Storytime Groups
Story Tots
Wednesdays at 10:30am | Suggested for 18-36 months
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Join other parents and their children for Miss Tara's engaging stories, flannels, and songs.
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Registration required for each date you plan to attend. Registration for all programs within the month opens two weeks before the first program date.
Story Time
Mondays at 10:30am | Suggested for ages 3-5 years
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Join Miss Tara for stories, songs/rhymes, and activities that focus on essential pre-reading skills.
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Please register for each date you plan to attend. Registration for all programs within the month opens two weeks before the first program date.
Ongoing Events
Lego Club
Third Tuesday of the month (Jan 20, Feb 17, March 17, April 21) at 5pm | Ages 5-12
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Join us for a one hour drop-in, free play Lego building session! Children will have the opportunity to use our many bins of Legos to build their own creations. Creations will be on display in the Children's area for one month until the next Lego Club meeting. An optional monthly Lego challenge is also available!
PAWS to Read w/ Wally
Select Tuesdays at 4:30-5:30pm | Recommended for ages 6+
Make a 15-minute appointment to practice your reading skills with the cutest listener ever, a golden retriever named Wally! Sign up to secure one of the four available time slots. Up to two siblings per registration. Bring a book or two, but no toys.
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Registration opens two weeks before program date.
Yoga for Kids, presented by Ivy Rehab
Fourth Friday of the month at 1pm | Ages 1-6 with caregiver.
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Experience the elements of yoga (breathe, move, rest) in a fun and engaging way with age-appropriate poses and a focus on breathing, relaxation, and meditation. This is a wonderful way for children to stretch their bodies and calm their minds.
Loose clothing recommended to allow for comfortable movement. Bring your own yoga mat or blanket.
STEMsters
First Tuesday of the month at 5pm | Ages 8-12
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​STEMsters, the Mars High School Chapter of a national nonprofit, strives to develop a love for STEM among young students through an interactive activity-based learning experience. A typical lesson from STEMsters starts with a presentation that goes over instructions for an experiment that students will build with hands-on guidance. Experiments are tested and the science concepts behind the projects are explained.
Ruff Writers Take-and-Make Craft & More
Once a month | Multigenerational
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Pick up some craft resources and stories for multigenerational family time. This brown bag program provides craft materials, instructions, and a recommended picture book story to open conversations and share positive life stories across different generations of family and friends.
Community Service Project: Crafting Holiday Cards for Seniors
Monday, December 1 to Monday, December 22 | All ages
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This holiday season, share your art (and kindness) in the form of handmade cards for local seniors. Stop by the Children’s area to pick up a card kit. Children (and adults) can create a special holiday card that will be delivered to residents of Rose Crest Assisted Living in Mars. Card kits include materials for crafting a one-of-a-kind Christmas tree on the card front (or opt to create your own artwork). Choose from one of 4 pre-written messages (or write one of your own). Drop off completed cards at the library no later than 2p on Monday, December 22.
Holidays Around the World: Pop Up Center & Take-and-Make Craft
Mondays, every two weeks in December | Ages 3-6
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​December 22, January 5.
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Every two weeks, visit the Crafting Station in the Children’s area to explore a different country’s holiday celebration. Crafts are self-paced and can be done at the library or at home. Each time you complete a craft kit in this series, stop by the front desk or the Children’s office to stamp your passport. Collect all 5 stamps to earn a prize!
Storybook Characters: Craft Kit Series
Mondays, every two weeks in February and March| Ages 3-6
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​February 2, February 17, March 2, March 16.
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​Pick up a brown bag craft kit every other week at our Crafting Station in the Children’s area. Kit includes materials to make the craft, instructions, and more. Crafts can be completed in the library or at home. While supplies last.
Winter Reading Program
Monday, December 29 to Saturday, January 31 | All Ages
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A five-week reading program through the Beanstack app that encourages children to keep reading over Winter Break and beyond. This simplified version of the Summer Reading Program begins during school break, and asks children to read one hour a week for five weeks. Children who complete the challenge can pick a book from the prize cart and enter a virtual raffle for a chance to win the grand prize!
One-Time Programs
Book Trailers
Wednesdays, January 21 and 28 at 4:30pm | Ages 11+
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​Learn to use animoto.com to create brief trailers highlighting your favorite book or book series. Choose a theme, add text and pictures, and even set the whole thing to music, then share your trailer with others. Session 1 is the learn-the-procedure session. Session 2 lets us perfect our work and share the final results.
Ceramic Tile Painting
Saturday, January 24 at 11:30am | All ages
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Help us create a new decoration for the Mars Library by painting your favorite scene or character from a story onto a ceramic tile. Finished tiles will create a mural to be hung up at the library. This program is brought to us by the Mars Library’s Teen Advisory Board (TAB).
Gumdrop & Toothpick STEM Challenge
Wednesday, February 4 at 4:30pm | Ages 11+
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​STEM challenges have never looked so yummy. Use gumdrops and toothpicks to construct the most stable design you can, then test each design for how much weight it can hold. The only limits are your own imagination.
Introduction to D&D
Thursday, March 5 at 5pm | Ages 11+
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Curious about the world’s most popular role-playing game? Meet Dungeon Master Will and learn the basics of Dungeons and Dragons, including: What D&D is, creating a character, how the DM and players work together, and essential resources for play.
Chromatography
Wednesday, March 25 at 4:30pm | Ages 11+
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​Chromatography is the process of separating a substance into its components. We’ll be experimenting with washable markers and coffee filters to find out what pigments go into any given color. Mark your guesses down and see how many you get right. We can then use our test results to make some colorful crafts to take home.
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