​Hey! Cathy, your Youth Services Librarian here! Anyone love chaos?
Do you love looking around at your house only to see one sock here, one shoe there, a book bag tossed on the floor with everything inside sliding out like a waterfall?
Do you love to see papers everywhere? Ads for a store you will never go to and homework with adorable doodles that you can't bear to throw away, but know you should? 
Clothes piled up near the dresser and on top of the dresser but not in the dresser? And a pile of clothes that your kids have outgrown?
Our library has a wonderful collection of organizing books, but I get so overwhelmed I haven't finished reading them.
I have a smart phone that just today, I spent two hours downloading apps, only to look at them and realizing that they all do about the same thing, but I need to have time (which I could have done those two hours instead of downloading apps) to finish everything on those lists.
Have any of you, like me, spent three hours on Pinterest looking at the organizing boards? Admiring and aspiring to be like those pictures only to look up at the clock and realize that it is 10pm?
I would love to say that this blog post is going to be like Tinkerbell's fairy dust and make everything magically better, but unfortunately ...

Well, it could always be worse. :) Luckily for us, there were four or five adults cleaning up that mess in the storytime room. 

​We had a blast on Tuesday! Our robot friends hung out at my desk, charging up, and then, later, we had a super time! We taught Dash and Dot how to do different things. We found out how connecting the cubelets in different ways caused them to do different things. Plus we used different color markers to make the ozobots go into different directions and spin around!
Robots not your cup of tea? we had kinex and snap circuits! 
Don't worry though, we also had squares of paper that you could use to zen doodle!
Do all these words confuse you? Come to our next maker space on February 16 at 6pm!

​At our monthly Minecraft group (which is very popular and on the second Monday of the month at 6pm for families of all ages) I quite often hear parents say "I have no idea what is going on." However they do see their enthusiasm working together with the other kids thank goodness.

Unfortunately, sometimes I read articles about people who think its a waste of time, a waste of their mind, and terrible with socialization. This is totally not true! 

My kids (who are a 6 year old girl and a 10 year old boy) play together without yelling at each other (most of the time)! Plus they have friends that come over and they work together in certain worlds to create fun things.

It is true what some of the articles say, that it is hard to get them to stop sometimes, but that is when we have to be parents. Kids cry about different things all the time. I want that stuffed animal. I don't want to do my homework. I don't want to eat that food. Sometimes it is a hard struggle to be a parent. However, Minecraft, in certain ways, is worth it. I play with my kids sometimes, and then when it is time to stop playing and do homework, I just type it in the chat box. I hear whining, but eventually they stop and eat dinner. I have found that its a great and interesting way of socializing with my kids. And now its great for even more reasons.

The UN is using it! Check out these articles ...
​

• UN-Habitat and Mojang using Minecraft to involve citizens in public space design
• How Minecraft is helping the United Nations improve the world
• How 'Minecraft' is Transforming Developing Cities Around the World

S.T.E.A.M. is becoming a pretty normal part of life now. In fact, we'll be starting to have a "maker space" where you can play with all sorts of things that are considered parts of Science, Technology, Electronics, Art, and Mechanics. 
MAKER ZONE
For all ages.
Come in and create with technology of all kinds. Not in a technology kind of mood?
Come in and do a craft or another fun activity! Do you have a hobby or craft you enjoy? Bring it in and show us! Registration is not required. Meets the third Tuesday of the month at 6 pm.
Unfortunately, while things are changing for girls, there still isn't quite so much push for girls to make use of science or technology. Just have a look at your local toy store. Luckily authors are starting to realize that this needs to change. Check out this book list of awesome science fiction especially made to encourage girls!
Ignite Her Curiosity: 20 Books Starring Science-Loving Mighty Girls