We’re offering your students the chance to get set for the beach with a one-of-a-kind pair of custom flip-flops that they have designed and created themselves. Please encourage your students to join us at the Savage Branch at 7 pm on June 29 to customize a pair of flip-flops to showcase their unique style.

All materials will be provided. Registration is required. Students can register online or call 410.880.5980 beginning June 15.

Image by Steve Johnson

Would your students like to start the weekend with a movie? Invite them to join us at the Savage Branch throughout the summer on alternate Fridays at 3:30 pm. We’ll screen family-friendly movies to kick the weekend off in style.

• Jun 24 – How to Train Your Dragon (PG)
• Jul 8 – Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (PG)
• Jul 22 – Monsters vs. Aliens (PG)
• Aug 5 – Legend of the Guardians: the Owls of Ga’Hoole (PG)

No registration required.

Invite your students … the ones who are always humming or singing in the hallways … to sing their way to stardom at Howard County Library’s seventh annual Idol contest, open to all Howard County middle and high school students. The winner receives a $100 cash prize, music lessons from Mike’s Music, and an invitation to sing the national anthem at a Bowie Baysox game.

Two runners up receive a $75 cash prize. All finalists receive a music lesson from Mike’s Music. Registration is required to audition. Five finalists will be chosen from each audition session to compete in the finals. No registration is required to attend as a spectator. Registration for auditions opens on June 7.

Auditions: June 21 & Jun 22, Miller Branch, 7 – 9 pm.

Finals: June 23, Howard County Center For The Arts (8510 High Ridge Road, Ellicott City), 7 – 9 pm.

Sponsored by Friends of Howard County Library.

We like to find cool and interesting ways to keep students motivated to read, as well as refer back to time-honored classics. Scavenger hunts have always been popular, but have your students check out our updated version. Students can answer questions about their favorite books for a chance to win a $50 gift card to a favorite bookstore.

Here’s how it works:

Visit hclibrary.org/hunt for the list of selected titles and trivia questions.

Read any of the books.

Complete the questions for that book.

Submit answers to any Howard County Library branch.

Entries with at least eight correct answers will be submitted to the national contest for monthly drawings. This is a country-wide hunt, but students can come into any Howard County Library branch to submit entries.

To the Japanese, sushi is not just a food, but an art form. Chefs can spend years perfecting the art of rolling and presenting fabulous looking and tasting food.

If any of your chef-talented students would like to learn the art of sushi, without all the fishiness, they can participate in Candy Sushi Time! on Tuesday, June 14 from 7:00-8:30 pm at the Glenwood Branch. In this class, we will teach the traditional Asian art while incorporating Western Candy (think fruit roll-ups, swedish fish, and tootsie rolls). No fish will be harmed in the making of this sushi!

Registration Required. Ages 11-17.

Amy Stephens – Howard County Library Glenwood Branch

Are there game-players and master strategists in your class?

Ask them to drop in to the Savage Branch on Thursday June 9 at 7pm for our Uno Tournament. We’ll play friendly knock-out rounds of the popular card game, and recognize the winners at the end of the evening.

June 9, 2011
7:00 PM
Savage Branch

No registration required

John Jewitt – Howard County Library Savage Branch

Our goal is to keep your students reading this summer. Their goal is to earn book bucks!

Students can earn “book bucks” for time they spend reading, for attending library classes, for turning in a book review, for completing a weekly survey, and for mailing or bringing us a postcard or photograph of their favorite vacation spot. Students can earn credit for reading up to six hours per day.

Students will collect prizes for reaching goals of 50 and 100 book bucks. When they earn at least 100 book bucks, they will be eligible to participate in the You Are Here Readers Raffle.

Check out a list of books for Middle School and High School students developed by Howard County Library’s teen specialists in conjunction with the Howard County Public School System’s media specialists.

To get started, students should register at the information desk at any Howard County Library branch. We’ll give them all of the materials they will need to get started: a reading log, a review card, a user name and password for the online components, plus their first five book bucks and a starter prize!

The last day for students to earn book bucks and enter the raffle is August 13. Raffle winners will be contacted beginning August 17.

Look out for Howard County Library System’s Instructors promoting summer reading with your students in May and June.

Sponsored by Friends of Howard County Library.

Howard County Library, in partnership with Watson’s Tin Box of Ellicott City and Howard County Public Schools, announces the seventh annual Sherlock Holmes Essay Contest for all Howard County public, private and homeschooled 7th grade students.

Students are asked to read the Sherlock Holmes short story, “The Adventure of the Speckled Band,” and write a five-paragraph analytical essay according to the rules and guidelines of the contest. Students may download a booklet that includes the story, pre-reading activities, a glossary of British terms, specific essay questions, the rubric which will be used in judging the essays and a contest entry form.

Teachers who choose to have their classes participate will forward to Watson’s Tin Box the top two essays from each of his/her classes. Home schooled students may send their essay to the Watson’s Tin Box address listed in the booklet.

Essays must be received by Watson’s Tin Box by June 1, 2011. Prizes will be awarded for the best three essays. Winners will be announced at an awards presentation in June 2011 at Howard County Library.

Special thanks to contest sponsor and creator, Watson’s Tin Box of Ellicott City.

We’re looking for middle and high school students to assist us this summer as we make reading fun for kids! Students can earn service learning hours. Volunteers assist Howard County Library System’s instructors with the summer reading club and other tasks.

Summer Reading Volunteer opportunities are available at all branches. To register for this orientation session, submit a volunteer application. Accepted applicants will be contacted to confirm registration and schedule training.

No school on Friday, May 13? No problem! If you like to solve riddles or puzzles, go on scavenger hunts, or use your observation skills, join us at  Miller Branch for Letterboxing @ The Library on Friday, May 13 at 2 pm. After learning about the history and rules of the ancient game of letterboxing, you will receive a set of clues about the secret letterboxes hidden throughout the Miller Branch Library. Work individually, in pairs or in groups.

Ages 8-13. No registration required.

Amy Stephens, Howard County Library Glenwood Branch