Excitement Update

Since our newsletter came out I've had several patrons stop by to give me ideas. Many of them are excited about the program as a way to bridge discussions with their children. It seems like on the side poll community acceptance is rated as a barrier, but the in-person response so far seems to be positive. Please take my little poll if you have the chance to click!

I've been give further thoughts by patrons about places to visit such as Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop and Ten Thousand Villages. It seems like my community actually seems to be a resource in itself as they are collectively giving me ideas. As I live in a different town where I work all these new tips are invaluable to me.

I had a quick YES for sponsorship from The DuPage Dragons, and I'm happy as I love giving a family experience as a prize. Baseball, gotta love it! The Dragons are a local team from Lisle, Illinois and are playing out of Benedictine University. They count as my official first.

I'm going to be building a link collection to the side to highlight all of our sponsors. It's nice to get a warm reception. I have to confirm all my sponsors by mid-April at the latest so the rush is now on.

I have a quirky little idea about having decorated boxes down a hallway where people can bring in a variety of things to recycle. We'd model each box after the item such as one that looks like a crayon, one that looks like a Crocodile (Crocs), one that looks like a cell phone, one that look like glasses. This would make it look fun, not junky and highlight recycling for all sorts of items beyond the typical bottle or glass item that we've all come to do in our blue bins and bags.

I've found actual charities that recycle Crocs for Third World Countries, crayons, glasses, etc. How cool would it be to decorate each box, highlight the charity AND give a breakdown of what ingredients are in each item they are recycling. For every Croc you recycle you save such and such.........I'm lucky that I have an art teacher volunteer that could probably pull this off with the greatest of ease.

This weekend I'm going to be pricing out little clay pots for prizes. I think as part of one of my prizes we will do a "planting table." Kids will have the opportunity to pick a seed type and actually plant it in a pot while in the Library. I've done various planting programs and I've been stunned to find lots of kids that have actually never planted anything before be it vegetable or flower. Actually planting something and watching it grow helps foster a connection to nature, so what fun to dig your hands in the dirt while in the Library. Ahem, hand washing may be necessary before touching any books.