Does your youngster dream of political greatness? They can get a headstart with the City of Tigard's poster/essay/video contest "If I Were Mayor" going on now through May 28th. Check the City's page for the
full set of rules and how-to's. Tigard students (including homeschoolers) in grades 4th-12th can enter!
Also, the City is sponsoring a sidewalk art contest to decorate the new Burnham Street/Ash Street sidewalks. Students in 6th-8th can try their hand at creating a design for a concrete stamp depicting either the Western Pond Turtle or the Northern Red-Legged Frog. Check the
City's page if you, like me, have no idea what either of those look like (and for more information!).
In a final note, the City has had to make some
service and program reductions to support the budget. As of June 1st, the library will
open three hours later on Thursday mornings, opening at 1 p.m instead of 10 a.m. Because of this and staff reductions, the Youth Services staff are making some small programming changes. Book Babies, starting in June, will move to Monday mornings at 10:30 a.m. The Monday morning Preschool Story Time will be cancelled, although the Thursday afternoon Preschool Story Time will continue at 1:15 p.m. instead of 1 p.m. Also starting this summer, two Weekend Adventures a month will be offered instead of four. More information will follow with the new program brochure at the end of May and on the library's page of
Kids Events.
As you're wrapping up Summer Reading and getting your family ready for school, don't forget to submit your entries (one for each child) to win savings accounts from the Oregon College Savings Plan. 15 lucky winners will receive $1000 accounts! Stop by the library to pick up a submission form if you haven't already, and make sure your submissions are postmarked by September 2.
With the "Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer" movie out in theaters, we thought summer would be a good time to celebrate all things Judy Moody here at the library. For the entire month of July, we'll be hosting Judy & Stink's Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treaure Hunt. Children are invited to stop by the children's room and pick up a treasure hunt sheet and search for clues throughout the library. When you locate the clue sheets among the library stacks, you'll see that each clue will include an anagram. Unscramble the anagram and write that word on your treasure hunt sheet. When you unscramble all the clues, turn in your sheet at the Children's Desk for a chance to enter a special prize drawing. Prizes include books, mini movie posters, and more. AND the GRAND PRIZE winner will get a special treaure chest full of Judy Moody goodies. How rare is that? Treaure hunt sheets are due Sunday July 31st. 
One of my favorite awards is the Young Readers Choice Award from the Pacific Northwest Library Association. Started in 1940, this is the oldest children's choice award in the U.S. and Canada. Every year teachers, children, parents and librarians submit their nominations for the awards in the three divisions (Junior, Middle and Senior). Over the year children read at least two of these titles and vote on their favorites.
