasko returns to Ann Arbor for two performances on Tuesday, July 10, 2012!
She'll be Downtown at 2:00 p.m and at the Traverwood Branch at 7:00 p.m.
If you saw her last summer, you'll want to come back and see her again. If you didn't see
her, now is your chance. She is an amazing performer!!

To learn how to become a ventriloquist yourself, click here.

Can’t make it to the San Diego Comic Con this summer? No worries.

Join the fun in downtown Ann Arbor at the Ann Arbor District Library the weekend of July 7-8 for the 2012 KIDS READ COMICS convention, a comics convention - offered at NO admission charge - for comics creators and fans of all ages. This convention is for all “kids” whether 5 or 45!

Saturday, July 7 will be jam packed with fun stuff like voice actor Neil Kaplan reading Winnie the Pooh in multiple voices, puppetbending with Kevin Coppa, turning your life into a comic with Eisner Award winner Raina Telgemeir, creating an Ellie McDoodle/Wimpy kid book, making a mini-comic with Matt Feazell, video game creation via playing Underwater Tomato Ninja, live recording of Comics are Great! podcast, and so much more.

Check the schedule to see how you can visit/shop with 60 cartoonists in Artists Alley, attend the many workshops, and take in Quick Draw sessions.

AADL Summer Game Players – you’ll be able to pick up MULTIPLE Game Codes throughout the two days of this convention!

Join the fun in downtown Ann Arbor at the Ann Arbor District Library the weekend of July 7-8 for the 2012 KIDS READ COMICS convention, a comics convention – offered at NO admission charge - for comics creators and fans of all ages. This convention
is for all “kids” whether 5 or 45!

Sunday, July 8 will continue the comics craze with fun stuff like drawing Adventure Time characters with Chris Houghton, animation with Australian cartoonist Richard Stevens, exploring classroom comics with Josh Elder, storytime with voice actor Neil Kaplan, a “Bigfoot Boy” sighting with J. Torres, and hamming it up in the "Interactive Graphic Novel Theater" with Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman, and so much more.

Check the schedule to see how you can visit/shop with 60 cartoonists in Artists Alley, attend the many workshops, and take in Quick Draw sessions.

AADL Summer Game Players – there will be new Game Codes on Sunday!

COME ON IN! The 2012 Summer Game Shop is NOW OPEN, with new items, favorite items, mystery items and secrets yet to come! But first, we're proud to introduce our new standard items:

Just visit the Summer Game Shop to browse our selection of amazing AADL premia! Need points? Just Get Started playing the Summer Game to earn points you can spend in the shop by using your library ALL SUMMER LONG!

If you were around last summer, you know this is only the beginning! There are mystery items yet to be revealed, super packages waiting in the wings, and if you've been paying close attentions, constant hints about some kind of SECRET SHOP coming later this month!

You can spend any available Summer Game points in the shop, even the ones you might have left over from Summer Game 2011, and you can pay from an extra player's points if you'd like! Please note that Points-o-matic points and Treasure Quest points are not Summer Game Points and don't count towards your available shop balance, which is shown right there at the top of your player page for your reference. Shop orders are filled weekly, so watch your email or phone for a notification that your order is ready for pickup, then just ask for your order at the desk at your chosen pickup location!

Enjoy the Summer Game shop, and THANKS FOR PLAYING!

If you love dancing to African drumming, a great opportunity for strength training, stretching and toning to live music is starting Thursday, July 5, 10-11 a.m., running every Thursday in July! World Dance Workout will lead the sessions at the Ann Arbor Senior Center 1320 Baldwin Ave. in Burns Park. This will be a total body workout for all ages and fitness levels, so bring the family for a free, fun and healthy experience! Call 734-794-6250 to register.

Maybe you've been to Greenfield Village and seen the horses at work.
Or maybe that's one of the things you're planning to do this summer. Maybe you're just a big fan of horses.
Come to the Pittsfield Branch Library at 2:00 p.m on Tuesday, June 19, 2012 to see the author
and photographer talk about their book The Horses of Greenfield Village. Hear the story of these
wonderful working animals.
For all ages, kindergarten and up.

Father's Day is this Sunday, June 17, 2012. Come to the Pittsfield Branch and make a card for dad, grandpa, or favorite uncle.
Saturday, June 16 at 11:00 a.m. we'll have all the glue, scissors and art supplies out for you to create a card with the most
heart-felt sentiment. For preschool and up. All ages are invited and all supplies will be provided.

For materials about this holiday, click here.

3D Printing has been featured on CNN, the Colbert Report, and in Time Magazine, and now this technology is coming to the AADL! Learn about how these machines turn computer sketches into objects, watch one work, and practice making and customizing designs.

Led by Ann Arbor's All Hands Active, this workshop will introduce participants to this quickly developing technology. We’ll see how a 3D Printer works to create objects before your eyes, and even experiment with designing some objects using the freely available Google Sketchup. Participants will be able to submit simple designs to be printed and picked up at a later date.

This event will be held in the Training Center on the third floor of the Downtown Library and is intended for all ages.

Thursday, June 14 | 7:00-8:30 p.m. | 1831 Traver Road | All Ages

Meet at the Project Grow Garden of the Leslie Science and Nature Center, 1831 Traver Road and join a naturalist from Natural Area Preservation (City of Ann Arbor) on a nature walk. Learn about native plants and trees, ecological restoration, and responsible use of public lands, as well as volunteer activities in Ann Arbor Parks.

Black Pond Woods is named for a small, vernal pond whose basin was carved by receding glaciers. Tannins and humic acids from leaf litter cause the water color to be dark brown, thus giving rise to the name “Black Pond.” This pond provides favorable conditions for frogs and salamanders. The land around the pond includes an oak-hickory forest, a savanna, and a wet meadow.

Join us on a nature walk full of fascinating things to see. Prepare for a potentially “buggy” evening as mosquitoes are likely to be out in full force.

If you missed Delia Ephron's program here at the AADL on a recent sunny Sunday afternoon, here is a chance to meet her as she sat down with us before the program for a lively discussion.

Her parents Henry and Phoebe Ephron were both Hollywood screenwriters. We asked her about growing up in Beverly Hills in the shadow of the film industry, and how her parents might have influenced her as a writer. She also talked about coming East for college, living in the Village and getting published.

We asked how she came up with the topic for her first published work (under the name Delia Ephron) How to Eat Like a Child and Other Lessons in Not Being a Grown-up? and how different it is writing teen and adult fiction.

Then we went on to the very important topic of wardrobe (not fashion but wardrobe!)

Her play Love, Loss and What I Wore which she co-wrote with sister Nora, based on a book by Ilene Beckerman is about women's relationships and wardrobes. The off-Broadway production won several very important awards. Speaking of jeans, she shared the secrets of her favorite brand, and when we posed the Desert Island question - she was happy to comply.

Don't miss our conversation with Delia. It was open, warm and full of humor. And if you haven't read her latest novel, out this spring The Lion is In ,like the author, it is a real treat.