AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2014 | Your place. Stories you want. Information you need. Connections you seek. Your library’s awesome series
AWESOME LEARN SOMETHING NEW From studying to kickin’ back
JIM GILL
W
e deliver on back-to-school fun! So grab your library card – or get one – and buckle up for an exciting fall.
Jim Gill, a renowned early childhood educator and entertainer, will raise your spirits. Five of Gill’s albums have been honored as American Library Association’s Notable Children’s Recordings; check ‘em out from the library.
Your family can be part of the action when Gill’s Contagious Tunes Tour rolls into town Aug. 16. We can’t play his music here in this newspaper – or we would – but you can listen to his tracks at tscpl.org. School-aged kids will get even more stoked for school at our Smarty Pants Rule Back-to-School Fair Aug. 7, but if you can’t make it to that…
Sample something from our greatest hits list As school fires back up, so does the library’s Homework Center. Drop into see our homework coaches and get your child off to a great start with the teacher. “We’re a consistent place kids go to get their homework done. By the time their parents are home, everyone’s done with work and it’s family time,” said LeAnn Petrie, Youth Services supervisor.
Use our Digital Branch for language learning with Mango, for skill-building practice tests (great for older students) at LearningExpress Library, and for lessons ranging from math to art at the Student Research Center. And, your place for all of this is tscpl.org/research.
Got new kids in your class? Remind them that Topeka doesn’t feel like home until you get a library card. Visit mylibrarycard.org to get started. September is National Library Card Sign Up Month, so spread the word.
Every day at the library your child can have afterschool fun and blow off some steam with their friends through gaming, reading, 4-H and animals. Meet new friends by joining the gang at SKITLS. See page 14.