Don't be left Home Alone

As we continue our holiday movie series, the library will be showing Home Alone starring MacCaulay Culkin on Monday, December 11th at 6:30 in the Bates Auditorium. Join us for this newer holiday classic and get yourself in the holiday spirit.

Holiday Craft Series Continues

12 people were here for our first ever Cookie Icing Night on Wednesday. Our "holiday craft and activity series" will be continuing next Wednesday, December the 13th, with your chance to make a homemade snow globe! We hope you'll join us for this event!

Happy Birthday, Santa...just a day late!

Did you know that yesterday was Santa's official birthday? One of our groups of librarians, the Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC) have put together some very cool web links with information on one of the most famous people in the world. Take a look through some of them!

The Saint Nicholas Center, http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=23,
is certainly the Virgin Mother-in-Law of all Nicholas sites, with excellent historical, cultural, and artistic resources, including a kids section. A must for any internet stocking.

http://www.livius.org/ne-nn/nicholas/nicholas_of_myra1.html
The second-best site in the English speaking realm for information on the origin and evolution of "Saint Nicholas, Sinterklaas, Santa Claus" in the historical record and popular imagination.

The American Antiquarian Society has a fantastic online exhibit of the transformation and history of St. Nick, and Christmas in general, in the United States, with images of many rare and famous book covers and artwork.
http://www.americanantiquarian.org/Exhibitions/Christmas/index.htm

Did you know that Rev. Clement Moore LIED about the authorship of "The Night Before Christmas?" One Henry Livingston was the actual author, and you can read excerpts from the Don Foster book which proved this, here:
http://www.iment.com/maida/familytree/henry/sources/authorunknown.htm

The site also has a page of evidence for this literary hoax the Clement foisted upon a zillion editions of that poem. It has news articles from when this fraud was uncovered, as well as poetry by Livingston and Moore for students to decide for themselves.
See: http://www.iment.com/maida/familytree/henry/writinghenryjr.htm

It turns out that Livingston was the first person in the 13 Colonies to use the politically-incorrect phrase "Happy Christmas,"in a letter to his future wife in 1773:
http://www.iment.com/maida/familytree/henry/writing/letters/tosally73.htm

Another urban myth refuted: The modern image of Santa Claus - a jolly figure in a red-and-white suit - was created by Coca-Cola?
http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/santa.asp

Speaking of "The Real Thing," this site got permission from Coke to post many of the Santa advertisements which have appeared in the last 75 years.
http://www.hillmanweb.com/xmas/xmascoke.html

Create a Cool Christmas Cookie!

As part of this year's holiday celebrations, come to the library on Wednesday, December 6th at 6:30 p.m. for your chance to hand decorate and ice Christmas Cookies. It promises to be a lot of fun!

Make it a Muppet Holiday!

Our Monday Muppet Movie Nights have been a success thus far. We invite you to join us this Monday, December 4th at 6:30 when the Muppets celebrate the holiday with "A Muppet Christmas Carol," being shown in the Bates Auditorium.

Are you an Otaku?

It's alright, you can tell us. We've got a couple Manga and Anime Otaku on staff here at LPL and we're looking for teens aged 15-18yrs. who can say the same.

For those of you who don't know what we're talking about...

An Otaku is a Japanese word that originally meant a person who was so invested in a particular hobby that it took over their life. In the U.S. this word has taken on a slightly lighter meaning. Otaku generally refers to a person who is very knowlegable about a hobby or activity. Maybe even a little geeky about it!

We're looking for anyone who might be interested in joining an Otaku Anime and Manga Club. If we can get enough consistant members (at least 10) we could have the oportunity to screen new Anime each month before it's released!

If you'd like to know more give us a call 717-396-9313 X124

There is also a fun poll here.

Book Fair Activities

The activity schedule has been finalized for the December 16th Barnes and Noble Bookfair! Come join us for some fun, and don't foget to bring your voucher!





