We’ve planned some fun things for the next several months at our B ‘Tweens programs. Get the dates on your calendar and join us for the fun. No registration is required so grab some friends and head over to the Library!

January 10 – RECYCLED and UPCYCLED ART We’ll provide a variety of materials for you to create a project or two. All materials will be either recycled or have served another purpose in a previous life.

February 14 – ANIMOTO SLIDE SHOWS Participants will have a chance to create their own slideshow using Animoto. Plan to bring a CD or flash drive with 12-15 stored photos if you want to create a personalized show. Other options will be available if you don’t have photos stored or forget to bring them.

March 13 – ANGRY BIRDS CHALLENGE With the popularity of the Angry Birds Application, we’ve planned some related games and activities to challenge participants as well. Are you up for it?

April 10 – SERVICE PROJECT We had such a great response to our project for the Red Cross, we’re going to try another. We’ll announce the details as soon as we get the plans finalized.

For more information contact the Youth Services Department at 344-4178.

You asked for it and we scheduled it! Back by popular demand we will be gaming in December. Challenge your friends to join you for some fun on Tuesday, December 13 from 4-5 p.m. We will offer free gaming for kids ages 10-12 (no siblings or adults, please) in the Junior League Program Room. We’ll have Wii games, Just Dance and a variety of board games. No registration is required.

Come join the fun!!

Make plans to join us on Tuesday, November 8 as we welcome Tracey  Lopez from the Life Fitness Center. Tracey is going to talk with us about being fit. This is NOT a class on dieting – just a way for us to take a look at ways we can keep ourselves fit for whatever activities we choose to do. We will meet in the Junior League Room from 4-5 p.m.

B ‘Tweens is for kids ages 10-12 only – sorry no adults or siblings. No registration is required.

Mark your calendars for December 13 for GET YOUR GAME ON when we will be hosting an hour of video gaming.

Local entertainer Rick Eugene will be bringing his magic skills to our B ‘Tweens group on Tuesday, October 11 from 4-5 p.m. Participants will be learning some simple tricks – all supplies will be provided. I challenged last month’s attendees to bring a friend and join us for the fun! Can you complete the challenge? No registration is required. B ‘Tweens is for students ages 10-12 (4-6 graders) only - no siblings or parents allowed. (Sorry!)

Rick will also have information regarding the local magic club and how kids can turn their skills into a part-time job!

Sponsored by the Friends of the Bettendorf Public Library

We have just celebrated our first year with the B ‘Tweens group and it has been fun getting to know all the kids. We’ve tried crafts, gaming, film making, trivia, and more – always looking for things of interest to this group. We have just released the topics for this fall’s sessions and hope that you will help us spread the word! B ‘Tweens is for kids ages 10-12 (4-6th grades) and meets the second Tuesday of each month. We meet in the Junior League Program Room from 4–5 p.m. No registration is required.

If you haven’t been part of the fun there is still plenty of time! Here is what’s haappening in the next few months:

September – Global Gathering: Brazil – SOCCER! We’ll be getting to know Brazilian soccer star, Pele and the game he loved. A bit of mental and physical challenge for all of us!

October – Local Magician, Rick Eugene will be teaching a MAGIC CLASS with some simple tricks to amaze and amuse your friends and family.

November – Tracey Lopez from the Life Fitness Center will join us for R U FIT? A chance to learn some ways to make you physically more fit – including a sampling of some healthy snacks.

December – Back by popular demand – GAMING! We’ll play Wii and Just Dance, just to name a few.

Mark your calendars and join us for the fun!

At our B ‘Tweens session on Tuesday, thirteen 10-12 year olds worked together (with the help of two adults) to create four fleece blankets to be donated to the American Red Cross. It was amazing how quickly everyone worked! Most of the cutting was done ahead of time, but the kids went right to work on knot tying and in less than 30 minutes had completed the four blankets. It was a great service project for this group and everyone felt great about the donation.

Blankets were delivered to the Red Cross on Wednesday for distribution to disaster victims in need.

Great job kids!

At the August session of B ‘Tweens on August 9 we will be working on a service project for the American Red Cross. The Red Cross provides disaster relief to many people and often families lose everything they own through a fire, flood or other disaster. We will be making fleece blankets for the Red Cross to provide to those in need. All materials will be provided but we need lots of hands to help us put them together. Kids age 10-12 are encouraged to bring their friends and join us for some fun. No registration is required.We will meet from 4-5 in the Junior League Program Room.

B ‘Tweens is for kids ages 10-12 only – sorry, no siblings or adults!

Gather a group of your friends and join us for a fun game of Travel Trivia on Tuesday, July 13 from 4-5 p.m. Kids ages 10-12 (entering 4-6 grades) are invited to participate. You can create your own team of four or we will create teams from those in attendance. Bragging rights goes to the team with the highest score! See how much trivia knowledge you have of the state, the country and the world! No registration is required.

Mark your calendars for the next B ‘Tweens on Tuesday, August 9 when we will be working on a service project for the American Red Cross.

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF BOYS by Megan McDonald (JFIC MCDO).

The third entry in  McDonald’s Sister’s Club series has middle sister Stevie Reel trying to figure out about boys and why things are starting to change with her friends and sisters. She doesn’t want a boyfriend – she’s not even sure she is ready for a boyfriend, but questions keep arising. If only figuring out boys was as easy as predicting the weather!

TAKE ME TO THE RIVER by Will Hobbs (JFIC HOBB) 

Another great adventure story by Will Hobbs sure to keep readers wondering what could possibly happen next. When North Carolina fourteen-year-old Dylan Sands joins his fifteen-year-old cousin Rio in running the Rio Grande, they face a tropical storm and a fugitive kidnapper. 

 BEST OF THE BEST by Tim Green (JFIC GREE)

Determined to play in the Little League World Series, twelve-year-old Josh struggles to concentrate on his game and be the team’s leader while also trying to cope with his parents’ impending divorce.

  THE LEMONADE CRIME by Jacqueline Davies (JFIC DAVI)

This sequel to the popular The Lemonade War is filled with everything you might hear in a criminal trial. When money disappears from fourth-grader Evan’s pocket and everyone thinks that his annoying classmate Scott stole it, Evan’s younger sister stages a trial involving the entire class, trying to prove exactly what happened.

 CHEESIE MACK IS NOT A GENIUS OR ANYTHING by Steve Cotler (JFIC COTL)

Up for a mystery this summer? Ronald “Cheesie” Mack relates events he and his best friend, Georgie, experience as fifth grade comes to an end and their summer plans are drastically changed, due in part to an old, possible valuable coin that may belong to the mysterious inhabitant of a place they call The Haunted Toad.

 THE LUCK OF THE BUTTONS by Anne Ylvisaker (JFIC YLVI)

In Iowa circa 1929, spunky twelve-year-old Tugs vows to turn her family’s luck around, with the help of a Brownie camera and a small-town mystery that only she can solve.

Students ages10-12 are invited to attend our next B ‘Tweens gathering on Tuesday, April 12. We meet from 4-5 in the Junior League Program Room. Participants voted last month to “replay” the session from last fall where they got to make their own movies. Come prepared to talk about a book you love and you can make a book trailer! Or, tell why you love the library! No registration is required. This is limited to kids only – no siblings or adults – sorry!

There will not be a session in May, but get ready for the summer because we have some great programs planned!

Got an idea for a program – submit it to Miss Tami for consideration.