Moms Take Center Stage
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The Manicurist's Daughter
An emotionally raw memoir about the crumbling of the American Dream and a daughter of refugees who searches for answers after her mother dies during plastic surgery.
Susan Lieu has long been searching for answers. About her family’s past and about her own future. Refugees from the Vietnam War, Susan’s family escaped to California in the 1980s after five failed attempts. Upon arrival, Susan’s mother was their savvy, charismatic North Star, setting up two successful nail salons and orchestrating every success—until Susan was eleven. That year, her mother died from a botched tummy tuck. After the funeral, no one was ever allowed to talk about her or what had happened.
For the next twenty years, Susan navigated a series of cascading questions alone—why did the most perfect person in her life want to change her body? Why would no one tell her about her mother’s life in Vietnam? And how did this surgeon, who preyed on Vietnamese immigrants, go on operating after her mother’s death? Sifting through depositions, tracking down the surgeon’s family, and enlisting the help of spirit channelers, Susan uncovers the painful truth of her mother, herself, and the impossible ideal of beauty.
The Manicurist’s Daughter is much more than a memoir about grief, trauma, and body image. It is a story of fierce determination, strength in shared culture, and finding your place in the world. -
Mothers' Instinct
A dark, intense domestic thriller about next-door neighbors whose close friendship is upended by a tragic accident, from the queen of Belgian crime.
David and Laetitia Brunelle and Sylvain and Tiphaine Geniot are inseparable friends and next-door neighbors in a pretty, tranquil suburb. Their sons Milo and Maxime, born in the same year, grow up together as close as brothers. But when Maxime is killed in an accident, their idyllic world shatters. Maxime's parents, Sylvain and Tiphaine, are consumed by grief and bitterness, while David and Laetitia are wracked with guilt for their role in the tragedy. Soon the couples are barely speaking, although they maintain a polite façade.
Then a mysterious series of "accidents" begins to happen to Milo, raising Laetitia's suspicions. Are their former best friends trying to punish them by threatening their son? As an increasingly paranoid Laetitia frantically tries to protect Milo from harm, the little civility left between the two families curdles into outward hostility. Is Laetitia just imagining things? Or are Sylvain and Tiphaine secretly conspiring to exact their revenge . . . and if so, who will pay?
In her American debut, blockbuster Belgian author Barbara Abel plunges into the deepest, darkest corners of her characters' hearts and minds to explore the limits of friendship, the overwhelming power of maternal love, and how far hate, fear, and vengeance can drive us. Tense and blood-chilling, with a surprising final twist, Mothers' Instinct will keep you on edge until the final page.
Translated from the French by Susan Pickford
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The Boy with the Star Tattoo
From acclaimed author of The Third Daughter comes an epic historical novel of ingenuity and courage, of love and loss, spanning postwar France when Israeli agents roamed the countryside to rescue hidden Jewish orphans--to the 1969 daring escape of the Israeli boats of Cherbourg.
1942: As the Vichy government hunts for Jews across France, Claudette Pelletier, a young and talented seamstress and lover of romance novels, falls in love with a Jewish man who seeks shelter at the château where she works. Their whirlwind and desperate romance before he must flee leaves her pregnant and terrified.
When the Nazis invade the Free Zone shortly after the birth of her child, the disabled Claudette is forced to make a heartbreaking choice and escapes to Spain, leaving her baby in the care of his nursemaid. By the time Claudette is able to return years later, her son has disappeared. Unbeknown to his anguished mother, the boy has been rescued by a Youth Aliyah agent searching for Jewish orphans.
1968: When Israeli naval officer Daniel Yarden recruits Sharon Bloomenthal for a secret naval operation in Cherbourg, France, he can't imagine that he is the target of the agenda of the twenty-year-old grieving the recent loss of her fiancé in a drowned submarine. Sharon suspects that Danny's past in Youth Aliyah may reflect that of her mysterious late mother and she sets out to track her boss's extraordinary journey as an orphan in a quaint French village all the way to Israel.
