Library News

Gift Wrap Party

Wrap presents alongside fellow community members using spacious library tables. Enjoy sipping on hot cocoa, having conversation with friends and neighbors, all while listening to cheerful holiday music. Wrapping supplies provided — just bring your gifts and your holiday spirit! Join us at any of the following dates and times; December 17 from 2:00 – 8:00 p.m., and December 22 from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.  Registration is not required! Ages 13+

Beaded Evergreen

Create your own festive Christmas tree from wire and wooden beads! It's a fun, easy craft that adds a rustic touch to your holiday decor. This craft is for ages 18 and up; registration is required, and the bags will be available for pickup on December 10.

Weatherproof Bouquets

Flowers can’t grow in a cold Michigan winter, which can leave you feeling joyless and gray.  Come to the library at 6:00 p.m. on January 12 to create your own pitcher of weatherproof flowers using fancy buttons, glue, and your artistic eye.  Ages 15 and up, registration is required.

Children’s and Teen

LITTLES

Zip your zippers and button your buttons at storytime this winter with Miss Anna! Tiny Tots (ages 2 & under) and their caregivers will be practicing life skills and learning all about getting dressed with silly songs and clothing-themed sensory activities. Storytime at the library will be every other Friday at 10:00 a.m. starting January 9. Want to try storytime from your own home? Grab one of our monthly Caregiver Packets and follow along to our videos! Registration begins Monday, December 15.

Join Miss Jamie this winter for Big Feelings, Big Fun!, Book Cubs (3-5) storytime about exploring emotions through stories, songs, and play! We’ll giggle, wiggle, and discover that every one of our feelings—big or small—are all ok! Come on down to the Storytime Room at 10:00 a.m. every other Wednesday beginning January 14 through February 25. Don't be sad if you can't attend in person, be happy and join us virtually! Registration and Take-And-Make bags will be available at the Youth Desk beginning Monday, December 15.

MIDDLES

Calling all young artists & storytellers! Scribble Press is the perfect place to mix art, writing, and personality into handmade books. You’ll explore new fun ways to create and design your own tiny publications. Ages 8–12 welcome! Meetings will be Thursdays from 5:30-7:30 p.m. December 11, January 8, and February 12. No experience needed—just a love of making things! Registration required.

Help keep our neighborhood bird bellies full with Feed the Flock! Get everything you need to create birdseed ornaments – mix, shape, and hang them outside when done. Middles, ages 6-12, can make bird feeders starting Friday, December 12 by picking up a Take-and-Make bag from our Youth Desk!

Virtual STEM Club: Salty Circuits invites our Middles patrons (ages 6–12) to test batteries, salt, and glue to discover whether they can complete a circuit and light up an LED bulb! Pick up your Take-and-Make bag beginning Wednesday, December 17 and see if you can make your circuit shine!

TEENS

Need a moment of calm during the busy winter season? Teens (13-18) can pick up Virtual Teen Art Hour's December Take-and-Make bag for Frosty Focus and create their own glittery, snow-swirled stress reliever! These jars are perfect for study breaks, mindfulness moments, or simply adding a little sparkle to your space. Registration available beginning Monday, December 1. Stop by the Youth Desk or call 517-647-6981 to sign up and craft your way to a calmer winter!

This winter, Page Turners’ teens (13-18) are reading "Seven for a Secret" by Mary E. Roach. It is a gripping read full of murder, mystery, and half truths about a girl named Nev. She is the only survivor of 8 from an all-girls home. Now, years later, Nev has tried to move on, but when the men who ran the group home are being killed, she realizes this may be her only chance to uncover what happened to the others. As secrets resurface and danger closes in, Nev must confront her buried memories and hunt for the truth before it’s silenced for good. Pick up your FREE copy of the book when you sign up at the Youth Desk. Registration begins Monday, December 1. Meetings take place at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 17 and Saturday, February 7 in the Community Room.

ALL AGES:

Make your winter season a little brighter with Portland District Library’s Winter Reading Program starting Saturday, December 20! We invite everyone in the family – Littles, Middles, Teens, & Adults – to slow down, settle in, and enjoy the comfort of a good book during the colder months. Participation is easy: decide between using our virtual reading tracker Beanstack or pick up a traditional paper tracker at the library. Read what you want, when you want, just make sure to log your minutes! Finish a level – get entered to win a grand prize, finish the program – win a completion prize! Program will run until Saturday, January 31.

Holiday Happenings @ the Library

We love sharing our holiday spirit with patrons, so December is jam-packed with activities to celebrate the season.  The whole family can enjoy “Character Quest,” our scavenger-hunt-with-a-twist, which runs from December 1 – 20 and features one youth and one adult prize pack winner per week. Try your luck spinning our fabulous prize wheel each time you visit between December 8 and 23. Make your overdue fines disappear by stopping in from December 15 – 23 for fine forgiveness.   The first three Mondays this month we’ll have new, small take-and-make craft projects at checkout for both adults and children—ask for yours before they are all snapped up!  If you are in the mood to support the library, our wish tree will be back, and filled with ornaments that you can take in exchange for a donation.  Finally, when your sweet tooth is calling, take a candy cane from one of our three trees.

“I checked out my library” Sticker Contest

We need your help designing a new sticker for our patrons!  Whether you paint, draw, create collages, or make art on the computer, we need your creativity.  This is an all-ages contest, and entries will be accepted during the month of December.  What does the library mean to you?  What one image personifies all that we do?  Put it down on paper and submit!  Pick up rules and an entry form at the library or on our website, pdl.michlibrary.org.