April 2021
The Library will be closed all day Sunday, April 4
in observance of Spring Holiday.
Corner Bookmark
Take-Home Kit
All Month

Make your own corner bookmark with this take-home craft kit! Already made one? After the 1st and 15th of every month, you can get a new and different corner bookmark. Collect them all! (First come, first serve. Available while supplies last.)

Pick one up at the Question Desk in the Children's Area or call 217-367-4057 to schedule a Curbside Pickup. Just ask for the Corner Bookmark Kit.
Family Craft Kit
All Month

Need a craft or something fun to make?

Come to the Library to take home an activity kit. Pick one up at the Question Desk in the Children's Area or call 217-367-4057 to schedule a Curbside Pickup. Just ask for the Family Craft Kit. (Available while supplies last).
National Library Week
Sunday, April 4 – Saturday, April 10
All day

Join us this week to celebrate all things Library! Check out Library materials during National Library Week and enter a drawing to win a Roku Express! You can use a Roku Express to access Hoopla and Kanopy on your TV with your library card at home. Stream movies, documentaries, TV shows, and more!

Here's how to enter the drawing:

  • Come to the Library between April 4-10 and check something out with your library card.
  • Get a slip at the Check Out Desk to enter the drawing at the Library OR go to the Library's Facebook page, look for the pinned post, and enter the drawing online.
  • Checked out something from our digital library between April 4-10? Go to the Library's Facebook page, look for the pinned post, and enter the drawing online.

One entry per library card per day. A winner will be drawn on Monday, April 12.


Come to our National Library Week themed story times!

Books and Bounces • Tuesday, April 6 • 10:00 – 10:15 a.m. • Zoom
Birth–2 • Register here!

Crafty Story Time • Wednesday, April 7 • 10:00 – 10:30 a.m. • Zoom
Ages 2–4 • Register here!

PreK Tales • Thursday, April 8 • 10:00 – 10:20 a.m. • Zoom
Ages 3–5 • Register here!
Virtual Escape Room:
The Library Case
of Characters
Sunday, April 4 – Saturday, April 10
All day
Facebook

Someone has forced all the characters out from their books and movies in the Library! Help get everyone back into their stories and figure out who's behind the chaos. Visit the Library’s Facebook page to solve the mystery!
Books and Bounces!
Tuesdays
April 6, 13, 20, & 27
10:00 - 10:15 a.m.
Zoom

Join us for Books and Bounces!, a special Zoom edition of Babies’ Lap Time for babies and their caregivers.

As with our in-person baby programs, we’ll practice early literacy skills in a playful, supportive environment filled with bounces, music, rhymes, and of course, books! We can’t wait to see you there!  

Register here:
Teen Book Club
Tuesdays
April 6, 13, 20, & 27
3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Zoom

Join our Teen Book Club, where members get to choose the books that we read. Have a book you want to discuss? Let us know and we'll add it to the list! And if you don't have a copy of the book already, we'll provide one for you. Each week, we discuss a section of the book we're currently reading. Discussions are casual and fun, so come by to hang out and talk about great books!

To get a copy of the book we'll be reading, please register for the event and then schedule a Curbside Pickup appointment by calling 217-367-4405.

4/6: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
4/13: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
4/20: Stargazing by Jen Wang
4/27: Stargazing by Jen Wang

If you’d like to know what book we’re reading or need a copy, please email jkahle@urbanafree.org.

Register here:
Crafty Story Time
Wednesdays
April 7, 14, 21, & 28 • 10:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Zoom

Join us for the Zoom edition of Crafty Story Time for young children from ages 2-5! As with our in-person story time programs, we'll practice early literacy skills in a playful, supportive environment filled with music, rhymes, active learning, and of course, books! We'll also have a fun craft. All you'll need are scissors, paper, glue, and crayons. We can’t wait to see you there!

Register here:
Homework Help
Wednesdays
April 7 & 21
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Zoom

Need assistance with your homework or having trouble figuring out some concepts? Come join volunteers from Volunteer Illini Projects every other Wednesday to work together, while also having fun, in getting school work done.

Volunteers will be present to help elementary and middle school students with questions ranging from math and science to reading. Register to get your Zoom link!

Liliana Perez is the Daycare Project Director of Volunteer Illini Projects, a student-run organization committed to peace, unity, and change. This project helps serve the community to provide a free space of learning and growing
for kids. 

Register here:
PreK Tales
Thursdays
April 1, 8, 15, 22, & 29
10:00 - 10:20 a.m.
Zoom

Join us for the Zoom edition of Preschool Story Time! As with our in-person preschool programs, we'll practice pre-reading skills in a playful, supportive environment filled with music, rhymes, active learning, and of course, books! We can’t wait to see you there!

Register here:
Teen Online Lab
Thursdays
April 1, 8, 15, 22, & 29
3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Zoom

Join Teen Librarians for fun projects and activities! Staff from the CU Fab Lab will join us most weeks. Make sure to register in advance, because some projects will require picking up a pre-made kit from the Library before the program begins. 

4/1: Learn Basic Magic Tricks
4/8: Digital Escape Room
4/15: Paracord Bracelets
4/22: Seed Starting
4/29: Decorate Your Own Flower Pot

To join Teen Online Lab, you must register online. We'll send you the Zoom information using the email you use to register.