As Danny focuses on the future of his people and on executing a daring, crucial operation under France's radar, he is unaware that the obsessed Sharon follows the breadcrumbs of clues across the country to find her answers. But she is wholly unprepared for the dilemma she must face upon solving the puzzle.
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Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons
Born into upper-class America in the same year, 1854, Sara Delano (later to become the mother of Franklin Delano Roosevelt) and Jennie Jerome (later to become the mother of Winston Churchill) refused to settle into predictable, sheltered lives as little-known wives to prominent men. Instead, both women concentrated their energies on enabling their sons to reach the epicentre of political power on two continents.
In the mid-19th century, the British Empire was at its height, France’s Second Empire flourished, and the industrial vigor of the United States of America was catapulting the republic towards the Gilded Age. Sara and Jennie, raised with privilege but subject to the constraints of women’s roles at the time, learned how to take control of their destinies—Sara in the prosperous Hudson Valley, and Jennie in the glittering world of Imperial London.
Yet their personalities and choices were dramatically different. A vivacious extrovert, Jennie married Lord Randolph Churchill, a rising politician and scion of a noble British family. Her deft social and political maneuverings helped not only her mercurial husband but, once she was widowed, her ambitious son, Winston. By contrast, deeply conventional Sara Delano married a man as old as her father. But once widowed, she made Franklin, her only child, the focus of her existence. Thanks in large part to her financial support and to her guidance, Franklin acquired the skills he needed to become a successful politician.
Set against one hundred years of history, Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons is a study in loyalty and resilience. Gray argues that Jennie and Sara are too often presented as lesser figures in the backdrop of history rather than as two remarkable individuals who were key in shaping the characters of the sons who adored them and in preparing them for leadership on the world stage.
Impeccably researched and filled with intriguing social insights, Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons breathes new life into Sara and Jennie, offering a fascinating and fulsome portrait of how leaders are not just born but made. -
The Stone Home
A hauntingly poetic family drama and coming-of-age story that reveals a dark corner of South Korean history through the eyes of a small community living in a reformatory center--a stunning work of great emotional power from the critically acclaimed author of If You Leave Me.
In 2011, Eunju Oh opens her door to greet a stranger: a young Korean American woman holding a familiar-looking knife--a knife Eunju hasn't seen in thirty years, and that connects her to a place she'd desperately hoped to leave behind forever.
In South Korea in the 1980s, young Eunju and her mother are homeless on the street. After being captured by the police, they're sent to live within the walls of a state-sanctioned reformatory center that claims to rehabilitate the nation's citizens but hides a darker, more violent reality. While Eunju and her mother form a tight-knit community with the other women in the kitchen, two teenage brothers, Sangchul and Youngchul, are compelled to labor in the workshops and make increasingly desperate decisions--and all are forced down a path of survival, the repercussions of which will echo for decades to come.
Inspired by real events, told through alternating timelines and two intimate perspectives, The Stone Home is a deeply affecting story of a mother and daughter's love and a pair of brothers whose bond is put to an unfathomably difficult test. Capturing a shameful period of history with breathtaking restraint and tenderness, Crystal Hana Kim weaves a lyrical exploration of the legacy of violence and the complicated psychology of power, while showcasing the extraordinary acts of devotion and friendship that can arise in the darkness.
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After Annie
When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her children, and her closest friend are left to find a way forward without the woman who has been the lynchpin of all their lives. Bill is overwhelmed without his beloved wife, and Annemarie wrestles with the bad habits her best friend had helped her overcome. And Ali, the eldest of Annie’s children, has to grow up overnight, to care for her younger brothers and even her father and to puzzle out for herself many of the mysteries of adult life.
Over the course of the next year what saves them all is Annie, ever-present in their minds, loving but not sentimental, caring but nobody’s fool, a voice in their heads that is funny and sharp and remarkably clear. The power she has given to those who loved her is the power to go on without her. The lesson they learn is that no one beloved is ever truly gone.
