More Pokemon Club members

Pictured with their favorite Pokemon cards above: Haden chose Ancient Mew because it's the rarest card you could ever get. Audrey chose Squirtle because h'e cute and he's powerful when he evolves. Elizabeth chose Shifty because "he's my strongest." Tucker chose Blaziken who is a Fire Pokemon that's really powerful.

Pokemon fans gather at the library

8 enthusiastic Pokemon collectors gathered last Friday for Pokemon Club. They ate popcorn and checked out each other's collections. No one actually played Pokemon yet. There's plenty of time for that! We're going to have Pokemon Club after school every Friday through the week before Thanksgiving. Pictured above the kids pick their favorite Pokemon cards to be photographed with: Hilary chose Igglybuff because "it's adorable." Liam, the club founder, chose both Aggron ex and Mightyna ex because they a both brave Pokemon, cute, and extremely dangerous. Kyle's favorites are Golem (becasue he's really strong) and Pikachu (because he's cute.) Abram chose Mew because he's cute and Umbreon because he's "so cool." Next post I will show the 4 other Pokemon Club members and their favorite Pokemon.

They've got rhythm

We have so much fun on Wednesdays. Here we are with the rhythm sticks.

(Click on image to see a larger version)

Louie, our official greeter

Here's Bryn saying hello to Louie at the library today.

Scenes from Storytime Fall 2006

Hannah and Andrew enjoy playing together after storytime.

It was Lego-City after storytime last week!

Our puppet creators

Tyler & his grandmother













Tiffany and her puppet looked quite a bit alike!









Cora is a very fashionable pirate.

Arr, it's Captn Shush!

I have received a number of wonderful photos from the parade which I will be posting over the next few days. This is one of my favorites, taken by Jennifer Molin's daughter.

Scenes from Our Book & Bake Sale

Thank you so much to all volunteers, book donors, bakers, and buyers who made our book & bake sale so very, very successful! We set a new record this year: $1100 was made from book & popcorn sales over two days and close to $500 was earned with the bake sale. The painting raffle netted $286.


The table was laden with goodies.














Meghan helped sell raffle tix.











The rain forced us to set up the book and bake sale completely in the barn, but that turned out ok... especially for kids who like puddles.














We found homes for many, many great books.

Raffle winner

The raffle for Peg Scully's watercolor netted $286. The drawing was Friday, August 4th. Peg herself drew the winning ticket: Margery Conrey won the painting. I called her and she came immediately to pick up her prize. Congrats, Margery!

We're Number One! We're Number One!

The pirate puppets that Tyler, Tiffany and Cora made turned out so great! The parade judges thought so too - The Freedom Public Library won a first place trophy! Thanks so much to Paul Mathieu for leading the puppet workshop and to Heidi Glavin who made the gorgeous professional-looking banner and who also helped with the workshop. What would the library do without great volunteers like them?? This is a question I ask myself daily. Thank you!

Click on any picture to see a larger sized version, so you can see all the details!

Jigsaw fun

Louie the cat is not that good at putting puzzles together but he's excellent at taking them apart. Despite his reputation, Martine & Pim warmly welcome Louie as he walks on the nearly completed puzzle that patrons have been working on for the last few weeks.

Pirates on Parade

Paul Mathieu has been leading a small but dedicated group of puppet-makers in creating some fabulous pirate puppets for the Freedom Old Home Week parade which will be taking place at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, July 29th.

Storytime kids at the beach

Jassmyn, Cora & Anya water the librarian to help her grow (as if she needs that!) while visiting baby Jordan looks on.

Friday night at the movies

Jack & Tanner were smart & brought their own lounge chairs to Pizza & Movie night at the library Friday. 28 adults and children enjoyed "Muppet Treasure Island" and 11 adults & teens at "Freaks & Geeks" later on that evening. Next week, everyone is invited to see "Freaky Friday." Congratulations to Patty Ferguson and Joel Rhymer (no, it wasn't rigged!!!) for winning this week's Adult Summer Reading program drawing.

Liam picks a winner! Nora acts goofy!

Congratulations to Joyce Silke, the first winner in our Adult Summer Reading Program. Once you register to participate, you fill out a form for each book you read to be entered into a weekly drawing for some great prizes from local businesses. Joyce chose a $10 gift certificate from Lazy Susan's Restaurant and two $5 gift certificates from the Freedom Farm Stand. Many thanks to these businesses for supporting the Freedom Public Library. Thanks also to the Valley Originals Restaurants, A Second Glance Hair Salon, King Pine Ski Area, Mount Washington Hotel, Hartmann Model Railroad Museum, Dana Cunningham and Kevin's Discount Center!

Thomas spins a plate

During question and answer period after Double Vision's performance at the school last week, Thomas told Jody Scalise that he, too, can spin a plate. Jody invited him up on stage to show off his talent. Thomas got a big round of applause!

