DPL in Full Color: Programs, News & More

The Davenport Public Library has scheduled Texas-musician, Steve Brooks, to perform at the Main Street Library (321 Main Street) on Saturday, June 28, at 2:00 PM. This family-friendly concert features American folk music, including a rich heritage of songs for kids of all ages. Brooks brings singing and storytelling to his programs, both educating and entertaining the audience at the same time. Hear classic favorites like “Froggie Went a-Courting,” to multicultural music featuring Irish, Mexican, African-American, and Native American songs that have added their colors to the tapestry of American music. Brooks also introduces the audience to unusual instruments, like the tinwhistle, accordion, and rubboard. But his shows are more than history lessons – they’re interactive! He’ll get the children singing along, clapping, tying their ears in knots and throwing them over their shoulders. Learning has never been so much fun!

Registration is not required for this free event. For more information about Steve Brooks, visit his website at: www.stevebrooks.net.

Questions, answers; answers questions… if you’re a trivia buff, you don’t want to miss Jeopardy Game Night, happening every Tuesday through July 22, at 6:30 PM at the Fairmount Street Library. We have the game counsel, three controllers, and many many questions from the always annoying yet friendly, Alex Trebek. We’ll pick from the audience at random and play as many games as we can, so there will be many opportunities for everyone to play. Did I mention prizes? Oh yeah, there will be prizes, and snacks, and bears oh my! Call 563-328-6833 for more information.

IT’S HEATING UP AT DPL!

We’re just two weeks into the 2008 Summer Reading Program and already we’ve had nearly 600 people attend our outstanding children, teen, and adult programs.  If you haven’t been to one of our “Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader” competitions, or to “Teen Night Transformations,” or any of our other fun programs, never fear! We still have five full weeks left of great programming opportunities. Check out our Summer Reading Program “Calendar of Events” by clicking here. We’ve got many great events coming up, like a FREE folk-song and storytelling concert from Steve Brooks on June 28! Or if you want to see some great acting, check out one of our numerous Junior Theatre performances at either the Main Street or Fairmount Street libraries. And don’t forget the Karaoke Contest on July 23, for all ages! The summer is heating up at the Davenport Public Library! While you’re at the Library attending a FREE concert, make sure you sign up for the reading program. All finishers of the program will receive a prize and be entered into our GRAND PRIZE DRAWING for MP3 players, science kits, stuffed animals and more. We hope to see you soon!

Michigan based author, Bill Jamerson, will present a music and storytelling program about the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) at the Davenport Public Library, Main Street location (321 Main Street), on Tuesday, June 24, at 10 AM. The hour-long program includes stories, video, reading excerpts from his novel, Big Shoulders, and playing original songs about the CCC with his guitar. In his talk, Jamerson will discuss his research methods, memories of the CCC boys he has met throughout the years, and some of the projects the CCC did in Iowa. Jamerson has presented his program at CCC reunions around the country. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the CCC. The Civilian Conservation Corps was a federal works program created by President Franklin Roosevelt in the heart of The Great Depression. During its ten year run from 1933-1942, over three and a half million young men between the ages of 17 and 25 years of age enlisted in this country. They planted billions of trees, fought forest fires, and built state parks, including Backbone State Park, near Dundee, Iowa. The camps not only revitalized the nation’s natural resources but also turned the boys into men by giving them discipline and teaching them work skills. Jamerson’s book, Big Shoulders, is a historical novel that follows a year in the life of a 17 year old youth from Detroit who enlists in the CCC in 1937. The enrollee joins 200 other young men at Camp Raco, a work camp in the Michigan Upper Peninsula, run by reserve army officers. It is a coming-of-age story of an angry teenager who faces the rigors of hard work, learning to cope with a difficult sergeant and facing off with a bully. For more information about this program, call 563-888-3371, or visit Jamerson’s website at: www.billjamerson.com.

BE A PICTIONARY CHAMP!
Have you ever played Pictionary for prizes? Now is your chance to do so at Davenport Public Library’s “Pictionary Night.” Join us at the Main Street Library (321 Main Street) on Thursday, July 10, at 6 PM to show off your drawing and teamwork skills. Play the updated game that has new twists and turns, such as drawing with your eyes closed, and drawing with your non-dominate hand. It’s good family fun, with free refreshments and laughter! This program is appropriate for ages 12 and up. Registration is required. Sign-up your team of up to 8 people, or sign-up individually and be randomly placed on a team. To register, call 563-328-6833 or click here.

When was the last time you participated in a Summer Reading Program?  When was the last time that you attended a program at the library?  When was the last time you were at the library?  As some of the commercials for the 2008 Summer Olympics say, “These aren’t your parent’s Olympics,” well, this isn’t the library you or your parents grew up with either.

Let’s start with programs!  Don’t worry about the cost of attending one of our programs because they are all FREE!  That’s right, you heard it here first they are all FREE!  Everything from story times for infants to ice creams socials for seniors, and everything in between.  Join us on Tuesday evening for Family Fun Night where you could get a ride up in a bucket truck or see some awesome cockroach races.  That’s not for you, then check out TNT (Teen Night Transformations if you are between the ages of 12-18) where you can learn to make items out of duct tape, learn some martial arts, or attend a Henna workshop.  Not a teen, don’t have any kids, or just want something for adults, attend one of our game nights.  During the month of June you can play, “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader” or during the month of July you can come out and play, “Jeopardy.”  There are also Pictionary nights, healthy Saturdays where you can learn how to cook healthy, give blood, or get your blood pressure checked, or attend one of our many movies for kids through adults.  If you want a place to cool off from the hot summer weather or you need to save money for gas and need something FREE to do, stop in at one of the Davenport Public Libraries and we will provide entertainment with a smile! J  Remember that our Fairmount location is right off the Duck Creek bike path! 

For more information on dates and times of our programs visit our website at www.davenportlibrary.com or call me at (563) 328-6833.

Next week, read about all of the great services that the library has to offer.

Where has the time gone?  I thought we already did that program six months ago!  I typed that up yesterday, WHERE DID IT GO?  That’s typical!  But why?  Let’s try to answer these questions.

It all starts months in advance, seriously!  A typical program is planned and ready to go, usually at least four to six months before the actual program date.  It begins with an idea that is put into a publicity request form.  A form that asks all kinds of questions like dates and times, where the program will take place, will the program be done by you or an outside group, has the program been approved by your supervisor, has it been scheduled on the calendar, have the rooms been reserved, and on and on and on!  It is all necessary and actually walks you through the process very nicely.  Then after the publicity request is written you start the actual process of publicizing your event.  Press releases are written, posters made, the information is put on the Davenport Library web calendar, and then the information is placed on various community web calendars.  Then you wait for the program date to arrive, keeping a timeline of items that need to be done as the event gets closer (this usually changes with each event).  While you wait for the event, you are working on the next event.  This process is usually taking place with multiple events at the same time and keeping up with non-programming activities within the library and the community.

This is why time flies in the PR department.  That is why sometimes it feels like we have already done the program.  It is a very fun and fast paced department that changes from day to day, bringing you many new and exciting library events.

What do you think about the programs that are offered at the Davenport Public Library?  Do you have any suggestions of programs that you would like to see at the library?  Let us know here on our blog what you think.

Steve Hart

PR/Programming Assistant

Davenport Public Library

Make sure that you stop by one of our libraries for the new “Main Entries” newletter for May & June.  You will find many new events going on this summer for the Davenport Public Library’s Summer Reading Program.  If you can’t make it by a library soon, you may download it by clicking on “Main Entries” above.