Written in Quindlen’s emotionally resonant voice and with her deep and generous understanding of people, After Annie is about hope, and about the unexpected power of adversity to change us in profound and indelible ways. -
The Final Curtain
A decade ago, Tokyo Police Detective Kyoichiro Kaga went to collect the ashes of his recently deceased mother. Years before, she ran away from her husband and son without explanation or any further contact, only to die alone in an apartment far away, leaving her estranged son with many unanswered questions.
Now in Tokyo, Michiko Oshitani is found dead many miles from home. Strangled to death, left in the bare apartment rented under a false name by a man who has disappeared without a trace. Oshitani lived far away in Sendai, with no known connection to Tokyo - and neither her family nor friends have any idea why she would have gone there.
Hers is the second strangulation death in that approximate area of Tokyo - the other was a homeless man, killed and his body burned in a tent by the river. As the police search through Oshitani's past for any clue that might shed some light, one of the detectives reaches out to Detective Kaga for advice. As the case unfolds, an unexpected connective emerges between the murder (or murders) now and the long-ago case of Detective Kaga's missing mother.
The Final Curtain, one of Keigo Higashino's most acclaimed mysteries, brings the story of Detective Kaga to a surprising conclusion in a series of rich, surprising twists. -
Soil
In Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden, poet and scholar Camille T. Dungy recounts the seven-year odyssey to diversify her garden in the predominately white community of Fort Collins, Colorado. When she moved there in 2013, with her husband and daughter, the community held strict restrictions about what residents could and could not plant in their gardens.
In resistance to the homogenous policies that limited the possibility and wonder that grows from the earth, Dungy employs the various plants, herbs, vegetables, and flowers she grows in her garden as metaphor and treatise for how homogeneity threatens the future of our planet, and why cultivating diverse and intersectional language in our national discourse about the environment is the best means of protecting it.
Definitive and singular, Soil functions at the nexus of nature writing, environmental justice, and prose to encourage you to recognize the relationship between the peoples of the African diaspora and the land on which they live, and to understand that wherever soil rests beneath their feet is home. -
The Storm We Made
In this spellbinding novel, an ordinary housewife becomes an unlikely spy—and her dark secrets will test even the most unbreakable ties.
Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara’s family is in terrible danger: her fifteen-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day.
Cecily knows two things: that this is all her fault; and that her family must never learn the truth.
A decade prior, Cecily had been desperate to be more than a housewife to a low-level bureaucrat in British-colonized Malaya. A chance meeting with the charismatic General Fujiwara lured her into a life of espionage, pursuing dreams of an “Asia for Asians.” Instead, Cecily helped usher in an even more brutal occupation by the Japanese. Ten years later as the war reaches its apex, her actions have caught up with her. Now her family is on the brink of destruction—and she will do anything to save them.
Spanning years of pain and triumph, told from the perspectives of four unforgettable characters, The Storm We Made is a dazzling saga about the horrors of war; the fraught relationships between the colonized and their oppressors, and the ambiguity of right and wrong when survival is at stake. -
The Someday Daughter
Audrey St. Vrain has grown up in the shadow of someone who doesn't actually exist. Before she was born, her mother, Camilla St. Vrain, wrote the bestselling book Letters to My Someday Daughter, a guide to self-love that advises treating yourself like you would your own hypothetical future daughter. The book made Audrey's mother a household name, and she built an empire around it.
While the world considers Audrey lucky to have Camilla for a mother, the truth is that Audrey knows a different side of being the someday daughter. Shipped off to boarding school when she was eleven, she feels more like a promotional tool than a member of Camilla's family. Audrey is determined to create her own identity aside from being Camilla's daughter, and she's looking forward to a prestigious summer premed program with her boyfriend before heading to college and finally breaking free from her mother's world.
