Submitted by Joey May, Community Services Librarian

Our Storytimes are booming! We had 30 people at Toddler Storytime on Monday this week and our Thursday morning Preschool Storytime has been drawing big crowds as well! It’s so much fun to see all the littles interacting with each other and it’s a great time out for Mom, giving them opportunities to chat with other mothers.

Don’t miss out on our Storytimes – at 10:30 a.m. Mondays for toddlers and 10:30 a.m. Thursdays for preschoolers. It’s a fun time for all!

Another fun program we offer is Senior Socials – a fun time of socializing and games for our senior citizens. Senior Socials meets the first and third Fridays from 1 to 4 p.m. in the large meeting room downstairs. They play cards, have snacks and have fun socializing! Come join our Senior Socials and bring a friend.

In October, Rainbow’s Tech Topics will be back in action on the third Friday of the month — from 12-1 p.m. — right before Senior Socials. They are planning a three-month session, October through December, before winter hits! Stop in to learn about the latest in the tech world and Rainbow Communications staff always welcomes questions!

The Maple Leaf Festival is Saturday in downtown Hiawatha and the library — along with Friends of the Library volunteers — will have a booth on the north side of the courthouse on the main sidewalk. The Friends will be selling tickets for a chance to win its One Night at the Pumpkin Patch basket. This comes with a quilted witch hat, the Bill Martin Jr. book The Ghost-Eye Tree, a flashlight and mask, along with a Halloween quilt. The witch hat is made by Jane Bebermeyer and the quilt is a collaboration with Bebermeyer and Carrie Olsen, both members of the Friends of the Library. If you miss them at Maple Leaf stop by the library to check out the basket and purchase your ticket for a chance to win.

Upcoming events include our mini fall festival, set for 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, with the Friends of the Library Book Sale that evening at the Fisher Center. We will have some fun games, a fall craft and a snack making event for the kiddos! More details to come!

October events will include Storytime at the Pumpkin Patch, a Halloween Trivia game night and Decorate Your Pumpkin Like Your Favorite Literary Character contest!! Watch for details!

A while back, a very nice young man named Szymon Bookman Binger, with Southwestern Advantage, was selling book sets around town. He stopped by the library and we purchased all of his sets and they are now available in our children’s library in the non-fiction section. These sets include Explore and Learn Books, Ask Me About and My Fun With Words among others. They offer a variety of educational and fun books. Some of the topics include “Which Bug Has a Flashlight,” “The Natural World,” “My Fun With Words,” and inspirational books with Coop and Friends such as “Don’t Give Up!”

As always, anyone with questions about any of our programming, books and other resources can contact us here at the library at 785-742-3831.