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Blog Post

Army- Navy Wheelchair Basketball Game

by Sunny29

For the 10th time in as many years, fans will experience the grit, spirit and keen competition of the University of Michigan’s Army vs. Navy Wheelchair Basketball Game.

As it is the University’s only disability related sports event, founder Gerald Hoff points out that “this is a chance to emphasize the ABILITY within ‘disability’ and to honor veterans and active-duty military, especially student veterans, and to raise awareness of and appreciation for the spirit of inclusion.”

This annual, free event will be held Sunday, November 1st. Doors open at 2:00 p.m. and tip-off is at 3:00 p.m. Other features on this day include the U-M Dance Team and Cheerleading Squad, the Men’s Glee Club and a half-time performance by the 338th Army Band.

If you require accommodations, be sure to look over Crysler Center’s Guide for Guests with a Disability, or email disability@umich.edu to make a request.

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Blog Post

Come Downtown to make your own comic book bubble magnets tonight!

by eapearce

Join us Downtown in the new Secret Lab for a great event for teens and adults! Tonight, Tuesday, October 6, from 7:00-8:00pm, we'll use lots of awesome old comic books to create our own magnets!

Cut out pictures from the comic books, then glue flat glass marbles on them to magnify the image. Attach a magnet to the back and you have cool, useful decorations for metal surfaces in households, dorm rooms, and offices! You can even make a series of magnets based on your favorite comic book character.

All materials will be provided.

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Blog Post

Halloween Costume Swap!

by evelyn

Join us for a new sustainability program this year! From now until October 2nd, drop off your gently used, clean Halloween costumes to any library branch. Costumes for all ages and sizes are appreciated, as well as accessories!

Then, on October 3rd, come to the Downtown branch from 2:30-4:30 to pick out a new costume for this year! This is a wonderful chance to save money, clear your closet, and pick out something snazzy for this year. We'll also be doing a kids' craft!

Get in the spooky mood by checking out our great collection of Halloween items!

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Blog Post

Dia De La Familia Latina

by Beth Manuel

Join us Sunday, October 4th, 2:30-5pm at the downtown AADL, as we partner with the U of M Comprehensive Cancer Center to bring you Dia de la Familia Latina. This informational program - which takes place during National Hispanic Heritage Month - will include health information and resources from local community agencies and organizations, and aims to raise awareness of cancer and other health issues among Latinos. Refreshments and other fun activities will be provided including crafts, face painting, and the talented Magician Cesar Domico to perform for all!

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Blog Post

Revving Up for the Reads

by valerieclaires

The finalists for this year’s Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads have been chosen! They are The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez, a work of fiction, and Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson, a work of non-fiction. More information about the books is available on the finalists page of the Reads website.

For more than 10 years, the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti communities have come together to share the same book during Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads. This year’s theme is “A Very Good Read,” and may be a work of fiction or non-fiction. A panel of local individuals will read both books and determine which one will be the official Read for 2016, which will take place in January and February. If you’d like to participate now, you can read both books, available in stores and at your local library, and leave your comments on the books’ pages at Washtenawreads.

Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads is a community initiative to promote reading and civic dialogue through the shared experience of reading a book. It was launched in 2003 by the University of Michigan Life Sciences, Values, and Society Program, and was modeled after a program started by the Seattle Public Library. Now, the Reads program is co-sponsored by the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti District Libraries and supported by interested civic groups, the University of Michigan School of LS&A, the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti Public Schools, local bookstores, Eastern Michigan University Libraries and Washtenaw Community College.

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Blog Post

Everything is AWESOME!

by krayla

Shmowzow! 154 of you visited the Downtown Library over the last month and wrote what you think is AWESOME on a sticky note for Summer Game points! The things you wrote were too great not to share.

Many of you showed your love for AADL and the Summer Game, so many thanks! (Remember that you still have time to shop for prizes with those points, so if you're that person who loves AADL's Brick Banks, have at it!) A large number of you also like reading, books, LEGO, sports, your pets, family and friends (aww), and of course, food.

Can't get enough of what YOU think is AWESOME? Check out AADL's related events, like upcoming musicians, video game tournaments, and crafty classes! Animal and nature-lovers can walk around Black Pond Woods and cosplayers can take part in our costume exchange!

We'll see you around the library for all your favorite activities, and THANKS FOR PLAYING!