But when Camilla asks Audrey to go on tour with her to promote the book's anniversary, Audrey can't help but think that this is the last, best chance to figure out how they fit into each other's lives--not as the someday daughter and someday mother but as themselves, just as they are. What Audrey doesn't know is that spending the summer with Camilla and her tour staff--including the disarmingly honest, distressingly cute video intern, Silas--will upset everything she's so carefully planned for her life.
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Star Mother
When a star dies, a new one must be born.
The Sun God chooses the village of Endwever to provide a mortal womb. The birthing of a star is always fatal for the mother, and Ceris Wenden, who considers herself an outsider, sacrifices herself to secure her family's honor and take control of her legacy. But after her star child is born, Ceris does what no other star mother has: she survives. When Ceris returns to Endwever, however, it's not nine months later--it's seven hundred years later. Inexplicably displaced in time, Ceris is determined to seek out her descendants.
Being a woman traveling alone brings its own challenges, until Ceris encounters a mysterious--and desperate--godling. Ristriel is incorporeal, a fugitive, a trickster, and the only being who can guide Ceris safely to her destination. Now, as Ceris traverses realms both mortal and beyond, her journey truly begins.
Together, pursued across the Earth and trespassing the heavens, Ceris and Ristriel are on a path to illuminate the mysteries that bind them and discover the secrets of the celestial world.
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Momma Cusses
There are lots of experts out there who will tell you they have the magic recipe to raising perfect humans. Gwenna Laithland is not one of them. She’s one of us. Frustrated, overwhelmed, and exhausted. Her relatable representation of parenthood validates our experiences. In Momma Cusses, Gwenna uses her signature style of snark and sarcasm to explain her interpretation of responsive parenting vs. reactive parenting and outline the steps she takes to raise her kids. Whether you are a parent or someone who has had a parent, we all need to learn how to handle our emotional spirals responsively.
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M.O.M.: Mother of Madness, Volume 1
The mayhem begins with Maya, under-the-weather scientist by day, over-the-top superhero by night, and badass single mom 24/7. DEADPOOL action and FLEABAG comedy collide when Maya activates her freakish superpowers to take on a secret sect of human traffickers. Bath time’s at 7pm, bedtime’s at 8pm, and crimefighting never sleeps when villains out of Maya’s shadowy past come to collect. Mature readers only! Comedy and chaos await with co-writer MARGUERITE BENNETT (DC’s BOMBSHELLS, ANIMOSITY) and the glamorous artist of HORDE, LEILA LEIZ!
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Nightwatching
A footstep on the stairs. A second to react. What happens next will determine everything.
Home alone with her young children during a blizzard, a mother tucks her son back into bed in the middle of the night. She hears a noise—old houses are always making some kind of noise. But this sound is disturbingly familiar: it’s the tread of footsteps, unusually heavy and slow, coming up the stairs.
She sees the figure of a man appear down the hallway, shrouded in the shadows. Terrified, she quietly wakes her children and hustles them into the oldest part of the house, a tiny, secret room concealed behind a wall. There they hide as the man searches for them, trying to tempt the children out with promises and scare the mother into surrender.
In the suffocating darkness, the mother struggles to remain calm, to plan. Should she search for a weapon or attempt escape? But then she catches another glimpse of him. That face. That voice. And at once she knows her situation is even more dire than she’d feared, because she knows exactly who he is—and what he wants.
Pawsome Pets
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I Want 100 Dogs
A young girl proclaims, "I want 100 dogs." In a twist, her parents agree, but they have just one question: Where will 100 dogs sleep? Our protagonist revises her request to 90 dogs. But how does one walk 90 dogs? A silly, subtractive counting tale and an over-the-top ode to the joys (and woes) of canine company, this sweet and surprising story proves that no matter how boundless your enthusiasm, when it comes to finding the perfect pet, sometimes less really is more.