Click here to register and to read more about the weekly activities:
Online Chess Club for Kids
Saturdays
April 3, 10, 17, & 24
3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
Zoom

Come play chess online!

Join TUFL staff and volunteers for Virtual Chess Club on Saturdays from 3:30-5 p.m. 
We will use the free website lichess.org to play together. Lichess.org 
requires an account to be created by someone who is 18+ years old. Please have a parent or guardian create the account before we meet.

Register here:
Manga Club
Friday, April 9
4:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Zoom

All things manga - draw, watch anime, or just talk about your favorite series!
If you love all things manga and anime, you will want to join us on Zoom every fourth Friday at 4:00pm for a half hour of Manga Club. We will hang out virtually while we draw and create our own characters and stories, debate the best manga series or anime films, and enjoy occasional special guests.

Latin American Story Time
Saturday, April 10
2:00 - 2:30 p.m.
Zoom

Stories in Portuguese and English!

Come with your children to the virtual program Latin American Story Time to listen to the bilingual storytelling of a book in English and a Latin American language, and sing traditional songs!

¡Los esperamos con sus niños a participar en el programa virtual Latin American Story Time para escuchar la narración bilingüe de un libro en inglés y un idioma de Latinoamérica, y cantar canciones tradicionales!

Co-sponsored by The Urbana Free Library and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Illinois.

Calling All Collecters!
Saturday, April 10
3:15 - 4:15 p.m.
Zoom

What treasures do you collect? Join children's poet Michelle Schaub as she shares from her book, Finding Treasure: A Collection of Collections, in which a young child goes on a hunt to find the perfect collection to bring to school for a class assignment. To celebrate poetry and the hobby of collecting, bring your treasures to share during this National Poetry Month celebration, as Michelle shares poems from her picture book collection and leads us through hands-on poem creation! Along with any treasures you want to share, bring paper and your favorite writing tools to this virtual program.

Michelle Schaub is a children's poet from Downer's Grove, Illinois.  The Urbana Free Library has children's display case windows modeled after the ones from Downer's Grove Public Library that were the inspiration for Michelle's book Finding Treasure: A Collection of Collections. To learn more about Michelle, visit www.michelleschaub.com.

Jump Into Science:
Surface Tension
Saturday, April 17
12:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Zoom

Have fun with science in this Jump Into Science series presented by the Graduate Society of Women Engineers at the U of I in collaboration with The Urbana Free Library. Participants will explore the phenomenon of surface tension and how it works in the world around them through a series of mind-boggling experiments.

Participants who register can get a surface tension kit at The Urbana Free Library (available starting April 9th), and join the Zoom meeting on April 17th at noon. Registrants will receive their Zoom link on the day of the program.
Come inside the Library to pick up your kit at the Circulation Desk on the 1st Floor, or you can call 217-367-4057 to schedule a Curbside Pickup. Just ask for the Jump Into Science: Surface Tension Kit.

Thank you to the Graduate Society of Women Engineers (GradSWE) for partnering with The Urbana Free Library to make this program possible. Engineers and scientists contribute to the betterment of society by identifying and solving technical problems, and GradSWE advocates for women in graduate education so that they can confidently excel at the frontier of scientific advancement.

Young Artist's Studio:
Kids Write Poetry!
Sunday, April 18
3:00 - 3:45 p.m.
Zoom
For children ages 5 to 11 and their families.

Looking for new ways to express yourself?

Join Urbana Poet Laureate, Ashanti Files, for a chance to learn about the art of poetry during National Poetry Month! Participants will learn strategies for writing and using poetry as a tool for self-expression. 

The Young Artist's Studio is a series of art workshops sponsored by The Urbana Free Library and The Urbana Arts & Culture Program designed to offer youth an opportunity to explore the arts. All events in the series are free and open to the public. 

We can’t wait to see you there! Please register here. We’ll email a link and a phone number to the email you provide in your registration so that you can join us online with Zoom.
Wetland Wonders
Saturday, April 24
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Zoom

Join wetland scientists from the Prairie Research Institute at UIUC for demonstrations, activities, and information about wetland animals, soils, water and plants.

Participants who register can get a kit at The Urbana Free Library (available starting April 19th). Come inside the Library to pick up your kit at the Circulation Desk on the 1st Floor, or you can call 217-367-4057 to schedule a Curbside Pickup. Just ask for the Wetland Wonders Kit.

Slavic Story Time: Armenian
Sunday, April 25
1:30 - 2:00 p.m.
Zoom

Come listen to an Armenian tale and song, and then make a craft!

Join us to hear the story Rooster Brother by Noony Hogrogian. Afterwards, we'll sing an Armenian lullaby and decorate our own craft roosters! 

Register for the program and pick up a craft kit with the supplies for the rooster craft. Craft kits will be available starting Monday, April 5. Come to the Library or call 217-367-4057 to schedule a Curbside Pickup appointment and ask for the Slavic Story Time Rooster Kit. For children of all ages and their caregivers.

This program is co-sponsored by the Russian East European and Eurasian Center at UIUC and The Urbana Free Library.

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