Reading program off to a great start!

Wednesday, June 14th was the last day of school for Freedom Elementary and a half-day at that. By the time the library closed at 2:00, we had 25 kids signed up for the summer reading program already. If the children sign up by Friday, they get to choose a free book.

It was the last day of school AND Rebecca's birthday! Here she is with her sister Kathryn, choosing her free book.




Melanie wastes no time getting started on reading.

Thar be pirates at the library!

Who be these pirates?

And yet another cat

The Davis girls brought their beautiful cat Leo to visit the library this week. Leo is Phoebe's big brother... she visited recently too. Leo wasn't so sure he liked the library and he kept coming back to this window. I think he wished he were outside instead. Maybe he's not much of a reader. He is so black I had to lighten this photo considerably to show his handsome face. Thanks for visiting the library, Leo. Sorry it wasn't your kind of place.

More kitten visitors to the library!

It's becoming the thing to do to bring cats and kittens to visit the library. Here are some recent visitors...

1. Elizabeth, Meghan and Shelby with new kitten Phoebe in the purse
2. Natalie and her kitten Drake
3. Meghan and Phoebe

Check out the new website!

I'm pleased to announce the launching of the library's new website! Same address, whole new look: www.freedompubliclibrary.org
Tell me what you think and what you'd like to see added!

Friends of the Library meeting

All Friends of the Library and anyone interested in becoming a Friend are invited to attend the Spring meeting at 10:00 Saturday, May 20th. This organization has done so much for the library over the years, providing funds for "extras," attracting volunteers, and organizing programs. It's an organization well worth your support!

Another kitten visits the library

Nathaneal and Philip brought their new kitten Peperuka ("Ruka" for short) to visit the library today. He checked out the place both upstairs and down and seemed to think it is a pretty nice library. He chased the feather toy and made us laugh with his kitten antics.

Packed house

Our visit last night from Ruth Law, Aviator, was well attended -- every seat taken! -- and very well received. Several aviators from surrounding towns came to the program and had some of their own stories to tell. Here is some of the crowd and, in the foreground, various hats used by the performer Barbara Miles to show the passage of time, as she chronicled the amazing life and adventures of Ruth Law.

15-2, 15-4 and a pair for 6

Cribbage anyone? We are thinking it might be fun to get people together to play cribbage. Either a one-time deal or an on-going gathering, depending on interest. If you are interested, we've got a list going at the library or you can email Elizabeth at freedomlibrary@adelphia.net to say what days and times would be best for you and don't forget your phone number.

Don't Miss "Meet Ruth Law, Aviator"

On Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 7:00 pm, the Freedom Public Library will host Barbara Miles performing as Ruth Law, the Granite State’s first female aviator.

On December 2, 1916, Ruth Law flew out of the darkness. Wing tips ablaze with magnesium flares and a neon sign reading “LIBERTY” trailing from her aeroplane, she circled the Statue of Liberty as its floodlights were lit for the very first time. Ms. Law earned her pilot’s license in 1912, the same year that she purchased her first aircraft from Orville Wright. She was so successful a pilot that at the height of her ten-year career, she earned as much as $9000 a week for exhibition flights. Come to the Freedom Public Library to meet the first woman in America authorized to wear a military uniform (although her application to fly combat missions in WWI was turned down), the first woman to perform a loop-the-loop and to fly at night, the woman who set the American distance record for nonstop cross-country flight for both men and women.

The Friends of the Freedom Public Library is pleased to present Barbara Miles as she assumes the character and costume of this internationally accomplished patriot and pilot. The performance is made possible by a grant from the New Hampshire Humanities Council and is free and open to all ages. Refreshments will be served. Please call the Freedom Public Library at 539-5176 for more information.

Meghan and Cookie... or is it Ashley??

I knew the difference the day they came, but now I forget which kitty is which. Meghan poses with one of the sweet tortoiseshell kitties that visited the library recently.

Kitten visitors

Amanda & Katie brought their beautiful tortoiseshell kittens, Cookie & Ashley, for a visit yesterday. Louie's tail puffed up like a feather duster but his opinion was definitely in the minority around here!

They weren't puzzled about what to do when the lights went out

A good crowd came to see "The Man Who Would Be King" last Sunday but the electricity went out before it got started. We waited til 4:20 and then decided to postpone the showing to Sunday, April 9th at 4:00 (please come!) Of course, as soon as everyone drove away the power came back on. C'est la vie! Some of the hopeful movie-watchers worked on our ongoing jigsaw puzzle while we waited for power to be restored.

First Teen Program a Success

We made cool things with beads, we ate a lot of popcorn, we played Apples To Apples, we brainstormed ideas for future teen events, we ate pizza & we watched "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride." Fun!