@ Your Library
Recent library events, news and more.
Kevin Devine's Musical Circus landed at the Eastwood Branch Library today. Culminating with a parade of tambourine wielding kids, this Make a Splash program was total fun. There were lots of opportunities for audience members to participate when Kevin invited them up to sing or to play the drums or to be the sun shining in the sky. Kalamazoo Public Library was pleased to have this award winning songwriter and entertainer back and will look forward to another great show in mid October at the Oshtemo Branch Library.
There really are lots of great programs for all ages at your library. Take a look at the calendar and sign up for Summer Reading Games! There's a game for everyone from birth through adults.
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Singalong Fun
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http://www.kpl.gov/calendar/
Commedia Zuppa presented BOXHEAD, a program featuring masks and much more at the Central Library on Tuesday. What a great program! Before and after the performance, audience members had the opportunity to try on real hand-made theatrical masks created by these theater professionals. Made out of neoprene and each one of a kind, the masks themselves were very cool. The theater program was great fun! Inspired by the classic Where the Wild Things Are and The Phantom Tollbooth, BOXHEAD is a gentle look at what can happen when you get so angry you lose your head.
There are lots of great programs at your library. Take a look at our calendar and don't forget to sign up for Summer Reading Games! There's a game for everyone from birth through adults.
Book
Mask Petting Zoo
boxhead-zoo-240
http://www.kpl.gov/calendar/
With the 30th anniversary of Kalamazoo’s infamous 1980 tornado upon us, I thought it might be fun to have a look at another such storm that “visited” our neighborhood... almost exactly 100 years earlier. A vintage issue of the Gazette tells us that a tornado came through the Kalamazoo area on Saturday, 8 May 1880—a century (almost to the day) before the devistating 1980 storm, “and did considerable damage.” The report, in all of its splendid 19th century vernacular, goes something like this...
“Kalamazoo was visited last Saturday night with a tornado that did considerable damage. It struck Kalamazoo county first in the township of Texas and did considerable damage, blowing down trees, fences and barns. South west of Kalamazoo three or four miles the wind was especially heavy. The large grain barn of Wm. Gibbs was blown down and scattered in every direction. The barn of Wm. Brownell was served in like manner and a farmer, capable of judging, says that three thousand dollars will not make good the fences blown down in that neighborhood... Other sheds and stables were unroofed and warped and the boards carried rods away... Out houses were blown over and trees uprooted in numerous instances... From the effects of the storm, it looks as though it must have been a whirl wind, for the earth appears to have been struck in spots.”
—Kalamazoo Gazette, 11 May 1880
To commemorate and document the 1980 storm, Blake Naftel’s Kalamazoo Tornado Project promises to reveal some interesting material, including newly remastered video footage, newspaper articles, and recently documented personal accounts. Read the Gazette story about the project.
In addition, KPL has added a new photo gallery to the website with photos of local damage contributed from various sources. It, too, is an ongoing project, so if you have photos you’d like to share, please contact the Local History staff.
Speaking of photos, the one shown at the top of this page is the oldest known photograph of a tornado, taken in South Dakota in 1884. It comes from NOAA’s National Weather Service Collection.
Book
Twister!
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http://www.kpl.gov/local-history/general/tornado.aspx
What a great Día de los Niños/Día de los Libros here at the library! Acclaimed bilingual author Pat Mora, who has written books for children, teens and adults, founded Día to nurture bookjoy—delight in the magic of words and a passion for reading. On Saturday, April 24th, Fantasía Ballet Folklórico performed several traditional dances and students from El Sol School performed songs and a readers’ theatre piece. All children who attended received a special prize and a book to keep. Next time you come to the Central Library, take a look at the posters created by El Sol students for Día. You can see them on display as you pass into the Children’s Room.
Book
Día de los Niños
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http://www.catalog.kpl.gov/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/5?searchdata1=mora%2c+pat{AU}&library=BRANCHES&language=ANY&format=ANY&item_type=ANY&location=ANY&match_on=KEYWORD&item_1cat=ANY&item_2cat=ANY&sort_by=-PBYR
Brian Brook and his wife Judy brought two llamas to the Eastwood Branch Library for a program last Friday afternoon. Paco and Paint-Your-Wagon, the magnificent beasties in question, were on their very best behavior, basking in both the warm sunshine as well as the admiration of an appreciative audience.
Llamas are members of the camel family and are domesticated pack animals native to South America. They have two-toed feet, and walk on leathery pads which give them superb traction in mountainous terrain. As you may have heard, llamas can spit. But normally this is intended for other llamas who provoke anger or a disturbance. Of course, the llamas visiting Eastwood were relatively at ease and quite calm, so “No Spitting” was the rule of the day.
