SLIME TIME!!!!!

We had our ginormously disgusting, stupendously smelly, and amazingly spectacularly fun Slime Time program yesterday! For the 2nd-6th graders, it was a day to remember, and for the same age group, next Thursday will also feature some great activities! Next Thursday at 10:30 is another movie & popcorn, and at 3:30 author and storyteller extraordinaire Carmen Deedy will be here for what is sure to be a fabulous afternoon!

For those who may have missed the shenanigans at Slime Time, here are some of the more memorable moments caught on film:

Summer Chess Club

Join us for chess during Summer Reading! Every Wednesday the Chess Club will meet from 3 until 5 PM in the library meeting room, for ages 7 and up. We will wrap up summer chess with a tournament on July 21st from 9 AM until 4 PM, with registration required. Call 879-0497 for more information.

Summer Reading is Almost Here!

Join us May 20th when we begin Summer Reading, and you can Get a Clue @ Emmet O'Neal Library!

1:00--Kick-Off Parade
1:15--Thomas Hughes Brinkley Memorial Fun Run
1:30-4:00--Carnival

This summer you can become a book detective: come to the library, collect clues and read to solve the mysteries!

After School Special

It's another exciting day at the races and three fantastic fables are headed your way for our After School Special on Wednesday, April 18th. The race between the Tortoise and the Hare is seamlessly woven through the tales of the Lion and the Mouse and the Boy Who Cried Wolf.

Aesop's Fantastic Fables
Wednesday, April 18th
3:30 to 4:15 pm
Ages 3 and up

As the timeless teachings of Aesop leap to the stage, you’ll experience the depth of human drama...the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat...or maybe just have a little home spun, family fun!

Get ready...get set...for "fable-ous" fable fun with this clever, solo "tour-de-farce" created especially for hand puppets, performed by Lee Bryan, a.k.a. "That Puppet Guy."

Family Night Singalong!

It's that time again - another fabulous Family Night at Emmet O'Neal is coming up!

Join us on Tuesday, April 17th for a Sing-a-long with Jim Aycock! To hear a preview of Jim's original children's songs, check out Mixed Up, and for more info on Jim, visit his website!

As always, a tasty dinner is served at 5:30pm, and the fun starts at 6:00!

!!!Deathly Hallows Cover Art Released!!!

At long last, the cover art for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has been released! We are totally geeking out over here at the library, examining every square inch of both the US and UK covers, searching for clues and hints as to what will become of Harry and friends in the next and final chapter in this saga.

Given this new information, we want to hear YOUR theories! What are Harry and Voldemort reaching for? Where are their wands? Will their final showdown be a no-holds-barred Quidditch match? (Heeh! Nice one, Erica!) What is the necklace around Harry's neck? Is it Slytherin's locket? Who -- or what -- are those shadowy figures in the background? And just where are they, anyway?

The UK cover is quite different, and reminds us more of Smaug's lair in The Hobbit than of anything we've yet encountered in J.K. Rowling's wizarding world. What are they coming out of? A portal, perhaps? An aqueduct? Are they falling out or being sucked in? Could this be the Room of Requirement again? Or is it a vault in Gringotts? Is there a Horcrux hidden amongst all those jewels? Five points to anyone who spots the hidden Dobby!

Many have speculated that, given the tragic events of Book 6, Hogwarts would finally be closed forever. The back of the UK version shows us Hogwarts being encroached upon by a thick, dark fog -- which makes me wonder if the students may be returning to Hogwarts for year seven after all, despite the evil that threatens to take over. Ms. Kat wonders if the sphere with the serpent in it is another prophecy. Will Professor Trelawney have another vision? I wonder if James will make a final appearance in his stag form as Harry's Patronus (perhaps coming to Harry's aid in a time of need?), or if the fully-formed Patronus pictured above is representative of Harry finally reaching his true full potential as a wizard. What do you think??

I'm sure that this week's Mugglecast will be chock-full of theories and musings about these covers, so all you podcasters out there should have a listen!

-Ms. Leslie

Important News Bulletin!

Potter-mania is heating up, folks! It's being reported that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, due out July 21st, will weigh in at 784 pages! This will make the seventh and final volume in Harry's saga the second-longest book in the series, after Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with 896 pages. Can you feel it? Don't fight it: the Potterdämmerung* is upon us!

~Ms. Erica

"What began as a book is ending as a movement." -Lev Grossman

*the first person under age 18 who can correctly identify the meaning and origin of this term will win a free copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone!