It's National Library Week: What's Your Story?

I can still remember how my first laminated library card felt in my sweaty seven-year-old hands, standing in the awesome Paddy Hill Library, built into an old church in the town of Greece, a suburb of Rochester, NY. You had to be old enough to write your name to get a card, and for me, that mastery occurred in the first grade.

It wasn't as popular—or perhaps my parents didn't have the money—to send kids to pre-school in the early 1970s, so I spent my early childhood frequenting the stacks at Paddy Hill. A weekly children's library hour was upstairs. Lying down with books in a loft tucked into the old church steeple was an almost-holy experience.

For Jennifer Cook, owner of , the decision to offer her customers a discount to celebrate National Library Week was both community-minded and personal.

Cook, the daughter of a librarian, grew up around books. She can still remember searching through her library at home for a particular title—and finding it in the fiction section of the stacks her mother had organized according to the Dewey Decimal system.

"I like to devote one of my storefront windows to community causes, and this one was an easy decision," she said. "I have a special affinity for libraries and books."

Cook approached Van Kozelka, the Katonah Village Library director, and together the library staff came up with a few ideas. They came over to Noka's late last week to decorate the window and publicize their promotion: 10 percent off any purchase up to $50 at Noka Joe's when customers present their library card. In addition, you can enter a free raffle to win a gardening supplies basket or a book plate.

Here are some other ways you can celebrate National Library Week 2011, April 10 - 16, locally:

• Get your child a library card: Give your child the privileges of a membership to your local branch. For all three locations in Bedford, you must either provide proof of residence or proof of attending school in the district or of owning property. There is no age minimum at the Katonah Village Library but in Bedford Hills you must be five years of age, and at the Bedford Free Library, children are eligible when the reach kindergarten. The Lewisboro Library also requires proof of residence/employment, but does not mention an age requirement on its website.
• For the days when you just can't leave the house, there's TumbleBook: The Westchester Library System hosts the TumbleBook Library, an online library of over 200 animated storybooks, audio narration. Wish I had discovered this years ago.
• Enter the National Library Week "twaiku" contest
  Tweet a twaiku (Twitter haiku) about their love of libraries in ALA's National Library Week twaiku contest. What’s a twaiku, you ask? Simply put, a twaiku is haiku sent via Twitter. Twaiku use the same basic structure of 3 lines with 5-7-5 syllables respectively. Unlike a true haiku, a twaiku can only be 140 characters, or 130 with our #nlwtwaiku tag. You could win a $50 Amazon gift certificate. Click here for details.
• Enter a poem into the Poetry Contest at the Bedford Free Library: If you are between the ages of 6 and 18, write a poem and it will be judged in three age groups:  6-9 year olds, 10-12 year olds and 13-18 year olds. April is also National Poetry Month.
• Buy a ticket for the 20th Annual Book and Author Luncheon: This event will be held Thurs. April 14 at Abigail Kirsch's Tappan Hill in Tarrytown—writers Maryilyn Johnson, Jennifer Egan, David Shenk and Diane Mott Davidson are scheduled to appear. Click here for details.
• Share your memories: The theme for this year's National Library Week is "Create Your Own Story." What's your favorite library memory? Share it in the comments.