A Quick Note About The Cat

The cat has gone on a vacation. He left yesterday morning traveling to Indiana, where he was going to board a train bound for Chicago, Illinois. From there he is going to board another train bound for Minnesota.

He is traveling with a couple of nurses who are on their way to a medical convention. He will not be back until next Monday. Keep checking back, because I know he is going to have lots of stories to tell, and some pictures to share.

I hope he does not come back thinking he is qualified to answer medical inquiries. If he does, he is not going to hang his shingle out down here!

What Can You Create With a Dot?

My school age groups listened to music performed on the didgeridoo, an instrument native to Australia, while they created dot paintings this month. I asked the children at one center if the song titled, Dragonfly, reminded them of a dragonfly flying around. One boy said, "No, it sounds like a cow dying to me!" There is nothing like honesty!

I was hoping the music would inspire creativity in the children as we practiced a new form of painting.

Aborigines used dot painting to tell a story or pass on ritual practices. They would draw the picture, then camouflage it with dots. Often the stories depicted were secret, and only privileged members of the tribes could know the message of the paintings, especially the ones depicting ritual practices.

The most famous dot painting is the Aboriginal creation story - Dreamtime.

More information on this form of art can be found at the following web sites.

http://www.didgeswedoo.com.au/aboriginals.html#aboriginals
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/indigenousart/

Every summer presents a new challenge. This summer's theme is "Be Creative @ Your Library. The children created unique paintings and a mess. I am not sure which one they enjoyed more.

As one teacher said, "They are just being children, and the mess will clean up." I love her attitude.

I have posted some of the works of art above. As you can see, The Cat had to get in on the fun. Can you read the message he is sending?

Charlotte will be creating dot paintings with her school group next month, while my groups work with collages. I cannot wait to see what the children create next.

Summer Reading + Creativity = Fun Times

Summer reading is in full swing in the Extension Department. This month we are discussing music and movement. We are reading stories about music, watching filmstrips about music, and letting the children do "The Jungle Boogie" with the book and CD.

The children love moving around. I have warned the teachers this summer is going to different. We are going to get the children excited and busy, while we learn to "Be Creative at Our Library!" After all, children love noise and movement. We are going to have lots of both.

I'm tired already!

The Cat Says.....

The Cat is getting ready for summer. He's doing his part to get the word out!

Book Signing

Mrs. Ruby Marsh will be signing copies of her book, Strawberry Road: A Story of a Man and Woman Who Never Gave Up!, this Saturday, May 16 at the Randolph Public Library. The signing is from 2:00-4:00.

Mrs. Marsh, at 98 years of age, has many wonderful family stories to tell.

Please come and join us for a wonderful afternoon.

Truck Day 2009

Charlotte and I attended the annual truck day on May 4. We took the library van and set up in Rand Plaza.

Truck Day is a day for the 3rd graders in the city school system to meet people who drive vehicles on the job. There were several vehicles at the event. These included a fire truck, a police car, the news 2 van, the fox8 van, as well as others.

We were asked to tell the children about our job, and how things we learned in school help us in our job. The children are always very attentive.

In addition to talking about our job, we also did a summary of The Library Dragon along with the library dragon puppet.

This year, we took The Cat to introduce him to the students. I explained some of the things he has gotten into during the last couple of years. I told them they could read about his adventures on the extension services blog. The children loved petting him. The Cat loved all the attention.

We handed out 381 bags to the children and about 40 pens to the teachers. It was a very successful day. The Cat is looking forward to doing it again next year.

Our Final Destination 0f the Day!

After lunch, we headed south on 220. We were on our way to Seagrove, one of the most well known pottery areas around.

We stopped at Cady Clay Works where we were welcomed by Beth Gore, one of the owners. She showed us around the gift shop, and then we proceeded to the workroom, where John Mellage creates some beautiful pieces of pottery.

I really enjoy watching potters mold a piece of clay into a usable or decorative item. Mr. Mellage explained how the clay was processed into a long roll. He then cut off the correct amount for the item he was going to turn. The first one he turned for us was a bowl. I have included several pictures of him at work.

It was amazing to watch. It seemed to take alot of strength to manipulate the clay into what he wanted it to be, but, at the same time, he made it look almost effortless. He constantly added water from a sponge to keep it pliable.

Beth shared several facts about clay with us while John worked. She told us that clay has a memory. If there is a defect while turning, and it is fixed, after the item is fired it will come out of the kiln in the original shape. The defect will be noticable. Clay has to be sent back through the processor, made into a roll, and the piece has to be reformed from scratch.

After he turned a bowl, a candlestick, and a platter for us, he took us out back to the kiln. It was set into the slope of a hill and he explained the process of firing. It takes several days for a piece to be fired and the kiln to cool down. He has friends that come in to help watch the kiln during this process. Visit the website at www.cadyclayworks.com to find out more about the unusual kiln and the process of firing.

Afterwards, we were allowed to shop for a bit in the gift shop. There were many beautiful pieces of pottery, as well as jewelry, and other items for sale.

I was the lucky winner of the prize of the day with which I was able to purchase a couple of pieces of pottery for myself.

We were sad to see the day end. The Cat, who made the trip with us was also sad to leave his new friend. (see picture)

As I said before, this summer's theme is "Be Creative @ Your Library." Several of us commented that it would be a difficult theme to get ideas for. Susan and Jonna got us excited, thinking about what we could create this summer with the children of Randolph County. We're fortunate that they know such interesting and creative people who were willing to share their knowledge with us.

Summer Reading is going to be a blast!

Thanks to everyone who made this day possible. Carolina Theatre and Cady Clay Works are two places that I highly recommend you visit.