1:00 PM -- Guest Reader -- A member of the Youth Services Staff will be reading a story for children in the store.

3:00 PM -- Holiday Craft -- A Preschool aged craft will be provided. Join us for some fun!

6:00 PM -- Live Music -- Be sure not to miss our local Guitarist, Singer, Songwriter, Dane Mountain. He will be playing holiday music as well as some original compositions.

Teen Writer Burnout?

Some of the hottest teen literature recently is being written by young adults. This article shares some very interesting perspective on the pressure that they as writers face.

http://www.villagevoice.com/arts/0646,wigginton,75019,12.html

Now, you can download one...

If getting into the library to collect Barnes & Noble Book fair vouchers is a difficulty for you with the growing hustle and bustle of the holiday season, we've made it easy. You can now download a copy of the voucher coupon (printing 3 to a sheet so that you can share it with others you may see!) by visiting our web site at:

http://www.lancaster.lib.pa.us/lcl/lib/lcl/bnbfvoucher_0001.pdf

Vouchers Available Now!

We mentioned here on the blog a few days ago about the upcoming book fair at Barnes and Noble, the proceeds of which will benefit the Youth Services Department here at the library. The vouchers that you would need to present at the time of checkout for us to receive credit are now available at the library, so please come pick them up...and give them out to family and other friends you may know who want to shop and help us out as well!

Giving Thanks....

As we head into the holiday season, we are thankful for your patronage of the library all year long. To celebrate the holiday, we will be closed on Thursday, the 23rd of November, but our regular hours will resume on Friday, November 24th.

Make & Take Workshops this December!

Our holiday programming slate continues to fill up, with your chance to make handmade iced cookies, snowglobes, and the annual traditional favorite, gingerbread houses, at the library this December!

Programs run from 6:30-7:30 p.m. each Wednesday night! Pre-registration is strongly encouraged, so call now to join us for the holiday fun!

Your vote counts!

Election day may be over, but teens across the country are invited to vote in a new online Young Adult book award contest, the Cybills.

Check out this link for more information:

http://dadtalk.typepad.com/cybils/

Do you visit a blog?

Other than our blog, which we hope you check regularly, have you found any other blog on the internet that you visit on a regular basis? If so, we ask you to share it with us today!

Book Fair Coming in December!

The Youth Services Department is partnering with Barnes and Noble, located on Fruitville Pike here in Lancaster, for a book fair where the proceeds will benefit the library's ability to produce more programs such as storytimes and other Youth Services events like our movie nights! More information on picking up your vouchers and other ways that you can help us that day will be posted here soon!

More Freedom to Post...

It was brought to our attention today that when you would have attempted to respond to posts on this blog, you would have had to register to leave your thoughts.

Starting today, the access to post your comments is completely free, and you can go ahead and comment on anything you see at our website or here on the blog!

Who's Your Favorite Author?

Who is your favorite author? Tell us now! We are looking to build a list of favorite authors and their web sites that we can add into our blog for quick and easy access to information about their newest writings and more! Reply to this post with your suggestions and watch for your author's web sites here in the blog!

Welcome to November!

Now that Halloween has passed us by, we are now in the home stretch of the calendar year! Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. As we go through November, and especially into December, there's a WHOLE LOT of cool stuff happening here at Lancaster Public Library, which we'll tell you about right here!

First and most important, remember, if you haven't signed up for FRIDAY's Teen Mystery Night, being held after the library closes from 6:30-8:30 p.m., call in today and do so at 239-2124.

Favorite Scary Books and Movies

On this Halloween, we want to hear from you!

What is your favorite scary story or favorite scary movie? Let us know by leaving us a comment!

Eragon Trailer!

Last night during the World Series, FOX aired an extended trailer for the Eragon film, coming out on December 15. In case you missed it, you can download and view it for free courtesy of AOL:

http://movies.aol.com/movie-trailer-clip/eragon-ed-speleers-jeremy-irons