April Brings Lots of Spring Activity to the Redford Branch Library!

Easter Week Activities

Are your children out of school April 5 - 8?  Here are some fun ways for them to spend their time and engage their minds:

Monday, April 5, 3 pm    Stack's Exotic  Zoo - Participants will have an opportunity to observe and pet small furbearing animals (Chinchilla, ferret, Rabbits and Guinea Pigs)  Preschool - 6 years

Monday, April 5, 6 - 7 pm    Teens & Duct Tape - See what you can make with duct tape - lots of great colors!

Tuesday, April 6, 11 am:  Planting Our Seeds - Participants will plant sunflower, zinnia and squash seeds and take home for care.  All ages

Thursday, April 8, 4 - 5:30:    Diary of a Wimpy Kid Party    Come dressed as a character in the story and play games, make a craft and enjoy snacks all based on this popular series by Jeff Kinney,  Registration Required  Grades 2 - 5

Saturday, April 10, 12 - 2 pm:  Dr. Seuss on the Loose    The library will set up reading stations for parents and children to sit and read together.  They will also have activities for them to do that coorelate with the book that they have just read.  For example, at one station we will have multiple copies of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr Seuss and the parents can read them with their children and then we'll have an activity sheet and a counting game to go along with it..  Parent & child


Man-Up: The Exploration of a Fatherless Nation (film)


When:  Sat, April 3, 2pm – 5pm

Where:  Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
              315 East Warren
               Detroit, MI  48201-1443
               313-494-5800

Description:  Roughly 70% of black families are headed by single mothers. What are the reasons for and implications of this epidemic? Don't miss this compelling documentary screening followed by an enlightening panel discussion with the filmmaker, Tonia Grady, local leaders and activists. http://www.manupthedocumentary.com/
Sponsored by The Yūinon, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit and The Charles H. Wright Museum. For more information, please call (313) 341-4940. This event is FREE and open to the public.
 Rejoice • Relive • Reconnect
This information was taken from http://www.CharlesHWrightMuseum.org




Green Thumbs-Up Garden Project Needs Your Help!

It's that time of year, time to get our garden prepped and ready for planting.  We need to clean up around the library and the garden beds.  If you have an hour to spare come and join us on the following dates:

Thursday, April 15, from 10- 2 pm     Garden/Grounds Clean-Up
Thursday, April 22, from 10 - 2 pm    Garden/Grounds Clean-Up
Thursday, April 29, from 10 - 2 pm     Garden/Grounds Clean-Up

Friday, April 22, 10 am     Planting Cold Crop Seedlings
Saturday, April 24, noon    Mulching Garden Beds

REDFORD READERS BOOK CLUB

The Redford Readers will delve into "The Lost Symbol," by Dan Brown.

"This book’s narrative takes place in a twelve-hour period, and from the first page, Dan's readers will feel the thrill of discovery as they follow Robert Langdon through a masterful and unexpected new landscape. The Lost Symbol is full of surprises."
(Summary taken from the web site http://www.bookbrowse.com/))

The book club discussion  will take place

Keep Detroit Beautiful Taskforce

Council Member Brenda Jones, chairperson of the Keep Detroit Beautiful Taskforce, is hosting a meeting on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 3 pm, at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, 2 Woodward Ave., Suite 1340 (Committee of the Whole Room, 13th floor)

Council member Jones says she is committed to working with those who are committed to keeping Detroit clean and beautiful.  The taskforce mission statement is:  To improve the quality of life in the City of Detroit through community partnerships with a focus on beautification efforts and environmental education.

Super Why Stops in for a Visit

Many thanks to Sarah Kittle from PBS Public Television for bringing
Super Why to our library.

The children of the Redford Branch Library community were ecstatic to meet him.

Computer Classes

Create a Blog or Web Page
Saturday, April 10,  11 - 1 pm

Basic Computer Skills
Saturday, April 24, 11 - 1 pm




Teacher's Choice

Weekdays by Appointment
Teach your students how to use the library for homework help by bringing them on a field trip.  We offer several types of programs including "Library Lessons and Stories", "Research Basics", and training on select Detroit Public Library databases.  For grades 1 - 8/
Reservations required

Would you like to receive notification when our blog is updated?  Send an email to friendsofrbl@gmail.com with your name and email address.


UPCOMING EVENTS!

HOME REPAIR WORKSHOP SERIES!

Free home repair workshops will be held:

Mondays, May 3, 10, 17 & 24, 2010

Mondays, June 7, 14 & 21, 2010
All workshops will run from 5 - 7:30 pm

Topics:

• Your House System-Home Inspection (Green Living
• Weatherization & Energy Conservation
• Introduction to Carpentry
• Basic Electrical Repair
• Basic Plumbing Repair
• Basic Wall Repair & Painting
• Outdoor Maintenance

For more details or to register contact:

Call:  Sheila L. Vanfield 313-394-1038

Email:  sheilav@next-detroit.org
or
Call:  Alicia Miller  313-894-1030 x-122
Email:  amiller@warmtraining.org

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation - which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to    influence and overcome the resistance.

(The above information was taken from the website, http://www.juneteenth.com/)

The Friends of Redford Branch Library will host a Juneteenth Celebration on Friday, June 18, to commemorate this event in history. 

We are accepting applications for vendor tables and looking for entertainment, contact Dr. Conja Wright @313-481-1821 or Fran Harris at 313-537-0739.

You Are What You Eat!!
How Much Do We Really Know About the Food We Buy at Our Local Supermarkets and Serve to Our Families?

We will have an opportunity to learn more about the food we eat when Redford Branch Library presents the film Food, Inc.

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults. 

Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here. (The above information was taken from http://www.foodincmovie.com/)

Dates and show times for the film are as follows:
Monday, June 21, 5 - 7:30 pm
Tuesday, June 22,  3:30 - 5:30 pm
Wednesday, June 23, 5 - 8 pm
Thursday, June 24, 10 am - noon

Our partners on this project:
MOSES Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength, 220 Bagley suite 212 Detroit 48226

Ms. Jackie Dunbell Community Organizer