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Join us at our upcoming youth programs. Registration is not required for most programs by recommended, which can be done on our website at www.juniatalibrary.org, by calling (717) 436-6378 or in person at the library.
Spring Storytimes
(Now to April 26)
Mondays at 10 a.m.: preschool group (children ages three and over) – Includes stories, songs, rhymes, flannel-board activities, crafts, and lots of fun.
Fridays at 10 a.m.: toddler group (children ages 18 months through 2 years) – 20-30 minutes of stories, songs, rhymes, flannel-board activities and movement, followed by 30 minutes of playtime.
Homeschool Hangout (1st Thursday of the month at 10 a.m., from October to May) Open to homeschool families.
April 4: Hands Only CPR and Lifesaving Skills (grades 3+ only) - Taught my Community Health and Wellness Educator from Evangelical Hospitals. (Note: Registration required for this program).
May 2: To be announced
Family Saturdays: join us for one Saturday each month for a fun family program for all ages.
Saturday, April 13, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.: Storytime with local author Theresa Gordon (for toddlers, preschool, and early elementary ages)- Listen to Ms. Gordon's book ABC America, Land That I Love. Afterwards you can make a patriotic craft and meet the author.
Read to a Dog
Monday, April 29, 5-7 p.m.: Improve your reading skills by reading to one of the local therapy dogs: Ava or Millee. School age children can sign up for a 15 minute time slot to read and snuggle with Ava or Millee in a safe and comfortable environment at the Juniata County Library. The Read to a Dog program will be held one Monday per month. Children should only register for one time slot to allow others to enjoy this fun program. For more information, contact Jocinda at jrhinier@juniatalibrary. Register on our website: www.juniatalibrary.org.
Visit our website and social media pages (Facebook and Instagram) for up-to-date info on our programs and to see photos of all the fun.
Book of the week!
If you are going to read one book, give this one a try...
Waiting to Be Arrested at Night: A Uyghur Poet's Memoir of China's Genocide by Tahir Hamut Izgil
(New adult nonfiction: biography, China, history, international relations) ~ 272 pages
In a nutshell: A profoundly moving memoir about China's oppression of the Uyghurs, helping us better understand modern China.
In 2015, Izgil was an active member of a "tight-knit group" of Uyghur poets in the Chinese province of Xinjiang, where government oppression was intensifying. While producing a Uyghur TV series, Izgil was told he must not include the Muslim minority's traditional greeting assalamu alaikum and its response, wa alaikum assalamu, in any of the show's dialogue. While Izgil was confident enough to protest this rule, his ordeal was just beginning.
He soon found himself driving a friend to a "study center" to drop off necessities for a relative whose crime against the Chinese government was simply that "he had received religious education for a period in his youth." Although the government framed these centers as sites for reeducation, in truth, the buildings were "outfitted with iron doors, window bars, and barbed wire," and those who entered were not allowed to leave.
As the situation deteriorated and more and more of their Uyghur friends and neighbors disappeared, Izgil and his wife realized that the only way to protect their daughters from fear and suffering was to move to the U.S. "Even if our daughters graduated from China's top universities," writes the author, "as Uyghurs they would inevitably face constant discrimination in their careers and in daily life."
Leaving China, however, was no easy task, logistically or emotionally. When they finally landed on American soil, Izgil remembers, "Even with a new world before us, my thoughts wandered constantly back toward home."
The text is lyrical, heartfelt, and perfectly paced; the narrative unfolds with a slow, simmering burn.
Bottom line: Never shying away from vulnerability, the author shines a much-needed light on the complex, contradictory emotions of trading a homeland for a lifetime of both safety and survivor's guilt.
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Vince Giordano has been the librarian and director of the Juniata County Library since 2015.