January Story Time schedule for the Northeast Branch

Here are the Story Times for the month of January at the Northeast Branch (6801 35th Avenue NE), via an email from Erica, the Children’s Services Librarian:

Toddler Story Time

(Geared for ages 1-3)

Thursdays, January 5, 12, 19, 26 at 10:15 & 11:15 a.m.

 

Preschool Story Time

(Geared for ages 3-5)

Tuesdays, January 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 at 10:30 a.m.

 

Pajamas & Puppets

(All Ages)

Wednesday, January 18 at 7:00 p.m.

 

Ravenna Blog highly recommends the Pajamas and Puppets Story Time — especially if you can get Junior to go with your Significant Other and leave you at home (pro-tip).

Close out the year with some Northeast Branch Story Time


A snowy Northeast Branch in November 2010

Here’s the schedule for the last Story Times of 2011 at the Northeast Branch of the Seattle Public Library (6801 35th Ave NE):

Pajamas & Puppets
(All Ages)
Wednesday, December 21 at 7:00 p.m.

Preschool Story Time
(Geared for ages 3-5)
Tuesday, December 27 at 10:30 a.m.

Toddler Story Time
(Geared for ages 1-3)
Thursday, December 29 at 10:15 & 11:15 a.m.

Libraries CLOSED all next week, but still accessible (sort of)

As is becoming an annual tradition, ALL Seattle Public Library locations will be closed next week (Monday, August 29 through Sunday, September 4) due to citywide budget cuts, in addition to being closed on Monday, September 5 for Labor Day.

This time of year is historically the least busy time for our libraries, which is why it is frequently the target for furlough days.

If you have been meaning to visit our local Northeast Branch (6801 35th Avenue NE), here are the remaining open days before the furlough begins:

    Friday, August 26, 10AM-6PM
    Saturday, August 27, 10AM-6PM
    Sunday, August 28,1PM-5PM

After this weekend, the next day the Northeast Branch will be open is Tuesday, September 6, from 10AM-8PM.

The good news: During the closure, some library services will still be accessible. As is becoming a Ravenna Blog tradition, here is a list of the Seattle Public Library services that WILL work during the closure:

  • The online catalog! But you can’t place holds.
  • “My Account” information!
  • The new online system for paying your fees and fines!
  • Calendar of Events!
  • SPL Mobile! The library system’s mobile phone app.
  • Databases! Who doesn’t enjoy a romp through Consumer Reports?!
  • Downloadable media! Got an e-reader of some sort? You may not even notice there’s a furlough happening.
  • Digital collections! Photos from AYP, historical Seattle, and the like.
  • Library BLOGS! Specifically “Push to Talk” for teens and “Shelf Talk” for adults.
  • Library podcasts!

For the list of services that will be unavailable during the one-week closure, visit www.spl.org.

NE Library Firefighter Story Time: When you gotta go, you gotta go

Front grill of Engine 38 - THAT'S HOT

Firefighter Story Time at the Northeast Library (6801 35th Ave NE) yesterday had everything you’d ever want in a Firefighter Story Time: Lots of firefighters (one of which was in his FULL GEAR), a HUGE crowd of enthusiastic listeners, a good story highlighting fire safety, and ACTION.

Lieutenant Milton, Firefighter/Storyteller

The crew of Engine 38 treated a crowd of over 200 parents and kids to a reading of No Dragons for Tea: Fire Safety for Kids (and Dragons) by Jean E. Pendziwol.  But before he got too far into the story, Lieutenant Milton did warn the crowd about his pager:

If this thing goes ‘BEEP BEEP,’ we have to go.

We all laughed.

With so many eager listeners in the crowd, Lt. Milton had the rest of the crew spread out through the space with extra copies of the book so that everyone could see the pictures.

Firefighters Lt. Milton and John Paul Jones

Firefighter Becky Mathews turns the page.

Firefighter Dyer, not part of Engine 38's crew that day, was also on hand to help.

After the story, Firefighter Chris Hassel showed off his full firefighting ensemble.

Flash photography is NOT helping us out here, but still looks pretty cool. (Hassel on left, Lt. Milton on right)

A now helmeted and masked Hassel shows the crowd his position relative to a smoke-filled room.

At this point, the crew of Engine 30 headed outside to ready the truck for inspection.

Priority parking behind the library

Fire engine 38's cab section

One of many storage areas on the engine, opened up to reveal the equipment inside.

Doors to the engine’s cab were opened, and a multitude of storage areas were revealed all over the exterior of the engine.  Kids and parents filed out of the library and surrounded the engine and her crew.

Then Lt. Milton started to talk about the differences between fire engines and fire trucks, and how this engine hooks herself up to a hydrant,

This engine carries its own 500 gallons of water all the time! Neat!

and then we heard:

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Lt. Milton looks at his pager, says, “‘Motor vehicle accident.'” Pause. “We gotta go.”

“AWWWWWWW…” said the crowd.  What a bummer. But duty calls! What are you gonna do?!

The crew of Engine 38 rapidly closed up all the compartments and hopped in the cab as the crowd backed away to make room for the engine to head out.

Here’s a video of their all-too-soon departure:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7uxuTD-zT0&feature=player_embedded

I think the engine sounded really sad about leaving, don’t you?

But take heart, citizens of Northeast Seattle! There’s another opportunity to see a fire engine up close just this next week, as Firefighter Story Time heads to the Green Lake Library (7364 E Green Lake Dr N) on Wednesday, October 13 from 11:15-11:45am.

You can find the full schedule of Firefighter Story Times here, at the Seattle Fire Department Event Calendar page.

___________________

EXTRA FIRE DEPARTMENT-RELATED TIDBIT: The NEW Fire Station 38 (across the street from the Sand Point Metropolitan Market) should be wrapping up construction around the end of December 2010. Stay tuned for open house dates, and information on how YOU could own the OLD Fire Station 38.

What You CAN Do During the Library Closure

In case you didn’t know, in case the Ravenna Blog is your ONLY source of news — we’re flattered, certainly, but we DON’T recommend it — ALL branches of the Seattle Public library are CLOSED next week.

There is a big ol’ list of SPL services that won’t work during the furlough (see above link for details), and many other news sources have listed them. The Ravenna Blog shall not.  We prefer to think positively about these things.

THUS, here are the Seattle Public Library services that WILL work during the closure:

  • The online catalog!  But you can’t place holds.
  • “My Account” information! See your fines, use the week off to find cash to pay them.
  • Calendar of Events!
  • SPL Mobile! The library system’s mobile phone app.
  • Databases! Who doesn’t enjoy a romp through Consumer Reports?!
  • Downloadable media! Got an e-reader of some sort? You may not even notice there’s a furlough happening.
  • Digital collections! Photos from AYP, historical Seattle, and the like.
  • Library BLOGS! Specifically “Push to Talk” for teens and “Shelf Talk” for adults.
  • Library podcasts!

There you are! Your list of CAN DO for the furlough week. If you need anything else, you’ve got through Sunday, August 29.

GO GO GO!

I'd wager the parking here still works, too.