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Blog Post

It's Easy Being Green: A Sustainable Living Expo / Sunday, September 27, 12:30-5:30 PM

by erin

It's Easy Being Green is a day-long learning, local buying, and eating exposition celebrating living a life that’s better for the planet and not so hard on the wallet. From supporting efforts to reduce your carbon footprint to learning homesteading skills for living a more hands-on, DIY life, It's Easy Being Green has you covered!

Join us on SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, from 12:30-5:30 PM. The library is open from 12:00-6:00PM. FREE Parking on Sundays too!

The Expo features:

A Keynote presentation, "Plants, Pollinators, and Why They Matter," plus 11 learning sessions on a variety of topics including bike commuting, rain & container gardening, permaculture, fermentation, and more.

Over 20 vendors selling upcycled, recycled, handmade wares including jewelry, clothes, bath products, artwork, wool and other fibers. Plus vendors selling mushroom growing kits, outdoor animal keeping supplies, fermented products, and shrubs (drinking vinegars). Vendors include The Brinery, McClary Brothers Drinking Vinegars, Ann Arbor Seed Company, Happy Fuzzy Yarn, Divine Iguana, Lead Head Glass, among others.

Opportunities to chat with representatives from area organizations such as Recycle Ann Arbor, Project Grow, Ann Arbor Backyard Beekeepers, Sic Transit, Natural Area Preservation, Slow Food Huron Valley, Agrarian Adventure, Leslie Science & Nature Center, Ecology Center, and other green neighbors.

There will be three outdoor food vendors: The Shimmy Shack (vegetarian/vegan), and Mani Strada (the new venture from the Mani Osteria & Isalita purveyors) and Hello Ice Cream..

Learning Sessions Schedule:

12:30-1:15

Keynote: Plants, Pollinators, and Why They Matter with Joseph Tychonievich, Greensparrow Gardens

1:30-2:15

Family Bike Commuting with Michael Firn of Sic Transit Cycles
Container Gardening with Growing Hope

2:30-3:15

Rain Gardens with Jesse Tack of Abundant MI Permaculture and Whole Culture Repair
Mending Workshop with Karen LePage of Gentle Clothing
Bee Keeping with Jamie Berlin of Ypsi Melissa

3:30-4:15

Permaculture with the People’s Food Co-Op
Keeping Animals with Harnois Farms

4:30-5:15

Intro to Canning with Cynthia Hodges
Vermiculture with Starr Valley Farms
Fermentation 101 with The Brinery

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Public Event

Community Vinyasa Yoga

Sunday January 17, 2016: 3:00pm to 4:30pm
Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room
Grade 6- Adult

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Public Event

Community Vinyasa Yoga

Saturday December 19, 2015: 10:00am to 11:30am
Pittsfield Branch: Program Room
Grade 6–Adult.

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Blog Post

Congratulations to all of the WINNERS at the 10th Annual LEGO Contest! 2015 is the summer of LEGO Awesome!

by erin

Summer 2015 has been the summer of LEGO in all of its interlocking awesomeness and the highlight of EVERY summer, the annual LEGO contest, has come and gone and now it’s time to celebrate! This year we had 200 entries in 6 age categories:

Preschool, Grades K-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12 and Adults!

We gave out 24 LEGO trophies, 72 medals and over $500 in gift cards to the winners! As always the house was packed and about 600 people attended to vote of their favorites, see all the projects and experience the Award Ceremony!

Congratulations to the winners in our 10th Annual LEGO Contest!

Preschool Category:

1st Place = Hotel by Emmet Forbes
Runner-Up = Outer Space by Nate Kubiak
Honorable Mention = Tootie Ta Train Tower by Clara Balazer
PEOPLE’S CHOICE (voted on by attendees of the contest) = Hotel by Emmet Forbes

Best Motorized = Its’s a Camp by Eleanor Coffman
Best Architectural/Engineering = Rainbow Pyramid by Sam Mickey
Coolest Robot = Rock Mech Robot by Gabriel Nazario
Best Vehicle = Drone Galaxy Cruiser by Jackson Erickson
Most Creative = Indian Street Food by Amit V.
Most Sophisticated = Knights of Fires all Fighting All Day by Liam Anderson
AADL LEGO Master Builder = Lava, Frank the Dog, Alligator, Ninjago Volcano by Isaac Semrau
Best Use of the #10/Visual/Conceptual = Waterfall by Theo Tsai

Grades K - 2:

1st Place = Edmund Fitzgerald & Andersen by Alexander Burrow
Runner-Up = SS Collage by Dominic Nazario
Honorable Mention = M City by Emma Khan
PEOPLE’S CHOICE (voted on by attendees of the contest) = Farmer’s Market by Ivy & Ethan Miller