Paco and Paint-Your-Wagon live with Brian and Judy along with about 25 other llamas on a farm in Three Rivers. Judy regularly combs their substantial coats. She uses the harvested fibers to make rugs, purses, and sweaters, selling these at craft shows throughout Southwest and Mid-Michigan.
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Llamas
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http://www.catalog.kpl.gov/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/5?searchdata1=llamas&library=BRANCHES&language=ANY&format=ANY&item_type=ANY&location=ANY&match_on=KEYWORD&item_1cat=ANY&item_2cat=ANY&sort_by=-PBYR
Looking for something fun to do during Spring Break? There are a variety of programs at library branches.
It’s all at your library. Have a wonderful Spring Break!
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Spring Break Programs at KPL!
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http://www.kpl.gov/events/western-dance/
The New York based Enso String Quartet played at KPL on March 11 in a program made possible by Fontana Chamber Arts.
The program featured “The Art of Conversation: Seven Dialogues for String Quartet” written by Karim Al-Zand who introduced his composition and answered questions. Al-Zand wrote the piece for string quartet, which he explained is the “quintessential ensemble” for chamber music (two violins, a viola and a cello). Comprised of “agile instruments” producing “homogeneity of sound,” a string quartet “always looks like a conversation” as it performs, Al-Zand said.
Inspired by this idea of a conversation, Al-Zand composed seven dialogues, all resembling conversations among friends. The first dialogue is an idealized gathering in which everyone is lively and engaged. The other dialogues proceed in various combinations of dominance and engagement – idiosyncratic with one dominant; two conversations at once; three in sync while one speaks in nonsequitors; recitations in unison. The sixth dialogue was the equivalent of four people talking on a cell phone, with each instrument’s part was taken from other dialogues.
The seventh dialogue was a fugue — a single melody or subject passed from instrument to instrument, with each expounding on the subject. Just as with a conversation among friends, the music spiraled up, then wound down to small moments of silence before resuming to a crescendo. After a few more thoughts were added, the conversation ended harmoniously with everyone in agreement.
The seven dialogues were written especially for the Enso String Quartet, which is dedicated to performing the work of contemporary composers. It is a rare pleasure to hear a composer discuss his work and to hear a work performed by the ensemble for whom it was written.
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Enso String Quartet
enso-string-quartet
http://www.ensoquartet.com/
On February 24th, kids from the Boys and Girls Club, and other families, joined us at the Alma Powell Branch for a Jumping the Broom ceremony.
Jumping the Broom was a marriage practice used by couples during slavery. Many times the slaves’ owners would not give permission for couples to wed. Jumping the Broom became a practice that allowed couples to unite without their owners’ knowledge. Today, this tradition has become popular as a cultural heritage ceremony.
During our event the kids took turns reading from the book Jumping the Broom written by Courtni Wright. This story is about a young slave girl, Lettie, whose sister, Tillie, is planning a Jumping the Broom ceremony. Courtni Wright tells how slave families worked together to prepare for the ceremony. The women spent their days working on a quilt to keep the young couple warm. They prepared food for the ceremony. The men built furniture and caught fish to salt for the winter. Everyone pitched in.
At our event Erika and Hari dressed the part of a couple in a pretend ceremony; we decorated miniature brooms, ate homemade wedding cake and drank homemade Jamaican-style ginger soda. We talked about other ceremonies and the quilt making custom.
Thanks to the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo we had a fantastic quilt display exhibited in the Barnabee Gallery! These quilts were done by a group of African American women of Southwest Michigan. It brought the Barnabee Gallery alive with African American heritage and history.
Harriette Cole’s book Jumping the broom: The African-American Wedding Planner is not only historical but is a modern-day guide for couples wanting to tie the knot. Ms. Cole offers anecdotes, traditions and choices for blending today’s culture with elements of the past.
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Jumping the Broom
0823410420
Because of my move into a new job at the library, last night was the final Storytime with Mr. Steve & Friends.
We had a great time reading books, singing songs about a man made out of food, and playing with the parachute.
The adrenaline of the evening helped me hold up well last night, but now I am feeling the effects of closing a very happy chapter in my life.
I would like to thank all the families in the community for your wonderful support during my years as a children’s librarian and for allowing me to be a part of your children’s lives.
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Storytime with Mr. Steve and Friends
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http://www.kpl.gov/kids/storytime/mr-steve.aspx