Third Annual "Children's Book Festival"

Friends of the Leonard H. Axe Library is pleased to announce its Third Annual Children’s Book Festival, due to take place from 11:30 AM to 4 PM on Saturday, April 12, 2008 in the East Lobby of the Weede Gymnasium.

Since 1988, the Friends has purchased furniture, equipment, films and books, sponsored numerous lectures and an art exhibition and published a guidebook about the history of the campus (now in its second edition). This will be our 11th annual fund raiser.

Authors from all over the world have donated representative samples of their work. William Anderson, a talented biographer for young people, sent us a beautifully illustrated book entitled The World of the Trapp Family, with numerous photos of the famous singers who inspired "The Sound of Music". He also sent us a copy of Prairie Girl, his biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the famous Midwestern author who published her first "Little House" book at age 65. We have some great picture books that appeal to youngsters such as I Love You Dude, about a lonely graffiti elephant who must find a new home after he is chased from his wall by an unappreciative public, or Sky Dancers, a book about the brave Mohawk construction workers, whose ability to walk on steel beams hundreds of feet in the air helped them build the Empire State Building and numerous other New York City sky scrapers.

And we have wonderful books for Middle and High School readers, such as AngelMonster, a novel about Mary Shelley, the creator of Frankenstein, or the spooky Rosey in the Present Tense where Franklin’s girlfriend Rosey, who recently died in an accident, starts talking to him.

You’ll find a complete list of our books at the Library's "Third Annual Children's Book Festival (2008)" page.

Representatives from the Friends will be seated in the East Lobby of the Weede gymnasium, just outside the Lance Arena from 11:30AM to 4PM. The books are not only signed but are discounted 25%! We hope to see you there!

What’s Friends of Axe Been Up to Lately? (Or...More News Is Good News)

Well, as you all know by now, we are all very busy working to improve the collection and services of Axe Library. Here is just a brief list.

1. Children’s Book Festival, March 31st, 2007 – The Friends earned quite a lot of funds at our book festival last month. We hope to invest it in our 10th annual DeGruson Memorial Lecture (see below) as well as our new edition of A Closer Look.

2. Outstanding Friends Group Award – Awarded to us by Friends of Kansas Libraries on March 5th, 2007 for outstanding achievement in 2006. On April 11, a representative will be picking up a certificate and a $100.00 check at the Kansas Library Association Tri-Conference in Topeka.

3. A Closer Look, 2nd ed. – A much improved version of our campus history. New pictures, new text, new maps, new entries and much, much more. Due out in May, the books will sell in the Library for $5.00.

4. Community Bazaar – Friends of Axe has reserved a table at the Fall Community Bazaar. From September 28th to September 30th we will be selling donated paperbacks and leftovers from the Children’s Book Festival at cut rate prices.

5. DeGruson Memorial Lecture, October 9, 2007 – 7PM in the Special Collections Dept. Refreshments to follow. Dr. Sharon Neet, scholar in SEK History will deliver a lecture on the fascinating Girard publisher Emanuel Haldeman-Julius and his contributions to the culture of Southeast Kansas. Never heard of him? Well, come and find out. You won’t regret it. It’s our tenth anniversary lecture, so, it’s going to be great!


Need more detail? Check out our Summer 2007 online newsletter!

Second Annual Children’s Book Festival

Here is a brief reminder that Friends of the Leonard H. Axe Library will hold its Second Annual Children's Book Festival, from 11:30 AM to 4 PM on Saturday, March 31st , 2007 in the East Lobby of the Weede Gymnasium. It will be held in conjunction with the annual Young Authors' Conference. Authors from all over the United States, Australia and England have donated representative samples of their work usually signed and frequently decorated with a small drawing or a note. Some recent new additions are "Just Kidding, Sorry!" And "My Secret Bully", by Trudy Ludwig, which are three handy, self help "bully manuals" for the beleaguered nearly middle schooler, and "Mahjong All Day Long", by Ginnie Lo; illustrated by Beth Lo in which these two Chinese American sisters describe their youth spent learning Mahjong at their older relatives' knees.

Representatives from the Friends will be seated in the East Lobby of the Weede gymnasium, just outside the Lance Arena from 11:30AM to 4PM. No books will be sold prior to 11:30 AM. The books are not only signed but are discounted 25 %.

--JV