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Pets and Their People: the ultimate guide to caring for animals--whether you have one or not
You don’t need to own a pet to become a pet expert! With author and vet Dr. Jess French you’ll gain fascinating insight into the adorable animals that capture the hearts of billions of people across the world. Plus, you’ll learn how we can understand our pets and give them exactly what they need (and want!). From playful puppies and cuddly cats, to fluffy guinea pigs and noisy chickens, there are many fascinating animals to meet.
We see them playing in our parks and snoozing on our sofas, but how much do we really know about the lives of our beloved pets? Have you ever wondered why cats meow at us but not at each other? When will a dog wag its tail at you? What should you feed a pet snake? And how can a hamster store so much food in its cheeks? Find out all these things and much, much more as you turn the fact-filled pages of this book.
From fluffy and friendly to scaly and shy, our pets are all wonderfully unique, so let’s find out how to take good care of them so they feel just like part of the family! -
Pet Detectives: Rodents
"Meet some of the planet's smallest mammals, from mice and rats to cheeky hamsters and fluffy chinchillas"--Back cover.
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Cone Dog
One day, Emma the dog leaves the vet with a giant plastic lampshade on her head. It cuts off her corners, dulls her digging, and makes Garson the greyhound gawk. One thing is clear--the cone is not good, and the only thing left to do is sulk.
When Emma's human tries to cheer her up with a game of fetch, Emma discovers that the cone miraculously catches every ball she fumbles! Emma realizes the cone has other surprising advantages too, from serving as a helmet during her hallway hurtles to helping her dig at triple-speed. Best of all, the cone plays a pivotal role in Emma's master plan to scare off the sneaky neighborhood squirrel, Keith.
Eventually, the cone comes off and Emma is free, but the important lesson she learned from her cone days remains: cone or no cone, it's Emma's inventive spirit that make her the Best. Dog. Ever. This fresh and funny follow-up to Cone Cat is a charming ode to ingenuity and making the best out of a ruff situation.
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The amazing adventures of the DC super-pets!: Magical Mischief
Krypto is definitely Superman's best friend. But when the evil Mxy unleashes his magical mischief, the canine crime fighter becomes the Man of Steel's worst enemy. Will Superman be able to save his Super-Pet?
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Don't Trust the Cat
Fifth-grader Poppy McBean likes rules and order. She's a follower, and she's totally okay with that. And if you judge her for that, she's okay with that too! But after falling prey to her friends' bullying one too many times, Poppy makes a wish to be happy--and it comes true in a very unexpected way: She wakes up in the body of her cat, Mitten Man.
Mayhem ensues as Poppy-the-girl attempts to navigate the wilds of the wilderness as a cat . . . and her free-thinking, groundbreaking kitty has had it with his owner's timidity. He's out to put the purr in perfectionist and take over middle school--as Poppy.
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A Brave Cat
Olivia is an indoor cat--a brave adventurer, a tireless traveler, and a fearless explorer who is never afraid. From hunting fierce shoelaces to climbing all the way to the top of the bookcase, Olivia has always been able to count on her bravery. But will it be enough to help her face the big, uncertain world outside her home?
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Dog's Colorful Day
Poor Dog. Somehow he always manages to be underfoot when someone makes a mess. Red jam, blue paint, pink ice cream, orange juice -- the history of his day is splattered on his bright, white coat. And by evening, there are ten colorful spots for children to count before the careless canine must have his bath.
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Do Cats Moo?
Do cats moo? Do cats chow? All I know is cats go MEOW This novelty board book, with fun text and colorful illustrations, features adorable puppies, hamsters, and bunnies, as well as the cuddly title cat and other favorite pets. Kids will happily lift the flap on each big animal "mouth" to uncover what sound it makes. For a grand finale, all the animals appear together peering out from behind two gatefolds, so children can sneak a peek and squeak, chirp, sniff, and snuffle once again
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Bad Dog
"Look what I got for my birthday! A pet dog!" says a little girl holding a . . . cat? Rocky doesn't listen or obey like all the other dogs. (Because Rocky is a cat.) And Rocky hates her leash and doesn't seem to like other dogs. (Probably because Rocky is a cat.) And rather than play fetch, Rocky prefers to . . . lick between her toes? Ew. Rocky is a bad "dog"! BUT Rocky doesn't bark, and is so cute when she sleeps in sunny spots. Maybe Rocky IS a good dog? (Or, you know, maybe Rocky is a cat.)
