Summer Fun at the Library
D
o long summer days make you think of strumming a ukulele around a roaring fire (or firepit) or dunking a hook and worm in a lazy stream? Maybe your child wants to create a new toy? Except, oh, no, you don’t have a uke, fishing pole, or 3D printer handy? Oh, wait, yes you do—at a county library. You know you can borrow books and DVDs, but do you know about the collection of ebooks and eAudiobooks, particularly TumbleBooks (animated, talking picture books that children can read or have read to them) for your little one? Talk about having someone absorbed for hours or longer! If the people in your home are going to be preoccupied with electronic gadgets, how about learning something from their screen and earbuds? In Anne Arundel County (aacpl.net), you can explore the Library of Things that lets you borrow a ukulele (with padded bag, battery-powered tuner, and beginning player instructions) so, if you or someone in your family has always wanted to strum, you can try it for a few weeks before you decide. You can borrow C-Pen ReaderPen kits, Chromebook kits, or a Memory Lab to digitize your home movies, photos, and slides. You can also pick up passes to Historic London Town and Hammond-Harwood House
Museum. More passes to other county attractions will be added this summer. When you want to create a special memory, check out a fishing pole and spend a lazy afternoon catching dinner or nothing. You will need a license (obtain one from the shop across the street from the Mountain Road branch), bait, and a good watering hole, but that’s easy enough to find around here. Akin to the Library of Things is the Makerspace at the Busch Annapolis Library where you can use their sewing machines, learn to make buttons, use their 3D pens, and more. They spaces are open to children and adults. Check the calendar for Makerspace events. The county schedules about a thousand activities every quarter for patrons from babies to grandparents. Programs may include Rainbow Family Storytimes, a Joe Romano magic show (with water, fish, and waves of excitement), or eco-adventures or live music. A fun summer event for adults will be a beer collaboration with three local breweries. Forward Brewing (Eastport, Aug. 2), Crooked Crab (Odenton, Aug. 4), and Hysteria Taphouse (Pasadena, Aug. 6) will each create an exclusive brew to celebrate the library and portion of the proceeds benefit the library.
By Judy Colbert
Calvert Library
The Prince Frederick and Southern Branch of the Calvert County Library (calvertlibrary.info) have 3D printers so your resident creators can have a project or creature made to order. With a maximum size of about 6x6 inches and a cost typically under $10, it’s a summer star that may hang around for a lifetime. Each Calvert library has a computer equipped with Adobe Create Suite so you can work with print design and digital publishing. For video makers, the library has MAGIX Movie Edit Pro to take your project from storyboard to ready for your close-up. They also have Blender, VirtualDub, and Pixlr. While Library of Things items can’t be borrowed from one system to another (as with books), if you’re a Calvert County resident, you can obtain a library card from Anne Arundel County and then be able to borrow something. Although there are no more late fees for books and videos, that doesn’t apply for items such as musical instruments and other items from the Library of Things. As a Calvert library member, you can browse a catalog of 15 million songs, stream three hours a day and download three MP3 songs a week and keep them
Joe Romano performs a magic show at AACPL's summer reading program. Photo: AACPL. forever through the Freegal Music program. Movies, including a strong collection of documentaries, are available through both systems on the Kanopy program. Or, you can watch thousands of arts and crafts videos through Creativebug to learn or improve your mastery of sewing, crocheting, paper crafts, and more. Both library systems have announced summer programming for children and adults. Check their websites for details. Both library systems are currently open Monday through Saturday. Sunday hours return in September for AACPL. p
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