ArborWiki Blogwarts

Tuesday July 14, 2015: 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Downtown Library: Training Center

ArborWiki Blogwarts

Wednesday June 24, 2015: 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Downtown Library: Training Center

Celebrating African-American History In Ann Arbor

Mon, 02/09/2015 - 12:36pm by oldnews

Dating back to the Underground Railroad, Ann Arbor boasts a rich and vibrant history for African-Americans. A wonderful piece about this time in Ann Arbor’s history is written by Grace Shackman and can be found here.

There are many African-Americans that created their own piece of history in Ann Arbor. For instance, you can read about Ann Arbor’s first African-American mayor, Albert H. Wheeler, first African-American teacher and later principal at Northside Elementary, Harry Mial and his wife, Joetta Mial, Huron High School's first female African-American principal.

O.Herbert Ellis, who passed away last year is notable for being the first African-American to serve on and to chair the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners. You can read more history and the individuals that created it here.

AADL Songsters in the news!

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 1:32pm by valerieclaires

This week, the AADL was featured in the Ann Arbor Public Schools News when students from Clague Middle School performed in the Multi-Purpose Room as part of our AADL Songsters program.

With their teacher Jeff Gaynor and local musician Nan Nelson, students learned to dance the Troika and perform two songs as part of a World Cultures and geography unit on Russia. Круто! Клево!

Log On to Brainfuse!

Mon, 08/25/2014 - 11:18am by Beth Manuel

AADL subscribes to a live online tutoring service called "Help Now" by Brainfuse, also known simply as
"Brainfuse", and is available to anybody accessing it from inside any AADL location, or to cardholders from home or elsewhere.

There are several facets to Brainfuse that not only help with homework & study skills, but skill building and writing support.

Users can log on to Brainfuse to access EXPERT help in a variety of ways: live tutoring any time from 2:00 PM-11:00 PM except on Federal Holidays. Simply choose the grade or age level that suits the user’s needs, be it elementary, middle or high school, ESL or even computers and technology.

SkillSurfer is a learning library that contains thousands of lessons, quizzes, & tests to help users master academic concepts. Check out the STUDY portal and look at FLASHBULB, which is a library full of flashcards & self-tests for a huge array of subjects! Go to the COLLABORATE portal to schedule meetings with friends in their private virtual study rooms. There’s a writing lab where users can upload documents to a teacher and have them edit/critique their work within 24 hours. Brainfuse's "Send a Question" gives users the opportunity to ask a question any time of day and get a written response from one of their tutors within one business day.

Whether you are an English Language Learner, a student of any age or an adult trying to get back into the workforce, Brainfuse may have just the answer to your academic and technical questions.

Books & Other Fun Stuff that AADL Staff Promoted During our Annual K-12 School Visits!

Fri, 06/06/2014 - 2:49pm by erin

If during May and June your child or teen came home from school pumped up about the Summer Game and talked about the many books, programs, events and unusual stuff at the library they were lucky enough to see one of the lively presentations our staff do annually. Each May and early June staff visit elementary, middle and high schools to promote the summer game, summer programs and the unusual variety of stuff that we check out at the library! Please find the complete lists of ALL of the books, music tools, science tools and MORE our staff shared during their school visits.

Kayla visited Bryant, Allen, Mitchell, Bach and Carpenter - find her Grade K-2 List and her Grade 3-5 List.

Laura visited Northside, Wines, Hebrew Day School, Burns Park and Dicken - find her Grade K-2 list and her Grade 3-5 list.

Amanda went to Logan, St. Paul Lutheran, King, St. Thomas Catholic and Thurston - find her Grade K-2 list and her Grade 3-5 list.

Mariah visited E. Washtenaw Multicultural Academy, Lakewood, Open and Pattengill. Find her Grade K-2 list and her Grade 3-5 list.

Rachel visited Haisley, Abbot, MI Islamic Academy and Eberwhite. Find her Grade K-1 list, her Grade 2-3 list and her Grade 4-5 list.

Lastly, Erin visited Tappan, Forsythe, Scarlett, Community and St. Thomas Catholic. Find her Grades 6-12 list.

Pioneer High School Spring Musical: Rent

Mon, 04/07/2014 - 1:13pm by annevm

Theatre Guild at Pioneer High School will present the musical Rent by Jonathan Larson April 25 - May 4. From the AADL website: "A year in the life of a group of friends who love, fight, and laugh together as they face important social issues such as AIDS, homosexuality, drug abuse, and homelessness." More information is
here. The show is not for young children.

Skyline High Spring Show: Moon Over Buffalo

Mon, 04/07/2014 - 12:39pm by annevm

Skyline High School in Ann Arbor will present Ken Ludwig's comedic farce Moon Over Buffalo April 25-27. More information is here. The New York Times had this to say about the stage production: "Ken Ludwig is one of those rare contemporary playwrights who thinks in terms of old-fashioned knockabout farce, and that’s something to be cherished."

Community High School to Present Urinetown: The Musical

Thu, 03/13/2014 - 2:48pm by annevm

Community High School in Ann Arbor will present Urinetown -- a satirical musical from 2001 -- from March 21-23. Here is what Amazon has to say about Urinetown: "Winner of three Tony Awards, including Best Book, Urinetown is a tale of greed, corruption, love, and revolution in a time when water is worth its weight in gold." Admission is $8 for students and staff and $12 for everyone else. More information is here.

Ann Arbor Open School Family Stories

Thu, 04/25/2013 - 12:19pm by dubaym

Mike Derhammer's class at Ann Arbor Open spent the winter interviewing family members and thinking about funny and interesting stories from their own lives. Along the way they discovered that storytelling is so much a part of who we are. Sometimes it's fun and enlightening to just stop and listen to each other's tales. We hope you enjoy listening to these stories as much as we did!