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Pets on the loose!: The Great Pet Escape
The class pets at Daisy P. Flugelhorn Elementary School want OUT . . . and GW (short for George Washington), the deceptively cute hamster in the second-grade classroom, is just the guy to lead the way. But when he finally escapes and goes to find his former partners in crime, Barry and Biter, he finds that they actually LIKE being class pets. Impossible!
Just as GW gets Barry and Biter to agree to leave with him, a mouse named Harriet and her many mouse minions get in their way. What follows is class-pet chaos guaranteed to make readers giggle . . . and maybe look at their class pets a little differently in the future. -
The Kitten Story
Finally, it's time for this family to adopt a pet of their own! But big decisions remain to be made. The two children, Tulip and Rosie, definitely want a kitten. But Daddy insists an older cat is best. No one can agree about what name to give the new family member, either. When Mommy and Rosie visit a shelter to choose their pet, yet another problem arises and they must go home empty-handed.
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My Weird School: Class Pet Mess! (Wonderbook)
Alexia is delighted when Mr. Cooper brings in Bob, a hognose snake, as class pet, but when Bob keels over, is Andrea's toy poodle or Alexia's neglect to blame?
Upcoming Events
Cecil County Public Schools Spring Art Exhibit runs through May 30.
"The Maid" by Nita Prose
A monthly educational activity for students in homeschool and non-traditional school settings. Ages 9-14.
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Photography and Video Policy
By registering for this event, you or those attending with you may be photographed or recorded on video that will be used for library promotional purposes. If you or a member of your group would not like to be photographed, please alert a staff member at the program.
Drop-In Tech Help is open for any and all basic technology questions. We'll do our best to assist you in a relaxed, low-stress environment. No advanced registration necessary.
Play with some of CCPL's smallest tech including Ozobot desk robots, tiny table top games, and more. Ages 11-17.
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Photography and Video Policy
By registering for this event, you or those attending with you may be photographed or recorded on video that will be used for library promotional purposes. If you or a member of your group would not like to be photographed, please alert a staff member at the program.
Crystal Murphy Music: The Magic of the Secret Garden Shadow Puppet Theater
Enter into a world of magic and wonderment with Ms. Crystal & Mr. Nic as they present an interactive program full of dancing, singing, and shadow puppet storytelling. Ages 3-7.
A Longwood Community Read program.
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By registering for this event, you or those attending with you may be photographed or recorded on video that will be used for library promotional purposes. If you or a member of your group would not like to be photographed, please alert a staff member at the program.
"The Library of Lost and Found" by Phaedra Patrick
*This book discussion is being held at the Perryville Town Hall while the Perryville Branch is closed for renovation.*
Discover and create with new technologies like Nintendo Labo, LEGO WeDo, Stikbot, Tinker Labs, and more! Ages 11-17.
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Photography and Video Policy
By registering for this event, you or those attending with you may be photographed or recorded on video that will be used for library promotional purposes. If you or a member of your group would not like to be photographed, please alert a staff member at the program.
Learn the science behind making ice cream in a bag! Ages 11-17.
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Photography and Video Policy
By registering for this event, you or those attending with you may be photographed or recorded on video that will be used for library promotional purposes. If you or a member of your group would not like to be photographed, please alert a staff member at the program.
Join us for a LEGO tower challenge and other fun LEGO activities! Ages 6-11.
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Photography and Video Policy
By registering for this event, you or those attending with you may be photographed or recorded on video that will be used for library promotional purposes. If you or a member of your group would not like to be photographed, please alert a staff member at the program.