Boy, do we have a festival planned for Radford! On Saturday, July 12, from 10 to 5. Authors, storytellers, performers and musicians will invade Glencoe Museum and regale us with their stories and hijinks. Take a look at some of the folks who will be here: Beth Macy, Ralph Berrier, Charlotte Rogan, Jan Neuharth, Kathryn Starke, Tim Jackson, Roland Lazenby, Michael Abraham, Fred First, Madelyn Rosenberg, storyteller Wally Scott and our very special guest Bil Lepp who has appeared on Comedy Central–a cross between Bill Cosby and Jeff Foxworthy! That’s somebody you don’t want to miss. The Java Brothers music will be our finale. There will also be workshops on storytelling and archiving your family’s histories, story times for the kids and juggler/street performer Cyrus Pynn. This festival is the first for Radford and southwest Virginia. Thanks to the generous donation of the Rockwell family in memory of their mother, Jean Rockwell, who attended the Festival of the Book in Charlottesville every year. Her daughter Susan says, “My Mom was an avid reader her entire life. She so enjoyed the 20+ years she spent working at the Radford Public Library and interacting with the Radford community, and always looked forward to attending the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville each year. The Radford Literary Festival is a fitting way to both honor her memory, as well as a way to give back to the city of Radford and the New River Valley area.”
So mark your calendars for Saturday, July 12. Go to the library’s website and click on Radford Reads Literary Festival. There will be a live radio broadcast on Wednesday, July 2nd from noon until 1:00 pm. To participate in the radio show on July 2nd, call 347-327-9168 to find out more about it. Summer reading program is well under way from birth to infinity. You’re not too old or too young to benefit from reading in the summer. Today is the first day for our new youth services librarian Hannah Pierce. Drop in and say hello. She would love to meet you. Story time starts again Tuesday, June 24th 10:00 for the wee ones. 11:00 for toddlers. Any questions? Give us a call at 731 3621 or text us on your smart phone by calling 66746 and precede your initial question with askradford.
There’s nothing like extreme weather to bring you closer to books. Whether it’s in front of a roaring fire, or sitting on the porch with an iced tea, winter and summer are perfect opportunities to slow down and dive into a great book. I understand the challenge of finding the perfect book that can transport you into a completely different time and place. I have found the one. This is a book I’ve heard about from other readers. I have read this author before and enjoyed his quirky novels. They have made movies from them: The World According to Garp, and Cider House Rules. John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany is the book I’m solidly in the middle of reading. Here is a line from the novel:
I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice—not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.
Irving is an author who delves into the deeper subjects. This is not a light book or one you might carry with you to the beach. But if you are itching for travel and you have a library card, you may be lucky enough to find a book that will make you remember one of the reasons you learned to read and the joy you had as a child when you found that book that transported you. Which book gave you that feeling that you were living in the story and you never wanted it to end?
At last night’s Ruritan Club meeting, the library’s own Brack Stovall read Ray Bradbury’s short story, “All Summer in a Day.” In this tale, a young girl is locked in a closet on the one day of the year that the sun shines. Bradbury, who died last month, was another author who had no fear of examining the darker side of life. He knew that the stories that take us to the edge are the ones that stay with us.
Check with your Radford library staff for suggestions on books you may want—subjects light and dark.
The summer reading program is in full swing now, and we’d like to thank the sponsors for contributing to the plethora of prizes we have to offer this year.
- Brewin’ Around
- Crumb & Get It
- Flower Pot
- Garrett’s & Megs
- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 26
- La Quinta Inn & Suites
- Lamplighters—Friends of the Library
- Nesselrod on the New
- Pulaski Mariners
- Randolph Park
- Sharkey’s Wing & Rib Joint
- Tangent Outfitters
- Vintage Cellar
We also have two individuals, Sharon Oliver and John Phillips, who have contributed to the new weekly knitting group for adults, the Knit Wits.
I was treated to an interview with Mr. John Phillips a couple of weeks ago. If you’ve noticed the lovely artwork that is now on display throughout the library, you may thank John Phillips who has donated several pieces of original artwork from his personal collection. Mr. Phillips was born and raised in Snowville where he attended a one room school house, complete with a black, pot bellied stove and outdoor facilities. He served in the military from 1954 to 1958. After being released, he moved to New York City where he completed his master’s and doctorate degrees in nursing. Over the years, he worked at the famous Bellview Hospital, taught at Hunter College and NYU.
In 2008, he returned home to Radford. Mr. Phillips really values the culture in the area as he was accustomed to attending operas, art museums, concerts and auctions in Manhatten. He says there is not really that much difference when you think about it between Radford and the big city. We are fortunate to have cultural diversity in our community.
To that end, please come enjoy the next summer concert series at the library. We will have a jazz performance from The Graduates on Friday, July 6th at 7pm. And be sure to thank our sponsors for their donations to Radford’s culture.
A great way to spend time with your kids is to work on crafts together. It is quality time together that also leads to the learning valuable skills, experimenting with different tasks, and figuring out different interests for the kid.
One great way to approach this is to have kids make a gift for someone, like a teacher, parent or grandparent. It automatically turns the craft into a keepsake item, and allows the kid to think creatively about what a gift could be.
Homemade Greeting Card
A simple way to do this would be a homemade greeting card. By using simple tools like construction paper/cardstock, crayons or markers, and some additional flare like glitter, you can make a really nice customized greeting card.
You can get really creative with this, it all depends on how much planning you want to do. Using different materials you can plan out a 3-dimensional card (like the one above). If you just want to stick with drawing, you can just use crayons, markers/etc.
Custom Blanket
This one takes a little more time and can cost some money, but what better gift than to some custom blankets for grandma to keep her warm during the winter months (while reminding her of her favorite grandchild!)
You can have the kids design the initial images and writing (the standard “I Love You Grandma” should work nicely), and send it off to a service to create the custom blanket.
This also works well on coffee mugs, plates and bowls, and there are lots of services that will create this custom product for you with your own artwork.
Necklaces and Jewelry
Granted we won’t be stringing together 24 carat gold and precious gems in the library but we can start with some basic necklaces or bracelets created using strings, beads and other trinkets. These are relatively easy to get the material together and is a really fun way to make alongside your kids.
Modern technology is tremendous, and has changed the way our children interact with the world, learn about new things, and experiment with creativity. When I was a kid, it was all about crayons and coloring books. However nowadays the iPad and tablets have created a way for kids to interact with information in a way that has both a bunch of positive potential (and of course negative potential, but for now let’s focus on the positive.
Firstly we have the fact that kids can now have access to books to read and consume, without needed to take them around with them to school. I wonder if the truly “printed” word will soon be extinct. However, I digress. In addition to words to read, we now have access to truly visual medium that can allow children to experiment with drawing/etc.
Drawing software is truly a great advancement in the teaching of arts and crafts to students. This is the foundation for the same visual medium that architects and construction professionals use to draft blueprints via isometric drawing software, and how graphic designers utilize programs like Photoshop and illustrator to make compelling websites and other visual medium.
It’s important to get kids exposed to the modern world of computing, but of course we have to be sure to get them exposed to the more “natural” side of things as well.
Children
Teens