Best Motorized = Top in 10 Years by Mave Coffman
Best Architectural/Engineering = Gems & Marble Run by Desmond Beckerleg
Coolest Robot = The Best Workers by Lincoln Bolazer
Best Vehicle = Spy Tracker by Connor Geoghegan
Most Creative = Banana Boat by Sorin Bleed
Most Sophisticated = Spy Central by Evan Lowrie-Miuccio
AADL LEGO Master Builder = Pacmania by Ruby Brabbs
Best Use of the #10/Visual/Conceptual = I Spy 10 by Will and Sean Beaupre
Best RV = Every kind of person animal Tubobus by Micah Jule Rijke-Epstein
Best Planes, Trains and Tower Cranes = Busy Day at the Harbor by Jacob Rice

Grades 3-5 Category:

1st Place = iPhone Characters Come to Life by Ennis Poskovic
Runner-Up = Castle Under Attack by Nathan Gillick
Honorable Mention = Under the Water by Avalon McNew
PEOPLE’S CHOICE (voted on by attendees of the contest) = Brenda Khuu

Best Motorized = Baja by Jeffrey Wang
Best Architectural/Engineering = Top Notch Security Robot Lab by Joe Bonenberger
Coolest Robot = B-29 Robot Dog by Beck Nordstrom
Best Vehicle = Ann Arbor Airport 2110 by Kevin Hudson
Most Creative = Dog Walker by Noah Forbes
Most Sophisticated = LEGO Jewelry Part 2 by Hiba Khan
AADL LEGO Master Builder = Frank the Pub by Gabriel Senrau
Best Use of the #10/Visual/Conceptual = Tenth Anniversary of Ten by Caitlin Trievel
Wettest Infrastructure Fail = Ann Arbor After it Rains by Brendan Khuu
Best Municipal Amenity = Skate Park by Levi Berg
Fastest Spaceship = New Horizons by Alexa Daniels
Toxoplasmosis Award = 3 Kittens by Daniel Lee

Grades 6-8:

1st Place = LEGO Bridge by Deniz Kirza
Runner-Up = 21 Balloons by Ethan Mascato
Honorable Mention = PLAY by Elliot and Milo Varnum
PEOPLE’S CHOICE (voted on by attendees of the contest) = LEGO Bridge by Deniz Kirza

Best Motorized = LEGO Car Wash by Brian Khuu
Best Architectural/Engineering = City of the Future by Bach Nguyen
Coolest Robot = The Robot that Shoots Bot by Aakarsh Verma
Best Vehicle = Main St. USA
Most Creative = Pizza Horse’s Food Temple by Connor & Charlie Wilcox
Most Sophisticated = Good vs Evil by Katrina Walbridge
AADL LEGO Master Builder = Snoopy & Woodstock by Nishant Domala
Best Use of the #10/Visual/Conceptual = LEGO Chopped by Conor Pyle
Most Relaxing = Bernice’s 24 Hour Spa by Jennifer Shim
Bits to Bricks by Sam Fleming

Grades 9-12 Category:

1st Place = My Ride, Our Ride, The Ride by Casimir Mankowski
Runner-Up = A Day On Set by Hamza Khan
Honorable Mention = Winter Treehouse by Saskia & Tara Van Nieuwstadt
PEOPLE’S CHOICE (voted on by attendees of the contest) = My Ride, Our Ride, The Ride by Casimir Mankowski

Most Sophisticated = Desolation by Isaac Ferguson
AADL LEGO Master Builder = Art in the Park by Ethan Jansen

Adult Category:

1st Place = Spinning the Cube by David Lorch
Runner-Up = Elves vs. Orcs by Gabriele, Matter and Valentina Carcassi
Honorable Mention = Save the Monarchs by Nieka Appell
PEOPLE’S CHOICE (voted on by attendees of the contest) = Elves vs. Orcs by Gabriele, Matter and Valentina Carcassi

Best Architectural/Engineering = I’m not saying it was aliens, but… by Denise Kratz
Best Vehicle = 201 Fiat Aburt by John Huber
Most Creative = LEGO Foosball by Michael Bleed
Most Sophisticated =
AADL LEGO Master Builder = Viking Ship by Paul Bierdz
Best Use of the #10/Visual/Conceptual = Port-a-John by John Bayles
Master Minecrafter = Skeleton From Minecraft by Milo Hofer