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Summer learning may be winding down, but the learning never stops here at the Library. Fall is just as good a season to tackle something new. Cooler weather, the start of school and the change of season always seem to inspire me to head back to books and back to the kitchen. I love baking and spending time trying new recipes and techniques, which is why I’m so excited about our new program starting this quarter at the Kingston location.

Going green can be tasty! Did you know that you can make s’mores in a solar oven? That was the experiment we did this week at the library. Here are instructions so you can try this at home. Please note that this project requires the use of sharp tools and high temperatures, so grab a grown-up and take precautions. Let’s get started!

Supplies Needed for the Solar Oven:

Calling all teens! If you love reading and pizza and sneaking around in the library after dark, have we got the event for you! This year’s Summer Showdown Lock-In is taking place at four of our Library locations. You heard me right, FOUR locations. Whether you find yourself at Sylvan Way, Port Orchard, Poulsbo or Bainbridge Island, you can attend our second annual connected summer lock-in.

One hundred years after the Russian Revolution, the rest of the world is still trying to come to grips with this great nation created in bloodshed and with great hopes for a bright future. How do we begin to understand the feelings and aspirations of a people so recently “freed” from the Iron Curtain?

Having a username makes it easy to access your Library account from home! It allows you to type in a username you choose instead of the number on your library card for many online services. You can set up a unique username right from KRL.org.  

Go to KRL.org and click on My Account (You'll find it in the upper right corner; if you are on a smart phone you'll find it at the bottom of the site menu.)

Greetings, dedicated readers and library patrons! As 2017 rockets past the halfway mark, now is a good time to check out some of the best comic books and graphic novels of the year so far. Please enjoy the following reviews of some of my top picks for this year’s crop of illustrated marvels and be sure to check out the scroll at the bottom of this article for even more suggestions.

The below blog post was written by Karmen, a Make Do Share Intern at our Sylvan Way location, as she reflects on her experience at the end of her internship. Make Do Share internships are supported by a grant through the Institute of Museum and Library Services and provide teens and young adults (ages 16-25) with the opportunity to gain real world job experience while developing 21st century skills. They also help to make the Library's youth STEM programs more awesome!

Image credit Mark Lord Photography via Flickr

It’s Pride Month! June is the month in which Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month is celebrated in remembrance of the 1969 Stonewall riots that took place in Manhattan. The riot that began with a police raid on the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969 is often cited as the beginning of the gay rights movement. More information and resources can be found at the Library of Congress Pride month webpage.

We’ve had quite a few warm and sunny days here in Kitsap County, which makes me think that our summer season is finally here! Many of you may be furiously planning last minute vacations, camps, or activities for your kiddos to do once school is out. My family tends to be last minute planners, as much as I try to force us to be otherwise, so I’m totally with you. In the midst of figuring out the perfect summer for your kids (and participating in Summer Learning, of course), I want to remind you of an activity so simple you may overlook it—going outside.

Rejoice feline fanciers, because June is the cat's meow! Every year the American Humane Society spends the month of June encouraging people across the country to adopt cats and kittens from local shelters through a national promotional event they have dubbed Adopt-a-Cat Month®. From the American Humane website:

My dad was an amazing person. He was a school custodian, and he loved kids - he especially loved my sister and I. Did I every tell you about the time I gave him a rock for Father's Day? I was really young and didn't have any money. At the time, I remember I was collecting rocks, and one of my most recent acquisitions was a small piece of petrified wood. It was so cool, and I remember my dad explaining to me how the rock I held in my hand had been a tree long before my great, great...great grandfather had been born.

I am a librarian of many trades. By day, I am a book cheerleader; an advocate for youth, a storyteller extraordinaire, a juggler of many projects and meetings; and a research fiend, amongst many other things that might come to your mind when you think of a librarian, and a heap of things that probably don’t. By night (and sometimes early morning if I am feeling super motivated!), I am a concert-goer; a writer; a book hoarder; an instrument learner; a hiker; a crafter; a wannabe movie-enthusiast; and in an on-again, off-again love/hate relationship with the gym.

Free Comic Book Day may have come and gone (it was on Saturday, May 6, this year), but you can still borrow comics and graphic novels from your public library—for free!